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A loud ring by her ear pulled Marinette from the lovely dream she’d been having, one where she’d slept in till noon, got up to have some breakfast and beat Papa in a round of UMS 3, then went back to bed at 2. Tugging a blanket over her head, she fumbled in the dark for her phone and squinted in the harsh light, attempting to hit the red button. There, she thought, eyes fluttering back closed. Back to sleep…
“Hello?”
She groaned again. She’d accidentally accepted the call. “WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT.”
“... Did I wake you up?”
Her sleep-deprived brain recognized Chat Noir’s voice on the other end of the phone. She poked her head back out of her blankets, holding the phone to her ear. “What is it, Kitty? Please tell me it isn’t another akuma? I swear, if I have t-”
“Akuma?” he interrupted. “... What do you mean, akuma?”
Marinette rubbed the bridge of her nose. It’s too late for this! “You know, akuma, like, superpowered villain that Shadowmoth makes and we fight it quick and I use my Lucky Charm and you throw cat puns around like confetti and we kick its butt so we can go back to sleep? ”
Chat Noir was silent for a moment. “Ah,” he finally said. “Yes. Akuma.”
“So?” she prompted. “Is there one?”
“Uh… no. No akuma.”
“THEN WHY DID YOU CALL ME,” Marinette groaned. “Kitty, it's…” she looked at her clock. “It’s two in the morning!”
“Uh… NOREASONGOTTOGOBYE!”
She blinked in surprise as he hung up. “That was weird,” she muttered to herself. She silenced her phone, dropping it off the side of her bed onto her couch. She’d find out why he’d called her tomorrow.
It wasn’t until she was eating breakfast the next morning that she remembered the call and suddenly realized what her sleep-deprived self hadn’t: she hadn’t been transformed.
Marinette choked on her cereal. Chat Noir had called her on her civilian phone.
She bolted upstairs, cereal forgotten, and scrambled up her ladder. “Tikki! TIKKI!” she shrieked.
The little red kwami zoomed out from under her pillow, where she’d taken to napping when Marinette was away. “What is it?”
“Tikki! Last night Chat Noir called me! But he called me on my phone! Which means he knows civilian me! But unless he already knew that civilian me was Ladybug, then CHAT NOIR JUST FIGURED OUT THAT CIVILIAN ME IS LADYBUG!” Marinette panicked. She could barely hear Tikki’s answer as she hyperventilated.
“-arinette! MARINETTE!”
She looked up as Tikki flew in front of her face, sitting on the tip of her nose. “Breathe, Marinette.”
Marinette squinted as she tried to look at Tikki, who was too close to Marinette’s face for her eyes to properly adjust. “B-but Tikki-”
“Breathe,” Tikki said again. She inhaled loudly, holding her breath until Marinette copied her. “Now out?”
Marinette exhaled in a whoosh. After a few more deep breaths, she calmed enough to speak coherently. “What do I do?” she moaned, flopping over her bed and throwing an arm over her face. “I’ve ruined everything!”
“It’s all right,” Tikki said encouragingly. “Is Bunnyx here yet?”
Marinette peeked out from under her arm. “No.”
“Then the timeline is safe. Don’t worry, Marinette,” Tikki squeaked. “Everything will turn out fine. Now look at your phone!”
“What!” Marinette yelped. “Tikki! I can’t!”
Tikki flew down to Marinette’s chaise lounge, where her phone was still sitting. She muttered to herself as she carried the phone back up to Marinette’s bed, dropping it with a huff. “Why is your phone so heavy?” she squeaked.
Marinette picked the phone up. “I don’t know, Tikki. I’m not ready!”
“Yes you are!” the kwami retorted. “You can do it!”
Taking another deep breath, Marinette unlocked her phone. Her thumb hovered above her call history. “But-”
“No buts!” Tikki pushed Marinette’s thumb down, hitting the button and pulling up her history. “Just look!”
Marinette peeked at the screen.
Adrien Agreste - 2:13
She screamed.
“Woah, chill, pigtails!”
A tiny black blob zoomed through her trapdoor, hovering in front of her face. “You’re going to scare my holder!”
“Plagg!” Tikki shot towards the kwami. “He’s coming here?”
Plagg shook his head, smirking. “He is here.”
Before Marinette could process the arrival of the black kwami, her mom knocked on her trapdoor. “Marinette! You have a friend over!”
Marinette let out an inhuman shriek. “Not yet, Mom! I’m still in my pajamas!”
She frantically descended her ladder, almost tripping in her haste to make it to her closet. “Just a minute!” she yelled as she fumbled through her clothes.
She shooed the kwamis away, quickly changing into her usual capris and blouse. Adrien is Chat Noir, her mind repeated as she dressed. Chat Noir is Adrien and they’re - he’s - here at my house! ADRIEN’S AT MY HOUSE!
“Uh… Marinette? You almost done?”
She shrieked again at Adrien’s concerned voice. Face burning, she fumbled through tying up her hair in her signature pigtails. “C-come in!” she called, sounding half-strangled to her own ears.
Adrien’s blond head popped up through her trapdoor. “H-hi,” he said nervously as he hauled himself up.
Before Marinette could respond, he launched into a panicked explanation, gesturing wildly. “I swear I didn’t mean to find out your identity, honestly, I didn’t even mean to call you, but Plagg was messing with my phone-” They both ignored Tikki’s shrill shriek “and it was completely an accident and I meant to hang up but Plagg still had my phone and then you answered and it was too late and I’m SO so sorry, Marinette!”
Marinette blinked as the flow of words stopped. For a moment she was left speechless, staring at his nervously apologetic half-smile.
“Soooo… are you mad?” Adrien asked, panic clouding his expression.
“Uh,” Marinette managed to say. “Well… no. And yes. And I DON’T KNOW THIS IS A LOT TO TAKE IN!” She wanted to scream in frustration. “I’m not mad at you,” she added quickly when Adrien’s face fell. “It was an accident. PLAGG, on the other hand…” She whirled around to face the kwami with a furious glare.
Plagg, who was in the middle of shoving a slice of camembert in his mouth, froze. “What! Human phones are so interesting!” he said defensively. “Besides, how am I supposed to know which buttons do what if Adrien never lets me touch?”
“That’s exactly why I never let you touch,” Adrien said grumpily.
“Besides,” Plagg continued. “It’s about time you two lovebirds knew each other’s identities anyway. I’m getting sick of all this ‘Ladybug this’ and ‘Ladybug that’ and ‘Marinette’s such a good friend’ and ‘did you see what Marinette did?’ and ‘I love Ladybug sooooo m-”
“WAIT!” Marinette shrieked, eyes widening. “Wait, wait wait wait. You’re in love with Ladybug,” she said, pointing to Adrien. He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “But I’m Ladybug.”
“As I’ve recently discovered.”
“And if you’re Chat Noir and you’re in love with Ladybug but I’m Ladybug and I’m in love with Adrien- HOLY CRUD I’M IN LOVE WITH CHAT NOIR!” Marinette’s legs gave out from underneath her and she fell onto her chaise with a quiet thump .
Adrien gaped. “You- wa- l- you’re in love with me?” he gasped.
Marinette buried her face in her hands. “Since the day with the umbrella,” she muttered, cheeks flaming. If they were sharing secrets, they were sharing secrets.
“I- I need to sit down,” Adrien said breathily.
Marinette patted the spot next to her.
Adrien sat with wide eyes, running his hands through his hair. Peeking through her fingers, Marinette realized that when his hair wasn’t held down with copious amounts of gel, it looked exactly like Chat’s. Or his, I guess . But when he’s transformed. Will I ever get used to this? She wondered.
“All right,” Marinette said finally, taking a deep breath and letting her hands drop to her lap. “I’m Ladybug and you’re Chat Noir. You’re in love with me and I’m in love with you. We both agree that this is Plagg’s fault. Anything else I’m missing?”
Adrien shook his head. “Nope. That about covers it.”
“Okay,” Marinette said with a firm nod. “Sooo… what now?”
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Um… would you like to get some brunch with me?” he asked hesitantly. “I kind of skipped breakfast.”
Marinette was pretty sure her cheeks were turning a rosy shade of pink. “That sounds nice,” she squeaked.
Her cereal was probably soggy by now anyway.