Disclaimer: I have no confidence in my ability to write smut. Forgive me. Oh, also, there's a lot of smut (?) in this chapter.

"Do you think things will be alright?" Marinette said, breaking the silence that followed their touching moment.

"What do you mean?" He had asked, though he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Don't give me that!" she stifled her laughter, still very aware that they were playing hide-and-seek, and it brought his attention back to reality. Their conversation was not one he would want a seeker to catch them having. They both laughed for a moment before she became solemn. "We both know how much you love Ladybug." She wouldn't look his way, and he realized he didn't know what to say to her. At least, not at first.

"And you're Ladybug," he stated, as if reminding himself of the fact.

"Sort of." Marinette shrugged.

"You're Ladybug," Adrien reaffirmed, not willing to argue about the semantics of their identities. He was well aware of how their kwamis changed their personalities, but it was nothing that wasn't a part of who they were as it was. It was nothing more than an extension of themselves. And if that were the case, then nothing had truly changed. "You're Ladybug, and I love you Marinette." Adrien looked passionately into her blue eyes. He was confident in his speech, and for a moment, he stood proudly, causing his entire body to lift slightly and placing more pressure on Marinette. He hadn't noticed until that moment, but he had naturally been crouching away from her. His gaze widened to look at the whole of her appearance and there was a slight bit of panic in his eyes, particularly as he noticed how ruffled her hair had become. She had forevermore done her hair in her signature pigtails, but leaning against the wall had pulled strands of it from their hold, and gave her a rather dishevelled appearance that was counterintuitive to their situation.

Marinette took a deep breath, deciding not to comment on his struggles. She had gone beyond her shock and became thoughtful once more.

"Adrien, I've loved you since the first day I met you. I, I know we didn't start out on the best of terms but…" He recalled how upset she had initially been with him as she was under the assumption he had placed gum on her seat. It was an honest mistake, he came to accept. However, he had never been under any impression that she had loved him. He thought her timid and kind, and particularly so with new people. He thought it was his fault that she felt uncomfortable. In away, he now knew, it had been his fault. Regardless of her confession, the thing that really stuck out to him was her use of the past tense. "But I've pushed you away for so long as Chat Noir. And even when I loved you as Adrien, I hardly knew anything about the person that you were. That you are. I've been terrible to you. It's just that, I feel like I haven't earned the right to –."

"No Marinette. I've never once thought that way of you" He paused after interrupting her. He blurted it out and realized only after he had the moment to think, how misconstrued it sounded. "I never thought that were rude to me, or wrong to me. There were moments that were frustrating, I admit, but you loved someone else. That person happened to also be me, but I understood and I still understand why you acted the way you did. In fairness, I did come on pretty strong. I can maybe see how it got a little bit annoying."

"Just a little bit," Marinette grinned, holding her forefinger and thumb close together and scrunching up her nose. He loved it when she did that. A part of him wished he could make out her freckles. His admiration of them could be saved for later on. He chuckled quietly at the intent and went on with his speech.

"Looking back at the way you treated me as Marinette, I never really realized it. I mean, you're right, you didn't really know Adrien when you first met me. In a way, I'm glad you realized that. But it's a little different now, right?" She nodded slightly. Adrien shifted again, pushing away at his discomfort and ignoring his desire to generate more movement. He coughed before speaking again, clearing his throat and calming his voice, making certain that none of his immediate thoughts and distractions escaped in his tone. "If anything, I wonder if I could earn your love for me." Marinette cocked her head to the side in wonder.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if I treated you well enough as Marinette. You've always been so kind to me, regardless of the whether or not it was because you liked me, and, I learned it over time but it took me so long to see it. How could I have been so blind? How could I have been so blind as to not see the woman of my dreams right in front of me?" His gaze bore into her and she paralyzed for a moment by his words.

"Well, isn't that kind of the point of secret identities?" she replied, giving off as flirtatious an air as possible and appropriate.

"No, that's not what I meant Marinette. Sometimes I wonder, if I hadn't met Ladybug. If I hadn't known you as Ladybug, I wonder how long it would have taken me to realize how amazing you are. I wonder if I would have noticed at all. And I, I beat myself up over the fact that I didn't see you sooner. You're amazing Marinette and I hope I can earn your love. I feel like I haven't done anything to deserve it yet, but I hope I will."

"You have Chaton. You've done more than enough. I think, we've established pretty well that we both had our faults in, well, everything," she admitted, letting out a breathy laugh. "We weren't perfect to each other. We have our faults, but I think we can work them out, you know? I think, Tikki's right." A contented grin grew on her lips. He smiled back at her, lowering his forehead to meet hers.

"And what did she say?" he asked, recognizing the name of her kwami, which she had so unwittingly disclosed to him when he first met her. He smirked, feeling the air of their conversation simmer down. They talked about enough, had they not? Had they not come to their conclusion? One where they could both be, satisfied? Their conversation had been so serious, he had nearly forgotten about the tightness in his pants. Now that he remembered it, it was becoming a problem once again. Was there nothing he could do to get a hold of himself? He wanted to be romantic, not horny! Though, he could make the best of either one. And he wasn't particularly opposed, as long as she wasn't. He shook his waist back and forth ever so slightly, as to insight some sort of reaction.

"That we worry too much?" Marinette's reply was barely audible. She had lost focus on what she was saying. Her eyes became half lidded and she had tilted her head back just enough for their lips to slowly align. He could just about feel the warm of her breath.

"Really?" Adrien whispered. They were still only centimeters apart. Soon it would be millimeters. He didn't care about his pants anymore. There was no helping anything.

"Well, actually," Marinette amended briefly, "she said that I worry too much. But I think we both do."

"We're not supposed to worry?" He pulled back, confused by her statement, and absurdly pleased with the yearning and distress in Marinette's expression as he did. Even if he did bump his head on the wall behind him. It was a harsh reminder that they were waiting for someone to find them. A reminder that he wasn't inclined on sharing with Marinette. A reminder he wasn't going to allow dictate whether or not his actions were rational.

"I don't think that's what she meant," Marinette panicked. He assumed that she genuinely thought he misunderstood and had insulted him in some way. Adrien only found this fact more endearing. "I think she meant that we're over thinking things, and that instead of doing that, we should just..." His hands cupped the sides of her jaw and he planted a swift kiss on her forehead. Her speech halted at the action. She was a loss for words. Meanwhile, Adrien was enjoying her flustered behavior too much to let up now. He kissed her right cheek bone, then her left, before speaking again. They were slow cautious kisses, ones he had hoped conveyed his love and longing for her.

"Just what?" he queried. There was no longer any sign of her deep blue eyes as she melted in his caresses. Her eyes fluttered as if she couldn't decide to enjoy herself or take action.

"Hm?" Marinette moaned, vaguely aware of his voice.

"Just what?" Adrien repeated, not so much looking for an answer anymore as he was playing with her. He remained tantalizingly close to her lips once more, knowing full well how discomforting it was for her. It took everything in his power to remain there. Despite how entertaining it was to tease her, he also had his own needs.

"Just, be happy." Marinette had finally said it, and with that word, got fed up with Adrien's dominance. She closed the gap between the two and her lips came crashing into his. Admittedly, if were not what he had been yearning for, he might have said something about how painful it was to have her kiss him so aggressively.

They could finish their conversation later. It was kind of difficult to have a serious discussion filled with heartfelt confessions and clarifications with a pretty, nay, beautiful, girl in a cramped space, while she was pressed up against him and grinding on the heat of his pants. To hell with formalities.

Marinette pressed her body into Adrien and rolled from top to bottom before making full, committed contact. He gasped at the sensation, breaking away from their kiss, and his hands quickly moved from the side of her cheeks to the small of her waist. Her hands lifted from the back wall and lay flat on his chest. In seconds, they inched their way to the nape of his neck and he could feel his heartbeat pulsating through his entire body. Her actions shook him to the core.

He had to breath. But he couldn't breath too much. He was breathing a little too much, and his mind, which was already swimming from the sensation of her touch, began to fade. Oxygen was filling the space he had, and it was causing his head to spin. He had to breath.

"Don't worry chaton," Marinette whispered, using her free hand to guide his jaw back to her lips. Her leg began to move deliberately against his groin, taking the opportunity to take charge over him, and her left hand began its slow descent down his chest. For a moment, he panicked at the idea that she would be so bold as to reach so far on his person, but he hadn't the energy to protest, nor did her lips leave him enough air to speak. Her cold delicate fingers sent electricity up and down his spine as they made contact with his abdomen beneath his shirt. He couldn't help but gasp and she grinned, clearly amused by her control. Instead of going where he had hoped she would, her hands crawled back up his chest, and he savored every touch of their skin.

Their movements were slow and deliberate. Neither was certain of what do to. And neither was certain what they could do. And so instead of certainty, they traded in their desires for comfort, caution, and the ability to cherish every moment of their intimacy.

Adrien followed Marinette's lead and slipped his own hands under her shirt, remaining mostly around the small of her waist and rising up the back. A part of him wondered if it would bother her if he undid her bra. It probably wasn't the best idea, regardless of her consent. They weren't exactly in the appropriate place to be considering that.

Now that the two of them had no more space between them, the space in the wall was suddenly much more spacious. Perhaps, if they had any inclination to, they could have easily left.

Marinette's breath was getting desperate, and Adrien was likely the same, though he was much more attuned to her actions than his own. She was kissing along the side of neck before he even realized what was happening, and he couldn't keep his heavy breathing silent. She was exploring more of him than he had initially been prepared for, and when he managed to guide her back to his lips, something distracted him.

Rather, it was less of a distraction and more of a surprise.

A blind light enveloped the entirety of his vision, causing his heart to nearly stop. The facts of the situation came flooding back to him like a rushing torrent of information and he reacted before he even realized who had interrupted them.

His hands ripped themselves away from Marinette, and head jerked back, his whole body slamming into the wall behind him. It hurt more than he would have cared to admit. Focusing his vision, he saw that Marinette had done the same. There was a look of panic in her eyes that suited his own; wide eyes, flushed cheeks, heaving breathes.

"Darn! I forgot to turn off flash!" Alya's voice echoed from the entrance to their hiding spot. Both heads turned to face her and saw her glasses illuminated by the light from her phone screen. Nino was standing not to far off. A mixture of shock, confusion, discomfort, and happiness clouded his face. Alya seemed too preoccupied with photography to notice his stat. She leaned over to him to show off the photo she had captured. "Oh but I definitely wouldn't have gotten this beautiful shot without it…"

The following that ensued was full of distress. Alya was overjoyed with the situation, and only through Marinette's insistence did she agree and understand why the photo couldn't be sent to their entire class. Adrien did have his image to consider, and that was ultimately the deciding factor. His Lady did, however, manage to convince her friend to send her the picture, which she promptly made her home screen photo on her phone, unbeknownst by most. Nino continued to remain in his state of shock, though after Alya interrogated Marinette to her own satisfaction, she tended to his mental wounds. He was finally left alone with her. Adrien reached out and grabbed hold of her hand, which she firmly grasped in response.

Things were going to be okay. Despite everything that happened in the last week, it was going to be okay. With her hand in his, he could just feel it.

Author's Notes: This whole chapter turned out so much longer than I anticipated and so I kind of split it in half. The arc is over, but I'm going to post one last chapter very soon with just a little bit of extra fluff. This was supposed to be a one chapter fluff fic. And it turned into 3 chapters of angst. I cannot plan these things correctly.

Welp. See you soon!