Marinette was in the middle of getting ready for bed when she heard a thump on her roof announcing the arrival of a certain cat. She didn't realize he was going to make an appearance that night. She frowned down at her chest, eyes shooting daggers into her heart that had jumped when he'd come. She was in the process of lifting the hatch to her balcony when he began to speak.
"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet." She had heard the verse earlier that day in class. It had to be a coincidence that Chat came to her spouting Shakespeare the same week that her class begun their reading of the play. Wait, was he implying that she was Romeo?
The beginning of a question was cut off when he dropped his voice to a whisper. "Shh, Princess, I'm trying to confess my love for you over here." Chat began his monologue again but Marinette couldn't hear him over the rushing in her ears. He loved her? She thought he loved Ladybug? Suddenly Chat's interactions with Ladybug over the past few months made a lot of sense. He hadn't been flirting with Ladybug at all and he was an increasing presence in Marinette's civilian life.
She'd loved him for months but of course she'd been in denial about it. She thought he would choose Ladybug over Marinette any day but here he was, confessing his love to her. Arguably he was probably using the worst example of a healthy, long lasting relationship ever but the sentiment was still there. She was able to focus on his words again as he uttered his last line. "Take all myself."
He was looking at her, nervousness written all over his face as he waited for her response. She remembered the next lines only because she had read them in class earlier that day, talk about ladybug luck. "I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo."
They reached for each other at the same time, meeting half way. They were incased in each other's arms until Chat pulled away. "I take it this means you love me back?'
"Yes kitty, I do. Although I should be the one questioning your feelings. Using Romeo and Juliet to tell someone you love them doesn't give a girl too much confidence in the lasting power of the relationship."
"What do you mean Princess? When we read the balcony scene today in class the play seemed plenty romantic."
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the whole both of them dying at the end after only having known each other for four days. Wait, back up, today in class? As in you were in class with me when we read it?"
Chat didn't hear anything after her mention of both characters dying. He looked down at her aghast and there was a slight quiver to his next words. "What do you mean they both die?"
Marinette was pulled out of contemplating if Chat really was in her class or not at his words. "Wait, did you not know they die? I thought everyone knew the Romeo and Juliet story! I'm so sorry for spoiling it!"
"N-No I didn't know. Maybe I should have finished the play before trying to woo you with it. I blame the homeschooling."
There was only one person in her class that had been homeschooled before. That meant… "A-Adrien?" At his shocked expression, she knew he hadn't meant to give himself away but his clues were just too obvious even while she tried to ignore them.
"W-Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag. A-Are you disappointed?" She looked at him in bewilderment.
"How could I ever be disappointed that the kitty I love is also the boy who have had a crush on since I met him?" He enveloped her in a hug. She would tell him she was Ladybug, just as soon as he let go enough for her to breath.