DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir characters, but the storyline is mine. Enjoy

Marinette (Ladybug)'s POV:

I'll never forget that day when it finally hit me . . . Cat Noir was Adrien! How did I not see it before? They were both allergic to feathers, they both have a crush on Ladybug (or me rather), and Adrien was always missing whenever Cat Noir was around! I feel so stupid, like a foolish fool. But now what? Do I tell him I'm Ladybug? Oh I wish I could talk to Alya about it, but I'm afraid of who she'd tell about us.

"What's wrong Marinette?" Tiki suddenly appeared and I told her everything on my mind as I laid down on my bed.

"Well you obviously can't tell Alya, and it'd be dangerous if you told Adrien. You know you have to protect him. Hawk Moth is desperate to get your miraculous." Tiki said sternly as I agreed.

"It's just so hard. Now that I know Adrien is Cat Noir I can't stop thinking about it. And Alya even told me that she thought Adrien was Cat Noir! I can be so stupid sometimes." I sighed as Tiki sat on my chest.

"Marinette, the only advice that I can give you is trust your instincts." Tiki smiled as I looked at her with worried eyes. Then I noticed I had math homework to do as I sighed.

The next morning, I looked around and noticed I had less than ten minutes to get to school. As I ran down the stairs I grabbed my lunch and was out the door without breakfast. My stomach growled for the first three classes and it was finally lunchtime. I noticed Adrien was sitting at a table with no one else around, Nino was talking with Alya. I swallowed hard as I walked over, asking him if anyone was sitting next to him (after I had to rephrase my question three times), suddenly Chloe showed up. She shooed me off as I went to the roof to sit. I was so upset with everything that had been going on today, first off at Chloe for being so rude, then at Adrien for not saying anything (but he was only trying to be nice), and last of all me for not doing anything. I lost my appetite and looked out over the city; I loved Paris. I wanted to stay there for the rest of the day, then I heard screams and Tiki emerged.

"Tiki, let's go!" I commanded as she transformed me and we were off.

"Why hello my Lady, lovely day isn't it?" Cat Noir (Adrien) emerged from behind me as I slightly blushed and nodded at him. It was the first time we were working together and I knew who he was.

"No time for flirting!" I said as I told him my plan. We worked together well as we were able to de-akumatize the situation. But before we went our separate ways Cat Noir (Adrien) took my hand and looked at me with his beautiful green eyes. How did I never see the resemblance?

"Ladybug, please. Stay." He pleaded as I noticed he didn't have much time left before he transformed. I tried to object but he was insistent.

"Let's get out of sight." I grabbed his hand and we were inside one of the closest buildings in a closed off room. Suddenly he transformed into Adrien, with a small black cat floating around him.

"Hi, I'm Adrien. You know me as Cat Noir. This is Plagg, my kwami." Adrien pointed to the small black cat who was sniffing around for cheese apparently.

"It's nice to meet you Adrien." I shook his hand as his cheeks blushed.

"Ladybug, I trust you completely and I know you won't tell anyone my secret, but I don't want to force you to tell me who you are. Just consider it." He looked at me pleadingly as my heart sank, suddenly another black dot off my miraculous disappeared.

"Before you go, will you go to dinner with me? We can go some place private." He held my hand as I blushed.

"Let me think about telling you my secret. But dinner, sounds great." I smiled as he said goodbye, kissing my hang gingerly as I ran out. My heart raced as I plopped onto my bead.

"That was eventful." Tiki sat on my bed as I got her some strawberries. I ate dinner and got ready for bed, reading for my English class until I fell asleep.

I got up early the next day and was able to have breakfast as I skipped to school. I saw Adrien who looked really happy. He looked over at me as I waved; then he walked up to me.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about yesterday. Chloe can be overbearing." He was so sincere.

"Oh, it's nothing. I completely understand." I was surprised that I didn't stutter.

"Great, so do you maybe want to go to lunch, or dinner after school?" His green eyes looked deeply into mine as I nodded sheepishly.

"Great. How about dinner?" I felt my heart race as I nodded.

"Have a nice day Marinette. Oh and if you ever want to, we could have lunch on the roof. I know you like to hang out up there." He smiled as I blushed; then he winked at me and I swear I thought I was going to faint.

"H-have a nice day Adrien." I said lovingly as he nodded at me and walked away. As I finally got my thoughts together I walked off to my first class, but I didn't pay attention at all. As the lunch bell rang, I was up and ran towards the roof; apparently Alya was dating Nino and they were going to have lunch together. I kindly declined their offer, I didn't want to be a fifth wheel. As I began to eat my croissant sandwich, I heard a voice behind me. Mid-chew I turned in a defensive stance to see Adrien. I swallowed quickly and greeted him, rocking back and forth on my heels as we chatted for a while, laughing as we agreed how beautiful Paris was. I don't know why but I felt like someone was watching me; but it wasn't a threatening feeling more like a "someone is interested" or curious look. Then I turned to see Adrien looking at me as my cheeks reddened.

"W-what? Do I have something on my face." My hands were on my face as I began to feel embarrassed.

"No, no you don't. You look . . . beautiful." He smiled as his beautiful green eyes lit up. I was now bright red as my blue eyes shot open. He chuckled as I turned away, looking at the Eiffel Tower as he took out a sandwich and began eating. He suddenly began asking questions about me, when I starting designing, my hobbies, my favorite songs, which movies I like, and what I thought of Cat Noir.

"He's very confident, not bad looking, and quite popular with the ladies." I rolled my eyes as Adrien laughed.

"Well it sounds like you're not his biggest fan." He brushed his hair back as I looked over at him curiously.

"So what do you think about Ladybug?" I raised an eyebrow as Adrien nearly chocked.

"L-Ladybug?" Adrien stuttered as I smiled.

"She's great." He started as he began blushing.

"And?" I pushed him a bit further.

"She's heroic, brave, confident, smart, and she's beautiful." He looked at me as I felt myself blushing, it was as if he was confessing to me.

"Have you ever talked to her?" I asked him, my heart began to beat faster.

"Well, yea once." He rubbed the back of his head as I smiled, crossing my arms.

"What did she say?" I asked curiously.

"Not much, it was a short conversation, but I did ask her to dinner." He smiled so brilliantly as I felt my spirits fall just slightly.

"Oh, I'm sure she said yes." I sighed.

"Well I mean, it was before I considered going out with you, but I want to go out with you too." He face-palmed himself as my eyes widened.

"I like you too is what I meant." He neared me as he took my hand.

"You like me . . . too?" I was now very confused.

"There's something special about you and I know you have feelings for me." He searched my eyes as I blushed.

"I do." I said without hesitation.

"Hmm, but I need you to understand that I plan on spending time with Ladybug." He said holding my hand tightly.

"I understand, but I have to tell you, I can't be your girlfriend if you're going out with another girl. And when we go to dinner, I won't consider it a date." I said flatly as he released my hands and nodded his head. I felt like he was trying to put pieces of a puzzle together; suddenly the bell rang. School went by quickly as I went home and put my bag down on the floor of my room, I sat at my desk and sighed.

"Now don't let your hopes down." Tiki came out as I half smiled at her.

"Yea, I guess it was silly of me to think Adrien wanted to date me, the real me that is." I felt somewhat upset and depressed.

"But he is." Tiki said firmly.

"What?" I looked at her confused.

"Don't you see Marinette; he wants to date you . . . the real you. He likes the confident Ladybug-side of you and the regular you. If he didn't he would have never asked both of you out. Now the question is if you'll be willing to find out more about the other side of Adrien, the Cat Noir-side." She winked at me as I felt my cheeks go red.

"How?" I asked her.

"Easy, just after the next time you're Ladybug go and transform back and 'accidentally' bump into him and talk to him, ask him out." Tiki smiled at me as I agreed.

"How was dinner?" Alya appeared from behind my bedroom door as I felt as though I was floating on air.

"It was perfect." I sighed as she smiled at me and nudged me for more information.

"Details Marinette! Details!" She pleaded as my mom handed me my lunch and we were out the door.

"Well, it was a really nice restaurant and we went in a private area where the lights were dimmed and the music was playing. We talked, and laughed, and he reached out for my hand and . . . and . . . and-"

"AND!?" Alya shouted as I snapped out of it.

"He kissed it and asked if we could start seeing each other more often." I blushed as she squealed.

"Dang girl, congrats." She winked as I sighed again.

"So what did you wear?" She asked curiously.

"I wore a black halter-top dress with my hair curled, a pair of red heels, black gloves and a clutch purse."

"Cute." She smiled as I told her how he wore a nice suit with a green tie that brought out his eyes.

"So when are you going out again?"

"Well, he said we could go to the park today after school." I was blushing again.

"Today! Wow." Alya sounded so happy, but suddenly I thought about how he was going out with Ladybug at the end of the week.

"But,-" I started.

"But?"

"He's going out with Ladybug." I felt my heart sink as I thought about him no longer wanting to see me after spending time with Ladybug; I'm sure I'd be so dull compared to her.

"What?" Alya was clearly flustered, but a part of her seemed to be fascinated about such gossip.

"Yea, he likes her. A lot, and he told me he wants to get to know her better but he wanted to get to spend time with me too. He knows I like him." I said with a sullen tone.

"Oh, Marinette. There's still a chance." Even though I knew she was trying to reassure me, I couldn't help but feel even she knew there was a fair chance that he wasn't going to give me a second glance.

"But you know, I feel like Ladybug has feelings for Cat Noir. It's obvious he likes her." Alya said as she fisted her hand.

"Alya, what are you thinking?" I raised a brow.

"We're going to set up Ladybug and Cat Noir! That way Adrien's all yours!" She was so confident and hopeful.

"And how is that going to help? Adrien will be crushed." I said with a half worried tone, half hopeful.

"Because he's going to want to be with you." She winked.

"What?" I felt my face turn tomato red.

"We're going to set him up with you silly!" She grabbed me as we ran to class. I felt so torn, because I'm really Ladybug (or at least part of me is), and Adrien's really Cat Noir (or really he's half of him or something) so how is this going to work out without Alya finding out our identities, along with Adrien finding out my identity. And I still need to find out more about Adrien's Cat Noir side. I felt so flustered that the teacher called on me during math class to work out a problem on the board. I was told to stay after class, since I wasn't able to solve the problem.

"Alright class dismissed." The teacher said as everyone left, I noticed Adrien was the last to leave. He gave me a faint smile as I smiled back at him.

"Marinette, what's the meaning of this?" The teacher spoke up as I looked down as I felt guilt overcome me.

"I'm sorry. I know I could have solved that problem, but I was distracted." I said with an honest tone.

"Yes, I know that. You tend to be very easily distracted, but that's no excuse. I know high school may not seem very important but it's a stepping stone in life. And if you want to attend a good design school, it's important to get good grades." He went on.

"Of course, I agree completely. It won't happen again; is there anything I can do to make up for it?" I looked rather desperate.

"Alright, here's what we'll do. I want you to do the homework and pick one problem, either one you can solve or can't. Tomorrow bring your problem to the class and write it on the board and either you solve it or get to the point where you got lost and we'll take it from there."

"Deal." I shook his hand as I walked out, surprised when Adrien grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side.

"Hey, is everything ok?" He asked worriedly.

"Yea, fine. I just have to make sure to do homework and I'm good. Why, were you worried?" I raised a brow as he blushed.

"No, I mean yes, but I just wanted to make sure we didn't have to cancel our date." Adrien made the most adorable face, like a child begging for his parent not to take away his toy.

"No, we don't have to cancel." I smiled as his face lit up.

"Great cause I'd be really sad if we had to cancel." Adrien pouted as I giggled.

"I'd be sad too." I smiled as we walked to the roof, hand-in-hand.

"So, what extra assignment do you have to do?" Adrien took a bite out of his sandwich as I sipped on my juice pouch.

"I have to do the homework, pick one problem that I either understand or not, and do it on the board." I said as he nodded.

"So, if you pick a problem you don't understand I don't mind going up their and finishing it." Adrien smiled as I felt my heart swell.

"I'd love that. We'd be working as a team." I bit my lower lip as I smiled, making him laugh.

"I'm sure we'd work well as a team together."

"I'm sure we would."

*Ring*

"Time to go back." I sighed as Adrien helped me up and we walked to class.

"Ugh, that's disgusting." Chloe said loudly in front of everyone as Adrien and I walked past her, hand-in-hand.

"Chloe, it'd be nice if you bought yourself some manors." Adrien said with a harsh tone.

"Or had her dad buy them for her." I said as everyone giggled.

"Well." Chloe crossed her arms as the teacher walked in and had everyone take their seats. The rest of the day went by quickly and Adrien and I went to the park, got some ice cream and went on the carousel. As the sun set we watched it and walked back towards my house.

"I had a really good time." He smiled as we stood at the entrance of the bakery.

"I did too." I looked down at our hands, I noticed he was holding my hands rather tightly.

"Well, I better go, my ride's here. But I was thinking, we could have a study date tomorrow, since we have a test at the end of the week." He sounded a bit nervous.

"Sure." I said cheerfully as he smiled.

"Perfect, I'll see you tomorrow then ok?" He said more confidently.

"Ok, have a nice night Adrien."

"You too Marinette." Oh I loved the way he said my name. As I somehow managed to get into my room, Tiki appeared.

"Marinette, there's trouble." She said in a panic.

"What? Alright, Tiki spots on!" I said as I transformed and was out the window. It was the librarian, apparently she was getting frustrated at Chloe for being too loud and wound up being akumatized. I began working things out as Cat Noir (Adrien) appeared.

"Hello my lady, holding down the fort hu?" He smiled as he got over to me and we worked out a plan.

"Right, let's do this." He smiled as he distracted the librarian as I got my lucky charm, it was a megaphone. The akuma was in her meter stick, thus I made as much noise as possible whenever she was close to taking away Cat Noir's miraculous. And at the perfect time, Cat Noir took the stick and threw it to me. I broke it and deakumitized the situation, using the lucky charm to get things back to normal. Suddenly, I remembered that Tiki said I should use my next opportunity to ask Cat Noir out. Thus I quickly transformed and appeared from behind the mystery genre of books.

"Cat Noir, that was amazing." I said dreamily as he turned to see me.

"Thank you." He took my hand and kissed it as I felt my cheeks redden.

"You and Ladybug work so well together, I'm sure you'd make a great couple." I said as I felt somewhat of an overwhelming feeling.

"I suppose, but I don't think she feels that way." He said with a sullen tone.

"Oh but I'm sure she sees something special in you." I said as he seemed to be a bit distracted.

"I guess." He looked around and noticed Ladybug was gone, suddenly another circle off his paw print was gone.

"I better get going." He turned to walk away until I stopped him.

"Wait, I wanted to ask and see if you'd consider going out with me?" I asked as he turned to look at me.

"Your boyfriend won't be upset?" He raised a brow as I let go of his hand; suddenly I felt as though I was cheating on Adrien.

"I don't have a boyfriend." I remembered that Adrien was also pursuing Ladybug as well.

"Really? A cute girl such as yourself doesn't have a boyfriend? Not even a guy you're interested in?" He asked.

"I have a guy I like, but there's someone else he has his eye on." I said rather gloomily.

"I see." I could see the sadness in his eyes.

"But you, are you available on Saturday?" I asked, I felt as though I was nearly pleading with him.

"Sure thing beautiful. How about we meet at your house?" I recalled that he had picked me up from home before.

"Sure." I nodded as he kissed my hand.

"It's a date." He winked as I felt relieved.

"Today's the day." I finished getting ready as I jumped out the window and went towards the Eiffel Tower. I found Adrien sitting at a table, a violin player present as we sat down and had a nice meal. I was wearing a Ladybug mask, my hair straight down, a simple red dress with a black belt and black heels. I made sure to buy Ladybug earrings rather than wearing my miraculous and felt so nervous. I made sure to recall that I was Ladybug, even if I wasn't in my real costume, there was no way that I was going to show up in my costume and have limited time with Adrien!

"Good evening." He smiled brightly he was wearing a nice black and white suit with a green bowtie to bring out his eyes; he took my hand and kissed it. He then pulled out my chair and pushed it in as I sat down. As he sat down, we were served the first course as we began chatting. By the time we got to dessert, we were laughing and really opening up to one another.

"Adrien, I never knew you were so close to your mother. It must be hard not being able to see her." I looked down, knowing how close I am to my own mother.

"Yes, it was hard, but her and father would always fight. So one day she left, but something happened that night when she left. She's been missing for years now, though many consider her dead. But I think she's out there and I want to find her." Adrien looked determined, I admired that about him; his confidence and his kind heart.

"And you, I didn't know you liked to draw. So you want to be a designer hu?" He rested his cheek on his hand as he gazed at me, I blushed.

"Well yes, it's always been a hobby of mine, but honestly I have a passion for it. I mean I love keeping Paris safe, but I don't see myself making a living off it." I giggled as he chuckled.

"I know what you mean, I love being Cat Noir, but at the same time I want to make my own money, something normal." He smiled.

"But you model correct?" I looked at him curiously.

"I do." He blushed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're very good at it." I smiled earnestly at him.

"R-really?" He turned even redder as I giggled.

"Yes, you should get Cat Noir to do it, I'm sure he'd love all the attention." I teased as Adrien laughed.

"He sure would, but I think he'd prefer if you modeled alongside him." He looked at me so seriously with those bright green orbs.

"Oh really?" I crossed my arms as he winked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, maybe I should call my agent." He pulled out his phone as my mouth dropped open.

"Oh Adrien, I was just kidding." I looked embarrassed; I couldn't imagine myself in front of a camera, I'm too clumsy to be a model.

"But I wasn't, you'd be perfect." He held my hands as I tried to look away, but his green eyes kept drawing me in.

"I couldn't do that, what if someone recognized me?" I looked at him seriously as he let my hands go.

"True, that would be too risky." He sighed as I began to eat my gelato.

"But I'd like to do this again sometime." I broke the silence as he looked up at me surprised.

"Really? I wasn't too boring?" He looked at me with those honest eyes.

"Not in the least." I was the one reaching out to him, taking his hand in my own.

"You wouldn't prefer to go out with Cat Noir?" He looked a little worried.

"I wouldn't mind it terribly, but he has to be on his best behavior." I looked at him sternly.

"I'll let him know." He leaned forward as our lips nearly touched, then I heard Tiki's voice in my ear; it was the earpiece that I promised to put in before the date. Suddenly Plagg appeared near Adrien and pulled him away by his hair.

"Ow Plagg, what are you doing?" Adrien held his head in pain.

"It's an emergency." Plagg looked at him honestly as Adrien nodded. We both got up and nodded heads. We went opposite directions.

"Tiki, spots on!" I said as I transformed, making my way over to the street, where a heartbroken girl was akumatized, she was trying to take out her boyfriend, or ex boyfriend.

"Good evening my Lady." Cat Noir appeared as I smiled at him.

"Hey Cat, looks like we have an angry girlfriend." I pointed towards the girl throwing boxes of chocolate at her ex.

"Love can be so complicated." He sighed as we formed a plan to distract her as I took her wedding ring with my lucky charm (A fishing hook). Once the situation was under control and the police showed up, Cat Noir and I managed to sneak off back towards the Eiffel Tower.

"So, did you have fun with Adrien?" He asked as I smiled.

"Cat, you know you're one in the same." I put my hand on his shoulder as he pulled me into him.

"Then I guess he won't mind if I do this." His lips were on mine before I could think, I know we had our first kiss when I was saving him, but this was different. His lips were so warm, I could feel my heart racing and my arms automatically wrapped around his neck as his went for my waist. Time stood still as we got lost in the moment. When we finally pulled away, I was speechless.

"Hmm, even better than I expected. And you taste of delicious gelato." He smiled as I blushed.

"What, did my Lady not enjoy it?" He looked at me worriedly.

"No, not at all. It was . . . nice. Really nice." I smiled as he smirked at me.

"It was purrfect." He purred as I giggled, petting his head lovingly as I noticed our time was nearly up and I didn't want to let him see who I really was just yet.

"I have to go." I was the first to pull away as he pouted.

"Alright, but one more thing." He pulled me into him again as our lips met for the second time, but this was a hot steamy kiss, making me want to stay longer. His tongue enveloped mine as I slightly gasped, then moaned as his hands were in the small of my back as mine went for his hair. As he pulled away, I was sure my face was bright red and my eyes were hazy.

"You look so beautiful tonight, as you do every time I see you." He looked at me lovingly as I tried to speak, but he wouldn't permit it.

"Let's take it slow, see where it goes. Someday I hope you trust me enough to tell me who you really are." He kissed my hand, then my neck, and then my cheek.

"Good night, my lady." He quickly kissed my lips and disappeared into the night as I transformed back quickly after.

"When will you tell him?" Tiki appeared as I tried to force myself to think again.

"Soon." I whispered, as I secretly wished that he had stayed just a bit longer. Tiki got something to eat as I did my homework and went to bed.

The following morning, I was called up to the board to solve a problem in every class, to which I was able to do without help. At lunch, I found myself spinning around on the roof, eating between spins. Suddenly I found my hands around a sturdy neck as I opened my eyes and found Cat Noir dancing with me on the roof.

"Hello." I looked at him with curiosity as he winked at me.

"Hey Marinette. You're looking radiant today." He made it so we were now in a waltz position as we continued to dance and talk. When he said lunch date, this wasn't what I expected.

"So, heard from your boyfriend lately?" He asked inquiringly as I corrected him.

"I don't have a boyfriend, I've told you before, but I am seeing someone else as well." I said earnestly, we thought it was better to meet in a private place so we scheduled to meet here instead, so not to cause any trouble, and true it wasn't Saturday but today was the only day that worked for us.

"I see, and I hope you understand as well that I intend to see Ladybug as well." He had a serious look on his face as I nodded.

"That's fine." I nodded, blushing when I remembered last night.

"How about we rest, you look a little red." He said with a worried gaze as I nodded my head in agreement. As we sat and began chatting, having such a nice time, the bell rang.

"I have to go." I said as I turned to walk off, until he caught my hand.

"Wait just a moment longer." He suddenly pulled me in for a kiss as I gasped.

"W-what was that for?" I looked at him somewhat confused.

"Funny, your lips, your eyes, your hair, and even your voice remind me of Ladybug." He whispered against my lips as I drew back.

"What? Me being anything Ladybug is impossible." I said, trying to sound convincing.

"Would it really be that impossible? So much so that even you would have a hard time believing someone like me is Adrien Agreste?" Suddenly he transformed back into Adrien.

"Adrien?" I looked clearly confused.

"Marinette, I love you for who you are, please don't hide it anymore. You and Ladybug are one in the same, I can feel." He kissed me again as I let a small moan escape as Tiki suddenly appeared.

"Marinette, I think you should tell him." She said sweetly as I agreed; I transformed into Ladybug as Adrien smiled, Plagg was eating some cheese as Adrien introduced him to Tiki who was giggling at him (it seems they already knew one another). We lost track of time and wound up ditching for the rest of the day, until we had to save Paris. So life went on, I wasn't just Ladybug one moment and just Marinette another moment; I was simply both of them in one person. No one or nothing could change the fact that I accepted this role long ago. And Adrien and Cat Noir were no different.

End