When Adrien Agreste learns that Ladybug is none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng, he feels like he's been struck by a bolt of lightning—electrified, illuminated, and shocked to the core.

But he doesn't know that yet.

All he knows is that in the two days that have passed since Ladybug came to the Agreste Mansion to help him save his father from being attacked by Jackady, he's been replaying the events of the day in his mind over and over again, especially when he's alone in his room in the evening.

The memories flash into his mind when he least expects them, distracting him from his surroundings completely. So when it happens again on this particular evening, he almost doesn't even notice that Ladybug is standing on his window ledge, grinning and knocking on the glass.

Luckily, her knocks are loud enough to distract Adrien from his reverie, and he practically runs to the window to help her inside once he realizes that his lady is actually here in the flesh and not just in his imagination.

"Ladybug! It's—it's so nice to see you! What are you doing here?"

He hopes his cheeks aren't as red as they feel.

"Salut, Adrien! I, um, just wanted to check up on you, to make sure that you and Monsieur Agreste are doing fine. Just a nightly check-in, since it's been a few days! You know, hero duty and all. It's what we do," says Ladybug in a torrent of words.

She hopes she doesn't sound as nervous as she feels.

It was an impulsive decision, to check up on Adrien. She's been telling herself that it's a totally reasonable thing to do, to check up on him. It only makes sense. After all, she and Chat Noir often check up on former akuma victims.

Adrien isn't a former akuma victim, of course, but…sometimes it's okay to bend the rules.

"Ah—yeah, I'm fine!" says Adrien, flushing again. Ladybug's eyes seem to be sparkling even more brightly than usual.

"I'm glad to hear that!" says Ladybug, warmly.

They lapse into silence, neither sure what to say. This is new for both of them, being alone together, with no perceived threat or anyone coming to bother them. It's a moment that both of them have imagined, multiple times, but now that it's here, it's a little more awkward than they anticipated.

Adrien gulps. Where to begin? Saying "J'taime," might be coming on a little too strong.

He looks around and focuses in on the couch. "Um, would you like to come and sit down?"

Ladybug smiles. "Ah, yes! Thank you!"

She follows him down to the seating area and perches lightly on the edge of the couch, trying to look calm and collected, though her heart is beating fast.

Ladybug quickly scans the room and takes it all in. The last time she was in here, she didn't have a chance to really look at the room—the akuma battle had taken up all of her attention—but she finally has time, and it's easily the most amazing room she's ever seen. From the glass windows to the rock-climbing walls to the basketball court to the three flat screen computer monitors on his desk, it's clear that Adrien's room is decked out to the nines.

"Your room is amazing!" she says appreciatively.

Adrien laughs. "Yeah, it's pretty great! I wish I could invite friends over more often, but my father—"

He stops. He doesn't want to say too much, but Ladybug nods. She gets it. Even if she wasn't his classmate and already knew about the restrictions Gabriel puts on Adrien on a daily basis, it wouldn't be surprising.

She decides to change the subject and sees that he has Ultimate Mecha Strike up on one of the screens.

"Ah, I love this game! Wanna play a couple rounds?"

Adrien smiles as he remembers their battle against Le Gamer. Ladybug doesn't just love this game, she's amazing at it.

"I do too! But if we're going to play against each other, I need to get something first."

"What is it?"

"You'll see."

Adrien slides his chair over to the side of his desk, pulls a drawer open, and takes out a small wooden box. As he opens it up, Ladybug's eyes widen with surprise and recognition as he pulls out a very familiar looking bracelet.

He grins. "A good friend of mine gave me this bracelet before a gaming tournament I was in! She told me it was lucky, and she's right. I've won every single game I've played wearing it, so now, I never play without it."

Ladybug feels her heart both swelling and beating faster, and it feels so loud in her ears that she's almost positive that he can hear it too.

"…Ladybug? Are you okay?"

Ladybug realizes she's been holding her breath.

"Um yes! Yes, I'm fine. What's your friend's name, the one who gave you the bracelet?"

"Her name is Marinette. She's a really nice girl!" responds Adrien with a bright smile. "She's amazing at this game, way better than me. You should play against her if you're looking for a real challenge!"

Ladybug stops breathing again. She's heard Adrien say her name many times, but to hear him say it and talk about her so fondly, when he doesn't even know she's sitting right next to him…well, it's leaving her a little breathless.

"…Ladybug? Are you sure you don't need a glass of water?"

The first time she loses the game, it's because she's still completely distracted by the fact that Adrien wears her lucky bracelet whenever he plays the game.

The second time she loses, it's because he does a victory jump after winning the first game, and his shirt hikes up and she's totally distracted by the thin strip of stomach that appears when he leaps into the air.

The third time she loses, it's because she makes the mistake of looking into his sparkling green eyes as he's laughing, delighted at the fact that he actually beat his lady at her favorite video game.

The fourth time she loses, she does it on purpose, just so she can see him laugh again. She hasn't heard him laugh like that in a very long time, and it's like music to her ears.

She wonders how often Adrien laughs, and what it would take for her to do to make it happen again.

It's almost midnight when Ladybug finally notices how late it is and realizes that she has to go home.

"Adrien—it's really late. I should go."

Adrien sighs reluctantly. He doesn't want the night to end. "Sure you don't wanna play another round?"

"I'm sure," says Ladybug with a wry smile. "But I could…come back next week, if you want. Same time. Just to, um, check up on how you and Monsieur Agreste are holding up?"

"For the safety of Paris, I think that's a great idea," says Adrien, standing and looking as serious as a soldier.

Ladybug breaks into delighted laughter. "Then I'll see you next week!" She walks back up to the window and swings out, disappearing as quickly as she came.

"Until then, my lady," responds Adrien with a bow, smiling as he watches her vanish into the moonlit horizon.

The next day in class, almost everybody notices that Marinette is suddenly much more at ease around Adrien, and Alya even calls her out on it, asking how such a change could have occurred overnight.

Nobody is happier about the development than Adrien, who's pleased as a peach that Marinette is finally able to talk to him, if a little surprised. Over the past few months, she's become a lot more open and amiable than she used to be around him, and he's welcomed it—he's always wanted to get to know her better, but he's never really had the chance.

So he doesn't even question it—even though everyone else thinks it's a little strange, Adrien simply accepts that Marinette is now as friendly and open around him as she is around everyone else, and runs with it. And because he runs with it, everyone else does too, even though Alya continues to look suspiciously at her best friend, and plans to interrogate her as soon as possible.

It's a lucky break, too, because on this day, Madame Bustier assigns Marinette and Adrien to work on a school project together, which means that Marinette's going to come over to the mansion, and it would be awkward for everyone if she couldn't speak to him normally. At the very least, it would make working together more difficult for everyone.

Lucky for both Adrien and Marinette, something in the air has changed between them, and a few days later, they're riding together in the back of his car in a comfortable silence towards the mansion to spend a few hours working on the project.

Well, seemingly comfortable—Marinette is internally screaming, though it wouldn't be visible to anyone watching from the outside. Tikki will get the full blast of her emotions later tonight, so she's taking a nap in the meantime so she can get at least a few hours of downtime before her emotional holder will spend the entire evening microanalyzing every interaction of the afternoon.

In particular, what happens as soon as she enters Adrien's room.

The thing is, one of the skills Marinette has developed as Ladybug that she's gotten quite skilled at keeping secrets, even if she can't always hide what she feels. Still, it's very hard for her not to show that she's already familiar with the layout of Adrien's room.

So she tries to focus on something else, to make it seem like it's her first time. She thinks back to that moment, and finds herself drawn to the same place as before—the striking image of Adrien's mother.

Adrien notices Marinette gazing intently at the desktop background of his mother, a small smile hovering about her lips, as though she's remembering a fond memory. He walks up and stands beside her and smiles at the picture.

"That's my mother."

"I know," replies Marinette automatically.

What?

"You do? How?"

Oh, no.

"Um, ummm, you're beautiful just like her! I mean, she's beautiful, like you! I mean, she looks like you!" squeaks Marinette, her arms dancing in every which way.

Adrien laughs with surprise, eyes twinkling with merriment. "Merci, Marinette."

He turns to look at her, red faced and smiling with embarrassment, trying to compose herself. He blinks in surprise and slowly looks back and forth between the photo and his friend.

You have her smile too, he wants to say.

He knows he's already said that to someone else. And yet—he wants to say it again.

Over the following week, now that Marinette has stopped stammering around him, Adrien begins to find that she reminds him of Ladybug in many different ways.

He's not sure what it is—whether it's that smile of hers, or if it's the fact that she's a popular leader in the class, or if it's the fact that they're both really good at Ultimate Mecha Strike (even though Ladybug did lose each game she played with him—probably on purpose, come to think of it).

Maybe it has to do with the fact that she's always quick to help her friends, to give advice, or that she seems to be able to anticipate what he's thinking at any given moment, whenever they're working together.

Maybe it's the way her blue eyes sparkle attentively whenever Alya tells her something interesting, the same way Ladybug's eyes do whenever he shares a particularly interesting piece of intel with her.

Whatever it is, he can't help but see it.

But then again, maybe he's just seeing things because he secretly wants them to be the same person.

Because ever since Ladybug visited him, he's been spending a lot of time thinking about who she really is.

If she really is someone that Adrien knows—and he has reason to believe that she is—he can't think of anyone he'd rather have her be than Marinette.

Because there's no doubt that he's starting to fall for his pretty classmate as well, the more time that he spends with her. He's always had a soft spot for her, but something's changed over the past few days, and he's seeing her in an entirely new light.

He's tried to deny it to himself, but he can't ignore it any longer. She's funny, sweet, intelligent, kind, and talented, and Adrien's got a bit of a crush on her.

He's falling just a little bit harder every day, bolstered by the small but fervent hope that she and Ladybug are the same. He hopes that he can find out soon.

He wonders if hope is enough to turn a dream into a reality. Hopefully it is.

It's been one week to the day since Ladybug visited Adrien at the Agreste Mansion.

She said she'd come again tonight.

Adrien checks the weather on his phone and frowns. There's going to be a thunderstorm in the evening.

She's probably not coming.

The sky is dark and grey when Marinette prepares to transform and leave the house, but she's too excited about seeing Adrien to worry about the rain.

This proves to be a problem, because two minutes into her journey, the cold rain comes pouring down in sheets, as thick as ropes and she's completely soaked by the time she arrives at the mansion. Ladybug shivers as she perches on the window ledge and taps on the glass, which quickly turns foggy from her rapid breathing.

Adrien runs to the window and lets her in as a loud clap of thunder shakes the building.

"Ladybug! I thought you weren't going to come because of the weather!"

Ladybug smiles. "I never break a promise."

Adrien blushes and looks away with a shy smile before he notices that she's shivering, and his eyes widen with concern.

"My lad—I mean, Ladybug, you're soaking wet!"

"No, I'll be fine, I promise!" insists Ladybug, even as she sneezes. "I just need a towel, and maybe a cup of tea."

Adrien shakes his head. "You need to take a hot shower or you're going to catch a cold. Tell you what—you can de-transform in my bathroom and take a shower! And in the meantime, I'll get us some tea."

Ladybug's jaw drops and her eyes go wide. "I—I—um—merci?" she stammers.

Adrien only realizes what he's just said when he sees the stricken look on Ladybug's face, and his face goes ashen as well.

He's just invited the love of his life to take a shower in his bathroom.

Not—not with him, but—but still…..now he's thinking about it…stop thinking about it….

He's just told her that it's okay for her to get naked and take a shower IN HIS BATHROOM.

Tension blooms in the air.

"I—I—I guess I'll, um, I guess I'll just go in then!" she manages to get out before she sprints to the bathroom and slams the door with a squeal.

Plagg rolls around in the air, laughing quietly but uncontrollably, as Adrien stares at the closed door in agony before he sinks to the ground, his head in his arms.

I just told Ladybug she could de-transform in my bathroom and take a shower.

The love of my life is in my bathroom. She's probably not wearing any clothes right now.

No! Don't think about that! Think pure thoughts! You're a gentleman!

Did she think it was weird? What if she thought it was weird?

"Monsieur, you've really outdone yourself! I know you said you don't think when you're around her, but isn't this a bit much?"

Adrien looks up in a panic to the kwami. "Plagg! What's the least sexy thing you can think of?"

"You know I only ever think of cheese," responds the kwami, droll and sardonic.

"Perfect! Cheese! What are the smelliest kinds of cheese?"

Plagg stops cackling and sobers up, prepared to lecture on his favorite topic.

"Ah! Well, when it comes to extremely pungent cheeses, there are a variety of options: Epoisse, Morbier, Cados…"

Adrien shakes his head and looks back down. "It's not working. I can't stop thinking about her bo—"

"Epoisse is the most pungent—"

"Plagg, stop saying the word pungent!"

While Adrien panics, Marinette's actually enjoying herself. Once she gathers her bearings and gets over the overall weirdness of the situation, she de-transforms and neatly folds her clothes and places them on a bench before stepping into the shower. Tikki settles into a basket on the sink to take a power nap while she waits.

Marinette is giddy with excitement, impressed by the sheer variety of bath products in the shower—particularly the various kinds of shampoos and conditioners. No wonder Adrien's hair always looks so nice and soft. She wonders what it would be like to touch it before blushing and quickly trying to think of something else.

The water is the perfect temperature, and Marinette sighs happily. Is it a bit weird that she's taking a shower in Adrien's bathroom, while he's waiting outside? Well, sure, but no weirder than most of the stuff that's been going on. At any rate, once she's done and all dried out, she's going to transform again, and everything's going to go back to normal.

And then it happens.

A bolt of lightning strikes the mansion and all of the lights go out with a crackling BOOM as the building shakes.

In the bathroom, Marinette turns the shower off and tries to find the wall as she wanders through the darkness to grab her towel. She manages to grab it, but trips over something and stumbles to the ground with a loud thud.

She groans, partly from pain but mostly from embarrassment—thank god the lights are out—but it's loud enough for Adrien to hear, and he rushes to the door and frantically bangs on it.

"Ladybug? Are you okay?!"

Adrien's protective instincts are already on high alert, and when he doesn't immediately hear an answer, he yanks the door open in a panic and rushes in, turning his cellphone flashlight on and scanning the bathroom to find her without thinking.

And then, as he turns his light to the area next to the towel rack, he finds her.

"Oh, Mon Dieu," whispers Adrien, as he sees those bluebell eyes he knows so well without the mask for the first time, and he realizes that she truly is none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Those eyes that are growing wider and wider, blinking at the bright white light in what is either horror or shock. Possibly both. Adrien himself isn't quite sure there are even words to describe what he's feeling right now. Elation? Shock? Panic? Glee?

"Marinette….you're….you're Ladybug?"

"A-a-aaadrien!"

Okay, maybe right now, it's panic.

"I'M SO SORRY! Um, I'll—do you need help getting up?" He rushes over to her side and extends an arm, which she immediately bats away with a frantic "NOOO!"

Adrien slowly edges backwards as Marinette grasps onto the side of the bathroom wall with one arm to pull herself up, holding the towel around herself with her other hand in an iron grip. But her legs are wobbly from shock, and as she tries to stand up, she trips forward and lands right on top of Adrien, knocking him backwards onto the tile, sending his phone scattering across the floor.

Nothing separates their bodies in the darkness but her thin, dripping towel, and her rapid, panicked breaths pulse against his chest as they lapse into mortified silence.

Marinette places her hands on his shoulders and tries to get up, but they're still soaking wet and her hands slide down his arm and she falls back down again, softly thumping against him.

Tentatively, Adrien reaches up and grips her shoulders, gently rolling her around so she's lying supine on the ground, as he hovers on all fours right above her. His mind races as he remembers all the other they've been in this familiar position—except every other time, they've been wearing magical spandex suits and she's not so far beyond the point of panic that she can't even speak.

Before he can move backwards and away, Plagg floats up to them, carrying the phone.

Adrien gasps. "Plagg, no!"

Marinette's upward gaze silently follows the piercing beam of the flashlight to the inky black kwami, and her eyes become as wide as saucers as she starts to realize what she's looking at, before she turns to look back at Adrien.

"Look, kid, you might as well tell her at this point. There's nothing left to hide," says Plagg, shrugging. "So Ladybug, where's Tikki? She must be somewhere in here, right?"

All of the lights come back on as Adrien turns to meet Marinette's gaze, and wordlessly, literally not knowing what else to do, he shrugs and breaks into what can only be described as a Cheshire grin.

It's a grin that Marinette is intimately familiar with. Especially when she's lying in this position.

And she cannot believe what she is seeing.

"You've got to be kidding me. You're…you're Chat Noir. You're Chat Noir?"

Adrien edges back and sits on the floor, cheeks flaming, as Marinette sits bolt upright and stares at him incredulously.

"I….I guess the cat's out of the bag?" he says uncertainly, looking away from her, trying to ignore the fact that she actually looks super pretty with her hair wet and her cheeks flushed, wrapped in his towel.

No, Adrien, now is not the time! This is serious! Focus!

Marinette sighs. "Oh, mon minou, it really is you, isn't it? I'm going to need a minute. Maybe a year."

This is not how Adrien imagined this conversation going. He'd always thought that it would be a little more romantic, a little more elegant, composed…maybe by the light of the moon. Or maybe while they were standing in the rain, holding hands, as they de-transformed in sync.

Well, at least he was right about the rain part. And being soaked in water. But nothing else.

But perhaps it makes sense that they would learn about each other like this, bodies slamming together, with no time to process anything. It's not like it's the first time that's happened. Maybe this was what was meant to happen. Even if it's embarrassing as hell.

Adrien turns to look at her. "Um...so…did you want to get dressed?"

Marinette turns to look at her carefully folded clothes, which at this point are completely drenched.

He notices this as well. "Oh, um…well, you could also transform into Ladybug again? But I don't know what happens if you transform when you're not…" he blushes and trails off, but the words are hanging in the air.

I don't know what happens if you transform when you're not wearing any clothes.

To say the subsequent silence is mortifying would be an understatement. But perhaps there aren't any words in the English (or French) language to describe the cavernous emotional chagrin that both Adrien and Marinette are feeling at this very moment.

Finally, after what seems like decades of silence, Adrien has an idea.

"I could lend you some of my clothes, if you're okay with that. Maybe a sweatshirt, or a sweater? Anything you want. I, um, I have a lot of clothes."

More silence follows. Adrien thinks that Marinette hates the idea, but that's not it at all.

She's thinking about how many times she's dreamed of this very moment, wearing some of Adrien's clothes, smelling his warm clean scent against her skin, having a special boyfriend sweater all her own, maybe the same warm sea foam green as his eyes…

And she's thinking about how none of these fantasies involved her wearing damp undergarments and a random sweatshirt offered out of a combo of pity and panic.

But…she isn't about to say no. As awkward as all of this is, it still comes down to the same thing. She's going to get to wear Adrien's clothes.

"Yes, please."

"Okay." He slowly backs out of the bathroom and out the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

He returns a few moments later with a green sweater and a pair of black sweatpants. The sweater is the exact same color as the one from her fantasies, and she smiles in spite of herself. It looks like dreams do come true.

"Is this okay?" asks Adrien, visibly nervous.

Marinette nods and smiles. "Yes, it's fine. And—um…chaton?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Marinette holds back a laugh as she watches Adrien visibly relax. Between the two of them, she's not sure who's had a more stressful day, but something tells her that had Adrien fallen on top of her, wearing nothing but a bath towel, she wouldn't have reacted with nearly as much grace as he did.

Not that she knows what he was thinking.

But come to think of it, maybe she doesn't want to know what he was thinking. Some things are better left a mystery.

Adrien is perched on the corner of his couch in his pajamas when Marinette finally comes out of the bathroom. The green sweatshirt is too big for her and hangs loosely on her petite frame, but it suits her well, and Adrien's eyes brighten as he spots her, though he's clearly tense.

Marinette wants to laugh when she sees Adrien's expression, which reminds her of a restless kitten.

He stands up as she walks towards him. "You know, I hoped it was you."

Marinette blushes. "Really?"

"Yeah…I mean, ever since we became friends, I've been wondering if you might be Ladybug."

"What made you think it was me?"

"I mean…I never had any proof, but I just…really wanted it to be you. It just didn't make any sense for it to be anyone but you."

She looks at him with surprise. "You were that confident?"

"No! But…you're the bravest person I know. And you already knew who my mother was."

Marinette groans. "That was really obvious, wasn't it?"

"What, you don't think I'm beautiful?" quips Adrien.

"Minou…" says Marinette with a sigh. (Though she totally does think he's beautiful, and she's pretty sure he knows it, from the way he's grinning at her)

He sobers up. "Did you ever think about who Chat Noir is? Did you ever think it was me?"

"Adrien, you know I always wanted to keep our identities a secret," says Marinette, shaking her head. "I tried not to think about it. And honestly, I'm not even sure what the two of us knowing means for the future. It could be dangerous."

He sits back down on the couch. "I know. But I'm still glad I know. I'm glad it's you."

Marinette sits down beside him and curls her hands into loose fists. "Even if we had to find out like this?"

He grins. "Well, you have been making me fall for you from day one."

"Nooooo!" groans Marinette. "I'm too tired for your puns."

"You know I'm impawsible, my lady," quips Adrien as Marinette rolls her eyes.

Adrien curls his knees up and hugs them to his chest protectively as he takes a deep breath and turns to Marinette, his face suddenly serious.

"Marinette? I have to tell you something."

She looks at him, surprised. "What is it?"

"I…I really like you. As more than a friend."

Marinette listens in silence, eyes widening slowly as he continues.

"And…I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I've been wanting to tell you for a long time. I've had feelings for both Ladybug and you, and then I started hoping that you were the same person, because I liked you for the same reasons, and then you came to see me tonight, and you looked so pretty, and—"

Marinette presses a finger to Adrien's lips to stop him. Gently, she uncurls his knees and lowers them to the ground before cupping his face with her hands and pressing her lips against his, firm but gentle.

After a few seconds, she pulls back with a smile, and laughs merrily at his stunned expression before going in for a second kiss.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has never kissed anyone like that before. But she is not just Marinette tonight; she's Ladybug, and she's in love with Adrien Agreste, who's also Chat Noir. And even though a lot of weird things have happened tonight and she's not sure how she's going to handle it tomorrow morning, that's okay, because right now, Adrien Agreste is kissing her back like there is no tomorrow.

And so for now, that's all that matters.