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Chapter Text

     She was out of time.

     The fight that night with Alya had drained Marinette of much of her power. Who would have guessed that using her Lucky Charm to free Chat would have counted as a selfish act? She wanted to save him! His life was at risk! However, at the same time, he was her partner, her friend, and, in the darkest depths were only her diary knew, she might have thought of him as more were her love not dedicated to Adrien.

     She shook her head as she shot down the stairs quicker, Chat at her tail (pun not intended). "I need a place to transform!" She muttered to herself as she doubled her speed, if at all possible. At the ground floor, she burst through the door as she found herself and Chat in the lobby.Beyond the frosted entry way, she could see the lights of the police cars waiting to arrest whoever or whatever came out of the building that wasn't obviously a civilian. Her eyes scanned the room, taking into account the security camera pointed at the front desk. She needed somewhere out of it's sight.

     The closet behind the desk.

     She ran for it, grabbing the nob to let herself in.

     "Hey, wait!" She spun seeing Chat looking absolutely out of breath as a plea seemed to glint across his face. "You don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone, I swear."

     Ladybug had a split second to consider his thoughts. All night, she had been hearing of his pleas to learn her true identity, something about her that was behind the mask. Why is he so obsessed? She thought. Did he really get spooked that Chloe was me? How did he eve know about that? She was reminded of her true intentions when her earring beeped again.

     "Chat..." She began, ready to tell him no, she wanted to keep this a secret. It was her job to protect the city, and she didn't want her personal feelings for whoever was on the other side of the mask to infect her heroine life. Her comment, however, was cut short as her luck ran dry.

     The door was locked.

     Ladybug stared at it for a second, giving it another shake, but it was no use. Whoever had used the storage room before had locked it on their way out. She looked back at Chat with fear on her face. "It's locked. I can't get in."

     Chat Noir seemed to consider her for a second. While Lady was unaware of what exactly was going on in his mind, Adrien had an internal battle with himself. The part of himself that was frank, excitable, Le Chat Noir insisted that his luck had changed, that he was going to find out the true identity of his crush. He was going to know the woman behind the mask, the girl who he had been pinning over since a year back when, at fourteen, he had first slipped on the ring that had changed the course of his life. He was going to get his selfish wish when her bad luck had struck.

     But the part that was wholly Adrien Agreste, the sweet young boy who had a crush on the girl like the lovesick child that he was, found his voice. He told back Chat that he couldn't do it. He couldn't be selfish to one of the few people, in his entire fifteen years on this planet, had actually given him the time of day because she was his friend. Ladybug was his only friend on this side of the mask, and Adrien had few real friends on the other. Chloe had known him for a while, but it was more because their fathers saw their "friendship" as something of a political move (or, at least, his father had). Once he had joined others at school, Nino had become his friend, a friend that had become an Akuma because Adrien hadn't gotten a birthday party. He was soon followed by a tentative friendship with Alya, an outspoken woman of the press, and Marinette, a sweet but seemingly shy (because he had seen her in her element, and it was absolutely breathtaking to see her steal the show) fashion designer who was never anything but nice to Adrien.

     Adrien held his friends close to his heart because not even his bad luck could have driven them off.

     And Ladybug, one of his first true friends, was the closest.

     Biting his lip, he grabbed her hand as he turned tail. "We came in through the back door. The camera was out when we came in - knocked over. If we can get outside before you transform, no one will see. I swear, I'll leap away as soon as I can." He swore as he took off, taking Ladybug with him.

     Ladybug gapped as Chat Noir pulled her back through the stairs. She caught flashes of the cameras everywhere in the stairwell as they ducked back up a floor, out another door and through a corridor. She had forgotten the maze of rooms that they had come through earlier, and, as the beeping intensified and the exhaustion set in, she knew following Chat was the only way she was able to concentrate enough on not transforming back.

     Chat threw open one last door, and they exited out a receiving area where normally trucks that delivered goods came and went. However, as the two leapt off the edge, Marinette realized it was too late.

     Before her feet hit the ground, there was a flash of pink off all of the windows and walls in the abandoned alley. Marinettte's light pink flats met the ground as Tikki landed in her free hand.

     Chat froze, looking straight ahead as his grip on her wrist didn't slip. Marinette bit her lip, so shocked in the turn of events. Was he going to turn back on his word? She had just transformed in front of him!

     But Chat, to her shock, used his free hand to cover his eyes as his grip loosened before falling slack. Marionette's arm jerked back, hugging a tired yet silent (and equally shocked) Tikki to her chest. "I won't look." Chat swore as the other hand came to completely cover his eyes. His head bowed as his messy hair came to guise his face, but Marinette could see it from his posture. He was so concerned about her and yet he so wanted to know. "Go, I'll stay here for the next few minutes. I won't look, not even a peak. I'll use what time I have left to get away after that. The police can't catch Le Chat Noir after all." He added in his usual flirty way, but there was a strain in his voice.

     And Marinette couldn't take it. She couldn't handle that Chat was being so selfless. Here he was, here SHE was, his greatest wish (aside from his crush on her, but they had settled as friends) just waiting to be seized. She could see it was taking all his willpower not to go back on his word, to let her go on with her secret. Her mind, the part that was wholly Ladybug, reminded her that this was for the best, this was for the city.

     Her heart whispered otherwise.

     It was then, thirty seconds into the complete silence, that Marinette found her voice. "Chat." She whispered, barely something that could be heard. She would have laughed at the way his fake ears twitched at the sound, bent by the magic that allowed him to transform, but now was not the time. Now, she told Ladybug to take a back seat, because Marinette couldn't stand the sight of her torn-apart friend, her crime-fighting partner, someone she trusted so implicitly after the year of fighting together that she couldn't stand the sight of his pain. Marinette took a moment to look at Tikki, but the Kwami nodded, a sign of silent encouragement. "Chat, it's ok. I... It's time." The fifteen-year-old said quietly before trying again. "Hi, my name is Marinette." She smiled as the hero, her street cat, jumped.

     Slowly, oh so painfully slow, Chat turned to her. His vibrant, slitted eyes, so expressive in his face, seemed to take in the sight of her, absolutely breathing it in, as his mouth moved without words. From Marinette's hands, Tikki waved weakly. "Hi, I'm Tikki." The Kwami added helpfully.

     "Wha... buh..." Adrien's mind tried to put it all together. The girl in his class, the one who was shy but bold, quiet yet creative, the one who held friendship and family above all else, stood before him. Slowly, his mind began to meld the two, the hero and the girl, together, and the striking similarities between Ladybug and Marinette was not that different from the difference between Chat Noir and Adrien. All this time. His mind regaled in slow, stuttering tones. The girl I dreamed about was sitting one row behind me in class.

     Adrien couldn't help it. He burst out with laughter. Tears ran down his face as he tried to stop, but the hilarity of the situation just seemed to ring with him. She was always the nice, sweet one. She was the one with a deviously brilliant side to defend herself and others. She's Marinette, my new friend. She's Marinette, my Lady.

     Marinette, however, jumped back as a scowl overtook her features. "Hey, you stupid cat! Stop laughing at me before I kick your tail from here to Nice!" She threatened as Adrien straightened, a huge smile spilling across his face. "What's so funny?" Her tone was now edged with hurt, and Adrien knew that he had to clarify quickly.

     "I'm just... I'm just so happy." He explained as he waved his hands around. Now, he realized he was still in his cat suit, and he hadn't given the girl before him the same courtesy that she'd given him. "I just... I mean... I'm so glad you aren't Chloe. You... I'm so happy that you're a wonderful person on both sides of the mask."

     Marinette blushed with a ruby sheen as she took a step back. Adrien had to pat himself on the back some time. He'd finally made his crush blush! However, before he could continue, Marinette seemed to work his words together. "Wait, you... you know me?"

     Adrien felt his heart quicken. He knew. He knew it was time. "I think it's only fair that I give the Lady a true introduction." With that, he waved his ring before the black magic swirled up from his feet. It swept across his body, revealing the clothes from school that day. As it flew past his face, it pushed his hair back into a neater place. He opened his eyes, grinning, as Marinette's face suddenly went from a blush to stunned slack. "I'm Adrien, but, I mean, I guess you already knew that." He said before his words caught up to him. Suddenly, he felt like an idiot. "Not to sound too full of myself. I mean, we're in the same class and friends. Well, I hope we're friends. Are we friends? I mean..."

     "Man, you like to go on and on." Plagg commented as he landed on Adrien's right shoulder. "I'm Plagg, by the way. I'm the reason this guy has managed not to fall flat on his face yet."

     Marinette and Tikki, however, now burst into laughter themselves. "Oh... Oh my gosh!" Tikki giggled as she looked over the two.

     Marinate managed to catch her breath more quickly. While she had never seen it before, the two sides of Chat and Adrien just suddenly came together at the reveal, and her dark little crush came rushing to the surface, colliding with the one already up for Adrien. I can't believe it. Her mind supplied. All this time my street cat, my partner in crime-stopping, was none other than the boy I loved. A blush bled into the tear tracks from her laughter, but she wiped them away quickly.

     "Adrien? You're Chat?" Marinette seemed to finally work out. Adrien nodded hesitantly, and Marinette could have cooed at how shy he had suddenly become. The shy boy, the overconfident one, they were the same, two sides to the same coin.

     "And you Ladybug?" He echoed as she nodded. "Wow, just... all this time, I never knew."

     "Me neither." Marinette admitted, suddenly amazed at her ability not to stutter in the presence of the boy she liked so much. Maybe it was because Ladybug had come to the surface now, her true personality a mix of the two sides. She was seeing Adrien now as not just the boy she liked but as one of her best friends. It suddenly became easier to engage him in a way that was more even grounding.

     They were shocked out of their stunned stutters when the police sirens sounded once more. The four jumped as Adrien turned to look out the other end of the alley. "We gotta go."

     Marinette nodded and, reacting on instinct, grabbed Adrien's arm. "Come on, Ch... Adrien." She smiled as he looked back, slightly in shock. "I live close by, closer than you. I... I want to talk." She nearly whispered out the last part as Ladybug slipped back and Marinette came up. Suddenly, she was unsure of her movement. Was this right? What was she doing? Wasn't this rude of her?

     Instead, Adrien shifted his grip so that his hand slid into hers. "I agree, my lady." He grinned as the blush suddenly came back tenfold. "Ha! Chat Noir has finally made his Lady blush!" He cheered as Marinette rolled her eyes.

     "Shut up, street cat." She chided him humorously as she took the lead, much like she always had when they were fighting crime. Against the cool night air of the Seine River, her hand was warmed by Adrien's, and his by hers. They took off down the street, Kwami's close as they ducked skillfully around corners and alleys until the bakery came into view. Marinette let herself in with a key, and, at last, they were home free. They could hide out there until the commotion at the Mayor's home wasn't so critical.

     Now, Marinette brought out some leftover goodies from the day for Adrien, inviting him to sit at one of the few tables behind the counter. She was a nervous wreck (not that he wasn't), but all it took was Tikki diving into the Macaroons and Plagg demanding cheese to break the tension. The two teenagers laughed, and, suddenly, it wasn't all that bad.

     Who knows? When one door closes, another opens.

Chapter Text

            Marinette walked into school that morning with a tight grip on her bag. She was earlier than normal – an oddity for the girl for sure – but Alya saw her nonetheless. Alya, who had somehow tracked down Ladybug and Chat Noir the night before without realizing it. The police had questioned her on how she got there, but, after noting that she was a student reporter, they had gotten her out of there. She had gotten home that evening to her mother saying that the headmaster had called, apologizing for his earlier punishment and revoking it.

            Alya had then tried to call Marinette again that night, but it had all gone to voice mail. She got one text that had been stuck with her to this morning.

            Sorry, can’t talk right now.

            Marinette had never done that.

            Whatever was so important that she couldn’t pick up her phone but could text?

            “Hey girl! I haven’t seen you since yesterday! What’s up? In fact, what were you up to last night?” Alya pounced as Marinette got close enough. Said half-Chinese girl jumped, spinning on her heal to nearly fall flat on her face. Luckily, Alya was quicker than that and caught Marinette by the arm.

            “Alya! Hey! I’m sorry I missed your calls yesterday.” Marinette apologized instantly, a guilty smile on her face. “Things got pretty crazy.”

            “Hm?” Alya lifted an eyebrow. Normally, she just took Marinette by her word. The girl couldn’t hide a secret to save her life. However, last night’s suspicious text made her want to know more. “Like?”

            Marinette looked away, a blush starting to take over her cheeks. “Eh… Well… you see…” She seemed to drift off for a moment, thinking about something, before snorting, the blush leaving as she shook her head.

            Alya was really confused now. “Ok, what was that all about?”

            Marinette looked back, a small Cheshire grin on her face. It was one of the few times that Alya had seen it, and she knew it was trouble. “Oh, nothing.” Marinette said airily as she slipped around Alya with  grace the other girl had rarely seen.

            Alya was more than interested now. She HAD to know. “Ok, that’s DEFINITELY not nothing. What was it? Did you somehow ace an exam? Was someone cute in the bakery? Was it Ladybug and Chat Noir yesterday? Something with Adrien?” At the last two, Marinette tried to hide the blush again. “Ha! It is Adrien!”

            “It’s Adrien what?” The two girl spun to see none other than Adrien and Nino coming up the rear. Adrien had the broadest grin on his face, but Nino’s expression looked much like Alya – confused and wanting to know what the heck was going on in his best friend’s head.

            Marinette jumped for a minute before her features changed. She caught herself before falling on her face, a small smile on her lips. “Oh, nothing. Morning Adrien, Nino. Did you guys hear about last night?”

            “Yeah, with that news feed on Chloe?” Adrien nodded. “I never suspected her as Ladybug, but Chat Noir and the real Ladybug seemed to clear it up.”

            Alya was staring at Marinette like she had grown a third head, but it was Nino who spoke next. “Hey, at least we got out of class yesterday!”

            “Yeah, but now we have the test today.” Marinette sighed into her hands.

            “Well, you were pretty late yesterday. You nearly missed it.” Adrien mentioned with a nod.

            “I got held up but a street cat.” Marinette claimed as she shot Adrien a look. Said boy just rolled his eyes back at her.

            Alya was mentally screaming in her head because two plus two wasn’t equaling four!

            Thankfully, for Alya and Nino, who felt they were totally missing something, the warning bell rang. “Oh, we better drop off our things.” Alya added as she suddenly found her voice. “See you guys in class!” She waved as she grabbed Marinette by the arm, suddenly jolting the girl along with her.

            “Later!” Marinette waved over her shoulders as the two boys headed off to their own lockers.

            Alya, however, spun on her friend the moment they got to their lockers, conveniently along the same wall. “Ok, WHAT was that? Yesterday you couldn’t string three words together in front of Adrien, and now you’re acting like your best friends! What am I missing? When did the universe decide to turn on its head???”

            When you decided Chloe could be Ladybug. Marinette snorted to herself, but luckily her face was hidden by her locker. However, she knew Alya was animate. Thinking quickly, she closed her locker and took a breath.

            “Well… Ah… I may have run into Adrien last night…” Alya’s eyes widened as Marinette’s blush deepened. “And, well, we heard all the commotion, and I wasn’t thinking straight... and, oh, gosh, Alya, I invited him into the bakery, and we had snacks and talked and he’ssomuchnicerthanbuthe’ssucha pain and ah!” At that, Marinette threw her hands in the air.

            Alya’s jaw dropped as she picked out what had been said. “You… Adrien… OH MY GOSH GIRL!!!”

            “I know!” Marinette turned to her friend. “But I talked to him, and he’s sweet, but he’s SUCH a goof.”

            Alya, in all her years, never thought that Marinette would call Adrien a goof. Was it not for the second warning bell ringing, she would have stood there trying to process things for the next year and still wasn’t getting a right answer.

            “OH MY GOSH!” Alya summed up her thoughts as Marinette tugged her to class. Forget who Ladybug was, this was NEWS. “OH MY GOSH!”

            “SHHH! We’re almost at class!” Marinette shot over her shoulder to her stunned friend.

            Alya shook her head as they entered, sending a smirk at where Chloe was usually sitting only to find it empty. Well, with what happened, I guess even SHE deserves a day off. Alya thought for a second before smirking. Gives us a day off from the drama.

            However, as the two girls were seated, Adrien and Nino rushed in, Nino deliberately looking at Marinette as he came in. See, Nino knew that his best buddy had a massive crush on Ladybug. Hell, half the city did, but he had it bad. He was acting as if Ladybug had graced his presence or something. On top to that, he had rarely spoken to Marinette before. Sure, they were friends, but they way he was describing why he was happy made it sound like the boy had known her forever. As if going for the home run of weird days, this was the most normal he’d seen Marinette act around Adrien since he came to the school.

            Once class got started, Nino discretely passed a note to Alya.

            What’s going on with these two? He asked his long-time friend. He’d known Alya since they were little, considering they lived on the same street and their mothers loved a certain café on the corner. They were thick as thieves, those two.

            A note came back quickly. Marinette’s off her rocker, I swear.

            Nino snorted into his hand as he cast a glance at Adrien. Sure enough, the boy was as happy as ever. He replied I think whatever she has, Adrien has, too.

            It was a bit longer to get a response as the teacher came over to their side of the classroom, but once she had her back turned, he got another reply. I think so. I don’t know what to make of it.

            Nino looked back before he shrugged. After, he passed a final note to her before he realized he was falling behind on the lecture.

            Whatever it is, we’ll find out. I don’t know about Marinette, but Adrien is terrible at keeping a secret.

            Unknown to either best friend, the two teen heroes had come out of the night with a changed view on one another. So long they had been pinning after a single person, and that person turned out to be coming after their other side of the mask. In one night, too, they had learned more about one another than a year in classes and fighting crime combined had revealed. It was awkward as hell, and, by the time Adrien had gotten a pick-up, the two had decided that, for now, they should stick with friends.

            It was for the best, after all.

            They, after all, only had crushes on one side of the mask.

            But, then again, little secrets had a way of coming loose.

Chapter Text

            Sabine heard the first alarm go off at 4 AM sharp, but she allowed her husband to silence it and get up while she took a few more minutes. After she closed her eyes and felt like five minutes had passed, she opened them to find the clock glare back at her.

            4:30.

            Time to get up and help her husband open the bakery.

            She got up, stretching her arms over her head. She wasn’t as young as she once was, but that didn’t mean that she was losing her touch quite yet. She got up, slipping on her slippers against the Parisian winter chill that floated in from somewhere. It was late December already, and it was chilly and snowy all over the city of love on this Sunday morning. This year had been especially cool and filled with fluffy snow.

            She shuffled on some warm daily clothing quickly and stopped in the bathroom to clean up. Even if it was cold, the bakery was always busy. Early morning goers would stop in for warm treats and hot drinks. Others would come in later in the morning for hot bread and some of the few grocery-like items they carried even as baked goods and sweets remained the core of their revenue. Smiling at the thought of some of the warm bread and a coffee her husband no doubt had made, she exited the room.

            She plodded down the stairs and stepped through the living room before a sound reached her ears. In the dim light of the morning peaking through the windows, she looked over to find the noise resonating from the couch. Blankets were precariously thrown over the side and end as a black-clad arm and a bit of pillow draped over the opposite end.

            Sabine didn’t blink as she stepped over the threshold towards the form. Carefully, she took the blanket that had been tossed off completely – a thick quilt that she and Marinette had made when she first gained an interest in sewing – off the floor and draped it over the black-clad figure. Said figure, which was stretched over the mountains of blankets and pillows, soon curled into the blanket in an almost cat-like manner. His outfit didn’t help, nor did the small plushie that was sitting by his head.

            Sabine went back on her way as she wondered, once again, when did her and Tom exactly adopt another child.

            She didn’t know exactly when, but she could pinpoint where it started. It had been a few months ago, early fall, when she and her husband had been introduced to one Adrien Agreste. He had, in Tom’s words, been an “awkward little cinnamon roll” the first time he, Nino, Alya, and their own daughter had come in after school one day for snacks and study time. Marinette, who always mentioned that she had a crush on a boy in her class, obviously was crushing on this boy. She tripped over her words more time that Sabine could count, and he, seemingly, had a crush back. However, it was on the second visit that the two seemed to have opened up more, mixing their stuttering with some playful teasing and inside jokes.

            Sabine and Tom were amused, to say the least.

            However, it was a few weeks later that the boy had been at their home late on a Saturday afternoon. He, like their own daughter, seemed dead on his feet as they tried to complete a homework assignment (this was due to them having to suit up and take down an Akuma Friday night, but the parents had no inkling of this). When the two had completed it, Tom had seen Adrien try to collect his things and walk home (murmuring something about the driver being sick, whatever that meant), and he refused to let the boy out so late, especially with all the crazies in Paris as of late and the attack the night before.

            Before Adrien knew what was going on, he was decked in one of Tom’s old shirts (which, given the size difference between Marinette’s large father and Adrien’s thin frame seemed to swallow the boy and fall well below his knees) and directed to the couch where Sabine had laid out thick blankets, many hand-crafted, and a fluffy pillow for the boy to sleep on. He tried to protest, but in the end he had sent Natalie a message saying that he was over at a friend’s for the night.

            Adrien slept like a baby on the soft sofa buried under all the warm and cozy blankets, although the next morning, after he stretched out like a cat for both parents to see (they had come to wake the children around nine), he had gone a deep red and quickly apologized over and over for intruding on their hospitality. He’d even come over, the very next day, with a plate of fine cheeses and meats as a thank you for allowing him to stay over.

            The parents were supremely amused by his politeness and insisted that they loved having him over. In fact, they insisted that he come over as much as he wanted. To them, he was a sweet boy.

            However, when they overheard a conversation between the friends how hard Adrien’s father was on him sometimes (while Marinette was out of hearing range, no less), the Dupain-Cheng parents just wanted him to feel more at home with them. Suddenly, his over-thanks of their hospitality made some sense and not in a good way.

            Adrien’s impromptu sleep overs, however, occurred again and again. Most of the time, it was that he and Marinette were working late on homework. Sometimes, they would run in with the aftermath of an Akuma attack spreading across Paris. The parents would be so freaked out, especially in seeing the teens' obvious exhaustion and occasional bruises (blamed on clumsiness between the two of them, though the parents knew that there had to be more). On those evenings, Adrien would gladly clonk out on the couch after spending the afternoon teasing and hanging out with Marinette.

            After the fifth or sixth time that it happened, Sabine ran out and bought some simple boy’s PJs and some male toiletries. She found a small wooden trunk in the attic that contained some of Marinette’s old toys, and Sabine emptied it out and replaced it with the cleaned PJs and the other items.

            The next time Adrien ended up on their couch, both he and Marinette had been shocked by the appearance of the box.

            “Well, considering that he’s here all the time.” Sabine commented with a smile, “I figured that he could use something other than my husband’s oversized clothes to sleep in.”

            Adrien did not cry (though he was obviously touched by the gift, misty eyed and all). He tried to defend that she hadn’t needed to, that he was already causing more trouble than it was worth. However, with every overnight, new meats and cheeses, scented candles, and even some very fancy wine as thanks for their hospitality appeared.

            When they found out how Adrien exactly afforded all these things, both parents had gotten a good laugh out of it. They couldn’t believe that the child of a famous fashion designer – one of Marinette’s idols – who was also a teen model, was crashing out on their couch regularly in 10 euro PJs. Nothing changed, though.

            Marinette eventually stole the chest and decorated it. She painted the top and front/back sides with black and silver glitter was dabbled around. The sides were a Parisan skyline in black backdropped by something straight out of Van Gohg’s Starry Night. Marinette loved her projects, and this one not only left Adrien gapping but Marinette blushing at his praise.

            She followed with filling it with clothes that she insisted where for “him to model as a thank-you gift to her.” She had said this one day while he was, obviously, staying over, and going through the trunk with wide eyes.

            “Anything for you, my lady.” Adrien replied with a grin the first time.

            Marinette smirked. “Better not get ahead of yourself, kitty. I hope you don’t squirm at needles. Some of these will have to be adjusted.”

            Adrien clasped his chest. “You would injure me, your partner in crime?”

            “Considering that that’s the exact opposite of what we’re supposed to be doing…” Marinette threw before poking Adrien in the abdomen. However, the boy jumped, yelping out as he grasped his stomach defensively.

            Marinette had stared at Adrien for a full minute before… “Oh my gosh, you’re ticklish?” Marinette grinned as her fingers swiveled in the air. Adrien’s eyes went comically wide before he took off through the door of the living room, screaming (jokingly) for Ladybug to save him. Marinette crackled that not even her luck would save his unlucky stomach.

            Tom, who had been watching the whole thing from the kitchen ajoined to the living room, just shook his head at the children’s antics.

            Adrien gained a fixture in the home when, one Saturday morning when he had gotten up at the crack of dawn (he had a nightmare, though on what was not obvious – though he cast some very wary looks at Marinette throughout the day), he offered to help make bread. Well, he was watching Tom in amazement as he cooked up some of his famous cheese bread, and the man asked if the boy wanted to make something. From the way Adrien's face lit up, Tom took it as a 'yes' and got him an apron.

            When Marinette found her father and Adrien two hours later, the bakery was being run by Sabine while Adrien was covered in flour from his early attempts to bake. Marinette had instantly woken up enough to sneak back up stairs, grab her phone, and take a picture of Adrien. She had forgotten about the sound, though, and the boy had seen her. Marinette and Adrien stared at each other wide-eyed before Marinette took off up the stairs, Adrien (quite red-faced) taking off after her.

            Somehow, both Nino and Alya had ended up with the picture before Adrien could steal the phone back.

            His revenge, of course, was giving Marinette a hug while he was still covered in flour basically wiping the white flower and sticky clumps of dough all over the girl. The kids had come back down later, Marinette obviously displeased (blushing under the flour) at Adrien while Adrien seemed overly proud of himself. Once they were cleaned up, they took all the cheese bread Adrien had made back up to Marinette’s room to watch TV on her computer and eat it (with their Kwami’s, of course, and Plagg was shocked silent for once in his life that his charge could cook something so good that included cheese).

            Some time in late October, Adrien began to appear on the couch at all hours of the night. The first time it happened, he was still in his day clothes, looking quite exhausted and overworked with a large bruise on his upper arm (as he desperately tried to hide it). He and Marinette tried to explain it, explain that Adrien had been out late and lost or I needed help and Adrien was helping. While it was suspiscious to say the least, Sabine had a feeling about the boy. While Tom was, at first, thinking the worst of the boy (sneaking in with his daughter, after all), Sabine pointed out the number of times Adrien had defended Marinette, dragging her home first and foremost when monsters attacked (as it seemed).

            Sabine noted, again, that the boy was obviously deprived of family, and, whatever was going on, he needed a real home to come to.

            Tom had crumbled, especially when Adrien had shown up the next day with a nice bottle of wine and fresh bread that Tom had taught him how to bake.

            Tom changed his tune that day, saying that he always wanted a son as well as a daughter.

            The parents commonly joked, those mornings that Adrien appeared out of knowhere on their couch, in the PJs that Marinette had crafted in order for him to “model.”

            “Well, well, well, looks like someone had a late night.” Tom joked when Adrien appeared, rumpled hair and an apologetic smile on his lips.

            “Oh, ho, ho! I was wondering when you would show up.” Sabine grinned at the sight of the two teens stumbling down the stairs on a random Tuesday, shooting over their shoulders a “we’relategottagettoschool” as well as Adrien’s “thanksforhavingme!”

            Tom’s favorite was, “Look what the cat dragged in.” For some reason, the teens had jumped the first time he had said it, but after Adrien would come up with something snappy like, “Well, this place is the cat’s pajamas.”

            While the men exchanged dumb jokes, Marinette was over in the corner either groaning or laughing for reasons Sabine and Tom never figured out. They figured it was something to do with how she tended to call him “a silly cat” or “her ridiculous kitten.”

            Sabine thought it was terribly adorable.

            She was lost in these thoughts all morning as she served the variety of customers that came and went through the store. Tom was humming as he kept up with the orders, some odd tune that she remembered vaguely from when they started dating. When the regulars thinned out around ten and there was enough stock for Tom to take a break, he came out to hug his miniscule wife from behind. “You’re smile is brighter than all the snow in Paris.” He complimented as Sabine giggled. “What makes you so happy this morning?”

            “Ah, just lost in thought.” She smiled up to him before giving him a little kiss on his chin. “You know, there’s a little cat curled up on our sofa.” She noted with a smirk.

            “Ah, I thought I heard something from the living room this morning. You think it’s time to wake the kids?”

            “I think I will. I’ll be back in a bit.” She smiled as she was released from his grip. She retrieved some fresh bread, meats and cheeses (that had magically appeared overnight – ahem*Adrein*ahem), and some fresh hot coco that was very popular this morning for the bakery goers. She loaded it all onto a box bottom and took it up to the house proper.

            Half-way up, she heard laughter ring through the corridor. Quirking an eyebrow, she quickened her steps up to the home proper. She cut through the kitchen in, and peaked into the living area.

            It was a rather small space with some large windows off to one wall that looked out onto the street. Fresh snow glistened in the morning light as it floated down from the heavens above. Inside the room, one wall was covered in pictures of the family while the opposite had a TV pushed up against the wall. The last had another doorway leading up to the next level of bedrooms.

            In the center, a thick ornate rug passed down through Sabine’s family was laid out of the floor, bringing a splash of reds and yellows to the otherwise off-white room. There was a grey sofa with red and yellow pillows facing the TV while a loveseat and armchair flanked it. There was a table at the center where a pot of flowers sat in the spring but was bare now.

            Well, that was how it usually looked. Instead, Sabine set down the food in the kitchen as she had to cover her mouth. Her giggles would have otherwise disturbed the scene.

            Adrien was obviously up, decked in none other than a black cat onesie. The whole thing was made of soft black fabric from the sewn toes to the little ears that peaked out from the hood. It was a design from Marinette, an obvious inside joke of some sort the way Marinette had been giggling over the designs when Sabine saw it in it’s early stages. She had, also, designed something for herself.

            In fact, said daughter was sitting next to Adrien on the couch in none other than a red onesie with black dots spread across her body. On her red and black hood had little red “feelers” akin to a ladybug. She knew that it had to be some joke about the cities’ heroes that they shared, but Sabine had yet to be privy to it. As it was, when Adrien had seen the onsie two weeks back, he had fallen over laughing until Marinette showed him hers. The two were blushing and laughing, Adrien forcing her to “model” her own onesie as well. The parents had gotten a laugh as the two teens struck dramatic poses for a little fashion show they put on that evening.

            Sabine had really enjoyed Adrien’s influence on her daughter. Together, while they had their moments, the two seemed to really shine around one another, laughing and playing like the kids they were, and not so serious as she had seen Marinette, occasionally, in the last few months (not noticing this coincided with the appearance of the city’s heroes). Even before then, Marinette could be so shy in front of people.

            Over the last few months, Mama Cheng had seen the two really grow and enjoy life.

            In fact, the two were in an absolute giggle fit when she walked in. Marinette was fighting with Adrien, leaning around his head as he held the TV remote out of reach. “It’s not fair! Why are you so tall?!?” Marinette whined as she made another jump for the remote.

            Adrien threw his other hand on her shoulder, keeping her back. She caught sight of both their faces, and the two were smiling broadly, eyes alit with life. Off to Adrien’s side on the chair, his little cat, a stuffed animal that Marinette had made presumably with the onsie (not knowing that it was Plagg snoring quietly) was curled up while a little red toy (unknowingly Tikki) was thrown atop the slumbering cat. Unknown to the mother, the two teens had had to fight an akuma the night before, and the Kwami’s were beyond wiped that morning.

            “Why are you so short?” He teased back as she stuck her tongue out at him.

            “But come on. The Amazing Spider-Man is on in five minutes!” Mariniette whined as she gave Adrien puppy (cough*Chat Noir*cough) eyes. “Why do you hate me???”

            “But I love you, my Lady.” He added with a smirk as Marinette leaned back, a blush on her face. Adrien laughed as a blush filled his own face, his hair, already a mess, going everywhere. Marinette’s hair was a mess as well, pulled back into one pony instead of her usual two. “But I love Cat’s Don’t Dance more than Spider-Man any day of the week. It’s a classic!”

            The blush was wiped off Marinette’s face as she lunged. Adrien was thrown back, trying to keep the remote away, but he instead exposed his belly. Marinette attacked as she tickled away. “Haha!” She cheered as Adrien contorted.

            “Ah! No! My weakness!” He laughed as tears sprung from his eyes. Marinette made another grab for the remote, and Adrien made an attempt at the girl’s own stomach to tickle her back. Blankets and pillows – some that Adrien had been sleeping on and others Marinette had brought in from her bedroom – falling about their little fort of sorts.

            When Adrien nearly went off the arm of the couch, Sabine decided it was a good time to break it up. She took up the snacks, announcing her presence with a “Don’t break the sofa!”

            The kids jumped apart, and, of course, Marinette fell flat on her face on the floor in front of the sofa while Adrien had gone off the arm against Sabine’s hope. The teens stared at one another for thirty seconds before breaking into laughter once more.

            Sabine smiled at their antics. She didn’t know when they had gained a son, but Adrien was as close as they’d ever get.

            And, if it ever became official some day, Sabine wasn’t going to complain.

Chapter Text

            Alya was sure that Marinette had honestly hit her head at some point. Whether that was being her usual clumsy self, in the events of an Akuma attack, or Mannon acting up as usual, she couldn’t tell when, where, or how. However, there was one thing that Alya knew, for sure.

            Marinette had been acting weird.

            It had begun that day in school so long ago, when she and Adrien had apparently shared a night at the bakery, and the two were now the best of friends.

            And, while that had been weird to begin with, the two were so, just… Alya didn’t know.

            Shall we bring up exhibit A?

            Alya had been sitting next to Marinette in their usual seats that Thursday afternoon. The sun was shining, the clouds floated gracefully through the sky, the teacher was writing on the board merrily as the students jotted down notes. Alya hadn’t been really paying attention to Marinette at the time (if she had she would have seen the little doodles of cats and bugs and hearts curling down the side of her page) until the teacher turned to them.

            “Alright, now I’m going to change things up.” The teacher announced as she reached for a stack of paper on her podium. “We’re going to have a quick mini quiz. I want to see how many of you have actually kept up with the readings and lecture for history.”

            Groans had gone around with the sheets, but it was another minute before scribbling replaced the earlier noise. Alya answered the quiz easily, and the bonus point left her smiling. Write about something of history you are interested in. Alya had instantly started writing about the research into Ladybug and Chat Noir, finding their histories going back centuries, and it was fascinating.

            Marinette had looked a little panicked at first, but as she got to the last question she was scribbling like a storm, a giant smile on her face. She took up half the back, and Alya could only wonder what had gotten Marinette so hyped (little did she know, it was the same thing she was writing, although a bit more… in depth, primary source if you will).

            At the end of fifteen minutes, the teacher called time and papers began to shuffle towards the aisle. Marinette took the ones coming from behind her, as well as Alya’s, and tapped Adrien on the shoulder.

            “Hey, can you pass these up?” Marinette asked as Adrien turned to her.

            He had an absolute Cheshire grin. “Anything you wish, my Lady.”

            Alya’s head whipped around as she stared at Adrien. He had actually purred at Marinette.

            And oh lords was Marinette looking shocked before she dropped the papers into Adrien’s outstretched hand. She sunk back in her seat, her face bright red as she stared down at her notes, suddenly reshuffling them to hide the earlier doodles. The way her eyes where blown so wide, Alya knew Marinette was screaming on the inside, which, honestly was a bit better than she expected (she outright expected Marinette to be screaming to the heavens before fainting or something).

            Alya turned to the boy who had wrought the reaction from the girl.

            And wow she had never seen Adrien such a bright shade of red.

            It only spiraled from there.

            There were days, so many days, where Alya was sure brain-eating worms had found their ways into Adrien and Marinette’s heads.

            Marinette had walked through the plaza carrying some huge books one morning when Alya had seen her. Before said girl could react, though, Adrien was before her.

            “Do you need help, my Lady?” He asked, still purring the my Lady and Alya had to admit it was adorable. Adrien was already leaning in to help.

            But Marinette just smirked before somehow holding them all in one arm. She BOOPed Adrien on the nose with a smirk. “Woah there, kitty. I got this.” She winked at the boy before continuing her way to the school.

            And wow had Adrien lit up.

            Nino saw the next one, and, taking a page out of Alya’s book, had recorded it for posterity.

            Adrien was stuttering around Marinette one day.

            “H-hey, Marinette.” Adrien had gulped as he approached the girl.

            “Hi Adrien.” She greeted offhandedly as she was frantically reading through a text. The night before she and Adrien had to deal with Akuma, but, while Adrien was always on top of things, Marinette had forgotten to read the chapter.

            “So… ah…” He went on as he reached around his back. He seemed to reach for something, something to hold for comfort but grabbed air. “Ah…”

            Marinette finally looked up. “Are you alright?”

            Adrien took a step back as those bright blue eyes dove into his green. He stumbled back, falling on top of his desk in a stroke of bad luck and sending his bag off the side. He scrambled to get it up as Marinette giggled slightly.

            Finally, Adrien looked back. “It’s, ah, nothing. Just was going to ask if you wanted an overview of the chapter.”

            Marinette noticed that there was only ten minutes left of break and fifteen pages left that were incredibly text heavy. The next instant, she slammed the book shut. “Ten minutes, go.”

            Nino learned later that Adrien had been hoping to ask Marinette to some event that weekend but had utterly failed at being his usual calm self. It was so weird because he could swear…

            “Be careful!” Marinette had yelled as Adrien had been balanced on a beam in phys ed one week. They were having a gymnastics unit, and Adrien was literally blowing the pants off everyone.

            Except Marinette.

            “Oh? Doth the lady protest?” He called back as he balanced on one beam with a single arm. He looked so natural up there, but Nino had known that the kid had training. Nino just never knew it was that much training.

            “No, I just don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.” She defended as she approached. Adrien spun around, crouching low on the beam in a very cat-like manner.

            “Cats land on their feet.” He defended as he puffed his chest. “And my spirit animal is, for sure, a cat.”

            “I specifically can name a number of times you didn’t.” She grinned back. “Should I start with the weather incident or jump straight to the time you almost fell off the roof because of, I quote, ‘allergies.’” She even quoted her fingers.

            “In my defense, those birds of death are my weakness.”

           “Wait, what?” Nino yelped at his friend’s practical admittance that he had nearly fallen off a roof.

           “And I could still spin circles around you.” Marinette smirked back. The coach had called Adrien off, having proved that he could do this, and let another student have a go at the beam.

Nino never did get the story behind this.

            Then there was a Monday morning where Nino and Alya had been waiting around the front door for both their friends to show up. Chloe was there, obviously looking to swoop in on Adrien when he got there (she was NOT liking how close Adrien and Marinette were acting) until a familiar limo rolled up.

            “Adrienkins!” Chloe yelled as she approached, Sabrina on her tail.

            That came to a halt half way there because the door was thrown open only for a ball of blue, white, and gold came flying out the door. Adrien looked up from a crouch on the ground, an absolutely thrilled look on his face.

            Who came out next, quite frankly, freaked out and/or scared the pants off everyone.

            Marinette jumped out, a growl on her tongue. “GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!” She demanded as Adrien just smirked.

            “Want it? Come get it!” He flashed a pink bound book, Marinette’s sketchbook, before he took off for the school doors. He flashed a grin and a wave to Nino and Alya, not even paying attention to Chloe, as he ran. Marinette was in hot pursuit.

            The stunned silence was broken as everyone rushed into the doors. People were jammed in, blocking the view, until Alya broke it up enough for her and Nino to sneak in. In the atrium within, however, whatever epic battle had occurred would be forever the secret of the two teens as Marinette had already gotten her book back. However, half of Marinette’s signature ponytails were undone, hair everywhere, as Adrien had lost his white overshirt some time in the battle.

            When questioned later, the rougish sides of the two suddenly disappeared. Suddenly, Marinette was back to being her clumsy self, stuttering so badly that no one could make it out. Adrien just looked so flustered and refused to comment. Not even Nino and Alya could get a word out.

            Then the days were Marinette and Adrien appeared together continued to grow as their jibes and jokes continued. At that point, half of the school was sure that they were secretly dating while Chloe and crew denied such. There was also a group that just thought they were kids, and another who had proposed a theory similar to Alya’s alien theory in believability. This kid was sure they were superspies or something using their talents to earlier infiltrate the student ranks. Another kid also said superheroes and superpowers at least three times a day.

            “Ok, are you and Adrien dating yet?” Alya asked one day in January when the two girls were sitting around a little café on the Seine sipping warm drinks.

            Marinette absolutely choked on her drink. “What?” She coughed as she caught her breath. “NO!”

            Alya stirred her drink as she stared at her friend in disbelief. “And I’m the Queen of England.”

            “Well, you were almost a Queen of Egypt.” Marinette teased back.

            “One Akuma, ONE TIME, tries to get his queen to possess me or something. I let it go about the mummy thing.” Alya threw at the other dark-haired girl.

            “But I didn’t throw a fit afterward about ‘not being good enough.’”

            “How did you… You know what? Off topic.” Alya cut herself off. If she took the bait, then she would never get to the root of things.  “Seriously, though. Adrien and you are almost married at this point.” Oh, how she loved to fluster her friend because Marinette’s face was absolutely red. Before the Chinese girl could defend, her dark-skinned friend continued. “He’s constantly at your place, sleeping over more than I ever did when we were kids. He has a chest that you made and filled with clothes. I swear I heard your dad refer to him as a son, and don’t get me STARTED with how you’ve been acting at school. Half the people there don’t know if you’re dating in secret or x-men or something.”

            Marinette looked into her cappuccino, the earlier foam heart dissolved into the drink. “He and I are just friends.” She defended softly.

            Alya opened her mouth again, ready to retort when…

            “But I want to be more.”

            Alya’s mouth flew shut.

            Marinette continued. “I mean, all these months, my feelings have changed and I got to know him and it’s so confusing…”

            Alya reached over, setting a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. The other girl looked up. “You have it bad girl.”

            “I know.” Marinette admitted, admitted, and that was HUGE for Alya. “But I’m not ready, I don’t think, and I don’t think he’s ready either. There’s… stuff, that I’m doing and… I just…” Marinette was at a loss of words.

            “Stuff?” Alya echoed with concern.

            Marinette looked down again, more specifically at her purse.  “It’s… I guess you could call it a bit of a coming-of-age story.” She smiled softly before looking up. “I just need to really define myself, figure out who I am to everyone before I can commit, and I think Adrien feels the same way.”

            Alya didn’t know what to say. She had never seen Marinette so serious. The way she spoke, it was like the girl had gone through hell and back, like she was living some sort of other life that Alya had no privy to yet.

            Have I really been this blind? Alya wondered. She had to admit, though, since said Pharaoh incident, she had gotten really wrapped up in her history investigation into the past and present of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

            Alya steeled herself. She wasn’t going to let this lie down. “Can I help?”

            Marinette looked up again, this time in shock. “What?”

            “Can I help? With the journey-thing? Because, I can tell you this right now, the girl I know is going to do great things no matter what.” Alya grinned to her best friend. “She’s going to take the world by storm, and then steal the man-of-her-dream’s heart.” Ok, Marinette had already done that, but it sounded sappy and good anyway.

            Marinette ended up giggling, smiling once more. “I’ll let you know, but, right now, I could use another cookie.”

            Alya could admit that her friends were weird. She wasn’t all that sane herself, of course, because sane people didn’t run towards danger just to catch a glimpse of Ladybug and Chat Noir. No, they were all crazy, brave, and amazing.

            As she saw Adrien and Marinette react the following week, Marinette an absolute mess of blushes as they arrived from another sleepover, Adrien dressed in Marinette’s designs, the two were teasing each other mercilessly, which only spread to Nino and Alya once the group of four had come together.

            Alya wasn’t going to let it go. It was obvious that Marinette and Adrien, more than ever, were meant to be, but, for now, she would settle for the support of the protagonists in their adventures in life and love.

            And, at they’re wedding, Alya would be the first to show all the embarrassing video and picture evidence of how adorably awkward the two had been.

Chapter Text

            Adrien sighed at he looked at the assignment book.

            Group project due tomorrow.

            Now, it wasn't exactly his fault nor his partner's on what happened. The project was supposed to be three people per group, but the class wasn't divisible by three, leaving an odd group of two. The day groups were being assigned, an Akuma had attacked leading to both he and Marinette late to class that morning.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the teacher, as punishment, would make them the odd group of two.

            Now, this wasn't necessarily bad. After all, Marinette was Ladybug. She knew his secret and he hers. There was no issue in explanations there. Plus, she was one of his best friends, his crush (even as he hid it), and she was generally a good partner for projects like this (sans when she had to run off as Ladybug unexplainably, but, again, the same thing applied to Adrien himself).

            No, he was glad Marinette, of the whole class, was his partner. The problem lay in the fact that they'd had an akuma attack almost everyday since the project was assigned, an inane amount, and so they had only gotten the research done. They hadn't gotten together the oral presentation OR the group paper.

            And it was due tomorrow.

            When the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, the teacher decided to give them another reminder about the project. Adrien gulped as he looked back at Marinette, who was looking as stricken as he was.

            "Dude, you look ill." Nino commented, concerned, as his friend closed his planner.

            Adrien shook his head. "Yeah, just... Eh, not that far on the project."

            "What? Bro, aren't you usually on top of these things?" Nino questioned, eyebrow quirked. "What have you and Marinette been up to? Unless..." Adrien looked up as Nino cast Adrien a grin, lifting his eyebrows knowingly. "You two wouldn't have happened to..." Nino placed three fingers to his lips before pulling them away, a kissing sound escaping into the air.

            Adrien's face went bright red. "Sh-shut up! Of course not." Adrien stuttered as he quickened his packing. He glanced over, but Marinette was caught up with something Alya was saying to notice Nino.

            Lucky as usual. Adrien thought.

            "We've just been busy with extra curriculars and helping in her parents' bakery." It wasn't exactly a lie as long as you considered 'superhero duties' as curriculars.

            Nino nodded even though his eyes said, 'I know you're not telling me something, and I'm going to find out sooner or later.' "Well, you guys have tonight."

            Adrien hoped dearly, against his terrible luck, that they'd be able to do that, not deal with another akuma. "Yup, in fact," Adrien turned to Marinette. Thankfully, Marinette had turned to pick up her bag, giving Alya a break and Adrien a chance to cut in. “Marinette, we really need to work on that project tonight.” Adrien noted as the girl looked up.

            Marinette groaned. “Don’t remind me. First the inspector, now this…”

            Adrien perked an eyebrow. “Inspector?”

            Marinette sighed as she slipped her bag onto her shoulder, Alya patting her on the shoulder. Nino decided to join the pow-wow between the desks.

            “Every year the health inspector comes around.” Alya stated to the boys. Having known Marinette the longest, she knew about it nearly as well as Marinette. “Her father is… well…”

            “Papa is scared every year that they’re going to shut down the bakery.” Marinette cut in as she stood. “We have a rather… mean guy assigned to the bakery almost every year. My parents get really frantic the day he’s supposed to come, trying to clean up every nook and cranny beforehand, even when they maintain the bakery so well to begin with.” She shook her head. “And to make it worse, he suddenly changed the date to today from next week, and mama and papa panicked.”

            Both Adrien and Nino winced at the girl’s explanation. “That’s not good, girl.” Nino commented as he adjusted his hat. “How are they doing?”

            “Well, it was frantic this morning. I had to get up and help papa with the baking this morning because he was running around between helping mama organize and clean and staying on top of orders.” Marinette shook her head. “I stayed at school over lunch so that I wouldn’t get pulled back into the havoc.”

            Adrien bit his lip at that statement. From what Marinette was saying, the bakery was a mess today. Asking to go back there to work on their project seemed out of the question. He wouldn’t want to impose, and, knowing the Dupain-Cheng clan, they would deny it was imposition even as it added more stress to their evening. He couldn’t do that do them.

            That, unfortunately, left one choice.

            “So… I guess we’re studying at my place then?” Adrien posed as Marinette and Alya were shuffling out of the row. Marinette stopped just as Alya ran into her back.

            “Wait, what?” Marinette questioned from the upper step as Adrien and Nino shuffled out of their own row.

            Adrien grinned nervously as he wondered if this was a good idea. Too late now. I’m committed. Digging deep, he drug up some of that Chat Noir courage to continue. “Well, if your parents are busy with the inspector, it might be quieter at my place.” Well, of course it would be quiet. His house was practically a museum in comparison to the warmth he found in Marinette’s home. While Adrien had grown to love the girl’s home, the people there as warm as he had ever dreamed a family could be, he couldn’t do it today. They would need a lot of work, and placing that undo stress on the parents today was incredibly unfair.

            Marinette went slightly red. “Wha… but, I mean… you don’t have…”

            “I insist.” Adrien smirked cattishly as that Chat Noir persona surged up. He took her hand to give it a slight kiss on her knuckle. “If the lady would accompany me, it would be my pleasure to host you for once.”

            Marinette’s face went bright red, brighter than before, before she somehow stuttered out an “ok.”

            Adrien, incredibly proud of himself, nodded his head as he tugged on his bag. “Ok, then I’ll meet you at the front of the school in five. I need to grab a few things from my locker, and we can head back to my place.” Marinette nodded as Alya, thankfully, guided her out.

            It was only after they left that Nino gave Adrien a pat on the back. “Smooth. You two so aren’t dating.”

            Chat Noir fell back on his rump as the bright red flashed across Adrien’s face. He grumbled something like “I gotta get my jacket” as he stomped out, Nino on his tail laughing it up. Adrien had to once again, more often now than ever, wonder why Nino was his best friend.

            He was as bad as Plagg these days, honestly.

            Nino eventually caught up, striking up a conversation about how he’d ended up binge watching Oban Star-Racers the other night and Adrien was just pulled out of his funk. By the time he had gotten all his things out of his locker, the two were arguing about stars and people who would make good Star racers.

            “Nah, dude, if I was going to have a partner, I’d SO be on the guns while Alix would be driving.” Nino pointed out as they approached the door.

            Adrien scratched his chin. “Well, she would probably make a good driver, but, honestly, I wouldn’t make a good shot.” He responded before he spotted a familiar set of ponytails, back to him as Adrien could spot headphones trailing up to her ears. Adrien figured she would be thoroughly distracted as another grin stretched across his face. He waved Nino off, who caught the look of his friend and followed it to the distracted Marinette. Putting two and two together (or, that’s what he hoped Nino was thinking), the other boy shot him a thumbs up and silent wave before making is way out, somehow avoiding Marinette’s sight.

            Adrien snuck up behind the girl, two fingers ready. Just as he was right behind her, he dove his pointers into her side, eliciting a loud yelp as she jumped forward, spinning around in battle stance only to see Adrien laughing his head off.

            “Oh HA-HA you’re so FUNNY.” Marinette pouted as she pulled out the ear buds, straightening her jacket as she stood straight. “Aren’t you the one who said we had to work on a project?”

            Adrien instantly sobered up, forgetting about the whole reason he was meeting up with Marinette. They were going to his house to work on the project. Adrien shivered beneath his layers. What am I doing? Marinette’s going to see how I live, and she’s going to think I’m a stuck up rich kid, I’m rubbing it in her face, that I live this ‘glorious’ life while she… Adrien’s internal panic suddenly spread to his face, and Marinette caught it straight away.

            “Adrien? Are you ok?” She waved a hand before his face.

            Adrien blinked out of it. He felt like slapping himself. This was Marinette, one of his best friends, his partner in crime fighting, his Lady. Ok, so she wasn’t exactly his lady, but gods did he want her to.

            Maybe that’s why he was freaking out so much about her coming over.

            Adrien refocused. He had a lot of work to do, a three people project split between two. It wouldn’t be helpful, too, if an akuma decided to attack when they hadn’t even left the school yet. Adrien shook his face, setting a tentative smile on his face as he looked at Marinette.

            “Yeah, sorry, just spaced.” He looked over to the line of cars and limos, finding a familiar one towards the front. He nodded his head towards the line. “Come on, our ride is here.”

            “Wait, what?” Marinette turned around and scanned before rolling her eyes. “Oh, yeah, forgot that you get picked up in a limo.”

            “I mean, you’ve only been in it what, five, six times in the last few weeks?” Adrien threw back.

            “And I’ve been to your house.” She nodded as the two began to trope down the stairs, her head bobbing with the steps against the chilly winter air. Adrien could feel Plagg shift around in his jacket, and he was glad, once more, that Marinette had whipped up some hats and mini jackets for the Kwamis (who, as it turned out, were more sensitive to cold). The two hadn’t been happier this year. Plagg was super excited, too, when Marinette had stitched some stinky cheese logo into his hat, which had little ears and everything.

            Adrien blinked at her note. “Wait, when?”

            “You’re birthday party. Remember? The one that Bubbler decided to run?” Marinette posed as they reached the bottom. “Besides, you’ll always be my alley cat of a partner.” She grinned up, sensing what Adrien was thinking somehow.

            Adrien laughed quietly. Suddenly, shocking Marinette with his money didn’t seem so. She knew everything, and it hadn’t changed their relationship. “Well then, when we get to the car, I’ll just let Natalie know that we’re coming over.” With that, he tapped her shoulder. “Race ya!” With that, Adrien took off for the limo.

            Marinette yelped after him, taking off through the snow towards the familiar limo. When they got there, Adrien was enough of a gentleman to open the door for her, and Marinette paid him back by shoving some snow in his face. Of course, when they arrived at the mansion, Adrien returned the favor by shoving some down her shirt back, bringing up another scream and causing Marinette to give a little dance in attempt to get it out of her shirt.

            “I hate you.” Marinette threw as the two walked up to the large doorway.

            “You love me.” He teased as the door opened. The two stepped in only for a grey-haired man to step out from the office. Adrien instantly froze, standing straighter as Marinette looked up in confusion.

            Gabriel Agreste stood there with his own winter coat on, looking over his son. “Adrien, I heard that you were working on a project tonight with someone? Who is this?” He spoke evenly as he observed the girl.

            “This is Marinette, Papa.” Adrien introduced. “She won your hat contest a few weeks ago, remember.”

            Gabriel stroked his chin as the girl straightened, giving a shy smile to the man. “Ah, yes, I remember you now. Your hand stitching and unique design put that copycat in its place. You are quite the designer.” He nodded in approval. Then, he turned to his son. “Do well on your project. I will be back late tomorrow. An issue arose with the line about to preview in Milan, unfortunately.” He frowned slightly. “What happens when you trust simpletons to run something like this.” He moved towards the door as Natalie followed with a small bag. He gave Adrien a pat on the shoulder as he passed.

            Once the man was gone, Adrien let out a breath, whether out of relief or of sadness he wasn’t sure himself. While he was glad that his father hadn’t ended up tearing Marinette a new one, but, then again, he was just hoping… well, that his father would be a little warmer, as unlikely as that was. Also the fact that his father would be gone overnight (probably longer, knowing his father) didn’t make the house any warmer.

            He felt a hand on his upper arm, shaking Adrien from his train of thought. Somehow, he had forgotten about Marinette.

            Marinette, precious Marinette, smiled to him. “Hey, how about you give me a tour? I only ever made it into the atrium last time.” However, something crossed her face as she withdrew her hand, face red. “I-I mean i-if that’s o-ok…”

            Adrien smiled as he continued to organize, shrugging off his jacket. “Yeah, come on. We can drop off the jackets and books in my room. We can work in there.” Adrien led the way down a series of halls as Marinette followed, desperately trying to memorize where she was going.

            “You’re house is actually a lot bigger than I imagined.” Marinette commented as she caught sight of a number of entertainment rooms and offices, libraries and rooms to simply display things.

            Adrien blushed. “Yeah, it takes some getting used to.” Finally, he reached the one door in the hall that was at all different from the rest. It was grey, as the rest, but it had a little paw-print sign on the nob. It was blue with a messy Adrien written in the main part.

            Marinette would have cooed at how cute the little thing was if it wasn’t for the fact that the door was pulled open by the boy. He led her in, and her jaw dropped.

            His room was huge.

            It was also freaking beautiful, fitting the boy’s personality more than the rest of the house. His bed, the upstairs library, the huge monitor set up and was that a skateboard ramp?!?

            Marinette’s jaw dropped as Adrien shyly draped his jacket and books on the sofa, kicking off his wet shoes into a corner. “So… what do you think?”

            “You’re room is so awesome, Adrien!” Marinette complimented. Adrien went red as the girl spun around to take it all in. Unbeknownst to Adrien, Marinette was having her own little happy party because she was in Adrien’s room and it was just as amazing as he was and AHHHH!!!!

            In the safety of his bedroom, Arien opened his jacket as a familiar little black cat Kwami flew out. “AH!” Plagg stretched mid-air as his little hands and feet went out. Even his feelers seemed to stretch. “It was getting STINKY in there! You need to get some deodorant, kid.” Plagg threw at Adrien.

            “I still smell better than your stinky cheese.” Adrien threw back with a roll of his eyes.

            “Speaking of, CHEESE!” Plagg cheered as he flew around Adrien, tossing his little hat and jacket off as he went. “I’m hungry. Get me some cheese.”

            Marinette’s bag peaked open. “Oh! Could I get something, too? Please?” Tikki begged as she flew out to sit on Marinette’s head. “But no cheese. I want cookies or sweets.”

            “How do you not like cheese?” Plagg whined as he flew over to the ladybug-like Kwami. His eyes were wide with disbelief. “I thought you’d gained some taste.”

            “And I thought you’d gained some appreciation for the finer things, like sweets.” Tikki teased back. “Before long I’ll have to call you ‘Cheese’ instead of ‘Plagg.’”

            “Would that make you Cheese Noir then?” Marinette smirked to Adrien.

            “Oh gods no.” Adrien returned as he relieved Marinette of her jacket and bag. The two made a run to the kitchen. When the two found no cookies or sweets, however, Marinette INSISTED that she bake something as thanks for letting her come over. Adrien tried to turn her down, but Plagg was already shooting out where all the ingredients were from his spot at the top of the fridge, munching happily away at his cheese. Adrein was sure Plagg was doing this to peeve him off.

            Of course, when Adrien turned back, flour was on his noise, and both Marinette and Tikki were giggling.

            An hour later, everyone, including Plagg (surprisingly), was involved and the cookies were just cool enough to take with them. However, there had been more than one swat of flour going around, so everyone had splotches of ingredients on them. Plagg looked more like a white cat then black, and chocolate had come to cover Tikki's head. Marinette and Adrien were worst, clumps of cookie dough, wet clothing, and flour splotches across their bodies. They had managed to clean up the area some when Micha, the Agreste’s personal chef, showed up. Micha took one look at the scene (Tikki and Plagg luckily hiding in time) before laughing through the kitchen. With a silver tray, their cookies, and the man’s own contributions (some healthy snacks, drinks, and cheese because the boy always seemed to be sneaking some off), he booted them out of his realm, Plagg and Tikki raced ahead, arguing over something that sounded like “no, feta in the ancient era was SO much better than their baklava!”

            Adrien, however, made a stop on the way back. Peering into an office, he spotted Natalie at her desk, and waved as he passed. However, something took over suddenly. Maybe it was Marinette’s influence, but he paused to take a few cookies that they had made and placed them onto a smaller plate that Micha had given them. “Hey, Natalie?” Adrien ducked in as the woman looked up, apparently shocked that the boy was so messy. She had never seen him like this. He placed the plate before her with a small smile on his face. “I don’t know if you like chocolate, but they’re fresh and Marinette swears by the recipie.”

            Natalie blinked once, twice… “Thank you. I do enjoy a sweet every now and again.” Adrien’s face lit up before he ran out, Marinette giggling at how cute he was. They missed the look of pain on Natalie’s face, remembering the number of times the boy had been kept at arms length. In that moment, she remembered that he wasn’t another model and not just the son of his boss. He was a young boy.

            Idly, she took the bite of one cookie, and she melted into the taste.

            Back in Adrien’s room, Adrien took a shower, the Kwami having already used his personal bathroom’s sink to wash themselves. Marinette helped them further, such as behind Plagg’s ears, as Adrien washed, and he came out in a shirt that Marinette had made – a simple black shirt with a pocket and a sewn on green paw – and some simple jeans. His hair was still wet and falling low not unlike when he was Chat.

            Adrien, noticing the state Marinette was still in and remembering that she didn’t exactly have extra clothes here (not like he at her house), so he ran to the closet and dug through for something that would fit the girl. Eventually, he found some long black shorts that were a tad small on him, a belt to further tighten them, and a red, short-sleeved shirt with a v-neckline.

            “Hey, Marinette,” He approached with the clothes folded in his arms. “Sorry I’m not much of a seamstress, but you could probably borrow these until I can get your clothes laundered.” He offered with a blush across his face.

            Marniette looked up, wide eyes before her mouth formed words. “Wh-what? No, it’s no problem.”

            “Mari? You’re dripping chocolate onto the floor.” Tikki pointed out as Marinette yelped. Sure enough, a stream of melted chocolate that had landed on her leg earlier made it’s way to the floor.

            “S-Sorry.” Marinette stuttered. “I’ll clean that.”

            Adrien laughed as he shoved the clothes into her arms. “Go, clean up, I’ll take care of it, and then we need to get going on the project. Towels are in the closet.” He insisted as Marinette stared at her feet, the blush deep across her face.

            “Ok.” Marinette replied before she took off, closing the door quickly behind her. It was another moment before the shower began to run.

            “Stop staring at the door, lover boy.” Plagg threw before he bit into his cheese. “Yo loo ike a stalker.”

            “Swallow, then talk.” Tikki shot at the other Kwami before biting into her cookie.

            “Says you.” Plagg struck back even as he did swallow. Adrien’s face went red, turning quickly as he head over to the computer bank. He got up all their research onto two monitors as the third was a blank document. He began to outline what they were going to say based on the little they had discussed of the paper and the notes they had collected thus far.

            Marinette came out ten minutes later, wearing Adrien’s clothes while her hair was pulled into a towel curled not unlike a turban. Marinette asked where to place her clothes, and Adrien took them, swapping with Marinette before excusing himself to run it down to the full-time maid to clean the clothing ASAP. When he got back, he spotted Marinette curled up on his office chair, in his clothing (the belt had been a good move because, even with the smaller pants, it was still a tad baggy), staring between the screens with intense focus. From the looks of it, she had finished the outline that he had started. The turban had come off, her wet hair pulled loosely back into a French braid.

            Adrien wanted to stare at her forever, realizing that she was just so naturally beautiful once again, before he realized, once again, that he was staring. Swinging over by the couch, he spotted the Kwamis watching some kids show, something with a walking sponge (Adrien wasn’t one to judge) before he swiped some of the caffeine-free cappuccino that Micha had made for them. He walked over, passing her a cup. “Where do we stand?” Adrien questioned, setting down the cup as he leaned over her shoulder.

            Marinette jumped, nearly knocking over the cup, but Adrien caught it. The boy laughed as she spun on him. “Stop doing that!”

            “Twice in one day? I’m good.” He teased as he handed her the cup to her hand. “So, I repeat, where do we stand?”

            The two had eventually split the work after they looked over the outline together. Marinette, being the less-than-eloquent one when it came to typing, decided to design the presentation. She went with a power point, using the outline to get the slides and notes made up quickly. Adrien began with the paper instead, getting a few paragraphs in. For the first two hours, they worked separately until Micha came around with dinner, and the maid had sent back Marinette’s clothing. She hadn’t changed straight away, instead sitting in his clothes as they ate fancy food in front of the TV with the Kwamis. Tikki had found Shugo Chara in the Agreste’s library of online TV shows and movies, and, as they watched the first episode, the group spent more time laughing at the situations, not unlike an average day in the life of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Once the food was polished off (and Marinette overly happy that she had gotten a five-star meal with Adrien while watching TV) before they went back to work, Marinette joining Adrien in the paper, getting together another paragraph and the citations.

            When all was said and done, Marinette and Adrien were staring at his computers, the presentation on one window and the paper on another. “You think they look ok?” Marinette bit her lip as she looked at the blonde. They had gone over both, made edits and practiced their pieces. They’d been at it for six hours, and, if it weren’t for the fact that Marinette had told her parents what was going on, they would have come looking for her by now. As it was, the time was approaching ten, her extended curfew. The inspection had gone over flawlessly, and, the fact that she was with Adrien helped a lot. He even promised to help her home later.

            “Gods I hope so. I mean, this was a ton of work.” Adrien admitted nervously.

            “Just submit it already!” Plagg jumped up onto Adrien’s shoulder as he looked over. “You guys sound great, and I’m getting bored around here.”

            “Not to sound like I’m agreeing with the cheese head,” Tikki floated over, “But I think you guys will be fine. Plus, it is a beautiful night.”

            Marinette turned to Adrien. “Together?”

            He nodded. Taking the mouse, he opened the dropbox set up for their project. He dragged and dropped the two files into their places. Marinette’s finger hesitated over the ‘enter’ key until the loading was done. “One…” Adrien muttered as one finished loading.

            “Two…” Marinette added soon after, the second file loaded.

            “Three!” All four said at the same time, Marinette hitting the ‘Enter’ button. The screen went blank before a small green check appeared next to the two files, confirming that the project had been accepted and filed.

            “We’re DONE!” Marinette cheered as she fell back in the seat, Adrien sagging against the desk. “Six hours, SIX hours…”

            “We are never, EVER doing this again.” Adrein threw to his friend with a serious expression.

            “Well, with YOUR luck…” Marinette grinned as Adrien rolled his eyes.

            “Well, he IS pretty unlucky.” Plagg added with a nod of his head.

            “I hate you all. Tikki is my only friend.” Adrien threw as he looked to the red Kwami. “Can you switch with Plagg?”

            Tikki giggled before floating over, patting Adrien on the forehead. “Sorry, but you’re stuck with the cheese head.”

            Everyone laughed, sans Plagg who was still complaining about the moniker ‘cheese head.’ It was short-lived, however, because, suddenly, the TV, which had been playing cartoons, was interrupted a news report. An akuma had shown up at a local church, and people were calling for Ladybug and Chat Noir.

            Marinette changed quickly, grabbing her bag as she went. The two transformed, sneaking out the balcony where Adrien had busted the camera long ago (back when he still just caused trouble wherever he went), keeping his escapes secret. The two dealt with the akuma quickly, topping off the night as a great success, before Marinette ran home late, Adrien on her heals and the akuma news as reasoning for why they had been late (they claimed that they had already been out, and they had been diverted when the monster showed up).

            It didn’t take a genius to figure out Adrien wasn’t going back to his house that night.

            Adrien lay on the couch, curled up with the hand-made blankets, Plagg stuffed under his own mini blanket with a hood that drooped over his head. The black Kwami was tucked in close to the warmth that was Adrien. Adrien was warm, but it wasn’t just because he was wearing his favorite onesie or that he was under about ten blankets against the winter chill.

            No, he was warm for another reason. He was warm because he was in a state of absolute bliss. The whole day, since he had poked Marinette at the sides at school, had been wonderful. It was fun, it was stressful, it was amazing.

            It was home.

            As he drifted off to sleep, Adrien realized that, even in his own house, usually so cold, there was a warmth today. He had heard a laugh out of Micha. His father, in his own way, gave some small approval. Natalie seemed to enjoy his gift.

            It was because Marinette had spent the day with him.

            He realized that home was not his home or her home or the mask or anything else in this world.

            No, home was when he was with Marinette.

            That was home.

Chapter Text

            Marinette could feel the physical pain as Adrien walked into the room, his head down as her father went on about his job as a confectioner. His whole posture was withdrawn, closed off, and Marinette wanted to hurt one Gabriel Agreste for causing the sweet boy, the boy she had fallen for, her partner, so much pain.

            She was nudged from her thoughts as her father nodded his head to the group, signifying that she should hand out the croissants now. However, when he caught where his daughter’s attention was drawn, he, too, understood.

            Nino was there, though, Marinette noted, and she was never more thankful than when the boy offered a caring hand to Adrien. Marinette continued, distracted already with thoughts on what she was going to do later. He was going to need a pick-me-up, and she was determined to give him a good evening. Already, night patrol (which was always the most fun) and a sleepover at her house could be planned. Yes, and she was sure that her father would accept without hesitation.

            Then she tripped and fell, and that was where things got weird for Marinette, but it was a regular day for Ladybug and Chat Noir.

            Ladybug had slipped out of City Hall without any trouble. Thankfully, with Roger back to his old self and the Mayor recanting his demand for the capture of Ladybug and Chat Noir, she was a free woman once more. She snuck off into a nearby alley just as the pink of her transformation came undone, reverting her back to an “ordinary” girl.

            “Marinette? Is that you?” Marinette spun, heart pounding until a familiar figure emerged from the dark.

            “Adrien? What are you still doing here?” She gasped as she clutched her heart. She was so glad that it wasn’t anyone else. Adrien knew everything already, he being Chat Noir and all. Tikki, too, caught her breath as she settled back into Marinette’s bag, too tired now to deal with teenage hormones and the cheese head. Said cheese head was passed out in one of Adrien’s pockets after munching on some stinky cheese, so it was quiet nevertheless.

            Adrien rubbed the back of his head. “I was just concerned about you getting out in time. After all, you used Lucky Charm before I used Cataclysm, and we were transformed most of the day.” At that moment, Adrien’s stomach grumbled. He grabbed it, a light blush on his face.

            Marinette giggled as she realized that neither had probably eaten since those croissants long before lunch. Since the incident with Roger, they were forced to ditch school in the panic. Marinette had covered for her and Adrien with her dad when she had ditched, texting that she had run after Adrien in the panic, and that they were taking refuge at his place. Her father didn’t know Natalie or Gabriel, so they wouldn’t have a way to cross-check. He trusted Marinette, though, and knew Adrien would look out for her.

            Which was pretty much the only thing truthful he had.

            The teen girl shook her head as the earlier events rushed back to her. She remembered Adrien’s taught face, the closed off and plain painful expression. Now, he looked at her, a sly smile and eyes alight with excitement pouring over from the night’s events, but, using the intuition she had honed from her time as Ladybug compounded with how well she knew her cat, she could see the pain still there.

            “Hey, let’s go remedy that.” Marinette smiled as she reached forward to grab his hand, hers burning at the contact. She steeled herself. She wasn’t going to fall apart now. Adrien needed her. “Mama and papa are probably worried about us by now.”

            Adrien nodded. “Yeah, I should probably get you home before they get too worried.” He tried to lead her out, but she held him firm.

            “Silly cat.” Marinette shook her head as she held up her phone, showing several missed calls and concerned texts she had gotten from her mama and papa. Being the sneaky bug she was, she checked them throughout the night, and they all said the same thing. “They’ve been looking for us, and I’d put a month’s worth of my papa’s famous cheese bread betting that you have the texts, too.”

            Adrien hadn’t checked all day, but, as she said this, he wiggled the smartphone from his pocket. He checked with hesitance.

            6 missed calls from Marinette’s Parents – home

            7 missed calls from Marinette’s Parents – cell 1

            2 missed calls from Marinette’s Parents – cell 2

            12 text messages

            10 voicemails

            Adrien’s mouth dropped a little until he felt his arm nudge, Marinette now next to him. She wrapped her arm around his free one, being careful not to disturb Plagg, as she leaned in.

            “They kind of like you, after all.” She smiled before tugging his arm forward now, taking the lead. “Now, I have it on good authority that you have had quite the exhausting day, Mr. Cat. Since tomorrow is Saturday and you don’t have anything scheduled – and before you ask, I know everything,” ok, that was a lie, she still had his schedule memorized, but this sounded more cool, “you and I are having a stuff-your-face with popcorn and treats sleepover. I’ll even let you pick the first flick, but only if you agree to stand in as my model tomorrow. I need to fit some clothing, and I don’t have a male-shaped dummy.” She noted coyly before adding, “And you kind of are a dummy, kitty, so it all works out.”

            That’s what it took. Adrien began to laugh as he slipped the phone off lock. He replied to the last text, explaining that his phone had been off, and that he and Marinette were ok. The coast was clear, so he would walk her back home. He slipped it into his pocket, missing Marinette doing the same (she, on the other hand, let her parents know that they were kidnapping Adrien – she knew they would be ok with it, but it was nice to give them a heads up). “You sure this is ok?” Adrien questioned hesitantly.

            Marinette rolled her eyes as, using all her weight, she tugged the boy onward. “Yes, Adrien, now come on! Do you really want to worry our parents anymore?”

            Marinette didn’t notice her slip, too focused on getting Adrien to move with her, but it hit Adrien like a ton of bricks.

            Our parents.

            He didn’t know if she had meant it or not. He didn’t know if she knew what she said. He didn’t know this warm feeling swelling in his chest, making him want to cry.

            Family.

            Marinette wasn’t inviting him over, he realized. She was offering him home, sanctuary like none other. Just her presence in his life gave his life so much light. She was justice’s furious righteousness, her sharp wit in battle, but she was also the patron of luck and light.

            Adrien tripped forward, his foot catching a crack when he wasn’t paying attention. He crashed into Marinette, she staggering under his weight, but she caught him nonetheless.

            If he fell, she would catch him.

            Adrien smiled as he, instead of straightening, wrapped his arms around the girl. She stiffened for a moment before her lithe arms wrapped back, supporting Adrien.

            They stayed like that for a few more moments before Adrien straightened. He managed not to cry, but a small sniffle escaped from his nose as he looked at the girl, the woman, he had fallen so hard for. In that moment, as many before and many to come, he knew that he had made the right choice with her, and, when he was strong enough to support her as she supported him, then he would ask her out on a date.

            It’d be then that he’d have the strength to ask his true love for her hand, ask his Lady to love him like he her.

            But until that day… “I better find a shop on the way open. I’m thinking some fine cutlery this time, or a nice candle for your mother. She likes lavender, right?” Adrien pondered as Marinette’s face, so concerned and shocked morphed into a content yet understanding smile.

            “Yes, but you know she would just be happy to have you over.” The two began walking, side-by-side, down the alley as the noise of the night drifted behind them. By tomorrow, it would be news all over again, but for the moment it was static in the rear mirrors of their lives.

            “Ah, but a gentleman never comes without bearing gifts, My Lady.” He purred at the girl as he leaned over. “And I am a gentleman.”

            Marinette rolled her eyes. “Really? Because I could have sworn I saw you taking a head’s first into the pavement after I saved your butt again, street cat.”

            Yeah, maybe imitating the Spider-Man kiss wasn’t a good idea at the time Adrien thought as a blush crossed his face. “In my defense, I found the whole thing hilarious, and I had to seize the moment given Spider-Man is your favorite hero. Well, aside from yours truly…”

            Marinette shoved Adrien as the boy stumbled. He looked up, only to catch the backside of the girl as she took off down the alley. “You know what? I resign my earlier offer! I’m going to beat you home and pick the first flick! I’m thinking 27 Dresses would be perfect!”

            Adrien squawked quite indignantly as he took off after her.

            They raced home, laughter ringing through the air where they went.

            Well, Marinette ran home.

            Adrien chased after his home.

Chapter Text

            "For the current events paper, I want all of you to pick a topic and write about both sides of the issue even as you defend your side..." The teacher explained, back to the class as she wrote out a rough outline on what she expected in their papers. Marinette wasn't particularly paying attention, though. Thanks to Adrien, who had insisted that "with our luck, an Akuma will attack again before we get through these," she actually had it done a week in advanced. He had written his as well, and, just out of luck, they'd been assigned opposing sides of the same topic, even as the project wasn't a group as last time.

            Instead, she was doodling in her notes again, drawing sweater designs on a certain cat because Alya had been showing her adorable kittens in sweaters earlier. She wasn't planning on making them all, exactly, but if she just happened to have free time because said cat had made her do her homework ahead of time...

            Well, she just wanted to thank him after all.

            She giggled quietly to herself, circling one design in particular as her eyes trailed up to said cat boy even if he didn't look like a cat right now. Instead, Adrien was paying as much attention to the teacher as she was. She could see from her desk that the boy had a cord snaking up the back of his shirt and curling into his ear even as his hand covered it from the class's view (especially the teacher's). He was probably listening to soft music or an audio book considering how relaxed he was.

            Sadly, this wasn't meant to remain.

            Marinette felt a tug at her pant leg. The girl looked down to see Tikki, her Kwami, peaking out from the safety of her bag as she held up the girl's phone. Something was on the screen. Discretely, Marinette pulled the item into her lap to see.

            Paris Under Attack - Where Are Ladybug and Chat Noir?

            Marinette bit her lip, glancing up at Adrien. From the way he was still distracted, it was obvious that he didn't know yet.

            They needed an out.

            Marinette raised her hand. "Excuse me? May I use the restroom?" She asked to the teacher.

            Said teacher looked back and, seeing how pale Marinette suddenly looked, decided it a good idea. "Sure, Marinette."

            Marinette stood up and, grabbing her handbag where Tikki hid. Her mind was still rushing with ways to tell Adrien when luck decided to play a hand.

            Marinette wasn't sure if it was his or hers.

            As she stepped down, Adrien's bag (containing Plagg, no doubt), fell over to catch Marinette's foot. She tumbled and went SMACK against the bottom of the stairs.

            "Marinette?!?" Adrien yelped as he jumped up, seeing as his bag was now twisted around her legs. "Are you ok?"

            The class vaguely heard something along the lines of "urgh" before the teacher frowned.

            "Adrien, can you escort Marinette to the infirmary?" She asked as Adrien nodded. He helped the girl as she came around, untangling his bag from her legs before helping her up. Once the two were out of the room, however, Marinette looked at Adrien and shook her head.

            "No infirmary." She affirmed as she shook straighter. "I'm fine, seriously, I've taken worse falls both in and out of mask." The girl affirmed.

            Adrien lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "Well, we should get back to class then, unless..." He grinned quite devilishly as he winked. "You wanted some private time with me, My Lady?" He purred as he leaned in.

            Marinette was seriously bushing and seriously considering hurting him until she remembered what they had to do. "Not on your nine lives. Besides, we gotta go." She gripped his hand, spinning him around as they ran for a place to transform. Marinette was glad Adrien and Plagg, like she and Tikki, were never far apart. "An Akuma is attacking."

            Adrien's confusion turned to understanding as he kept pace. "Let's go get them, then."

            "Hey ugly!" The man turned. His whole body was covered in multicored swirls against the grey backdrop of his full-body suit. He hung in the air on a twirl of winds, with the only visible difference in his twisted form being the single black band across his wrist.

            Before him was the girl so famous to the City of Love, the one girl in the world with the powers of luck decked in black and blue, Ladybug. "You heard me." She said with a grin. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The man grinned back. "You must be a little confused, for if you see it from my point of view, the Lady is much smaller than the Twisted Mister."

            "Who ever said she was alone?" Another voice chided as Twisted Mister turned, a baton coming for his stomach. He skidded across the sky into the ground as a certain Chat Noir came to land next to his partner.

            “Ah! You two, who are always on the side of ‘good’ and ‘right.’” He growled as he pulled his hands out in front of him. “I need your Miraculous, though, to make EVERYONE see!”

            “See what?” Ladybug questioned as she looked at her partner.

            “EVERYTHING!” He yelled as he shot out his twister. The two dodged quickly as the swirl came to embed itself on the ground. Rapidly, he threw the twisters left and right.

            “This guy is going hard!” Chat Noir yelled to his companion as they weaved through the streets, looking for an opening.

            Then, suddenly, the swirls stopped. The villain looked at his hands, especially his wrist. “What? What happened?”

            “He’s distracted!” Ladybug called as the two leapt for the villain.

            Twisted Mister, however, grinned. “PSYCH!” He grabbed his wrist, swirling it as a black twister hit and engulfed the two teen heroes.

            “AHHH!” The two yelled in tangent as the twister was thrown across the plaza, down the street. When the twisting stopped, Ladybug looked up to her partner, head spinning but otherwise feeling…

            Well, she felt weird.

            “Chat? Are you…?” Her voice caught in her throat as her eyes did not see the blond in black but red and spots. “What the heck?”

            Adrien was now decked in her uniform, perfectly fitted to his form.

            At that, the boy looked up, and his jaw dropped as he focused on his partner. “Well, I guess you certainly look like a pretty kitty. I kind of miss the tail already.” He joked as, in Marinette’s frustration, the magic of the tail twitched.

            “This is not funny, Chat!” She threw as she stood. She reached for her yo-yo, but grabbed leather instead. Looking over, she realized her yo-yo was on Adrien’s waist while his baton was on her backside. She tried to smoothly grab it as Adrien snickered.

            “Do you even know how to use that?” He threw as he picked up her yo-yo.

            “Do you?” She threw back with a quirked eyebrow.

            He spun it around on his finger. “It’s a yo-yo.” He pointed out just as he tried to pull it back. “Tried” being the key word because it hit him in the face and fell to the ground as the boy hunched over, covering his nose. “Ok, OW!”

            “Serves you right.” She threw as she, carefully, activated the staff’s ability to magically extend. Faintly, she could hear Plagg in her ear now than Tikki, but their connection was nowhere near strong enough to understand as she did her own Kwami. These weren’t her powers, her suit, and it was like starting over at square one.

            She didn’t have time to think as Twisted Mister came over the street, two swirls of multiple colors floating in his hands. “What’s this? Seems you two get a little taste of your own medicine!” He threw with a chuckle.

            “You realize that makes no sense, right?” Marinette threw before she stood up. “Wait, why am I egging on the villain?”

            Adrien winced as he pulled the yo-yo up. “Yeah… That’s Plagg a bit. It’s the suit.”

            “You don’t like it?” Twisted Mister yelled over the two of them. “Then maybe you need another spin at it!”

            Thankfully, their reflexes were the same in either form, so the two were able to dodge as the swirls came at them again. Sadly, Adrien’s yo-yo got sucked into one while, when Marinette had tried to attack, Twisted Mister simply grabbed her staff and threw her off.

            “This is getting us nowhere!” Adrien threw as he landed next to Marinette, helping her up.

            It was at that moment, however, that Adrien’s wild hair slid to the side, revealing her earrings in his ears. Glancing at her hands, she realized that she had his ring.

            “Duh!” She noted as she stood. “We have each other’s Miraculous! All we need to do is power down and switch back!” This was responded as both ring and earrings beeped frantically, revealing the quickly depleting power.

            Adrien nodded as he turned back to the approaching villain. “If there’s one thing Chat Noir is good at, it’s destruction and distractions.” He threw as he looked over to the girl. “I can lead him over there.” He pointed towards a large pillar hanging at the end of the street. “You need to use Cataclysm on it, focusing on making it shatter completely. The dust cloud will give us cover to slip away.”

            Marinette blinked. “Is this how your brain always works as Chat? I thought you just shoot bad luck randomly.”

            He rolled his eyes before giving a cocky grin. “Give me some credit. I am one of the best students in our class.” He threw before turning to Twisted Mister, who was almost on them. “Go, get in place.”

            Marinette nodded as she ran down the road. However, when she bounced to the base of the structure, she realized one fatal flaw…

            “How do I use Cataclysm?” She yelped as she turned, only to see Adrien already running the distraction. Turning to her claws, she thought quickly. “Ok, ok, CATACLYSM!” She yelled as she threw her hand into the air. However, nothing worked as only the tiniest bit of black magic sparked there. “No?”

            “Ladybug!” She turned to see the cat-turned-bug approaching. “What are you doing?”

            “I don’t know WHAT I’m doing!” She threw as she tossed up her hands.

            Adrien’s eyes flashed back, bouncing off a wall as he avoided another twister. “Just… focus! Push all that bad energy into one big ball! Big enough to bring down the tower!”

            Marinette tried again, focusing on her hand. She reached out with her sixth sense, the one she used when she was about to use Lucky Charm, and felt the same energy answer her call. No, it wasn’t the same energy, though. This was edgier, more filled with life and chaos. Focusing with all her might, she tried to push the energy towards her hand.

            One more time, she raised it into the air. “CATACLYSM!” She yelled as all that energy suddenly came to her call. The black rings stretched out around her as she slashed down on the tower. From the claw marks, cracks turned the tower brittle as she backed up.

            “Run!” Adrien yelled, practically on top of her as the boy grabbed her arm. “It’s coming down!” He pulled her quickly as dust began to fill the air.

            “Oh no you don’t!” Twisted Mister threw one last twister into the smoke before the entire tower combusted, sending stone fragments and dust through the streets. The teen heroes were blind to the throw, and, for the Twisted Mister, he got his shot.

            The two were sucked in and thrown right back out into a darkened alley as dust filled the sky. Reaching blindly without time to process, Marinette grabbed an arm and, through her night vision, plowed through the dust into dark, alley after alley until she was sure they were far enough and far away from prying eyes. Then, and only then, did she collapse against a wall.

            “That was close.” Marinette stated, but the voice that spoke was foreign to her.

            “M-Marinette?” A female voice asked as she looked up. Before her, where she had thought she’d pulled Adrien, was a girl about her height with long blond locks and crisp green eyes that peered out from a Ladybug mask. In fact, she had the whole outfit sans the yo-yo…

            “Wait, what?” Marinette got to her feet, but it was then that she realized she was slightly taller than the other girl, which made no sense because she was rather short for her age.

            The girl’s eyes widened as she looked down at her hands, her feet. Marinette did as well before looking at her own body. She was taller, more muscular within the leather-clad outfit. But what stopped her still was...

            …where are my boobs?

            She looked up, alarmed, at the new girl, the girl with the same hair color and skin tone and eye sheen as Adrien, her Chat, as this unknown person whispered in horrified realization…

            “Oh hell.”

Chapter Text

            Adrien knew he should have just stayed in bed that morning.

            Yeah, it was cram day for a test and had projects due soon (even if he had gotten his done), but he still thought about it for a long time as he lay in bed watching Plagg snooze the world away. Had it not been for one of the maids coming around with breakfast and a reminder from his father to do well today (apparently his father had left early that morning… without telling Adrien… again), he probably would have texted Natalie with an excuse to call in sick.

            Now he knew why he had had such a bad feeling.

            “Oh hell no.” His voice, now so much higher pitched, echoed again as he took in the sight before him. He’d noticed that he was being dragged along by a figure much taller than him at first, but between the darkness, the costume swap, and his still-spinning head he blindly followed anything that looked like a cat. When they’d gotten in the clear, Adrien got the chance to reevaluate that.

            This kid was his age, a few inches taller than him with short, smooth black-blue locks that slid to the side where the classic Chat ears came out of his hair. It fell long to the nape of his neck, but only his bangs were loose while the rest was brushed cleanly. He had soft skin and the brightest blue eyes that only rivaled one other person he knew.

            And, of course, he was wearing Adrien’s Chat Noir costume like he owned a Miraculous.

            When the beeping ended and light filled the alley, it left two teenagers and two kwamis, the teenagers with jaws dropped as they tried to process everything.

            Somehow, even though he’d seen it sooner, Marinette was the first to really voice their thoughts…

            “You make a pretty girl.” She noted, somewhat stunned as she took him in. Adrien glanced down at himself, noting that not much had changed. His clothes had adjusted to his new form (probably something to do with magic of the Miraculous because, looking at the boobs – he refused to refer to them as his – he knew he hadn’t started with a bra this morning) while his normal white shirt had kept the length even as it hugged his form, falling loose to a little past his behind. He looked to Marinette, who made quite a handsome boy, with her outfit generally the same even though the pants had lengthened and darkened to red and the slip-ons she favored were replaced with black trainers (and Adrien swore the design on the side looked like a white cat).

            Her words, however, caught up with the boy-turned-girl as Adrien stood straighter, blushing deeply. “H-Hey!” He defended as he felt a familiar weight settle on his head.

            “Nya~ Your hair was fluffy before but this is a dream.” Plagg dug into Adrien’s now long-blonde locks as the boy frowned.

            “How are you not freaking out?” Adrien threw to the Cat Kwami.

            “Meh, not much to worry about.” Plagg threw as his eyes drooped closed. “Just need some sleep and we can fight again.”

            Before either teen could get annoyed with the cat, Tikki chimed in. “Plagg and I don’t really discriminate against genders, and this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a male Ladybug or female Chat Noir.” She explained as she landed on Marinette’s cupped and waiting hand. She yawned. “But whatever magic that was took it out of us.” She whined as she curled into the warmth of the hands. “We need time to recharge, eat, before we try fighting again.”

            “Wait, Tikki!” Marinette tried to say, but it was too late. Tikki was already asleep in her hands as the girl-turned-boy frowned. “Uhg! I was hoping to get a way to fix this now.”

            Adrien ran his (her?) hands over his (her?) face. Gods, gendered terms are confusing when you’re in the wrong body. He frowned to himself, suddenly very happy he hadn’t had to deal with being a girl. Until now that is.

            Finally, Adrien looked up (which was weird because Marinette was always shorter than him). “We should probably get something to eat, too.  We’re going to need our strength when we get to fight Twisted Mister.” Carefully, Adrien took Plagg off his head and placed the Kwami into his vest pocket. Marinette, who had long-ago sewn spacious pockets into many of her clothes that didn’t, had one in her vest for Tikki to cuddle in.

            Marinette looked over to him with a crooked eyebrow. “How? We can’t go back to school like this, too many questions, and I left all my stuff in your fencing locker, remember?”

            Adrien groaned as he remembered. Right, school. “Ok, so what time is it now? Three-ish? School lets out in twenty minutes anyway. No point in going back until after clubs are done then. If… If we’re still looking like this, at least we can at least get our books and hide somewhere.”

            “I still don’t have money.” She pointed out with a frown. “And I can’t exactly pop home now. I mean,” she gestured to herself. “My parents would be a tad concerned that their daughter is suddenly a full-fledged member of the male gender, and her male friend has grown boobs.”

            Adrien laughed, which, by the way Marinette was giggling herself, was kind of the point. “I got it covered.” He nodded as he pulled off one shoe. However, when he was about to tumble over, Marinette grabbed his flailing hand.

            Adrien’s hand brushed against her new male torso and he couldn’t help but feel both jealous and appealed when the hard six-pack of a hero met his blush. Goddamn it. He thought to himself. Curse demisexuality. Somehow, even as he had fallen for female Marinette/Ladybug, the feelings suddenly transferred because inside that bod was the same person he fell for. A blush ran up to his ears as he tugged off his shoe.

            Marinette was no better. Unlike Adrien’s demisexuality, her bisexuality was working wonders on her mind, especially with that ghost of a touch to her chest. Focus, Marinette. She chided herself. You don’t see Adrien falling to pieces just because he’s a hot girl now and a hot guy before and you’re apparently a cute guy and… Oh, gods, brain, out of gutter! She chided mentally before Adrien stood, still balancing on one foot as he tried to wiggle something out from under his sole of his right shoe.

            “Uh… what are you doing?” Marinette questioned as the boy looked at the shoe in total concentration.

            “Ah… Ah HA!” He cheered as something came loose. A purple bank note looked back at them as Marinette’s jaw dropped.

            “Five hundred euros?!?” She squeaked as he dropped his shoe back to the ground, nudging his foot back in.

            Adrien shrugged as if it wasn’t anything, which, considering how wealthy he was, it probably wasn’t much. “I saw a movie once, when I was a kid, where the main character had bought a cab ride using the money he had hidden in the holed-out bottom of his shoe. I thought it was cool, so I had one of my dad’s designers make a slip space for a note.”

            “Ah, well, wow…” Marinette blinked a few times. “Uh… I’ll pay you back?”

            Adrien stood, rolling his gorgeous green eyes that hadn’t changed a bit even as their genders had. “No way. You’ve treated me more at the bakery than I can count. Afternoon snacks are on me.”  He grinned up quite devilishly. “I mean, unless you want me to pay you back in some other way…”

            Now it was Marinette’s turn to roll her eyes before she BOOPED him on the nose. Blonde locks swirled around her shimmering face as a blessed look of confusion replaced his smug grin. “Not on your life, kitty cat.” However, when she said that, she noticed something about her hand. “Woah, wait, almost forgot.” She withdrew her hand from his face and slipped off the silver ring that was around her finger. “I believe this belongs to you, my lady?” She said in her best impression of Chat, which, given her new deepened tone, was quite reverberating like the cat himself.

            “You are having way too much fun with this. Weren’t we freaking out ten minutes ago?” He asked as he fiddled with his ears, trying to get the earrings off.

            Marinette snickered. “Pot, meet kettle. Need some help?”

            “Yes.” Adrien threw as his arms dropped. Marinette took one of Adrien’s hands and dropped the ring into it before she easily retrieved her earrings. Thankfully, her ears had remained pierced as the now-black studs were hidden behind stray strands of hair.

            “Oh shit.” Adrien swore as his hands ran up to his ears. “My ears are pierced? My dad is going to kill me!”

            “Chill!” Marinette came to the rescue as she set her (now larger) hands comfortably on his. “I’m sure once we stop this Twisted Mister, everything – including your ears – will revert back to normal, ok?”

            Adrien nodded, a bit of relief even as he still worried. Marinette grinned as she took one hand off while the other came to loop around the blonde’s arm. “Now, come on, you have to treat me.”

            “Isn’t it the otherway around?” Adrien teased back as they walked down the alley.

            “Only if this was a date.” Marinette grinned back. Light chatter easily filled the air as the two walked back to the busy Parisian streets. They eventually located a small café when Tikki and Plagg began to stir. School was long over, and the two had to order food for all of them. As the two teens sat at the table, a waitress brought around their food.

            “I love your hair, ma’am!” She pointed to Adrien as the boy-turned-girl looked a little shocked. “What do you do with it?”

            Adrien stuttered as he thought of a good idea. Considering he’d had this hair for less than an hour, he was coming up short. “Ah, you know, a bit of this, a bit of that, and a dash of magic, you know?” He and Marinette giggled at his dumb inside joke.

            “Well, whatever it is, it looks runway ready! No wonder you caught yourself a hot boy.” She winked to Marinette who blushed brightly. Adrien seemed to do the same.

            “We’re not dating.” Both threw at once.

            The waitress giggled before slipping them the bill. “That’s what they all say.” She sashayed away from the two, leaving the teenagers a blush mess.

            “I’m cute?” Marinette whispered in a hushed tone.

            “Well, yes, but you were cute to begin with.” Adrien teased as the boy-version of his crush frowned at him. She picked up her mug and stood.

            “I’m getting a refill. Want any?” She questioned, eyeing his glass even as the boy-turned-girl waved her off.

            “I’m good. Besides, someone has to watch the spot.” Sure enough, the café was already packed as the last of the schools in the area let out. This was probably pure luck that they got the table.

            Marinette smiled to the guy as she turned. “Ok. Be back in a sec, kitty.” She grinned as she waved off Adrien, an absolute adorable blush covering the currently-female’s face. Marinette giggled to herself internally. This was getting fun. She admitted internatlly as she gracefully weeved through the crowd. While she could be very clumsy at times, the café scene was her home, having grown up in a busier-than-busy bakery. She quickly got to the counter and requested a refill of her drink.

            Marinette was lost in thought until she heard a loud CRACK. “W-WHAAA!!!” Someone yelped behind Marinette. The now-boy turned, quickly extending her arms as a figure landed there by pure luck.

            “Are you ok?” Marinette questioned as the figure turned up.

            Marinette froze.

            Chloe stared at her with amazement as Sabrina managed to squeeze through the crowd. “Chloe, are you alright? What happened?”

            Chloe straightened, still touching Marinette’s arm as the currently-male superhero bit down on every urge to run because that wouldn’t look strange. “Oh, these heals broke the minuted I stepped on a crack.” Chloe frowned at the obviously-expensive heels. “I would have broken a heel or worse! A nail!” She held up her expensive manicure before looking up at Marinette. Marinette was not enjoying the look she was getting. “But this cutie saved me. How about I make it up to you sometime…?”

            Marinette resisted the urge to throw up, and, thank the lucky bugs, she heard “refill!” Behind her. She turned to see her mug now filled with coffee once more, a saving grace.

            “That’s very nice of you, miss…” Marinette began before she was cut off.

            “Chloe, Chloe Bourgeois, the mayor’s daughter.” Was she batting her eyes at Marinette??? “And who might you be?”

            “Listen…” Marinette tried to inch back even as Chloe’s grip increased. “I have to go, my friend is still here, and this is my order.”

            “Ok, but a name to my shinning knight’s handsome face?” Chloe progressed even as Marinette felt her back dig into the counter.

            “Eh, ah, Mari…us. Marius.” Marinette made up as she saw the girl teeter on the broken heel.  Taking her chance, Marinette managed to wiggle free as Chloe regained balance, grab her coffee, and take off towards where Adrien sat. “Well, nice meeting you!” Marinette ran, disappearing between the crowds.

            While her head was spinning, though, Adrien wasn’t doing much better.

            “Well, well, well! Look at this fine lady.” Adrien chocked on his drink as the stingy voice crept up behind him.  The now-female-hero turned to see two men flank her. “Ah! We have her attention!” Adrien frowned because they had to be at least four or five years older than him. Before he could say anything, though, one slid into the seat Marinette had vacated while the other hovered over his shoulder.

            “What’s a hot thing like you doing alone in a place like this?” The other, Adrien decided to call him zit-face because of the glaring abomination of skin spreading out from his nose, commented as he leaned in. “My, you have the face of a baby’s butt!”

            “And the tits like a model!” Stingy added as he leaned in on his hands.

            Adrien leaned back in response, his voice was the least of the hero’s worry. His breath was worse. Adrien folded his arms over his chest, very uncomfortable at the line of commenting. Gods was this what girls went through all the time? He questioned with a shiver. “I’m sorry, but my friend was sitting there and should be back soon.” He defended, bringing up some of that Chat Noir courage even as an odd sense of DANGER rose in his chest.

            This wasn’t normal. This was terrible. Why was he so nervous? He was Chat Noir! He took on deadly monsters every week! Some thugs with terrible skin and smelly breath shouldn’t have scared him.

            “Hey! Can’t you take a compliment?” Zit-face threw as he growled.

            “Hey, Adrien, we need to…” Suddenly, a figure emerged from the crowd, a familiar but not familiar boy, and Adrien felt a rush of relief.

            “Adrien?” Stingy threw as the boy-turned-girl stood, picking up the tab as he went. He could pay on the way out. “That’s a boy’s name!”

            “Adrie…anna.” Marinette corrected quickly. However, taking in the scene, she felt a quick assessment fill her head. With the way Adrien was looking at her, knowing that look on her own face too many times in her short fifteen years on that planet, she knew it was time to go. “There you are… ah, sweetie!” Marinette linked arms with the girl, giving her best glare at the two. She slipped the untouched refill on the table. “You know, I ran into some rather rude people before, and I feel maybe we should take our leave.”

            “Take the lead, my la… my lovely.” Adrien corrected quickly as he, too, sent a glare at the men. “I have the bill.”

            “Hey, can’t you see we’re having a conversation?” Zit-face threw.

            “Can’t you see we’re leaving?” Adrien threw as the two turned tail. Just as the men stood, Adrien and Marinette had already disappeared into the crowded café.

             In the end, the two were hiding in a grocery about ten blocks away from the café that they’d started at, sipping juice they had purchased from the displays as Tikki and Plagg, now awake from their naps, were eagerly eating to regain strength.

            “Is that how girls always feel?” Adrien questioned as he looked up to his friend from his very cat-like crouch on the floor. Marinette was leaned up against a wall, their change in gender the same.

            Marinette nodded. “Yeah. You know, you probably got a little of a girl’s mind when we, ya know…” She vaguely gestured to her form. “Because I’ve never felt like that around Chloe and gods it was freaky.”

            “Welcome to male teenage hormones.” Adrien added as he took another sip. “But I think today counts more as my worst day ever considering that two creepers decided to hit on me.”

            Marinette gave him a compassionate pat to the head. “Look on the bright side.” Marinette shrugged. “At least you didn’t end up as a girl on her period.”

            “LALALA! I’m not LISTENING!” Adrien threw as he tossed his hands over his ears. “We will not discuss this.”

            Marinette outright laughed. “Seriously?”

            “I do NOT want to imagine blood coming out from… down there, especially out of me!” He threw as he glared at the girl. “We are going to fix ALL of this before I have to deal with… that.”

            “Those are the words I like to hear!” Tikki threw as she and Plagg floated into the air between the two, Adrien standing straight besides Marinette. Well, Tikki floated over. Plagg was being pulled by his tail by Tikki as he still munched on some stinky abomination he liked to call cheese.

            “Let’s get this loser.” Marinette agreed as she held up her hand.

            Adrien scanned the streets until his eyes landed on an abandoned storefront. The Kwamis could get them in, and it would be the perfect spot to transform. “I have an idea. Come on!” With that, the Kwamis hid as the teens took off down the street.

Chapter Text

            “Come out, come out, where ever you are!!!” Twisted Mister taunted as he twirled around the park before the Eiffel Tower. It was one of the few places he had yet to search for Ladybug and Chat Noir, and, in his irritation, he’d begun again to twist a few things around him.

            That was how Alya and Nino had ended up in this situation – Alya had run into danger looking for the city’s heroes and dragged Nino along for the ride in lieu of Marinette’s earlier disappearance.

            However, in the crossfire, Alya’s hair had turned blue and Nino couldn’t stop talking as if he was a French socialite rather than the DJ-Speilberg-aspiring-artist that he was.

            “I suspected that this would end in our fallacy, and I should have trusted my earlier hypothesis.” Nino threw as he looked over at the girl. They were currently hidden behind a bike rack as people ran everywhere. Everyone was suffering side-effects of the twisters. Considering that Alya and Nino hadn’t suddenly aged sixty years or changed political associations, they were fairly mind.

            Alya was still getting annoyed with Nino’s accent.

            “SHHh!” She hissed at him before turning her camera back to her. “Ok, Ladybloggers, this is Alya with Nino, and we’ve currently suffered hits from the latest baddy. Since earlier today, Ladybug and Chat Noir have yet to be…”

            “What hath we there?” Nino exclaimed as he pointed to over on the horizon. Alya and Nino focused, the camera zooming in as a red and black dot flew over the horizon.

            “It’s the heroes!” Alya exclaimed as the camera focused. However, as soon as the blurry dots became posed figures, she and Nino gasped.

            “Wow… Lady Chat Noir makes a lovely woman.” Nino commented as he saw the long-haired blonde girl in the cat suit. Their costumes were relatively the same, but now they were fitted to the current bodies of the Miraculous heroes.

            “You see it here, folks!” Alya cheered as she continued her live stream. “It seems that our heroes have been a little Twisted themselves! And, wow, I wouldn’t normally say this, but I am digging Ladybug like damn girl do you see that six pack through the spandex?”

            Thankfully, Ladybug and Chat couldn’t hear their besties’ comments on their current appearances, lest they’d be EXTREMELY embarrassed. Instead, they were focused back on the bad guy landing before them. “OH HO HO! Talk about a TWISTED situation!” Twisted Mister crackled as he took in the looks of the heroes.

            “You know, I’m getting really sick of all these puns.” Ladybug stood her ground as she cast a glance at her currently-female partner. “They’re almost as bad as your cat puns.”

            “Aw, you think my cat puns are purr-fection!” The cat cast to the male Lady as he, too, crouched, ready to pounce.

            “You want perfection? How about you hand over your Miraculous, and then things will get so much better… for me, that is!” Mister jeered as he swung his hand around, throwing out more twisters. The heroes, however, were far more prepared this time.

            Leaping around left and right, they attempted to get close even as the twisters continued to suck things in and shoot reversed things out. They didn’t dare try to get through them, and it was like a wall between them and Twisted Mister.

            “Uhg! We can’t just keep playing cat and akuma like this!” Chat shot as he ducked behind a statue at the same time Ladybug did. The statue above, a man on a horse, suddenly turned into a horse on a man once one of the twisters hit it. “Right now we could use a little luck!” He threw to his partner, a wink along with it. “If you know what I mean.”

            Ladybug rolled her eyes at the cat’s implications. “Really? Now?”

            “You love me, admit it.” He grinned back, which, honestly, was a little hot and disarming in the female face. It was hard to picture those painful pickup lines coming out of anything but her partner’s mouth, and he wasn’t looking the part now.

            And it still brought a blush to her cheeks.

            “DUCK!” Chat yelped as he pushed Ladybug to the side, another twister turning the square pillar spherical, causing the statue to fall atop the two. Thanks to Chat’s quick movement, they managed to roll out of the way, coming to dual crouches in front of Twisted Mister.

            “Maybe we do need a little luck.” Lady grinned as she grabbed the yo-yo from her waist, which, thanfully, hadn’t slipped with her lack of feminine, distinct hips. “Lucky Charm!” She exclaimed as she threw the yo-yo into the air. There was a blinding flash of pink light to all but Chat and Ladybug, who, being in the direct path, could see the magic form into the lucky item. From the air, a thermos fell into her extended hand.

            “What? Are we getting coffee again?” Chat tried as the two ducked out of the way of another twister. This one sucked in a bike from one side and spit out a unicycle on the other.

            “Ok, that doesn’t make sense because, honestly, the opposite of a bike probably doesn’t include wheels.” Ladybug noted as Twisted Mister growled at them.

            “You want something that makes sense? TOO BAD! HOW ABOUT A LOT MORE TWISTED FOR THE MISSUS???” And, suddenly, there were twisters everywhere, walls and walls of them all around the two heroes and the villain.

            “Ok, I ask again, can we get some luck please?” Chat questioned as the possibilities seemed to dwindle faster and faster. He held his claws up, ready to strike at the Lady’s slightest movement.

            Ladybug looked at the container again and realized that the black-spotted red thermos wasn’t just a thermos but full of something. She tore it open to see the swirl of ice tea inside, so filled with ice that it was almost frozen solid itself.

            “Ice tea?” She questioned as her eyes wiped up, scanning the environment. Suddenly, the statue from earlier lit up, her head spinning as several twisters lit up as her partner’s raised claws flashed red. “THAT’S IT! Chat, use Cataclysm on that statue! Shoot it all into the twisters!”

            “Destruction and chaos! Just up my alley!” He cheered as he leapt over the closest portal. “CATACLYSM!” He charged at the collapsed statue, crashing his hand into one side. Suddenly, an explosion of hard and sharp rocks shot out in every direction, and the girl-turned-boy ducked out of the way.

            “THANKS FOR ALMOST KILLING ME!” Ladybug threw at her partner even as she carefully watched the rocks fly. Most of them went in one way and spun out in various directions, turned into fluffy toys and liquids instead of solid, but one twister had the rocks go in one way and come out on the other side as pure fluff.

            That one. Ladybug grinned as she stood. With her newfound height from the gender change, she even had a great angle. “Order up!” She cheered as she threw the cylinder through the portal.

            Where one hard cylinder of ice-cold had gone in, the other side had a water balloon of boiling coffee flying right towards Twisted Mister.

            The balloon exploded all over the man, and he yelled out as he fell back, steaming coffee burning him as all the twisters disappeared, revealing the man on the ground desperately trying to shake away the hot coffee. Ladybug wasted no time as she rushed forward as his hand flailed out, exposing the bracelet. She grabbed his wrist, much to his shock, and crushed it between her hands.

            From the wrist, a black butterfly emerged. “Oh, you won’t get away from me!” She threw as she grabbed her yo-yo. She threw it out as the black butterfy was caught and cleansed. “Bye-bye, butterfly!” She waved as the cleansed butterfly fluttered off. From there, she scooped up the last of the balloon, still bearing her signature dots, as she threw it into the air.

            “OH THANK GOD!” Chat cheered as he ran up next to her as the Cleansing light fluttered out. “This torture will be over soon! I don’t want boobs anymore!” He whined as he ran up to his partner.

            Ladybug giggled as they tapped fists for a job well done. “Well I want mine back. This body itches like in so many weird places.” She threw back.

            “Teenage male hormones are the best!” The still-female cat added with a grin as he set his hands on his feminine hips.

            “I don’t know… I mean, you haven’t had the fun of peri…”

            Ladybug was cut off as Chat suddenly soun around. “SO! Where did those lights go? I need to get changed back ASAP!”

            “Ladybug! Chat Noir!” The two heroes turned to see Alya and Nino looking as normal as ever. In fact, Alya had her hands up with her camera phone. Nino was quick on her heals, his own camera out.

            “Oh man! I can’t believe it’s really Lady Cat and Bug-boy!” He cheered in his usual accent, the fancy one that had annoyed earlier disappearing when the magical light had passed over the two. “Thanks for fixing everything again. I was TOTALLY getting sick of talking like…” He shivered. “Man, I sounded like CHLOE!”

            “Bleh!” Ladybug agreed, but Chat was stuck on something else.

            “Wait, the light already passed? IT ALREADY PASSED???” He turned to his partner, grabbing her suddenly-taller shoulders and shaking the girl-turned-boy frantically. “I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE COULD FIX THIS! I CAN’T SHOW UP WITH PIERCED EARS LET ALONE SHOWING UP AS A GIRL!!!” He released her as she fell down, the cat grabbing his tail and hugging it to his chest (and then adjusting it because touching his own boobs was SO WEIRD).

            Ladybug recovered before falling to her feet as she looked up, eyes wide. “OH SH…” She caught herself, realizing that Alya was still taping. Probably live, considering how she knew her friend. “Oh shoot. OH SHOOT. OH SHIRTS AND FUDGE OH SHOOT!!!” She began to panic as she tried to run a hand through her hair only to remember how short it suddenly was. That was NOT HELPING.

            Hey, hey! Marinette, in the back of her head, could her Tikki’s voice loud and clear. If you two transform back, you should be able to be changed back.

            At that, there was a double ring of energy dying from Ladybug’s ears and Chat’s hand.

            “Whoops! You know what that means!” Ladybug threw as she grabbed her shaking partner. Without thinking, she scooped him up, his suddenly smaller form even easier to pick up than usual. Chat gave an adorable EEP at the sudden loss of ground, but Ladybug was already saying to Alya and Nino, “OKGLADTOHELPBYE!” And she leapt away.

            As soon as they were a few rooftops away, Chat realized that he was still being carried. “Ok, not that I don’t love my lady embracing me lovingly I’M STILL A GIRL I DON’T WANT A PERIOD!”

            At that, Ladybug decided she wasn’t taking pity on the boy anymore and dropped him. He yelped as he landed on his butt at her feet, and, before he could complain further, she turned to him. “Turn back! Tikki said it would cause us to turn back to normal.”

            She said no more as his transformation was already unraveling, hers following. However, as they began to flash back to normal, the light of Cleansing Light rushed them. When the pink dissipated, Adrien, hesitantly, looked down.

            “OH MY GODS THANK LADYBUG!” He praised as he patted his very-flat chest.

            “Why, you’re very welcome.” The definitely-female Marinette grinned down at the boy as she offered him a hand. He took it thankfully as she helped him off his butt.

            “Well THAT was fun, but I’m hungry and want cheese.” Plagg threw as he settled back into Adrien’s hair. “Man, I miss the long locks already.”

            “When are you not hungry?” Adrien shot up as he tilted his head. Plagg gave an indignant squeak as he tumbled into Adrien’s ready hands.

            “Well, this was…” Marinette paused as she leaned forward, closer to Adrien’s face. He blushed slightly as she seemed to examine something. “Oh, oh no, Adrien, don’t freak, but… Uh… you still have pierced ears.”

            Adrien jumped back, hands running to his ears as his eyes wend wide as dinner plates. “NO! No, no, no, no, I can’t go home like this! Don’t they close? Can we fix them? OH HELL…!”

            Marinette broke down after that, Tikki laughing in the air next to her. Plagg, who had been thrown into the air in Adrien’s panic, laughed with them. “Oh, oh Swiss and Brie! This girl got you bad!” Plagg crackled as he looped around in the air.

            “You don’t have any holes in your head.” Tikki promised with a giggle.

            Adrien’s surprise turned into a glare as he seethed at them in a very displeased, cat-like manner. “I hate you all.” He fumed with a cross of his arms.

            Tikki sat comfortably on Marinette’s shoulder, feet swinging lightly as she leaned into her chosen’s neck. Marinette smiled as well before her phone rang. She looked at it and gasped. “OH NO! I forgot that I told my parents I’d help in the bakery!” At the same time, Adrien’s phone began to ring frantically. He pulled it up to reveal Natalie calling. The two spotted a fire-escape and quickly made their way off the roof and splitting off.

            In the chaos, they never noticed the rapid updates streaming from the Ladyblog…

            The next morning, as Adrien and Marinette collapsed in class next to one another just before class started (because the stairs were too far for the girl and the boy just sat in his usual spot). Nino and Alya, however, didn’t seem to care. Instead, Alya rushed in, extremely excited, and Nino had the BIGGEST grin on his faith.

            “Ok, man, PLEASE say you saw my video because I posted it last night and it’s already got over a million views!” Nino threw as he slapped his tablet down in front of Adrien, waking the boy slightly.

            “Forget that, have you SEEN the blog??? I haven’t seen this much fanwork and fan-girling since Ladybug and Chat Noir were first thought to be dating!” Alya cut in as the two looked up, incredibly confused.

            “Uh, it was a long photo shoot yesterday…” Adrien covered slowly.

            “And I can’t really feel my legs after my parents had me running around the bakery yesterday.” Marinette added as she waved her feet. “I’m stealing your spot today, by the way, Nino. Mine is too far.”

            Nino didn’t care as he shoved the video in the two’s face, revealing a fan-made video with all the shots of “Lady Noir” and “Bug Boy” fighting twisted msiter to one of Nino’s unique mixes. The two felt their jaws drop before Alya shoved in, showing them dozens of dozens of fanworks around the gener-bent versions of the heroes, lots of people demanding more of Bug Boy and Lady Noir and OH SO MANY theories.

            By the time class actually started, both had their heads practically buried in their hands, glancing at each other. Marinette grabbed a small piece of paper, nudging it out for the boy to see.

            It could be worse. Marinette wrote, trying to see the bright side.

            How? Adrien pouted as he scribbled back.

            Marinette grinned as she doodled down the answer.

            I had to deal with Chloe longer. Or you could have had to deal with cramps. Or pierced ears. Or...

            Adrien took the moment the teacher had her back turned to crumple up the paper and throw it at Marinette.

Chapter Text

            Marinette looked at the blog page again displayed all across Adrien’s many screens. The two had regrouped at his house after the latest Akuma attacks, and they were exhausted but Alya’s constant spamming BOTH their phones led to this.

            This, with her and Adrien both gapping at the announcements like they couldn’t believe.

            “The city is holding a BALL in OUR HONOR???” Marinette gasped as she read the article again and again. Apparently, as one of the few reporters to have gotten a real interview with them, Alya was on the short list for invites along with many of the other socialites and who’s-who of France.

            There was also the invite published there for Chat Noir and Ladybug to attend with dates and in nice clothes.

            “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???” Adrien muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. “Ok, so we need dates, and clothes, and WHEN IS IT???”

            “Friday.” Marinette answered dully. Somewhere along the lines her brain had shut down.

            “Friday. Ok, we can do this.” He turned to the girl. “How are we doing this?”

            Marinette spun on his swivel chair, facing the cat boy, a look of confusion. “Why are you asking me? Haven’t you been to high-class parties? I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO THERE!”

            The blonde blindly waved his hands at the brunette. “Because you’re Ladybug! You have plans! I do destruction and distractions!”

            Marinette jumped up, hands on her hips. “Excuse me! You’re my partner, help!”

            Thankfully, the panic was tapered when Tikki floated over, half-eaten cookie still in her hands. “You guys need to calm down! Why not just go with one another?” At that, both stared at the Kwami before going bright red.

            “Go-going to the ball w-with Chat?” Marinette tried to giggle it off. “Like half of Paris would go mad.”

            Adrien stared at Marinette for a second before looking away, face even brighter. “Uh… Yeah…”

            “Humans are so confusing. This is why I like cheese.” Plagg added from the bed as he scarfed down more cheese.

            Adrien used the distraction to look over to his Kwami. “DON’T GET CHEESE IN MY BED AGAIN!”

            Plagg just rolled his eyes and stuffed the whole chunk in his mouth. “But, seriously, you two like each other. Go to this ball thing together.”

            Both Adrien and Marinette went bright red again, but it was Marinette who spoke next. “But what are we wearing? I don’t have enough time to design and create a dress, and that would put our identities at risk!”

            Tikki giggled. “Marinette! You can magically transform! Plagg and I can redesign your costumes based on what you imagine. Your default is just based on what suits you best in battle. If you design a dress, I can make it happen when we transform!” She giggled.

            So that took care of the outfit situation. Friday was plenty of time if magic was doing the making. Marinette tried to think how else all of this could go wrong, but, honestly, they had their bases covered. Before the girl could say anything further, though, she felt a hesitant tap on her shoulder. She turned, her blue eyes looking into green. Adrien grinned hesitantly as he rubbed the back of his head. “So, ah, want to go to the ball with me?” He asked, his whole face red. “I mean, as friends because honestly I don’t have anyone else to ask.”

            They had known each other’s identities for ten months. Both of their faces were now bright red in the face of what had occurred as of late. They had been the best of friends, thick as thieves, since they had met two years ago. They could do this.

            “Sure.”

            As long as she didn’t let her big ol’ crush ruin everything they had built.

             Adrien was a mess when Friday night had arrived. Since the announcement he’d had to doge Chloe all week. He had heard from Nino who had heard from Alya who had overheard Chloe tell Sabrina that she was going to get Adrien to go to the Ball with her. The event was held at City Hall, converted into a hall of French wonder only ever seen when foreign dignitaries or high-class events were held. Adrien, as he stood on a roof not too far away, couldn’t believe that they were going all out for them.

            Adrien tugged on the cuff of his jacket. As Tikki had said, all it took was some concentration and a little magic to convert his usual leather uniform into the elegant clothing he was in how. While his gloves were exactly the same, the suit falling over his form was based on the finest he had in his own wardrobe even as this one was more durable than anything he owned. Black satin-like pants held close but stylishly to his legs over black shoes that had the distinct curve of his usual boots. A black colored shirt lay under his black jacket while a bright green handkerchief was tucked into his breast pocket. Instead of a tie, his bell was attacked at the top of his button-up. His ears were perked, ready for danger. His hair was windblown as usual. His mask was firm in place as his tail twitched behind him. As ever, his baton was on his backside.

            He was nervous about this, and, as if to make it worse, his Lady wasn’t here yet.

            “Where IS she???” He muttered as he began to tap his foot. He was going nowhere near that chaos until he had his partner at his side, ready to kick ass if necessary. He may be the charm of the pair (ok, lies), but she was the strength.

            Then, with his magically-enhanced hearing, he heard it. From the roof behind him came the familiar yo-yo came swinging. As soon as feet touched the roof, Chat turned with a sigh. “Fashionably late, My La-” Chat came to a halt as his eyes took in the scene before him.

            He wasn’t looking at his partner, no, he was looking at a goddess.

            Black and red, of course, was her outfit, and, even with her mask being the same, the rest was totally changed. She was in a dress of some silk-like material, so smooth and fluid yet stronger than steel. Her neckline, a drop neckline of black leading to the heart drop top of red. Black shimmering down from her shoulders to just below her elbows met red again. The top half of her body had the mix of red and black spots while there was a black sash across her waist. A short red skirt flowed in the wind around her legs, which were clad in black. Her feet were clad in simple ballet flats with shimmery red ribbons rapping around her ankles to keep them in place. From her waist, a familiar yo-yo hung.

            Did he mention that her hair was down? And it was beautiful? Because Marinette’s hair loose was something he had never the pleasure to see before and, with the additional blue that her Ladybug transformation granted her just seemed to shimmer under the full moon light.

            From the way her eyes were trailing up and down him, however, her mind was going quite the same way.

            Finally, after staring at each other for a while, Marinette rubbed her hands together. “So… Should we get going?”

            Adrien, from behind Chat’s mask, gulped and nodded mutely. “So, do you want to pull the flashy entrance or go in the front door?”

            Even in nice clothes, the excited grin Marinette gave him was all the answer he needed.

            The crowds were pandering about at the who’s-who who walked down the carpet towards the lit City Hall. While stars from Hollywood to Bollywood, foreign dignitaries and a few royalties mixed and meshed in the finest of apparel, everyone was waiting for the true centerpieces of the night.

            And, of course, who they were bringing.

            Then, as one young reporter and her “date,” a certain DJ/film maker that had agreed to come as a second camera and help on digital editing, were live-filming the event from the carpet itself, the familiar sound of a yo-yo spinning across the sky and a silver flash of a pole hit the edge of the carpet.

            And, in a flash, two blurs of red and blue came falling out of the sky, rolling onto the rich carpet and coming to a stand before all the crowds. Ladybug and Chat Noir stood, both standing and clipping their signature weapons to their places on their fine clothes. Ladybug pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear as she gave the crowds a shy wave while Chat flashed a miraculous grin to the crowds and gave a wave.

            The crowds were eating it up.

            Alya grabbed Nino, dragging the boy down the carpet. Thankfully, both had connections to look the part. Nino had begged a nice suit off of Adrien (not-so-secretly wanting to impress Alya) while Alya had a number of dresses Marinette had, at one point or another, designed for her that never really saw the light of day.

            “Well, Ladybloggers, it seems that the guests of honor have arrived! Chat, Lady, love the clothing! How are you two feeling about tonight’s events? Where are your dates as well?” Alya asked as she held her phone at the ready.

            “Why, couldn’t you guess? My Lady finally accepted my invitation!” Chat grinned as he looped his arm through Ladybug’s.

            Ladybug, of course, rolled her eyes. “It became brutally apparent to us that we couldn’t drag civilians in with us, so what better way then drag your partner along… as friends, of course.” She added.

            Alya lifted an eyebrow. “As friends only? Because I know that most of the city – and the country for that matter – ships Lady-”

            “Ladybug! Chat Noir! So glad you can make it!” The Mayor of Paris cut in as he so rudely shoved Alya and Nino aside, both of whom glared down the old man. Chat and Lady weren’t so pleased, either, to see their respective best friends treated so poorly.

            Appearances had to be made, though.

            “Ah, hello again, Mayor Bourgeois.” Ladybug greeted stiffly as her partner nodded to the man. “Thank you again for all of this tonight. Truly, Chat and I are humbled by the whole affair.”

            “We’re just doing our jobs after all.” Chat added with his own smirk. Lady knew that smirk. It was a very fake, very model-appearance smile not like the smile he had earlier when they’d come swinging in. That was the real Chat. This was the model Adrien.

            Ladybug was starting to regret this again. They should have just stayed in and had a movie night at her place. Honestly, a Back to the Future Marathon and lots of buttery popcorn and tons of junk food that Adrien’s dad would poo-poo but it wouldn’t matter because the minute either of them started to feel depressed they’d get a chocolate bar stuffed in their face.

            Ladybug didn’t even realize until they were moving that they were headed in, Andre Bourgeois was pushing them in as Chat kept a tight grip to her arm. She looked to her partner as he cast her a look.

            Considering how well they knew one another, whole conversations could be sent in quick glances.

            Are you ok? He seemed to ask.

            She gave a slight shrug. Meh. She nodded her head off to the side, waving her hand in their own unique form of sign language. Rather be elsewhere.

            Chat grinned, a true one this time. He gave his own small wave. I could make a distraction? He pretended to summon Cataclysm.

            Ladybug giggled, covering it up with her hand, but the Mayor seemed to notice. “Ah, what was it?”

            Both teen heroes turned, trying to remember whatever the pompous man had said, and, as it turned out, neither quite remembered.

            “I was just, ah, thinking that I would love a drink right now! Chat, come with me.” She began to pull him away into the crowds before the mayor could continue. Even as eyes turned to them, they managed to slip between the crowds until they found themselves tucked in a darkened cove away from the chaos.

            “So, about that drink, think I’ll get carded if I go up there?” Chat joked as the two leaned against a wall, Ladybug feeling quite overwhelmed at the moment.

            “You know, I think I’d be more prepared to this if this was a crowd of akumas rather than a crowd of… is that Nicholas Cage?” She suddenly said, standing on her tippy-toes.

            “Nah, couldn’t be.” Chat said even as he stood on his toes to see himself. “Anyway, about that drink…”

            “Even if they don’t card you I am NOT dealing with a drunk cat tonight. I already told my parents that you’d probably end up crashing at my place after a serious study session. You’re tutoring me in physics at the library, by the way.” Ladybug added with a nod.

            “I thought you were doing fine in Physics since we started doing our homework together?” Chat added with a lifted eyebrow.

            “I am, and they know the only reason I am is because you’re tutoring me.” She nodded again. “Also I’m helping you with your Chinese History.”

            “Fair, fair. I can use that with my father, too.” Chat noted.

            “Where does anyone think you are tonight?” Ladybug questioned as she stared at the boy. Didn’t he have to cover his bases, too?

            Chat bit his lip as he looked away. “Uh, well, my father’s in Madrid right now with Natalie and the servants aren’t really hands on so…”

            Ladybug wanted to, once again, go home, wrap this boy in a thick blanket and remind him that someone cared about him. Since they were currently stuck at this event, she looped her hand through his as he looked back over. She shot him a grin. “Come on, let’s grab some non-alcoholic drinks and food. I wanna grab some fancy food as well.” She grinned as she dragged him towards the table of fancy food and the bar. Chat’s smile could light up the whole room as they grabbed a giant plat of food each and started stuffing their faces like they weren’t the heroes of the night.

            “So, what would the Lady and Gentleman prefer?” The bartender questioned to the two as he smiled brightly. He seemed to be very excited to serve the city’s heroes.

            “Well, I would like a fine glass of Champagne…”  Chat began to order with a Cheshire grin, looking at his partner, before Ladybug took her free hand and slapped it over his mouth.

            “Ok, I guess since I have to chaperone the kitten tonight,” Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Chat is, under no circumstance, is allowed alcohol.”

            “DAWWW…! My lady is SO MEAN!” Chat whined when he got his mouth back. He even gave a pout to the girl.

            Lady was immune to his antics. “Again, if you have to leap across buildings drunk and swing that pole around I will end up having to yo-yo you back home.” She threw with a raised eyebrow.

            Chat wiggled his eyebrows back. “I mean, would that really be that bad?”

            Ladybug had already turned back to the bartender who was looking incredibly amused at the two teens antics, did nod to the Lady. “Two Coke Lights, please.” She ordered.

            The bartender nodded. “Kid, take it from me.” He said to Chat as he pulled out two glasses half-filled with ice and began to fill with soda from some cans. “You can’t beat a girl on a mission.”

            Chat grinned as he accepted his drink. “Who said I wanted to stop her…” He winked to the man.

            Ladybug dramatically sighed again as she took her drink. “THIS is my partner.” She pointed out dramatically.

            “AHHH! IT’S LADYBUG!” Ladybug felt someone ram into her back, and, while the drink was saved, practically everything left on her plate had been thrown to the floor, missing Chat by an inch.

            Ladybug seized up as she knew that voice. Chat looked over her shoulder to see none other than Chloe gripping the girl in a bright red designer dress. It was a ball-style, sweetheart neckline and tons of ruffles. She was decked in the finest of jewelry that was definitely overkill, if he was to say so himself. Sabrina trailed behind, camera snapping as she wore a nice albeit not as high-class dress as Chloe as well as a more tasteful selection of jewelry. Chloe had her hair also done up in a very… interesting knot in her hair.

            “OHHH!!! Ladybug, you look LOVELY! Hey, Sabrina, get this!” Chloe demanded as she spun Ladybug around, Sabrina snapping away. “You’re dress is almost as fabulous as mine! Who designed it? Bebe? Chanel?”

            “I designed it myself.” Ladybug replied as she peeled the offending arm from her shoulder. She backed away. “In fact, Chat and I haven’t really been fair to any of the other guests as well…”

            “You design? OH! You should make something for me!” Chloe gushed as she pushed up her hair. “I’d look fabulous in spots, you know.”

            “Ah, yes, of course you would.” Chat cut in, taking one of Lady’s shoulders. “But my Lady is right. We must greet the others! We will speak to you later, Chloe!” He threw before he dropped his plate and whisked his Lady away.

            “I still don’t understand your friendship with that girl.” Marinette muttered as she shook her head. Even though Chat heard, she covered quickly. “So, let’s go shake some hands. We really should.”

            And they did. For nearly an hour, Chat and Lady bounced around the room, shaking hands and charming the pants off everyone and anyone that came their way. Adrien was used to events like this, and, once Marinette was sure that he wasn’t going to ditch her, she got comfortable enough to do her thing as well. Really, while Adrien was charming under pressure, Marinette had a way with words that was quite sweet if Adrien was to say so himself.

            Soon enough, though, there was a patting of a microphone as everyone in the crowds turned to the back of the room where the mayor stood at a raised podium. “Eh hem, well, welcome one and all, again, to the Super Gala! The event to mark all future events of this city!”

            There was a round of applause was deafening, and both superheroes actually had to wince as they covered their ears.

            “You know, sometimes super hearing sucks.” Chat whined to Ladybug in a hiss, his magical ears still pressed to his head even as his claws uncovered his human ears hidden under his hair.

            “You and me both.” Ladybug nodded as she, too, uncovered her ears.

            “So let’s invite the heroes of the hour to the stand! Ladybug! Chat Noir! Please join me in the front!” Suddenly, the spotlight scanned the crowd until three lights focused on the two teens, absolutely blinding them. The cheers started up all over again as the teens winced.

            “Welp, time to make a big entrance.” Chat said before he grabbed his baton and his Lady. Ladybug just threw an arm around her partner’s neck out of instinct as he launched the two of them into the air with his extending baton, sending the crowd into awe and getting them out of the lights.

            However, Chat hadn’t thought on how they were getting down from there, and he certainly couldn’t plant his baton with the tightly packed crowd.

            “Uh, Lady? Could use a little help!” He threw just as gravity kicked in.

            Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo. “You need to plan things through more, Chat.” She tossed the yo-yo as it caught an overhead beam, changing their descent from a fall to a swing as the crowds oohed further. Chat gripped her waist as his baton shrunk back to his hand.

            The two launched from the arch as they landed with both feet firmly planted on the stage, Chat on all fours as Ladybug was kneeling. As the two stood, the cheering redoubled but, thanks to their new position in the room and the architecture of the room, the noise was pushed towards the other side, saving the cat and lady their ears as they waved.

            “Let’s give it up for the couple themselves!” The mayor added as he shoved the microphone into Ladybug’s face. “Why don’t you two give us a few words?”

            Ladybug glanced at Chat, who looked at her, as she hesitantly accepted. “Well,” Ladybug said into the microphone as her voice boomed across the room. “I guess we just want to say thank you for tonight. Really, Chat and I are just doing our jobs.”

            Chat came beside her, setting one hand on her shoulder as he used the other to guide the other towards him. “We’ve lived in this city our entire lives, and we love it as much as any citizen!” That earned them another round of applause.

            Ladybug cast a smile to her partner, ready to finish up when the Mayor cut in, another microphone in his hands. “You know, we don’t know much about you two! Why, how about telling us about your favorite part of the city? How long have you two been dating?”

            If there weren’t three hands currently gripping the microphone, Ladybug and Chat were sure they’d drop it. “I’m sorry, but we’re not dating.” Ladybug cut in quickly. “But if you want to hear about a story of the city, I would love to tell you about…”

            “That’s a load of bull!” Someone in the crowds yelled. “You two are totally dating!”

            “I’m sorry, but we really aren’t.” Chat added with a deep blush on his face.

            The crowds were murmuring amongst themselves, obviously some very displeased by the turn of events. “But didn’t you come together?” One voice, very young as the two heroes focused on a little girl on her father’s shoulders.

            “Uh, well, yes…” Ladybug muttered as her blush was just as bright as her partner’s.

            “I mean, they have kissed each other before.” The two looked to see Nino was the one who commented.

            “We’ve KISSED?!?” Chat yelped, his head spinning towards Ladybug.

            Ladybug was blushing super brightly. “Ok, that was one time, and you were under the effects of Anti-Cupid.” She explained as she remembered the one time Chat had been turned kinda-evil in February.

            “Wait, wait, and I don’t remember this? What?” Chat threw, EXTREMELY confused as he looked at Ladybug.

            “You were turned evil, and apparently when I broke the spell you kinda… sorta… I didn’t want to bring it up because it was awkward and it made sense when I thought about it earlier…”

            “IT WAS TRUE LOVE’S KISS!” The child cheered. “Like in the fairy tales! Ladybug kissed the princess Chat Noir, and everyone lives happily ever after!”

            It was at that moment that Chat and Lady realized that they were going over all of this with the microphone still smashed in between them. Chat let go of it as if it was burning hot, and Ladybug held it out between them like it was the worst thing she’d ever touched. The crowd was in a mess of cheers and cries and snapping of pictures as the two.

            “WELP I think we’re good. Thanks again for everything!” Ladybug yelled into the crowd, not even bothering with the microphone. “Is that a scream I hear? Chat, do you hear it?”

            “Yes, I do my Lady! It sounds like trouble!” He answered, face just as red as hers.

            Ladybug shoved the microphone back at the Mayor, who, in the tumble, sent a SCREECH through the hall. Ladybug and Chat didn’t even hesitate. Pulling a similar maneuver to earlier, Chat grabbed Ladybug as he launched the two into the air. Mid-air, Ladybug swung them across the hall. The two burst through the doors of the exit hall, cheers all around them as they disappeared into the Parisian night.

            “Welp, that was a disaster.” Marinette admitted as she buried her head into a pillow. The two had returned to Marinette’s home, as she had predicted (especially after hearing that there was no one there to be with him). Both were currently in their favorite footie PJs that resembled their superhero forms as Tikki and Plagg had long ago fallen asleep on a random pillow. The two teens were in the living room, TV seemingly showing news reels of the gala non-stop on every channel.

            “It could have been worse.” Adrien admitted, half buried under a blanket as he flipped channels. “I mean, at least there was no Akuma attack.”

            “Hmm…” Marinette hummed as she ducked her head deeper into the pillow, face bright red as she saw the video (marked as something streaming to the Ladyblog, of course) of the whole “I kissed you forgot” thing. “I think… I’m going to bed. Night.” She said to the boy, a lot earlier than usual, as she grabbed her pillow and began to walk towards where Tikki and Plagg were passed out.

            However, from the blanket pile, a hand shot out and grasped onto the back of her onesie. The girl looked back to see Adrien hesitantly peeking out from under the cover. “Hey, uh, about all that earlier…” He hid back a little bit as his hand disappeared. “I’m, uh, sorry for causing such a commotion.”

            Marinette felt like an idiot. She felt like a total, utter idiot. She should have explained things from the get-go. She should have told Adrien about the kiss (she had told him about everything else, and she had even bopped Plagg for making the boy feel bad in the first place). She hadn’t mentioned that last part to him because… because…

            She couldn’t remember exactly now, but, it was still fairly early in their newfound relationship. Maybe it was because she had been scared to run him off, what with kissing him out of the blue. Maybe she was scared of her emotions towards the boy.

            Maybe she was scared he’d reject her.

            Marinette took a spot on the couch once more, close enough to dip the cushion Adrien was on but not enough that they were actually touching. “I’m sorry for not telling you. I was an idiot, and, at the time, it made sense, but…”

            She bit her lip as she looked over. Adrien peaked out from the cover once more, his eyes so wide, so accepting, and yet there were tear marks there. He was crying, crying out of whatever mess of emotions swirled in his head. Marinette took another breath.

            “I was scared you’d reject me.”

            “What?” Adrien whispered in shock.

            “I mean, it was early on. We had just learned each other’s identity, and I guess it was just, I don’t know, lucky that you didn’t remember. I guessed it was good that no news seemed to reach you on it. I was so scared that, I don’t know, that you’d hate me for it.” She continued to ramble, tears at the edges of her eyes as she curled in on herself.

            That is, until a larger hand grabbed her shoulder. She looked up just as she was pulled into the blanket fort, two arms linked around her shoulders. She realized that he was hugging her and she him and both were crying quietly as they felt the warmth under the pile of blankets.

            After sitting there for a long time, Adrien took his own breath. “I could never hate you. Never.” He added emphasis as he buried his head into hers. “You’re one of my best friends, you’re so sweet and kind and… and…” He gulped. “Marinette, I like you.”

            Marinette felt her heart beat shoot up in rate as she gripped him harder. She took the profession as a platonic one. “I like you a lot, too.”

            “No, I mean, I… I don’t just like you.” Adrien began. “I… I love you.”

            Marinette seized in his arms. Adrien felt like he had screwed up. Months and months of friendship gone to waste with a stupid profession. This was it, his own crush rearing its ugly head just in time to ruin everything.

            “I’m sorry. I can go. I could probably still get a cab…” Adrien tried to get free, to leave and never turn back because he’d stupidly ruined everything…

            He couldn’t move.

            Two arms had pinned his torso to her chest, two thin but strong arms that could knock the living daylights out of any Akuma and yet sew the most delicate and amazing of dresses and accessories.

            Marinette held him in place.

            “Don’t you dare leave me, you stupid cat, because you can’t say that and leave me to wallow in my own feelings for you.” She threw as she looked up, a happy, teary smile on her face. “I love you, too.”

            Adrien froze himself, those words so long so unspoken to him. The last time someone told him they loved him…

            It had been a long time.

            His arms were soon pinned under the arms as well, their positions shifted as Adrien found himself tucked under her chin, one hand stroking his hair. He hadn’t realized he was crying again, but it was a good cry.

            He hugged back.

            The news continued to groan on in the background as the two dumb teenagers snuggled under a pile of blankets above one of Paris’ most famous bakeries, the owners just one floor up snoozing away and trusting the two implicitly. They sat there, just feeling warm in the safety of where they were and the love that warmed their souls.

            Finally, Adrien felt a shiver run through Marinette. The shiver turned into a giggle, and a giggle that was contagious spread to Adrien. The two were soon laughing at this whole mess, this whole mix of emotions, and neither could be happier.

            “So, ah…” Marinette began as she smiled, not daring move as she held the boy to her. “Wanna go out some time?”

            Adrien laughed again, and it was so loud that Plagg actually snorted “Swiss cheese and crackers stop goo-gooing over Ladybug.” This, of course, sent the two into a quieter but no less crazed giggle fest.

            “Isn’t it typically the guy’s job to ask the girl out?” Adrien threw as he snuggled closer into Marinette.

            “When were we ever typical?” She tossed back as she closed her eyes, setting her head into the boy’s hair. “Because unless fighting monsters and transforming into magical heroes is typical, we’re as far from that as we get.”

            “True.” Adrien snickered again as he closed his eyes. “And how about next week Friday? We could go see that new movie.”

            “Weren’t we going to do that anyway?” Marinette noted with a furrow of her eyebrows.

            “Yes, but now it’s a date, and that entitles me to go all-out.” Adrien grinned even as Marinette couldn’t see it. However, she knew her partner too well, and she could hear the grin in his voice.

            “Oh fantastic.” She threw back sarcastically.

            “Give me credit. I’m the famous Chat Noir after all!”

            “That doesn’t give me any confidence, silly kitty.”

            “The Lady is SO MEAN to me!” He retaliated as he poked her in the side.

            The whole mood was ruined as Marinette yelped, jumping back at the sudden onslaught of pokes to her side. She grabbed the pillow she had been sitting with earlier and, expertly, swatted Adrien in the head. The boy laughed, grabbing a second as he fought back.

            It wasn’t exactly the sleepover Marinette had originally expected. This boy wasn’t what she originally expected. The whole reveal of identities wasn’t something that she had expected.

            Nothing was ever expected anymore.

            And, yet, as she eventually stole the remote to rent a movie and the two’s fight ended with fluff from one of the pillows bursting out everywhere (Adrien was apologizing profusely even as Marinette assured him, once again, that she could fix it.

            In return, he “let” her pick the movie without a fight.

            They ended up snuggling against one another, blushing slightly as Adrien’s hand ended up intertwined with Marinette’s.

            They watched Big Hero 6 like the nerdy kids they were until both had officially “not cried” by the end of the film, Marinette had picked up Tikki and held the little Kwami to her chest as she began her ascent upstairs. Adrien was in the midst of reorganizing Plagg on his pillow when there was a sudden shuffle of feet back down.

            Adrien sat up just in time for a shy pair of lips to meet his cheek. His head spun, nearly giving him whiplash as the girl grinned at him. “A kiss goodnight.” She added shyly before taking back up the stairs towards her own room.

            Adrien stared at the doorway, jaw dropped open until the nearly silent clicking of a door echoed to him just below the level of human hearing (but, of course, he’d been blessed with slightly enhanced hearing since his acquisition of the ring).

            Nothing had gone as planned for Adrien either. Before he’d received the ring, he’d just lost his mother. His father had become cut off from him. He hadn’t expected any more love or fun. He had expected his life to be one of a planned model, to appear perfect to all around him.

            But, unexpectedly, he had found someone he could be true, totally true, to himself with.

            As his face bloomed with red and he fell back into the pillow, blanket over his face, he giggled like the love-struck boy he was.

            That part of his life was officially over. He was no longer a perfect model to everyone. He had friends, a family even if they weren’t related by blood. He had someone who loved him, loved a street cat like him. The best part was, he loved her back.

            The life of isolation was over, a door closed behind him.

            A life of love was now an open door to him.