A/N: FINALLY!

Thank you, Saccha and TOG84~~!

I always write to improve, so comments and critiques are welcome! Please rip this to bits! Thank you!

Adrien disappeared again. In classes he always looked tired and his eyes were steely as he concentrated on his work. He smiled at her now and again when he caught her worried glances, but the distance was palpable.

She wanted to talk to him, to tell him everything, but it was hard when they never had a private moment. She thought they had an amazing time at the festival, and he clearly assured his feelings, but avoiding her was a mixed signal. She missed him so much she was always in a daze and parts of her days would go missing without realizing it. They were also in the middle of the semester, the Bac looming over her shoulder, so it was hard to find any time to track down Adrien outside of school.

Then one week, Adrien missed a meet. Marinette was so stupefied, she messed up a skill on each run, eating her time and scoring her lower than usual. She didn't even care. Skating couldn't fix her unrest and even Alya commented on her sullen attitude. It was one thing to miss Adrien, but she was also worried about him. He cared about skating, he wouldn't miss it for anything and he was so distant it made her feel helpless.

She tried texting him but most responses were a couple words or an apology. She didn't know why he would need to apologize and she just wanted to talk to him for a couple minutes, which apparently was a hard sell.

Marinette was at her locker, adrift in her thoughts as she tended to be each day, when a textbook on the top shelf slipped between her hands and knocked all her papers to the ground. She didn't even blink as she went to pick them up, but she noticed photos of her and it took a moment to remember where they came from. She completely forgot about the mysterious photos at the beginning of the year and stared at one of them with a small smile. She had three meets so far and she didn't think to look for the photographer once.

As she picked them up, she noticed some of photos were flipped over and had flourished scrawl written on the back. The writing looked very familiar but she couldn't pinpoint it.

The words were arranged into letters, letters to her, signed and dated back from this summer to two years ago.

Ladybug,

I don't know how you do it, but I'm at a loss when it comes to you. We hardly speak but you change the entire atmosphere with your smiles and fiery spirit. No one can keep their eyes off of you when you dance and spin, and I can't stop thinking about you beyond that. If I could get you to smile like this, I think I wouldn't want for anything else in the world.

CN.

Ladybug,

I notice you never wear your hair down, but you have the elegance and grace greater than any other girl I've ever met. Maybe it's your sense of style that makes me fall for you. Could be a family trait. If I ever see your hair down, I don't think I could stop myself.

CN.

Ladybug,

I never knew a person could have so many expressions in their body. I wish I didn't sound like a pervert when I say that because I'm hoping you would like me when we finally talk. My friends say you would break my heart, but I think they don't know you they way I know you when you skate. You give everything, and I love everything about you.

CN.

Each note left distinct overwhelming emotions in its wake from bafflement to grudging admiration. This person was clearly passionate and familiar with her and it was excruciating that the penmanship was so familiar. Were they in her classes? Someone in her year? Marinette tucked the photos into her bag, the mystery the first thing she cared to think about since Adrien's aloofness, and prepared to think about it later.

It was that night, as she was studying, the answer to the photos came sooner than expected. She opened Adrien's notebook to review calculating axis rotations when the familiarity hit her again. She dived for her bag to dig out the photos and flipped several to compare the writing.

There was no mistaking it. "CN", Chat Noir. It had to be. She thought back to when she had the locker and she fought with Adrien. She thought he was being rude but as usual she must have misunderstood him. She had so much energy, she floundered in her chair by spinning around for a few minutes, freaking out about the revelation. Then she called Alya.

"I think Adrien likes me," Marinette started.

"Please don't tell me you just figured that out," Alya droned.

"No, I mean, he's told me, but I think he really really, likes me. Maybe even— " She didn't want to say the bigger word but from the letters and his actions since she met him, it was hard not to consider.

"He told you? When were we going to have this juicy conversation? Wait, so it really was a date at the festival?" Her voice rose into shock and excitement.

"No, it wasn't a date. Well, not technically. It felt like a date."

"Oh my god, I'm so messed up right now. So he confessed to you, you had a non-real-date, and now you're telling me you just realized he liked you. Are you taking drugs or am I taking drugs?"

"Sorry I didn't tell you before, but, right now, I'm just— " She took a heavy breath, not knowing how to describe her elation. "I just had to tell someone."

"So... you like him back?" Her voice stretched with a happy grin.

Marinette didn't think that was accurate enough. "I-I think...I might love him."

Alya screeched so loud over the phone Marinette had to pull it away, but her mind echoed the same happy sentiment.

—

Marinette stuck to Alya the next morning and they met up with Nino. Today was another competition day and they talked last night about a game plan to get Marinette to talk to Adrien. First they needed confirmation, so Marinette took the photos out of her bag and presented them to Nino.

"Have you ever seen these before?" Marinette asked.

He barely took a glance before he was half rolling his eyes. "Only a million times."

Marinette grinned. "Yeah? Who took them?"

Alya was also grinning next to her and Nino paused. "Wooah, nuh uh. I'm not falling for that. I'm a good friend."

"Not answering is also an answer, sweetie." Alya nudged his arm.

Marinette stopped listening for a moment because it felt like her heart was a volcano ready to burst. She expected it to be true, she had the evidence, but hearing it from his best friend made it much more real. Marinette might swoon.

"So is Adrien taking his skateboarding butt to the meet today?" Alya asked Nino.

Nino scratched under his cap. "I grilled him last night and he said he would. Apparently it was really important he missed the last one, but water under the bridge." He shrugged but got that same furrow whenever talking about Adrien missing skating.

Alya gave the thumbs up to Marinette. Marinette shook off her merry stupor and waved away to Nino and Alya. Now to wait for phase two.

—-

Marinette was practicing butterflies when she caught Adrien drifting into the skate park. She immediately stopped, her breath hitched and suddenly nervous, then pushed herself to meet him.

He zoned in on her immediately and beamed. "Hey."

"Hi," Marinette breathed. It was almost surreal finally speaking again, like a bit of light on a long dark winter. They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before Marinette gathered her wits. "When I skate today," she started, and the way he looked at her felt so much larger than usual, more substantial, that she drifted closer. "I don't want you to look anywhere else. Okay?"

He sucked in a sharp breath, gaze transfixed on hers and irises blown wide, before giving a slight nod. Marinette grinned and said she would see him out there before skating off. Now to the final phase.

Marinette hadn't planned a track with Nino last week as she usually did, she told him to surprise her and she'd wing it on her run. Now she hoped he didn't sabotage her with rap or country, but he knew her style so she tried to relax at the top of the ramp.

Adrien— well, Chat Noir in the letters— said he knew Marinette when she skated, and maybe that meant he understood what she felt as she moved. She hoped he could read her now. She caught Adrien's eyes on the other side of the bowl, and he watched her with a firm gaze and placid stance. He sent an encouraging grin.

Marinette touched the top of her hair, tied in a bun, and let it unravel. It fell to the middle of her back, the weight feeling a tad ridiculous. Adrien's eyes were on her, already widening and chest jutting forward in attention.

She was called for her run and a fast paced string instrument plucked a merry tune and she closed her eyes and let it soak in. She dropped down into the bowl, not feeling the concrete but pushing with her thoughts: how Adrien increased her heart rate, how his terrible flirting lifted her mood, his caring nature, those bright eyes. She knew she asked for his attention, but she also wanted to capture it. To entrap him as he trapped her without realizing it. Her hair turned in wild ribbons and her body screamed desire and joy.

He was standing at the edge of the bowl, as most teammates did, and she bent her pointer finger in an inviting gesture as she did a fast glide on the side of a ramp. Adrien didn't waver and drifted to the edge in a riveted daze.

She glided up to the lip of the bowl and ground the edge so she drifted directly towards him. She reached out to bunch the front of his shirt, slowing her speed but bringing him forward, and brought her mouth to hit his cheek. Of course she'd never done that trick before and missed by a beat and hit the corner of his mouth instead.

The audience roared into hoots and whistles at the action, but Marinette was too focused on Adrien. Her lips tingled and she wished she missed just a tad more and didn't have to finish her run. Adrien looked star struck when she had to pull away to dive back into the bowl.

When the music stopped and they called her name again to announce her completion, the yells and catcalls didn't cease and she looked sheepishly in Adrien's direction. The guys were patting his back and congratulating him but he was zeroed in on her alone and didn't look back on any of them.

She skated to a more barren section of the park and Adrien picked up his board and quickly jogged after her.

"Hey, it's, um, almost your turn," she said, feeling inexplicably flustered.

"Say it."

"What?" Marinette's face flashed warm.

"I want to hear you say what that meant, because I'm half scared I'm imagining you right now. "

Marinette darted her eyes down and up again. "I-I got your letters." She watched him furrow his brows and clarified, "On the back of the photos you took."

He took a beet red complexion in an instant, his mouth clammed shut and Adam Apple bobbing. Marinette saw Adrien flush before but this was a new extreme, an attractive extreme, that was endearing and so obvious how much he liked her. She felt stupid for not accepting him sooner.

"And you're not imagining anything. I like you. Fell for you, actually."

Adrien's expression fell deathly serious then. He dropped his board and closed their distance so he cradled her face. His thumb stroked her cheek and her eyes drooped, melting into the motion. "It's still very, awfully, terribly possible I'm dreaming this all up."

"Well, there's one way to find out." She smirked, staring at him under her lashes.

He tilted his head forward but a blaring announcer called his name for his run and he clenched his eyes shut and tilted his head to bump against hers. "I would do anything to skip this and run away with you," he grumbled.

"Then make it quick."

His eyes flashed open and his cocky grin returned. "Watch me?"

His run was pure theatrics. He winked at her, pointed at her before each big move, and didn't care about flow or matching the music. It was practically a companion piece to her run and near the end he also gestured an invitation to the edge of the bowl and she laughed as she obliged him.

He ran out of time the moment he finished grinding the lip and stopped in front of her to grab the back of her neck and dragged her forward for a proper kiss. Well, honestly, there was nothing proper about it as it surged down her body and curled her toes.

The crowd whistled, woofed, and jeered again but it was muffled and inconsequential to devoting her spirit to loving Adrien instantly and enduringly. She wrapped her arms around him and he dramatically tipped her back. She broke the kiss to laugh.

"Can we go somewhere else now?" He rumbled next to her ear.

"Please."

Adrien hopped on his board, grabbed her hand, and dragged her away.

—-

Marinette would describe their kissing as insistent. They were insistent for twenty minutes around the pillar of an empty street a few blocks from the competition. Adrien caressed her arms and did reverent strokes through her hair while he devoured her and she bathed under the attention.

"I can't believe you read those notes. I'm horrified," he said between kisses.

"I loved them." Marinette stroked the shell of his ear as she said it.

Adrien's mouth quirked. "Maybe I should have told you they were mine the first day. We could've done this months ago."

"No, I would've thought you were more of a creep."

"Oh right, I forgot." He took a ribbon of her hair and twirled it around his finger. "You hated me."

"Shut up, no I didn't," she chuckled and pinched his shoulder. "I thought you were obnoxious. Which you still are, by the way."

"And I promised I would make you fall for me," he rumbled, clearly proud and satisfied.

"Took you awhile."

"But I have you now." He stroked her face and marveled at her. "I have you."

"Yeah, you do." Marinette smiled, stroking angles of his face and admiring his soft expression. It reminded her that she hadn't seen him relaxed in a while. "Where have you been the past few weeks? After the festival, I was really worried."

Adrien sighed against her ministrations, looking as content as a well kept cat. "I was building up time, actually. I have this... deal with my father that I made to go to school. For the extra time I put outside the house, I have to pay him back with time for modeling or extra studies or whatever he wants of me."

"What?" Marinette said. "That's completely unfair. Doesn't that wear you down?"

"It's not so bad." Adrien shrugged. "It's routine for me. I'm sorry I had to push you away, but I was worried one word from you would break me down. I relax around you too easily."

"So I've heard. What were you building time for?"

Adrien grinned. "You."

"M-me?"

"After the festival— I knew you felt something, even if you weren't ready to tell me. And I thought— " An irritated shadow passed his eyes. "I thought you were still in love with Luka and maybe I just needed to work a little more and...wow, this is embarrassing."

"Adrien I—" She smiled and shook her head. "Luka and I are just friends. And, no offense to him, but he wouldn't stand a chance against you." She stroked his face and he nuzzled into her hand with a peck and a smile. "Why didn't you tell me before? About your dad?"

Nino had pointed out that Adrien disappeared every semester. Maybe it wasn't common knowledge but she would've thought Adrien would open up to her.

"Maybe I didn't want to mix you up with my family life. I wanted to keep you separate, special." He looked at her and his expression melted to fondness. "Maybe I didn't want to see you make this face at me, to burden you." He stroked her cheek and brow to sooth the scrunched expression and the fire squelched her worries and left only soft warmth and expanding adoration.

"You're the best use of my time, Marinette," he whispered.

Expanding love and glee went through her. "Due to the laws of equivalent exchange, I guess I'll have to give you all of mine."

"Perfect, because I have several thoughts on the future already."

"Oh, do you?"

"Our house is going to include an indoor skatepark where we'll host parties with all our friends. We're going to watch all of my favorite anime shows for hours, while you pretend to love it, while sleeping in my lap and I stroke your hair. We're going to learn dancing together, because I have a feeling you're wonderful at it no matter how clumsy you claim to be. You'll become a world renowned designer and half your outfits will be dedicated to me, your devoted and handsome lover- physicist. You're also going to learn I'm an amazing cook but you'll be the baker getting me too fat to be a model, which is fine by me— "

Marinette blinked. "Wow, you really have thought of a few things."

Adrien only looked half timid. "I've had a lot of time to think about it."

"I guess I'll just have to catch up." Then she kissed him until the golden hour, the sun waning into the horizon, but thought of their future where everything burned brighter.

A/N: I love being done lol I really do.

Ok, what have I learned from this story: Outlining has its own troubles and benefits, just like winging it. Fluff will have many many repeat internal sensations lol Pacing can be hard in the face of plot holes. Gotta work on emotive writing, being prolific is not innate haha.

Overall the story was super worth to learn a ton of things about process. I took it slightly less serious than my first multi-fic but added some challenges that failed in the first one.

I love and appreciate everyone commenting and encouraging and adding the feedback that satiates my will to write more things.

Love, love you all 3 I hope you had fun and this added joy to this crazy twilight dimension we call everyday life.