Ch. 1

Adrien couldn't stop thinking about it.

Ladybug had almost given up her miraculous to save him…

Or at least, she had thought it was him she was trying to save.

Adrien couldn't believe it had been just one week since Lila (who was akumatized into Volpina) had almost tricked Ladybug into giving up her miraculous in order to save Adrien when Volpina was threatening to drop him off the Eiffel Tower. Of course, it had just been an illusion of Adrien, but Ladybug hadn't known that until Chat Noir threw his staff at Volpina, causing the illusion of Adrien to disappear.

After defeating Volpina, Chat Noir had wanted to ask Ladybug why she was so willing to give up her miraculous to save Adrien, but she took off in a hurry to go check on Adrien, giving him no chance to ask.

Ladybug seemed so concerned about Adrien...and it's not the first time she's worried about him while on a mission…

It was as if perhaps… No. Not possible. No way could Ladybug have feelings for Adrien. Right? Ladybug always rejected him as Chat Noir.

But she doesn't know that I am Chat Noir! Adrien thought to himself.

"HELLO?" a loud voice snapped Adrien out of his thoughts.

He looked up from his desk to see Chloe standing there with her hands on her hips, an irritated look on her face.

"S-sorry, what?" Adrien asked.

"What's up with you, Adrikins? You have been ignoring me all day," she snapped.

I couldn't if I tried, he thought, trying to hide how annoyed he suddenly felt.

"I was trying to tell you that we need to start planning our outfits for the dance," Chloe said, a smirk creeping onto her face.

"Chloe, I already told you, I haven't asked you to the dance and..."

"But I know you are going to ask me eventually! So let's just get right to the shopping," Chloe interrupted.

Adrien sighed, grabbing his bag and getting up from his desk. "Chloe, I don't know who I am taking to the dance yet. I'll talk to you later."

Chloe huffed before turning to Sabrina to say, "He will ask me eventually. In the meantime, show me the list of designer dresses you've picked out for me to choose from."

They walked off and Adrien took the opportunity to slip out of the classroom and head home for the day.

He walked out of the school and saw his car waiting for him. As he walked towards it, a glint of blue caught his eye.

He turned to see Marinette talking to Alya, her hair so dark that it had a blue tint, much like the night sky.

At the same moment, Marinette looked over and met his gaze, her cheeks turning a soft pink.

He smiled and waved at her. She was so sweet. And she seemed so easy to talk to, but she always had trouble getting out words when he was around.

She smiled shyly and waved back before Adrien got into his car with Nathalie and his bodyguard a.k.a. the Gorilla.

As he looked out the window of the car at the peaceful streets of Paris, his thoughts returned to wondering about Ladybug. He decided that when they next saw each other, he would ask her about why she almost gave up her miraculous to save him. He remembered that they had patrol together that night, and he grinned.

Marinette put down her pencil, taking a break from her work.

"Ugh, Tikki, I am stuck! I need a dress for the school dance next month and I just haven't come up with the perfect one yet," she cried out, pulling her legs up onto her chaise and hugging them tightly, burying her face in her knees.

Tikki flew up in front of her face and said, "Don't worry Marinette. You're so talented, you'll find an inspiration soon enough and come up with the perfect dress!"

"I don't know Tikki, I'm not feeling very inspired," Marinette sighed.

"Well it's a good thing you have patrol with Chat Noir tonight. It looks like you need some time to clear your head," Tikki pointed out.

Marinette's head snapped up. Patrol! She had almost forgotten. She looked over at the clock: 11:53 p.m.

"We have seven minutes before we have to meet Chat at the Eiffel Tower!" Marinette gasped.

"Just say the words…" Tikki said, smiling.

Marinette grinned, "Tikki, spots on!"

Chat Noir paced back and forth, back and forth along the top of the Eiffel Tower. He was anxious to ask Ladybug about the incident last week with Volpina and the illusion of Adrien. But what was Ladybug going to say? Would she even want to talk about it?

Maybe I am just overthinking everything, Chat thought to himself, Ladybug saves everyone - she's a hero. Maybe she just wanted to save Adrien because that's her job…

"Hey there, kitty."

Chat Noir jumped, startled.

Ladybug giggled, her blue belle eyes dancing.

"Why so jumpy tonight, scaredy cat?" she teased.

Chat composed himself, a smile spreading across his face. He took her hand and bowed.

"My lady," he said, kissing her hand. "Me? Scared? No way. The only thing that makes my heart beat faster is the sound of your voice."

She pulled her hand away, but her smile grew.

"Let's go minou, we need to check on every part of the city tonight," she said.

"Wait!" he exclaimed as she pulled out her spotted yo-yo. "There's something I need to ask you."

"Chat, we don't have time to mess around tonight. I don't want to be out too late and…"

"Please, Ladybug, just a few minutes of your time," he said, giving her his best kitty face.

"Alright fine, we can talk, but just for a few minutes," she said, putting her yo-yo back in its place on her waist.

He took her by the hand to a ledge and motioned for her to sit. The city of Paris twinkled below them as they sat at the top of the Eiffel Tower, their feet dangling over the edge.

"It's about what happened here last week, with Volpina," he began.

He noticed Ladybug tense up at the very mention of the incident.

"Remember how Volpina created an illusion of Adrien?" he asked. "You were about to give her your miraculous just to stop her from dropping him from the top of this tower... Why?"

He seemed to catch her off guard. Ladybug's eyes widened and her mouth hung slightly open, but no words came out. Chat rarely saw Ladybug speechless like this.

"Well," she finally said. "I thought it was really Adrien and I had to save him… I couldn't lose him." She said the last part so quietly it was almost a whisper.

Chat tensed up. She couldn't lose him? Is that what she just said?

"Why?" Chat asked, his green eyes showing a mixture of emotions. "What's so special about Adrien?"

"Chat, I don't want to talk about this," Ladybug said, trying to put on a blank expression so that he couldn't read her emotions. "Besides, I don't want to hurt your feelings."

He cocked his head to the side, looking worried. "Why would it hurt my feelings? Ladybug…"

"I know how you feel about me, Chat," Ladybug said. "You always flirt with me and I used to always assume you just flirt with everyone, but you're always there to help me, even risking your life to protect me… You took a hit from Dark Cupid to protect me and even put yourself in harm's way to stop Timebreaker from touching me. I know that you care about me and like I said, I don't want to hurt your feelings."

Chat was taken aback. He didn't expect her to thank him for putting her safety before his own, but it was so amazing to hear her say she even noticed it.

Ladybug looked down at her feet, feeling ashamed. Chat couldn't stand seeing her blue eyes so sad.

"My lady, you could never hurt me," he said. "I am always here for you. Please, just tell me the truth."

Her worried eyes looked up at him and she let out a small sigh before she finally answered.

"I'm in love with Adrien."

Marinette regretted her words as soon as she said them.

I'm in love with Adrien.

What if that gave away too much? If she (Ladybug) was in love with Adrien, that must mean her civilian self knows him. Would Chat come to that conclusion? Would he be able to figure out that she goes to school with Adrien and eventually figure out her identity using that information?

She quickly pushed away the feeling of panic to watch Chat's reaction. It seemed to take a moment for him to realize what she had just said. As he processed her words, she saw a flicker of jealousy in his eyes, but it quickly faded to a strange look of surprise and maybe even, delight? That couldn't be right.

As Chat opened his mouth to speak, the panic seized Ladybug again, washing over her. She jumped up onto her feet and pulled out her yo-yo.

"F-forget what I said," she stammered. "Just go home, Chat. I can manage on my own tonight."

And with that, she swung off into the night, disappearing behind the buildings of Paris.

Chat sat there in disbelief, hardly even aware of when Ladybug took off.

I'm in love with Adrien.

It had taken a few moments for him to grasp what she said and after it sunk in, his first feeling was jealousy. For a moment, he completely forgot that he was Adrien.

You idiot! He could almost hear Plagg in his subconscious, laughing at him.

Then it hit him: Ladybug was in love with him.

That's when the look of shock came over his face.

Ladybug was in love with him! A twinge of joy filled him as he realized the heroine he'd been so in love with ever since he met her actually loved him too.

He sat there, taking it all in while Ladybug got up to leave and told him to go home. A number of questions started swirling through his mind.

How could Ladybug love him as Adrien? Did she know him in her civilian life? Did they go to school together? And how could he even have a relationship with Ladybug as Adrien without giving away his identity as Chat Noir? And if she found out he was Chat Noir, would she stop loving him?

He sighed, his cat ears drooping. Ladybug always rejected Chat Noir. Was it because she couldn't stand Chat? Or was it because she had feelings for Adrien?

Chat finally stood up, looking out over Paris. His eyes scanned the rooftops, hoping to see the girl in red swinging from building to building. After a few moments, he gave up and headed home, not wanting to think about what Plagg was going to say once he detransformed.

Ladybug landed on her bed, dropping down from the trapdoor to her balcony. As soon as she detranformed, she heard Tikki's squeal.

"Marinette! What was that?"

"I don't know what got into me, Tikki! I trust Chat and I just...I felt like I could tell him anything...b-but it was a mistake!" Marinette face planted into her pillow.

Tikki curled up next to Marinette's head and looked up at the ceiling.

"Don't worry, Marinette, Chat won't figure out who you are."

"Probably not," Marinette mumbled into her pillow before turning her head towards Tikki, her eyes downcast. "But what if I hurt Chat's feelings? Now he knows that I love someone else."

"Chat is strong and he cares about you a lot Marinette," said Tikki. "He will be there for you regardless of whether you love him or someone else."

Marinette smiled as she thought of his unwavering faithfulness to her.

"You're right, Tikki. We will deal with it tomorrow! Goodnight."

Adrien woke up to the familiar beeping of his alarm clock and the snoring coming from Plagg.

"Cheeeeese…" Plagg breathed out in his sleep.

Adrien rolled his eyes. He was still annoyed about the earful Plagg had given him the night before.

"You were jealous of yourself at first weren't you?" Plagg had asked him, laughing so hard he burped out the smell of cheese.

"Ugh gross!" Adrien had exclaimed. "But she loves Adrien - she loves ME!"

"Calm down kid, it's not like you can do anything about it," Plagg had pointed out. "If you, as Adrien, tell her you love her too, she might end up finding out that you're Chat Noir."

Plagg's warning had haunted him all night, which is why Adrien was so tired this morning.

He slumped into his desk at school a couple hours later, his eyes only half open. He perked up when he heard a loud conversation behind him.

"Ew what is this?" he heard Chloe say.

"Chloe, don't!" It was Marinette's voice, sounding both angry and afraid.

Adrien turned around to see that Chloe was holding the sketchbook Marinette was always drawing in. Marinette looked mortified as Chloe pointed at something on one of the pages.

"Don't tell me this is the dress you're planning to make for the dance," Chloe sneered.

Marinette's face flushed and her blue eyes burned. "Give it back, Chloe!" she demanded.

Chloe ripped out the page she had pointed to, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the trash before dropping the sketchbook onto the ground. Marinette gasped and Adrien could've sworn he saw her blue eyes tearing up.

As Marinette kneeled down to pick up her sketchbook, Adrien rushed over to the trash to pull out the piece of paper. He smoothed out the crumpled page and knelt down next to Marinette, handing it to her. At first, she didn't look up. She just looked down at the paper Adrien was handing to her. She reached out to take it and just then, she looked up to meet his eyes. For a moment, his breath seemed to get caught in his throat as he saw the drops of water forming beneath her stunning blue eyes. The tears made her eyes look even more blue, if that was even possible. He caught himself gawking at her and her face turned red.

She quickly looked back down at her things as the tears got dangerously close to spilling over onto her cheeks. She picked up her sketchbook and crumpled paper before rushing out of the room past Alya, who had just walked into the room.

"Marinette? What's wrong?" Alya asked, concerned as she saw Marinette rushing by.

Marinette ignored her, running out of the classroom. Alya turned to Adrien, looking angry.

"What happened?" she demanded.

Adrien wrinkled his brows and shot Chloe an angry look. Alya followed his gaze and stormed over to Chloe.

"What did you say to Marinette?" she said, coming close to Chloe's face.

"All I asked was if she was seriously going to make that dress for the dance," Chloe said, chewing on gum and looking unimpressed.

Alya went to her desk, fuming, and Adrien sat back down at his desk.

Marinette… She didn't deserve to be treated that way. He had caught only a glimpse of her design before he handed it to her, but he knew it was stunning. That's when he got an idea: he should ask Marinette to the dance.

But she can barely talk to me, he thought. Maybe she doesn't even like me very much.

But he felt they had become pretty good friends since he had gone over to her house to practice for the Ultimate Mecha Strike III tournament. She even seemed to stutter less around him now. He made up his mind - he was going to ask Marinette to the dance.

Anyway, it's not like I can go with Ladybug, he thought.

Marinette was so lovely and unique. It would be awesome to get to know her better. And there was no way he was going to the dance with Chloe, especially not after the way she treated Marinette.

Adrien looked back over his shoulder at Alya. "Hey, if you talk to Marinette, please tell her I hope she feels better," he whispered, since class had just started.

Alya's face softened. "I'll be sure to tell her that."

Marinette held back her tears until she was safely in her bedroom.

"Marinette, don't let her get to you!" Tikki said, sitting down on Marinette's shoulder and leaning her little round head on Marinette's neck.

"I know, Tikki," Marinette cried into her hands. "It's just so hard to deal with Chloe on top of everything else...like my feelings for Adrien, which I accidentally confessed to Chat Noir, and then homework, being Ladybug, and that stupid dance!"

Marinette tossed her design angrily into the trash can, just like Chloe had done earlier at school.

"No, don't do that," Tikki said, fetching the paper from the trash. "This is a good design, Marinette. It's perfect, it's so you. Chloe is just jealous, that's all!"

"But why am I even bothering to design a dress," Marinette said. "No one is going to ask me to the dance anyway."

"You never know," Tikki responded. "And even if no one asks you, you will go to that dance in your amazing dress and have fun with Alya and your other friends."

Tikki flew up to Marinette's face and wiped away one of her tears. Marinette sniffled and gave a small smile as Tikki handed her the design she had tossed in the trash. She was so lucky to have such a supportive and encouraging kwami.

Just then, she heard soft knock on the trapdoor above her bed, the one leading out to the balcony.

Tikki and Marinette both jumped. "Who could that be?" Tikki gasped.

"I don't know, but hide, Tikki!" Marinette said, climbing up to open the trapdoor.

She opened it slightly and stuck her head out through the crack. She looked up and saw a familiar dark figure.

"Hello, princess," said Chat Noir.

Adrien wasn't sure why, but he felt so compelled to go visit Marinette. She hadn't come back to school after her run-in with Chloe and it was almost time for lunch. He could tell Nathalie that he had to stay at school to work on a project and didn't have time to go home to eat. But he didn't feel like he could visit Marinette as Adrien - it might be too awkward. Maybe it would make more sense if Chat Noir just happened to be in the neighborhood.

Besides, they hadn't seen much of each other since they worked together to take down the Evillustrator and that time he had to take her to safety when the Gamer was after her.

As soon as they were dismissed for lunch, Adrien ran around the corner of the school and crouched behind some bushes.

"What are you thinking?" Plagg complained. "I hope you're not planning to transform right now, it's lunch time! I need cheese!"

"I'll give you extra cheese, okay? I need to go see Marinette," Adrien said.

Before Plagg could say anything else, Adrien said, "Claws out!"

After he knocked on the door that led from the balcony to her bedroom, Marinette poked her head out of the trapdoor.

"Hello, princess," he said, smiling.

Marinette's eyes widened. "Chat Noir?"

"The one and only," he said with a bow. "I was passing by on patrol and thought I'd stop by and check in on my princess. Although, I didn't think you'd be home...don't you have school?"

Marinette blushed and she lowered her eyes. "I...didn't feel well, so I came home."

Chat reached out his hand to help her up through the trapdoor and onto the balcony, leading her over to the railing.

"You didn't feel well? Why not? Did something happen?" he asked.

Marinette paused as she seemed to think about whether or not to open up to Chat.

"Well, there's this girl in my class and she's so…" Marinette's cheeks turned bright red and her blue eyes burned again, just like they had in class. "She's so mean, all the time."

Marinette looked down at the crumpled paper in her hand. Chat took her hand in his and uncurled her fingers, taking the paper. He opened it up and got a better look at the design this time.

"This is beautiful, Marinette," he said, his eyes soft. "The only thing that could make it more lovely is if it was worn by you."

Finally, a small smile appeared on Marinette's face. He had missed that smile.

"So, what's the occasion?" Chat asked.

"A school dance," Marinette sighed. "But I'm not so sure I even want to go anymore. I don't have anyone to go with and I'm pretty sure the guy I like is going with some other girl."

Chat raised an eyebrow. I wonder who she likes, he thought.

"Princess, I have a feeling that someone will ask you to the dance, and he will be the luckiest guy in the entire school if you say yes," he said, trying to hide how nervous he suddenly felt. What if she said no? What if she was hoping the guy she had a crush on would ask her?

Marinette's blue belle eyes flashed as brightly as her smile. "Thank you, Chat," she said.

In a split second, her eyes went from delighted to concerned. He was wondering what caused her sudden change in mood when she asked him, "Chat, how are you doing? Is there anything you want to talk about?"

He hadn't really meant for this to become a therapy session, but he felt so connected to Marinette in that moment that his mouth spoke before his head processed it.

"I can relate to your situation," Chat blurted out.

Marinette's eyes looked worried but so warm, like crystal clear ocean water on a summer day. "You can? How come?" she asked.

Chat tore his gaze away from her eyes and looked out at the view from her balcony. "I am in love with this girl, but she loves someone else," he said. Yea, she loves me, he thought. But she loves the civilian version of me…

He glanced back at Marinette and thought she looked worried and sad, but also a bit confused.

"Anyway, don't worry about me, princess," Chat said. "I'm a superhero, I'm here to help you."

"Even superheros need help, Chat Noir," said Marinette. "I know we don't know each other very well; but if you ever need to talk, I'll be here."

He flashed her a big smile. "I'll keep that in mind, princess."

Just then, the sound of the school bell ringing traveled across the street.

"You'd better get to school, princess. Don't let that snobby girl make you feel less special than you truly are," said Chat, brushing his gloved hand against her cheek.

And with that, he hopped up onto the railing and disappeared onto the busy street below.

Marinette came back into her room, deciding she would head back to school.

"Was that really Chat Noir?" asked Tikki.

"Yes, it was a nice surprise," said Marinette. "He was just passing by while on patrol and wanted to say hello."

"How is he doing?" TIkkie asked. "Did he seem heartbroken?"

Marinette thought back to when she had asked if there was anything he wanted to talk about. She still felt so guilty about confessing to him as Ladybug that she was in love with Adrien.

"He seemed okay," she answered. "He did tell me that the girl he loves is in love with someone else, but I couldn't tell how he felt about it."

Marinette thought back to what Chat had said.

I am in love with this girl, but she loves someone else.

She had watched Chat closely and noticed he seemed more confused than anything. She had expected him to be pretty upset, but maybe he just didn't love Ladybug as much as she had thought. Maybe he was okay with her being in love with Adrien. Regardless, she had meant it when she told Chat that she would be there for him. She knew all too well how much superheros needed help sometimes. Chat's visit had actually just helped her. Which reminded her, she needed to go back to school.

"Let's go, Tikki," Marinette said. "You and Chat were right, I'm not going to let Chloe make me feel bad. I'm going back to school."

Adrien's face lit up when he saw Marinette walk into the classroom after lunch.

Well done, Chat Noir, he thought to himself. He was happy he had managed to cheer her up a little.

He gave Marinette a little smile as she walked past to sit at her seat behind him. She blushed, as usual, and sat down.

He was surprised to feel a soft tap on his shoulder and he turned back to look over at Marinette, who was leaning forward to say something to him.

"Thank you for your help earlier, when you picked up my design" she whispered.

Adrien smiled warmly. "No problem," he whispered. "I'm just happy you're back."

Marinette could've fainted at that moment.

I'm just happy you're back.

Adrien was happy she was at school? She couldn't believe it. As soon as Adrien turned back around to face the teacher, Marinette screamed internally and her eyes got so big, Alya could practically see the hearts floating around inside them.

Alya giggled. "What was that?" she whispered, raising her eyebrow at Marinette.

"Only the happiest moment of my life," Marinette whispered back, giggling. She was definitely happy she had decided to come back to school today.

After class was over, she was disappointed to see Adrien rush out the door so quickly.

She turned to Alya, disappointed. "Man, I was hoping to talk to him after class," said Marinette.

"He looked like he was in a hurry," said Alya. "He probably has a photo shoot or something right after school."

The two girls walked out of the classroom and were walking down the steps outside the school entrance when they almost ran into Nino.

"Um, hi, Alya and Marinette," Nino said, sounding strange. "Alya, can I talk to you for a second?"

Alya and Marinette gave him confused looks. "Um, sure, Nino. What do you want to talk about?" Alya asked.

"I was hoping to talk to you...a-alone," he said nervously. "Can we take a short walk?"

"Sure…" Alya answered, giving Marinette a questioning look. "I'll catch up with you later, Marinette. Text me!"

Marinette grinned. Maybe Nino was going to ask her to the dance! She was definitely going to text Alya later to ask what happened.

Marinette was still watching Nino and Alya walk away together when she almost walked right into someone.

"Marinette," Adrien said, "I was hoping to run into you. But it seems you ran into me…"

He laughed, and Marinette looked up at him in disbelief. His laugh was such a beautiful sound.

"A-adrien! I'm so s-sorry," she said, feeling her face turn warm.

She quickly glanced over his shoulder and saw that his car was there parked, waiting for him. She looked back up at Adrien, curiously. It was then that she noticed he had both hands behind his back.

"Marinette," Adrien began. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you."

She felt her eyes widen. What could Adrien possibly want to ask her?

He brought one hand around from behind his back and in it, he held a single pink rose.

"Will you go with me to the dance?" he asked, his green eyes twinkling.

Marinette almost blacked out. For a second, the whole school yard seemed to spin beneath her feet and she couldn't breathe.

Get it together! A voice screamed inside her head. Breathe and answer his question.

"Yes," she managed to finally say. "I'd love to."

An even bigger smile broke out across Adrien's face and he handed her the rose.

"Awesome, I can't wait," he said. "And I can't wait to see your dress."

He winked and then turned to walk over to his car. Marinette stood there holding the rose in shock, pretty sure that her mouth was hanging open.