Going pale, Chat Noir shoots a terrified look at Ladybug.

"Oh… That's... That's me," he stammers weakly. "I'm your boyfriend."

Dropping his head in his hands, Chat Noir lets out a distressed groan.

"Alya is going to kill me," he continues in a frantic voice. "I'm telling you, Marinette, Alya is really going to kill me. Then dig up my body, find a way to resuscitate me and kill me again."

He feels full of a relentless wave of desperation. Under the effect of the panic, the adrenaline surges through his veins, compressing his lungs and dangerously accelerating his pulse.

"I'm screwed," he insists in despair. "She's going to kill me. You know Alya better than me, you know what she's capable of. And I was there when she talked about your boyfriend and what she would do the day she discovered who he is. I swear that you do NOT want to know what she had imagined, my Lady. You really don't," he concludes with a shiver of horror.

"Don't worry, kitty," she whispers in his ear. "I won't let her."

For a few minutes more, Chat Noir imagines out loud the thousand and one tortures that Alya will reserve for him the instant she learns that he's the one sharing Marinette's life. In great detail and theatrical lamenting, he describes to his teammate how her best friend will cut his life short and how badly all of Paris would be upset with this terrible loss.

Ladybug listens to him patiently, an amused look dancing on her face. Chat Noir has become a master in the art of exaggerating things, but the fact that he tells of so many manners of his demise proves to her that the situation is much less dramatic than he wants to make her believe.

Sure, her partner is clearly nervous, and sure, Alya's case warrants that they both think long and hard about the issue.

But when things are serious, really serious, Chat Noir knows how to act with the utmost seriousness. So when he starts to describe how Alya will rent a helicopter to hang him over a lake of molten lava or arranging for him to be trampled by a herd of angry goats, Ladybug knows that she has little to worry about what will be done with him.

As for her, her own anger has long since subsided in light of Chat Noir's antics. This boy is definitely too good at making her smile for her to stay angry.

Ladybug stares at her teammate affectionately, slowly absorbing the idea that hiding behind the mask of the one she loves is none other than Adrien. If she had known who he was earlier, things would have been quite different. She never would have spent so much time realizing what she felt for him. She never would have been so slow to give him a chance. She never would have had her heart broken when she heard Adrien and Nino talk about…

Ladybug's smile freezes at the memory of the conversation she had caught between the two boys. She lets out a soft hiccup, as a vivid blush suddenly covers her cheeks.

"W-W-Wait," she stutters, heart suddenly beating wildly. "When you… When…"

She stops abruptly, trying to find her words in the middle of the tempest of thoughts that is rampaging in her skull.

And the fact that she's now so emotional that she feels as if her heart is going to explode does not help.

"My Lady?" Chat Noir asks in concern, leaning toward her to plunge his gaze into her own.

"I heard… I heard you talking with Nino…" Ladybug begins again, her face now so red that she feels as if her cheeks are literally radiating heat. "A few months ago. You… You said that… There's a girl… That you were in love with a girl… It was… me?"

Her teammate's pupils dilate minutely in surprise and under his mask, the young man blushes in turn. He reaches a trembling hand towards Ladybug, delicately caressing her cheek with the tips of his fingers.

"It was never really a secret," Chat Noir finally murmurs with a timid smile. "The way I feel about you, I mean," he continues with an unwavering tenderness. "There's this whole thing with secret identities that came to complicate everything, but it doesn't matter. With or without the mask, I… I love you. I love you, Marinette. And I- Mpfffff…"

The words that the hero was about to say are abruptly stifled by tender lips, warm, that suddenly trap his. Not noticing the exclamation of surprise that chokes in Chat Noir's throat, Ladybug slides her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair, and kisses him, again, again, and again.

Instinctively, Chat Noir wraps an arm around the girl's waist, placing a hand between her shoulder blades. He holds her against his heart with all of his strength, surrendering himself to this embrace that strips him of all reason. Ladybug steals his lips, his heart, his breath, and he happily lets her.

Chat Noir feels overwhelmed by such a wave of euphoria that it makes him dizzy.

He had never clearly confessed his feelings to Ladybug, and her reaction surpasses his wildest hopes and dreams.

He loves her, he loves her, her loves her, and her mere presence makes him feel like he's being deliciously consumed from the inside out. Closing his eyelids to better savor this moment, he enthusiastically returns her kisses. He gets drunk on the softness of her lips, the smell of her skin, the way he feels her subconsciously smile as she kisses him.

"Adrien… Chat…" Ladybug sighs, parting from him slightly, her eyes as brilliant as if a cloud of stars had settled in their depths. "I love you too. You're an idiot, but you're the most adorable idiot there is."

A smile of unbelievable happiness quickly lights up on Chat Noir's face. His teammate's words make another torrent of adrenaline surge through his veins and his heart sing, plunging him into a state of bliss he had never known before. Chat Noir feels so happy, so light that he almost feels like he could fly.

Without losing a second more, he bows his head toward Ladybug to kiss her again.

"I love you," he whispers to her lovingly between each kiss. "I love you.'

For another long moment, the two heroes stay lost in a world that belongs only to them. Completely absorbed by each other, they savor this moment of extraordinary happiness, exchanging tender kisses and murmurs full of words of love.

When they finally separate, Chat Noir doesn't know how much time has passed.

A fraction of a second, a few minutes, hours, it doesn't matter. This wonderful moment of confessing his feelings to his Lady and hearing her fervent declarations of love seem to be outside of reality to him. Outside of the world, outside of time.

"So, what are we going to do?" he huffs, his breath still labored.

Arms still wrapped around his neck, Ladybug looks up to him. She takes a deep breath as her lips, made rosy by their kisses, curve into a mischievous smile.

"I'm going to break up with you," she replies.

For Chat Noir, the shock is an unheard-of assault. White as a sheet, he stares at his Lady without succeeding to articulate a single word.

Impossible.

He must have heard wrong.

Sure, Marinette has had some bad days lately. Sure, he had participated in Alya's absurd plan to try to get her to listen to reason - and he sorely regrets it now. But to leave him seems to be quite an extreme measure, especially after these moments of pure joy that they have just shared.

"B-break up?" he croaks, throat suddenly so dry as if he had swallowed a handful of sand. "You want to… Break up?"

"Yes," Ladybug responds decisively, and Chat Noir feels his heart drop in his chest.

This is a nightmare.

An unbelievable and horrible nightmare, from which he would certainly wake up. From which he has to wake up. He can't lose his Lady. Not like this. Not over something as stupid as…

"To be precise," the girl picks up again, interrupting her partner's frantic thoughts. "Marinette is going to break up with her mysterious boyfriend. I'm going to tell Alya that tomorrow morning. That way, I think the whole school will be up to speed by noon at the latest."

And suddenly, Chat Noir breathes again.

The abject terror that had paralyzed him a moment earlier is replaced by a hope so wonderful, so luminous, that the young man can't hold back the laughter of relief that escapes his lips. Eyes sparkling with joy, he nods his head automatically.

He understands.

He finally understands.

"And as for you, you can tell whoever wants to listen that this whole thing has opened your eyes and made you realize your feelings for me," Ladybug continues with a laugh in her eyes. "Then, after two weeks," she concludes, waving two fingers in front of her partner, "I'm counting on you to ask me to go out with you."

A machiavellian smile takes shape on Chat Noir's lips as Ladybug continues her explanation. When the girl finally finishes, the famous hero of Paris looks as pleased as the cat that got the cream.

"Now this is a plan that suits me perfectly," he approves with a chipper laugh, before leaning towards Ladybug to kiss her once again.

Sitting next to Marinette, Alya drums her fingers on her desk with a growing frustration.

At this time of day, she should be reviewing for her next history test. But despite her best efforts, the young blogger struggles to focus on her classes. As if attracted by a magnet, her gaze can't stop landing on her friend's arm. And more precisely, the ugly purplish bruise spreading out just above her elbow.

A mysterious injury, once again.

Eyes riveted on the bruise that seems to taunt her, Alya furrows her brows. Unable to fight them back, a cloud of the most unpleasant feelings slowly creep over her. Worry. Pain. Shame. And most of all, a dull guilt that crushes her chest and leaves a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

Alya doesn't need to reflect on what is tormenting her. Last week, Marinette announced to her that she had broken up with the boyfriend that she refused to talk about, and yet, new bruises continue to dot her skin.

Again, and again.

After these altercations that had nearly undermined their friendship, the young blogger now refuses to doubt any of her friend's words. Marinette told her that she had left the one she was dating, and Alya believes her without reserve.

And this hematoma that spreads before her eyes cruelly reminds her that she should have believed her in so many other things.

Alya feels a new burst of shame heating her cheeks as she remembers how she treated her classmate. Marinette is her best friend, and yet Alya refused to trust her when she insisted that everything was fine. She should have been the first to believe and support her, and she did the exact opposite.

Worse still, because of her thoughtless actions, Marinette had felt betrayed. Pushed to the edge. Humiliated.

Alya had always been proud of her deduction skills but she knows now that they clearly aren't infallible. This whole thing was a hard lesson for her, one that had almost costed Marinette's friendship.

An unpleasant chill runs up Alya's spine as she remembers the day her friend let out her anger in front of their whole class. This episode leaves a burning souvenir in her memory, and the terror she felt at the idea of Marinette never wanting to speak to her again is engraved in her brain as if branded with a red-hot iron.

For a moment, she had thought she lost her.

But luckily for her, Marinette is an extraordinary person. A girl with boundless generosity, always ready to offer a second chance to her peers. There had been moments of shame, of acidic words, of long and painful explanations, but to Alya's great relief, their friendship was stronger. After a day or two of uneasiness and shy conversation, quickly returned to normal.

And that's more than Alya could have ever wished for.

Perhaps feeling her friend's gaze weighing on her, Marinette quickly turns her head. She raises her arm slightly, offering Alya a better view of the bruise that stretches across her skin.

"I told you," she starts innocently. "I'm clumsy."

Despite the shame that she couldn't stop herself from feeling again, Alya also couldn't stop her smile.

"Which means, the guy you were going out with…" she proceeds shyly.

"Never hit me," Marinette completes. "He really was a great guy. Sweet, thoughtful… Well, he had his faults too," she continues in a mischievous tone. "You see, for example, he's the type that always thinks he's so funny."

"I can imagine," Alya chuckles, affectionately resting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Although her attention is focused on Marinette, Alya doesn't fail to notice the brief glance that Adrien shoots at her friend. A cheerful light sparkles in the young man's eyes, quickly replaced by a perfectly stoic expression as Adrien dives back into his studying, acting as if nothing had happened.

Alya feels her smile widen. She has always been extremely proud of her sense of observation and it doesn't deceive her here, she's sure of it. Her friend probably hadn't noticed, but jealousy and worry have worked wonders for Adrien. Those glances he gives Marinette a bit too frequently, those affectionate smiles that light up him face when he looks at her and he thinks nobody sees, the way he talks about her with Nino…

Yes, this time, Alya is right. As painful as this unpleasant affair had been, she clearly had to be credited for opening Adrien's eyes to her best friend.

"Looks like I owe you an apology…" Alya picks up, bringing her attention back to Marinette. "That is, I owe you both, you and your ex. To you for not believing you, and to him for unjustly accusing him. I'm sorry, Marinette. And I've never been so happy to have been wrong!"

"It's okay," Marinette assures her with a smile. "I'm not mad at you."

"Thank you," the young blogger replies with sincere gratitude.

Then, without a second more, Alya leans toward her friend.

"I imagine that you must be sad to have left him, but I'm sure that you're going to feel better quickly," she whispers to her in a conspiratory voice, as she tosses an insistent glance toward Adrien.

Immediately, Alya sees Marinette's cheeks tint a delicate pink.

The young blogger sits back up, a satisfied smile on her lips.

All is not lost.

Hardly a week later, Marinette is peacefully chatting with Rose, Alya, and Juleka, when an intensely surprised expression paints itself on the faces of her friends. The girl turns around, curious to see what has astonished them.

Quickly, she feels her cheeks flush and the excitement pump torrents of adrenaline into her veins.

Adrien is standing in the middle of the hallway, a bouquet of red roses in his hand.

"Marinette!" he calls out to her happily. "Can I talk to you?"

Trying to ignore the stunned murmurs of the other students and the way her heart drums gleefully in her ribs, Marinette drifts from her friends to meet Adrien.

"Roses, kitty?" she whispers, smiling at him tenderly. "Seriously? Isn't it a bit much?"

"Nothing is too much for you, my Lady," he replies, bowing theatrically. "And at least, this way, nobody has any doubt about what's happening," he clarifies with a sly wink.

He pauses for a moment, taking the time to conspicuously clear his throat and run a hand through his hair. Marinette watches him do so, amused. Her partner may be acting out his usual bravado, but she doesn't fail to notice the light pink that now dresses her cheeks.

"Now, I'd like to know…" Adrien continues with a big smile, while holding the bouquet out to her. "Would you agree to go out with me? Again?"

"Don't you know that you really don't have to ask?" Marinette replies as she takes the flowers, before bowing her head to them to breathe in their sweet perfume.

"Don't you know that I would love to hear your answer?" Adrien counters with a little laugh.

A smile shining on her lips, Marinette reacher her free hand towards the young man and slips her arm around his neck to draw him close to her. Then, rising up onto her toes, she kisses him tenderly.

"Yes, Adrien," she responds in a breath. "A thousand times yes."

*** THE END ***

Author's note :
This is the end of this little story ! I hope you liked it, it was a pleasure to write the original version of this fic :) .
And again, a thousand thanks to XanLee for this amazing translation !