Disclaimer: Miraculous Ladybug and its characters are not and never have been mine.

"So," Chat said, drawing out the word. "How do you want to do this?"

Ladybug fidgeted. "Well, we should probably find somewhere private. We can't risk anyone seeing us."

"Right. Where is that?"

"Well, if we're revealing identities…" she mumbled. "Follow me."

Chat followed Ladybug over the rooftops. The buildings grew more and more familiar until they landed on a balcony. Chat peered over the edge.

"Hey, I know this place. This is the bakery, Marinette's house. Good call, since we both know her. She's not the type to spy and if she did see who we are, she wouldn't say anything. But are you sure we should bother her? She wasn't in school today, what if she's sick?"

Ladybug stared at him in disbelief. "You really are pretty dense, aren't you? I guess I'll go first. Tikki, spots off!"

Chat shut his eyes against the blinding white light that surrounded his lady. When it died out, he cracked open one eye to take a peek. Both eyes shot open as he tried to process what he was seeing. Or rather, who was standing next to Tikki, looking adorably nervous.

It was Marinette.

Marinette, who couldn't walk down a hallway without tripping. Marinette, who couldn't speak two sentences to him. Marinette, who stood up to Chloe and cared so much about her friends and classmates.

"Wow, I feel stupid," he breathed. "I feel like it's so obvious now."

"Really?" Marinette asked. "I'm a lot different as Ladybug than I am as Marinette. You might not believe this, but I'm really pretty clumsy. Just this morning, I ran into a wall. For no reason."

"But the core of you, the part that cares so much about other people, is the same. And yes, I know exactly how clumsy you are. We kind of know each other outside the suits." Chat's eyes grew fearful. "Actually, I don't think you like me outside the suits."

"What? No way, I like almost everyone I know! The only person I can think of that I don't like is. . ." she trailed off and eyed him suspiciously. "You are a boy, aren't you?"

"What?" Chat shrieked. "Of course I am! What kind of question is that?"

"I know, it's just, the only person I don't get along with is Chloe. I mean, when I first met Adrien I didn't like him, but that's only because I knew he was Chloe's friend and I thought he was playing a trick on me, but it all turned out to be a misunderstanding. I know better now. He's kind and thoughtful and just about perfect. I know he has to put up with a lot with how busy he is, but he always seems so calm. And then there's me, who can barely speak coherently around him. He must think I'm an idiot." Marinette's shoulders dropped. She shook her head. "But you don't want to hear me go on about my crush."

Chat couldn't believe his ears. "Wait, you have a crush on Adrien Agreste?"

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you know me outside the suit? Because I'm pretty sure everyone knows I have a crush on him. Except maybe Adrien."

Chat scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact.

"No, no, no," Marinette said, eyes wide and breathing rapid. Tikki settled on her shoulder and patted her cheek comfortingly. "You aren't him, are you? Please tell me you aren't, not after all that stuff I said."

"Sorry Princess."

Without warning, Chat's transformation ran out. Plagg groaned as he floated to a nearby chair and flopped on it, leaving an uncertain Adrien facing a slowly panicking Marinette.

"Um, surprise?"

He had to admit, he wasn't entirely surprised when she disappeared down the trapdoor without a word. Tikki floated over to him and patted the top of his head.

"Give her a few minutes. She needs to process."

"And take down all the pictures of you she has on her walls," Plagg added with a cackle.

Adrien turned bright red, but eyed the trapdoor. Adrien would give her space, would let her come to terms with things and come back when she was ready.

But Chat. . . Chat would sneak down there. Chat would snoop.

He stood there, torn. Marinette liked Adrien, so maybe he should act more like the quiet student he usually was. Then again, he never felt more like himself than he did as Chat. And he always felt like he could be himself around Ladybug. He reached for the door and stopped. He started to pull his hand back, then placed it on the handle.

"Oh, just go down already," Plagg said, rolling his eyes. "She's got backbone, but this is probably a little much for her to deal with. Offer her some cheese, or give her a hug, or whatever it is you humans do to make each other feel better."

Adrien took a deep breath and pulled the door open. However, he couldn't bring himself to sneak in. "Marinette," he called. "Can I come in?"

There was a sound of papers shuffling and a thud.

"Marinette? Are you okay?"

When he didn't get an answer, he dropped into the room, scanning it for his partner. He chuckled at the sight of her legs flailing across the room. Apparently she tripped over her chaise. He bounded over and helped her up.

"Oh, hi," Marinette squeaked out. Her legs gave out at his close proximity and she sat down hard on her chaise.

Adrien sat next to her. "Hi. I'm sorry about all that. It could have gone a lot better." He hesitated. "Are you. . . upset that it's me?"

"What? No! How could I be? Not only are you Adrien and perfect and wonderful, but you're a hero too! I trust you more than anyone else, you're my best friend."

Adrien wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Marinette stiffened for a moment before relaxing and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Aw!"

"Tikki! You have to be quiet or else we can't spy on them!"

"You're being just as loud as I am! And now they know we're here!"

Marinette and Adrien laughed at their friends' less than subtle attempt at eavesdropping.

"I'm so tired," she said. "Plagg had me running all over Paris trying to find you, you know."

"I wondered why you weren't in school. But I don't know why he did that. He should have known I would be in class."

Plagg snickered. "One of my better pranks, I must admit. I just pointed you toward the nearest poster with his picture on it. They're all over Paris. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

Marinette glared at the small cat-like creature as Adrien stifled a laugh.

"I suppose now isn't the time to ask if you wanted to switch kwami?" he asked. "Tikki and I got along quite well."

"Don't even think about it, chaton," Marinette warned. "We are not switching kwami ever again."

"I guess we'll have to call this one a tie," Tikki whispered to Plagg.

"Just you wait. I'll win the next one."

And that's that.

Thanks for sticking around for this story, I hope it lived up to your expectations. Sadly, none of the reviews correctly guessed what Plagg was doing to poor Marinette, but some of you got close and I was impressed by how creative some of the guesses were (also how much research some of you did-Wow!).

Thanks, as always, to star-eye for beta-reading and encouraging me (also for coming up with the puns I used in chapter 4).

Don't worry, ML fans, I've got ideas for two more stories in this fandom. I'll try to start them ASAP.

Thanks for stopping by and reading Hide and Seek!

Catch ya later, lovelies!

-FD