Nearly as soon as she'd transformed, speeding up through her skylight to the roof, Ladybug's yo-yo buzzed.

"Well." She'd blinked, unhooking the yo-yo from her hip. "That was fast."

Those mesmerising, glowing green eyes practically filled the screen, the background shifting slightly as if he was bouncing on his toes. But it was a surprisingly familiar sight: the top of the Agreste mansion. "You're up for a Patrol tonight, my Lady?"

She smiled a bit more widely than normal, her confidence slowly draining behind the mask as the reality of the situation landed. This wasn't just a late night patrol with her partner. Now it was a rooftop stroll with her crush - who might or might not actually be returning those feelings to her.

Sitting in her room and sighing over the poem, it had felt more sure that her confidence as Ladybug could help her pull through. But it was already taking more time than usual for her to find her voice, as the weight of the image left her heart feeling like she had already been sprinting over the rooftops. "I was thinking about it."

"I wasn't sure you were planning on it after the attack earlier." Chat Noir smiled ruefully. "I tried to do homework and rest up, but I wasn't having much luck."

"Yeah." She murmured, far softer than she had any right. "I could at least use the run to clear my head."

He'd grinned, winking at her just before the screen went dark. "I'm on my way."

She exhaled, drawing in a steadying breath as she dragged a gloved finger over the screen. "I'll be waiting."

Her eyes shut, pressing the yo-yo back into its compact form and letting it fly across the Seine.

It was a good thing that the patrol route was so normal, a familiar dance across the rooftops, because everything else felt stilted.

Maybe it was because she knew.

It was that fact that made her run harder, putting a little more distance between them for the sake of maintaining her own composure. Of course, the distance didn't stop her from looking back at him all too often.

Or maybe it was because now she couldn't help but watch him because she knew.

Since she was watching him that couldn't help but notice just how much he was watching her. She'd always known her partner to be flirty and over the top. Somehow, she hadn't considered how much he must have been watching her in order to pick up on some of the little things, the little clues and glances they'd used to telegraph the next move, especially for those more clever Akuma.

But her ignorance has been blissful, knowledge and awareness of those glowing green eyes meeting hers now kicked up a storm of butterflies in her belly.

Her grip on the yoyo tightened, swinging from rooftop to rooftop and letting the momentum continue to propel her forward.

Only the tiniest frowns marred his features as he'd popped his baton from its holster, quickly vaulting back to her side. When she'd grown daring and let her eyes meet with glowing green, his grin widened.

It was a bit unsettling still seeing that smile she so much associated with him as Adrien at his happiest beneath the mask.

If she'd had any remaining doubts that pushed them away.

It had been such a long ingrained habit to watch her. Even those first days, she had been such a force of nature that he couldn't quite look away, even if he'd wanted to.

But now that he knew who was hiding behind the spots, he just wanted to watch her more to fit together the pieces to make better sense of the girl behind the mask, to figure out how the miraculous magic had so managed to even deceive his own eyes and ears. Since she sat behind him in class, there wasn't much opportunity to be had during school and his schedule never allowed for much time to hang out with his friends even after she had been more willing to talk to him.

He frowned as she'd raced ahead, putting more distance between them than was necessary for their usual conversation, clamoring to play catch up.

After their bad start in school, it seemed like Marinette had been a bit more friendly with him, which had given him hope. But he was never, truly sure. Her long history of anxiousness around him gave him pause, made him wonder if perhaps she might be disappointed to find out that he was her partner.

When the staggering force of her blue eyes hit him, he knew. Even if she might be saddened by him, he had to tell her.

It was only right.

He smiled. If he knew one thing about Ladybug and Marinette, it was that doing what was right was so important.

Ladybug hadn't expected to slip. Her footing was now so trained by muscle memory that this kind of slip had seemed unlikely, even with her focus so split.

But her reactions were finely honed enough that she was ready to send her yo-yo flying, swinging her down to safety.

Not that it was necessary. Or that she could move her arms.

Chat Noir had caught her mid-fall, his arms ringing around her shoulders, pressing her nose into his neck.

The baton extended to the ground below halting the otherwise inevitable fall, before lifting them both slowly, back up to the solid rooftop where he righted them both.

"You alright there, Princess?"

Her eyes widened behind the mask, glad that her face was still pressed into his chest, her arms hanging uselessly at her sides.

He knew.

He knew and he had been watching her. He hadn't let her fall.

She had thought her heart had been racing when she'd slipped.

Ladybug could hardly breathe, could hardly think.

And so, she laughed.

Chat Noir gaped, pulling back a step to check on his partner.

Her eyes slid closed, her face tilted away from his.

Her laugh had gone high and self-deprecating. It wasn't Ladybug's laugh, unrestrained and free, with a cutting, occasionally wicked sense of humor.

It was Marinette's.

Even as Chat Noir, he was certainly not immune.

He'd been in love with Ladybug for so long now, it felt like he couldn't have fallen any further.

It shocked him just how wrong he'd been. Now that he knew that his Lady had actually been someone he'd considered a friend all along, the picture just now felt more complete.

"My Lady?"

Her shades-too-blue eyes slid open, her arms wrapping around her middle as the laugh grew more into Ladybug's familiar musical range. "Oh, no, Chaton. I'm afraid you let the cat out of the bag."

He blinked, stepping back another half step. "Huh?"

"It means you slipped, Adrien."

Adrien? His eyes widened. "Then you know, too?"

She nodded, inhaling slowly. "Not for very long though. Just since this afternoon."

"What gave me away?" He risked a step back towards her.

Ladybug's eyes darted away but she didn't dare to move. "Umm. It might seem odd, but your laugh."

"Really?" He straightened, his grin widening.

"I had realized a while ago that I hadn't heard you laugh much while in the suit, and I had been trying to cheer you up a little." She bit her lip. "Not that I had any idea who was behind the mask at the time."

"Ah. That explains the attempt at puns."

"Excuse me?" Her eyes narrowed, her finger reaching out to tap his nose on instinct. "That was better than an attempt at least."

"Right." He narrowed the distance between their faces, his tail winding back and forth fluidly. "It means you just need more purr-actice."

She groaned, lifting her eyes to the sky. "I am not having this conversation. I am going to wake up, and this is all going to have been a terrible, awful dream about puns."

He smirked. "I can assure you that I'm no knightmare, Purr-incess."

"Ugh," she groaned, bringing a gloved hand up to massage her temple. "Right now, that's debatable."

Chat Noir only laughed, once again betraying the identity of the boy beneath.

She shook her head, smiling more fondly than she ought to for his ridiculous puns. "I never would have guessed you would have such an awful sense of humor based on how you act every day."

"My father has some rather strict expectations for how I should act, as it reflects the family name." He tapped the mask. "For all that this comes with some heavy responsibility, it still feels more freeing."

Ladybug blinked. "I can understand that in a way. The anonymity of this mask let me be more confident than I would have been without it."

"Huh." Chat tilted his head. "You always seem pretty confident in class. Well, most of the time anyways."

Her eyes drifted away from his. "That's been pretty new for me, honestly. But it is nice."

Chat Noir stared at her, uncertain. "Why do you still struggle a bit anyways? It never seemed like you had any problems talking to someone else." He pulled back, his tail slowing. "Was it something I did?"

Ladybug felt vaguely dizzy, like the spin of falling down from high up in the air although the world itself was standing still. She swallowed, trying to mentally pick the best words to tell her partner that she's actually had a massive crush on him all this time. It would be miraculous if she'd manage to put the words together, even with the extra confidence boost of her transformed form.

His claws hung limply at his side, his eyes downcast. "It's just that I was hoping maybe you'd like me enough outside the mask. I know all too well that you don't see me as more than a friend in it. I guess I should tone back the flirting a bit, because that's just gonna be unwelcome now, huh."

"Oh, no. It wasn't you." She assured, reaching out towards him before thinking better of it. This was not really how she had hoped this was going to progress.

But the way his face fell when she let her own arm drop, the hurt in those emerald eyes nearly broke her heart.

Steeling herself, she'd closed her eyes, willing her heart rate to slow. She'd battled monsters - with him - for months now. This should be such a small thing in comparison.

"I mean it." She'd whispered, her voice gaining a bit of volume, one eye sneaking open. "I might have had a bit of a crush on you."

His green eyes were unnaturally wide, the slitted pupils obvious even in spite of the distance. His jaw had dropped. For so many months, she'd happily wished for a bit of this silence from her partner. But right now, she'd needed to know they were still okay. Ladybug had dared a cautious step towards him. "Chaton…?"

He'd blinked, the brightest blush flooding his cheeks as he backpedalled, losing his footing on an uneven bit of roof.

Her eyes hardened, already in motion before her mind had made a firm decision.

He'd braced himself to hit the ground, but to his surprise, he was met only with softness and warmth

He thought he was blushing before, but his face burned as he looked up into the concern filling her brilliant blue eyes.

The heat in his cheeks was only mildly dampened by the cozy heat from her slim arm supporting his own shoulders. As tiny as Marinette was, it was no mean feat, but he had little doubt she could lift almost as much without the superpowers.

He had known it from that first day. Ladybug really was crazy awesome.

His lips curved up in a purely self-deprecating smile, as he leaned back into her arms. "My hero."

Ladybug had laughed at that, tears forming at the edges of her mask as she'd help him right himself. "I suppose that means that you are alright."

"Never better, my lady." He half bowed, snagging her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles.

But this time, Ladybug hadn't pulled her hand away.

This time, she'd laughed, mischief bedeviling those blue eyes.

"Although I suppose, I ought to ask you to stop falling for me."

He couldn't help but smirk at her pun. "A little too late for that, I fear."