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Chat Noir was quiet that night. It was out of the norm as he usually had no problem chattering away about the small new things he noticed around the city. It had made their patrol much quieter and Ladybug wasn’t sure what topic to bring up.
“Good weather we’re having tonight right?” She asked to Chat, only to receive a noncommittal grunt in response.
“I mean just look at the moon.” She pointed towards the sky with moonlight streaming in between the the gaps of the stray clouds. “It’s a full moon tonight!”
Chat just hummed again, lost in thought. Ladybug’s hand dropped and she let out a sigh, trying to have a conversation with him was like pulling teeth. He would bring up whatever was bothering him eventually.
“Have you ever thought about telling someone?” He asked after about 16 minutes and 23 seconds of silence. Not that Ladybug was counting.
“Telling someone what?”
“Your secret identity.” She paused at that and turned toward him. “I know we don’t share it with each other but what about friends and family?”
“We can’t!” She exclaimed eyes wide, “They could be in danger if they found out! That’s the whole reason we don’t tell each other!”
“I know okay?” Chat Noir huffed and angrily ran his hand through his hair, “But what’s the harm in letting some people know? They’re already in danger because of all the damn akuma running around.”
“The akuma-”
“The akuma still affect them. Some of the people akumatized have gone after my family and friends already.” His eyes felt piercing against her skin.
“...my friends were too.” She whispered quietly, “but we have to separate ourselves from our civilian side. We can’t let our personal drama affect what we do here.”
“I have people worried about me. Always asking why I’m so tired, why I’m covered with random bruises, why I always am missing every time there’s an attack. My best friend feels like I’m drifting away from him. And I feel terrible having to lie straight to his face when he’s so concerned about me.”
She chewed on her lip, lost at thought. Thinking about Alya and her parents made her realize how strained the relationship had become recently. She had seen the troubled looks her parents shot each other when they thought she wasn’t looking. She had been cornered by Alya almost every week regarding her lame excuses on why she wasn’t able to hang out. She had even seen Nino give her worried looks when she was berated by the teacher for falling asleep in class.
“One day,” she took a deep breath, “one day we’ll be able to tell them. But until we know who Hawkmoth is we shouldn’t risk it. We don’t know how he picks his victims, but he may be listening in on conversations people have in Paris. It’s too risky now.”
She locked eyes with him, and gave a firm look, “We will tell them Chat, I promise.”
Chat nodded at her solemnly, but then he gave her a small grin. “Let’s go check out that building over there. I think I saw something on the roof.”
Ladybug smiled back at him, relieved that he seemed to be happier, “Ok, but I’m warning you, if that something turns out to be another dying bird there WILL be consequences.”
Chat let out a small laugh, “Whatever you say m’lady.”
--
“Have you ever been in love?” She asked him one day. The offhandedness of her comment and her straight-forward attitude caused him to nearly fall off the ledge in shock.
“What?!”
“Have you ever been in love?” She repeated more slowly.
“Why do you want to know?” His brain was running at a hundred miles an hour trying to process what was happening, “Are you in love with someone?”
The seconds it took for her to answer felt like years of waiting. His heart clenched in anticipation.
“No,” He let out a small sigh of relief, “Maybe? I don’t know.”
...And there was his heart doing flips again.
“Who’s the lucky guy?”
Ladybug let out a mournful sigh, “He’s in my class, but he’ll never see me that way. We’ve barely become friends, I don’t think it’s ever going to end up as a relationship.”
She drew her knees up to her chest and clasped her hand around them, “Have you ever met someone so flawless that it felt like you were in a fairy tale?”
Chat Noir tried not to look at Ladybug’s face, “Yeah. Someone who seems so perfect that they seem unattainable?”
She nodded, “Every time I talk to him I turn into a mess. I can’t form coherent sentences. I trip over inanimate objects. I act so unlike myself.”
Chat couldn’t help but chuckle, “Everyone acts different when they’re around a person they love.”
Ladybug perked up at that comment, “Do you think it’s love?”
“Um…”
“Am I in love with him? I mean, I’ve never been in love before so I’m not sure what it feels like, but could it actually be-” Her eyes widened with every passing word and by the end of her sentence, her voice began to choke.
“I need to go.” She jumped up and grabbed her yo-yo off her belt. “I’ll see you on the next patrol.”
And before Chat could even get a word in, she flew off into the night. He groaned and curled up on himself, exasperated he didn’t have more time. He had been thinking about talking about his civilian identity with her for a while, but maybe it wasn’t such a good idea anymore.
He didn’t want to meddle.
--
This had been a bad week for Ladybug. Not only was Alya upset at her for all the obvious excuses she had been making lately, her dad had been akumatized too. Adrien and Nino had been tip toeing around the two of them as their friendship had become even more strained, and her parents were now not only panicking about Marinette, but also about future akuma attacks.
Chat had been right when he said lying would only hurt them, which was why she had called him to this isolated rooftop.
“So,” Chat started, “lovely view isn’t it?”
He gestured at the garbage bins surrounding them, “It’s very romantic Bugaboo, I bet lover boy would be ecstatic having a date here.”
Ladybug gave him a withering glare, “Stop that. This is important.”
He grinned at her mischievously, causing her to let out a small unwilling smile. She couldn’t help but feel happy every time she saw him and his infectious smile.
“Do you remember that conversation we had about the friends and identity sharing?”
Chat’s rose an eyebrow, “The one where you said we shouldn’t?”
“Yeah…” Ladybug took a deep breath. “I think we should.”
Chat stared at her intently, “What changed your mind?”
“You did.” At his blank expression she continued, “You said that we would only hurt those we love by hiding it. And you were right.”
A slow lazy smile began to form on Chat’s face, “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you clearly. Want to repeat that?”
She rolled her eyes at him, “You heard me. You were right, I was wrong. Whatever. I’m going to tell my friends and family my identity. I just wanted to let you know.”
“I hope they take it well.”
“I hope so too.” She cleared her throat, suddenly feeling foolish. “When I said friends you know I mean you too right?”
Chat’s gobsmacked expression helped in easing her nervousness. “You’re my friend, and this may help our partnership. So I thought we could confide in each other first?”
Chat stuttered out a few incoherent words before Ladybug quickly stepped in, “You don’t have to if you don’t want! I just thought since we know so much about each other as it is, this wouldn’t really make a difference.”
After a few seconds of silence Chat spoke up, “So at the same time?”
Ladybug hesitantly nodded.
“Ok. 3?”
“2.”
“1.”
“Spots off!”
“Claws in!”
Marinette kept her eyes closed, taking a deep breath of anticipation. Thoughts of who Chat could be floated around her mind. She didn’t realize how hard it would be to open her eyes. It was only when a familiar voice called out her name that she snapped her eyes open.
Standing in front of her was Adrien. And judging by the incredulous expression on his face, he was just as surprised as she was.
“You-” She pointed at him, “Chat? You’re- What?”
“You’re Ladybug?!” He yelped.
Marinette’s thoughts raced around her mind and it felt as if a veil was lifted. Chat’s blond hair and bright green eyes matched the exact shade of Adrien’s. She would know after how much she had stared at him every day. How could she have not realized it earlier?
“The person you wanted to tell your identity,” She began, everything clicking into place, “It was Nino wasn’t it?”
Adrien nodded, “Yeah, he doesn’t believe me about what I do during akuma attacks and was getting suspicious. You were going to tell Alya?”
Marinette pursed her lips in thought, “And my parents. My dad got akumatized and Alya and I haven’t been as close as we used to be.”
Adrien hummed in understanding. The silence dragged on for a few minutes as they both tried to process each other’s identity.
“So who is he?” Adrien cleared his throat and looked at his feet. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear the answer, but at Marinette’s questioning noise he continued, “The boy you love.”
His eyes were firmly planted on the ground until he heard Marinette’s unladylike choking. He looked up at Marinette only to find her eyes as wide as they could be and her face slowly turning red.
“Ohmygod,” Marinette shoved her face in her hands, and moaned “I can’t believe this. This isn’t happening to me.”
Adrien’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion, “Are you okay.” He took a step forward, causing Marinette to jump back a foot.
Tears formed at the corner of her eyes, “Why do I have the Lucky Charm power? All I have is bad luck.”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad-”
“Only me. Only I could confess to my crush’s alter ego. Bad Luck Marinette at it again.” She muttered under her breath.
Adrien froze. “Me?”
Marinette’s head shot up and she stared at him dumbfounded.
“Your crush is on me?” He asked hesitantly causing Marinette to squeak and jump back another foot.
How had he missed all the signs? Marinette acted exactly as Ladybug had described in their earlier conversation. Adrien slowly grinned as Marinette hastily covered her face.
She was so cute.
“So Bugaboo,” Marinette peeked at him in between her fingers and his smile got bigger, “Shall we tell Nino and Alya together?”