Marinette was trapped on her balcony, back against the wall, with no way to escape. This can't be how it ends, she thought, even as she could feel her will to live being sucked out of her. She raised a hand limply in defense and begged, "Please, no more!"

Her attacker gently grabbed her extended hand, then smiled slyly and gave her a wink. He slowly opened his mouth, showcasing his pearly white smile, and Marinette held her breath as he began to speak.

"Are you French? Because maDAMN!" the boy in the leather catsuit purred out, pressing a kiss to the back of Marinette's hand, which he still held captive.

Marinette yanked the offending hand away, rubbing the spot Chat had kissed as though that action could get rid of his cat-boy cooties. "First of all, Chat, you know already that I'm French, so that line manages to be both incredibly cheesy and completely ineffective. Secondly, I swear, if you don't stop with those horrendous pick up lines right this minute, I will throw myself off of this balcony!"

To his credit, but no one's surprise, Chat fired back incredibly quickly with "Does that mean you're finally falling for me, Princess?"

Marinette groaned, shoving Chat in the chest to give her the space to slip back into her room through the trap door. Unfortunately, his reflexes were amplified by the miraculous and he managed to slip his claws under the door, catching it before she could close it and lock him out. He slithered through the door as Marinette, having realized many weeks ago that trying to force him out was an exercise in futility, simply flopped face first into her cat pillow and let out another monstrous groan. Marinette berated herself for the hundredth time for ever stepping out onto her balcony all those nights ago.

She had been frustrated with the project she was working on at the time, and decided to step outside for a bit of fresh air before giving that dratted chiffon layering another try. The moon was full and bathed everything in a pearly sheen, and she was very much enjoying the cool breeze that brought whispers of the coming autumn, a relief after the unusually long summer Paris had been having. Her eyes slid closed as she imagined all of the fall and winter fashions she couldn't wait to start working on, and she jumped when a low voice spoke from just next to her.

"This breeze is nice, but Princess, you're really a breath of fresh air."

Marinette stifled a groan, the first of many that night, and slowly opened her eyes to meet the glowing green orbs floating next to her. Of course her peaceful reverie would be interrupted by Paris' favorite alley cat. Not that she minded Chat's company for the most part, but they had already patrolled earlier and she could only stand so many bad puns and cheesy pick up lines before they really started to grate on her nerves. Be nice, Marinette chided herself. He doesn't know you're Ladybug, so he probably thinks that you'd fall for those silly lines, or at least be entertained by them.

With a wry smile, Marinette decided the best plan of action was to be polite and hope the cat-boy would scram fairly quickly and with a minimum of bad one-liners. "What can I do for you, Chat Noir? I hope your visit doesn't mean I'm in danger again."

Happy with her response, the boy's mouth twisted into a smirk. "Why, Princess, I hope you don't mean to say that I can only visit you when your life is at stake." He grabbed her right hand and brought it towards his lips, before seeming to think better of the habit and settling for pressing the back of her hand against his cheek. "I'm afraid this kitten was a bit lonely out on meown tonight, and when I saw you here I thought you also looked like you could do with some company."

Marinette's heart softened for a second at the thought of her friend being lonely. As annoying as he could be, she cared about him very much and would prefer he never have to be sad or alone. Then she realized what he had said.

"Meown? Like "me-own"?" She scoffed, slipping his hand out of his. "That's not even proper grammar, Chat, you're slipping."

He sighed and put on a fake pout. "You know, my word play skills are renowned far and wide and- "

Marinette couldn't resist interjecting with a, "Don't you mean 'remeowned'." She immediately regretted the slip of the tongue, but it was to be expected that after spending so much time around the boy she would have picked up a bit of a habit too.

Chat's pupils dilated, until she could hardly see any green in his eyes at all. He completely neglected whatever he had been about to say, instead popping out of his lounging posture to grab Marinette by the waist and spin her around with glee, shouting about how he was so proud and he always knew she had it in her.

From that moment on the alley cat was even more of a fixture in her life. He started coming to visit on a weekly basis, at first simply lingering on Marinette's balcony. She put on a show of being annoyed by his appearance, but internally there was a little part of her that enjoyed the special visits. More often than not, when Chat appeared Marinette was already on her balcony, sipping something warm and insisting she was "just enjoying the wonderful autumn weather."

After only a few trips he became brave enough to slip through the trap door into her room when she tried to leave him locked outside. When he managed this, Marinette cursed his magically-enhanced reflexes, knowing it would be much harder to get him to leave. She was pondering exactly how she would accomplish that seemingly herculean feat, when she heard Chat's voice float over from her computer.

"Princess, I've finally discovered why you never melt at my pawsitively romantic lines."

Marinette froze, realizing the implications of Chat being near her computer while saying something like that in such a teasing, sing-song voice. She turned sharply, to her dismay seeing that her computer wallpaper of Adrien was glowing onscreen. Even worse, she noted Chat wore a strange expression and followed his eyes to the wall, where many more pictures of the teen model were displayed. She breathed a sigh of relief when she noted that her copy of Adrien's daily schedule was totally put away, but that realization hardly calmed her hammering heart.

Chat was staring at her now, and she realized that she was breathing pretty heavily and that beads of sweat were beginning to form on her brow. Okay, he's looking at you funny. Breathe. She forced herself to take a slow, deep breath. Good, good. Now keep doing that while you think of what the heck you're going to say to get out of this.

A nervous chuckle slipped out of Chat as he set a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Cat got your tongue, Princess?"

Marinette shot him a glare, but didn't say anything in favor of focusing on evening out her breath.

The glare seemed to reassure the boy that she was okay, because he gave her a smirk and said, "If you're embarrassed about liking this guy because you think I'll be heartbroken, don't worry, I'm a big boy."

Marinette didn't bother to suppress her groan. "Of course that's not it, silly cat. It's just…" She nibbled on her lower lip, searching for the words to describe how she was feeling. "Well, wouldn't you be embarrassed if someone found out about a secret crush you harbored on someone way, way out of your league?"

Chat smiled a bit wistfully, and sighed, but didn't say anything except, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

By this time, Marinette's heartbeat was relatively under control, and she was starting to wonder why she had panicked so much in the first place. It's just Chat Noir, she thought. I trust him to keep it a secret, and it's not like he's likely to know Adrien and spill his guts to him about it.

"You didn't make me uncomfortable. I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting this to happen tonight." Marinette laughed softly. "It's really not that big of a deal, especially since according to Alya everyone except Adrien knows I like him. And I can trust you to keep it a secret, right? If you even know him, anyways."

Chat's eyelid twitched, but Marinette thought she might've imagined it because of the mask. He slowly smiled at her. "Of course, Princess, your secret is safe with me."

Marinette still wasn't sure why he started visiting more frequently after that night. When he first started dropping by it had been once every week or so. These days, he tended to appear after every patrol, and sometimes on days when they didn't have a patrol at all. She hadn't bothered asking why, worried that doing so might somehow destroy the magic of the balance they had going, which, as reluctant as she was to admit it, she really enjoyed. She'd never tell him, but if Chat stopped his frequent visits to her civilian self, she'd really miss him. As Marinette, rather than Ladybug, she got to see a side to him that was different from the Chat she'd always known. He was still jovial and flirtatious, but he seemed more relaxed. Maybe it was because there was no looming threat to the city as he lounged around the pink bedroom, or something else entirely. Marinette didn't dwell on it too much, because knowing her she'd end up overthinking it and making things awkward.

She was so lost in her memories, that it took her a moment to register the feeling of being watched. Pulling her face out of the pillow, Marinette turned her head towards the room and almost bumped noses with Chat.

Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat at the sudden closeness. They widened even more as she registered that flutter, and how it felt similar to the flutter she felt when she started noticing Adrien. No, not supposed to happen. She frowned, mentally scolding herself for her reaction. You were just surprised, stop overthinking before you make things weird.

Marinette forced a sigh out, using two fingers to push Chat's forehead away from her as she rolled on her side to face him. "What is it, Kitty?" The nickname rolled off her tongue and, as always when she used it as Marinette, she worried for a second that Chat would suddenly realize her identity from use of the word.

One look at the boy's pseudo-serious face, and Marinette knew her secret was safe, but what was coming was almost worse than being found out. "Chat, don't yo-"

Not giving her time to finish, Chat blurted out the line he'd had waiting. "Is your daddy a baker? Because you've got some nice buns!"

A stab pierced Marinette's stomach as the urge to snicker at the horrible line and the urge to groan fought for dominance. For the sake of both of her reputations, Marinette snuffed out the laugh and brought forth the moan of agony. "You're killing me, Chat."

"Impossible, you can't kill an angel."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, seriously, you need to stop."

"I only stop in the name of love." Chat's mask moved up and down as he waggled his eyebrows.

Marinette shot upright on her bed, crossing her arms. "Okay, that's it! It is so on!"

Chat's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden ferocity in her voice. He opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but before he could get the words out she raised her hand to silence him.

With a deep breath, Marinette looked Chat straight in the eyes. There was a moment of silence, before she suddenly spat out, "Was your dad a boxer? Cause you're a knockout!"

For once, the boy was stunned into silence, and Marinette took some pride in being able to quiet the chatty teen with nine simple words. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last long.

Chat's face slowly transformed from shock at Marinette's outburst to a sly smile. He pulled himself up to sit across from her on the bed. "So it's a battle of pick up lines now, huh? You'd better be prepared, Princess. I'm so beautiful, you might forget your pick up line." He winked, looking very satisfied with himself.

Marinette was less impressed. "Did you really just reverse a pick up line to compliment yourself?" A proud nod from Chat, which caused Marinette to raise an eyebrow. "You- " she paused, realizing she could change her criticism into her next attack. She began again, in a much softer tone. "You don't have a twin do you?" Chat shook his head, grin already sprouting in anticipation. Marinette couldn't help but grin back as she finished with, "Then I guess you're right. You must be the most beautiful guy in the world!"

From there it was a nearly non-stop barrage of pick up lines, tongues lightening quick to fire them back and forth across the few feet that separated the two teens.

"Are you lost, miss? Because heaven is a long way from here."

"Actually, I didn't believe in heaven until I saw you."

"Oh? And here I was hoping you'd hold my hand, so I could tell my friends I'd been touched by an angel."

"Speaking of hands, yours looks heavy. Let me hold it for you."

"You're too kind! Say, can I have your significant digits?"

Marinette paused, trying to figure that last one out. "Was that…a science pun? Come on, you can do better than that weak line." Before an offended Chat could defend his choice of pick up line, Marinette winked and said, "Excuse me, I think there's something wrong with my cell phone. It doesn't have your number in it."

Chat raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, I admit, that one was much better than mine. I bow to you, Princess Pick Up Line." He bowed awkwardly from his seated position, smiling wider even though he'd lost.

Marinette frowned for a second, not sure she liked the new nickname, but ultimately decided she had earned it by schooling her pompous kitten. She patted his lowered head gently, lifting her other hand to her mouth to block a yawn.

"I guess that means it's time for me to make like a tree and leaf," Chat chuckled, shifting towards the trap door. He gave her a wider grin than normal, looking positively tickled about something, but before Marinette could ask he murmured out a "Sweet dreams, Princess" and was off.

Marinette closed the hatch and sank down onto her mattress, pulling her cat pillow into her lap with a sigh. Tikki flitted over, laying a comforting paw on Marinette's cheek. "Are you okay, Marinette?"

The girl sighed, fiddling with the cushion she held. "I don't know Tikki. I mean, I know I like Adrien, but recently whenever Chat is here I get this little fluttery feeling in my chest and I don't know what it means."

Tikki was pretty sure she knew what it meant, but from past confrontations was equally sure that Marinette wouldn't like what she had to say. She chose the path of least resistance for the time being. "You're probably just tired. It's really late, and you have school in the morning. You shouldn't worry about it now, just try and get some sleep."

Marinette doubted what she was feeling was caused by lack of sleep, but she did need to get some rest if she didn't want to be late in the morning, so she dropped the issue. She told Tikki she was probably right and said goodnight to her kwami friend before flicking off the lights and settling in under the covers. She had intended to think the issue over for a bit before actually going to sleep, but as soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep.

Marinette woke the next morning in true Marinette fashion - that is to say, she was running late for school. Managing to dress in record time, she grabbed her bag and breakfast, blew her parents a kiss each, and dashed out the door. She hurried across the street, shoving her croissant in her mouth as she dodged a car, and hit the sidewalk running. Though she had missed meeting Alya on the steps before class started, she at least managed to slide into her seat right as the bell rang.

While she attempted to slow her breathing, she noticed that Adrien had turned around in his seat, seemingly to ask her something. Fortunately the teacher walked in and he was forced to return to facing front, something Marinette thought was lucky because she could hardly get a word out around the boy when she wasn't terribly winded. As a bonus, since Marinette didn't know what Adrien had been about to ask her or say, she was able to spend class happily fantasizing that he was finally coming to his senses and asking her on a date.

As the end of the period approached, Marinette came to a much less pleasant realization. There's a very real chance that when Adrien tries to talk to me I'll make a total fool of myself! She inhaled sharply through her nose, drawing a questioning look from Alya, which she ignored. What if I mess up really bad and he hates me and then we'll never get married and have three kids and-

She tried to keep her internal panic from showing on her face so she could at least pretend to be paying attention to the lecture. Thankfully, or perhaps not, the teacher decided to end class slightly early. Marinette tried to steady her racing heart, knowing at any second that blonde angel would turn around with that smile that turned her into a puddle of stuttering goo and she had to be at least as prepared as she could be.

As expected, Adrien turned to face Marinette as soon as the teacher left the room. She struggled to keep breathing as his gorgeous emerald eyes lit up and he flashed her a sweet smile. Nino and Alya stood off to the side of their besties, exchanging glances that said, "Is this finally happening, for real?!"

"Hey, Marinette. Uh, I wanted to tell you…" he rubbed the back of his neck, seeming to have trouble finding the words. "That is, uh, it seems like there's something wrong with my cell phone."

Marinette didn't know what she had expected, but it wasn't something quite so random. She exchanged a quick look with her wingwoman, who shrugged in response before waving Marinette forward. "Umm, th-that's unfortunate? I-I-I mean, is it o-okay? What's w-wrong with it?"

She thought she detected the slightest hint of a blush as Adrien straightened up and smiled at her. He took his phone out and slid it across the desk to her, at the same time saying, "It doesn't have your number in it."

As Alya gasped happily and Nino snickered out an "Attaboy!" Marinette's heart sputtered. For once it wasn't because of Adrien's numbing effect on her, but because those words sounded eerily familiar to the line she had defeated Chat with the previous night. She tried to slow her pulse with empty reassurances. I mean, I did get that one of the internet a long time ago, it's not like it's impossible for him to have found it too and it could just be a coincidence that he happened to use it today of all days. It doesn't mean he's Chat Noir, because Chat Noir would never risk exposing himself to me for a silly pick up line. Her heart rate slowed, but only slightly. But what if he knew I would think that, so he decided to use it today as a trick? He can't be that conniving, can he?! Her pulse picked up again. But what if…

Marinette's thoughts were starting to run in circles, and she realized that Adrien was still staring at her with a smile, albeit a slightly wilted one at this point. Alya was clearing her throat repeatedly and making eyes that said, "Girl, what are you waiting for? Answer the boy!"

She realized there was one way to settle this. I'll just say something from one of our chats and if he reacts, he really is Chat and I'm going to kill him and then myself. But he's not Chat, so that won't happen.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Marinette looked Adrien directly in the eye and said, "So, you're asking me for my significant digits?"

Adrien's smile fell, and his face paled so fast it would've been funny if it hadn't been confirming Marinette's biggest fear. He looked lost for words, as though he hadn't actually expected Marinette to realize his superhero identity.

Marinette took another deep breath. Turning to her best friend, she tried to stay calm. With a tight smile, she said, "Hey, Alya, give us a minute? I'll meet you outside in a sec, I just need to talk to Adrien real quick."

Alya seemed extremely confused, but she dutifully gathered her things and headed towards the door, grabbing Nino's arm on the way out. Marinette could hear them whispering about what was happening between her and Adrien, but she couldn't worry about what their friends thought at the moment. There was a bigger cat to skin.

As much as she hated knowing that Adrien was Chat, she found as she turned back to face him that it made her a little less intimidated by him. Good, she thought. Now I'll have no problem letting him have a piece of my mind about allowing his identity to be revealed so easily. She opened her mouth to begin her lecture, but Adrien beat her to it.

"Marinette, I'm so sorry!" He spoke quickly, his face a mixture of fear and regret. "I didn't mean for you to find out. Actually, I guess first I should apologize for coming to your house all those times at night, so I'm sorry for that too. But I swear, I didn't mean for you to find out! You just seemed to like Chat so much more than Adrien and I wanted you to be more comfortable around me too and I tried after finding you you liked me- " At this point Marinette almost had a heart attack, because in all the mess of finding out Chat she had completely forgotten that Chat, who is Adrien, knew she had a crush on Adrien, meaning Adrien knew she had a crush on Adrien.

She interrupted him softly, mournfully. "Why?"

He flinched. "That's what I was trying to explain. I just wanted to be fri- "

"No." She glared at him, crossing her arms to shield herself from how exposed she was feeling. "Why did you come back? After you found out that I liked you. I know you only like Ladybug, so why did you keep coming back to my room?" Her eyes started to prickle with tears and her voice lowered until it was barely audible. "Did you think it was funny?"

Adrien fluttered his hands, wanting to comfort her but unsure of crossing some newly formed line. "No! Not at all." He finally settled his hands flat on the desk in front of her. "At first I was…embarrassed. I felt bad because it seemed like I had found out something you didn't want me to know, even if I didn't mean to. But I was flattered to find out your feelings for me, and I had really liked spending time with you and getting to know you, so I didn't want to stay away." He shrugged gently. "You opened up to Chat, even though you still avoided Adrien, so I figured maybe I could get closer to you that way at least."

Marinette didn't know how to react, especially when Adrien slowly took one of her hands in his. He seemed really earnest, and she knew he wasn't the type of person to make fun of a crush, even if he didn't feel the same way.

"Marinette." She looked at him to find his eyes laser-focused on hers. "I swear, I'd never do something to make fun of you or hurt you, and I really didn't mean for you to find out. I just wanted to become closer to you as Adrien, too, and I didn't think about what could happen. Please forgive me."

Marinette nibbled on her lower lip, deciding how to respond. She knew Adrien was telling the truth, and being a superhero herself, it's not like she could fault him for keeping everything a secret. She finally decided that since he told her the truth, she should return the favor, at least somewhat.

"I-I forgive you." Her stutter resurfaced a bit as she fought for the courage to say her next words. "Will you…come by tonight? I…I want to talk more."

Adrien's whole face lit up with a smile. "Absolutely. There's no patrol tonight, so I can come over a bit earlier if you'd like."

Marinette nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak, before gathering her things and heading towards the door. She stopped halfway there and turned back as she remembered what had started this whole thing in the first place.

Grabbing Adrien's phone from where it still sat on her desk, she quickly plugged her number in and sent a text to herself so she'd have Adrien's, too. Mission completed, she fled the room as fast as she could.

Alya grabbed her elbow as she blew past and was practically dragged along with the force of the tiny girl's escape. "Hey, slow down! Are you okay?"

Marinette startled, having not realized before that Alya was even there. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't want to be late is all."
"So, how'd it go with Adrien?" Alya asked, now allowing herself to be pulled along for the sake of not being tardy.

Marinette tried to keep her expression neutral. "I just gave him my number. That's it."

Alya raised an eyebrow. "Sure took him a long time to give him just your phone number. You sure he didn't ask you out or anything."

"I…" Marinette had to make something up on the spot that her reporter friend might actually believe. "I got so nervous I kept forgetting the numbers."

Alya chuckled at that, and Marinette laughed darkly with her. Thankfully, at that point they made it to their classroom and had to stop the conversation. Marinette just hoped she could deflect Alya with no trouble for the rest of the day, so she'd have some energy left for the boy she had to deal with later.

Marinette paced around her room all afternoon, trying to think of what exactly she wanted to say to Chat/Adrien when he finally arrived, even skipping dinner because she was too nervous about the matter to eat. She had told Tikki about the situation, but asked to be left alone to think, assuming silence would help her come up with a speech faster. Her sweet kwami had given her a reassuring kiss on the cheek before flitting off, but unfortunately the lack of distractions hadn't helped any. By the time Marinette heard the telltale thump on her balcony, she had gotten absolutely nowhere and had to resolve to wing it.

She fiddled with a stray thread on her sweater as Chat climbed through the trap door into her room. Once he reached the floor they stood in awkward silence for a moment, the comfortable bubble that had entrapped them before having been popped that morning. Neither teen was sure what they should do to soothe the tension in the room.

After several more beats of silence, both started speaking at the same time, and like the gentleman he was, Chat signaled for Marinette to say what she wanted first. She tried to calm herself down but her thoughts were racing in every direction and her stomach felt like it was full of akumas.

Okay, deep breath, just say it, she thought to herself. To Chat, she said, "Uhm, now that I know you're Adrien, I'm sure you want to release your transformation so your kwami can rest, but I need to say something fir- "

She never finished her sentence because she realized what she had said at the same time as Chat. Her face paled, then shot straight to a deep red as she tried to think her way out of the situation. Unfortunately, her brain had shut down completely and all she could do was gape at Chat as he gaped back, jaw slack and eyes blown wide.

Chat recovered first. With a voice filled with cautious optimism, he asked, "How do you know that word?"

Marinette racked her brain for a viable excuse, but there was none, and she knew it. Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out save for a small squeak.

Chat verbalized her panicked thoughts exactly. "Only miraculous holders know what a kwami is." He was smiling now, his voice becoming brighter, more hopeful. "That means you must be…"

Oh, Marinette thought, feeling surprisingly calm. This is how it's going down. I'm going to die from heart failure after accidentally revealing my superhero alter-ego to my partner-slash-crush. Fantastic.

Chat stepped closer, gently placing a clawed hand on Marinette's cheek. She held her breath, knowing what the next word out of his mouth would be and simultaneously anticipating and dreading it.

"Ladybug?" Chat peered into her eyes. "Is it really you in there?"

Marinette's heart sunk. Surely he didn't mean that in a bad way, but to her it sounded like he was saying there was no way that plain old Marinette Dupain-Cheng could possibly be the widely loved hero of Paris.

She pushed his arm away and turned her back on him. "I'm sorry." She tried to stop the prickling in her eyes, but the day had been so overwhelming that the tears spilled out no matter how hard she tried to repress them.

"Hey." Chat tried to steer her back towards him, frowning when she wouldn't budge. "My Lady…"

Secretly, a thrill went up Marinette's spine at the sound of Chat's reverent voice saying that beloved nickname, but it wasn't enough to stop the tears. She tilted her head back and blinked up at the ceiling, trying to reign in her emotions.

Chat frowned harder as he walked around to her front and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "Princess, what's wrong?" He nudged her wet cheek with his nose like an affectionate kitten until she looked at him with the tiniest smile.

"I'm sorry, Kitty," she said again. The tears were slowing now as a result of his attempts at comforting her.

"For what?" he asked, clearly puzzled by her apology. "If it's about not telling me, don't worry, I understand." He smiled sweetly at her. "Besides, I know now, so it's okay anyways."

Marinette shook her head with a sigh, struggling to figure out how she wanted to phrase this. "It's not that. I'm sorry…I'm not Ladybug. I mean I am sometimes, but without the spots I'm just plain little Marinette. You're amazing with or without the mask and I just- " She swallowed back a sob. "I just don't measure up. So I'm sorry for not being the awe-inspiring person you thought I was."

Chat's smile transformed into an outright scowl. "Why on earth would you think you don't measure up, Bugaboo? I know you with and without the mask and you're definitely the same person. You're brave, kind, considerate, and you stand up for what you believe in. Ladybug and Marinette are the same person, and there's nothing plain about either of them."

Marinette had managed a small smile at his kind words, and was forming a response when a red blur streaked out of nowhere.

Tikki floated up between the teens' faces. "That's what I'm always telling her! She says I just say that because I'm her kwami and I have to, but it's true." She turned to Marinette. "See, since someone else is saying it too, I must be right."

Marinette let out a tiny giggle at the sight of her cute little kwami all puffed up with pride. She wiped away the last of her tears and took a deep breath, mouth twisting into an uncertain smile. "Well, I guess since you're both so adamant about this, I'll just have to believe you, won't I?"

In unison, Chat and Tikki nodded. Tikki flew over and hugged Marinette's cheek, giving it a soothing pat before insisting she be formally introduced to their visitor.

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" Tikki exclaimed, doing a twirl in the air before turning back to Chat. "Would you mind de-transforming? I want to see Plagg again."

Chat glanced at Marinette and gave her a little grin. "Plagg is my kwami. He's a huge grump and he's obsessed with cheese. Tikki seems much nicer. Want to trade?"

Marinette grinned back. "Sorry, I could never give Tikki up. I'd still like to meet Plagg, though."

"Your wish is my command," Chat said as he released his transformation. Marinette marveled as the green light filled the room, blinking a few times to clear her eyes after it disappeared.

On the third blink, her eyes opened to find a little black cat hovering in front of her nose. She was so startled by his appearance that she didn't even think to freak out over the fact that Adrien Agreste was standing in her room with her. She peered closely at him, taking in his cute little whiskers and fangs, taken again by surprise when Tikki streaked over and knocked him out of her line of sight with a squeal.

"Plagg! It's been so long, but now that they've figured things out, we can see each other all the time!" Tikki smiled strangely after that last part, and Marinette suddenly got the inkling that her little kwami might have a devious streak regarding annoying Plagg.

The tiny cat groaned. "But more time with you means more of your incessant chatter and wrongful beliefs about the greatness of cookies over cheese."

Tikki gently bumped him, and he couldn't hold in his small smile. "You know you missed me too, Plagg."

"As though I'd ever admit to that." He scoffed, before flying back towards the teens and stopping in front of Marinette. "So you're the one Adrien's been endlessly pining over." The black cat floated in a small circle around the girl, analyzing her while completely ignoring his charge's flustered protests.

"That's not- I mean it is but- " By this point Adrien's face was the color of a ripe tomato. "Don't say it like that! You're going to make her think I do something weird!"

Plagg turned towards him with a smirk on his tiny face. "Oh and having a romantic dinner date with your Ladybug figurine isn't your idea of wei-" He was suddenly cut off as Adrien snatched him out of the air and stuffed him into his pocket.

With a face that was, amazingly, redder than Marinette's, Adrien sank down onto the chaise behind him. He buried his face in his hands, muttering, "I'm so, so sorry. You were never supposed to hear that."

Marinette was a bit lost for words, and was saved from having to think of something to say by Plagg's sudden reappearance. He had escaped Adrien's pocket with ease, and was on to worrying about more important matters than embarrassing his charge.

"So, lover-girl, do you have any cheese?"

Adrien sighed. "Plagg, her name is 'Marinette', which you know already. And you don't have to bother her, I have cheese for you right here." He pulled a chunk of very strong smelling cheese from his shirt and waved it at the kwami, who streaked over in a flash of black and green to devour it. Tikki soared after him, and the two kwami floated off to some other part of the room to catch up and leave their charges to sort themselves out.

Meanwhile, Marinette was left wondering to herself how he managed to hide that cheese on his person without smelling like it all the time.

"Honestly, I've wondered that myself. I mean, I'm thankful that I don't smell like camembert all the time, but it seems crazy that that's possible." Adrien answered the question Marinette hadn't realized she'd asked.

"I-I didn't realize I actually said that. Sorry."

Adrien smiled gently and took her hand. "You don't have to be sorry. And you don't have to be so nervous around me, either. You got along fine with me as Chat right? It's still me."

Marinette didn't want Adrien to let go of her hand, so she settled for trying to hide her blush and embarrassment with her one free hand. "But it's not the same!" she moaned, throwing dignity, what little she had retained, to the wind. "You know I like you now and I can hardly function around you and I'm going to ruin everything by acting like such a weirdo."

"There's no reason to be embarrassed you know, especially after hearing Plagg say something like that. If anything, you should be thinking I'm the weirdo right now."

She shook her head silently, blushing harder as she remembered what Plagg had said. Could that mean that his feelings for Ladybug weren't just a show he put on for fun? Could he actually…

She heard a chuckle as Adrien stood and removed the hand covering her face, so that he was holding both of them. She pouted. "Hey, you can't just take away my hiding place like that."

"Now that's the Marinette I want to see more of." Adrien lifted her chin with one hand and peered into her eyes. "The one that doesn't stutter from nerves, but is smart, kind, and witty. The one I ended up liking both in and out of the suit." He blushed and moved his hand to rub the back of his neck, hurrying to add, "I didn't mean out of the suit in a weird way or anything! I just meant that- "

Marinette knew she would only turn redder if she opened her mouth to interrupt him with her childish question, but she had to know. "Like, like like, or just like?"

Adrien laughed. "Like, like like. I always liked Ladybug, but spending all these nights just hanging out with you made me fall for Marinette, too."

Marinette blushed hard, but she was grinning like a fool. She gave a quiet "Oh."

Adrien grinned right back, before leaning a little bit closer. "Marinette…My Lady…can I kiss you?"

Words failed her, but Marinette managed to nod, and slowly their faces drifted towards each other. When their lips finally connected, Marinette felt something stir inside of her, something that told her that this was right and it was all going to be okay.

Adrien slowly pulled back, and two pairs of eyes slowly fluttered open to stare at each other. As green bore into blue, Adrien suddenly smirked.

Marinette was instantly suspicious. Though she'd never exactly seen it on Adrien, she knew that look as the one that Chat made whenever he was about to say something ridiculous. She prepared herself for a bad pun or cheesy one-liner.

Adrien reached up to stroke her cheek and murmured, "No wonder the sky is gray today. All the blue is in your eyes."

Marinette blushed for only a second before she muttered back, "It's night time, you dork."

And then they were kissing again.