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“Hey, Mari, have you ever noticed how Adrien acts like Chat Noir at times?” Alya asked as they watched the blond chatting with his best friend, Nino, across the courtyard before their classes began.
“Please, Alya, I’d know if Adrien was Chat Noir. At the least, he’d tell me since he is my boyfriend.” Oh, how she loved the sound of that word. Boyfriend. Adrien was her boyfriend. She didn’t care they’d been going out for the past couple months. She still found that sentence to be her favorite one of all.
“So, if you were Ladybug, you’d tell Adrien then, right?”
Marinette froze at the question, knowing she wouldn’t tell him. Not because she didn’t want him to know, but because she couldn’t risk putting him in danger should Hawk Moth ever discovery her identity. No, he’d be better off not knowing.
“Ha, I got you there, girl. I knew it. You wouldn’t if you were. So, he has the same right to keep his secret identity a secret, too.”
Hanging her head, she sighed in defeat, bowing down to Alya once again. “You’re the queen of all, Alya. Now, can we get our guys and get to class before we’re all late?”
Alya nodded and proceeded to round up their guys as Marinette put it, grabbing Nino by the elbow and dragging him to class and knowing Adrien would follow behind. She’d done it so many times in the past, so she simply tossed Adrien a knowing grin and led the charge towards their classroom.
Marinette fell into step beside Adrien and slipped her hand in his, thrilling at the ability to touch him like that whenever the mood struck her. She’d never thought she’d see the day happen when she’d been younger and so tongue-tied around him.
“So, what were you and Alya talking about earlier? I saw her glancing my way a few times and wondered if I should fear her wrath about something.”
“Oh, we weren’t discussing anything bad. She was just observing and making illogical leaps like she always does,” Marinette assured him, knowing he hated whenever someone was mad at him, especially Alya who could be downright frightening when she got angry about something.
“Really? Like what? Who’s on her radar this time?”
Marinette’s cheeks reddened as she admitted in a quiet voice, “Well, you actually. She thinks you could Chat Noir since you share a few of his traits.”
He stilled next to her as he considered her words and worried they might know something they shouldn’t about him. He couldn’t help but wonder what traits the blogger had noticed and how close she actually was in putting him together with Chat Noir. He knew the implications were high if she should discover the truth. He also knew how angry Ladybug would be if someone discovered his secret and threatened to out him.
While he doubted Alya would actually divulge his secret if she figured it out, he couldn’t be sure when she’d made it her mission to discover both his and Ladybug’s identities. No, he needed to know how close she was to figuring it out and go from there. He just needed to work out how to talk to her without giving himself away, but his mind kept drawing a blank. Maybe he should consult Ladybug on their next patrol together.
“Hey, you all right? You went quiet on me. Should I be worried?”
Adrien shot her his model smile and shook his head, causing her to veer their course to an empty janitors closet.
“Mari, we should go to class, right? Why did you drag me here? Oh, did you have something devilish in mind? I can be persuaded to the dark side if it’s you.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, causing her to roll her eyes in return.
“No, not today, model boy. Now, tell me what’s wrong. I know your model smile when I see it. Something’s up.” She pushed him into the door and held him there with one hand as she pulled up her phone’s flashlight to illuminate them in the darkened room. As his words hit her, she turned to him and groaned, admitting, “You know maybe Alya isn’t far off the mark. Are you sure you don’t hang out with Chat Noir without my knowledge?”
“Me and Chat Noir? Friends? Oh, Mari, you’re too cute.”
“Agreste, you’re lying to me. Tell me now or I will sic Alya on you. Don’t make me text her.”
“Okay, okay, princess, please don’t text Alya. I’ll tell you everything.”
Princess. Princess! Oh, no, oh, he can’t be.
Her mind spun with the implications as her thoughts churned with the possibility laid out before her.
“Adrien Agreste, tell me right now! Are you Chat Noir? Yes or no!”
He gave her the most baleful stare he could before hanging his head and nodding.
She didn’t say anything for the longest time as she compared the two in her mind. The puns. The similar hair and build. The green eyes. The nickname for her in civilian form. The flirtiness she’d only learned Adrien had and Chat always had.
“Are you mad at me?” He ventured when she remained silent so long he became antsy. He wanted to pull her to him and hold her, needing her touch to reassure him she wouldn’t turn away from him after she’d learned the truth. He didn’t think he could handle her turning away from him after learning how wonderful she was and how much he’d fallen for her in the past year.
“No, I’m not mad. I don’t know what I am, but mad isn’t part of it. Confused? Yes. Dumbfounded? A little bit. Mad? No, not really. The only reason I could be mad right now is that you told me your identity.” She paused at this point as that realization hit her. Spluttering, she smacked him on the shoulder and hissed, “You told me your secret identity, you beautiful idiot. I can’t believe you told me. You’re supposed to keep it a secret. If I can keep a secret like this, why can’t you? Oh, my god, Adrien!”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Mari. I know I wasn’t supposed to tell, but you already had it pretty well figured out. How could I lie to you at that point?” This time he paused as he recalled everything she’d just said. When he found the phrase that caught him off-guard, he asked, “What do you mean ‘If you can keep a secret like this, why can’t I?’ What secret are you keeping, Mari? Hmm?”
“Nothing. I have no secrets, Agreste.” She quickly moved away from him before he could see the lie by the redness on her face.
She moved as far from him as she could, but he advanced on her. “What secret, Mari? It’s not like you’re Ladybug or some—” He paused as it hit him and he looked at her with new eyes. “You can’t be serious. You’re Ladybug. Mari, why didn’t you tell me? Do you know what this means?”
“Yeah, we’re both in a world of hurt if Alya or Hawk Moth finds out. God, Adrien, we’ve really screwed up this time.” She dropped her head into her hands as she worried about the consequences of their discovery, missing the look of wonder and sheer happiness on his face.
“No, it means we’re meant to be. I knew I’d love the lady behind the mask, but I never imagined I’d fall for her twice before learning the truth. Besides Alya and Hawk Moth, this is the best day of my life,” he said, picking her up by the waist and swinging her around. His arms tightened as they enveloped her and he planted a searing kiss on her lips. “Do you know how much I love you?”
She giggled, happy to stop worrying about the moment and revel in discovering the two guys she’d fallen for had also been the same guy in the end. She agreed the day could be one of the best in her recent memory.
“Okay, you win, kitty. It’s definitely been a great day so far, but I’m not through with you. We’re going to talk about this after school today. You got me?”
“Yes, M’lady.”