Chapter one- The Deal and the Visit

Ladybug and Chat Noir rested at the top of the Eiffel Tower after a night of patrol. They have been partners for several years now and still haven't come and closer to finding Hawkmoth. During these past years, the two heroes had gotten closer and closer, both as their civilian selves and as their alter egos. They still hadn't revealed their identities to each other yet either. Within the last month, Ladybug had realized that she was slowly falling for her kitty but was also still in love with Adrien and so her mind had been consumed with ways to solve her little boy problem. Earlier that day she had an idea. One that would allow her to monitor him while he got to know her without her mask yet still keep both of their interests. Once she was sure of the plan, which took most of the day plus the patrol, she decided to confront Chat about it. She opened her mouth to speak but Chat beat her to it.

"Is there something wrong, M'Lady? You've been quiet the entire night." Ladybug nodded and opened her mouth, letting the words fly out before she could back down.

"Your flirting, are you truly serious about it or do you just flirt with every girl you see?" Ladybug asked. She had to know that before going on with the rest of her plan.

"I only flirt with you, bugaboo," Chat replied. Lady looked at him and saw his sincerity in his eyes. She took a slow, deep breath before continuing onwards.

"Chat, I've told you before that there is a boy I have had a crush on for a long time now." Chat gives a sad nod and stares out at Paris and its lights. "But, I've noticed lately that my heart isn't fully devoted to him." The black cat boy whips his head around to stare at her with shock and she turned to him with a soft smile. "It would seem that you have made your way into my heart without me realizing." He immediately went and hugged her, he even tried to kiss her but she put a finger on his lips, preventing him from doing so. "I'm not done, kitty." He backed up a bit but kept his arms around her with a curious look on his face. "You told one time after one of our patrols that being Chat Noir is your real self while your civilian self is your mask. For me, it's the other way around. Ladybug is just a mask to me, a responsibility. If you truly want you be with me, you have to know my civilian self."

"How am I to do that when you don't want us to know our civilian selves?" Chat asked, now even more confused.

"That's what I've been thinking about almost all day today. I've devised a little… Test per say. I can't say how long it would take or who I am, yet." Chat perked up at the word 'yet', making Ladybug giggle. "Yes, kitty. I will allow us to reveal our identities afterwards."

"What would you have me do, M'Lady?" Chat asked, a huge grin on his face.

"Do you remember Marinette Dupain-Cheng? You kept an eye on her when she was with the Evillustrator Akuma."

"Yeah, she was as clever as you, bugaboo," Chat said, not wanting to give away the fact that he already knows her from school. Ladybug rolled her eyes but continues on.

"I already have her permission to use her for the test. All you have to do is get to know her. Marinette and I are… similar… I just won't say how similar." Chat agreed to the deal just before Lady's earrings began to beep. "Goodnight, Kitty. I'll see you later." The then pulls herself away and yo-yo's her home, Chat staring after her. He happily waited, dreaming about what it would be like to go on dates with her. He de-transformed and fed Plagg so that he could get a head start in getting to know Marinette better than he already does in class. Her stuttering has become a rare thing by now, and he still didn't understand why she stuttered to begin with. What he does know is that she was more comfortable around him as Chat Noir. After transforming again, he lept over rooftops and straight to his favorite bakery. He saw that her window was open and she seemed to be taking a lot of things off her walls. He quietly entered through her window when she went downstairs and checked out what she had been taking down. There were thousands of pictures of him as Adrien. There were still a few still hanging on the walls, three huge piles on the desk, and her trash can was already filled to the max.

"Woah…" Was all he could say at the discovery of all the pictures. He doesn't remember seeing any of these during his various visits but he does recall her always rushing to her room in a frenzy during an unexpected visit. 'I guess she was always in a hurry to make sure I didn't see any of these,' he thought as he continued to stare at the many pictures.

"I wasn't expecting you tonight, Chat," a voice said from behind the black clad hero. He turned and saw Marinette standing there, a giant empty trash bag in her hands. I thought you would have at least waited until tomorrow before coming."

"Well, I do love M'Lady! Of course I'm going to pounce on the task that she had assigned me," Chat said with a bow. Marinette rolled her eyes and laughed at his theatrics. "I was thinking we could start with all these pictures. From the looks of it, someone has a celebrity crush~" Chat teased, trying to get a reaction out of her. He did, just not the one he was expecting. She stared at the few remaining pictures of Adrien Agreste with a sad look before sighing and dumping the piles into her trash bag.

"You could say that," Marinette said sadly, surprising Chat. "It was actually a full on crush, like you and Ladybug. Except…" Marinette let out another sigh. "I had such a big crush on him but he never seemed to notice me all that much. I still like him, a lot still, but… I could barely say anything in front of him without messing up in some way. I wanted to ask him out, and even tried to, several times but it never worked. I was still always a mess." Marinette let out a bitter laugh before continuing. "I even stole his phone once after I sent a horrible voicemail to him. I followed Alya's script but after I thought I hit the end button I through Alya's phone on my chaise and I complained a bit. Then I went and did my own version of asking him out on a date, calling him 'Hot Stuff' in the process. Seconds later, the phone asks me if I want to save the message. I scramble for the phone, hoping to delete it but somehow ended up saving it." Chat couldn't help it, he burst with laughter. He had thought it was Plagg who stole it the entire time when really, it was Marinette. "Stop laughing! It was horrifying!"

"Sorry, Princess," Chat said, still chuckling.

"No you're not," Marinette grumbled, grabbing one of the discarded pictures of Adrien and balling it up before throwing it at the cat hero. He easily caught it as his laughter began to die down. He unraveled the paper and held it up to her.

"So, if you like him so much, why are you throwing away so many of his pictures?" Marinette sighed and sat in one of her computer chairs, taking a break from the cleaning.

"Like I said, he hasn't really noticed me all that much in the past. I had been thinking about this on and off but just about a month ago, I had decided to focus on having a friendship with him instead of trying to pursue anything further," Marinette answered. 'And because I had fallen for a stupid cat,' she added in her mind.

"Hmmm, so that's the reason for the spring cleaning," Chat teased, feeling stupid for not noticing her feelings sooner. "What made you like him so much?"

"What made you like Ladybug so much?" Marinette asked in answer to his question. "When we first met, I hated him and accused him for doing something that wasn't really his fault. Then when I was caught in the rain without an umbrella, he gave me his to use. That was when I first learned how kind he really was and that was when I started to like him. Then I learned of his bravery and courage. How he had to stand up to his father in order to go to public school. Then it just grew from there. Despite the fact that he was surrounded by rich things and people, he still chose to be a generous and sweet person. He doesn't let his anger get the best of him, including when Chloe in involved. His father has him doing a million and one things all the time and yet, he still keeps his grades up. Everyone can see how miserable he is at home and he still chooses not to complain about any of it. I fell in love with his personality. Isn't that why you fell for Lady-" Marinette was suddenly interrupted by Chat pulling her into a tight hug. "C-Chat?"

"He is lucky to have a friend like you," Chat's muffled reply comes. Marinette smiled and slowly pulled away.

"You stay here and calm down while I go get us some milk and cookies. Then we can talk some more, how does that sound?" Chat nodded and let her leave. He never expected her to say any of those things and it makes him feel more guilty for not paying more attention to her. But now he can, as both Adrien and Chat Noir. Even after he beats the test Ladybug had set for him, he will still continue to visit and get to know Marinette more. Maybe even help her find a new guy to fall for, but actually get her to tell him sooner before she gives up again. She stumbles back in with a tray filled with cookies and two glasses of milk. She sets the tray on the desk and they continue to talk about other things that were less personal but still fun to talk about. The test has begun and the wait begins.

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Hey! I know I still have the next reveal to finish typing up but I had this idea while at my grandparents today. I had realized that I hadn't put it a Marichat (my favorite pairing) into the reveals. So... I started thinking about it and the idea became too big for a one-shot. Now it is becoming it's own small story. Maybe six or so chapters. I don't know yet. Anyways! Please leave a review, I love seeing what people think of my writing. I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter! I'll post the next one up as soon as I can.