Chapter 1

Marinette sat with Adrien on the ground, his arms around her neck, hers around his torso. Her head rested on his shoulder. And they were alone.

Now, if they didn't end up in that situation because an akuma had flung them both into a freezer, meaning Adrien really didn't have a choice but to be trapped in there with her, Marinette would've been over the moon.

Of course, she would be lying if she said that she wasn't happy. She was totally glad to have the boy cuddling up to her.

Still, they were at risk of actually dying. She needed to think of a way out. Even if...even if that was the closest thing she was ever going to get to a date with him. And...his hands were on hers. And he smelled so good – like sunshine, cologne and...cheese. And his hair was so soft. And he was –

"You're going to be okay, Marinette," Adrien whispered, breath shaky. "Ladybug will be here soon."

She snapped out of her reverie, and shook her head. Okay, she needed to get her priorities straight. She was Ladybug, hero of Paris. And Paris needed her. Honeymoon stage was over. She had to get the love of her life out of there.

Brows furrowed, she looked around the freezer room for something they could use to escape. Sadly, she couldn't find anything.

Suddenly, the boy turned to her and completely enveloped her entire body into a tight embrace, causing her to shriek.

"Sorry," he whispered, brows furrowing. "But is this warmer?"

"D-d-d-definitely." She returned his hug, nuzzling her face into his neck.

Oh, she was in heaven.

What? Wait, no Marinette. You're in a freezer, and Paris is in the midst of destruction! She took a deep breath, and the gears of her mind started working.

Okay. So how do we get out of here, Marinette? She looked down at her bag.

Maybe they could call someone with their phones?

No, there wasn't any signal.

Maybe they can try tipping one of the metal shelves over to damage the door?

No, they were attached to the walls, floor and ceiling.

She was quickly running out of options. The only things she could think of then was to use her Lucky Charm. However, that meant revealing her secret identity to the sweet, lovable boy in her arms. She didn't want to complicate his life with the knowledge of her identity. He was much too peaceful.

Which meant that she only had one other option: Wait for her partner.

She trusted Chat Noir with her life. He always showed up at the right time. However, she knew that there was only so much he could do if he didn't even know she was there.

Eyes focused, she unwrapped one arm from the boy and banged on the metal door. "Chat Noir!" she yelled. "Chat Noir, can you hear me? Are you there?" It was a feeble attempt, but she clung onto the hope that her partner was in the area. Judging by the silence from the other side, the akuma had already left. However, it wouldn't be unlikely for Chat Noir to pass by to survey the area.

"Ladybug!" Adrien followed suit. "Ladybug!"

She didn't know how long they kept at it, but just before she could yell her partner's name again, cold hands suddenly cupped her face. Adrien moved her head so that she was facing him, and her breath hitched. Blatant worry was on his face. "Y-you're so pale," he breathed, voice too quivery to her liking.

"Y-you are too, A-Adrien," she replied, her stomach tying itself into knots.

He really had become a worryingly pale shade, and she didn't miss the blue tinge beginning to form around his lips.

Marinette closed her eyes in hard determination and took a shaky breath as she came to her decision. She wasn't going to risk his life. Never. With trembling hands, she reached for her purse to unlatch it and let Tikki out.

Now, if she had been paying attention to the boy in front of her, she would have noticed the equally hard determination in his eyes as he stared down at his ring. The only things that made him move faster, is that there was less hesitation in his decision. Just before she could say or do anything else, Adrien wrapped his hands around hers.

"Marinette," he whispered, smile uneasy. "I–I'm going to do something that might shock you. And I want you to promise me that you're going to keep it a secret. In return...I promise that you're going to be okay."

She stared back at him, confused. But then he pulled away, holding his right hand up. She never noticed the ring there before. Not until that moment, when her awareness was so high, focus so alert. Her heart started to beat faster. She swallowed down a gulp.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Crap, was the only thing on her mind as Chat Noir stood in Adrien's place, looking like some kind of goddamn dream. Holy crap. Adrien, who was sophisticated, enchanting and somewhat reserved was her wild, flirtatious and dorky partner!

For what felt like a long time, Marinette kind of just sat there – jaw hanging. However, Chat Noir wasted no time.

In one smooth motion, he leapt to the metal door and broke it with his cataclysm. Then he wound around and, quite literally, swooped Marinette off her feet. He leapt across the kitchen – her in his arms – and gently placed her down just beside the stove.

"We cold talk about this later," he winked, sharp teeth pointed beneath the tips of his up-twisted lips. Marinette stared back in disbelief. Then, without missing a beat, Chat – Adrien – leapt off the window to where the akuma was.

And Marinette sat there – a frozen mess – gaping like an idiot. Slowly, Tikki wiggled out of her purse and stared after the boy. She turned back to Marinette. And then to the window. Then back again to Marinette. Then to the window.

"Tikki," Marinette said after awhile, voice flat."Adrien is Chat Noir."

Tikki stared at her for a minute. "Yes."

Silence hung between them as the girl came to the frustrating realization that she's actually been rejecting Adrien – her sweet, precious, and apparently charmingly cocky Adrien. Marinette proceeded to face the stove, and started to bang her head against it.

"Marinette!"

Brain damage couldn't make things make any less sense, so why not?

"Marinette! Isn't this a good thing?" Tikki asked. "Adrien is your friend. And he's a very trustworthy person."

"Of course it's a good thing!" Marinette cried, surprising herself by how happy she actually was with the discovery. "It's just that...all this time?"

That rooftop dinner! The puns! The pick-up lines! The...the...the kiss!

Marinette felt like she was going to die, with the speed of her heart and with all of the blood gushing to her face.

She responded by banging her head again against the stove again. Hard.

"Look," Tikki said, "I understand that this is a lot to take in, but right now Chat Noir needs you!"

"...I guess you're right," she croaked.

"Now please stop trying to give yourself brain damage. It's not going to make anything make more sense!"

She took a long, deep breath, then staggered to stand up straight. Tikki was right. Adrien was her partner. He always has been. She could shriek all she wanted later, but at that moment, he needed Ladybug's support.

Slowly, she walked over to the window where she could see city destruction in the far distance.

Another deep and shaky breath.

"Alright, Kitty," she said as she transformed. "Let's do this."

Let's do this, she said, but Ladybug could feel the levelheaded demeanor slip like water when she finally managed to zip her way to her partner's side.

"There you are, Milady," he quipped, protectively pulling her to his side and twirling the baton in front of them as a shield against the akuma's attack towards them.

It took everything for her not to babble and gape at the smooth display of athleticism. All Ladybug could manage was a: "Sorry! Busy. Traffic is stuck! I mean, stuck in traffic."

She made absolutely no sense, yet he smiled at her. And oh, Chat Noir has a very handsome smile, doesn't he? How could she not have noticed it before? "A few minutes earlier would've been purr-fect, but I'm always glad to see you, Bugaboo."

In perfect unison, Ladybug and Chat Noir jumped out of the way of another attack.

"Couldn't hold up without me?" She teased, but there was a tremble in her voice. She was blushing. God, she could feel her heart thumping all of the blood towards her face, and she was blushing like some kind of tomato.

If Chat Noir noticed this, he never mentioned it. Instead, he decided to continue being a giant dork. "I'd like to say that I cold, but it was no breeze without you."

Oh my god.

This was Adrien making those dorky puns – possibly to himself, because there's no way he knew that Ladybug knew about the freezer dilemma.

This was Adrien making puns to himself.

Like the dork that Chat Noir is!

For some odd reason though, the dorkiness was only making her like Adrien more.

Wait...did that mean that she also liked Chat Noir? How strange. Her heart was dancing the salsa. And more than once, she caught herself checking her partner out again.

Wait, again?

Has she been doing that all this time? Why was she just noticing it? She always knew when she was checking him out as Adrien.

Ugh. Stupid Chat.

Making her crazy for him while he's Adrien. If he knew what he'd done to her, he'd probably laugh. And, maybe, be a bit over the moon.

But he'd definitely laugh.

"I think the akuma is in his glasses," Chat whispered, stepping back before lunging forward – Ladybug following suit, but her mind was elsewhere. It had more important things to think about.

Such as Chat's pleasantly husky voice. And his lean figure. And the way that his hair draped over his bright green eyes as he gracelessly tumbled face first onto the grass after being flung around like a rag doll...

Woah, what was happening to her?

"You okay, Chat Noir?" she asked, trying to sound confident as she extended a helping hand. However, her voice came out as a squeak. He raised his brows in confusion as he accepted her outstretched hand, before pulling it to his lips for a kiss and a flirtatious wink.

"I could ask you the same thing, Milady. You seem a little jumpy today. Don't tell me you've fallen for me already," he smirked, to which Ladybug smartly replied with a Pterodactyl-like squawk.

Chat was taken aback by the response. He looked at her in alarm. But she was calming herself down.

She cleared her throat.

"Focus," she said, trying to look calm and collected. But really, she was doing that for herself. Focus, Marinette! Stop gaping at his gorgeous face!

He stared at her. But suddenly, his ring began to beep.

"Whoops," he said, looking down at his finger. "Looks like we've got to wrap this up. Sorry I had to use my cataclysm earlier, Milady. I needed to get out of a pretty chilling situation before you got here."

Ladybug took a deep breath. She turned to the akuma, then narrowed her eyes as she began spinning her yoyo

"I understand," she said. "Let's make this fast, Kitty."