Cross-posted on Archive of Our Own, under the same username.

"You were sure able to wrap that up quickly, My Lady, no loose ends with that akuma, huh?"

"Really, Adrien?" Ladybug asked, crossing her arms at the blond as he flashed her a smirk.

He leaned up against the wall, and despite being in his civilian form he only radiated the flirtatious attitude of Chat Noir. His smirk grew as she rolled her eyes, her earrings beeping to remind her that she only had a few minutes before she turned back. There would have once been a time where she would have bolted, but the boy in front of her was well aware of who she was.

"Well, it was howdy my idea for an akuma to show up right then," Adrien replied, while Ladybug let out a groan. The cowboy akuma they had just faced had been a difficult one– being able to use telekinesis to guide multiple lassos in their fight– but it had opened up the opportunity for so many perfect puns.

"Okay, that one was horrible," She said, taking a step towards him. "Never make a pun like that again, please."

They were close enough as it was, hidden away in the tiny alleyway they had ducked into to detransform, so a single step forward put Ladybug and Adrien only a nose apart. There was a scowl on her face, but the humorous gleam in her eyes said otherwise. He wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her close so the remaining gap between them vanished.

Her arms slunk around his shoulders as he brought her into a kiss, the two of them pressing up against each other as their lips touched. A warm feeling filled Adrien's chest, no matter how many times he kissed Marinette he always felt like he was flying when he was with her. The world around them seemed to vanish as they held each other, just the two of them whisked away in the moment.

Neither of them noticed Alya standing at the entrance of the alleyway, watching as her best friend's boyfriend kissed Ladybug.

Adrien knew he was in trouble the moment he saw Alya's glare.

Alya was a good friend– strong, confidence, and always supportive– but anyone that knew her knew that she wasn't a person to cross. She didn't even need to say a word, her icy gaze locking on him the moment he walked up the steps to the school. A friendly wave did nothing to lessen the stiffness in her posture, a scowl forming as he raised his hand.

"Adrien!" Marinette cried the moment she saw him, a smile spreading over his girlfriend's face. Alya put a hand on her shoulder before she could bolt towards him, glaring daggers at him from behind Marinette. He smiled at them, confused at the rage on his friend's face.

"Hey girls," He replied, keeping his expression even as he reached them. He leaned forward, placing a kiss on Marinette's cheek, which caused Alya to stiffen up even more. "Where's Nino? It's not like him to be late."

"He's already inside, he needed to talk to the teacher," Marinette said, and before she could return his kiss Marinette was tugged back to Alya's side.

"Is everything okay, Alya?" Adrien asked, frowning at her slightly. She flashed him a disgusted look, as if he had just crawled out of the sewers, and she simply pulled Marinette closer to her.

"Let's get to class," She said coolly, turning sharply on a heel and dragging Marinette inside the school. He stood there for a moment, confused, before jogging to catch up to them. For the first time Marinette seemed to notice Alya's strange behavior, glancing between her and Adrien.

"Um... is everything okay?" Adrien asked once more.

"No," Alya snarled. "I'll deal with you later, Agreste– just stay away from Marinette."

"What happened–?" Marinette began, stumbling to try to keep pace with her friend, but before she could say anything else the bell rang.

Confusion was racing through Adrien as they headed to class, one step behind the two girls the whole way. Nino was already at their shared desk as they entered, who was given a friendly hello from Alya as they sat down at their desk. Adrien carefully took his seat, looking back at them, and was instantly grateful that Alya wasn't sitting directly behind him.

'What's up with her?' Adrien mouthed at Marinette, who shrugged, looking at her friend in concern. Alya had been staring down at her phone, but jerked her head up at the movement. She gave Marinette a gentle smile, putting an arm around her, before once again glowering at Adrien with burning eyes. It wasn't hard to get the message, slowly turning around to face the front of the room as the teacher started the lesson.

Not that he was paying attention to the lesson. Instead Adrien was reviewing every moment he had spent with Alya since yesterday, trying to figure out why she could be so mad at him. She had seemed completely fine both at school and when they had hung out with the group after school. Then the akuma attacked had happened, and he hadn't seen her the rest of the day. Clearly this was about Marinette. Had he said something to Mari that Alya had interrupted as rude? He couldn't think of anything.

"Nino, any idea on why your girlfriend wants to kill me?" Adrien whispered to Nino as the teacher wrote something up on the board.

"I was going to ask you what you did, dude," He muttered back. "She got all fed up this morning when I mentioned she should wait out front for you with Mari."

Great. He was on Alya's bad side and he had no idea why.

Two steps. That's as far as he got when the lunch bell rang– Alya grabbing his shoulder before he could go any farther. He tensed up, feeling her nails digging into him, her rage clearly having not gone down since school had started. Adrien gulped, before turning around to look death in her hazel eyes.

"We need to talk," She said, bitterness filling her tone as she glowered at him. Adrien had Gabriel Agreste as a father, and he had thought he was more than familiar with expression that came from the phrase 'if looks could kill'– but as he looked Alya in the eyes he was convinced that he had used up all of his nine lives.

"Alya, I don't know what's wrong, but–"

"Listen here Agreste, this is the only chance you're getting," Alya tugged him in close, hissing in his ear. "Either you come with me and explain exactly why you'd do this to Marinette, or I'll tell her what you did myself."

"I don't know what you're talking about–" He began, mind reeling, but before he could say another word she dragged him out of the room. A few people glanced at them, but with everyone heading to lunch they were mostly unnoticed.

She shoved him into an empty classroom, not even fazed as he stumbled, needing to catch himself on a desk before he fell to the ground. He rose with a grunt, shooting her a frustrated glare. "What was that for–!"

"Don't even bother," She snapped. "I'm giving you one chance to admit what you did last night."

"Our double date? We all went to dinner, and then there was the akuma attack–"

"And after the akuma attack?" She spat, and he stared up at her blankly. He and Marinette had ran off during the attack so they could transform, and after that they had headed home, they hadn't seen Alya after that, nothing had happened!

"We went home–"

"Listen Agreste, I take my job as the Ladyblogger seriously," Alya began, crossing her arms. "I follow Ladybug during the attacks so I can report on it, and I follow her after the akuma's defeated in hopes I can talk to her. But when I followed her last night I found she was talking to someone else– and they were doing more than just talking."

He stared at her, and she glared back at him. For a few moments his mind was blank, not quite understanding what she was getting at. The kiss? Had she seen them kiss? Ladybug and Chat Noir had kept it under wraps that they were together, but Alya finding out they were wasn't the end of the world. There was no reason for her to react like this, especially towards him, and he just didn't understand why...

Then it hit him– he hadn't been transformed during the kiss. Alya hadn't seen Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing, but rather Ladybug and Adrien kissing.

He blanched, and Alya snorted in response. She took a step towards him, and Adrien couldn't help but step back. She had been angry before, but that paled compared to the expression on her face now. Her hands were curled into fists, and if they came flying at him he wouldn't be surprised.

"How could you?" Alya asked, and he was startled to hear her voice breaking. "Marinette loves you. She has for the longest time, she's done so much for you, more than you've even realize and this is how you repay her? Kissing another girl behind her back? Doesn't she mean anything to you? Or is this all some sort of game or something?"

"Alya," He said quietly. "I... I know how this looks, but I promise you it wasn't what it looks like–"

"Don't you dare!" She snarled. "I saw the whole thing, Agreste! The soft talking, your arms around her– I can tell that most definitely wasn't your first kiss with her! How long has this been going on? Does Ladybug know, or are you cheating on both her and Marinette? Do you just think because you have your daddy's name that you have the right to do whatever you want–"

"Woah, stop, stop!" Adrien cried. "I swear, I wasn't cheating on anyone! We were just, um, it was just–"

"Listen here, Adrien, because I'm only giving you one chance," Alya took another step forward. "When we walk out of here you're going to go tell Marinette the truth– because if there's anyone she should hear it from, it's you. And however she decides to handle it, that's her choice, but Marinette's the sweetest girl I know. She deserves the truth, and she deserves someone much better than a cheater like you!"

Adrien couldn't be mad at Alya, if anything he was proud of her. Proud of her for defending her best friend, and that she wasn't backing down even though Adrien had more than enough influence to ruin her reputation. He was happy to know that if he ever would betray Marinette's trust Alya would be there to set him right, or if Marinette did ever end up with a cheating liar that she wouldn't be alone.

But right now he had other things to worry about– like how he was going to get out of this mess. He couldn't just say that Marinette was Ladybug and that this was a misunderstanding, because he could never give away his Lady's secret. It was important to her, her way of protecting her friends and family. But if he didn't do something he'd have a very angry Alya coming after him, and potentially a ruined friendship.

"I swear, this isn't what it looks like–" He began once again, but he was silenced as Alya held up her phone, showing him a picture. He instantly flushed, the image showing him and Ladybug holding each other close as they kissed each other. He realized how distracted he and Ladybug must have been for Alya to have gotten such a clear picture, and he was half tempted to ask her for a copy, but that wouldn't help his situation at all.

"Either you tell her the truth right now, or I will," Alya growled. "She deserves the truth, and I won't let you hide this from her."

"I'll– I'll talk to her about it," He said, he'd need his Lady's input for how to figure this out. "In private and–"

"I'm going to be right there to make sure you tell her the whole truth and nothing but the truth," She snapped. "And you're going to tell her right now."

"I'd prefer to do it alone this is very personal!"

"You should have thought about that before you cheated on the best girl you could have ever asked for!" Alya snarled, grabbing his wrist and yanking him forward. "You're telling her right now, Agreste, and you don't get a choice!"

Perhaps he should figure out what color of flowers he wanted at his funeral.

"We were wondering where you dudes went off to!" Nino said brightly as Alya dragged Adrien down the hallways. Marinette was by his side, a smile breaking over her face as soon as she saw him. His gut twisted, realizing in a few moments that smile would be gone, disappointment on her face for what he had done...

What was he thinking? He hadn't really cheated on her!

"I needed to talk to Agreste here," Alya grunted, shoving Adrien aside as they reached their friends. He stumbled slightly, but Marinette grabbed his hand. He smiled, pulling her in close, resisting the urge to give her a kiss.

He didn't need to anger Alya further.

"Alone with a boy that wasn't me?" Nino asked dramatically, snickering. "Oh Alya, how could you do this to me?"

Any other day they probably would have all laughed, but these words just seemed to make Alya's anger spike. Nino saw the look on her face and his humorous expression vanished at once, giving Adrien a questioning glance. He had no means to reply, still having not figured out what he was going to do about all this himself.

"Don't worry Nino," Alya growled. "Unlike some people, I'm loyal to my partner," She wheeled around to face Adrien. "Get your hands off of Marinette and tell her now!"

He didn't let go of Marinette's hand. "Mari, I need to talk to you. Alone."

"Don't you dare!" Alya snarled, causing both he and Marinette to jump. "You're telling her right now! You tell her the truth!"

"Um... what's going on?" Marinette asked, glancing between him and Alya. Nino stepped back, not wanting to be dragged into whatever was about to go down. "Did something happen?"

"Just a bit of a misunderstanding popped up, My Lady," Adrien began, causing her to blink. He never used that nickname with her unless they were alone or they were transformed, but he hoped that'd be a hint that their alter egos were involved. "A little, um, predicament you see–"

"Don't you dare act like this is nothing!" Alya snarled. "You have no right! Not after what you did, not after you betrayed her trust!"

"Well, maybe if you'd just mind your own business this wouldn't be happening!" Adrien snapped back, his patience beginning to reach its end. Alya was kind, but there were times she overstepped boundaries when it came to Ladybug. "Have you ever considered that you're stepping into her personal life? That maybe she didn't want to be followed by reporters like that?"

She gritted her teeth. "So you're going to take her side in this then, huh? Well, if you won't tell Marinette then I will!" She turned towards Marinette, who was still holding Adrien's hand, looking very confused. "Mari, I really don't want to hurt you like this, but you need to know the truth– Adrien's been cheating on you!"

Silence filled the halls.

Marinette's eyes widened, looking at Adrien, then all around them. Their shouting hadn't just reached their small group, but everyone around that had yet to return home for lunch. Adrien's heart was hammering, his hopes of keeping this misunderstanding small now long gone. He watched as Marinette narrowed her eyes, looking up at him in confusion. His heart leapt upon seeing her expression, happy that she wasn't just going to believe those words outright.

"Adrien, cheating?" Marinette asked, before letting out a laugh. "Alya, I don't know where this is coming from, but this is Adrien we're talking about. He would never cheat on me."

"Thank you!" Adrien cried, but despite Marinette's words people were still looking at him with narrowed gazes. "You're the only one for me, My Lady, there's no one else."

Her eyes narrowed again at the nickname, and to his disappointment she didn't seem to catch his hint. She just stuffed her hands into her pockets, seemingly trying to lighten the conversation. "And you're the only one for me, Adrien. Well, where do you guys want to go for lunch break? The bakery is always open to you guys–"

"We're not done here!" Alya cried, stepping forward. "You said you'd talk to her about it! You said you'd tell her the truth– and now you try to brush it off?! He's a lying cheater, Mari, and I have the photos to prove it!"

Marinette watched as Alya dug into her pocket for her phone, before looking up at Adrien. His heart ached at the look on her face, confusion in her eyes. He knew that she didn't want to believe Alya... but he also knew that she trusted Alya. She gave him a pleading look, as if begging for him to say this was all a joke.

"...Mari, I tried..." He began, before pausing once he realized this made no sense. He had tried to handle this in a way so their identities wouldn't be revealed, but she didn't even realized their identities were involved. "I wasn't–!" How was he supposed to explain this when everyone was around them? "...I'm sorry. J-just look at the picture, okay?"

She would look at the picture of him and Ladybug, and she'd understand that this was just a misunderstanding. She'd know exactly what was going on, and then she'd know how to fix this. She always knew how to fix things, she was his Ladybug, and she had the right ideas at the right times.

It wasn't until after he had spoken that he realized what his words would sound like– the stammering, and the apology. Marinette's eyes widened in horror, and she suddenly pulled her hand away from him. He quickly reached for her, realizing that the way he was acting made it look like he had cheated, but Alya pulled Marinette towards her before he could reach her.

"You... you wouldn't..." Marinette whispered in disbelief, pain her her eyes. His heart ached, his poor choice of wording was making her hurt. Alya attempted to hold up the phone, but Marinette pushed it away before she could see the picture. "No! I don't want to see that! How could you do this to me, Adrien? Why? You wouldn't... wh-why?"

Tears were lining her eyes, arms wrapping around herself. Alya was glaring at him, while Nino was watching him in shock. He could hear the whispers flying around them, and he realized that they were going to have to deal with this the hard way. Someone would have to take the fall in this, but it was better than their identities being revealed– and he couldn't let Marinette hurt for another minute.

"I'm sorry, Mari," He said, his voice clear so everyone around them could hear him. "But Alya is telling the truth– last night I kissed Ladybug."

Nino's eyes widened in surprise as he said this, and Marinette froze up. The look of relief on her face could have made Adrien sing, and she looked up at him in understanding. Alya had her arms folded, still glaring at him, while everyone else listening began whispering at the mention of Ladybug. Adrien knew that this would be something he wouldn't hear the end of, and he hoped that word wouldn't reach his father.

Marinette grabbed Alya's wrist so she could see the phone in her hand. She stared at the picture of the kiss, and he could see her struggling to hold back a smile. She then turned away, taking in a deep breath before she turned to face him again. Blue eyes stared into green, and he knew that she didn't want to force him to take the fall. They couldn't risk revealing their identities though, because that could put everyone their cared about in danger. His public image may be hurt, but that was better than their friends and family being targeted by Hawk Moth.

A small smirk tugged on his lips though– because he wasn't planning to go down alone. He leaned towards Marinette, whose eyes widened slightly upon seeing the mischievous smile of Chat. "...Just consider this as payback, Princess," He said, struggling against a purr. "For kissing Chat Noir."

Her eyes widened, and his smirk grew. Yes, he just went there.

"What?!" Alya cried, and he had to bite back a laugh at the look of confusion on his friends' faces. Marinette was fuming slightly, giving him a glare that made it clear that she'd have a few choice words for him once they were alone.

"What, did you think I wouldn't notice that he visits your balcony?" Adrien asked, enjoying Marinette's glare a little too much. "I was planning to come and visit you that night, but instead I see you kissing that mangy cat."

"Says the one that has a whole collection of Ladybug photos on his phone," Marinette countered. "I'm pretty sure you have more of her than you do of me!"

That was true, but only because he had been collecting them longer than they had been dating.

"And what about your Chat Noir doll you made?" He snapped.

Marinette huffed. "Like you don't have a closet full of Ladybug merch!" She took a step towards him, a scowl on her face and a playful gleam in her eyes. "Just for the record, Chat Noir is an amazing kisser."

"Well, Ladybug never fails to sweep me off my feet when we kiss," Adrien said dreamily. "There's nothing like being carried in her arms as she races across rooftops, but I suppose your kitty can do that for you, can't he?"

"Yes he does, only because my kitty has an ego as big as his head," She said, grinning. "He's such a flirt, something you seem to lack at times, Agreste. I think it's only your looks that caught Ladybug's eye."

"Well, when it comes to looks, Ladybug's the one that has them," He replied. "But Chat's flirting? I never thought those cheesy puns would catch your eyes, Mari."

Her eye twitched in frustration, well aware that 'cheesy' was a pun itself, with Plagg's love for cheese. She watched him for a moment, hesitating before she spoke. "Well... sometimes his puns aren't half bad. Charming, even."

Adrien's eyes widened– did his Lady just confessed that she liked his puns? A small blush appeared on her cheeks, and a grin tugged at his lips. He wished that he had recorded her saying that, because he wasn't going to let her forget this. She liked his puns! Ladybug just admitted to liking his puns!

He couldn't hold himself back, stepping forward and pulling Marinette into a kiss. She let out a small gasp of surprise, before going up on her tiptoes so she could press into the kiss. Their arms wrapped around each other, ignorant to the confused looks of those around them as they embraced each other, lost in the kiss.

After a minute they broke away, foreheads touching. He whispered softly to her so no one else could hear. "So Bugaboo likes my puns then, huh?"

"Don't let it get to your head, Kitty," She whispered back, pressing a quick kiss against his lips once more.

"I'm afraid I'm already ahead of you on that, My Lady," He said softly as she pulled away, before stealing another kiss.

Adrien then pressed her against his chest, looking over at Alya and Nino as he held Marinette, and he had to hold back a smirk. Nino was staring at them in completely confusion, having no idea what to make of what had just happened. Alya's eyes were wide, looking just as confused, if not frustrated. He winked at her as she glared at him, before pressing a kiss to the top of Marinette's head.

"Well," He said cheerfully. "Now that's all sorted out, I heard something about going to the bakery for lunch?"

"My parents are more than willing to have us all over," Marinette agreed with a bob of her head. "Let's go!"

"Hold on– aren't you going to explain what– what all that was?" Alya demanded.

"Nope~" Marinette chirped, before grabbing his wrist and bolting towards the front door, leaving their confused friends behind. Adrien slipped his fingers between hers, sighing softly as he ran to keep up with her.

That was his Lady– and he wouldn't trade her for the world.