Hi everyone! This is my entry to the Meowraculous Chat Noir Zine. I'm so honoured to be apart of it, and everyone please go check it out because it's filled with incredible fan art and fics. Well, I'm listed as 'khaleisey' in it because that's my tumblr username, but I digress. It was amazing to be apart of it and thank you to all the organisers and creators who put so much effort into it.

And a big thank you to wonderfulwizardofthozz for beta-ing this for me, as she is faaaaar better at grammar than me. Seriously guys, how do dashes work? She also came up with the title, so everyone give her a round of applause and please go read her fics!

I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you thought in the reviews!

Croissants, Scarves, and the Best Possible Outcome

It was official: something was up with Ladybug.

She had come to patrol seeming awkward and had stuttered her way through it, leaving Chat wondering as to what was actually wrong with his partner. He'd asked her, of course, but she hadn't really given him an answer.

"Oh nothing, Chaton," she'd said, waving away his question. "I just discovered something today, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

Ladybug had been somewhat awkward with him since then, but she soon went back to normal. Sort of. Kind of. (There'd been a few moments of unexplained stuttering.) Now, however, as Adrien watched Marinette stammer and blush around him, he had to wonder if there was something in the air or if he just had a predisposition to making people uncomfortable.

But Marinette's awkwardness went away in an instant when Adrien made the comment that Chat Noir wasn't as important as Ladybug.

"Excuse me?!" she demanded, her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised dangerously.

Alya and Nino, who were responsible for bringing the heroes of Paris up in the first place, shot him looks of sympathy.

Adrien was struck with the notion that he had just made a very, very big mistake.

"Chat Noir is just as important as Ladybug!" Marinette declared passionately. She looked like she wanted to say more, but she shut her mouth and stormed out of the room, muttering under her breath words that sounded like, "Show him," and something about the intelligence of cats.

Adrien watched her go and turned to Alya and Nino, bewildered. "What was—? I didn't mean to make her angry? I just—what?"

Nino clapped him on the back. "Dude, it was nice knowing you. Marinette's gonna destroy you."

"But—what? Why?"

Alya's eyes sparkled with mirth. "Here lies Adrien Agreste: Death by Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Guys!"

"My sweet summer child, you don't know what you're in for," Alya said.

"Can I have your gaming system when you die?" Nino asked.

"Guys!"

The blogger took pity on him and explained, "With my girl, there's one thing you should never do."

She paused for dramatic effect and Adrien nearly groaned in frustration. "Which is?" He prompted.

"Insult Chat Noir."

The first thing out of the ordinary was a bag of croissants waiting for him at Chat and Ladybug's normal patrol rendezvous point.

Chat Noir looked at it, confused. What was it doing there?

He picked it up. Even in the low light, his night vision had no trouble making out the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie logo on the bag. Nor did he have trouble reading the note that was attached to it: To my favourite cat, and signed with a familiar picture of a ladybug.

His heart thumped in his chest. His Lady left him this? She had to, he'd recognised that picture of a ladybug anywhere. He'd seen her sign it hundreds of times before. But why had she left it for him?

Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, nor ready to run the risk of Nathalie taking them off him if he took them home, Chat scarfed the croissants down in record time. Feeling full, Chat shot off to complete his patrol. But when he met up with Ladybug and asked her about them afterwards, all she said was that they were a gift for being such a wonderful partner.

(He tried not to let such high praise go to his head; he failed. He also tried to convince himself that such a simple gesture from his Lady couldn't make him fall even more in love with her; he failed that, too.)

He should get her something as well, right?

"Don't think even think about it, Chaton," Ladybug said, clearly reading his thoughts.

"But—"

"It's a gift, Chat Noir. You don't have to give me something just because I gave one to you."

"But I want to."

Ladybug shook her head. "You do enough for me as it is," she paused, looking thoughtful and strangely guilty. "Today I heard someone say that you weren't as important as me, and it made me realise that I don't show how much you mean to me as often as I should. You're amazing, and I don't tell you that enough."

Jeez, Ladybug couldn't just say things like that without it doing ridiculous things to his heart!

Even as he basked in her praise, he rushed to console her. "My Lady, you don't have to do that. I know that you—"

She put a finger to his lips, silencing him. "But I want to," she told him, repeating what he'd said moments before.

As Chat spluttered and tried to find words to say you don't have to, I'm not as important as you, oh my god, I love you, Ladybug stepped away from him and prepared to yoyo herself off into the Parisian night.

"I hope you liked the croissants," she said. "Until next time, Chat Noir!"

She soared away and he managed to get out a response. "I loved them."

His I love you went unsaid, as always.

At school the next morning, Adrien sat at his desk and mused over his Lady's behaviour. He wasn't sure how he'd handle it if she continued to shower him with her attention. He'd barely survived the night before. His Lady had expressed how much he meant to her and Adrien had all but melted into a pile of happy, cat-themed superhero. What was he going to do if she did it again? He'd probably die.

He was so preoccupied with thinking about Ladybug, he didn't realise Nino had been talking to him until it became painfully obvious.

"So, Alya and I are thinking of eloping and we're going to move to Australia to film a documentary on all the weird animals over there."

His attention finally caught, Adrien did a double take at his best friend. "What?"

Nino laughed. "Finally! My best bro comes back to Earth! I've been trying to get your attention for ages."

Adrien sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry."

Nino waved away his apology. "No worries. It's not important. What's up?"

He shrugged. "It's nothing."

His best friend gave him a sceptical look. "Yeah, right. Seriously, bro, how can I help?"

Adrien smiled. How in the world did he deserve a friend like Nino? "It's really nothing," he said. "It's actually a good thing. My friend just did something unexpected last night and I'm still caught up in it, I guess."

Nino looked ready to press him for details, but Adrien was saved by the arrival of Marinette. The designer looked exhausted as she sat down in her seat behind him.

"Morning, Marinette," he and Nino chorused.

"Good morning, Nino," —she paused to yawn— "Adrien."

"Didn't get much sleep last night?" Nino asked.

She shook her head. "No, I stayed up to make a present for a friend."

Adrien smiled. Marinette was such a nice person. It was so like her to sacrifice her sleep to make a gift for someone. He also wondered what Nino had meant about her 'destroying' him because he'd insulted Chat Noir. Marinette didn't seem like the type to destroy anyone (except maybe Chloé).

"What did you make?" He inquired.

Marinette's expression turned faraway and Adrien instinctively knew that she was thinking of her friend. She smiled and he was struck with the sudden realisation of how pretty Marinette looked in that moment.

(Like, wow. Marinette was cute.)

Adrien pushed the errant thought away and focused on what she was saying. "I didn't just make one thing for him. I was also…planning."

Nino gave an 'ooh' of interest. "Planning what?"

Marinette put a finger to her lips and then did something entirely unexpected.

She winked.

Holy mother.

Okay, yep. That was a way Marinette could destroy someone.

Adrien had pretend to get something out of his bag, just to hide the blush that burnt his cheeks. That was—that was too cute! Since when did Marinette wink? She shouldn't be winking! Winking was his thing! Was this how she and Ladybug reacted when he winked at them?! And why was he having such a reaction to Marinette doing it?!

"Aww, come on, dude!" Nino wheedled when she wouldn't give any details. "Don't leave us hanging!"

Adrien, hoping his blush had receded, nodded along with his best friend.

"Well," Marinette started, but was interrupted by Alya entering the classroom.

"Hey, guys, how are y—" The blogger cut herself off at the sight of her best friend. "Mari, you're here."

"Was I supposed to be somewhere else?"

"You're here on time."

"I'm not always late, you know."

Still looking surprised, Alya walked over to look out one of the windows.

"What are you doing?" Marinette asked her.

"Just checking to see if pigs are flying."

Marinette rolled her eyes and the rest of them laughed. "Very funny," the designer said sarcastically.

Alya came over to sit at her desk. "Love you, girl."

Their very mature and respectable class president just poked her tongue out at her.

With the arrival of Alya and their subsequent subject change, Adrien didn't have time to dwell on how cute he suddenly found Marinette, or how he was going to handle attention from Ladybug.

Ah well, he'd figure that out later.

Or he could avoid the problem until it resurfaced in the shape of a present that Ladybug gave him on patrol a few days later.

He accepted her gift in a dumb, surprised stupor. Chat supposed that he should have seen it coming, as his Lady had been adamant on proving just how much she cared for him over the last few days. Regardless, he was still surprised and receiving a present from his Lady made his heart beat wildly in his chest.

He unwrapped it with painstaking care, and Ladybug watched him with an expression of fond exasperation. Her eyes gleamed in anticipation; it seemed she was just as excited for him to open his present as he was.

It was a scarf. A green scarf that matched the colour of his eyes; on the end of it was a picture of a black cat chasing a Ladybug.

Chat loved it instantly.

His heart beat even faster and he felt like he'd been hit in the stomach with feels. He was always someone who had a way with words, but he had no idea how to express how much the gift meant to him. "My Lady, thank you. I—I…" He trailed off and looked around, as if their surroundings would give him an idea of what to say.

He wrapped it around his neck. "I love it," he finally said. "How do I look?"

Ladybug beamed at him. Gosh, Chat could write poems about that smile. That smile was dangerous. People could be lost to it. His Lady should stop using Lucky Charms, because Chat was certain an akuma would lay down their arms if they were faced with her smile. It was—

"You look great," she said, interrupting his train of thought.

"Really?" He asked, a blush burning his cheeks.

"Yeah, you could totally be a model."

Chat froze. His Lady was joking, he knew that, but she could never know how close to the truth she really was. "You know it," he joked, pulling an overly exaggerated modelling pose. "Runway material, right here."

She laughed. "I'd buy your modelling posters."

Chat almost fell over.

Sweet mother of camembert! Did she even know the effect she had on him?

He had to tell her how he felt. He had to. He didn't think he could take much more of this.

"Ladybug, I need to talk to you," Chat began. "I've tried to tell you this so many times before and something always comes up. An akuma attacks, or I chicken out, or something, and—"

She cut him off with a hug and Chat went still in her arms. After a moment of hesitation, Chat hugged her back. He clung to her, breathing her in and committing the moment to memory.

"I've been trying to tell you the same thing," Ladybug said into his ear, "but you didn't realise. Neither of us realised."

Chat pulled back in shock. "What?"

"I've got another surprise for you," she continued, completely ignoring his dumbfounded question. "But you won't get it until tomorrow."

"What?" Chat repeated.

"I hope you'll like it. I'll see you then."

Then she killed him by pressing a kiss to his cheek and yoyoing herself away.

Chat watched her go, feeling like a strange combination of confused, elated, and incredibly, incredibly in love.

That still didn't stop him from uttering one word into the Parisian night: "What?"

Adrien was still feeling bewildered (and still wearing the scarf) when he went to school the next morning.

It was a feeling that only increased when he stood at the bottom of the school steps and saw that everyone was dressed in either a Chat Noir costume or merchandise.

"Whaaaat?" He murmured to himself.

He was startled out of his confusion by Nino clapping him on the back. "Duuuuuuude! Why aren't you in costume? I love the scarf, though."

Adrien still didn't understand what was going on. "What is all this? Just—what? Have I missed something?"

(Because really, how could he have missed the memo of everyone dressing up as himself?)

His best friend frowned. "Did you not get the email?"

"What email?"

"Clearly not."

"Nino."

The DJ gestured to all the people dressed as Adrien's superhero self. "It's the first annual 'We Love Chat Noir Day!' Cool, huh?"

Adrien tried to hide how utterly stunned he felt, but he didn't think he succeeded. This…this was all for him? "R-really?"

"You bet!" Alya's voice sounded from behind them and he and Nino turned to see the blogger approaching them, Marinette at her side.

Adrien nearly had a stroke.

Whereas Alya was decked out in Chat Noir merchandise, Marinette was dressed in a complete Chat Noir costume. A very form-fitting black suit, complete with belt, bell, boots, mask, cat ears and staff. The only thing that didn't fit the outfit was the little pink purse that always hung at her hip.

She looked good. She looked really, really good.

Was Adrien blushing? He felt like he was blushing. He was certain he was at least gawking at her. This is what Alya and Nino meant about her destroying him, right?

"You—Mari—Chat—what?" He stuttered.

For some unknown reason, Alya elbowed Marinette in the stomach and looked smug, like she'd just been proven right. However, she didn't give Adrien a chance to dwell on that, as she said, "It's 'We Love Chat Noir Day.' Mari came up with it. She said that Chat didn't get as much love and appreciation as Ladybug, so she organised it. It's a day to celebrate the best cat in Paris and we're gonna make it an annual thing."

He turned to Marinette, at a loss for words. She organised this? A whole day full of people loving and appreciating him?

Adrien felt tears building in his eyes.

"Whoa, bro, you okay?" Nino asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," he choked out.

Oh great, now he even sounded like he was crying.

"What's wrong?" Alya seemed worried.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Really. It's just—"

He was cut off by Marinette putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said soothingly, "come with me." She turned to their two best friends. "It's okay, I got this. We'll be back."

Before anyone could protest, she herded him into the school and out of sight. Adrien didn't really focus on where she was leading him, until he found himself on the school roof.

Why in the world had she taken him there?

"You and I talk best when we're alone on rooftops," she said.

What did that mean?

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have organised this day if I knew it would upset you."

Adrien was shaking his head before she even finished speaking. "No! No, I love it! I'm not upset, I'm just a bit overwhelmed. I didn't—I wasn't expecting so many people to like Chat Noir so much."

"You need to have a higher opinion of yourself, Chaton. The city literally made a statue of us."

"I know, I know, I—" Adrien cut himself off as her words registered in his mind. "What did you call me?"

"Did you like the croissants?" She asked, completely disregarding his question, or how white in the face Adrien had become.

"The what?" He weakly croaked.

"I see you liked the scarf. I'm glad you do. I worked really hard on that and stayed up late for days."

Adrien stared at her blankly. His brain was taking in what she was saying but he wasn't making the connection. He couldn't be understanding what she was saying properly, because it seemed like she was saying—

Like she was—

With shaking hands, he grasped her by the shoulders. "Marinette, are you—are you actually saying…" He trailed off, unafraid to voice the conclusion he'd come to. Because if he was right, Marinette was his Lady and that was the most incredible thing he'd ever heard. But if he was wrong…God, he didn't want to be wrong.

"I told you I had another surprise for you," she said, opening the purse that was at her hip.

A pink blur flew out of the bag and then a ladybug-esque looking kwami was floating between them. "Hello, Adrien!" The creature greeted. "It's nice to finally meet you. I hope Plagg hasn't been giving you trouble."

Adrien just gaped at the kwami and Marinette. He couldn't talk; his brain was in shut down mode.

"Tikki, spots on."

Marinette was engulfed in pink light and in her place stood Ladybug.

He was right: Marinette was his Lady.

The tears that he'd been holding in started streaming down his face. "Buginette," he sniffed, "it's you."

A far cry from how composed she'd been moments before, his partner now looked panicked at his tears. "Oh, no, Adrien—Chat—please don't cry! Or at least please tell me those are happy tears and not sad ones because I'm Ladybug. I mean, I know it might be a bit of a surprise, cause I'm a bit of a mess sometimes, but it's me. A-And I wanted to show you how much you mean to me and I thought that telling you who I was would be the best present I could possibly give y—"

Adrien pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her shoulder. Overcome with emotion, all he could get out was, "Marinette, I'm so glad it's you."

There was a flash of pink as she detransformed. Adrien felt Plagg zip out of his pocket and guessed that he'd gone to catch up with Tikki. However, Marinette distracted him from thinking of their kwamis by wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm glad it's you too, Adrien."

He lifted his head from her should to ask, "How did you know?"

"I saw you change back after a fight; it really threw me for a loop."

Well, that explained her recent strange behaviour.

"What did you mean when you said you've been trying to tell me something?"

"I love you," she told him. Plain and simple, like it was an accepted fact of the world: Grass was green, the sky was blue, and she loved him. "Wow, that feels good to say! I love you, Adrien, Chat Noir, whatever you want to call yourself. I could never say it because I would always get so nervous and tongue tied around you. I kept pushing you away as Chat because I loved you as Adrien, and oh jeez, I'm rambling!"

He was still in tears, but that did nothing to damper his beaming smile. "It's okay—just—Mari, do you have any idea what this week has been like? You kept showering me with praise and with presents and I seriously thought I was going to die. Then you kept being super cute as your normal self and I had no idea how to handle that. Now you've organised an entire day for me and you're wearing my costume and oh my god I want to kiss you. Argh, now I'm rambling! I'm rambling and I'm crying and I love you."

He drew breath to keep talking and tell her how wonderful she was. To continue on with his I love you, I love you, I love you, because Marinette was right, it felt good to say. However, he didn't get the chance. Marinette leant in and further conversation was halted as she pressed her lips to his.

Adrien melted into it. His eyes closed and his hands were at her waist, holding her to him. Marinette's hands were buried in his hair and her lips were as soft as he always imagined them to be. One kiss turned to two, three, four, until Adrien lost count.

How many times had he envisioned this moment? To find out who was under his Lady's mask and to find out his love was reciprocated? Adrien was happy to say that reality was far better than anything he had ever dreamt up.

The moment was effectively ruined by the school bell ringing and the sound of students going off to class. The pair of them groaned as they reluctantly pulled away from each other.

"Class time, Chaton," Marinette said.

Dazed and lovestruck from what had just occurred, he asked, "Do we have to?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"We can continue this later though, right?"

"Definitely, yes. I—I would like that."

She held her hand out for him to take and he grasped it instantly. In a very Chat Noir move, he pressed a kiss to it. "I look forward to it, then."

He was rewarded with a spectacular blush from Marinette. "I—you—you," she stammered, clearly flustered. "Oh, come on, you silly cat!" She dragged him towards the stairs and Adrien followed her without complaint, beaming the entire time.

Sure, they were quite possibly going to be late for class (but that was nothing new), and they had to lie to Alya and Nino about why Adrien had been crying. Plus, they'd have to give a reason for his and Marinette's newfound relationship (not that they'd discussed anything, but after love confessions, relationships were a given, right?).

So yes, things were possibly about to get a lot more complicated. But, with Marinette at his side, Adrien was ready to tackle it all.