Marinette loved Valentine's Day, for one reason or another, it didn't really matter. Everything from the sweets to the sweet people, the smells and scents to the cute cards or songs. It was all just adorable! And, of course, her favorite part of the holiday had to be the orders the bakery received. Personalization on cakes always made her laugh, since people requested some of the silliest things.

She was working in the bakery for the entire day, not that she minded. Customers were in-and-out for the entire day after their orders or to just grab something in the case. It was quite peaceful, until lunchtime.

The bell above the door jingled and she spun around from arranging a candy bouquet, "Good afternoon!" she greeted cheerily.

"Hey, Marinette."

Her heart dropped. Adrien! "Oh! Wh-what are you doing here? An order?" she asked. Marinette could tell her breathing was rapid, and her heart was beating a million beats a second. Adrien shook his head and bent down in front of the case to scan over the treats, which gave Marinette a moment to compose herself.

He wasn't quite sure what to get; heck, he was still surprised Nathalie was letting him actually get a sweet. Cookies and cakes were generally banned from his diet, but since it was Valentine's Day he was actually allowed to have one. Adrien had insisted it be something not made by his chef since nothing that man could make actually had any feelings put into it.

"What do you suggest?" he asked Marinette, looking up at her from where he was crouched on the floor.

Marinette jumped at his voice and blushed. She tried to play it cool and lean against the glass case, though she was sure she looked silly. "Well, the eclairs are really good, and the strawberry tarts are the freshest things in here, since Papa just made them half an hour ago…"

Adrien nodded and just before he could say something, a voice from the kitchen pulled both their attentions away.

"Ah! Mari, come and help me really quick!" Tom called, "The cheesecake doesn't want to come out of its ring!" he laughed. Marinette giggled and ran in after him, apologizing to Adrien as she went.

Plagg zipped out from Adrien's shirt, "Ahh, it smells great in here!" he sighed.

"Sh, be careful and don't get caught, Plagg," Adrien fussed, pushing the little cat down. Marinette came back out carrying the aforementioned cheesecake; she sat it on a table behind the counter and turned back to Adrien.

"Sorry about that, again!" she apologized. "D-did you decide on something yet? N-not that there's anything wrong if you haven't! I'm not impatient or something, you can take all the time you need! Not that you need a long time I just – I'm going to stop…"

Adrien smiled gently and nodded, "I think I'll get two of those tarts, Marinette," he said as he pointed to them. The girl grabbed a pair of tongs and opened the door, scooping out two of the prettiest ones. She set them in a small box and crunched the keys of the cash register with shaking fingers, ripping the receipt off and taping it to the top.

"H-here you are," she said. Adrien tried to conceal his excitement, but a little squeak still slipped by, which made Marinette giggle. He blushed and handed her the money, "Thank you and come again!" she said as she handed back his change. The phrase was so second nature to her, it would have utterly destroyed her if she'd messed it up.

"Thanks, Marinette!" And with that, he was out the door.

Marinette let out a breath she was holding and clutched at her heart. Tikki zipped up to her face with a teasing grin, "That went well," the kwami giggled.

"Oh, that was a mess!" Marinette groaned, spinning around and burying her face in her palms.

"Tikki?" a new voice suddenly called. Both kwami and girl froze, glancing around desperately to find the source. That's when they saw a little black…cat thingy…sitting on the cheesecake. Wait.

"Hey! Get off that!" Marinette yelled. She dove after the cat, who zipped away from her reach. "Who are you?" she asked. "Tikki, who is this?" she asked her kwami.

"The name's Plagg," Plagg explained. He landed on the sweets case, "I'm Adr- er, Chat Noir's kwami."

"OK, how did you get in here?" Marinette asked, placing her hands on her hips, "And where is that silly kitty?"

"I followed my nose and my nose said cheese. Chat's probably home by now, I'd say," Plagg said. "So, if I can't have that cheesecake, what else do you have?"

Marinette wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms, not sure what to think of the little kwami. Tikki sat down beside him, and the two seemed to naturally drift closer. That made it a little easier for Marinette to trust him, so she reached into the case and pulled out a cheese Danish. "Here, this should be good," she said. For Tikki, Marinette got out a cookie, just so her own kwami wouldn't feel left out.

"So, how are we going to get you back to Chat?" Marinette asked, resting her cheek on her hand. "He's probably worried about you, y'know."

"He'll be OK," Plagg waved off the girl's concern. "Right now, I think it's naptime!" At that, he stretched and plopped down on his back, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Plagg, you really should get back to your boy," Tikki fussed.

"Well, I guess I get the honors of telling you who he is!" Plagg exclaimed. "So you can get me home!"

Marinette's heart skipped and her face dropped, "Absolutely not!" she squeaked. "There has to be a way to get you back to him without saying a thing!"

"Why are you so worried about it?" Plagg asked. He turned to Tikki, "You chose a worrier again, Tik," he criticized.

"She just doesn't want to know," Tikki said, punching her fellow kwami's arm.

"Well, if she did know, she'd be really happy!" Plagg teased, looking up at the girl.

She sighed and scooped the two up, caring them upstairs. "Mama, Papa, I'm taking a break!" she exclaimed. Once in her room, she set the two down and flopped down in her chair. "There has to be a way to get you back…" Marinette mumbled to herself.

Meanwhile, Plagg took the time to look around the room. He'd figured out several months prior that Marinette was Ladybug, and to tell the truth he quite liked the girl. She was sweet, quiet, but full of sass when not around an unmasked Adrien. Of course, he hadn't guessed that that would be because of a crush on him. That was undeniable when there was a crapton of pictures of him all over her room.

"Somebody's starstruck!" he teased, flying over to the wall with the most photos.

"Hush!" Marinette fussed, a blush forming over her face. "And I'm not starstruck!"

"Oh?" Plagg snickered, "Then what is it? Crush?"

"No…" Marinette sighed, "At first that was it but…oh, why am I telling you?" she twirled around in her chair to face a window. Plagg felt a little bad for her, so he apologized in a way only he could: he plopped down on her head and purred. "What are you doing?" Marinette asked with a giggle.

"Your hair's really soft," Plagg commented, snuggling farther into it. "No wonder Chat talks about it all the time…"

That made Marinette blush again, "Does he really talk about me like that?"

"Constantly," Plagg groaned. "He's in love with you, y'know."

"He's WHAT?" Marinette squeaked, jumping to her feet. Plagg spun and fell to the seat of the chair, rubbing his head. "I thought he was just a flirt?!"

"Hardly…only with Ladybug and you, Princess," Plagg groaned. It was too much effort to get up in her face, so he just rolled onto his back. "Are you sure you don't want to know who he is? It'd probably an excellent surprise!" Again with his teasing, how did Chat put up with it?

"N-no!" Marinette shook her head, "It'll be fine, you're just distracting me! We have to get you home!"

Plagg sighed. Tikki giggled and shook her head. Not for the first time, Marinette thought the kwami was working against her.

After about an hour filled with more teasing and more yelling, the bell to the door downstairs jingled. Marinette flew down the steps, jumping the last few to save time. She'd completely forgotten about customers!

"Sorry about that!" she laughed awkwardly, sliding into place behind the counter.

"It's fine, Marinette."

Adrien.

"O-oh! Adrien, what're you doing back?" she asked.

He rubbed the back of his head, his eyes darting around the room, "I think I might have, um, left something here earlier and it's really, really important I get him – it! That I get it back…"

Not for the first time that day, Marinette could feel her heart drop to her stomach. "This it wouldn't happen to be a little cat with a thing for cheese, would it?"

Now it was Adrien's turn to feel his world crumple. Uh-oh. He nodded slightly, gripping his bag until his knuckles were white. Marinette backtracked out of the bakery and up the stairs, coming back down with Plagg, who had insisted on resting on her head. She looked so scared as she came back, Adrien thought she might faint.

"Please don't – please, just don't freak out, Marinette," Adrien said. His kwami seemed content in her hair, and Adrien couldn't help but think the cat was staying there to torture him. "I know it's weird and yeah I don't blame you if you freak but please, let me explain –"

"Chat," Marinette breathed out. "You're Chat Noir." He nodded, looking back up at Plagg, who still didn't seem ready to move.

"Aaaaand," Plagg chimed in, making Marinette jump. Adrien furrowed his brow, confused by the kwami.

"You're my partner…" Marinette added slowly.

Adrien choked on air. "What?" he asked quietly, fearing the answer.

"Silly kitty," Marinette giggled, tears springing into her eyes.

"You're Ladybug?" Adrien asked, needing reaffirmation. She nodded, and Tikki popped up over her shoulder.

To say that Adrien stayed calm would be the biggest lie of the century. His eyes went huge, and a grin took over his cheeks. He ran around the side of sweets case, lifting Marinette up into a hug.

"A-Adrien?!" Marinette gasped and clung to him as he spun her around.

He put her back onto her feet and let a goofy smile take over. "Sorry, My Lady," he apologized. "Ah, all this time, you've been right behind me!" he thought aloud, laughing and picking her back up. "All this time, My Lady has been sweet, adorable Marinette!"

"A-adorable?" she squeaked, holding onto his shirt with a deathgrip.

"I know it's kind of probably really sudden, but Marinette, I love you," Adrien breathed out, his smile never leaving his face.

Marinette felt her face heat up, and her tears returned, this time with a quivering lip. The tears spilled and snot leaked out her nose, which scared Adrien.

"Wh-what's wrong?" he asked hastily, crouching to her height. He wiped at Marinette's eyes, which only made her cry harder. "My Lady, it's alright," he snickered, pulling her into another hug. "Don't cry…"

She gasped in her cries and soaked the front of his shirt, but Adrien let her cry. He rested his cheek on her head, glad that Plagg had abandoned his post for Tikki. There was no way he was going to let her go, not when he might wake up from a dream and have to go on without this reality.

Marinette couldn't believe that Chat ended up being Adrien. It almost seemed perfect that the one person she trusted over everyone else just so happened to be the boy she was in love with. It just fit that the sweet, shy, unhappy and lonely boy she knew was the snarky, punny, dork of a cat.

"What are you thinking, Marinette?" Adrien asked, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"I can't believe I love Chat Noir," Marinette cried into his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck, glad that her tears seemed to finally be running out.

Adrien laughed and hugged her tighter, shaking his head. "That hurts," he teased. Marinette tugged a strand of his hair, and he shut up. "You love me?"

Marinette figured she had nothing else to lose, so she nodded. Why not? All her other secrets were shattered, might as well let that cat out of its bag, too. However, she wasn't expecting a kiss to her head, so she finally looked up.

"Hey, that worked," he smiled. Marinette seemed confused, so Adrien used that to wiped her face off again. "Can I kiss you, now?" She nodded, and Adrien took the opportunity quickly before she could say no or he could wake up. It was quick, since he could tell just how much energy was knocked out of Marinette from her crying, but for his first one he thought it went well. Her lips were soft and tasted like cherries, which was fitting for the red ladybug. "I really do love you, My Lady," he said once again.

Marinette smiled and shook her head, moving his hands off her face, "Silly kitty…"

"Oh great, now they're gonna be gross together," Plagg groaned. The teens looked over just in time to catch Tikki punching Plagg right off the countertop.

Marinette giggled, "He's a handful…"

"You have no idea," Adrien laughed. "Happy Valentine's Day, Ladybug…" He kissed the top of her head again, and Marinette couldn't help but wonder why they'd never told each other sooner.

Well that moved awfully fast...oh well, I'm happy with it! Happy Valentine's Day, ML fandom!

Review and Favorite if you enjoyed this little oneshot!