I almost posted this chapter before I wrote Marinette's reaction, but I felt like it wasn't complete without it.
A million thanks for everyone who has been leaving such nice comments or have been stopping by my tumblr to kick my ass (each ass kicking motivates me to clear my writers block and keep going so muchos gracias.)
The reveal is going to happen soon I have it all planned, I'm just trying to figure out how to get us there.

Plagg has never been particularly good at dealing with people. Between the two of them, Tikki had always been far better at handling emotional situations. All of her bugs tended to need a little more guidance, Ladybug's job was a huge responsibility, and Tikki was always patient with them.

When Plagg picked his kittens, he usually just picked people with a general "go with the flow" personality. It always seemed to work out in his favor. Especially with Adrien. When he had presented the opportunity to Adrien, the boy hadn't even thought twice, he transformed before Plagg had a chance to finish explaining everything.

He wasn't completely heartless, when things got serious, or when his kittens needed a little reassurance, he was prepared to offer help the best he could.

But this was completely unfamiliar territory.

Adrien hadn't moved in over an hour. He was sitting on the couch, completely rigid, just staring off into space. Plagg could count the number of times he caught the boy blinking on one paw, which wasn't saying much. He had been tempted to hold a mirror under the boy's nose to make sure he was still breathing. Plagg had tried multiple tactics to try to get a reaction: knocking items off tables, scratching at the couch, attacking Adrien's feet, but nothing seemed to be working.

The boy had gone completely catatonic.

Okay, puns were definitely not going to help the situation, but it at least made Plagg feel better.

Immediately after his untimely confession, Chat ran like the devil himself was hot on his tail, blindly moving just to put distance between him and Ladybug. Ladybug had called to stop him, but Chat couldn't get out of there fast enough. When he burst through his bedroom window, Plagg had released the transformation, and Adrien wordlessly dropped to the couch. He hadn't moved since.

Plagg nudges Adrien's cheek, "Kid, you're seriously starting to freak me out. Say something."

Adrien seems to finally register this and blinks rapidly for a few seconds to focus again. His body is still tense, he swivels his whole torso to look at Plagg, obviously still not in control of his whole body.

"Plagg, I think I messed up."

Plagg lets out a deep breath, "That's an understatement, kid."

"I fucked up."

"That you did."

Adrien freeze up again and Plagg worries he's going to slip back into his weird trance. Adrien's eyes get impossibly wide, "Ooohh my god" he breathes before he hunches over.

He shoves his face between his knees and locks his fingers behind his neck. Plagg figures hyperventilating is better than silence, but Adrien looks like he's on the verge of a full on panic attack. It takes a lot of coaxing from Plagg, but Adrien finally manages to breathe normally again.

"What am I going to do?" Adrien wheezes.

Telling Adrien to follow his gut had obviously been a mistake, but Plagg can't make all of his decisions for him. Even Plagg isn't sure the best way to resolve this. If only Tikki were here. Hopefully she's talking Ladybug through this issue, and everyone was just over reacting. Tikki is going to convince Ladybug that this isn't a big deal, and everyone is going to move past this quickly.

But that's just hopeful thinking on Plagg's part.

Plagg throws his head back and groans. "I don't know how to help you through this one. I told you not to do anything stupid and you didn't listen to me."

Adrian's hands fall from their place behind his neck, his hands thump against the floor and lanky arms dangle uselessly. His head remains firmly between his legs as he focuses on breathing.

Plagg softens a bit, the poor boy looks utterly defeated and it doesn't help to get snarky with him. He lands on the coffee table to be closer to Adrien.

"Look at me," Plagg demands. Adrien makes no move at first, then slowly raises his head to make eye contact with the tiny creature. "We don't know how bad you messed up. You ran before you and Ladybug had a chance to talk." Adrien moans and drops his head. "Hey, I'm not done! Look at me." Plagg forces Adrien to raise his head again. His eyes are a little lack luster and glassy, but Plagg will ignore that. "You're freaking out right now cause you don't know how Ladybug is reacting, and you won't know how she took the news until you talk to her. There's not much you can do tonight, so it's gonna have to wait till tomorrow. I say, you get a good night's sleep, go to school, clear your head, and then try calling Ladybug tomorrow to talk. Sound good?"

Adrien blinks a few times, "yeah. I guess," he grumbles.

Plagg tugs on the front of his shirt to guide Adrien from the couch to his bathroom so he can take care of his nightly routine. Once the boy is properly washed and clothed, Plagg guides him to bed. He flops on the mattress and Plagg tugs the blanket up over his limp body. Plagg plops down onto the pillow near Adrien's head and watches as his breathing slows, chest rising and falling in even controlled movements. Plagg doesn't sleep until he's sure his kitten is sufficiently knocked out.

Adrien's dead on his feet the next day. He had slept fitfully after a whole night of dreams of his lady. But not the good kind of dreams. It doesn't help his nerves. He's definitely dreading the moment they have to talk, but it's entirely necessary.

His head shoots up off his desk the second he hears the familiar tapping cane when she enters the room. He's almost too nervous look, afraid he'll see pain and confusion etched on her face. She strolls in chatting happily with Alya, discussing another crazy argument that took place on the Ladyblog forum. His body relaxes in relief when he hears her light laughter twinkling through the room.

"Hello ladies, " Nino croons next to him, wiggling his brows.

Alya releases Marinette for a moment to give her boyfriend a quick kiss. Adrien leans forward slightly to study Marinette. She doesn't look upset. Most of the time he can see past her brave face and make out if she's being genuine or not. She looks tired, but he can't be sure if that's his fault, Adrien shuffles awkwardly to his feet to help escort Marinette to her seat.

He clears his throat, it's so dry. "Good morning, Marinette."

A light link dusts her cheeks and she swallows loudly. "Good morning."

Why was she blushing? He'd been sure she would feel uncomfortable around Chat but not Adrien. Unless, he's managed to upset her as Adrien too. He wouldn't put it past himself, he seems to be full of mistakes lately.

She reaches out to grab at his arm. She tenses at the contact, not enough for most people to notice, but they've fallen into such a pattern he notices immediately. He takes her up the few steps to her seat and makes sure she's settled before returning to his.

Alya sits and immediately engages the group in a conversation about the drama on the Ladyblog. Adrien's a little grateful for the distraction, but he would also like to ask Marinette if something was wrong. He can handle Mari being upset at Chat Noir, but he couldn't handle it if she was angry with his civilian self.

Class is a nightmare, he can barely focus. It's surprising that the teacher doesn't send him to the principal's office, he's very obviously distracted. A multitude of thoughts race around his head: what had he done to upset Marientte? What was Chat going to say to Ladybug? Should he talk to Mari? Would Ladybug even answer if he called?

Black cats are notoriously a sign of bad luck, a stereotype he had personally taken great offense to, but lately he had an abundance of bad luck and he can only curse the tiny cat creature consuming cheese in his bag.

Muffled screams float into the room. The classroom falls silent as people strain to hear the noise.

An Akuma attack. Just his luck.

His class mates rush from their seats to the door, Alya leads the pack, phone already out. Nino runs after her, muttering some choice words about his insane girlfriend. Their teacher calls to them, commanding they stay in their seats, but when the building rattles, she follows them from the room. Adrien and Marientte are the only two left in the room.

"Adrien, you should go find Nino and Alya and bring them back here. I think it's safer if we stay here. " Marinette suggests.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll stay here and keep the door locked until you bring them back." She's lying.

"Okay, I'll be back. Stay here."

"Be careful!" He hopes she's not lying.

He rushes from the room and makes a hard left. The soles of his shoes squeal against the tiles as he slides past the bathroom. He adjusts his footing and burst through the doors. He rips open his bag and calls Plagg to transform. It would be strange for Chat Noir to emerge from the school's bathroom, so he exits from the window and scales the wall until he's on the roof. Ladybug swings in not a moment later. He keeps his eyes downcast, not quite brave enough to face her yet.

"Hey bugaboo," he says sheepishly.

She gives a swift nod. She's strictly business now. "Have you seen what we're up against?"

"Not yet. I just got here."

He scans the area, looking for any signs of danger. The courtyard is absolute pandemonium; faculty ushering students to exits, students toppling over one another to get to safety. Chat spots Alya on the stairs, her camera trained on the heroes while Nino yanks on her arm to get her to move. But there's no sign of the mysterious Akuma.

"Are you picking up anything?"

Her face scrunches in concentration as she scans the area, pushing with her enhanced hearing to track the location of the Akuma. "I think they're in the music room..."

A piercing wail cuts her off, the force of the noise rattles the school. Windows shatter and students in the courtyard collapse, hands over their ears. The high pitched grating note makes Chat wince and slap his hands over his own ears. Through squinted eyes, he sees Ladybug on her knees doubled over. Her body convulsing in pain as the shrill voice continues to ring through the area.

Oh shit.

He throws himself over her body, disregarding the ear-splitting screams, and clamps his hands over her ears to help her block out the noise. He curls tightly around her, covering her as much as he can to alleviate the pain, but her enhanced hearing amplifies everything. The voice falls silent. Many of the students recover quickly and resume evacuating the grounds, helping others who can't quite get the ringing in their ears to stop. Chats ears ring duly, everything sounds muffled, but he can feel his Kwami's Magic working to repair the damage.

Chat pulls his hands from her ears, "LB, you okay?"

She groans and drags herself up so she rest on her knees. She rubs the pain away from her ears.

"Ladybug, are you alright?" She moves her hands away from her ears.

"Chat?!" She practically shouting, her voice frantic.

He panics and grips her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I can't hear anything!"

Shit.

The Akuma bursts into the courtyard. the few lingering students dodge flying debris, ducking and covering their heads until the dusts settles and they scramble to safety. The villain steps from the clearing dust menacingly, scanning the area to find it's target.

"Come out, come out wherever you are! You can't hide from Maestro!" The akuma taunts. Chat snorts.

Maestro looks like a caricature of a French Dandy. Obnoxiously puffy pantaloons with high stockings, a jacket with ridiculously long coattails, and hair piled comically high. Chat had never actually met the school's choir conductor, but he had heard enough stories to know that only she would make an Akuma this exuberant.

She aims her baton towards the roof where Chat crouches to help Ladybug. She flourishes it, bouncing it rhythmically to set her tempo before she opens her mouth and sings. The air ripples as the sound waves moves towards them. Chat grabs Ladybug's hand and yanks her up before taking off with her in tow.

The school rumbles at the force of the impact. Large chunks of roof fall to the ground and smash against the concrete. Maestro aims again and let's out another yowl. Chat runs faster to avoid, Ladybug faithfully follows his lead. So far, out running the attacks seems to be working, although, he realizes they're rapidly running out of roof and he needs a new plan.

He halts and grabs her waist. She instinctively wraps her arms around his neck and he vaults them away from the school with his baton. They move quickly, the Akuma won't be far behind, and they really need a moment to plan. He lands in an empty street, hoping they can prevent more civilians getting involved.

"We need a plan!" Ladybug shouts too close to his ear and he winces. "Sorry!" She apologizes when she senses his reaction. Of course, she can't hear so she has no volume control.

He steps away from her and paces a few feet. Her head follows his motions back and forth and he sighs in relief. She had a habit of facing people whenever she interacted with them, despite the fact that she didn't need to. As Ladybug, maintaining the contact was to protect her secret, as Marinette she had only assumed it was the polite thing to do. If she can follow his movements now, it means that she can still rely on her sense of smell and the feel of vibrations to see. Now it was only the matter of communication.

Oh! Charades! He snaps his fingers with the realization. She perks at the action. Good, he's captured her attention. He holds up a finger to her and then taps it against the side of his head.

"You have an idea?" She guesses.

He nods.

"What is it?"

He pinches his fingers and thumbs together and places his hands side by side. He carefully separates his hands, keeping his fingers pinched to show he's indicating something long and thin. He pretends to hold a baton in one hand and waves it dramatically.

"Her baton? Oh! The Akuma in her baton!"

He claps in excitement and gives an encouraging thumbs up. Then he pulls his own baton from its holster and gestures to it then himself. He points at her and mimes when she summons Lucky Charm.

"You distract, and I summon Lucky Charm?" He nods again. "Pretty simple, but it'll work for now."

He shrugs, it's the best he can come up with. She's usually the brains behind the operation, he's just there to follow her orders. She tenses and whips her head in the direction they had just come from.

"She's coming!"

Chat whirls around and extends his baton, falling easily into a defensive pose. Maestro casually struts into the deserted street. She doesn't seem to regard the heroes as much of a threat. She raises her baton again, aiming straight for the two of them, and sings a low rumbling note. The ground beneath Chat and Ladybug shakes. They struggle to regain proper footing before they both jump out of the way.

Wasting no time,Chat rushes at the enemy, dodging some small sound waves she directs towards him. He lands a blow to her gut with his staff, sending her flying backwards into the wall of a building. Behind him Ladybug summons Lucky Charm and he turns to see what object the spell generated.

His temporary distraction gives the Akuma just enough time to let out another unfiltered scream. Chat wails as the sound resonates through his head, making his eardrums pound and leaving him clutching his ears. The pain is unbearable. His legs weaken and he drops to his knees. He almost envies that Ladybug's hearing is temporarily useless. He feels comforting hands slide onto his shoulders to sit him up. Familiar hands pull his own away from his head and something is pushed into his ears. The screams stop.

Wait, he can't hear anything.

He looks up at Ladybug and she gestures at her own ears. Tentatively, he pokes in his ear and feels an earplug he can only assume is decorated red and black.

He knows the Akuma is still singing, he can feel the force of the sounds waves pushing back on his body, but not being able to hear her voice lessens the severity of the attack.

Purrfect.

Chat flashes Ladybug a thumbs up and she returns the gesture. In a second, they simultaneously turn to Maestro and take off, dashing headfirst towards the enemy. She snaps her mouth shut and takes a startled step back. Realizing neither of the heroes can hear her anymore, she instantly shifts, firing concentrated doses of sound waves at the pair. Chat veers left, Ladybug swings right. Maestro keeps firing between the two, her powers significantly less potent now that she can only aim at one object at a time. She struggles to keep them at bay, but they slowly advance on her. Chat marvels at the efficiency of the ear plugs, although fighting without his ability to hear feels a little limiting. Even so, he and Ladybug work flawlessly together.

Ladybug throws her yoyo. Rather than evading, the Akuma blasts the attack away and Chat takes advantage to pounce. With her back turned to him, Maestro doesn't see Chat run up and knock her baton from her hands with his own. The stick goes flying, Ladybug dives to snatch it up from the ground and swiftly snaps it over her knee.

She casts her cleansing spell and the city quickly repairs itself. Chat rushes over and grasps Ladybug's shoulders. "My Lady, can you hear me?"

"Crystal clear, Chaton." He breathes a deep sigh of relief and pulls her in for a hug. Her hands hesitantly wrap around him, but she soon sinks into the embrace. Her earring gives off a warning beep and she yanks herself back. "We need to talk."

His eyes flash to her earrings. She's down to two dots. "LB, we don't have time."

"We've got five minutes."

"No, we don't." He bends to scoop her up. She gives a startled yelp and clutches to him. He takes off running towards the closest , tallest building he can spot. He doesn't like leaving the Akumazed civilian alone after they transform back, typically they're a little dazed and need some guidance, but considering the situation, he'll have to leave them to the authorities this time. Her earring starts beeping more frantically, her one minute countdown.

"Oh Shit! Chat!" She panics and he runs faster.

She shifts herself so her legs wrap around his waist and she clings around his neck so he can freely use his arms. He scales the building, moving faster than he ever has in his life, claws digging into the brick as he throws them up towards safety. They've been in this situation before, except the roles had been reversed. He remembers that day vividly, it's what started this whole mess; all the extra secrets, more lies, more heartache. He wants to laugh at the irony of it all, but fear has turned his blood to ice and he can't do more than force air into his aching lungs as he pushes and pulls with all of his might to get them to the secluded roof.

He vaults over the ledge just as light envelops her. He drops to the ground and shoves his back against the ledge, she presses herself closer to him and buries her face in his neck. He can feel her heart beating as rapidly as his. She's shaking.

"I won't look. I promise." He's kept his eyes trained on the sky, it wouldn't matter if he looked, he already knows the truth, but he doesn't want to give her any reason to doubt his loyalty to her. She nods, he feels the movement along his neck. "Neither of us could hear the beeping, we must have missed the first few warnings." She only nods again.

They sit tangled together, the air around them is tense and awkward. From the corner of his eye he sees a little spark of red flash then vanish. Her hears her purse click open and the smell of cookies taunts him. Her Kwami must love sweet things. He's jealous, cookies would be better to carry than cheese.

He's grateful he hadn't used cataclysm during the battle. The last thing either of them needed right now was both of them huddled together on a rooftop without their masks. He should count his blessings, things could have been worse. He doesn't know how to start this conversation. His big mouth had only made things worse. She wants to talk, he can feel it. She's just trying to build up the courage. He rubs soothing circles on her lower back, to help comfort her and assure her he's patient, he'll wait until she's ready to speak.

"Did you mean it?" She breathes against his skin.

His motions on her back stop. It feels like he's wearing the earplugs again, or the world has suddenly muted itself. But he can hear her breathing, his blood pulsing in his ears. What does he say to fix everything?

The truth.

"Yes." They both stop breathing. Not sure what more to say, he waits for her lead.

She takes a deep, shuddering breath, "Why did you run?"

Why did he run? Admittedly, he had panicked and instincts told him to high-tail it out of there, but there had also been another feeling that had rooted itself in his gut. The feeling had been growing for weeks, since the day he had found out his Princess was Ladybug. He had tried to suppress it. Avoided talking or thinking about it, afraid it might consume him. It was the reason he had wasted so much time telling Marinette the truth about everything.

"I was afraid," he whispered, embarrassed to admit it out loud.

"Why?"

He cradles a clawed hand against the back of her head, she presses closer to him, sensing his nerves and need for comfort. "I was afraid you'd be disappointed."

Her face distorts against his neck. He can imagine the confusion that must be passing across her features. "Why would I be disappointed?"

Because there was nothing spectacular about Adrien Agreste. Because he was nothing more than a rich boy with a pretty face. Because his only redeemable quality was he could transform into Chat Noir when duty called. Other than that, he was nothing.

"Because... The real me isn't as exciting as Chat Noir. If you knew who I really was, you'd be disappointed."

She huffs, "I don't believe that for a second." She nuzzles her face into his neck like she's trying to erase his fear. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course."

"When we first started working together, I insisted that we keep our identities a secret from each other cause I thought you wouldn't want to be partners if you knew I was blind."

"I would never!"

"So you're saying it was rude of me to make assumptions about how you would react?"

Oh.

"I see your point."

She chuckles, " I think we can both agree that we need to stop making assumptions about each other. And we also need to stop being so hard on ourselves."

"Easier said than done."

"True. But we have to start eventually, why not now?"

He smiles to the sky. The earlier awkwardness has completely dissipated and now he can fully enjoy having her sitting in his lap, snug against him. She relaxes in his arms, it's so comfortable he can almost imagine taking a nap together. It's incredibly tempting to rub his face against hers and purr, but he doesn't want to make things awkward again. Plus, they haven't completely fixed everything.

"So... What now?"

She tenses just a bit but settles quickly. "You're not ready for me to know you yet," She decides. "It's too soon, you need to decide when you're ready."

His heart falters, "Does that mean you're ready for me to see you?"

She's surprisingly calm, he envies her. His heart beats erratically as he awaits her response.

"Not today but eventually, yes. You already know my biggest secret. My secret identity is not as impressive." He about to correct her but she chuckles, "not that I'm saying my civilian self isn't impressive, I'm just saying that particular secret isn't as exciting as finding out one of Paris's amazing duo is blind."

"So when can I know?"

"When you're ready to tell me."

He sighs, "fair enough. So what's next?

"When Tikki's charged up again. I'll transform, we'll part ways until the next patrol, and we'll go back to being the best partners Paris has ever seen."

"And after that?"

She gives him a light, playful pinch, he laughs. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," she says.

A small tinkling voice creeps out of her bag, announcing that Ladybug can transform again. Chat had expected to close his eyes and allow Marinette to stand, but she calls to her Kwamii and transforms in his lap. It's a rather strange experience, he can feel the familiar heat enveloping her, starting from her toes and working its way up. It's a much more gradual, pleasant sensation than when her transformation wore off. When she finally pulls away, he moves his eyes from the sky to finally look at her face. Her cheeks are as red as her mask. He idly realizes they had been sitting in a rather compromising position, and she's still in his lap, yet she makes no effort to move.

"J-just so you know, I l-love you too, Chat."

A grin spreads across his face, "I know." Of course he knew, she's never been one to be subtle about her feelings.

"Good." She catches him off guard by giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Just wanted to make sure you knew." She stands and offers a hand to him. He takes it and she helps him stand before bidding him farewell and flying off, leaving him with his face as red as her suit.

Hearing Chat's confession had been everything she had dreamed of. Except the moment she had processed his words, another name had popped into her mind.

Adrien.

Why had she thought of him? Why had her heart sunk into her stomach?

She had spent an embarrassing amount of time daydreaming about the moment when she and Chat would boldly confess their love for one another, and it had actually happened! And yet, she thought of another.

Once Chat had run off, she finished patrolling by herself, taking advantage of the solitude to contemplate. She loved Chat, she really truly did! How could she not? He was an incredible partner, confident but not obnoxious, charming and witty, so compassionate and selfless, and she loved everything about him. But the more she had thought about it, the more she realized Adrien had similar qualities. She kept trying to shake the comparison from her mind, desperate to figure out why her brain was dead set on bringing up Adrien whenever she thought of Chat's confession.

Could it be she had fallen in love with Adrien?

There was no way, Adrien was just her friend. She wouldn't fall in love with her friend, right?

But then again, Chat had started as 'just a partner' and look where that had led.

Poor Tikki had to hold onto the transformation for so long, Marinette had lost track of time and wandered aimlessly until the early hours of the morning. By the time she had dropped in through her window, she only had time to get a solid hour of sleep. Waking up for school had been a chore, she forced herself from bed and dragged herself to class. Alya had managed to wake her up a bit by chatting about some entertaining Ladyblog drama. The moment she heard Adrien's voice, her pulse fluttered and her heart pounded like a kick drum.

Oh god, she had a crush on Adrien too.

How could her life get so complicated? It wasn't enough that she was a superhero, but to fall for her partner and her best friend was simply too much. To top everything off, Hawkmoth had decided to send out a doozy of a Akuma that day. The shrieking villain had hurt! She utterly hated fighting sound manipulating Akumas with a deep passion, but this one was the absolute worst! De-transforming earlier than she expected hadn't helped improve her day either. Fortunately for her, things had worked out well. She had been tempted to let Chat see her that day, but she wasn't 100% ready. She still had to fully sort out her feelings.

Somehow she manages to be the first to get back to the classroom. Tikki releases the transformation and Marinette hustles to her seat and waits patiently for her classmates to slowly start trickling in. It's not long before someone bursts into the room. Heavy labored breathing fills the room awkwardly as the mysterious person tries to catch their breath.

"Mari, you okay?" Adrien pants.

"Adrien!" She shouts in relief. She had been so concentrated on the battle, she forgot to check if Adrien was safe during the fight. "I'm fine, are you alright?"

He approaches, still slightly out of breath, "I'm fine. Just had no luck finding Alya or Nino. By the time I found them the attack was over. They're already heading home. Classes are canceled for the rest of the day."

"Aw, that's too bad. We had physics next, I know you love physics."

He laughs and helps her pack up her bag. "I do enjoy physics. But I prefer having an unscheduled afternoon off more." She slings her bag over her shoulder and he lightly bumps his arm against hers. "Can I walk you home?"

"Sure, " she carefully reaches out and grabs his arm. Her heart skips a beat when he pulls her against his side.

It didn't seem fair to have feelings for two people. It almost feels like she's cheating, which is crazy considering she's not in a relationship with either of the boys, but it still feels dishonest. Dating Adrien had never crossed her mind before. They had always been such good friends, romance never seemed like an option. Plus, Adrien was a model, he deserved a gorgeous girlfriend, not some simple girl.

She immediately mentally reprimands herself for that thought. She had just finished telling Chat that they needed to be more confident in themselves, and calling herself simple was a bad way to start.

"Mari, you doing okay?" Adrien interrupts her thoughts.

She forces a laugh. "Totally fine! Why do you ask?"

Adrien kicks a small rock in their path, she hears it scatter across the pavement before settling a few feet away. "You're being awfully quiet. And you've been acting kinda weird since this morning? I thought maybe I said something that upset you at the shoot the other day..."

The photoshoot feels like a lifetime ago. With everything that had happened since then she had almost forgotten the conversation she had with Adrien. He had said such wonderful things about her and she could help but marvel at his compassion. She tugs at his arm to get him to stop walking.

She bites her lip as she thinks of a decent enough excuse. "You didn't say anything wrong, I was just... Embarrassed that I threw all of that at you. I didn't mean to doubt our friendship but..."

"Doubt gets the best of all of us, don't worry about it, " he nudges a hip against her, she nudges back. "So we have an afternoon free, what should we do?"

"We could study."

Adrien groans dramatically and let's his arms go limp. "That's stuuuupid."

Marientte laughs and pulls on his arms to keep him moving. He stands firm, fighting against her tugging, grumbling about not wanting to think anymore.

"Fine. Lazy bum, what do you wanna do?" She admits defeat.

"We could watch another episode of that show."

"The Japanese one?"

"Yeah, I'll read the subtitles for you and act out all the cool action scenes."

"Alright, but you have to do all the funny voices too."

Adrien barks out a laugh, "deal."

Marinette's parents alway love feeding Adrien. His appetite almost rivals Tom's and Adrien's always eager to try new products for the bakery. Sabine usually tries to sneaks a few extra pastries into Adrien's bag when he's not looking, he returns the Tupperware the next day with his thanks. Her parents are surprised when she eats just as much as Adrien today but make no comment. Sabine sends them upstairs with a plate of cookies to share as they relax.

True to his word, Adrien enthusiastically acts out and describes battle scenes from the show. He reads the subtitles in the wackiest voices, Marienette's laughter ruins the serious moments, but she can tell Adrien is proud of himself for getting her to laugh.

Their hands brush together when they reach for a cookie at the same time. It takes all of her willpower not to immediately yank her hand back. She doesn't want to worry Adrien again. He merely takes a cookie from the plate and presses it against her palm.

"Oh, thanks."

"No problem. " he grabs a cookie for himself and takes a bite, then falls back into describing the show, talking with a mouthful of food.

Marinette only half listens, she doesn't even have the heart to scold him for talking with food in his mouth. She sits quietly, reacting to Adrien whenever necessary, as she comes to terms with the fact that she's in love with the two most important boys in her life.

She's royally screwed.

As always

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