It was in the middle of an akuma battle when Adrien first noticed them. Tiny dots on the underside of his lady's mask oh-so-subtly decorating her skin. He was trying to count them when Ladybug turned away from him, bending backwards to avoid a projectile the akuma was throwing at them. He spun his staff, creating a makeshift shield to cover for her as she flipped back up. He'd have to count them another day.

The next time it happened, they were at patrol. Eiffel tower twinkling in the distance. How had he known her for so long without noticing them before? He was staring at her - he knew he was - but she was gazing lovingly into the city and seemed a bit distracted. His cat eyes picked up the details of her face just as well in the dark as during the day. He counted. 10! She had 10 freckles across the bridge of her nose, outlining the underside of her mask. All different shapes and sizes, some so tiny he thought he'd miss them without his Chat Noir vision. After counting he sat back, satisfied. He'd know those freckles anywhere, he decided. Whoever his lady was, behind her mask, he loved her.

But the mask. Her mask. His mask. Their secret identities like a wall between them. He thought he knew his Lady, knew her well. They had known each other for just over a year now. He knew that she was amazingly resourceful and clever. That she had battle smarts and bravery and could always be depended on to save the day. But he also knew that behind the mask was a girl. Maybe around his own age. One that dreamt and loved and carried on about her day with the secret knowledge that she was Ladybug. Who was she? How many more freckles lay underneath the mask?

He wanted to trace all of her freckles with his fingertips, to commit their pattern and every inch of her face to memory - not just the parts of her face he could see from the mask. All of her. Unmasked.

She turned and smiled at him and his heart warmed at the sight. When he sighed, it came out almost like a purr. How could anyone be so perfect?

'Wait, are you guys talking about freckles?' Adrien didn't mean to eavesdrop on Marinette and Alya's conversation behind him - but he kind of had a radar for all things Ladybug related and it pinged when he heard the word 'freckle.' He turned around to face them better.

Alya laughed and explained, 'Marinette was just saying she hated her freckles.'

Marinette huffed in response and muttered under her breath. Adrien caught the words 'girl code' in there somewhere but Alya just smirked. Adrien couldn't really understand their friendship sometimes. He and Nino had it easy. They were bros. They supported each other. Played Ultra Mecha Strike III together. Hung out together. But a large portion of Alya and Marinette's friendship seemed to involve Alya flinging Marinette into conversations and situations she didn't seem to want to be in. She'd turn red and stutter and it made Adrien feel really worried about her sometimes. Recently though, he had to admit Marinette had been getting better at being less embarrassed by Alya.

'Dude, I've known you for like a decade and I didn't know you had freckles,' said Nino.

Leaning forward, Marinette placed her hands on her cheeks and fanned out her fingers across the bridge of her nose. 'I do have freckles!' she wailed, tucking in her chin to tilt her face slightly and show them.

Adrien leaned forward to take a closer look at Marinette's offending sun spots. He'd actually never noticed them before either. She had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. She moved her fingers from her cheeks and he saw some freckles there too.

Unbidden, Adrien's fingers reached towards Marinette's face, softly tracing an outline of her freckles. One line across the bridge of her nose, covering ten or so spots of different shapes and sizes, and another line from cheek to cheek, curving like the Seine river to catch five more. This is what Ladybug's face must feel like underneath the mask, he thought to himself.

The school bell rang sharply through the classroom, snapping him out of his reverie.

With a rapidly increasing sense of horror, Adrien realised that he had just spent the past few minutes touching Marinette's face. Said face was bright red at the moment with Alya, beside her, looking worriedly on and Nino, beside him, raising an eyebrow at him. Marinette was the first friend he made at school and really, really important to him. He didn't mean to upset her. How could he have been so careless? Or empty-headed? He snatched his hand away, feeling his own cheeks heat in embarrassment and worry.

He opened his mouth to apologise but Marinette got in first.

'I…' began Marinette and he shut his mouth to listen to her, 'need to - to...' she continued falteringly, 'to get a drink!' and with that she stood up suddenly, burying her face in her hands as she ran out of the classroom.

After Marinette's abrupt departure, Alya leaned over to elbow Nino in the back. He exclaimed in indignation and she whispered to him, 'I know you said that Adrien had a thing for freckles but what was that?'

Nino reached over to rub his back where Alya had elbowed him with a grimace. 'I don't know, man.'

Meanwhile, Adrien folded his arms and buried his face in them, wondering if going to school with other people at the normal age instead of being home-schooled would have prevented physical boundary disasters like this. He could just imagine Plagg laughing at him right now.

Marinette didn't return until after her name was called for roll call, and she had to go up Miss Bustier and apologise for being tardy - which wasn't actually unlike Marinette now that he thought about it. He tried to catch her eye and get a moment with her alone to apologise but every time he tried to approach her she hurried away in another direction, sometimes literally running away from him. One time he approached her during lunch with her back turned and she jumped a mile when she heard his voice, and then ran away. Locking himself inside an abandoned art cupboard to confide in Plagg (he was right, Plagg found the whole thing hilarious and spent the first few minutes laughing at him), he despaired. The idea of Marinette being mad at him and being unable to forgive him was tearing him up inside. Plagg surprised him with something kind of comforting when he confided that part to him. Plagg said, 'She's not mad at you.' Adrien lit up in response, ready to accept absolution. 'But you do need to talk to her,' Plagg continued. Adrien groaned, deflating as he recalled his attempts from earlier today.

'I know.'

Patrol was a bit of a brusque affair that afternoon. They did their routes and finished up at their meeting spot. Adrien was still ruminating and feeling remorseful over his uninvited caressing (Was it caressing? Objectively, it probably was caressing. But did it count if you didn't mean to caress?) so he was a little quiet.

Ladybug sighed, interrupting his train of thought and he realised he'd heard that sound a few times today already - he wasn't the only one out of sorts today it seemed.

'What's wrong, my lady?'

She shook her head and said, 'It's silly.'

As Chat Noir, it was easy for Adrien to grin, to perform a somersault and land in a ridiculous lunge pose in front of Ladybug. He flexed his arms as he posed, 'Nothing is too silly for your Silly Kitty!'

His posturing had its intended effect because Ladybug giggled at his antics. Then she sighed again and said, 'I really hate my freckles.'

Chat Noir straightened up into a stand, his easy grin sliding off his face as his expression rearranged into one of shock. Shock on two fronts: Firstly, every part of his Lady was beautiful - he would not change it for the world. Secondly, that's exactly what Marinette was complaining about earlier today...

Ladybug continued, 'So today, right, somehow we were talking about freckles and the guy I like - his face is flawless - and he was, um, touching my freckles and I felt so embarrassed and I don't know why I let him do that and he'll probably never see me the same way again,' she inhaled sharply after that rushed sentence and then added, quietly, 'I couldn't even speak to him today after that.'

'My Lady,' said Adrien, walking towards her. He wanted to give her a hug - she looked so small and vulnerable. But given his experience today with physical boundaries and crossing them he stopped short of engulfing her in his arms in a hug as was his first instinct, instead settling for standing close beside her. He pointed up towards the night sky, 'Would you begrudge the stars twinkling in the firmament above for ruining the perfect darkness?'

'No,' she replied.

He wracked his brain for another example and remembered his blue home-made scarf from his father, 'Does the uneven texture of homespun wool make it ugly?'

'No,' said Ladybug. She added, 'the irregularity is why it's so highly sought after.'

He turned towards her now and winked as he asked, 'Do the spots of a Ladybug detract from her beauty?'

She giggled in response. 'No, Chat Noir.'

'Well, just like constellations have helped explorers navigate the open sea and pointed the way home, just like the most expensive and precious pieces of wool are homespun and unique in every single way, just like a Ladybug is known by her spots, each configuration as unique as a snowflake, I would never change a thing about you, my Lady. I love your freckles.'

With her eyes almost watering, Ladybug opened her arms and closed the small gap between them. She wrapped her arms around his side and embraced him.

He hugged her back, trying to convey how much he cared about her in the simple gesture.

'Thanks, Chat Noir.'

Slowly, they pulled apart from the embrace and he gazed lovingly at her. His Ladybug. With or without the mask. He raised one clawed finger and gently, oh-so-gently traced an outline of her freckles. One line under her mask across the bridge of her nose, covering ten or so spots of different shapes and sizes. He raised his finger and traced another line on top of the mask, from cheek to cheek, his finger curving like the Seine river to catch five more freckles his heart knew lay beneath the mask.

'You're beautiful, Marinette,' he said aloud.

Ladybug stiffened, and looked up at him - eyes wide open in shock to hear her civilian name.

She whispered, 'Adrien?'

And he nodded, slowly, decisively.

With the hand that traced her freckles he gently caressed her face. He watched her close her eyes as she slowly tilted her face up towards him.

His eyes closed as he leaned down, lips pointed towards her mouth.

The bell rang, snapping him out of his reverie. Adrien opened his eyes and realised he was still at school - his fingertips tracing Marinette's freckles.

He pulled his hand abruptly away, like it was in the middle of doing something incriminating and Marinette slowly opened her eyes, tilting her head at him curiously. He heard Alya let out a giggle and turned to see Nino raise an eyebrow at him.

'I…need to - to...' he stuttered, 'to get a drink!' he stood up suddenly, feeling his face aflame as he fled the classroom.

As he closed the classroom door behind him, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart he realised he felt super guilty. He felt unfaithful for thinking about Marinette in that way when he was supposed to love Ladybug. He wanted to transform, to run into the night, back to his Lady.

But Marinette, his very good friend Marinette... He remembered how she looked just then, eyes closed, soft smile tugging on the edge of her lips as he traced the freckles on her face. No trace of her trademark awkwardness in sight. She looked so at ease to have him touching her so intimately. She looked so trusting and so ... loving?

No. He shook his head resolutely. He loved Ladybug. Whoever it was behind that mask - that was who he loved. And even though she wasn't ready to reveal her identity, even though the timing wasn't right yet, he held fast to the hope that one day it would be and he would be able to love his Lady in the day time as well as in the night. Their secret identities were a wall between them that they would someday break down to find each other. For a chance to be with her, he would wait a lifetime. Because what was a lifetime, if his heart was already devoted to her for eternity?