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“You know what to do, kitty,” Marinette said. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t keep the flirty tone out of her voice. She hadn’t expected that it would be so hard to control herself. But he was there, Adrien, her boyfriend. Yes, no one knew that Chat was her boyfriend. And no one knew that she knew that. But at least it was pretty expected of Ladybug and Chat to flirt so while they had to pretend there was nothing between them when they were civilians, as superheroes they didn’t have to worry too much about slipping into couple mode.
“Because who’s your best partner?” He said, not missing a beat, his tone matching hers, just like the smirk on his face.
“Are you fishing for compliments?” She laughed.
“No.” He wasn’t convincing at all.
She bopped his nose and laughed again. There was a collective groan from the rest of their teammates.
“Are you two kidding me?” Ryuko facepalmed. The thing was, she wouldn’t be complaining if she knew who was behind the masks, after all the time she’d spent trying to get them together. But she couldn’t know, just like everyone else.
It was a good thing that Alya wasn’t there because she’d have a thing or two to say to Marinette about why all of a sudden she was so receptive of Chat’s advances after vehemently denying that there was anything between them in the past.
“I’d never miss a chance to impress my lady,” Adrien winked at her and set off.
Yeah, patrols were lots of fun and akuma fights passed in a blur. Even their disgruntled teammates couldn’t ruin that for Marinette.
Now she totally understood the appeal. Why worry about the akuma when she could just have fun with her secret boyfriend without even having to hide how close they were? Of course, kisses were off the table. But they could wait for later. Most of the time.
The real challenge was using inconspicuous activities as dates, while trying to make them look like dates as little as possible. They couldn’t get ice-cream together because this was a sure way to attract attention. Going to the movies was fine and so was a trip to the library and everything masked as school work. Because luckily she and Adrien studied together.
They still had to be careful, but they somehow had it under control. They knew they’d meet up later, for a few minutes in her room or his, when no one could interrupt them. The anticipation added to the intensity of the feeling. It was just that sometimes it was so hard to wait.
This was how it happened that one evening when he was leaving after a movie non-date, her lips hovered a little too close to his mouth in the split second it took someone to snap a photo. They had underestimated the attention people paid to Adrien even when he was out with friends. Which they should have expected since they had experience with it in the past. Now the incriminating photo was everywhere and they didn’t even have a chance to deny that there was something between them.
Adrien’s father was hot on their heels, calling him and sending his bodyguard with instructions to get back home as soon as possible.
“No, father, you can’t make me stay away from Marinette and you can’t make me break up with her,” he snarled into his phone. His protectiveness melted Marinette although the last thing she wanted was for him to get in trouble because of her. “I will be home later.”
He was trying to look brave, but Marinette knew that when he got home, he might be grounded for hiding something so important from his father. Neither of them wanted this to happen. At least, they knew that even if they were forced to break up in their civilian lives, they could still be together and this was a consolation.
Then it turned out that there were worse things than the media attention, the crazy fans and Adrien’s father. The worst thing was the akuma.
With everyone’s eyes on them, they couldn’t transform. But what was worse, it turned out that the akuma could track Miraculouses so it could find them any minute now. Pretty soon they were on the run and had very few options. Thankfully, Marinette could call Alya. She was alone at home because Nino was out with their siblings.
“Alya, please come and take the earrings,” Marinette pleaded. “We can’t have the akuma track them down to me.”
“Of course, Marinette,” her friend readily accepted. That was one half of the problem solved. As they waited for Alya to find them, Marinette’s phone rang again.
Why is he calling , she wondered as she read the name on the screen.
“Luka?”
“I saw the news, Marinette. I know you need help.”
“You know?” She didn’t need to elaborate. While Marinette and Adrien might need help, at the moment it was Ladybug and Chat Noir who needed it more urgently. Adrien understood as well because he nodded when she looked at him.
“We’re waiting for Alya,” she told him. He would understand why. “We have the media, fans and Adrien’s father shadowing us so you’ll have to come to us and we’ll have to do the exchange as secretly as possible.
“Are you even surprised?” Adrien shrugged when she hung up. Luka knowing would have been inconvenient at any other moment but it was a godsend now.
It was easy to pretend to be meeting up with their friends, who were just expressing their support for the poor couple caught in the media storm. Marinette hoped with all her heart that the cameras and everyone around them had missed the earrings and the ring wordlessly dropped into pockets during hugs of encouragement.
Then they were alone again.
“Scarabella and a new unnamed black cat saved the day, protecting Ladybug and Chat Noir!” Nadja declared and they both sighed in relief in the cafe where they’d sat down. They were preparing to go to Marinette’s house where they would need to face her parents and everything else. But for now, they could enjoy this small victory which was rather important as well.
“See, you have to admit that having allies comes in handy,” Marinette nudged Adrien. Yes, she regretted keeping him in the dark in the past. And she knew that with every step she took she’d need to rebuild the trust between them. Because while they’d talked things out and had understood each other’s positions and had left all the misunderstandings behind their backs, while being happy and together now, they still needed to work on this every day.
“I see, yes, even unexpected allies like Luka,” he laughed.
Which was true. She’d started out as a guardian all alone, with no one knowing who she was. Now her support base had grown to three. With no secrets in the way, maybe they had an even better chance against Hawk Moth.
“How do we deal with the scandal?” She asked nervously. Now that the biggest danger had passed, she had to think about this. She knew that his father wouldn’t hesitate before throwing down the hammer. If he didn’t approve of something, he didn’t hold back.
“I can tell my father we’ve seen the error of our ways and have decided that we’re not ready for the attention a relationship could attract. So we’re putting it off,” Adrien suggested.
“ So back to being secret?”
“This was the only way anyway.”
He was right, as usual. She had to play up the tearful expression a bit as she leaned in to kiss him. If they were pretending to be breaking up for the public, they'd better make the most of it while it lasted.
They were in Marinette’s room, already having told her parents the same version as they waited for Adrien’s bodyguard, when Alya and Luka arrived.
“Phew. Thanks, guys!” Marinette grinned at them, finally able to drop the sad expression from earlier. “Great job!”
“Now tell me that at least all this was worth it, apart from saving the day and your identities, of course. You two are finally together, aren’t you?” Alya asked, not even hiding her enthusiasm as she handed the earrings back to Marinette.
She shared a glance with Adrien. Obviously, their relationship would be a secret for everyone else but these two.
“Come on! We can keep a secret, right?” Luka said. Oh, they’d definitely have a talk with him about keeping a secret. But he was right.
“Oh, ok, yes,” Adrien finally admitted. “We’re together.”
“Woohoo!” Their simultaneous reaction spoke volumes.
"Shh," Marinette told them, because it wasn't very fitting for them to be heard celebrating their break-up.
“Now your behaviour during akuma attacks makes so much sense,” Luka commented with a look that made both of them blush.
“Tell me everything!” Alya eagerly turned to him. Oh, the amount of teasing they would be subjected to! Marinette didn't even dare imagining it.
Adrien chuckled at their enthusiasm as he pulled Marinette into his arms. At least they didn’t have to worry about being seen kissing by these two.
All was well that ended well, indeed.