The rest of the day passed on, uneventful, and the Ladybug situation did not crop up again for the rest of the evening. After playing games, they all decided to go out to a movie, and after that, Marinette's parents insisted on feeding the band of teenagers. When they all dispersed, Marinette was feeling happy again, but as she prepared for bed, a thought cropped back up in her mind, repeating itself over and over. The words weighed heavy on her mind: Chat had broken her trust.

As she laid in bed that night, she wondered how she would handle it when she saw him again. After all, she had explicitly told him not to tell anyone, and she was again reminded of the cringeworthiness that was Adrien knowing that Ladybug had a crush on him. At least it wasn't her. As soon as the thought bubbled to the surface, more soon followed, and Marinette wondered how it was possible to feel so jealous of herself.

Eventually, she nodded off. When she woke again in the morning, she put off thinking about it, telling herself she'd work on what she would say to Chat after eating breakfast with her parents, or washing dishes with her dad, or tending the shop while her parents went on their date night that evening. Then she was nodding off to sleep again, and then she was awake, and it continued in this way for a few days.

Then came the day of reckoning for Marinette, and she woke without knowing a single thing was wrong.

In Marinette's defense, there really were no indicators to point to anything except that day being just another normal day, going along in life while procrastinating trying to solve her Chat problems. The real trouble only began when she picked up the newspaper her father had set down on the coffee table. Right on the front page, in big, bold letters, were the words, "Ladybug and Agreste: Paris's New Supercouple?" Below it was a poorly photoshopped picture of Ladybug kissing Adrien on the cheek. Marinette's face turned red, humiliation and anger making her hands shake as she held the paper. Despite her better judgement, she kept reading, eyes skimming over the words.

Thanks to Chat Noir, word has spread that Paris's own superheroine is a Lady in love!

While the exchange was never caught on film, Paris is buzzing with the idea that perhaps Ladybug isn't in it for purring kitties. Lady Noir shippers worldwide are in anguish as the rumors spread. She has her eye on a bigger, fancier prize than her tomcat partner in crime-fighting! Word has it that, like many girls all around the world, Ladybug has fallen for Paris local, Adrien Agreste. The young supermodel had nothing to comment when asked, saying he'd rather keep it a private matter.

What could Adrien Agreste possibly be keeping secret? Does this mean that two of Paris's biggest celebrities are locking lips behind the scenes? Adrien's manager and father would only comment, "My son has no time for such [activities]. He has a busy schedule. And I think I would know if [Ladybug] and my son were seeing each other." But just because his father doesn't know about it doesn't mean this supercouple can't be true!

Although we havent gotten a chance to speak with Ladybug herself yet, we think her emotions are pretty clear. Goodbye Chat, hello Agreste!

The paper crinkled under Marinette's fingers. She was trying her best not to let loose the angry tears that pricked the corners of her eyes, and she could practically hear Tikki telling her to calm down. She still wasn't sure if it was actually possible for her to get akumatized or not, but she didn't want to take that chance. Especially not today, of all days; the first day back at school.

The air still carried the warmth of summer as Marinette made her way to school, staring down at her shoes and trying to put her mind on other things before she got there. She didn't want her classmates worrying about her, especially since, being one of the only ones of them who hadn't been akumatized, she was likely seen as more at risk to be. She had hidden her feelings long enough to make it out the door, but she couldn't stop thinking about the lies they'd published in the paper. The more she thought, the more she felt, and the feelings definitely weren't good ones to have. She felt betrayed by Chat, one of her closest friends, and humiliated that all of Paris (and according to the article, very likely the world) knew that she liked Adrien, and angry because, even if Ladybug did like Adrien, it wasn't anyone else's business to publish it! Then there was that inexplicable jealousy towards her crime-fighting alter-ego whenever she remembered that Adrien seemed to like Ladybug too. It was too much.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice a rise in the sidewalk, staring ahead with blank eyes. Her stomach lurched as her foot caught on the rise and she finally became aware of her surroundings, just in time to notice a head of blond hair on the person who caught her. Their textbooks dug painfully into her armpits as they helped her up, but it was better than a face full of cement.

"Marinette, are you okay?" She looked up into Adrien's face and immediately bit her lip to try to keep her eyes from misting over. All she could see was the photoshopped picture on the front page. The concern in his eyes and voice, which would usually make her internally swoon, only had the effect to drive the stake in her heart further into its position.

Intead of giving him a proper answer, she just nodded and ducked her head, trying to hide the tears welling in her eyes. She forced out a tiny, "Thank you," as she went around him, laboring to keep her breath steady. She ignored him calling after her and quickly went up the stairs into the school, rushing into the bathroom and locking herself inside one of the stalls. She couldn't get through today, she knew she couldn't. But no one would believe she was sick when she didn't look like she was, and then she'd have to explain when she couldn't actually give anyone a proper explanation. So, when she heard the bell ring that signaled she would be late in the next couple of minutes, she trudged towards her classroom to brave the day.

Just before the late bell rang, the desolate girl slipped into a seat beside Alya, who was already there and talking to Nino. Alya paused when she saw Marinette, then said a few quick words to Nino and turned to her friend. "Hey, Marinette. What's up?" She leaned forward with a friendly smile, and Marinette felt her stomach flip.

Just as she opened her mouth to answer, the teacher clapped her hands together, commanding the class's attention at the front of the room. A few seconds later, Adrien hurried in, accompanied by giggling around the room as he apologized to the teacher. Marinette bowed her head to look down into her lap with a blank stare, spacing out as she forced herself not to hear everything around her. She felt sick all over again, and barely registered Adrien taking his usual seat behind her. Everyone knew - everyone knew, even if they didn't know they knew, and one of her best friends told them.

She only made it through first period and half of second, skirting around all of the questions Alya was asking her, then the pain stabbing her in the chest grew to be too much. Marinette raised her hand, trying to keep it from shaking, and it took a few minutes before the teacher called on her. She asked, quietly, to be excused to go to the restroom, and when her teacher said it was alright, she picked up her bag and rushed out, half-thinking that she might just leave without telling anyone. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that had happened with her duties as Ladybug. At most she'd probably just get a call home.

As she crossed the court in the center of the school, she was looking at the ground again, and again, Marinette didn't notice she was about to bump into someone until it was too late. "Sorry," she said in a small voice, trying to go around them, but they moved to be in her way. She looked up with slight irritation in her eyes, only to see a younger kid, her eyes bright as she held up a notepad.

"No, no - I was just about to pull you and Alya out of class. I hear you guys know Ladybug pretty well!" Ladybug. That was the last thing that Marinette wanted to hear about right now. "I'm in the school paper this year, y'know, and I wanted to impress the editor by getting a good scoop first thing during the school year! And since it's been going around, I thought it might be a good idea to cover students' thoughts on this whole Lady Agreste thing going on. Adribug? Ladieste? I'm sure we can work out a ship name later! Any thoughts you'd like to share?" She looked up at Marinette in a hopeful way, and for a moment a flash of pity tore through Marinette, perhaps because she knew what she'd do next.

Then she angrily pushed past the younger student, all sympathy gone. "Leave me alone," she huffed. "I don't want to talk about any - any Adribug, or whatever, stuff right now. Ask Alya if you really need to, but right now just isn't the best time!"

She failed to catch the girl's hurt look as she dropped her pen and paper, racing to the bathroom to avoid any other chance run-ins with anyone. She locked herself into a stall, fully planning to stay there until the day was over, or maybe the week, or maybe the school year. That last one sounded pretty appealing to her at the moment. That way no one could ask her about Ladybug or Adrien, or any sort of combination of those names.

"Marinette, you can't just run away from this," Tikki tried to say once they were alone, appearing from the girl's bag. "You need to deal with this responsibly and talk to Adrien and Chat about this, and try to at least make peace with them." Marinette didn't respond, ignoring the kwami as she tried to talk some sense into her. It seemed hopeless, and eventually, Tikki stopped trying to talk, only going to sit on Marinette's shoulder and lean against her, trying to offer her silent support if she wouldn't take the verbal version.

Marinette lost track of the amount of time she was locked away, but it couldn't have been too long before she heard a sudden muffled slam against the door of the bathroom. Her instincts immediately kicked in as screams followed, and she dashed out, slamming the door to the bathroom open. Looking around, her eyes widened as she saw that Chat was beside the door, collapsed against the wall and rubbing his head. She had so much she wanted to say, anger and betrayal and sadness flashing threw her, but she knew she couldn't, not now, not looking like this. He looked up at her as soon as she exited the ladies' room, but he seemed distracted by something else, then quickly sprang up to push her out of the way of a flood of black liquid.

"Marinette! Are you okay? You need to get out of here!" Opening her eyes slowly after being pushed to the ground, Marinette sat up quickly, seeing that Chat was standing in front of her, using his staff to deflect papers that were flying right for them. She swallowed thickly, eyeing the black substance that stained the floor where she had just been standing, then her eyes followed the path of the paper backwards to its origin. Chat's words disappeared from her mind as she saw what, or rather, who, was on the other end.

Her blood ran cold.

This is my fault.

It was the girl she'd run into before on her way to her retreat from classes, the one with the notepad and paper, only now, it seemed as if the warm brown color of her skin had drained away, leaving her skin a pale, sickly white, with words written in a cursive scrawl over her surface. She wore a dress made of layers upon layers of paper, which seemed to regenerate every time she sent a piece flying towards Chat, and in her left hand she held the same pen that she'd been holding when she asked Marinette for her opinion, though now it was about triple the size and dripping black ink.

I shouted at her. I took out my anger on her and she didn't do anything to me. I don't even know her name. It wasn't Chloe this time - it wasn't some misunderstanding, or spurned romantic feelings, or anything else like that, either. This was entirely my fault. I yelled at her, knowing what could happen. I made her feel so awful that Hawkmoth found her.

"Marinette, we have to move!" Through the haze of her thoughts, Marinette barely registered Chat's words, and she started when he hefted her onto his shoulder and moved swiftly out of the way of a barrage of ink shots from her pen.

"I am the Unveiler!" the girl cackled, her words muffled as Chat darted into the principal's office, which was empty as always, and closed the door behind them. "I will write a new reality where no one can cover up their evil secrets anymore! No one can be angry at me for exposing liars for what they are!"

"Put me down!" Marinette demanded once she'd got her senses back, hitting Chat's shoulder to make him focus enough to let her down.

"Sorry, Marinette!" Chat said quickly, putting her down gently. "I have to go back out there and stall while we wait for Ladybug. Are you going to be okay?"

"Just peachy!" Marinette huffed, though at Chat Noir's look she waved him off. "It's nothing related to this. Just go." She'd talked with Chat as Marinette hundreds of times before, but she could feel some of her Ladybug self slipping into their conversation now as she tried not to let all of her emotions get the best of her.

Chat Noir hesitated, but in the end, he leaped out of the window, probably to surprise attack the Unveiler from above. "Marinette, he can hold her off for a little while, but you need to get a hold on your feelings," Tikki piped up from her bag, having ducked back inside when Marinette rushed out of the bathroom. "Being too emotional can really ruin your side of the battle!"

Marinette ignored the kwami, determined to just get this over with and maybe yell at Chat when it was all done. "Tikki, spots on!"

Moments later, Ladybug was following Chat's lead, making a swift exit out of the window. She stopped for a moment once she was on the roof, surveying the scene in the courtyard below her. Chat Noir seemed to be losing, and the bitter part of her thought that maybe she should leave it be for a few more minutes so he could learn a lesson about telling the truth. A larger part of her felt guilty, especially knowing what could happen to him if he lost - having his identity revealed and his miraculous taken away forever.

Before she could change her mind, she swung down to assist Chat and take control of the situation. "Is everyone safe?" she asked immediately after joining him, her back to his.

"They're fine," Chat said breathlessly, clearly already winded. "What took you so long, Lovebug?"

"Don't you Lovebug me!" Ladybug snapped, deflecting another onslaught of ink with her yo-yo.

Suddenly, everything stopped, and she saw that the Unveiler was writing something down on a piece of paper. "Oooooh, this will make such a great story! I know just what to do!" she gushed aloud, turning the paper around to show them what she'd written with a wicked grin. Ladybug and Chat Noir will give the Unveiler an exclusive about their love life. "You know, there are rumors of some things here and there, but the best place to hear something is right from the source!"

There was suddenly a feeling inside of Ladybug that made her want to spit up words, but before she could say anything, she heard something from Chat beside her that made her heart stop. "I'm in love with Ladybug! She's just so strong and smart and has such a good heart! How can I not be?"

"Chat, I - I've had a crush on Adrien since the day I met him!" Ladybug wanted to respond to Chat's impromptu confession with her shock (and perhaps a hint of her newfound grudge against him), but she ended up spitting out words she never wanted to say. "I didn't like him at first but I realized he was actually really nice and on top of all that he's really cute!" She clapped her hands over her mouth, turning a bright red - about the same shade as Chat beside her.

"What juicy tidbits!" the Unveiler cackled, taking a fresh sheet of paper from her dress. "But that'll be nothing compared to the main course!"

Ladybug felt her throat tighten up as she realized what the Unveiler's next move would likely be. "Chat, we have to get out of here!" she whispered, but too late, the villain turned the paper to them. Ladybug and Chat Noir will share their secret identities out loud.

Clenching her jaw shut against what threatened to spill out, Ladybug quickly grabbed Chat by the arm, diving into the nearest classroom. She just barely had time to check to make sure it was empty before she opened her mouth against her will, seeing Chat was doing the same. I've known this was coming, and I'm ready. This is the last time we won't endanger each other just by knowing who we are. This is the last time I'll look at Chat as just my partner in crime-fighting. This is the last time that I'm going to think of someone I know as just an acquaintance. I'm going to know who Chat is.

I'm not ready.

I'm terrified.

"I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Ladybug blurted out, at the same time that Chat Noir said, "My true identity is Adrien Agreste!"

All at once a terrifying thrill went through Ladybug as she sank down against the wall. "You - no way." Relief and horror and shame swept through her all at once. She'd told Adrien he liked him right to his face. She couldn't believe it as she studied his face. There were subtle differences - just enough to make the supermodel and the superhero look like two completely different people. But this meant that Chat hadn't betrayed her and told her crush about her crush. He was still trustworthy, for the most part - he was still her friend. "I can't believe you're - you're really Adrien?"

Adrien - Chat, that is - looked like he was going through similar revelations. "I can't believe I've been spending time with the girl I - Ladybug outside of just fighting bad guys! I've been to your house! We've been friends since I started public school!" There was a big doofy grin on his face, like someone had just whacked him on the side of the head with several pounds of utter bliss.

"Come back out here! You're supposed to share your secrets with the reporter!" the Unveiler screamed from outside as the doorknob to the room started wiggling. "You can't hide from the truth."

"We can talk about this later," Ladybug promised Chat, knowing that she wanted to discuss it as much as he did, "but for now, we have to finish this before she actually gets us to tell in front of the entire school." Taking out her yo-yo, she spun it up into the air, saying, "Lucky charm!" There was a strong glow before a roll of red and black-spotted duct tape materialized.

"What's this for?" Chat asked as she caught it.

Looking around, it took Ladybug only a few seconds before she realized what they needed to do. "I think I know," she said slowly, "but I don't think you're going to like this any more than I do. Before that, though, I have a plan."

Chat slunk along the roof once more, his claws already swarming with the devastating dark energy of his cataclysm. They had to get this over with quickly. He kept an eye out for his cue, watching as Ladybug burst from the room below, throwing the Unveiler back from the door and into the open courtyard. She immediately reached for a piece of the paper and began scrawling, but she stopped as she saw Ladybug's face.

"That isn't fair!" she cried out as she saw Ladybug, distracted enough for the spotted heroine to push her back a few more yards with a swift kick. She was right beneath the basketball net, and that was where Chat came in. He jumped down, using his staff to slow the momentum, and touched the back of the backboard with his claws.

It fell right onto the Unveiler, making her drop her pen as the hoop fell around her shoulders. Chat landed safely on the ground and walked to Ladybug's side to give her a high-five with a smile on his face, before Ladybug reached out to him and he to her. Then, in perfect synchronization, they tore the tape off of each other's mouths.

They both let out sharp exclamations of pain, but as they rubbed their lips and looked at each other, they began to laugh. "Well, at least we didn't tell anyone anything we'd really regret," Chat offered.

Worry flashed through Ladybug's head as she remembered what they'd been forced to admit before briefly fleeing. "What about the whole thing where she made us tell...?"

"You mean that I love you?" Chat said with a lopsided grin, making her blush at his straightforwardness.

She was kept from responding by a tiny beeping in her ear, alerting her that they had to finish this quickly. "We can talk about that later," she said quickly, glad to change the topic.

She had a good idea of where the akuma was hidden, and brought her foot down on the pen. Sure enough, a purple butterfly fluttered out from inside of it. "No!" the Unveiler cried out, though weakly. "I have to get to the truth! I have to!"

"It's time to de-evilize!" It took only a few seconds for Ladybug's yo-yo to purify the little akuma, and then she was setting it free, purified once more. "Bye-bye little butterfly!"

Everything went back to normal after Ladybug fixed everything once again, using the lucky charm, which disappeared immediately after. Ladybug and Chat made their escapes before their time ran out, and moments later, Marinette was walking out of the principal's office, looking around cautiously as if she was making sure everything really was okay.

When she saw that the girl from before was talking to a couple of teachers with a distressed expression, Marinette thought she might just not say anything, but she knew she probably wouldn't feel right just leaving her without apologizing. She made her way down the stairs, tapping her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"Hm?" The girl turned around, though her eyes darted away when she saw that it was Marinette. "Oh, sorry. Was I in your way?"

"No, no," Marinette said quickly, shaking her head. She hated that the younger girl was avoiding her gaze - had she really been that awful in her reaction earlier? "You aren't, and you weren't then. I've just been having a bad sort of week, and I was stressed, and I took it out on you even though I had no right to. I'm really sorry for blowing up at you like that. Are you okay?"

"I forgive you." She seemed to relax a great deal, her eyes brightening once more. "And I'm fine. Just one question - do you think you'd be up for an interview after all of this?"

For a moment, Marinette hesitated. Then she realized that now, she felt like she could talk about everything that had happened, and though she couldn't tell anyone the extent to which it personally affected her, she was comfortable with acknowledging it. "Sure," she said with a grin. "Just name a time and place, and I'll try to bring Alya along, too."

"Great! My name's Mahogany, by the way," the other girl said as she started to write something down. "It's going to be great to get an interview with you guys!"

After giving Marinette the time and place, she was off, and Marinette headed back to class. No one could really focus on anything school-related after the day's events, so they ended up getting a free day, though it probably would've happened something like that anyway, being the first day of school. They did have a project already assigned in a couple of classes, but they were both group projects, and Marinette could get to them later.

Finally, school was over, and she found herself standing face to face with Adrien in the classroom after everyone else had left.

"You know, I didn't get to finish using my smooth one-liners on you today," Adrien said playfully, his tone something that was normally reserved for Chat-Ladybug interactions.

Marinette could already feel her face heating up, but she found it in her to say, "You could finish now."

"Well," he started, then stopped, then started again. "You know how we were talking about how I've loved you for about forever as Chat and Ladybug?" He was grinning again at the look on her face. "I don't think I regret anyone knowing about that. I don't think I ever will."

Then he leaned in and, after searching her eyes to see if it was alright and getting a short nod in response, he gave her a soft, chaste kiss.

There was a squeal from the doorway that completely broke the atmosphere, and Alya slipped into the room to hug each of them with one of her arms, jumping up and down and taking them for the ride. "Oh my god, I was wondering when you two would finally figure it out! This totally means we can all go on double dates now! You guys and me and Nino! This is going to be so great!"

"We have been waiting a while," Nino agreed, slipping into the room behind her. His actions might've had a more casual feel, but his face wore the same broad smile that Alya's did.

"Do you guys not know what privacy is?" Marinette joked to Alya, nudging her with her elbow as she slipped out of her hold.

"Uh, hello, I've basically theorized and then known about this for forever, and you can't expect me not to want to see my best friend get what she deserves," Alya said back, crossing her arms with a smirk. "You guys are just too adorable."

The four of them made their way out of the classroom, exchanging playful banter with each other all the while. Their group somehow felt more whole than it had ever been, and they sauntered out of the school nudging each other and exchanging teasing words about who liked who. They were all together, and finally, after everything they'd been through, they were all happy, too.

Finally this is done! ;v; I hope the ending was good enough! And sorry about the fight scene - I know it's not the most epic or the best, I was honestly mostly trying just to get the plot written and tied up. Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed this short fanfic!

- CharliSilverWrites