Adrien...was Chat Noir?

She dropped her pencil. Could he really have been right in front of her all along?

She wanted to laugh at the irony. There wasn't any possible way that the boy she had been pining for is the one that is flirting with her on a weekly basis. Wasn't she supposed to be the lucky one?

She couldn't believe it. The evidence is looking at her right in front of her eyes.

If this turned out to be true, then that would be the biggest joke the universe ever played on her. She pursed her lip. It wouldn't do to jump to any conclusions yet. What if it turned out to be a mistake, then she would look so foolish. She needs a strategy for approaching this situation.

She should probably subtlety question Adrien for any possible holes in his story, anything that would make it glaringly obvious.

Next morning...

Marinette forced her eyes open and glanced at the time. She was surprised she didn't oversleep, with the amount of time she spent yesterday thinking about the issue. Tying up her hair absentmindedly, she glanced at Tikki, who was still sleeping. She didn't know if Tikki would approve of her doing this. After all, they weren't supposed to know each other's identities. It's too late now though, and she's too suspicious.

She woke Tikki up after she finished getting ready. She was running tight for time again. She poked her. "Tikki, wake up, we've gotta go to school!"

Tikki yawned. "Okay, Marinette." She dropped herself into Marinette's bag.

Marinette ran downstairs. "Morning Marinette!" Her parents greeted her.

"Morning! I'm almost late, got to hurry to school!" She grabbed a croissant for herself and a cookie for Tikki, and rushed to school.

Alya didn't know what to make of the situation she found herself in. Funny, she's finding herself in these situations more and more these days. As a reporter, her first instinct would be film now, think later. But she couldn't film her classmates, couldn't she?

Marinette and Adrien were exchanging weird looks the whole day. When Adrien was peering somewhere else, Marinette would stare at him. Not that that was an odd occurrence, but it wasn't in her usual adoring way, but rather in an intense, assessing way. It was odd. The funny thing was, whenever Marinette would look away, Adrien would look at her in the same way.

She would try to get them together so they could talk, like she usually did, but she wasn't sure where she stood with Marinette right now. She still feels like she didn't do anything wrong in regards to the Lila situation.

The bell rung, signifying that it was lunchtime. People gathered up their bags and headed towards the cafeteria. She saw Marinette and Adrien smile at each other, and then, in unison, walked aside each other, like they've been doing it for years. She was sure she wasn't the only one who noticed, in fact, she was sure that Rose jerked in surprise.

"I'm telling you, there's something going on between Adrien and Marinette!" Alya insisted to him.

Nino didn't know what she was on about. He wasn't exactly the authority on the topic. He shrugged.

Alya sighed and leaned over. "Look," she whispered. "They're sitting together, in the corner of the cafeteria. They've never been this close before. What brought this about?"

"I don't know any better than you do."

She grabbed his arm and dragged him in their directions. "Let's listen to what they're talking about."

"What?"

She sat them in a place that was close enough to listen to what they were talking about, with their back faced towards them.

Nino wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but ok.

"Did you know that Chat Noir took me to your house?" Marinette asked.

Alya's eyes widened.

"Y-yes, actually, we're friends."

"Really? Oh, I suppose that makes sense then."

There was a pause. Nino's head spun. Chat Noir was Adrien's friend? Why didn't he ever tell him? He felt betrayed.

"Speaking of which, he told me that you left my house. How did you leave my house, Marinette? The security system should have rendered that very difficult."

There was a longer pause, this time.

"Ladybug took me."

That apparently was the wrong answer. "Are you sure, Marinette?" Adrien asked again, a hard tone to his voice now.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be su-" Alya sneezed, alerting the two people to their presence. Oh no. That's not going to be good.

Marinette stood up and turned around slowly, her eyes immediately locating them. "Alya? Nino? Were you two listening to our conversation?"

Nino scratched the back of his head guiltily. "Mari-" Alya started.

"Spare me it." Marinette interrupted. "I don't want to hear it. You two, some of my best friends, have been behaving in a way that I couldn't have imagined a few weeks prior. So spare me it. Leave."

Nino actually felt goosebumps rise among his skin. Marinette's face, usually so kind and sweet, was emotionless. She actually was quite intimidating.

He looked at Adrien pleadingly. He was shocked to find a similar expression on his face as well.

"Come on, Alya, let's go." He decided.

"But-"

He grabbed her arm and shook his head. Trust me on this, his eyes seemed to say.

Alya sighed and relented, allowing herself to be led away.

Later that afternoon...

Adrien and Marinette walked out of class together, and Marinette accompanied him on his way to where Gorilla was stationed.

Before reaching the car, Adrien took Marinette's arm and pushed her into a corner.

"Adrien..?" Marinette wondered.

"Mari, please tell me the truth. How did you get out of my house?"

His face was closed to hers, she noticed. He had his eyebrows set determinedly.

"I told you, Ladybug-"

"Chat Noir told me that wasn't true, he was with Ladybug. Why are you lying, Marinette?"

The tension between them was palpable.

Marinette bit her lip. This seems to be confirming her suspicions. "Okay then, before I answer my question, tell me first. How did you become friends with Chat Noir?"

"I...I.." Adrien couldn't make up a story on the spot.

They both looked at each other, breathing audibly.

Hello everyone! Sorry for the loooong hiatus, I really didn't mean to, but school and personal life was a lot to handle.

Now that we've got a pandemic on our hands, our exams are cancelled, and boredom seems to haunt me at every turn, you may expect updates a bit more frequently.

Thank you all for all the follows, favourites, and reviews! I really appreciate them, so much!

Bug out till next time.