Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"It's nothing much," Marinette said, setting the pastry box on the teacher's desk and facing the rest of her homeroom class. "Just some red velvet cupcakes."

"How did you know I was craving some Tom and Sabine red velvet cupcake?" Alya asked, diving on the box. The rest of the class followed.

"Tom and Sabine?" she scoffed. "These are Marinette originals."

"All the more reason to not eat those monstrosities."

Chloe didn't look up from fixing her lipstick in a hand mirror, but she knew every eye was on her now.

"Hey! Marinette makes great cupcakes!" Nino said, taking an extra big bite of his cupcake to prove his point.

"Oh, I'm sure she's capable of following a recipe, I guess." Chloe flipped her hair over her shoulder. "But how can you trust anyone who chooses to make red velvet?" She gave an exaggerated shudder. "Red velvet is gross, and all of you are ridiculous for eating it."

Marinette opened her mouth, splitting her smirk, but before she could retort, Adrien cut her off.

"Does that mean I can have your cupcake, Chloe?"

The class dissolved in laughter. Even Chloe and Marinette.

"Of course, Adrikins." She stood and walked towards the classroom door, patting his cheek on the way. "We'll work on developing better taste in you later."

Just as she reached the doorway, Marinette called, "Hey, Chloe?"

She half-turned back. "Hm?"

"What kind of cupcakes could you possibly think are better than red velvet?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Lemon cake, of course."

She flounced out of the room and down the hall. Marinette hid a grin behind her hand.

At her locker, Chloe noticed something pink sticking out of the bottom of the door. She felt the rising of hope in her chest and heat in her cheeks as she twisted in her combination. The pink was a sticky note, attached to a small box.

"Queen,

Lemon, for a sour girl.

xo, your Honey"

Inside the box was one perfect lemon cupcake.

Chloe swiped her finger through the frosting and stuck it in her mouth. Sweet, just like her girlfriend.

Chapter Text

"Don't. You. Touch. Her."

Those were the last words Queen Bee managed to get out before the akuma monster knocked her down again. This time, she stayed down.

The monster, inside the cloud of darkness he carried with him, laughed. A deep, cruel laugh, only made more terrifying because the monster couldn't be seen. Ladybug glanced around the mostly empty street and took in her fallen team. The monster seemed to do the same. He seemed to conclude that he didn't need to rush. He began to drift in a slow circle through the destruction he had caused, monologuing about whatever had turned him into Darkness. This gave Ladybug time to run to Queen Bee's side. She almost gasped in relief when she felt a strong pulse under her fingers.

"So, what now, Ladybug?" A tendril of the dark cloud gestured to where Carapace sat against an overturned car. His shield was broken and he was clutching his ribs. "You have no shield." Another tendril pointed to unconscious Rena Rouge. "You can't trick me anymore." He stopped in front of the crumbled remains of a building. Darkness curled out towards where Ladybug had seen Chat before the building fell. "His ring will be easy enough for a cloud to get." He turned to face Ladybug. "Looks like the other little bug can't help you, either. Hand over your miraculous, Ladybug, and I'll leave you to see if you can save some of your fellow hero's lives. Resist, and I'll make sure you watch each one of them die."

Ladybug felt Queen Bee take the hand from her neck and shift it towards her head. She met her eyes and saw determination, a plan forming. She couldn't really mean-?

"That's where you're wrong," Ladybug said. She shifted her feet to allow her to move quickly when the moment was right. "We'll never lose. No matter what you do, we'll find a way to beat you. And one day, we'll stop Hawkmoth, for good." Her hand closed around what she needed. "And do you want to know how I know this?"

Darkness laughed again. "Oh, I'm sure I'll find your reasoning very amusing as I defeat you."

Queen Bee turned to face the villain, the motion pulling the miraculous from her hair. "Because we're too good to lose!”

“Pollen, buzz on!" Ladybug yelled.

At the same moment that Ladybug shoved the comb in her hair and leaped to her feet, Chloe rolled herself behind a car for protection. The darkness roared, surging after Ladybug-Bee as she ran away from her wounded teammates. She teased and taunted the akuma, hitting him alternately with her yo-yo and spinning top. There was definitely someone solid inside the cloud, someone with an object that held an akuma. If she could just have a moment to hit him with Venom...

A sound came from the area they had just left. Ladybug-Bee and Darkness turned to look at the same moment. A moment too late for Darkness as Chloe drove the car she had hidden behind into the cloud, sending a man flying away from the dark wisps.

Ladybug-Bee didn't stop to thank her teammate. She called for both her powers and used her Lucky Charm leaf blower to keep the cloud back from the man while she hit him with Venom. Chloe staggered from the car and leaned on her partner.

“Give me the Lucky Charm, I’ll keep the cloud away. You go find his akuma,” Chloe said.

Less than a minute later, the akuma was freed, the victim was lucid, and every one of the team was restored to health and strength.

“Thanks, Chloe,” Ladybug said, pushing the comb back into Chloe’s hair. “You saved us.”

“We all did.” She squeezed Ladybug’s hand. “I’ll see you tonight. Don’t go over-thinking this fight until I’m there to talk you down, okay? You were amazing.”

Ladybug pulled Chloe into a tight hug. “I don’t feel amazing. I felt like a fraud when you said the team is good.”

Chloe held her even tighter. “Sometimes, I think the most badass thing you can do is admit that.”

The beeps of miraculouses timing down interrupted and made the team scatter.

That night, Queen Bee joined Marinette on her rooftop balcony. They didn’t say much. There wasn’t much to say when all they needed was to know the other was there.

Chapter Text

"Marinette? What are you doing here?"

Marinette's head snapped up. One of her hands had a death grip on the arm of the chair hidden in the corner of the lobby of the Bourgeois's hotel. The other was compulsively smoothing her skirt, creating more wrinkles than it eliminated.

"O-oh! Adri-hi. I mean, hi, Adrien."

He glanced around the mostly empty lobby. "Are you meeting someone?"

"Yes." She froze, her eyes widening. She hadn't meant to say that. "Sort of. No. I mean... yes?"

"You look nervous," he said, glancing at the few people in the room with concern. "Do you want me to wait with you?"

"No!" She knew this was a bad idea. "No, thank you. Um, I'm sure you need to get home, or to a photoshoot or something, right? I'm fine."

It took another minute or two for Marinette to convince him to go, and in that time, Chloe had stepped out of the elevator and spotted them. Chloe had disappeared around a corner and Marinette hadn't seen where she was hiding, so when Adrien left, she sent a text.

"What was he doing here?" Marinette whispered, arms flailing with sharp movements when Chloe crept her way around the perimeter of the room to her.

Chloe grabbed Marinette's wrist to pull her out of the hotel, whispering, "He showed up out of the blue and whined for an hour about Nathalie not letting him see his dad. I love him, but I was ready to shove him out the window!"

"That's the third time he's showed up right before we had something scheduled." Marinette found herself shoved in the back seat of one of the hotel's limos. "Do you think he's onto us?"

The moment the car door was closed, Chloe wrapped Marinette in her arms and kissed her. "He didn't notice when you had a crush on him. You really think he's figured us out?"

"Hmm. Probably just a coincidence?"

"We can hope." She kissed Marinette's cheek. "Now, I'd like to treat my girlfriend like the spoiled, rich girl I am."

The driver dropped them off at a cafe. It was new enough and small enough that they were confident they could have a date there without seeing anyone they knew.

They had forgotten that Alya had recently taken up food blogging.

"Marinette? Chloe? Did you two walk in together?" Alya had paused mid-picture of her latte and cookie and was staring at the two young women.

"Ran into each other on the sidewalk," Marinette said.

At the same moment, Chloe said, "I asked her if she could spot me for a cup of coffee because I forgot my wallet."

"Oookay," Alya said. "Well, Marinette, if you want to sit with me..." She gestured to the open seat at her table.

Marinette felt Chloe move away from her and towards the counter.

"I, ah, can't stay. I have to go... look at hamsters with... with Rose! Yeah, she's thinking of getting one for Luka for his birthday, and- and I love Luka. I mean, I love hamsters!"

Chloe watched Marinette stumble her way through an excuse while waiting for their drinks. Marinette joined her, and with some sleight of hand, Marinette "paid" for their drinks with Chloe's money.

"I'll wait around the corner," Chloe muttered. She took her drink and left without saying goodbye to Alya.

"Rude," Alya said under her breath as Marinette stopped at her table.

"Hahaha, yeah, right?" Marinette said. "Well, gotta go look at those hamsters with Luka!"

"You mean, for Luka?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "Yeah! That! Um, bye, Alya!"

Alya snapped a picture as Marinette stumbled out the door, spilling some coffee on her arm. She composed a text and attached the picture.

To: Nino <3 and Adri-dork

Has M been acting weird lately?

She got back a shrug emoji from Nino.

From Adrien, she got a question that he refused to explain.

Was she with anyone?

What did that boy know?

-

“That was close!" Marinette said through giggles when she met up with Chloe. "Thank you for paying."

"Only the best for my Honey.” She turned her cheek to Marinette for a kiss. Her smile grew when she got it. “So, did you want to walk around the park? Daddy was just saying that the maintenance on this park was less expensive than he expected, so I wanted to make sure it’s still up to par.”

Marinette giggled again, linking her arm through Chloe’s and resting her head on her shoulder as they walked. “You know, you don’t actually have to do the job of the mayor until you’re elected.”

“And let Daddy give our family a bad name before I can come in and make it grand? Ridiculous, Marinette. Utterly-”

Marinette pulled her arm away and dove off the park path and behind a bush.

Chloe started to walk around the bush, looking for Marinette. “Um, what are you-”

“Chloe?”

She barely held back a groan as she turned to Ivan, Mylene, and Alix. “Hey. What are you all doing here?” Try though she did, she knew her tone of voice fell flat from the face Alix made.

“Enjoying the public park that is for the public?” Alix snarked, her arms crossed and chin jutting out.

“Oh.” Chloe reminded herself that these were her future constituents and took a breath. She might have gone a little too far into the political mindset. “What did you think of the new trash cans? Do you think they’re accessible enough? And are the trees looking a little ragged? I keep saying the trees here aren’t well maintained, but no one-”

A sweet, familiar voice cut Chloe’s rambling short. “Hello, citizens!”

“Ladybug!” all four classmates said, looking up to the lamppost where Ladybug was perching, her yo-yo swinging in one hand and a coffee cup in the other.

“If you’ll excuse us,” Ladybug said, “I need to borrow Queen Bee for some Miraculous business.”

Chloe looked at Ladybug like she was crazy. Ladybug winked.

“Oh! Oh right.” She opened her purse and brought Pollen into the dimming evening light. “These spur of the moment meetings. So ridiculous. I’ll see you guys later!” She gave her teammates a little wave, then backed off the trail into the grass before transforming.

Watching Ladybug lead Queen Bee off towards the sunset, Mylene asked Alix and Ivan, “Are they dating?”

Alix snorted. “I hope not. Ladybug has taste. Also, I’d lose a bet with Marc if they are.”

“Wait…” Ivan said, squinting after the blurs of color they could barely still see of the heroes. “Chloe likes girls?”

-

“Good save, Ladybug.” Queen Bee grabbed Ladybug’s hand and raised it above her head, spinning her around before looping Ladybug’s waist with the hand holding her coffee cup and dipping her back.

“That’s me,” Ladybug said, letting Queen Bee pull them upright again. “Full of good ideas. Kinda my thing.”

Queen Bee laughed. She shifted her arms to a loose hold around Ladybug’s waist. “Did you want to race, now that we’re all caffeinated?”

Ladybug nodded and dropped their empty coffee cups into the extradimensional space in her yo-yo. “We haven’t had a good race in ages. You pick the end point.”

They set their destination, readied their weapons, and on a joint count of three, took off. The city at dusk flew by and they left their shrieks and laughter behind as they went.

-

A few hours later, they were laying under the night sky on a random roof. Their hands were clasped and their heads bent together, giggling and whispering.

“I can’t believe that the first time we try a date in public, planning all sorts of things like cafes and parks our friends don’t frequent and making sure no one was at the hotel-” Ladybug giggled again, cutting herself off. “-I can’t believe we end up transforming and running off.”

“I can’t believe you dove into that bush when you heard Mylene and them coming.” She sighed. “Think of your poor dress. It’s probably wrinkled and dirty now!”

They dissolved in giggles again. It felt good, Ladybug thought, to just lie here and laugh and breathe with her girlfriend. She leaned over Queen Bee and placed a slow, gentle kiss on her lips.

“I had a really nice time tonight, Chloe.”

Queen Bee slid a hand up her arm, over her shoulder, and cradled the back of her head, bringing her down for another kiss.

And another.

And another.

“Me, too, Ladybug.”

Chapter Text

"Hey, Bee."

Marinette's voice through the phone was off. Chloe didn't know how, but it was off, and she didn't like that. She was Chloe, though, and didn't know how to ask what was wrong, so what she ended up saying was:

"I expected your call hours ago."

Chloe cringed. Not the worst thing she could have said. Definitely not anywhere near what she wanted to say, either.

"I expected to get to call you hours ago." She sighed. "It was just one of those days, you know?"

Chloe glanced at the papers strewn around her. Her father refused to come out of his room, too depressed and hurt from a fight with her mother to do his job as mayor or hotel owner. She'd been trying to do both, along with her homework, for most of the week.

"Yeah, I do."

Marinette hummed in sympathy. "Is your dad still not up to working?"

Chloe flicked a request for emergency increased funds for street cleaning across the desk and watched it slide off the edge to the floor. "Apparently not. But that's boring. What happened to your day? I barely saw you at school today. Didn't you have some sort of babysitting thing this afternoon?"

Marinette whimpered and a repetitive, dull thudding sound came through the phone that Chloe recognized as Marinette lightly bonking her forehead into her desk. "He tore a design."

"What?" Chloe screeched. "Some snot-nosed brat laid his hands on your gorgeous work of art?"

"He's not... that bad..." She did not sound convincing.

Chloe tapped her pen against the desk, narrowing her eyes at nothing. "Which one?"

"Um... the... the dress. The red and pink one."

She gasped. This was the piece that Chloe had been pestering Marinette to make for herself for an upcoming gala they were both invited to attend. "How bad was the damage?"

"Um..." She took a breath and said in a rush, "It's kind of most definitely ruined but I think I can save some of the panels from the skirt so it's not like I'd be starting completely from scratch?"

"Marinette!"

"His mother paid me double and said she wouldn't ask me to watch him again."

Chloe sighed. "Does paying you double at least cover the cost of the fabric?"

"Mmmmaybe?"

"Honey, that's really not-"

A screeching crash interrupted them.

"Akuma," they said at the same time.

"I'll see you in a minute," Chloe said.

"Ladybug!" Queen Bee gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "What- what happened to you? We were just talking, and you didn't say anything about-"

"Bee, we really don't have time for this," Ladybug said, closing her eyes and suppressing a sigh. "But I know you, you won't let up. I got caught in the rain at the park while babysitting. That's why I had to take the kid up into my room. I haven't had time to fix my hair since."

Ladybug's hair was messy and frizzy, bits sticking up everywhere, and her pigtails were standing stiffly at odd angles from her head. Usually, no matter what the team members looked like before transforming, if they were able to put it out of mind, it didn't become part of their appearance when transformed. Marinette must truly be frazzled for her disheveled hair to be visible after her transformation.

"Come over after this," Queen Bee said, whipping her spinning top at the akuma. “I have this great new deep conditioning treatment-”

“Good evening, ladies!” Chat shouted as he yeeted himself directly at their opponent.

“I haven’t done any homework yet, I have an essay for history due tomorrow.” Ladybug took a running start and wrapped her yo-yo around one of the lower beams of the Tower and launched herself feet-first into the akuma’s side.

“We could do the treatment another day,” Queen Bee said before charging up Venom.

“That sounds great. I really need a nice, relaxing self-pampering day,” Ladybug said, hooking the akuma’s arm with her yo-yo and yanking him off balance.

“I found a great new eye cream you two have to try,” Chat said, using his baton to knock Queen Bee out of the way of the akuma’s flailing tail.

“One of these days, whenever we reveal,” Ladybug said, “you’re coming over for self-pampering day, too.”

Queen Bee finally got an opening and stabbed her Venom into the akuma, freezing him just before his claws would have crushed her into the ground.

With the akuma purified and Chat escorting the victim home, Ladybug leaned against Queen Bee. She didn't comment on how much of Ladybug's weight she was supporting, but it worried her to see her girlfriend so out of sorts.

"This has been building up for a while, hasn't it?" she asked, wrapping an arm around Ladybug's waist and ignoring the beeps from their miraculouses.

"My current state of frazzlement?" Ladybug pulled on a pigtail for emphasis.

"Ugh. Ridiculous. That's not a word." She ran her gloved fingers over the flyaway hairs on Ladybug's head. "Being Ladybug is a big job."

Being Marinette is a big job, too, she thought. She hoped Ladybug could see the thought in her eyes.

"I wouldn't trade it for the world, though." She kissed Queen Bee's cheek and unclipped her yo-yo from her waist. "Have a good night, Queenie. And keep thinking up things for our home spa day!"

They both headed home, but Queen Bee felt her heart get heavier with every inch she added to the physical distance between them. There had to be a way to make Marinette feel better and get a break for herself.

Chloe hadn't even fully detransformed before the idea hit her.

"Jean Jean! Grab paper and a pen, write down everything I say, and follow me!"

Marinette had barely stepped out the door the next morning when she was grabbed and thrown in a car parked around the corner from the bakery.

“Chloe, what the hell are you-”

"Give me your phone." She held out her hand, ignoring the way Marinette was struggling to right herself from where she had been dumped half on half off the back seat of the car.

"Chloe, whatever this is, can we talk about it on the way into school, please?"

Chloe reached into Marinette's purse, patted Tikki on the head, and took her phone. She unlocked it with the code she had watched Marinette put in so many times and started scrolling through her contacts.

"We aren't going to school." Chloe held Marinette's phone to her ear. "Hello, Mrs. Cheng? I'm Marinette's mystery girlfriend. I'm taking her out of school for today so she can rest and recover from her life for a bit."

There was a pause. Marinette strained to listen to her mom's response, too stunned to take the phone away from her clearly bonkers girlfriend.

"I will give you a number to reach us in case of emergency, but I'm turning her phone off." Another pause. "A spa. I'm paying." A pause. "Good to hear. Thank you, Mrs. Cheng."

"Let me talk to her!" Marinette squeaked.

Miraculously, Chloe handed over the phone.

"Mom?"

"Go rest, honey. We're talking about... all of this when you get home, but I saw how miserable you were last night. I'll call the school and tell them you're sick."

Marinette didn't realize she had started crying until Chloe's fingertips brushed her face. "Thanks, Mom."

"We expect to meet her. Soon."

Marinette looked over at Chloe and thought about how that get together was going to go. She broke into giggles and couldn't stop. Chloe had to take the phone and say goodbye for her.

"Take a nap once we get on the plane," Chloe said, pulling her close. "This is not the kind of place where uncontrolled laughter would be a good idea."

"A nap sounds fantastic," Marinette said, letting herself sag into Chloe. "And you're taking me to a spa? What about all the mayor and hotel stuff?"

"Jean Stuart and I came up with a plan last night. Oh, I got the student council meeting after school postponed, so you don't need to worry about that, and I got extensions on all your schoolwork." She was staring out the car window, straight-faced. Marinette booped her nose just to watch it scrunch and her eyes cross to see the offending finger.

"You did all that just because I had a bad day?"

Chloe softened. Her eyes, her shoulders, the smile she gave to Marinette alone. "I did it because I needed to have a way to help."

Marinette gently pulled Chloe into a kiss by the back of her neck. "You don't have to whisk me off and solve all my problems to help. You listen to me. You help with akumas. You make me happy. You make me happy. Not who you can influence for me, or what you can buy me."

Chloe kissed her again. "Thank you," she whispered. She left her eyes closed and touched her forehead to Marinette's. "Thank you."

They sat there, eyes closed and wrapped in each other's arms while the car's motion soothed them.

Until Marinette pulled away and sat bolt upright.

"Did you say we're getting on a plane to get to this spa? Where is it? Are we leaving the country?"

"Shhh," Chloe said, pulling her back into their previous cuddly position. "Not important."

"Chloe!"

"Also, a shipment of fabric will be delivered to the bakery today. You'll be able to make ten dresses to replace the one that brat destroyed."

"Chloe!"

Chloe kissed her nose. "Oh, just let me do this, Honey."

Marinette buried her face in Chloe's shoulder and breathed in her perfume.

"I love you too, Bee."

Chapter Text

"This is going to be a disaster."

"You're being ridiculous."

Marinette and Chloe stood in the dark, empty bakery, hand in hand and facing the stairs to the Dupain-Cheng home.

Marinette shook her head. "No, this is... My parents remember how we used to-"

"I'm different! That has to count for something!" She huffed. "That's why I brought flowers and wine. To show how different I am. I run the mayor's office! I'm an excellent student." She turned to face Marinette. "And I really, really love their daughter. That has to count for something."

Marinette let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and turned to face Chloe. She leaned in until their foreheads touched and let herself get lost in Chloe's scent. Expensive perfume, the shampoo and conditioner the hotel provided for their guests, minty toothpaste. This close together, she could even catch the light scent of her makeup. Chloe always smelled nice.

"That counts for everything to me," she said. "So I just have to make it clear to them that it should count for them, too."

"That's the spirit, Marinette!" Tikki chirped.

"You make a fine and regal leader, My Queen," Pollen said.

They fed their kwamis from the box in the bakery's kitchen of pastries that didn't sell that day, made sure they were hidden, and went up the stairs.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Marinette?" Tom called from the kitchen. "Is your mystery girlfriend with you? I can't believe you wouldn't even give us her name before she-"

Tom stood at the edge of the kitchen, staring openly.

"Marinette, could you step out of the doorway, sweetie?"

Marinette and Chloe turned around to see Sabine with an armful of plates, napkins, and a tablecloth. She put on a polite smile over her confusion.

"Chloe, it's nice to see you. I'd invite you to stay for dinner, but we already have something set up for tonight."

Marinette froze. She could feel her father behind her, staring at everyone. She could almost hear her mother asking, "Marinette, why did you invite Chloe upstairs if your girlfriend is on her way over?"

I am in no way prepared for this night, she thought.

"It's nice to see you, too, Mrs. Cheng." Chloe put her gifts on the stairs to Marinette's room and reached for the plates on top of the pile in Sabine's arms. "Let me help you with that."

Sabine handed off the plates, but didn't step any farther into the room. Her eyes were fixed on the bottle of wine and bouquet of flowers.

"Chloe?"

Chloe set down the plates and turned to Sabine again, chin held high and hands clasped in front of herself. "Yes?"

"Is it you?"

Chloe looked to Marinette. Marinette almost started crying on the spot. Even now, when there was almost no chance of keeping the secret any longer, of convincing her parents otherwise, Chloe looked to Marinette. She wanted her to be comfortable, to choose to say yes.

"Mom, Dad... Chloe is my girlfriend."

Ladybug had landed on Chloe’s balcony shortly after sunset. Chloe let her in, throwing a blanket around her shoulders as she detransformed.

“Was I expecting you?” Chloe asked, kissing her wind-chilled cheek.

"Nope! I just wanted to see you. Is that alright?"

"I was going to draft a response to those nitpicky street cleaners, but that can wait. They can all wait."

"I'm not getting involved in your feud with the street cleaners," Marinette said, sitting on the couch and pulling Chloe down onto her lap. "What are the chances I can distract you with a movie?"

Chloe kissed her, fingers of one hand sliding up her neck and into her hair while the other hand found the remote and flipped the TV on without looking.

"What are the chances I can distract you from a movie?"

Marinette wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist and pulled her close. "Probably pretty high."

It wasn't fifteen minutes into their movie and makeout before the door to Chloe's suite opened unexpectedly.

"Chloe, Princess, did you know about this unpleasantness with the street cleaners? One of them just called my personal- Chloe?"

Chloe and Marinette turned to see Mayor Bourgeois in the doorway.

"Daddy!" Chloe screeched, "you know I don't like it when you forget to knock!"

"Chloe, are you..." He looked back and forth between the two girls. "Is this... are you dating?"

Chloe stood and pulled Marinette to her feet. She held her hand and walked across the room (which felt like miles) to stand before her father.

"Daddy, Marinette is my girlfriend."

"What a week!" Marinette said, leaning against her locker.

"Oh? What were you up to this week?" Alya asked, not looking up from her phone.

"Oh just... stuff. Did you want to come over and eat day-old pastries to spoil our dinners while we work on homework?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Great!" Marinette picked up her bag and started for the exit. "I could really use some help with that thing from math class today. I tried to ask a question, but she didn't stop to answer it, so I got most of it, but if you understood and could explain it, I'd really- Alya?"

Alya was not at Marinette's side. She turned around to see Alya still staring at her phone by her locker.

"Alya?" She put her hand on Alya's wrist, giving a gentle tug. "Earth to Alya?"

Alya looked up at her, eyes wide. "Girl, I guess you really were busy this week," she said as she turned her phone screen towards Marinette.

"What do you mean?" Marinette took the phone. On the screen was a picture of Chat Noir that she assumed Alya had taken in the past couple days. She was about to ask what Chat Noir had to do with her busy week or Alya’s weird reaction when Alya reached over to zoom in on a few people behind Chat Noir's shoulder.

It was a picture of her and Chloe. They were holding hands. Chloe was kissing her on the cheek and Marinette was grinning, possibly mid-giggle. It was a little blurry, but definitely them.

"I know you have a thing with keeping things private," Alya said, cocking her head to the side as she angled the phone back to herself, a small smile creeping on her face, "so I'm not like, upset or surprised or whatever that you kept it secret. You two are kinda cute together."

Marinette felt her shoulders relax. "Oh my gosh, Alya. I didn't realize how worried I was that you would be mad that I didn't tell you until you said that." She threw her arms around Alya. "I'm so glad I can tell you now. I'm in love with Chloe and I've been dating her for eleven months now!"

Alya hugged her back. "Good for you, girl. I noticed how happy you'd been this year. I'm sorry it came out this way instead of when you felt ready though."

Marinette pulled back and shrugged, linking her arm through Alya's as they walked. "Chloe's been ready for a while now, and we just told our parents earlier this week. I hadn't decided on exactly when, but I was going to tell you soon."

Rose and Chloe were talking on the front steps when Marinette and Alya exited. The four stood talking for a few minutes. While Chloe was looking up the number of her manicurist for Rose to surprise Juleka with a gift card for their anniversary, a text popped up. When she opened it, she saw a picture of Chat Noir. A circle had been drawn on the picture, highlighting a couple behind his shoulder. The message that came with the picture said:

Honey: So Alya knows now. Guess the cat is out of the bag ;)

Chloe looked back and forth between her phone and Marinette, who was laughing at Alya imitating Chat Noir tripping over his baton. She texted back.

Bee: Your puns are no better than your partner's. Are you okay with Alya knowing?

The response came quickly.

Honey: I thought I wasn't ready, but getting to talk openly about how much I love you? 14/10 would slip up and get caught again!

Bee: alkgjdasjdklkj

Honey: So...

Honey: wanna spread the news?

Bee: Oh, I got this.

"Hey, Rose?" Chloe said, putting her phone in her purse.

"Yes, Chloe?"

"Marinette and I have been dating in secret for almost a year."

Chloe had an armful of screaming, bouncing, delighted Rose a half second later. She hugged her back gingerly.

The commotion drew Adrien and Nino to the group.

"What's going on here?"

“Just this,” Marinette said.

She wrapped her arms around Chloe, and to the sound of Nino saying, "Woah!" and Adrien cheering, "I knew it!" they shared their first public kiss.