Adrien squeezed his eyes shut tightly, intent on not letting his curiosity get the better of him as he held out the Miraculous ring for Ladybug to take.

Then he felt her hand take his own and close it, allowing him to continue to hold onto his precious ring.

He was surprised. Was she going to only give hers? What was that saying? Curiosity killed the cat. He started to chew his lip in an anxious matter, while Tikki been having a silent conversation with Plagg.

One peek. That's all. I probably won't even recognize her. He thought, giving himself a quick nod that for some reason, the kwamis did not seem to notice. If they did, they didn't say anything.

His eye opened just the slightest, and he quickly shut it in fear of being caught. His mind, however, was running faster than anything ever created. He had gone rigid as he slipped his ring back onto his finger, quietly whispering," Claws out." He felt himself transform, then heard Ladybug- no, Marinette whisper her transformation code words ("Spots on, Tikki!")

"Are you ready, My Lady?" He asked, voice slightly cracking. He winced.

"As always, Kitty."

They opened their eyes, looking at each other. How had he not seen it before?

The blue eyes, the kind smile, and most of all, the god damn pigtails! How the hell did he not notice?

"Everyone's blind in this city, Adrien." Plagg had reminded him once. Right. That included him.

Mr. Damocles was safe and sound, being the Owl for the young and homeless.

But the girl that sat behind him, he couldn't shake the wish to just… tell her that he knew. That he was Chat Noir, that he was basically in love with her ever since they first met. He ran his hand through his hair, feeling too anxious for words.

But he was a coward.

He watched as Chloe continued to berate Marinette again, and this time Chloe had apparently gone over Marinette's BS limit. "I bet you are even meaner than I am, but you'll always be meaner because I'm the nicest person there ever was-" Chloe stopped her ridiculing. "Are you… growling?" Marinette's eyes were no longer the kind blue that was normally there, and Sabrina cautiously pointed at the pencil Marinette had been holding.

It had snapped under Marinette's two fingers, and her eyes were twitching. "On the other hand, the class has started! Back to your seat, Marinette." The blonde gave an awkward wave to the black haired girl and rushed back to her seat, away from the angry girl.

"Hey Ayla, mind if I borrow a pencil?" The girl showed her friend the two halves that had previously been her writing utensil. "Sure, Mari."

Nino turned to look at Adrien. "Dude, you haven't said a word. Are you okay?" The loud call of the bell rang. Saved by the bell, he thought. He rushed out of the classroom, not stopping to respond to Chloe's desperate calls. "What happened to him?"

Marinette frowned at the boy. The way he had run, and the way his hair looked after he had mused his hair… Impossible. She waved the thought away and went back to drawing in her design book with her borrowed pencil.

Away from Marinette, Adrien was freaking out. So he was in love with Marinette?

It made sense. Her running away with half-baked excuses (Ha, that was a good pun, he thought), why she wasn't where he had hidden her, everything was coming together and it wasn't very comforting as his brain was starting to hurt with all the information.

"Marinette?" When had he walked over to her? He walked to her, smiling as she jumped in the air, her book flying and hitting him smack in the face. She picked up the book quickly.

"Eh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- It's just you're so- You flew- My book flew you into-" She buried her face in her hands. "I'm not making this anything better for myself."

He gave a quick and unsteady chuckle, dragging her away from the school center and away to the classroom where no one was.

"You-You're…" He stuttered, being the wordless one this time as Marinette raised her eyebrows at the unusually nervous boy, a bit of Ladybug sass shining through her usual timid facade.

"You- Uh, I mean you're the…" He dragged out the 'e', stuttering a bit.

"Okay, you know what? I'll just say it." He gave a nod to himself. "Marinette!" He grabbed her shoulders, causing her to squeak.

"You're thelaaa…" His mind blanked. "…stperson I'd ever think to be as bad as Chloe, okay? Great pep talk!" He gave a nervous laugh, patting her shoulder and bolted out the classroom.

Plagg bit Adrien's finger once the coast was clear. "You idiot!"

"Ow! What the hell?"

"You could have gotten your answer! Why didn't you-"

"Plagg, curiosity killed the cat, remember?"

"But satisfaction brought it back, you fucking idiot! Why are you turning into a chicken?! I didn't choose a chicken as my host! You fucking chicken!"