NOTE: I want it known that any Miraculous stories I write and publish (because there will be more) were all my younger sister's fault. She watches the show every day and I couldn't help but think of some good story ideas. I will put this author's note in every Miraculous story I post, so if it sounds familiar, then you probably read another one of my fanfics.

Disclaimer: I do not own this show nor anything else except for my stories.

*This story takes place at the end of the episode Copycat. Wikipedia says that it's episode 9 from season 1, but on Netflix, it's episode 5.*

Adrien had a lot of fun at the movies with his friends, and he made a mental note to thank Nino for the suggestion in the first place. And for bringing along Alya and Marinette, both of whom had made the outing even better. But as always, the model's fun was spoiled when he was told he had to go to a photoshoot right as the ending credits began to play.

When he finally got home, Adrien threw his school bag on the floor and flopped onto his bed, mindful to let Plagg out before the blond accidentally squished his kwami.

"About time we got home! I want some cheese!" Plagg whined as he zipped around the room. Adrien rolled his eyes at Plagg's antics before he pulled out a piece of camembert and threw it up into the air for the small black entity to catch in his mouth. "Mm! Delicious cheese, how I love you!"

"Quiet, Plagg," Adrien chided as he scrolled through his phone. He hadn't gotten the chance to check it since he'd found it in his bag, which still puzzled him since he had been so sure that he'd already looked there, and Adrien wanted to hear the voicemail he'd gotten earlier.

But when he looked at his voicemail box, there was nothing. The mystery number that had called him before was listed in his phone log, but the voicemail from earlier wasn't there anymore.

"Why are you teenagers always so obsessed with these pieces of metal and glass?" Plagg asked as he floated down to Adrien's face. "Is it about that message from earlier?"

"Yeah…I guess it accidentally deleted itself when it was in my bag or something. Maybe some of your cheese fell onto the screen," Adrien replied, though he didn't really believe anything that he was saying. As much as the blond hated accusing people, he had the feeling that maybe someone had gotten their hands on his phone. Which would explain why Adrien couldn't find it for most of the day.

While Adrien already had a pin, he felt the need to change it from a four-digit number to an actual password…that may or may not have been the word 'ladybug'. It may not have been the perfect password, but Adrien was just glad that his phone was less susceptible to being hacked into (or at least, harder for people to unlock it).

"Didn't you accidentally delete some Ladybug photo you got with her as Cat Noir? Wasn't there some recycled trash can that you had to dig through?" Plagg didn't really care either way, but it was either the kwami help Adrien or listen to the kid complain about it all night. Though with Plagg's luck, the model wouldn't shut up about it for a week or two.

"Oh, yeah," Adrien quickly got out his phone's charger and plugged it into his computer. After a few minutes of moving the mouse with the occasional click noise coming from the keyboard, Adrien found what he had been looking for. "Here we go…everything that was deleted should come back in a separate folder…"

"Are you talking to yourself again? Because if you're talking to me, I wasn't listening," Plagg commented. Adrien said nothing, just unhooked his phone from the computer and walked back to his bed. "Well? What did it say?"

"Give me a second, Plagg," Adrien muttered as he scrolled through deleted photos, videos, and files, only stopping when he found a deleted voicemail from a number he didn't recognize. It had to be the one. He turned the volume up so Plagg could hear it and pressed play.

"Hello, uh, Adrien's voicemail, this is Marinette, who, uh, has a message for you. Of course, because it's, uh, your phone. So, um *laughs nervously* call me, see you later, bye!"

Adrien blinked a couple of times, not sure if he'd heard the message right. Marinette didn't have his phone number. Then again, maybe she'd gotten it from Nino. If she called him, then it had to be important. The blue-haired teen hardly ever managed to talk to him without stuttering (which Adrien had to admit was pretty adorable). He was about to type in Marinette's number to call her back when he realized the voicemail wasn't finished.

"What? What did you expect me to say? Hey, hot stuff, this is Marinette. I'd ask you on

a date to a movie but I've got such a crazy crush on you that the only way I can talk to

you without foaming at the mouth is over this stupid phone. Pretty ridiculous, right?"

Neither Adrien nor Plagg said anything at first, the former being too stunned to say anything and the latter was unsure of how exactly to react. A few seconds went by before Plagg burst out laughing.

Adrien scowled and set down his phone. "This is not funny. What am I going to do?"

"I don't know! But that was hilarious! She went from being Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde really fast, didn't she? One second she's an awkward stutter-bug and the next, she's a flirt just like you!" Plagg exclaimed in between laughs.

"Shut up, will you?" Adrien's face had turned bright red when he heard the message, and Plagg's teasing just made it worse. He felt so…conflicted. On the one hand, it was nice to finally know why Marinette acted so weird around him. Adrien had always felt that maybe she hadn't truly forgiven him for the gum-in-her-chair incident when they first met, but instead, her awkwardness was all because of her crush on him.

On the other hand, Adrien's heart belonged to Ladybug. And Marinette was just a friend…right? If there had never been a Ladybug, then Adrien could definitely see himself liking a girl like Marinette. The baker's daughter was so kind, and smart. Her designs showed how creative she was, and she was a natural-born leader, even if she didn't see it herself. Marinette wasn't too bad at videogames either. And…she wasn't half-bad looking. Quite the opposite actually.

Adrien shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. He wasn't interested in Marinette, not in the same way he was interested in Ladybug. If he'd never met Ladybug then maybe- no, he wasn't going to think about things like that.

"What am I going to do?"

"You don't have to do anything. I'd bet a wheel of camembert that she was the one who deleted the voicemail," Plagg stated. Though how the teen girl managed to do that, the kwami wasn't sure. It wasn't like she had Tikki to phase through the locker. Readers, keep in mind this happened before Dark Owl, so Plagg doesn't know that Marinette is Ladybug. "Even if she didn't, your princess didn't mention it when you guys went to the movies. So, you're in the clear, bud."

Adrien said nothing. The cheese-lover was right; Adrien had no obligations towards Marinette whatsoever. But that did nothing to dissipate the pang of guilt that Adrien felt. Clearly, he wasn't meant to hear the message. Or at least, not the last part. If he told Marinette that he'd heard it, she'd be mortified. She might even begin to hate him like she had when they first met.

And the blond would do anything to prevent that from happening. He cherished his friendship with Marinette. Adrien didn't have that many friends growing up, so he tried his best to befriend each and every one of his classmates. Not to sound cocky, Adrien liked to think that everyone in his class thought of him as their friend.

'Is Plagg right? Should I just do nothing?' Adrien thought to himself. He sighed then began his preparations for bed. A good night's rest might help clear everything up in the morning. At least, that's what he told himself as he drifted off to sleep.

The following day, Adrien acted like everything was normal. He said good morning to Marinette when she arrived at school, surprisingly not late for once, and made small talk until Madame Bustier showed up. Not even Nino, his best friend, noticed that anything was up with Adrien.

Being Cat Noir really seemed to help Adrien's acting skills, something he had grown to be very, very grateful for.

What he didn't know was how carefully Marinette had been watching him that day. Adrien was usually very perceptive (or so he liked to tell himself) yet he failed to notice the frown on Marinette's face, the way she tapped her pencil out of frustration, or the worried glances aimed at the teen model.

"I'm not sure what, but something seems to be bothering Adrien," Marinette whispered to Alya as they walked through the hallways. Alya brushed it off as nothing and insisted that her blue-haired friend was just overthinking things.

Nonetheless, Marinette was unable to shake off the bad feeling she had. Before she could gather up the courage to ask Adrien, however, he left early for yet another photoshoot. Honestly, Mr. Agreste really should've quit scheduling so many of those things. Gabriel acted as if his son was the only model he had when in reality, he had plenty of people to wear his designs and have their pictures taken.

"I know you're worried about Adrien, but you need to go on patrol with Cat Noir," Tikki flew over to Marinette when she finally finished her homework for the night. Despite knowing her kwami was right, Marinette sighed. She really wasn't in the mood for any of her partner's puns, or his flirting.

"Okay, you're right. Tikki, spots on!" Marinette exclaimed softly, so as to not wake up her parents, who had already gone to bed. Once her transformation was complete, Ladybug made her way to the Eiffel tower to meet up with Cat Noir.

Normally, the feline superhero would always be there early, awaiting his lady's arrival. But for once, he was late. When he finally got to the tower, he could do nothing but smile sheepishly as Ladybug scolded him for his tardiness. "My apologies, Bugaboo. Time ran away from me. I do hope you'll fur-give your favorite cat."

"What did I tell you about calling me Bugaboo?" Ladybug asked irritably. She knew it wasn't fair to take out her frustration on Cat Noir and felt guilty when she saw the dejected look on her partner's face. "I'm sorry; it's just been a…weird day."

"It's alright," Cat Noir replied. "I had a weird day too. Though yesterday was a lot weirder."

"Oh, yeah. I guess seeing another you had to be unnerving," Ladybug commented as she thought back to the day before when she had to figure out which Cat Noir was the akumatized Theo. Not to mention the whole 'voicemail' fiasco. Though getting to go to the movies with Adrien had definitely made Ladybug's day.

"Well, that too. But my phone was missing for most of the day, and when I got it back, this voicemail I hadn't gotten to listen to yet was already deleted," Cat Noir waited for the heroine to tell him to stop talking in case he revealed too much.

For once, Ladybug didn't say anything about how any personal details could lead to an accidental identity reveal, or that their secret identities were supposed to stay secret. Instead, she just sat down and gestured for Cat Noir to sit beside her. Any other night, Ladybug would insist on getting started with patrol immediately so they could both go to bed at a somewhat reasonable time.

Not that Cat Noir would ever look a gift horse in the mouth. He eagerly sat down and waited for Ladybug to say something. Surprisingly, luck was on his side that night.

"That's interesting," Ladybug began. What were the odds of both of the superhero teens having problems with voicemail messages? She'd had her suspicions before, but even Ladybug couldn't be that lucky. Right? "Do you know who the voicemail was from?"

"Well, actually," Cat Noir rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I, um, was kind of curious to see what the voicemail was about so I may or may not have gone through all my deleted stuff on my computer to find it. And then I heard the voice of one of my classmates."

"Really?" Ladybug asked. She bit her lip uncertainly. She could hear Tikki's voice in the back of her mind as the kwami practically screamed 'no' over and over again. Their identities were supposed to be kept to themselves. Nonetheless, Ladybug found herself too curious to stay quiet. "Don't tell me their name or anything, but what was it about? And how did it get deleted?"

"I don't know how it got deleted, to be honest. Plagg thought that maybe my classmate had gotten ahold of my phone to erase it," Cat Noir admitted. "She said some things I don't think she meant for me to hear. But I'm not really sure whether or not I should tell her. What do you think?"

Cat Noir trusted Ladybug with his life. Which might have been the reason why he felt like he could tell her anything. Despite, you know, talking to the love of his life about another girl. And Ladybug actually didn't seem to mind it. Which kind of freaked him out but also excited him at the same time.

"Well, was it important?"

"Yes," Cat Noir said instantly. "Everything just, well, it made sense. It explains the way she acts around me, and so much more. I mean, I've interacted with her as Cat Noir, and it's like she's a completely different person. I'm telling you too much, aren't I?"

"Not yet, Kitty," The cogs in Ladybug's mind turned as the pieces of the puzzle she hadn't known she'd been trying to solve all fell into place. Not that she had planned to solve the impossible riddle that was Cat Noir. What he said reminded her a little too much of the fiasco she'd had with Adrien's phone, where she had said things she hadn't meant the blond to hear. "Do you want to get to know her the way you do in the suit? Do you want to talk to her about this 'life-changing' news that you accidentally heard?"

"I…I don't know…I mean, she's just a friend." Cat Noir didn't believe himself, and the look on Ladybug's face told him that she didn't believe him either. "Well, I thought she was. But I want to get to know you too, my Lady."

"Cat…you trust me, don't you?"

"Of course, L.B. With my life and my love," Cat Noir winked, though it was without his usual flirtatious energy. His weak smile faded when he saw the unamused look on Ladybug's face.

"Then try to get to know her. Don't make it romantic unless you actually have feelings for her," Ladybug advised. Now, Cat Noir prided himself on being able to read his partner pretty well. But it seemed like his luck had run out (which is what normally happened to him) since Ladybug's face was completely emotionless and her body language gave nothing away. "Do you have any feelings for her?"

Cat Noir remained silent for a good five minutes, and Ladybug was just about to suggest that they just go on patrol when he finally responded. "Yes. And you know me, Ladybug. I'm loyal as can be. If I give it a shot with her, then all of my annoying flirting that you hate so much will be put to a stop."

"I don't hate it," Ladybug wasn't entirely sure what she was doing. Was she really encouraging Cat Noir to go out with some girl he liked instead of her? And, if she was correct, was she really trying to help him ask Marinette (aka Ladybug)? If Ladybug was wrong, she'd have to reject Cat Noir not only as Cat Noir but as Marinette too. If she was right and Ladybug no longer had to be concerned about liking both Adrien and Cat Noir simultaneously…well, Ladybug wouldn't get her hopes up just yet.

"It's not like you're proposing marriage or anything. Spend time with her and see if there's a connection. If not, no harm, no foul. If she's really your friend, she'll understand if you don't want to see her romantically."

"She is my friend. And…I think I'll take your advice. Thanks, L.B. I'll take the south, you take the north, and we meet back up after patrol." And with that, Cat Noir was gone. All Ladybug was able to do was hope she had made the right call and wait to see what happened next.

"Are you sure you want to do this, kid?" Plagg asked as Adrien packed up his bag for school. Adrien nodded firmly. After patrol, he'd gone home to think things over. His lady- no, not his. Adrien couldn't think about Ladybug like that if his plan to ask Marinette was successful. It had taken a few hours, but Adrien had finally come to the conclusion that he wanted to at least try with the girl who sat behind him in class.

Not to mention that Ladybug's words still echoed through his thoughts. "Cat…you trust me, don't you?" All flirting and teasing aside, Adrien could say without a doubt that he respected his partner and knew all of her plans worked out in the end. It wasn't because it was Ladybug's idea that Adrien had decided to go through with asking Marinette to hang out. She was more like the final push he needed, or the straw that broke the camel's back.

Which is why Adrien had decided to wait by Marinette's locker and hoped that the blue-haired girl wasn't late that day. Nino noticed the nervous look on his best friend's face and asked what was going on.

"I, um, well, I had something I needed to talk to Marinette about but I don't know if she'll be late or not," Adrien stammered as he leaned against the lockers to try and play it cool. Of course, Nino knew the blond too well for that to work.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"It's kind of private," Adrien's eyes widened as he spotted Alya and Marinette walk past the two teen boys. What caught his eye was the fact that, instead of her flowery shirt, Marinette had decided to wear a red shirt with a black jacket over it, a small ladybug underneath the collar. And he couldn't help but think that she looked really good in red and black. "Uh, do you think you could get Alya to go to class early so I can talk to Marinette alone?"

Nino smirked. Finally, the moment he and everyone else in their class (minus Chloe) had been waiting for was about to happen. Even Sabrina and Madame Bustier were all for 'Adrienette', as Alya had dubbed the potential couple. At least, he hoped it was. Nino nudged Adrien playfully. "Go get 'em, dude."

Then he walked over to his girlfriend and whispered into her ear. She smiled widely and said a quick goodbye to her best friend before she grabbed Nino's arm and dragged him to class. Along the way, she may or may not have warned her classmates to leave Adrien and Marinette alone.

Marinette hummed as she opened her locker and got out a couple of textbooks. She hadn't seemed to notice that it was just her and her crush. Adrien leaned against the locker next to her in an attempt to look casual. He cleared his throat to gain Marinette's attention, who turned her head and flushed slightly upon seeing Adrien's face.

"Adrien! Um, hi. How are you doing today?" Marinette managed to speak with very little stuttering, a feat that impressed both herself and Adrien.

"I'm doing great. And you?" Adrien's palms began to sweat and he could feel his face heat up.

"I'm doing pretty good too," Marinette replied as she examined Adrien's red face and the nervous smile he was giving her. "Is there something you wanted to talk about or…?"

"Yes!" Adrien shouted. He winced when he realized how loud he was and spoke again in a softer tone. "I mean, yes. Well, yesterday I got a voicemail from a number I didn't recognize. I wasn't able to listen to it, and then my phone disappeared for most of the day. Then I found it in my bag."

"I remember that," Marinette commented. "What about it?"

"I wanted to know what the voicemail said, so I hooked it up to my computer to find it in my deleted folder," Adrien looked away from Marinette, not able to look her in the eye. "And I was able to listen to the voicemail."

"The one I left on Alya's phone?" Marinette asked. Adrien nodded slowly. Her face, somehow, got even redder than it had already been. "That's embarrassing."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed! I'm actually pretty happy about it," Adrien rushed to reassure Marinette. If his plan was going to work, he needed to make sure she didn't feel so humiliated that she'd never speak to him again. "I mean, it explains a lot of things. I've always wondered what you thought of me, and everything just, well, it made sense."

When he said that last line, a sense of déjà vu washed over him. He briefly wondered if he'd told Marinette the exact same thing he'd told Ladybug the night before, but Marinette began to speak before he could think too much about it.

"You know, I never thought about how I must've come across to you. I was so nervous whenever I spoke to you that I bust jabbled- I mean, just babbled nonsense. Like now," Marinette smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I was the one who was so oblivious to everything," Adrien smiled softly, his anxiety fading away when he saw that Marinette was just as nervous as he was. "So, I know we went to the movies yesterday, but I thought maybe we could go again. Without Nino and Alya this time."

Despite knowing what she did, it was still a little hard for Marinette to speak to her crush. But then she remembered what Tikki had told her the night before; if Adrien was Cat Noir, then she should be able to channel her 'inner Ladybug' as Tikki had called it. So Marinette smiled teasingly and stood on her toes to get closer to Adrien's face.

"Why Adrien Agreste, are you asking me out?"

Adrien's heart skipped a beat. She'd teased him before when he was sent by Ladybug to protect her when they fought Nathaniel aka the Evillustrator. And he'd seen how confident she could be around her classmates. But never had she teased him as Adrien. "Um, if you wanted to, then...yes?"

"Of course!" Marinette beamed happily. Adrien sighed in relief. "If you have any lessons or a photoshoot, then we could do it later in the day and maybe get ice cream afterward?"

"Yeah, I have a piano lesson as soon as school lets out. I should be done by five tonight. We can talk about what movie to see at lunch. Sound good?" Adrien asked. Marinette nodded as she closed her locker door. "Alright then. Guess we should go to class before we're both late, huh?"

Marinette and Adrien walked through the classroom door right as the bell rang. Their classmates all looked at them with knowing looks, and Adrien could've sworn he saw Kim pass money to Max. Unbeknownst to them, when Nino had explained what was going on, all of their friends had gotten their wallets out. Because, of course, they all had a running be over who asked who out and when it happened. Not that they'd ever tell Marinette or Adrien that.

Adrien's heart was not ready for the outfit Marinette chose to wear on their date (unless she said otherwise, Adrien refused to think of their outing as just two friends hanging out).

She'd changed into a pair of black jeans with neon green stitching and a black shirt with a green paw in the center. Stitched in white were the words 'paws-itively purr-fect'. Her hair was in pigtails tied together with black ribbons with little green paws at the end of them. And her necklace was a simple golden strand with a small golden bell that matched the ones on her boots, which were dark green with black straps and golden bells attached to the shoelaces. Marinette had even gotten rid of her usual pink purse in favor of a small green one (the same style as her pink one) with black ribbons.

It was like almost like she was wearing Cat Noir's suit. Now, Adrien had seen Cat Noir merchandise before, but he never pegged Marinette as much of a fan. She hardly ever talked about Paris' two superheroes unless it was to defend Cat Noir whenever someone said he wasn't as important as Ladybug. (The first time she'd done that, Adrien had practically melted with happiness.)

"Hey, Mari. You look great," Adrien stated as she stepped into his limo. The only way Adrien was allowed to go out with Marinette was if Gorilla chaperoned which meant he would wait outside of the movie theatre to give the kids some privacy but make sure they didn't sneak off to who knows where.

And, of course, they had to take the limo. So, Adrien had volunteered to pick up Marinette from her parents' bakery and promised her mom and dad that he'd have her home at a reasonable time. Though they didn't seem too worried about that. They knew he was a good kid as was Marinette, so neither Sabine nor Tom gave it a second thought when Marinette told them she was going out with Adrien.

"Thanks!" Marinette replied before she took a look at Adrien. He'd changed into dark blue jeans and had taken off his white overshirt in favor of a jean jacket to match his pants. His hair, for once, wasn't perfectly styled. Instead, it looked just like Cat Noir's. If Marinette had any doubts that Adrien wasn't her superhero partner before, his hairstyle and the white ring on his right hand dispelled any uncertainties she might've still had. "You too."

When they arrived at the movie theatre and went to pay for tickets and snack food, Marinette went to open her purse but Adrien beat her to the punch. "But Adrien-"

"I asked you out, so I'm paying. Okay?" Adrien's tone left no room for argument, so Marinette just sighed and let him pay for her. She made a mental note to make sure she didn't let him spoil her too much if they kept going out. Somehow, Marinette got the feeling that this would become a frequent argument between the two of them, one that she most likely wouldn't win very often.

"Fine. But only because I don't feel like using my powers of purr-suasion on you right meow," Marinette winked as she grabbed Adrien's hand and pulled him to the screening room. Adrien's face flushed but said nothing, instead he just entwined their hands and went along with it.

'Who knew she liked puns?' Adrien thought to himself with a grin. 'Wait till she hears mine. Then she'll see how tail-ented I can be.'

An hour and a half later, Adrien and Marinette got themselves some ice cream from this cart vendor, André Glacier *reference to an episode in season two* and sat down on a bench that looked out onto the lake.

"This is really good," Adrien was on a very strict diet, like most models, so he hardly ever got to eat sweets. But luckily for the blond, Gorilla didn't seem to care too much about his diet since he swore not to tell Nathalie or Gabriel about the ice cream. "Glad to see you have the inside scoop on where to find the best ice cream."

Marinette only had to herself to blame for all of the puns that had come out of Adrien's mouth. They'd somehow gotten into this pun competition to see who could come up with the best ones. Most of Marinette's were cat-themed, because of her outfit, as were a lot of Adrien's. The blue-haired teen had heard enough of Cat's play on words to have a large repertoire of puns to choose from but little did her blond opponent know that she'd google a whole bunch on her phone right before he had picked her up that had to do with movies and ice cream.

"Only the best in all of Paris will do. After all, André did go to...Sundae School," Marinette bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to incorporate some puns that concerned both Cat and Ladybug. She hoped that her oblivious date would catch on if she dropped enough hints. Though knowing Adrien, it wasn't too likely.

"That's brilliant. You're the class rep, can design your own clothes, and know hiss-terical jokes. Anything you can't do?"

"Talk to you without foaming at the mouth," Marinette joked. Adrien's face flushed at the memory of hearing Marinette's voicemail for the first time. To think so much had changed between them in the span of two days that Marinette was actually able to hold a conversation with Adrien. And score a date, no less. "I didn't design the shirt and jacket I wore but I did sew the little ladybug on the collar. Not sure if you noticed that or not."

"Yeah, I spotted it," Adrien smirked. While most of his puns often revolved around cats, he did have some ladybug ones up his sleeve. There was no way Marinette knew enough to beat him. "You're one special lady."

"I know. I'm bugaboo-tiful," Marinette had to hold back a laugh at Adrien's astonished face. "I watch videos on the Ladyblog and noticed a few of Cat Noir's nicknames for her. Found a lot of puns on the Ladyblog based off of said nicknames."

"Uh-huh. That reminds me. Something's been bugging me," Adrien smiled weakly as he finished the last of his ice cream cone. "What's with the Cat Noir outfit?"

"Well, I notice a lot of people are always purr-aising Ladybug. But no one seems to give that much attention to Cat Noir. So I thought I'd raise awareness for our claw-some superhero," Marinette replied. Adrien's face flushed for what felt like the millionth time that day. "It was miraculous that the idea came to me before today."

"Oh? How so?" Adrien's throat felt extremely dry for whatever reason the second Marinette said 'miraculous'. The one thing he had sworn to do that day was to not compare Marinette to Ladybug. But with every pun, every time she teased him, and with every Ladybug-like quality he found in Marinette made it impossible not to. She was so kind and caring, confident and brave (normally), and just a little clumsy. When they'd first met, Ladybug had introduced herself as Ms. Clumsy, and occasionally that awkward, shy side of her would shine through.

Adrien facepalmed mentally. He was supposed to be having fun with Marinette, not thinking about how. Freaking. Similar. Marinette was to Ladybug. And how he felt like their banter was so familiar. As if they'd done it before. He sighed inwardly. Now he was more confused than ever.

"If I'm going on a date with Cat Noir, then shouldn't I dress to impress him? Fur-tunately, I managed to finish this in time. Isn't it purr-ity? A dress fit for a purr-incess," Marinette stayed silent for a few minutes but received no response. She sighed. Apparently, she'd have to spell it out for him. "Are you kitten me? I've been dropping hints all day, waiting for you to connect the dots. Come on, Kitty. Don't you recognize your Lady?"

"My- Marinette?!"

"Your Marinette? A little fur-ward, don't you think?" Marinette smirked. Then she patiently waited as Adrien thought about everything she'd said. The pieces all fell into place for Adrien, just as they had the night before for Marinette. Still a bit stunned, he said nothing.

Instead, he reached up to brush Marinette's hair out of the way to reveal her black earrings. The one she wore every day without fail, the ones that looked very similar to Ladybug's except for the color. Just like Adrien's ring. He lowered his hand slowly, seemingly in a daze.

Then all of a sudden, Plagg shot out from Adrien's jacket and flew over to Marinette's face. "Good going, Ladybug. You broke him. Now, where's Tikki?"

Marinette smiled and opened her purse to allow Tikki to fly up to greet her fellow Kwami. And to also scold him. "Plagg, we're in public. We're supposed to avoid drawing attention to ourselves."

"Come on, Sugarcube. No one else is around," Plagg whined, though he willingly followed his friend back into Marinette's purse where no one could see them.

"Plagg, huh? Tikki never did tell me your Kwami's name. She didn't tell me he looked so much like a cat either," Marinette commented. Adrien's eyes blinked twice as he came out of his stupor. And then he pulled Marinette into a hug. "Kitty?"

"Marinette...it was you. All this time and you were right in front of me. Or behind me, I guess," Adrien felt tears in his eyes but he held them back. Then, as if it had just dawned on him, he pulled back to get a good look at Marinette, a sly smile on his face. "And you punned! You finally punned! Are you being fur real right now?"

"Yes, I'm- was that another pun?" Marinette narrowed her eyes before she just shook her head fondly. "I wasn't sure until today, but when you told me about the voicemail, well, two of the most important guys in my life having issues with a deleted voicemail after their phone went missing simultaneously couldn't just be a coincidence."

"That's true. Wait, two of the most important guys in your life?" Adrien's smile was brighter than the sun. "Aw, you do like me!"

"Wouldn't have encouraged you to ask me out if I didn't."

"Oh. You, Ladybug, wanted me to ask you, Marinette, out. That's great!"

"Don't make me regret this, Kitty."

"Never, my Marinette," Adrien tested the words out and found they rolled off the tongue perfectly. "Hmm. I think that's my new nickname for you."

"Not another one!" Marinette groaned. She let Adrien pull her closer and smiled fondly. "I guess I can live with that. But don't think I'll be punning every day. I only did that to get you to figure out who I was."

"Whatever you say, Princess," Adrien whispered before he leaned in and kissed Marinette. Neither of them said much after that. They didn't need too.

"Wait, you missed the ceremony because you were stealing my phone?!"

"I didn't mean to miss it!"

"I don't know whether to be impressed or terrified that you were able to do that without me suspecting you."

"I won't do it again. Probably."

"You're a thief, Marinette."

"Am not."

"You are too. Ladybug, the heroine of Paris and a phone thief."

"You got Theo akumatized?!"

"It was an accident- ow! You can't hit your boyfriend!"

"My boyfriend, who got a sculptor akumatized!"

"I'm sorry! I was just jealous. I didn't know you liked me."

"Cat Noir, the oblivious hero of Paris who causes akumatizations."

AN: My sister got so frustrated by this episode that I had to write this to appease her and give an alternate ending. Plus...I thought it'd be funny if this had happened instead of the original ending. I hope you enjoyed this one-shot! If not...I'm sorry, I guess? This was a lot longer than I'd planned on making it but I didn't feel like making this into a multiple chaptered story.

- Kitkat Out!