She hadn't meant to work it out. She hadn't been looking for him. It was an accident a simple mistake. But now she had to deal with it. Deal with keeping a secret she should never have known.

Adrien was Chat Noir…

She had already panicked, tried to fight the idea and now had finally accepted it.

She had tried to think of ways to discuss it with him.

Sure she could talk to him as Marinette, how hard could it be? Just walk up to him, look into his cat green eyes and… Yeah, nope! Wasn't happening, wasn't going to work.

Means she'll have to go about it the other way. Walk up to Chat Noir as Ladybug look into his cat green eyes and… Yeah she wasn't sure where she was going with that either.

But all these problems were now in the past. He knew she knew and of course it was at the worst possible time and from the expression on his face he wasn't taking it so well.

Marinette had never meant for the pieces to fall into place but they had. Really thinking about how could they not. She has spent the last, I don't know how long, 'observing' the boy. She couldn't help it she loved 'observing' the way his golden hair sat and moved as he did, how his emerald green eyes sparked during his favorite lesson and how he smiled when he was happy. Not the well practised forced fake smile but his untrained genuine one that usually reached from ear to ear. Those were rare but they are the ones she loves. The one that appeared as he laughed that time he gave her his umbrella. That was the Adrien she loved, even if she didn't see him that often.

But during all her 'observations' she noticed other things. The way he walked with a slight swagger when he was happy, or the way he bowed the few occasions they were alone. Even the way his eyes sparked but his lips clamped shut like he was trying desperately not to say something.

At the beginning Marinette hadn't thought anything about it until she watched one of Alya's videos. Alya had been gushing about the latest footage she had captured of Ladybug and Chat Noir for the Ladyblog and apparently Marinette needed to watch it. So being the friend she was she did just that.

Like normal she pretended to watch it whilst letting her thoughts drift back to Adrien. Suddenly a flash of blonde had caught her eye. She shouldn't have been surprised of course Chat Noir was there with his wild golden hair but it did catch her eye. For the rest of the video she focused on Chat's movements. His clear swagger, the way he bowed bending one arm into his stomach whilst his other flew out behind him. His smile that easily reached ear to ear and the way his eyes sparked with each pun.

To begin with Marinette thought they were very close coincidences and believed that for weeks until she started thinking they may be the same person. It started with taking note when a pun would have easily been added in a conversation. As Marinette then noticed how Adrien seem to stiffen at each chance. She observed a little more before realising his eyes sparked each time but he never said anything. Then during another akuma attack she found herself observing Chat Noir and how his eyes sparked with each pun. The pieces slowly fell together until the picture was so clear only a blind person couldn't see it.

Even after that breakthrough everything had been fine until the latest akuma. An office worker had been akumatised into Sandman. Apparently he had been losing his nights trying to keep ontop of work and had fallen asleep only to be late for work the next day and lost his job.

He had been spraying sand into people's faces but with no effect so far. Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived soon after. Sandman had aimed for Chat Noir but the leather clad superhero had just misstepped and fallen from a rooftop, saving him from the attack. Ladybug had rushed over blowing the sand away with her yo-yo before calling for him and flinging the yo-yo for him to grab.

That was when the problem occurred. When she called for him, instead of calling Chat Noir Adrien's name rang through the air.

Chat Noir now looked up with wide eyes whilst Ladybug looked down with equal wide eyes. After a few second Chat's expression darkens and this is where the story really begins.