Hello! I'm fairly new to this fandom, watching the first episode about a month ago, but I still want to contribute to it! I'm doing Ladrien June, so I hope you enjoy my take on the prompts!

Love Poem

Adrien walked into his room after another long photo shoot, feeling exhausted. His kwami, Plagg flew out of his pocket and landed on Adrien's bed, while the model headed over to his desk, planning to take a look at the Ladyblog. He looked every few days to see what updates Alya had made in relation to Ladybug, and he enjoyed seeing her so excited about Paris' favourite superhero.

His heart warmed as he let himself get lost in thoughts of Ladybug. As Cat Noir, he got to spend lots of time with her, whether it be fighting a new akuma or going on patrols, but he wished for something more than that. He knew that he didn't stand a chance, because Ladybug never returned his affections as Cat Noir, but it didn't stop him from trying, or at the very least thinking about it. What he found on Valentine's Day didn't help matters, either…

"Adrien! Where's the cheese you promised me?" Plagg snapped Adrien out of his thoughts, and Adrien was surprised that Plagg was in his face all of a sudden. Registering his kwami's request, Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Give me a second, I've got some in my bag for you to chow down on," Adrien said, picking up his bad that he'd dumped next to him and retrieving a container with camembert wedges inside. He opened the container and placed it next to him, wincing at the smell. "There you go, that should keep you happy." Looking up from his computer screen, the heart-shaped card he had pinned caught his attention, and he took it down to read the message inside, letting out a long sigh of happiness, which earned him a groan from Plagg, which he chose to ignore.

"I still can't believe that Ladybug found and replied to my poem, and she returns my feelings!" Adrien exclaimed, a silly grin on his face as he held the card to his chest.

"You humans and your strange rituals… The card isn't even signed, kid. What if it's not from Ladybug?" Plagg asked in a nonchalant tone, or as nonchalant as he could be when talking around a piece of cheese. Adrien glared at his kwami.

"You're so disgusting, Plagg!" Adrien told him. "And who else could it be? Ladybug's the only one that matches the description in my poem, and anyone else would know it's not them."

"Maybe whoever found the poem and replied to it was desperate enough to pretend? After all, you did throw that poem in the trash. Who knows what desperate person would dig through the trash just because you threw away something?" Plagg reasoned, and Adrien couldn't deny the kwami's point, if it wasn't for one other factor.

"But the ladybug that landed on the card has got to be a sign! I'm sure that Ladybug's the one that found that poem," However, what Plagg said did make Adrien wonder. "But I did throw that card away in my classroom… Does that mean that Ladybug's in my class?!" Adrien smiled at the thought. Imagine being so close to his crush this whole time and neither of them having a clue that the other person was their crime-fighting partner!

"Well, if they are, then doesn't that really only leave one girl to be Ladybug?" Plagg said, and Adrien thought of all the girls in his class. Not Alya, she always tried to show up to akuma attacks to catch Ladybug in action for her Ladyblog. Not Chloe, even though she cosplayed as Ladybug, she was nothing like the real deal. Adrien was admittedly relieved to rule her out. Not Alix, Sabrina, Mylene, Rose or Juleka… That left one girl, and she did seem to fit the description.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

But, if he thought about it, other than the physical similarities, she didn't seem to be anything like Ladybug. Where Ladybug was strong and confident, Marinette was timid, though she did have her moments, especially when she was standing up to Chloe. There's also the fact that Marinette can't even seem to speak to him because she's intimidated by him, or at least that's what it seems like to him. He's tried so many times to start up a conversation, but she always stutters through them. Could she really be Ladybug? He sighed and pinned the card back up. He was too tired to be putting so much thought into something like this right now.

"Even if Marinette is Ladybug, she hasn't given any indication that she might like me before…" Adrien thought aloud, and he didn't notice his kwami roll his eyes. Adrien decided to relax a bit before he thought more about it, so he turned back to his computer and went onto the Ladyblog to check for anything new.

"Marinette! You're going to be late for school!" Marinette groaned as she heard her mother's voice call for her, and she picked up her phone to check the time. Her eyes widened when she saw she had ten minutes and she scrambled out of bed, frantically getting dressed. Once she was ready, she grabbed her bag and her purse, letting Tikki fly in before closing it and racing downstairs.

"Bye Mama! Bye Papa!" Marinette said quickly, kissing her parents on the cheek, grabbing a croissant and racing out the bakery door. She ate the croissant while she ran to school, and was grateful that she lived right around the corner, because the bell rang just as she burst into her classroom, earning herself an amused look from her teacher and Alya telling her that she needs to get a better alarm when she sat down next to her. As Miss Bustier started the lesson, Marinette got out her things, glancing at the golden-haired head of her crush Adrien and sighing dreamily. It was looking to be a normal day.

It turned out that her initial thought was wrong, because when the bell rang for lunch, Marinette was prepared to head out with Alya when Adrien came up to her, causing her to freeze in place. Alya snickered at her friend's behaviour.

"Hey Marinette, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?" Adrien asked, looking nervous. Marinette was convinced that she was seeing things, but no, Adrien did actually look nervous, a frown tugging at his lips and eyebrows creased.

"Y-Yeah, okay. Up what's- uh, I mean, what's up?" Marinette stammered, cursing herself for messing up already. She was worried that Adrien would decide to leave, but he patiently let her speak with a small smile on his face.

"Maybe we could talk at the park?" Adrien suggested, and Alya took the cue to leave.

"I'll go hang out with Nino, girl. See you back in class!" Before Marinette could say anything, Alya was already leaving, meaning that she had no support while talking to Adrien. She blushed slightly at the thought of being alone with Adrien, even if it was just to talk.

"Good i-idea, let's go?" Marinette suggested, and Adrien nodded, leading the way out of the class room. She resisted the urge to squeal, she was walking with Adrien Agreste to talk! Maybe they'd have such a good conversation that she'd muster up the courage to ask him out, and he would say yes, and then they would get married, and- She cut herself off, scared that Adrien would somehow be able to read her mind, and instead decided to focus on getting to the park in one piece.

They sat down on one of the benches and were silent for a couple of seconds. Adrien looked like he didn't know what to say, so Marinette took it upon herself to start the conversation.

"S-So, what did talk you want- uh, what did you want talk about?" Marinette asked, choosing to get straight to the point. Adrien looked up at her, a serious look on his face, and Marinette's cheeks flushed, feeling like his eyes were boring into hers.

"Marinette…" Adrien started, and Marinette gulped. That stare made her feel like he knew all of her secrets, even the one that she held most dear. It wasn't until Adrien cleared his throat that Marinette realised she'd been too caught up in her paranoia caused by his bright green eyes that she'd missed what he said.

"I'm so sorry, can you repeat that? I-I zoned out…" Marinette turned red, embarrassed that she was making him repeat himself because of her lack of attention. Great job, Marinette. Adrien chuckled, and Marinette forced a smile.

"That's okay," Adrien said, and his smile dropped as he adopted the serious look again. Marinette decided to stare at his mouth so that she wouldn't be distracted by his eyes. Oh, but what a nice mouth it was! And then it opened, ready to ask the question that could possibly change everything.

"By any chance, did you sent out a Valentine's Day card?"

Marinette blinked, looking up at his eyes. That wasn't what she expected him to say. And then she blushed as the words sunk in. She did sent a card - to him! Maybe she could get away with not revealing that. After all, if she did sign it, why would he ask now? Valentine's Day was a while ago.

"Yeah, I-I did. How about you?" Marinette replied. Better to keep her responses simple and try to deflect to him. Her stuttering was bad enough already, but if she spoke in full sentences, she was sure it'd give her away.

"No, I didn't, but I did throw away a poem, and I received a reply to it. Do you know anything about that?" Adrien asked curiously, and Marinette swallowed. He was talking about her card! If he remembered it now, then maybe it was important to him! The thought made her giddy.

"I do!" Marinette exclaimed, and as soon as it was out of her mouth, she regretted it. Her face heated up and her eyes widened, and Adrien's eyes did the same.

"You do? By any chance, were you the one who wrote it?" Adrien asked, and Marinette felt her heart stop. The way that question was phrased, it sounded like he'd known from the beginning. Her shoulders slumped. There was no use pretending now.

"I-I did. Sorry if that gets your hopes up or s-something." Marinette admitted, and she watched Adrien closely, waiting for a reaction that would indicate if he was disappointed. Surprisingly, it didn't happen. Instead, it almost looked like his smile got bigger.

"No, things actually make sense if you're the one that wrote it!" Adrien said, the smile still on his face.

"Huh?" Marinette replied, confused. He seemed to be miles ahead of her on this train of thought.

"Well, first of all, I threw it away in our classroom, so it makes sense for it to be someone in our class that found it," Adrien started, and Marinette paled. She couldn't believe this was happening! All because she'd dug through the trash for Adrien's poem. He'd definitely think she was a creepy stalker and never speak to her again. "Second, you're the only girl that matches my description in our class. But there's just one thing missing, and that's where things get a little confusing."

"They do?" Marinette queried. He's figured it out; what could be missing?

"You didn't sign the card, of course! Why didn't you sign the card?" Adrien smirked as a thought entered his mind. Marinette almost swooned at the sight of it. "Don't tell me you were too nervous to admit it."

"W-Well…" Marinette tried, but she couldn't think of a good reason. All she really had was that she forgot, and who would believe that?

"But it doesn't matter now, because I know it's you now! And that's great!" Adrien put a hand on her shoulder, and Marinette froze. Like she wasn't dying enough already, now he was touching her? Marinette could have melted into a puddle at the warmth that spread through her body. Of course, she couldn't let him see that, so she had to pretend that she was fine.

"It is?" Marinette asked, playing clueless. Adrien nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! Because even though you didn't sign the card, I was sent a sign that uncovered something even bigger!" Adrien answered excitedly, and Marinette's heart almost stopped again. There's only one thing that she could think of that was bigger than her crush on Adrien.

"W-What's that?" Marinette asked, even if she wasn't completely sure that she wanted to hear it.

"I know you're probably worried that I'd know something like this, but your secret's safe with me." Adrien winked, and although she had dreamed of Adrien winking at her, Marinette felt herself dreading his next words. This was definitely not the way she wanted anyone to find out about her secret identity, even if it was Adrien!

"Please just say it already." Marinette sighed, and she was about to start thinking up excuses for not telling him when his next sentence made her mind go blank.

"I know that you're a good friend of Ladybug's."

Marinette blinked. What? She didn't understand. She could only stare at him blankly. He frowned at her.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I shocked you or anything. The main factor to finding out was the ladybug that landed on the card when I read it." Adrien said, looking concerned. But that was unacknowledged by Marinette. Instead, Marinette felt an overwhelming sense of relief. She was that close to being found out, and then to find out that he'd come to a completely different conclusion! It reminded her of Alya and her thinking that Chloe was Ladybug one time. Despite the fact that it meant that Adrien wouldn't know her true feelings still, Marinette decided that it was more important to keep being Ladybug a secret from him than to jeopardise his safety by correcting him and revealing herself.

"O-oh! Yeah, when I showed Ladybug your poem, she was over the moon! But she had no idea how to respond to you, so I helped her out," Marinette went along with Adrien's conclusion. She almost wanted to giggle. Now she knew that Adrien had a crush on Ladybug, who was her! There was still the problem of him not knowing that she was Ladybug, but she was okay with that for now. "And even funnier, when she was about to sign the card, a ladybug landed on it, and we were so excited about the good luck that we completely forgot! I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to hear that you know it's from her."

"You saw a ladybug, too?" Adrien's eyes widened at the coincidence, and Marinette could swear his eyes were sparkling. "That means that it's meant to be! Thank you so much, Marinette!" Adrien promptly pulled Marinette into a hug, and Marinette was so stunned that all she could do was sit there, her face becoming as red as a tomato. Adrien pulled away and grinned at her. "This is so great! Oh, but I won't tell anyone that you're Ladybug's friend if you don't want me to. See you in class, Marinette!" Adrien ran off toward the school then, and Marinette watched him go with a smile on her face that turned into giggles when she was sure he wouldn't hear.

"Adrien likes me…" Marinette said quietly, and Tikki popped out of her purse and nuzzled her cheek.

"I'm so happy for you, Marinette! Now that you know that he likes Ladybug, and he thinks that you're her friend, you can talk about her with him and get closer to him!" Tikki said, and Marinette squealed happily.

"This is the best day ever!" Marinette exclaimed. She checked the time and saw that there were only a few more minutes before lunch ended. "Come on, Tikki, let's get something to eat from the bakery before class!" Tikki flew back into Marinette's purse and then she was off to the bakery.

That day, both Marinette and Adrien had the biggest smiles on their faces.

This is probably more Adrienette than Ladrien, but oh well. There's plenty more Ladrien moments to explore! If you liked this, leave a comment in the review box, or follow along if you want! :)

-Green