The feeling of walking into school that morning was especially uplifting for Adrien, who realised he would have all of his classes with Marinette that day. Not that that had been a deciding factor in his mood until quite recently. Sighing, he reached a hand up to his hair and dragged it down his face. God, he was in deep.

"Hi Adrien!" came the signature chirp from behind him as he raised his head to find blue orbs right in front of his face.

"Hey, Mari, walk to the lockers with me?"

"Of course," she said, a faint blush resting on her cheeks. They walked in comfortable silence, and although he knew he was being less than subtle, Adrien let his eyes wander every so often. All he could think about was the damned kiss. It had made tangible the idea of dating Marinette, but at the back of his brain was an annoying niggle that sung; 'except she kissed Chat'. Fighting off the urge to run his hand through his hair again, he walked on, and made sure avert his eyes from her.

Walking silently beside him, Marinette wondered what on earth was going on with Adrien. She pretended not to notice the looks he was blessing her with, but it was glaringly obvious. And the day after Chat had kissed her no less. If Adrien did not feel something for her in the least, she would pass it off as concern, but if not… oh god help her. She debated between telling him about Chat, but thought the better of it, for now at least.

"Did you speak to Chat?" came the unexpected question.

Oh, I did more than speak to him, she thought. Shaking her head at that thought, she muttered a yes.

"Oh didn't it go well?" he said, looking at her as he shoved his bag into his locker.

"On the contrary, it went all too well," she said, pointedly looking at anything other than him. A chuckle. She looked up.

"All too well?" he questioned, a slight smirk gracing his lips.

"Take a wild guess," she muttered, feeling her go redder. Still a smirk. As if he knew. Did he? "You don't already know do you?"

"No, would you just tell me already?"

"He kissed me," she whispered. Shoving her books into her locker, she made herself busy as to distract herself. When he didn't reply, she forced herself to look at him. "What?"

He seemed to be tossing between things to say, and Marinette thought she could see the cogs turning in his brain. "Did you not want him to?"

"I don't know anymore, Adrien. I kissed back, so does that answer the question?" she said desperately, knowing her voice was rising, but hoping he'd give her an answer to the question she'd been asking herself.

"You what?" came the perfectly time entrance of Alya. "When did you two kiss?"

Just great, she thought as she scrambled for an excuse that didn't give away the truth. Racking her brain for something, anything, that would get Alya off her case, Marinette felt her heart sink into her stomach. She gave Adrien a pleading look, and hoped that he'd do the thinking for her. She felt a hand take hers lightly, and looked down, feeling giddy when she saw his own with hers. "Oh shit," she said softly.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out, Alya," he grinned cheekily, not letting go of her damned hand. Great now Adrien and Chat were screwing with her brain. She wondered how she was going to survive the day.

"Adrien," she muttered. "I need to put my bag back. And Alya, please don't go announcing it to the class."

"Of course, but I need details," she said as she spotted Nino, leaving immediately to go and tell him the latest news from their friends.

"I'm sorry, that was all I could think of," Adrien breathed out as soon as she had gone, hanging his head and seemingly prepared to be yelled at. How could she yell at him when he'd grabbed her hand? God, even that was enough to throw her into a spin.

"I was the one who couldn't think of any excuse," she said gently, daring to touch a hand to his bicep. "Besides, it certainly wasn't the worst thing I can think of." An eyebrow wiggle. Something that she had seen before. But not from him.

"It's not the worst thing I can think of either," he said, a smirk crossing his lips again.

"Oh god, what have you gotten us into?" she asked, daring to peek out from behind her hands. A shrug was his response as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled into her hair. "I'm sure I could have come up with something better."

It was strangely familiar being wrapped up in Adrien's arms, however, Marinette could not put her finger on why, so she suggested, quite breathlessly, that they walk into class together. Of course, this was under the assumption that he would not be touching any part of her, and yet she was wrong. Slinging an arm around her waist as they walked up the stairs, was one thing, waving to everyone else as they walked past like it would not draw attention to them was another entirely.

"I don't like attention, Adrien," she hissed as they reached the top.

"I wasn't trying to… you know this is going to give you attention, whether you like it or not, right?" he said, seemingly attempting to calm her down, however, not guilty in the least for this quite obvious observation. Trying to dodge out of his arms and into the classroom, Marinette sighed as he caught her elbow and pulled her closer again.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear for what felt like the millionth time that day. "I'll make it up to you, I swear."

It was fair to say that the day would not, and did not, pass uneventfully for either Marinette and Adrien, and the culmination of it seemed to be disaster that was last period chemistry, where they were inadvertently paired together, Chloe appeared to turn red.

"But, Mrs. Mendeleiev can't you put me with Adrien," began the whining. "It's clear that I'm much better suited to Adrien than she is."

"I will not hear any of it Miss Bourgeois," came the reply.

"I want to be with Adrien! Marinette doesn't deserve him!" she shouted. The class stopped. Although their teacher hadn't caught on to what the argument was truly about, it was clear everyone else had. Rolling her eyes, Marinette forced Adrien to get back to work, despite many of his attempts to cool the situation. At least he cares, she heard the little voice at the back of her mind. Why wouldn't he? They were friends. Friends. Her heart began to ache halfway through the lesson as she mulled over her options. She knew she had to do something about Chat, but now he was as important to her as Adrien was. She couldn't break her partner's heart, yet somehow both he and Adrien had the capability of breaking hers. It wasn't until she went over to get the sodium carbonate that Chloe finally decided to approach.

"How did you brainwash him?" she hissed, carefully picking her own standard solution and double checking the calculations meticulously.

"You know Chloe, I would tell you but it really isn't any of your business," she fired back. "I've got more important things to do than waste my time trying to explain something you don't understand."

Instantly she regretted. Knowing there was another akuma no doubt flying towards the building, she hurried back to her desk. "Adrien," she whispered.

"Yes?"

"I think I might have made Chloe a little upset," she said, wringing her hands together desperately. Turning around curiously, he raised an eyebrow.

"Akuma upset, or was it justified?"

"It's never justified, Adrien, akuma worthy or not," she said, returning to the beakers of hydrochloric acid. Warm fingers pried her own away from the pipette, setting it down on the bench.

"And what she gives you every day is justified?" he questioned, crossing his arms. Oh boy. She was done for. That stare could kill.

"Adrien," she whined, "If I've just caused an akuma, what do I do?"

"Leave it to the professionals," he shrugged. Sighing, he shook his head. "Mari, it'll be fine, trust me."

The words rang in her ears. All this trusting was giving her a migraine. She took a step back. "What?"

"Trust me," he said, enunciating every syllable specifically for her ears. Quickly looking around the class, he snatched her hands from beside her and squeezed them, giving her a reassuring smile. A screech came from behind them.

"Adrien!" came Chloe's voice. "How could you lower your standards to her level? She's pathetic and clumsy and… and she'll never be me!"

The smile was gone, and instead there was a slight scowl that Marinette noticed on his lips as he stood rigid in front of her. "If you'll excuse me Mari," he said through gritted teeth. Her face fell instantly as she clung desperately to his hands.

"Adrien please," she pleaded, as he pulled away and stood to face Chloe.

Everyone had stopped what they were doing by then, beakers and flasks firmly in their hands as they watched the scene unfold.

"Please don't talk about my girlfriend like that Chloe, because although you may not like her, I happen to very much," he said. "And this is the only time I ever want to have this conversation with you because I still consider you my friend, but I won't be if you bring this up again, ok? Marinette is not pathetic, and her clumsiness has little effect on her amazing personality and more to do with your lack of genuine reasons to dislike her. Now get back to your assessment for all of our sakes."

Watching him stride back over to their bench was overwhelming as Marinette tried to keep herself in tact before the last bell. "I… Adrien?" she whispered, inching closer.

"Yes?" he whispered back, taking her hands again.

"Thank you." Now they were mere inches away.

"No problem." He leant down as her eyes fluttered closed, and pressed his lips gently to the very corner of her mouth.

He had no idea what had gotten into him. He could practically hear Plagg screaming 'Adrien your Chat is showing', yet he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Deep down, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up, and that she would hate him for taking advantage of her like this when he knew she was Ladybug, but he knew that he had loved Marinette equally for longer than he wanted to admit. And he just gone and declared his adoration for her in front of the class, when Marinette was the only one who knew that the relationship they were now faking was, well, fake. And she just continued her work like nothing had even happened. He checked the time on his watch, signaling five minutes until the end of the lesson. Most of their equipment was away, but he was yet to record the results, and saw Marinette reaching for her sheet. Darting for it, he took hold of her wrist, unable to stop the Chat like grin gracing his face.

"I haven't written down my results, Mari," he winked. He could see the blush on her cheeks now. Finally, it was working. It would be easier to tell her, but, he thought, that was not their way. After what seemed like a lifetime the bell rang and Adrien made his way over to his desk, cleaning up the contents of pencil case.

"I'll lock the door, just shut it on your way out kids," Mrs. Mendeleiev said, waving goodbye.

Adrien didn't turn to see who it was. He'd seen everyone else leave, and had felt her presence enough to know exactly which blue haired beauty was behind him.

"Yes?"

"What… What was all that about?" she asked quietly.

"Um… well you see I was just…" he had nothing, absolutely nothing that wasn't incriminating. He'd nearly called her princess just seconds ago, and that would have been more than a shock.

"Adrien?" she said, stepping closer to touch his arms. "There was no way what you did back there was an accident. So, you've gotta tell me what's going on."

"Well the thing is…" he began, still not knowing where he was going. "I kinda…maybe, just a little bit, have a crush on you…"

Her jaw dropped. "Oh, shit."

"Yeah," he said, trying to ignore the hand on his arm.

"Ah…"

"You don't have to say anything I just thought maybe I should tell you."

"I… Adrien, I um…"

Oh god, now she was uncomfortable. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Mari, I just thought it wasn't fair for you not to know if we're gonna convince Alya of whatever this is."

"No!" she exclaimed. Regaining her composure, she sighed, "No. I… I don't know what to say. I've, um, well I've liked you for a long time, but now that Chat's been hanging out me I don't… ever since that bloody kiss, my head has had a million thoughts running through it. I mean, he's a crazy person don't get me wrong, but he's so endearing and I…I can't bring myself to break his heart."

"So, you're…conflicted?"

"Well, it was nice to admire him from a distance, if you get what I mean, but when we got closer, it was like he was… right there and, well, he was sweet and kind and safe. I feel like I've known him forever. And then he kissed me and I kinda lost it. So, yes, I suppose I am."

She had known him long enough that was true. But she didn't know he knew that. And now she felt the same way for Chat as she did for Adrien, which in a way was good. However, now he was in a competition with himself. Sweet Jesus, what had he done? "Maybe you should talk to him about it?"

"Yeah, I'll sort it out and, hopefully we can just let it go. I mean I'm sure that he didn't really mean it. Besides, he's a superhero."

He fought back a scoff, barely. Like being a superhero would stop him seeing Marinette. "Well, talk to him and figure it out, and then we can talk about this," he said, gesturing between them. Behind them, he heard the mop of the school cleaner and pulled her out the door. They walked silently out the gates, and stopped when they saw the car waiting for him. "Just a sec," he said, walking towards the car.

"Hey Gorilla, can I walk Marinette home please, it's only across the road, you can wait here for me," he asked, hopefully, watching the nod or shake of his head. A grunt followed a nod, and he beamed, dumping his bag in the car and returning to Marinette. They chatted as they walked, as Adrien debated between telling her that he was Chat, or leaving it for twenty questions. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it, knowing that she'd probably slap him then and there, and that his confidence was seriously lacking without Chat's bravado. Until he slipped up.

"See ya, princess," he said, waving goodbye, as she walked inside the bakery. She opened the door, and stepped back outside, visibly confused.

"What did you just say?"

He scrambled for words, hoping he'd find something in the depths of his excuses. "It's gotta be believable, doesn't it?"

A raised eyebrow. He was convincing nobody. "Really? Cos it sounds awfully familiar."

He didn't find that hard to believe. "Well how about we make it… our thing?" God, he was killing himself. He knew that she recognised the voice. God, she was going to kill him on patrol tonight. She nodded, and then waved him goodbye, shoving him towards his car, which Gorilla had parked in front of the bakery as an attempt to hurry him up.

They were huddled up against a brick chimney, not exactly sure which part of Paris they'd gotten to, just sitting and listening to each other's answers and memorising their answers. And they both knew they gone past the twenty questions allocated, but it was addictive, especially when they both knew they were close to the truth. He'd given her enough hints in the past hour, anyway.

"If you didn't have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?" he asked.

"God, I don't have time to sleep as it is, so probably school work," she replied

"That's a shit answer, come on my lady, surely you have something better than that, what would you do if you didn't have school work?"

"Probably design some clothes, that's one of my hobbies," she said, looking out across the rooftops. He, of course, already knew this, but she was still working on the whole identity reveal thing.

"What's your favourite piece of clothing you own, then?" he asked, wondering what stuff she could have made for herself.

"A blue scarf, it had the most amazing material, and I loved making it. Actually, it's not mine, I made it for a friend, for his birthday, and I think he still doesn't know I made it for him. Ok your turn, how often do you play sports?"

"Well I have fencing a couple of times a week, at the Françoise Dupont high school, and then every time we get an akuma."

"Well, if it wasn't for being Ladybug, I probably wouldn't get any exercise," she giggled, shaking her head. "I don't have a whole lot of time on my hands, as you can see. Are you usually early or late?"

"Early," he groaned, "for everything. You always seem to be late to patrol."

"Oh, I'm late to everything," she said, "I'm late to school most days and I live across the road from it. It'd be nice to be early for something for once."

"What are some small things that make your day better?" he asked for his next question.

"My friends," she answered instantly. "Wait, they're not really small, are they?"

"Well, are they a big part of your life?"

"Yes," she said. "Well, I like waking up to the smell of the bread cooking downstairs, and sound of rain on my window pane. I like seeing my friends smile when I get to school late, and Chloe roll her eyes, even though she has no reason to. I like the random conversations my group and I have during lunch, and going to our little café and ordering the same thing every time."

He had no words for that, and resorted to thinking of another question. "Ok, what's something that a ton of people are obsessed with but you just don't get the point of?"

"XY, the singer. He's just awful! Like they could be listening to Jagged Stone, but instead they're listening to that stupid repetitive shit," she replied, like she knew exactly what the question would be.

He'd given her enough hints, Marinette thought, but she had to be sure, however she couldn't think of a single question that would give him away properly. So instead, she just asked, "What kind of music do you enjoy most?"

"Well, you know I play, because of the whole Marinette thing, but I love Jagged Stone, too," he nodded, bopping his head along to what Marinette assumed was one of his songs. "What's the dumbest thing you've done that actually turned out pretty well?"

Looking around at him, she knew his answer would be far more entertaining than her own, but she answered nevertheless, "Stole my friends phone to delete an embarrassing voicemail, you?"

"You what?"

"It was when Theo did that statue of us, and it was unveiled, that's why I was late," she shrugged, "It was a life or death situation."

"More than an akuma?"

"Way more than an akuma," she said, deadly serious. "What about you?"

"Well… I ran away from home one Christmas," he said. "A couple of Christmas' ago, actually. Everybody hated me for it."

Her eyes widened. Surely not. Well, after everything he'd told her today, it was more than likely, but why on earth couldn't he have just told her he was Chat today? When he'd called her princess. She wanted to call him out on it, but he just continued the questions.

"What movie title best describes your life?"

"A series of unfortunate events, even though it's a TV show," she grinned, even though her head was spinning.

"Surely not, you're Ladybug! I mean, you're the lucky one!" he chuckled.

"Well, I suppose when you put it that way… I'm not sure, then, what about you?" she replied, rolling her eyes, nevertheless.

"A series of unfortunate events, even though it's a TV show," he grinned, "Because I have bad luck as a civilian as well as Chat. Here's my question what is the luckiest thing that has happened to you?"

She stopped, thinking hard. Lots of things were lucky for Marinette, and lots of good things had happened to her, especially in recent times, but she certainly couldn't discount becoming Ladybug. "Becoming Ladybug, I suppose," she said, nodding to herself. "Because I wouldn't have had half the experiences without the miraculous, and my kwami is just so precious I can't imagine her going to anyone else. Besides, then I wouldn't have met you."

"I think I would have met you anyway," he said, looking at her carefully. She took a deep breath. Come on, Marinette, now is not the time for avoiding eye contact, she thought. Steeling herself, she looked at him.

"Chat are you sure you want to know who I am?"

"I already know, princess," he said, sounding exactly the same as he had when he'd dropped her home that afternoon. Now she knew for sure. And now she had to say something back.

"Adrien?"

"Hi."

"Hi," she said breathlessly.

"Are you alright?"

"I just need a moment to process it," she said, whilst her mind screamed that she'd been an idiot.

"Say whatever you need to say," he said, watching her carefully.

"WHAT THE HELL? YOU'VE BEEN CHAT NOIR THIS WHOLE TIME AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW! I AM SUCH AN IDIOT, OH BOY, AND TIKKI'S KNOWN THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME AND I TOLD ALYA IT COULD NEVER BE YOU!"

"Good observations, my lady," he said, his eyes glinting with laughter. "Will you be ok?"

"Yes," she said slowly, "But you could have told me you knew earlier. How did you find out, by the way?"

"Well I had my suspicions, and then at the piano lesson the other night, well, it was actually your eyes," he said.

"My eyes?"

"Yeah, it was the scared look that I've only seen in your eyes a couple of times and I just knew it was you," he smiled. "And the fact that you thought you could kick my ass."

"Well I can, can't I?" she whispered, moving closer.

"Well you have launched me halfway across Paris, haven't you?" he grinned, this time, his eyes darting between hers and her lips. "Can we try that kiss thing again?"

She nodded, hands already at the base of his neck, playing with his hair. He leaned in, more nervous this time than the last, and pressed his lips to hers, closing his eyes. It was short and sweet, and a promise of more to come, and when they pulled away, both had a love-struck grin on their face.

"I should get you home," he said, "I've already kept you up enough."

"I'm happy to stay up with you."

"I know, but I'm dropping you to school tomorrow, and I insist on seeing Chloe's face when we walk in holding hands."

"Oh, you are, are you? What if I don't want to hold your hand."

"We both know you do."

AN: So, after not uploading for what feels like years, I have finally uploaded the final chapter for this story. I was going to make it longer, but I've been fairly busy with my year 11 studies this year, and my year 12 English exam was about a week ago, so that's where my priority was. As I'm going into year 12 in a couple of weeks, I've decided I will hold off on making any more full-on stories and stick to one-shots. Thank you to all readers who actually stuck with this story as I know how annoying it can be to wait for ages for a chapter to come out.

Thanks, Cass.

(Get keen for season 3)