Admiration dances more than sways, and her eyes find themselves drawn over to him, knowing what no one else seemed to know.
Every smile of his was like a breath of fresh air though it was dazed and concentrated as if they were on top of a mountain and probably alone if the gleam in his eyes told her anything.
Ladybug could probably scale a mountain with her yoyo while holding the love of her life; go figure.
She can't help the way that she almost steps closer and lets him know in a whisper, who she is, but she bites her lip and holds herself back a moment before she loses herself in her fantasy.
Adrien doesn't know its her, doesn't know its Marinette that he replays every second of every kiss with, doesn't know that it's Marinette that he waxes poetry about her eyes to, doesn't know that every strand of her hair that falls from one of her pig tails, and he tucks behind her ears, belongs to Marinette.
He only knows that it's Ladybug that's latched ahold of his heart and planted her feet in the sand of the warm beaches there; she wonders if he'd understand the way her heart sings even out of her suit for him.
"Do you think that's me he's thinking of? Oh, of course it is. Who else would it be?" Chloe's voice is loud and nasally and right behind Marinette's ear; she sighs as she pulls away to work on a new design and dutifully ignore Chloe.
It's gotten both easier to drown her out; no worried jealousy when her mind knows just as well as her heart does, who Adrien truly likes like that yet it's grown harder to not say a word. She can't just claim to be dating him without proof and without professing her secret identity.
"What's that, dude?" Marinette tries not to twitch into focus once she hears Nino's voice, but it's a failure as she looks over and spies a beautiful, handwritten poem.
Her lips twitch into an involuntary smile.
"It's about Ladybug?" Nino looks both confused as if he's unsure whether to support his friend or deny it or even push for something that somehow falls between before teetering to either side.
"Yeah," Adrien blushes, and Marinette bites back a squeal, "I really care about her."
"What do you think of Marinette, lover boy?" Alya's voice is both playful and eager to know the true answer as she leans in; Marinette naturally wants to know how her crush sees 'normal' her, but at the same time, she trusts that his love may carry over to her.
"She's a really good friend of mine." Adrien answers though Marinette finds herself smiling over his half stutter when he began speaking and over the fact that he's steadily caring about her civilian self more and more.
"Just a friend?" Alya asks despite the fact that Marinette nudged her to stay quiet.
"A really good one." Adrien corrects Alya gently though his thoughts are wandering down an endless path of memories regardless.
"Okay, okay." Alya sighs, letting it drop for now though her eyes hone in quickly over a few lines of Adrien's poem despite themselves.
"So you've kissed Ladybug?" Alya's eyes glimmer and her wingwoman status temporarily fades in her admiration of Ladybug and desire for a new scoop.
"Y-Yeah." Adrien admits softly despite how easily he may have been able to cover up that knowledge.
Marinette will just have to try twice as hard later on to keep her identity under wraps.
For now, all that she'll focus on is how much she's caught Adrien from the string of her yoyo as effectively as he's caught her with the shine in his eyes, a beyond happy laugh, and a smile one day under the rain and the gentle protection of an umbrella. Love shines even more than she'd ever expected to find it, more beautiful than her wildest dreams or fantasies.
Even if no one else but them know, Adrien's her boyfriend, and she's his girlfriend even if for now it is only on one side of the suit. One day, she has hope that it will be on both sides too.