I want to thank Rasiaa for being my beta, from the bottom of my heart: Thank you!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I make no profit writing this.

See the end of the chapter for more notes.

Chapter 1

Adrien was thrilled when his dad allowed him to stay over Félix's house. Partly because he loved his cousin and they hung out less often than they would like to, since both of them had quite busy schedules, and partly because Félix's parents were warmer and more present than Gabriel (and doesn't that say something about Gabriel since both of Félix parents were politicians). But mostly it was because Félix had a giant bathtub that Adrien could spend hours in.

After the longest bath he had ever taken, Adrien got out of the bathroom to find Félix holding something that looked a lot like Adrien's phone.

"Dupain-Cheng called while you were taking a bath. She needed to speak to you about a history project. I took the liberty to inform her you were unable to take the call at the moment and I promised you will return her call."

For some reason Félix sounded extremely amused. This was unsettling to say the least, since Félix rarely ever let his voice or face show any emotion.

"Thank you, I'll call her back."

"When you do it, give the princess my regards," replied Félix, returning Adrien's phone.

Adrien was confused for a second until he unlock his phone to find the most recent call in his phone log. Thirteen minutes ago he had received a call from "Princess."

Adrien knew saving Marinette's contact information under the nickname he gave her as Chat Noir wasn't his brightest idea, but in his defense, he never thought someone else would see it.

The room felt very hot all of sudden. Curse his pale skin for it was impossible to hide a blush.

"It's not like that," he said vehemently.

"Like what?"

"We're just friends."

Félix just raised an eyebrow, giving Adrien his bitch-face number 5, the one that says 'Do you think I'm stupid?'

In previous occasions Adrien have been accused by Félix of having a crush on Marinette. Félix was not wrong. Adrien did have a crush on Marinette. How could he not? She was amazing, brave, talented, and gorgeous. Actually, she was one of the cutest girls he had ever met. So, of course, he had a crush on Marinette.

Problem was, he was deeply, irremediably in love with Ladybug. And that was not likely to change anytime soon. He was not some kind of two-timing jerk who would pursue Marinette while he loved another girl. Marinette deserved somebody who was totally devoted to her. So he had decided a long time ago to not act on his feelings for her.

Of course he couldn't explain this to Félix; if he told him he was in love with someone else Félix would ask who. Since his cousin didn't know Adrien was Chat Noir, he just couldn't tell him it was Ladybug. If he did, Félix would just dismiss his love for Ladybug as a celebrity crush. And he just couldn't tell Félix it was a girl he worked with - like he had told Nino ages ago - because, unlike Nino, Félix did know his co-workers. Ergo, the easiest way out was insisting he and Marinette were just friends.

"So, you have pet-names for all your friends? Or they are reserved for quite attractive female friends who you absolutely do not have a crush on?"

"It's not a 'pet-name', it's a nickname. What? Giving a nickname to my friend is now a crime?" Even Adrien noticed he sounded way more defensive than he intended it.

"Then, surely you will not mind if I start calling her 'Princess' as well," replied Félix, smirking.

"You… um… what?" Yes, he would mind a lot, honestly.

"I mean it is just an innocent, friendly nickname, right?"

As much as Adrien loved his cousin, sometimes he just wanted to punch him right in the face. Would it really be that bad if he did? Nobody would hold it against him; everybody who has met Félix had wanted to punch him at some point or another.

"Just, shut up," said Adrien, before returning Marinette's call. How dare Félix to tease Adrien about his love life anyway? It was not like Félix's love life was any better. He has been in love with Marinette's cousin since forever, but for some reason he kept rejecting poor Bridgette's advances. He obviously knew nothing about girls and love.

Adrien wasn't naïve enough to believe Félix will forget about the princess thing anytime soon. From that day on, every time Félix mentioned Marinette he called her princess. That went on for months. Thankfully, he still called her Dupain-Cheng when he was talking to her. Félix and Marinette didn't see each other very often, just a handful of times in the last few months.

Adrien wondered what would happen if one day Félix called Marinette "Princess" while talking to her. She'd probably want to know where he got the nickname from, and when Félix would tell her, she would figure out that Adrien was Chat Noir. Ladybug would skin him alive for exposing his identity.

Adrien knew Félix will grow bored of the nickname sooner or later. He just really hoped it was sooner rather than later, preferably before accidentally revealing Adrien's identity.

Marinette was bored.

Is not that Bridgette's birthday party was boring, per se. Bridgette was a popular girl, almost her whole school showed up to celebrate her 16th birthday. Music was cool, the food was delicious. Problem was, since Bridgette went to another school, Marinette didn't know anybody. The only people she knew from the guest list were Félix and Adrien (who Bridgette was not actually close friends with; they were more like mutual through Félix and Marinette).

Sadly Adrien didn't show up; apparently he had to be at another event with his dad. Bridgette was dancing with Félix and Marinette didn't want to interrupt, and since there were no other people she knew at the party, she was incredibly bored. She had decided to text her father to pick her up. Besides, the next night she had patrol, so at least she should try to have some good sleep tonight. Her dad texted her back that he'll be there in a few minutes.

While she waited for her dad to come, she was sitting in a table watching the people on the dance floor.

Bridgette looked incredibly happy dancing with Félix. Everybody was shocked when Félix asked her to dance with him since he had claimed several times in the past that he hated dancing (or any other source of fun and joy). Seriously, that boy was like a bitter eighty years old man trapped in a sixteen years old's body.

Félix has showed up a couple of hours after the party started, claiming he was late because he was still deciding whether to come or not, and ultimately decided to because he was bored in his house. Marinette knew that was a blatant lie. She knew from a reliable source (she overheard Adrien,) that Félix had spent the last couple of weeks freaking out over getting the perfect gift for Bridgette.

Marinette didn't know why Félix kept playing hard to get; it was obvious that he was head over heels in love with Bridgette, and everyone and their mother (including Félix) knew Bridgette had a crush on him too. Those two should just start dating already.

Marinette was lost in her thoughts when her phone rang with a text from her dad, telling her he was at the front door. Figuring she at least ought to say goodbye to her cousin, she went where she was dancing with Félix.

"Hey Bri! My dad's here to pick me up."

"This early?" Bridgette asked with a hint of sadness. Marinette felt slightly guilty, but not enough to stay in a party where she knew no one.

"Yeah, I've stuff to do early in the morning, so…"

"Oh, right. Okay. See you Mari."

"See you Bri. Happy Birthday! Text me when you open your gift, I hope you like it." She really did, she had spent weeks sewing that dress.

"I'm sure I will. It's yours after all."

"You sap."

"Tell Aunt Sabine and Uncle Tom that I say hi."

"I'll tell them." Marinette hugged her cousin, and then she turned to Félix. who was texting somebody - probably his personal assistant or something - and said, "Bye Félix."

"Farewell, Princess!" he replied, without looking up from his phone, missing the identical looks of shock on the girls' faces.

Both girls excused themselves, leaving a very confused Félix on the dance floor.

Bridgette felt like throwing up. Maybe she had heard him wrong, because there was no way, NO WAY, that Félix 'I-call-everyone-by-their-last-name' Agreste, had just called Marinette 'Princess.'

They had been in school together for several years and Félix only called her Cheng, except for that one time she was caught in an akuma attack. She got a concussion, so Félix took her to the hospital and called her 'Bridgette' when he was trying to keep her awake.

Bridgette had been elated about being called by her first name, it seemed like a big deal back then, and now Félix just casually had a nickname for Marinette.

Maybe he didn't mean to call Marinette that, maybe he was reading something about a Princess on his phone and he mixed up his words.

Sounded plausible; that's probably what had happened.

Bridgette didn't actually believe it. She felt like crying, but this was her birthday party and she would keep a strong face at least until the party was over.

She returned to the party, but she didn't feel like dancing with Felix anymore. She avoided him for the rest of the night.

Marinette returned to her home in a dream-like state. She was on autopilot during the whole conversation on the car with her father, 'yes, I had fun', 'Bridgette said hi", and 'no, she hasn't opened my gift yet.'

She reached her bedroom and lay on her bed with her mind blank. She didn't want to think, because if she did she would start connecting dots, dots that shouldn't be connected, and she'd end up reaching a conclusion she really didn't want to reach.

With an eight letter word, Félix had destroyed the foundations of her world, and right now her world was crumbling to pieces.

"Are you okay Marinette?" asked Tikki, concerned by Marinette's pale face.

"Félix is Chat Noir," said Marinette weakly.

"Sorry?"

"Félix is Chat Noir," repeated Marinette, louder this time.

"What are you talking about?" Tikki looked so utterly confused. Marinette was aware Tikki knew Chat Noir's identity, so she did not understand why she looked so shocked by this information. Maybe she was surprised that Marinette had figure it out already.

"I don't know why I never suspected him. Both of them are blond."

"Marinette, you can't accuse every blond boy of…"

"They are around the same height."

"That doesn't mean th…"

"I always suspected Chat was around my age, Félix is only a few months older than me."

"Paris is a huge city; he can't be the only teenage boy that fits that description…"

"I've always thought Félix voice's sounds a lot like Chat's."

"Félix's voice also sounds a lot like Adrien's; does that make them the same person?"

"And he called me 'Princess' today."

"He did what?"

"Félix called me princess today," reiterated Marinette. "Only Chat Noir calls me princess."

Marinette didn't understand why Tikki was being so difficult. She understood the importance of secret identities, but there was no point on playing dumb now since she had figured out Chat's. The silly cat was dumb enough to call her princess sans mask.

"Don't you think Félix is way too grumpy to be Chat?" insisted Tikki.

Now, Tikki had a point. Marinette was indeed having troubles reconciling her pun-loving partner with Adrien's grumpy cousin. The idea of Félix and Chat Noir being the same person was giving Marinette an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. She used to think she knew everything there was to know about Chat (except his identity of course), but if Félix was indeed Chat Noir, then it meant Marinette didn't knew her partner as well as she thought she did.

"Well, Chat did mention he acted different as a civilian." Marinette remembered Chat mentioning how there were many expectations on his civilian identity, how he had to keep a certain image, therefore he acted much calmer.

Tikki still looked utterly unconvinced.

"The fact that Félix called you 'princess' is not foolproof evidence that he is Chat Noir," she said carefully, after a second of silence. "So please don't get ahead of yourself and do anything rash or irresponsible that might…"

"You are right Tikki!"

"I'm glad you think so."

"I need to find more evidence that Félix is Chat!"

"I never said that."

"Operation: Prove that Félix is Chat Noir, is a go."

Tikki sighed, defeated.

"If you are going to be so stubborn about this, you should at least pick a less generic name for your operation."

Marinette was not sure what the steps of 'Prove that Félix is Chat Noir' actually were. She was awake the whole night, thinking. Her first idea was to follow Chat post an akuma battle and catch him dropping his transformation, but she quickly dropped the idea. For some reason that felt wrong, like if she was betraying Chat's trust. Plus, she would feel incredibly hypocritical since she would have been furious if Chat ever followed with the intention of watching her dropping her transformation.

Her second idea was that the next time she saw Félix, she was going to observe him carefully and see if she could actually spot – pun not intended - something of Chat in him; in his speech pattern, in his mannerisms, something. The idea was not half-bad, she was definitely going to do it. Problem was that she didn't see Félix very often; she had no idea when she was going to see him next, and it could be in a few hours or a few months. And she was going to go insane if she didn't find proof soon.

Of course, the opportunity presented itself that night during patrol. The night was very quiet, and they finished their patrol early. On nights like that, they liked to meet in the Eiffel tower, to just talk, see how the other was doing.

That night Chat was talking lively about something, but Ladybug was not paying attention. She had spent all the night observing her partner, trying to find any proof that he was indeed Félix Agreste. She could definitely see the physical resemblance, but it was proving to be difficult to see grumpy, cold, distant Félix in her silly, happy, overly friendly Chat.

"…and then I decided to run away from home to fulfill my dream of becoming the world's most renowned professional yodeler."

"Sorry?"

"I knew you weren't paying attention," said Chat casually. "What's up Buginette, were you too focused on admiring how clawsome and sexy I look tonight?"

"You wish, Kitty."

Chat winked and it was so un-Felix like. Marinette remembered last Valentine's, Bridgette made a card for Félix and when she delivered it, he looked like his head was going to explode from blushing so much. It was hard to imagine Félix winking and flirting like Chat did.

Chat was talking again, what was he saying?

"Earth to Ladybug." Chat looked mildly concerned now. "So, penny for your thoughts?"

Suddenly she had an idea. All she had to do is mentioning Félix and observe Chat's reactions.

"You have to promise you won't laugh at me if I tell you."

"I would never dare to laugh at you, My Lady." Chat put his hand on his chest, mockingly offended.

"So, I was thinking about a boy," Marinette despised lies, but this was not a lie, was it? She was indeed thinking about a boy, just not in the way it was implied by her tone. This was not lying; this was saying a truth without context. Not the same thing.

Chat looked utterly taken aback with that response.

"A boy?" He asked slowly, as if those two words were very hard to pronounce.

"A boy."

"And, may I ask My Lady, what boy is worthy enough to have all of your attention even if he is not present?" Chat voice sounded weird.

"I'll let you know: it's Félix Agreste."

Chat went completely pale. Ladybug took note of that.

"Fé-felix Agreste?" Ladybug didn't think she'd ever heard Chat stuttering before.

His reaction was really interesting. She decided to play it dumb.

"Félix Agreste. Ever heard of him? Tall guy, blond hair, green eyes, I think he is around our age. He has been in the public eye for quite a while, since both of his parents are politicians."

"I know who he is," replied Chat quietly. Chat was never quiet. Definitely, Ladybug was onto something here. "Do you know him or something?"

Of course, Chat would like to know if they knew each other outside the mask.

"We have met," she said, mysteriously, hoping to pique Chat's curiosity. She was waiting for Chat to ask where or when she had meet Félix, but the question never came.

Chat just stare into the distance in silence. She decided to push a little further. If there was something Chat couldn't resist was praises.

"I really admire him you know? He is a genius, best student on his class." Finally, the hours of listening to Bridgette gushing about Félix were paying off. Marinette could almost imitate her perfectly. "And he is really generous; he does a lot of charity work. And oh so humble! He never brags about anything."

Chat still didn't reply and for some reason he looked like he was going to be sick. He probably didn't know how to react to Ladybug's praises without giving his identity away. So she decided to push a little bit further.

"And it doesn't hurt that he is really attractive. One of the hottest guys I've ever met." This wasn't a lie either. Félix indeed was one of the hottest guys she ever met. Just because she wasn't interested in him romantically, didn't mean she couldn't make an objective observation. It was just a fact. The sky was blue, the sun rises in the east, and Félix Agreste was hot. That being said, in her humble opinion Adrien was a thousand times hotter. "What do you think of him?"

"He is a really good person, one of the greatest guys I've ever met," Chat answered carefully "He is smart and loyal and he is really funny to be around – even if he looks grumpy at first sight - and he is a really lucky guy, if you are that interested in him."

He was not looking at Ladybug while saying all that, and his voice sounded sad and defeated for some reason. Suddenly he was on his feet and saying.

"I…I just remembered I left the stove on?"

It came off more like a question than a statement.

"You left the stove on?" repeated Ladybug, trying to make sense of Chat's words.

"Yes, I left the stove on. Gotta Dash! Goodbye Ladybug!"

Chat left without giving Ladybug time to reply. If she suspected Félix before, after seeing Chat's panicky reaction she was one hundred percent convinced: Félix Agreste was Chat Noir.

For some reason, she didn't feel joy for being able to prove her theory, instead she felt an unpleasant weight on her chest. Maybe it was because apparently she didn't know her partner as much as she thought she did, if she was unable to recognize him as a civilian, but most likely it was related to the fact that if Chat was Félix, then Chat was in love with Bridgette.

Marinette have always loved the idea of Félix and Bridgette together, she had shipped them with the passion of a fangirl. This shouldn't change now that she knew he was Chat Noir because she only liked Chat as a friend and there should be nothing wrong with him liking her cousin. Except there was something terribly wrong with him liking Bridgette. The idea of Chat liking anybody - especially her cousin - was a really unpleasant one.

She knew she shouldn't care if Chat liked Bridgette since she was head over heels in love with Adrien. But she did care. For the second night in a row, she didn't sleep at all.

Adrien already knew Ladybug didn't reciprocate his feelings. He already knew she was in love with someone else. It still hurt when she mentioned being thinking about a boy, but he thought he could take it. He thought he could put a strong face while Ladybug gushed about the man of her dreams, not letting her know she might as well be kicking him on the stomach several times on a row.

He could take Ladybug gushing about a nameless, faceless, man. He could endure the conversation picturing the guy to be an ugly disagreeable jerk and totally not worthy of Ladybug. But then Ladybug had to go and put a face and a name to the man of her dreams, and Adrien's heart dropped from his chest, fell from the top of the building they were standing on, and crashed on the ground, breaking into a million pieces.

The nameless, faceless, ugly jerk, undeserving of Ladybug's affection that Adrien hated so much, turned out to be a handsome gentleman, almost worthy of Ladybug's affection, that Adrien not only knew quite well, but also loved very much.

There were twelve million people in Paris, and Ladybug had to go and fall in love with his cousin. He really needed to have a word or two with whomever or whatever superior power was in charge of the universe. They clearly hated Adrien.

Monday came, and Adrien arrived to the school feeling worse than ever. He had spent the whole Sunday just lying on his bed drowning on self-pity and pain. After Saturday patrol he had been unable to sleep, luckily he didn't have a photoshoot schedule until Tuesday. If he didn't get a full night of sleep tonight, the makeup crew were going to have heart attacks when he showed up to the photoshoot looking like he was going to make a cameo on The Walking Dead as a zombie.

When Nino asked, Adrien gave him a weak excuse about some made up late night photoshoot. Nino didn't look like he believed him and Adrien spend the whole day ignoring the concerned glances his friend was throwing at him.

Adrien didn't pay attention in class; he couldn't concentrate on what Madame Bustier was saying. This was unusual since he usually did great in school. Of course his grades were not as perfect as Félix's; therefore Ladybug didn't love him like she loved Félix, so there was no point in paying attention in class anymore.

Adrien knew he was making zero sense, but the love of his life told him that she was in love with his cousin; do excuse him if he is being a little absurd. He was so lost in his thoughts he almost missed the lunch bell, and he hardly remembered when he ended up at sharing a schoolyard table with Nino, Alya, and Marinette.

"So, why does Adrien look like he died twelve years ago today?" asked Alya at some point.

"His dad made him do a late night photoshoot last night."

Nino was the real MVP, he didn't believe Adrien's excuse yet he repeated as if it was an indisputable truth.

"Yeah, it ended around one in the morning and I have to wake up at five am for school. I'm surprised I haven't collapsed yet," added Adrien.

"That sucks; your dad is seriously exploiting you. Someone needs to have a word with him about how many hours of sleep a growing boy needs."

Adrien was surprised Alya bought the lie, while Nino didn't. She was an excellent reporter; she should've been able to see through his BS. Maybe it was because Nino knew him way better than Alya did.

Suddenly Marinette, who has not spoked until then, got up and announced:

"I'll be back."

"Where are you going, girl?" Alya looked confused by her friend's sudden action.

"I need to grab something from my house. I'll be quick."

Marinette left without giving Alya time to reply and returned when the bell was about to ring. She was out of breath. She probably went running to her house. She was carrying a small box and a thermos.

She nervously approached Adrien, and he wondered why she always looked so terrified around him. He really hoped he knew so he could work on a way to make her feel more comfortable with him.

"I…I….coffee… you said… didn't sleep so I thought…what I mean…I..." She took a deep breath as if trying to calm herself, and said, "you said you didn't sleep last night so I brought you coffee, to keep you awake." She said the whole sentence without stuttering and looked rather proud of it, she gave him the thermos and then added, "I also brought you macaroons, for an extra boost of energy."

He accepted the thermos, ignoring Nino and Alya's protests that were accusing Marinette of favoritism. He didn't deserve Marinette. She was too good; she was nice and generous and everything good in the world.

"Thank you," he said, smiling for the first time in the past two days.

"You're welcome." She smiled back. She looked super cute when she smiled, especially because her smile reached her eyes, her cute bluebell eyes, so similar to Ladybug's…

See, this is why Adrien never allowed himself to explore his feelings for Marinette. She always ended up reminding him of his Lady, and that was not fair. As he had stated previously, Marinette deserved better than a jerk who was constantly thinking about another girl.

Even if said girl was in love with aforementioned jerk's cousin. His life was a mess.

As predicted, on Tuesday the makeup crew almost had a heart attack when they saw him.

TBC

This will be a three-chapters story. Chapter two and three will be published within the next week.

I came up with this plot bunny a while ago, but I didn't dare to write it before because I'm not a native English speaker and the fandom is not that big in my native language.

I want to thank Rasiaa once again. She helped me a lot.

Love

Tete

PS: Before I closed my Tumblr account, I made a post about this plot bunny, in case you have seen it before.