Author's Note: As promised, this is my special bonus chapter for all you readers! :) An AU version of Chapter 8, The Date, where Adrien actually comes to visit Marinette as Chat Noir instead of wearing his play costume. Enjoy! And thanks so much for joining me on this ride :)

When the Gorilla shows up to pick up Adrien after school, he finds his young charge practically skipping around the bottom of the stairs, giddy with excitement.

As usual, he says nothing, choosing instead to raise his eyebrows as he watches the boy slide through the door and sit down, eyes glittering with purpose as he leans against the back of the seat, looking even more like a model than usual.

He's sure it has something to do with the black haired girl the boy has been spending so much time with recently. Marinette, he thinks her name is.

Whatever her name is, she's a good influence on him. It's been a long time since he's seen the boy smile like that, and it's all he can do not to smile as well.

Tikki floats by Marinette as she looks down at the message she's just received on her phone, brows furrowed, her lips curved into a perfectly upside down frown.

"What's wrong, Marinette?"

Marinette tosses the phone onto the bed and curls up into a ball on her computer chair.

"Adrien just texted me. He says he can't come tonight. Something else came up last minute, and he has to go to a fancy dinner with his father."

Tikki snuggles against her cheek. "I'm sorry, Marinette! I'm sure Adrien tried his best, but you know how strict his father is. You can hang out another time!"

"I know. I just really wanted tonight to be special, you know?"

Marinette looks across the room at the dress she's finished in a rush just for this special date. She sighs as she gazes at the crimson red bodice and the shimmering silvery skirt, in all of its gauzy, floating diaphanous perfection. It would have been perfect for tonight.

"I know," says Tikki, comfortingly. "But you can always hang out another time!"

Marinette looks down and sighs as her phone buzzes. She crosses her fingers and hopes that it's Adrien, texting again to say that he was just joking and that he really is coming tonight.

She scoots over to the bed to see who's calling and sees that it's Alya. She picks it back up and swipes it open and puts it on speaker before moving to her bed to lean against her cat cushion.

"Hey girl, what's up?" she says, trying her best to sound cheerful.

She is unsuccessful.

"What's with the glum voice? You sound like you just came home from a funeral. Is anything wrong? Do I need to come over?"

"No, I'm fine, I promise! It's just been a long day."

"Was it something Adrien said? Do I need to go beat him up?"

"What? Alya, no! How…I mean…I don't know?"

Alya snorts. "Girl, do you really think I'm not paying attention to you? I saw whatever it is that's going on between the two of you. I don't know what it is, but you know I've got your back if you need me to do anything."

"I promise I'm fine."

"Okay, well then, why don't we hang out tonight? Can I come over? Maman brought home a bunch of leftover appetizers from some fancy party at the hotel tonight and I hid them away before my sisters could get to them—I figured we could share."

Tikki nods encouragingly and smiles. "That's a great idea!" she whispers.

Marinette shakes her head. "Thanks Alya, but I think I need some alone time tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Thanks though. I'll see you at school?"

"Okay, lady. I'll see you then. Bye."

"Bye."

Marinette sighs and looks down as she hangs up. She wants to tell Alya the truth about everything, but it's not the right time yet. And she's not sure that's safe, either.

Of course, knowing Alya, she probably doesn't have much time. Her friend has always been curious beyond belief and has a sharp instinct for when something's going on with her, and even though Marinette's been able to hide the truth about Ladybug so far, she's not sure she's going to be able to do the same when it comes to her new relationship.

Because Adrien's her one weakness, and Alya knows everything about it.

It's one of the problems that come along with wearing her heart on her sleeve—she couldn't hide her fondness for Adrien if she tried, and to be honest, Marinette doesn't really want to hide it.

She just doesn't want Alya to know that she's bummed out and wants to be alone because she thought he was going to come over to her house to make out with her, and now he's not.

It's 7pm, the time Adrien was supposed to arrive for their fourth date.

Instead, Marinette is standing alone on her balcony, leaning against the railing, while Tikki takes a nap inside. She feels silly for being so bummed out. It's not like they're not going to have another date again soon. But she was excited for tonight, hoping that he would have taken her prompt to "be creative" and done something fun.

And that's when she feels a rush of wind to her left and screams bloody murder as a pair of laser green eyes suddenly appears in the darkness and a large hand grasps onto her left shoulder.

"Marinette—stop! It's me! Chat Noir! I mean, Adrien!"

It takes a full two minutes for Marinette to stop panicking and start breathing again normally.

"Why are you here?!" she manages to say, in between heavy, unsteady breaths.

Chat Noir looks sheepish. "You said to be creative…so I thought that I'd pretend that I couldn't come tonight and then surprise you by showing up here like this."

Marinette finally calms down at his bashful grin and shakes her head, smiling.

"This is sweet, Chat Noir—Adrien. But I really do think you should come back in from the front entrance. Like I said, there's no reason for you to sneak around. My parents love you! In fact, I'm pretty sure my father made an entire basket of croissants for you after I told him you were coming over tonight."

Chat Noir looks down woefully. "I totally messed this up, didn't I?"

"Oh, chaton, no! I'm the one who told you to be creative. I should have just told you to come over."

She looks back up at him with a cheeky grin. "But I guess…since you're here…we could make the most of it before you leave and come back and introduce yourself like the proper gentleman you are."

She reaches over and rings his bell before grabbing his collar and dragging him into her room.

"Sit, minou," says Marinette, pointing at her bed. "And close your eyes. I've got a surprise for you."

Chat Noir does as she says, dutifully sitting ramrod straight at the edge of the bed, eyes shut tight and hands clasped together. He looks like a little boy about to make a wish on a star, and Marinette smiles fondly at the sight.

She dims the lights in her room and walks over to her closet, where she's put away the dress she planned to wear tonight, and pulls it back out. Chat Noir blushes and coughs nervously, squeezing his eyes shut even tighter as he hears her unzip the clothes she's wearing and hears them fall softly to the ground.

Marinette slips into her dress and pulls out her hair ties, letting her hair fall in loose waves against her face. She tiptoes barefoot across the room, light as a fairy, and taps Chat Noir's warm, flushed cheeks with her fingertips.

"Mon minou, open your eyes."

He does, and he's breathless at the sight. Marinette looks like rubies and starlight, shining bright in the dim light of the room, her cheeks glowing. She's more beautiful than he ever could have imagined she could look.

And he has absolutely no idea what to say to her.

And she has absolutely no idea what to say to him.

In the absence of the adrenaline rush that surrounded them last night, they're beginning to realize that the space between them is a new one, with a different kind of energy that they're only beginning to understand. What does it mean to be teenagers in love? And what does it mean to be teenagers in love, who are also superheroes, and partners?

"So," says Marinette. "What now?"

"My lady, you know I always follow your lead," says Chat Noir, flushing as he nervously raises an arm up to rub the back of his neck.

Marinette smirks and nods. "Okay, then," she says, sauntering up to him and playing with one of his cat ears before grabbing his collar and pulling him close, lightly brushing her lips against his.

As she pulls back, Chat grins and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. His hands brush against her skin as her bodice crinkles up, and she shivers with pleasure as the ribbed edges of his gloves press against her spine.

She presses back in for another kiss, but unprepared for the sudden movement, Chat Noir lets go and trips backwards, thudding hard onto the bed with his head landing right on Marinette's cat cushion.

Marinette bursts into merry laughter as she looks back and forth between the grinning cushion and her silly chaton.

"You look like twins!" she says in between giggles.

"Very funny," says Chat Noir, pretending to pout.

"I'm sorry," says Marinette, trying to be serious.

"I don't think you are though," replies Chat Noir.

Marinette grins wickedly. "You're right, I'm not. But for what it's worth, I think you're the more attractive twin."

"Is that right?" says Chat Noir.

"Without a doubt," says Marinette.

"Well that makes me feel a little bit better," says Chat Noir. "It would be nice to have some purr-oof though."

"Oh, I can prove it to you right now," says Marinette, sitting down beside him on the edge of the bed and slowly inching closer until she pounces on him and pulls back his collar to start kissing his neck.

At first he murmurs with contentment, and then she hits a ticklish spot and he bursts into laughter and Marinette jerks back, surprised. But then when she sees the sparkle in his eyes, she's absolutely delighted, and she moves in for another kiss and tickle attack.

After about fifteen more minutes of kissing and tickling, Marinette and Chat Noir are exhausted, and they lean against her cat cushion, cuddling.

And then that's when they hear it—the resounding thud of footsteps rushing up the stairs, and they look at each other in a panic. Marinette manages to shove Chat Noir under her bed with a yelp just as her parents and Alya come bursting through the trap door.

"Marinette!" shouts Alya. "I just saw a video that got uploaded on Youtube just now of Chat Noir jumping onto your balcony. What's he doing here? Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

Marinette laughs nervously. "Ahaha yes, yes! I—I'm fine! I'm absolutely, 100% fine! Chat Noir? He's not here! I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Are you sure, honey? We're worried about you!" says Sabine.

"If there's anything you need to tell us, don't be afraid," adds her father.

The three of them notice all at once that she looks disheveled, her lipstick smearing onto her cheek, hair mussed up.

Sabine looks at her daughter suspiciously. "Is there something you're not telling us, Marinette?"

Marinette tries to stop herself from sliding her gaze at the edge of her bed, but her eyes betray her, and the three of them follow her gaze to two large, distinctly foot shaped bumps bulging out against the bedskirt.

Tom leans down and pushes it away to reveal…Adrien, with lipstick stains on his cheeks and neck and wearing a bashful smile.

"My dear, it looks like we've caught a young tomcat!"

Marinette waves her arms around and screeches as Sabine tries to hide a smile and look serious.

"I was going to have him come downstairs and make a proper introduction, I promise!"

Alya raises her eyebrows. "How did you get up here, anyway, Adrien? It's obvious you didn't come in the front door."

"Uhh…Chat Noir is a friend of mine," he ventures. "I…climbed up here on his back."

The three of them stare at him skeptically before Alya whips her head towards Marinette.

"And you! I'm never going to believe you when you say you need alone time ever again."

"That's fair," replies Marinette, with a contorted expression that somehow manages to combine panic with both embarrassment and amusement. "I wouldn't believe me either."