JESUS CHRIST I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO BE A 5K MONSTER WHAT THE HELL.

"So, who's the lucky guy?"

Marinette's grip on her sketchbooks loosened and they clattered to the ground, her flushed face twisting into semi-mortification and his lips twitched up in amusement. He reached out, leather gloved hand slowly and deliberately waving back and forth in front of her face, lips quirking up even further when she remained motionless.

Had he broken her?

"Princess?" Chat purred out, pulling his hand back. "You there?" He leaned a bit closer, and only then did she react.

Marinette's blue eyes regained focus, blinking repeatedly for a few seconds before frowning. He waited, her red-tinted cheeks just a bit too adorable (not to mention amewsing) to let go of. "Chat!" she hissed lowly, glancing behind her to - to his utter amusement - see if anyone had spotted the pair together. Up til now nobody had noticed. He'd been careful. "W-what are you doing here?!"

A slow, playful smirk pulled at his lips, his green eyes shining with cat-like mischief. Marinette regretted ever asking.

"Well," he started, bending down to pick up the nicely decorated books from the cold pavement. Chat couldn't help but smile at spotting the now familiar 'M' marked across all four books, the same signature he'd spotted on most of her clothes and supplies during class. And, of course, her ever present clutch purse. "I couldn't help but notice you being pawfully distracted for a while now-" ever since they'd met, actually. "And I got a little curious-"

"Curiosity killed the cat," she deadpanned.

He winked. "Satisfaction brought it back."

Marinette sighed, hating the fact that she was still feeling a little flustered from his earlier comment. "What do you want, Chat?" Her tone sounded a bit hostile, and the hero's ears twitched. Going on the defensive, now, are we?

He tried not to smile at that.

"Why," he breathed, head slanted to the side in what was meant to be an innocent expression, but instead appeared all kinds of devilish. "I just wanted to meet my competition."

She rolled her eyes. "What competition?"

He smirked, grin almost cheeky. "The boy who's captured your attention, of course!"

Her eyes widened, and she hurriedly placed her palms over his mouth to silence him. "Don't be so loud!" she hissed, looking over her shoulder worriedly. "What made you think that I...liked someone anyway?!"

The cat's green eyes twinkled with amusement, and he calmly reached up with his free hand to pry her fingers off his lips. "I don't know, Princess," he taunted, dropping a brief kiss on her fingers and grinning when she instantly pulled back, a hint of a blush on her cheeks. His smile turned almost dangerous as he lifted one of her sketchbooks- one riddled with various hearts and love notes for the world to see. "Why don't you tell mew?"

Marinette flushed, and his grin only widened when she hurried to take the book from him. Even she had to admit that drawing those things on the cover was a bad idea on her part. Alya had warned her for this, damn it! "T-that doesn't prove anything!"

"Sure it doesn't," he handed her the rest of the sketchbooks, watchful eyes scanning her features closely for any sign of her current thoughts. "Do I know him?"

She scoffed. "I thought you knew everyone."

"Pawsitively," Chat's eyes went over her head and to the school, guilt hitting him the second he spotted Gorilla still waiting for him in the limo. He was supposed to be at a photo-shoot, but this was just a little bit too interesting to let slide. He'd have to make it quick.

The cat-themed miraculous holder nodded his head to the kids leaving the building. "Is it someone from your class?"

She stiffened. Bingo.

"G-get your paws out of places they don't belong, kitty."

"Considering this has to do with you, I think my paws are exactly where they belong."

As unlikely as it my seem, it was true. Chat Noir was overly confident, way too cocky, did not know when to keep his mouth shut, and was, for some reason, completely convinced that his puns were the cat's meow.

And yet, he somehow ended up being Marinette's best friend.

Marinette's. Not Ladybug's.

Huffing, Marinette pulled her books closer against her chest and looked away, painfully aware of the light pink blush dusting her cheeks. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere, kitty?" she murmured with a slight pout, her annoyance at him turning into pure embarrassment. He wouldn't be letting this go anytime soon, but she could at least still try.

He grinned. "Yes, actually. Have you been stalking me, Princess?"

"You wish."

"I do."

She rolled her eyes, the slightest hint of a smile playing at her lips and Chat nearly beamed.

"Well," he started, already backing away. "I really should get going, we'll continue this later, alright?"

"Please don't."

With a playful wink, Chat turned and climbed up to the roof, giving her a two-fingered wave before running in the opposite direction.

"Hey, did you ever think Marinette might have a crush on someone?"

Nino spit out his soda the second the words had left Adrien's lips. "Dude," he breathed in-between coughs, hand on his chest. "Are you freaking serious right now?!"

Blinking innocently, Adrien just stared up at his friend in confusion. "What? Is it weird for her to like someone?" There was genuine question in his tone, as if he really couldn't piece together all of the little - excuse me, obvious - hints Marinette had been throwing at him since forever. Nino started to wonder how his best friend had ever managed to get through fifteen years of his life while being this oblivious.

Wiping his mouth, the aspiring DJ took another sip from his drink, feigning nonchalance as he set it down on the table. "Why the sudden interest in Mari?" His eyes narrowed behind his glasses, a slow smirk playing at his lips. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

Face flushing, Adrien shook his head. "N-no! It's just-" he paused, eyes scanning his surroundings. "Uhm..."

Grinning, Nino waved him off. "Relax, I'm just kidding." He didn't miss the way his friend relaxed instantly. "But yeah, I think she has a crush on someone. Don't know who though."

The green-eyed model nodded, cheeks still a bit reddened. He didn't really know where he had been planning on going with this, but, for one reason or another, hearing the confirmation from Nino had his heart hurting. He wouldn't let it bother him though, he had made Marinette a promise (one she wasn't yet aware of but it was a promise nonetheless) and he was planning on sticking to it.

His own feelings didn't matter at the moment.

No matter how much it might hurt.

Glancing at the clock, Adrien's eyes widened and he shot up. "I, uh, really should get going, Nino!" he explained, hurriedly collecting his stuff together. "Sorry!" And he was off, hurrying towards a certain blue-eyed girl's balcony.

Nino followed his retreating form with his eyes, grin wide and toothy as he reached for his phone, hurrying to type in one single message that would most probably kick-start this whole relationship.

ALYAAAAAA

Sticking the end of a pin in her mouth, Marinette bunched up the royal blue fabric with her fingers while grabbing her ringing phone from the table and putting it between her ear and shoulder after pressing the 'answer call' button. She hadn't really bothered to check who was calling, but after a quick glance at the clock; she could give a pretty good guess. "Yeah?"

"MARINETTE!"

At hearing the loud screech, Marinette dropped the phone, simultaneously waking Tikki as she flinched and bent to pick it up again, mouthing an apology to the startled Kwami. "Alya, relax." she chuckled, pulling the pin out of her mouth and sticking it through the bunched up fabric; careful to not prick her fingers. "What's going on?"

Other than the choked sounds of excited breathing, it was silent on the other end of the phone, and Marinette waited patiently for her friend to calm down as she tidied up the remaining pins and went to sit down on the bed beside Tikki. While she waited, she tried to think back on everything that had occurred in that week. Alya usually only ever became this excited when it was something concerning Ladybug and Chat Noir - or, 'Ladynoir' as the public had started calling them, much to her chagrin.

After another two heartbeats, Alya finally found the strength to continue. "Nino just texted me."

"And?"

"Adrien asked if you had a crush on someone!"

"He did what?!" She screeched, jumping out of the bed before realizing her parents were most likely asleep and lowering her voice. "What do you mean he asked if I had a crush on someone?"

By now, Tikki had flown up beside her, eyeing her curiously but keeping silent.

"It's exactly like I said, girl!" Came the excited reply. Her voice was so loud, Marinette had to wonder if she wouldn't accidentally be waking her siblings. "Nino said he just popped the question out of nowhere when they were hanging out. He also said that he's really dense, but we already knew that."

"Hey, he's not dense. He's just...sheltered."

"Sure he is, Mari."

"Well, what do you-" the only warning she got was Tikki lightly tugging at her pigtails and - for one reason or another - flying past the remaining pictures of Adrien (since she'd stored the others neatly in a box after his last visit; precautionary measures) and slamming them face down before she disappeared behind one of her decorative throw pillows. Before Marinette could ask, three knocks on the window startled her, and she turned to see a familiar shadow hovering on her balcony; jade green eyes standing out painfully in the dark. "Alya, I have to go."

"What? Girl, this is impor-"

"I know, I know." she sighed, hoping the blush didn't show as she headed for the window. "I'll call you tomorrow, I really need to go right now." Unlocking the latch, she pulled the window open, turning her back and stepping further into the room to let him in.

"...Fine, but you bet I'm getting to the bottom of this!"

Marinette flinched, knowing fully well that her friend fully intended on going through with that promise. Adrien wouldn't even know what hit him. "Please don't."

"No can do. Sorry girl," and she hung up.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Rolling her eyes, Marinette placed her phone on the desk, refusing to face him as long as she knew her cheeks were tinted pink. "Why are you here, Chat?"

"You know, I've started to notice a pattern in how our conversations go. I stop by, try to woo you with my charms, and you always reply with 'why are you here?' Followed by us bickering." He sighed, feigning heartbreak by dramatically placing a clawed hand over his chest. "You sure know how to wound a man."

"See, I'm not wounding a man, I'm wounding you." she joked, corners of her lips twitching upwards.

"Ouch. Kick a cat while he's down, Princess."

Turning, Marinette shot him a playful wink as she headed towards her mannequin - the one with the blue fabric still draped over it. "Only telling you what I see, kitty." Her fingers flew over the material, smoothing out the creases and pinning random pieces together were sewing would be necessary.

Chat admired her work for a while, eyes intently following the way she moved around or scribbled down notes in her designbook. It reminded him of simpler times; back when he would sit and watch his father carry out his ideas on his own, testing out different styles and color combinations before sending it to the rest of the company to work with.

Back when his mother was still with them.

Shaking off the depressing thoughts, Chat leaned back against the desk. He was here for a reason, and he wasn't about to let his plans be jeopardized by stupid things like nostalgia; or even his own feelings. This was about Mari and no one other than her. "So," he started, catching her attention. "I've been thinking..."

"That's a surprise," she deadpanned, pulling the measuring tape back and reaching for the pair of sharp scissors on the desk.

"Me-ouch! You're really feeling catty today, aren't you?"

She raised a brow, eyes momentarily locking on him. "Twice in a row? Really?"

He winked. "Only for you, Princess."

He didn't miss the way she tried - and failed - to hide her smile.

"Anyway," he purred, and her brows shot up at the sound. "I've decided I'm going to help you get your guy." He didn't know how, but he'd managed to keep his voice as light and playful as he had intended it to be. It was a miracle, really.

The scissors dropped, and he was quick in catching them. "Careful," he chastised, placing them on the desk; right beside her other little trinkets.

"Weren't you..." she halted for a second there, and he cocked his brows in curiosity. "Weren't you saying something about my supposed crush being your competition?"

Yes.

"Ah, but you see, a Knight would do just about anything to see his Princess happy." He looked away, green eyes focusing on his surroundings instead of her. "Including throwing away his own feelings." His voice lowered at the end, and he prayed, prayed that she hadn't noticed the drastic change in tone. Or at least, the implications of it.

Luckily for him, she hadn't seemed to notice. Chat had to wonder if his almost daily encounters with the literal Lady Luck of Paris was doing something to counter his bad luck. Either way, he wasn't complaining.

"You really don't need to worry about this, Chat." she stated, pulling out a chair and sitting in front of him. "I can deal with this on my own."

"I know," he stated, not missing a beat. "I want to," he was leaning against the desk with his arms crossed, and for once, Marinette couldn't see the slightest hint of mischief hidden behind his mask. His stare was all fire, and her eyes widened.

He really was serious about this.

"Alright, kitty," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "What did you have in mind?"

And, just like that, his grin returned, all teeth and childlike cheerfulness that had her cracking a smile along with him. "Well," he started. "Considering I don't think you'll be telling mew his name anytime soon..." he trailed off, expectant eyes set on her.

"You're right on that."

He shrugged. "Had to try."

Marinette rolled her eyes and scooted closer to the desk, suddenly grateful for Tikki's quick thinking and making a mental note to leave her a box of sweets as thanks. She propped her elbow on top of it, resting her cheek on her palm and watching the cat talk on and on with amused eyes. She could already tell, this was going to be a long night.

Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God.

This wasn't happening.

Marinette scanned the list three times over, mentally cursing while jumping for joy at the same time as she realized that no, she wasn't reading this wrong at all.

Alya nudged her, a knowing, smug look on her face. One Nino shared, and one had to wonder how someone as socially awkward as Marinette had ended up with these two evil incarnates as her friends. She could practically see the little devil horns sticking out of their heads, but before either of them could say something, Adrien turned with his smile all sunshine and perfect and just him and she didn't know what to do.

The model placed his arms on the backrest of his chair, smile never leaving as he rested his cheek on them and stared up at the girl innocently. "Looks like we're partners," he said, smiling cutely and Marinette thought she might just faint.

Though instead of fainting, all she did was give him a forced smile and a weak nod. (Mostly due to Alya pinching her leg below the table, but that was for another story)

Either way, Marinette didn't think she could get through an entire project working with her crush without dying from the amount of blood rushing to her head. That, or from embarrassment, whichever came first.

Adrien on the other hand, didn't mind this match-up at all. This could only work in his favor, she'd given Chat a lot of useful information, and so far, this unknown boy of hers seemed like a pretty decent guy. He wouldn't have to worry about his best friend ending up with a jerk, which was always a plus.

Especially considering how important this particular girl was to him. But, of course, he couldn't really say that out loud. He made a promise, and if not to her, then to himself. He would not mess this up.

So, as they entered the school's library, the boy made sure to keep his eyes open; watching her reactions closely to see if he could figure out just who this mystery boy was. She'd said that it was someone from their class, which narrowed the list down quite a bit. Nino, Nathanaël and himself were out too. Marinette had already shown pretty clearly how she felt about the two boys, and if Adrien had to go from the awkward way she was carrying herself right now; then he was clearly off the list too.

He tried not to let himself be too bothered by that.

"So, uhm," she started, and he blinked, snapping out of his detective mode to focus on the girl in front of him. She wasn't looking at him, sitting in the chair beside his and looking down at her fingers while twiddling her thumbs almost nervously. It was so different from how she acted with Chat- how she acted with anyone, really. Did he really make her that uncomfortable? She couldn't still be annoyed at him because of the gum incident, could she?

If she was, that would make his job - as Adrien - only a lot more harder.

"What do you want to do the project about?" She finally choked out, hesitantly looking up with flushed cheeks.

Adrien frowned. Was she feeling unwell?

She seemed to be perfectly fine before, laughing and joking with Alya, not to mention how she'd acted last night.

Maybe she was exhausted? He had stayed for quite a long time, after all.

Adrien didn't think calling her out on it would be of any help though, so he just kept his mouth shut and figured getting started with the project would be the best way to go. If Marinette really was feeling sick, then he'd just have to take her home, and if she - for one reason or another - wouldn't let him; then maybe Chat Noir would have to pay a little visit.

He still needed to get at least some answers out of her if he ever planned on getting further with his, err, mission. Straight up asking her seemed like the best way to go, but, unfortunately, it was also the most awkward and downright embarrassing route at the same time. This could go either perfectly well, or horribly wrong.

He'd have to take his chances.

So, with flushed cheeks and his heart in his throat; he went for it.

"Do you like someone?"

Adrien froze, eyes wide and face reddening a great deal as the words left her mouth. The coloring of his face went all the way up to his ears, and the instinctive urge to get out of there to save himself from embarrassment was getting next to unbearable. He hadn't been expecting that, not at all.

All Adrien could do was stutter out a weak "W-what?" and mentally curse himself from the way his voice cracked.

"I-I'm sorry!" Marinette shrieked, nearly jumping out of her chair. Her face was twisted in utter mortification, matching the color of Ladybug's suit as she repeatedly - and loudly, he might add - threw apology after apology at him. Not even excuses, just straight up apologies and Adrien didn't have the heart to remind her that they were in a library and supposed to be quiet.

"Hey, hey, it's fine," he assured, grasping her flailing arms and holding them still. He shot her a warm, comforting, and friendly - most certainly not loving, no, no. Love wasn't allowed, especially not towards her - smile. "I don't mind."

Her wide eyes went from him to his hands still holding her in place, and he instantly pulled back with a mumbled apology; mistaking her stare for one of discomfort.

"I, uhm..." she cleared her throat, awkwardly refraining from looking at him. It was probably wrong and all kinds of messed up of him to think this way, but he found the way she was fidgeting in place with a heavy blush on her cheeks to be quite endearing.

Dear Lord, was he going to hell.

"I'm sorry," she finished, for the nth time. He tried not to smile.

"It really isn't a problem, don't worry about it." Mostly because I was just about to ask you the exact same thing. "It's only normal for you to get, uh, curious."

Because that's what it had to be right? Just simple curiosity. There was no way that she was asking because she might be interested in him or perhaps a little jealous of the... 'relationship' between him and Chloé.

That last thought had his heart twisting for all the wrong reasons.

Calm down, Agreste, she's not jealous, only curious. Don't get your hopes up, we are trying to couple her with her crush, damn it!

"But, to answer your question." He caught himself discreetly glancing back at her, hoping, just a little, to see any kind of reaction coming from her. "Yes, I do like someone."

You.

Dear God, what was he doing?

Adrien was seriously starting to consider if he wasn't some sort of hidden masochist, because all he was accomplishing by doing this; was more heartbreak on his part.

No wonder he always ended up in ropes. Masochistic tendencies and a leather catsuit? That was just a disaster waiting to happen.

"O-oh?" she choked, her pretty baby blues widening a bit. "I-is that so?" Marinette seemed to falter, eyes momentarily cast downwards and deep, deep, very deep down, Adrien felt like jumping for joy and hiding in shame at the same time for ever thinking of doing such a thing.

But then her smile was back again, plastered on her lips like always and this time he had to worry about whether or not he was blushing, and if it was noticeable. "That's great, Adrien!" she beamed, hands locking together. "Did you tell her yet?"

"N-no," oh, he was definitely blushing now. "N-not yet." Or ever.

She frowned. "Why not?"

His hand went to the back of his neck, the other nervously playing around with the blue marker in his hand as he avoided her gaze. He could feel her curious eyes on him, could also feel the way his face felt as if it were lit on fire. Not a very good combination. "I-I don't know," he stuttered, voice suddenly dropping multiple octaves. "It's not that easy, Pr- Marinette." CRAP!

Despite his near-fatal slip-up, Adrien wasn't very proud to admit that he was nearly squirming from embarrassment.

Oh, Plagg was never going to let this go. No matter the amount of Camembert Adrien managed to smuggle him; the Kwami was going to hold this over his head for centuries to come.

Her smile softened. "You really should, I'm sure she feels the same."

To her, it seemed as if she was comforting a friend.

To him, it were the cruelest words she could have ever said.

This time when Chat showed up at her balcony, her window had been left open.

He found her on her bed. Knees pulled up to her chin, and arms wrapped around her legs. She didn't look up, not even when he deliberately dropped his baton to catch her attention. Her usual smile was gone, replaced by something much sadder and...defeated, almost.

He didn't like it.

Not at all.

"Princess?" His voice was careful, almost hesitant as he took a slow, calculated step closer. "Are you okay?"

She stayed quiet for a while, grip on her legs tightening before she sucked in a deep breath; almost as if preparing herself. "I don't want you coupling me anymore," she stated, voice a bit shaky.

The cat-themed hero frowned. What in the world was going on? "What? Why?" Slipping his batons back where they belonged, he knelt in front of her, staring up at her hooded face. His hands twitched, wanting nothing more than to reach forward and touch her, hold her hand, caress her cheek, anything to get rid of that solemn look. He wanted to, but he didn't. It was nice to know he had at least some sort of self-restraint after all.

It was getting hard to tell when with her.

She shrugged, gaze still cast downwards. "Just because."

"Princess..."

"He likes someone else."

Chat blinked, green eyes softening- and why was he feeling so guilty all of a sudden? "Oh."

"Yeah," she sniffed, uncoiling herself from her self-made human cocoon and slapping her thighs once as she took a deep breath. "Well, what's done is done, right?" She forced a smile, getting up from the bed and stalking across the room to start rummaging through her sewing supplies.

"Princess..."

She waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it, Chat." she assured, pulling out a piece of black lace, followed with a golden zipper. "Do you think the lace would look better?" She held it up against the blue dress she had been working on earlier. "Or maybe the zipper?"

"Zipper," was his automatic response, and he watched with furrowed brows as she nodded in content and put the lace back in its box. "Mari, listen-"

"I slipped up today," she started, taking out a pair of scissors to cut the zipper to the desired length. "We somehow got paired together for a project and I just asked him if he had a crush on anyone out of nowhere. It was embarrassing, really." She walked over to her sewing machine, making quick work of sealing the now-shortened zipper.

"He said he hadn't told her yet," she continued softly, solely focused on her work and not even bothering to glance back at the cat behind her. Her voice had slipped into a monotone, as if she was telling him all this just because. "So, I told him to just go for it." This time, she did look at him; if only for half of a second. "What was that thing you were saying about a knight wanting what's best for his princess?"

Chat stayed silent, frozen, actually. The things she was saying...it was just too familiar. Besides, there was absolutely no way she-

"I think I just got my hopes up because he asked a friend of mine if I had a crush on anyone."

Shit.

"What's his name?" Chat asked, stepping a bit closer.

Marinette paused. "What? You going after him now?" she joked.

"Maybe," if my suspicions are right, yeah.

"Well," she sighed, moving over towards her mannequin. "Nice try, kitty, but I'm not telling."

"It's Adrien, isn't it?"

She froze, hands settling on the mannequin's shoulders before she sighed and nodded. "Good guess."

Idiot.

Biting the insides of his cheek, Chat took another step closer, invading her personal space. "And what if..." play it cool, "by chance he meant you when talking about the girl he liked?"

Marinette snorted. "No way."

Chat felt a pang in his chest. Had he really screwed up that badly?

"What makes you so sure?" he prompted, hands finding leverage on the desk she was leaning against and effectively caging her in. Something which didn't go unnoticed by her.

Marinette's gaze flickered between him and the desk, lingering especially on him and she mentally cursed herself for feeling her skin warming up. "Ch-Chat..."

Play it cool, play it cool. Do not think of how adorable she looks right now, and do not think of her cute little blu- goddammit he was thinking about it.

Shaking the distracting thoughts off, Chat kept his focus on her, eyes mapping out every single freckle on her face as a way of keeping his nerves in check. Chat Noir or not, even he could tell he would be reduced to nothing more than a stuttering mess if he happened to catch her eyes at the moment.

"Okay, next question," her eyes flew up to meet his, but he avoided it by reaching one clawed hand up towards her cheek. "What if..." Ladybug was going to murder him. "What if he was standing right in front of you?"

She froze, slowly drinking his words in and blue eyes widening when it finally clicked. "C-Chat, what are you implying?"

"Nothing," he winked playfully, leaning a bit closer. Voice dropping to a near whisper, he asked his next question. "Princess," he breathed, finally, finally building up the courage to search her eyes."I want to try something."

Green eyes gazing down was enough of a hint for her to guess just what he wanted to try.

So, squeezing her eyes shut, Marinette tilted her head up, and leaned in.

His lips were soft, putting little to no pressure against hers and almost hesitant. Though, when she reached up to bury her fingers in his hair, he caved in and went for it.

He kissed her almost as if he was scared he'd never get the chance to do so again, putting as much emotion into it as possible while somehow still maintaining his 'testing the waters' attitude. In all the time she'd known him, Marinette wouldn't have thought she'd find something Chat wasn't entirely confident about.

By now, the light blush that had initially painted her cheeks pink had spread across her whole face, though neither of the two seemed to care very much. Chat had his eyes closed, and Marinette herself was too occupied - both mentally and physically - to worry about potential embarrassment.

Pulling back, Chat's cheeks matched hers almost perfectly. His face was close to being on fire, and as he covered his mouth with his palm, the color only darkened.

"I..." he looked away, eyes set on the window. "...really need to go. Bye Princess!" And he bolted, ignoring both the slightly dazed girl he left behind in her room, and his barely bearable urge to go back and completely devour her mouth like he'd been wanting to do for ages now.

The next day at school, Adrien didn't show up.

It didn't make a difference. Even without the source of the problem being there, Marinette still had to suffer through partially curious and partially knowing looks from Alya; all because she couldn't contain her blush for more than thirty seconds.

Still, it was because she just couldn't get yesterday's memory out of her head. Not because Tikki teased her relentlessly about it, and not because of something as simple as mere shock. It were two things in particular that had kept her thoughts stirring for these past fifteen hours.

One: Adrien was Chat Noir, or, at least, so he'd implied.

Two: Her crush had been standing right in front of her this entire time and actually liked her back without her knowing. No wonder his advances on Ladybug had just stopped all of a sudden.

Marinette couldn't imagine what it must have felt like for him to couple her with someone he didn't even know the identity of.

God, she was such an idiot.

Nino had already informed them that Adrien had apparently called in sick today; a minor case of the flu, it seemed. Marinette didn't think so, it just seemed too convenient, too coincidental to be true. For one reason or another, he was avoiding her.

He had run off all of a sudden last night too...

Either way, she was getting to the bottom of this, be it as herself, or as Ladybug.

"You know, kid, running away isn't really gonna help."

"As if I didn't know that," Adrien grumbled, running a hand through his hair.

Plagg glanced at him, taking a huge bite out of the block of Camembert he was carrying and happily munching down on the cheese. He kept his gaze on his kitten, watching with expertly disguised worry as he sighed while staring out of the open window. He couldn't really say that he really cared about most of the things Adrien pulled, but he couldn't really say he entirely approved of last night's actions either. Mostly because of Tikki's inevitable nagging, yeah, but that was besides the point.

Still, Plagg had to give the kid some credit. In the many, many years that he'd been shouldering multiple Chat Noirs, it had been a while since one had managed to catch him off guard. It wasn't an entirely unwelcome - maybe even pleasant - surprise, he wouldn't lie.

But that didn't change the fact that Adrien was pretty much sulking right now, worrying if he had 'screwed up' and such. The Kwami didn't know about him, but if yesterday's reactions were anything to go by, then he had most certainly not screwed up.

Seriously, did the kid even know how to read people?! Sheltered or not, it wasn't that hard to tell that Marinette had had absolutely no problems with the drastic turn of events that had taken place.

Sighing, Plagg dropped the cheese - one of the gravest sins you could ever commit, according to him - and flew over, fully intent on offering his own twisted version of comfort. It may seem a bit harsh, but surprisingly enough, the cat had found that adding some salt - just a little, not too much. It may not seem like it, but Plagg still cared, you know - to the injury could actually work pretty well in boosting their self-esteem or anything else that had cracked. Of course he'd always need to watch just what he said, but in the end, his kittens always pulled through one way or another. It made him happy to see it.

-Not something he would ever confess out loud, especially not to the other Kwami, but it was the thought that counted.

But, before he could open his mouth, a very powerful- very familiar presence hit him, one he could sniff out even with his eyes closed by now after centuries of having been together. From the looks of it, Tikki's girl had chosen to transform, and he had the instinctive urge to go and hide before remembering just what the boy in front of him had let slip yesterday. So instead, Plagg pulled back and went to take a seat at Adrien's desk, not entirely noticeable, but not completely in hiding either. Just perfect.

Adrien turned his back on the window, eyes momentarily searching the room for the flying black cat and dropping down on his bed when he spotted him; arm raised to cover his eyes. He'd screwed up, he could tell. Not only had he made Mari believe he didn't like her, he'd also decided on just giving up on the whole secret identity thing and dropped a pretty big hint on just who 'Chat Noir' really was. Ladybug would find out sooner or later, and he knew she'd most likely forgive him for it, but not after leaving him dangling from the Eiffel Tower with her yo-yo for, say...three hours.

Maybe more, if she was in a bad mood, but he trusted her to have at least a little bit of mercy on him. She was (usually) kind like that.

"Skipping school, Adrien?"

Jumping - and nearly falling - from his bed, Adrien shot up, turning to the window with wide green eyes. "L-Ladybug!"

She was located by his window, hovering upside down, only being held up by the thread of her yo-yo with her head tilted slightly to the side. She was smiling, blue eyes clear and warm and her entire pose reminded him of one he'd often seen in a comic book related to spiders.

It must be a bug thing.

Stepping closer, Adrien stared up at her, not being able to figure out why she was here even if his life depended on it. "Wh-what are you..." he trailed off, watching as she lowered the rope a bit until she could catch her balance properly and shift into a sitting position on his windowsill.

She stiffened. Right, he didn't know it was her.

"I, uhm..." She hoped her blush didn't show through the mask. "I came here to check on you! Or, well," she looked away, hand resting awkwardly on her neck. "A...friend of mine asked me to. She wasn't really sure if you wanted to see her or not, Chaton."

He stiffened at the nickname, breaking the eye-contact to look elsewhere. "...Are you mad at me?"

Ladybug sighed, resting her chin on a gloved hand. "No," she admitted, and he looked up in surprise. "Not really," she met his gaze, and this time, the blush was much easier to see, much to his confusion. "I...know I made this whole big deal about identities and stuff, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. As long as you feel like you can trust her-"

"I do."

"Then it's fine."

She tried not to smile at the way he instantly relaxed.

"Anyway..." she started, feet settling down on the ground before forcing her weight on them and standing up, hand on her hips. "That's not why I decided to visit."

Adrien pulled out a chair for her first before sitting down on his bed with a sigh. "I figured," he murmured, and this time, she actually did smile. Always the gentleman, wasn't he?

"She's confused, to say the least," and too much of a coward to actually come out and say it.

"Well, I did leave her behind without warning, my Lady."

My Lady. It'd been a while since she'd heard it, and one way or another, she'd actually found herself missing the slight term of endearment. Maybe it was her recent discovery of his identity, or maybe it was yesterday's kiss; but the damned cat was causing all sorts of emotions to bubble up deep in her stomach. None of them necessarily unwanted, but all of them new all the same.

"W-well, about the, uhm, the k-kiss." Damn it, Mari, get yourself together! You were doing so well earlier! "She told me quite a few things. Did you mean it?"

Either he didn't pick up on her discomfort, or maybe he just ignored it, but Adrien didn't miss a beat when answering. "Of course," his green eyes held sincerity, and Ladybug would be lying if she said her heart didn't do multiple somersaults at seeing it.

He really was going to be the end of her.

"Marinette..." she sighed, forcing herself to maintain eye-contact despite the near overwhelming urge to squirm in her seat underneath his stare. This really was going to be harder than she had thought. "She wants me to tell you something." Her eyes landed on his desk, a little startled at seeing the little black Kwami. She looked up towards one of the screens, and when she spotted the Ladyblog opened on one of the monitors, her lips quirked up; just barely.

Turning back towards him with newfound confidence, she gifted him a smile. "She wants you to know she's closer than you think, kitty."

And just to add fuel to the fire, she shot him a meaningful wink, hoping he'd catch on. If the way his eyes blanked and his body stiffened was any indication to go by, then she'd say she'd succeeded pretty well.

"Well," she stretched, pushing herself out of the chair and neatly putting it back at the desk, shooting a kind smile at the all-too-smug-looking Kwami still at the desk. "I really should get going now, Chaton- Adrien, uhm..." She waited, and when he didn't correct her, she just sighed fondly and made her way to the window, lips still quirked up in a gentle smile. "Goodbye," she waved, one foot already hovering out the window before she paused, remembering one last thing.

Turning, the heroine glanced back at him, suddenly nervous. "And, uhm," for the love of- she was blushing again, damn it! "The kiss...she, uhm, s-she really d-didn't m-mind it." She squeezed her eyes shut, mentally cursing herself for the image of their kiss constantly popping up in her vision. "Bye, kitty! See you tomorrow!" She jumped.

Adrien still stood frozen, eyes fixated on the window and his hand over his heart in mild-admiration.

Superhero or not, she really was something.

For those of you who've read the, uh, *ahem* first draft; I think we can all agree on the fact that the ending was complete and utter shit, so I changed it. My thanks to those of you who weren't afraid to just be honest with me and tell me that it did, in fact, suck, but without being a complete douche about it either.

I really appreciate it!

The fic turned out even longer than it was initially supposed to be, but eh, it can't be helped. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

EDIT: HOLY- 7K WORDS ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

And let's just face it, endings aren't my strong suit -,-

I just hope this was a bit more satisfying than the last one.