Adrian wasn't getting enough sleep.

The blonde groaned as his alarm clock went off, his body begging him to close his eyes and return to sleep. Instead, he rose, making his way to the bathroom to shower. Plagg was still asleep in his small canopy, as per usual, and Adrian decided to let him sleep. At least, for now.

Adrian shivered as his bare feet hit the cold wooden floors of his small studio apartment, haphazardly grabbing for a set of clothes on his way to the tiled bathroom. Adrian firmly believed that moving out of his father's oppressively large mansion was one of his best decisions, but as he turned on the hot water, he noted to himself the only thing he truly missed was the great water pressure.

After he was showered and clothed, he meandered quietly over to the corner of his studio used for his kitchen. Plagg was awake now, sitting at the window devouring his cheese as though he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Good morning," the kwami greeted the Adrian. The blond made some small noise of response, shuffling through the motions of making himself a bowl of cereal. "How's the gash?"

Adrian's hand touched the place on his side where two muggers had gotten the jump on him last night while he was patrolling. Chat Noir was quick to put them in their place, but the knife one of them held proved to be a proverbial thorn in Adrian's side. "I'm fine," he assured Plagg. "It's not that deep."

The tiny black cat nodded, finishing his breakfast and moving towards Adrian. "You don't look so good," Plagg mentioned, sitting and making himself comfortable in Adrian's slightly damp hair. "Out too late with Ladybug?"

Adrian rolled his eyes. "Just call her Marinette," he told his kwami. Plagg frowned.

"You aren't supposed to know who she is," Plagg mentioned. "It complicates things."

Adrian sighed, stirring the remaining soggy cheerios in his bowl. "It isn't our fault. When the Detonator trapped her, it was only a matter of time before her transformation wore off," Adrian spoke quietly, recalling the otherwise uneventful and unchallenging fight they'd had days ago. "I'm just grateful no one else saw who she was. Hell, she doesn't even know that I know. She was unconscious the whole time."

Adrian could feel Plagg shift on his head, lying on his back and looking up at the skylight above them. "Technically," Plagg began, and Adrian already knew where this was going; he'd heard this lecture several times. "There's nothing wrong with knowing one another's identities. It just makes it complicated as far as your emotions are concerned. Things would be much easier if you both just knew."

Adrian frowned. "I know, Plagg."

"Maybe you could convince Ladybug to give up her identity," the kwami continued. "After all, Ladybugs and Chat Noirs have always fallen in love. It's just the way of the miraculous."

Adrian reached up and took Plagg in his hands, bring him down so he could look at him while they talked. "I've been trying, Plagg," he told her. "It would make everything so much easier. It would make loving her hurt so much less."

Plagg suddenly looked uncomfortable. Although their relationship was antagonistic, the kwami really did love his holder, and he wanted the world for him. "Maybe you should just tell her how you feel, kid," he spoke, watching as Adrian's eyes become downcast. "You guys have been dancing around this since you were in high school, and you've been graduated for three years now. You know she loves Adrian. Maybe... maybe revealing yourself to her will fix everything and show her how much she loves Chat."

Adrian groaned, feeling helpless. "But that's just it, Plagg. What if she doesn't love Chat? What if she loves the Adrian that isn't the real me?"

Plagg sighed, moving to look his holder in the eyes. "Marinette isn't that shallow, and you know it."

Adrian groaned again. He hadn't had enough sleep to focus this hard on something this important.

... x

"It's not that simple, Tikki."

"Yes it is, Marinette. You're making excuses because you're afraid."

"What if he doesn't like plain old me. What if he's in love with the Ladybug facade?"

"You are Ladybug!"

Marinette let out a long sigh, her head falling to her pillow as she struggled to make herself get out of bed. "Tikki, I'm too tired to do this now," she groaned, forcing herself to sit up and rub her eyes. "I have to get up and start the morning pastries, or else we won't have enough for the breakfast rush."

Tikki let out a noise of exasperation, watching as Marinette threw herself into the bathroom to get herself ready for the day. The sun hadn't even begun to peek over the horizon and today was already turning out to be more than the dark haired girl could handle. "Marinette, why won't you just tell Adrian you know who he is?"

Marinette ignored her kwami, trying her hardest to enjoy her five minutes of shower, letting the hot water try to wake her up. When it became apparent even after she was dry that Tikki wasn't going to let it go, she sighed, pulling her hair into her pigtails.

"I'm not even supposed to know Adrien is Chat Noir," Marinette mentioned quietly. "I didn't mean to find out. He was just a bit careless with where he decided to transform."

Tikki landed on Marinette's shoulder after the girl has dressed herself, both of them gazing into the mirror. "It just seems silly to dance around it," the kwami spoke, leaning her head against her holder's jaw. "Ladybugs and Chat Noirs are made for each other. There's nothing wrong with allowing yourself to love both parts of him."

Marinette moved from her bathroom down from her loft and then down to the bakery, knowing her parents wouldn't be up so early. "That's the thing, Tikki," Marinette stressed each word. "I'm in love with both of them... but what if he only loves the confident Ladybug? My civilian self is so different from the heroine Chat fell in love with."

Tikki sighed quietly, moving to sit on the counter while Marinette began working on the pastries. "You're missing something very important," the red bug mentioned, smiling as Marinette offered her a cookie from the jar above her work station. "Ladybug is Marinette. You're two halves of the same whole, whether you believe me or not."

Marinette sighed, looking down at her kwami. Tikki drove her up the wall sometimes, but she knew she wanted the best for her, in all aspects of her life. For now though, Marinette just wanted to keep being herself with both halves of her love, even if he didn't always reciprocate; the danger of things going wrong was just too much for the dark haired girl to bear. So for now, things would stay the same.

"Maybe one day, Tikki."