Cat Noir just couldn't understand some people. Getting akumatized over a child being too noisy? Really. The child was Manon Chamack, and she was currently nestled in his arms as he carried her back home to her anxious mother. She clung tightly and hid her face in his shoulder as they bounded across the city. She had peeked up at him several times, and he wasn't sure about those looks she was giving him. They seemed... too knowing somehow, like she could see straight through him.

"Oh, thank you," Ms. Chamack said as he handed Manon over a few minutes later. The poor woman looked exhausted from worrying and leaned against her doorframe for support. Her hair was a mess, and one arm of her jacket had slipped off her shoulder. He'd never seen the usually professional woman looking so disheveled. Or so happy.

He loved his job.

"Of course," Cat Noir said, bowing. "Always an honor to help. And nice to meet you, young lady." He gave Manon a small bow as well, before turning to escape her unnerving stare.

"Bye bye, picture boyfriend!" Manon called as he jumped away. Cat Noir watched from a distance as a very confused Ms. Chamack closed the front door.

Picture boyfriend?

Marinette marveled at Manon's resilience. Less than 24 hours after being targeted by an akuma, and already she was happily skipping through the bakery and begging Tom for cookies like nothing had happened. The girl was made of tough stuff.

"Just one cookie," Marinette said, leading her upstairs. "But if you're good, you can have another before you go."

"Let's play Ladybug and Cat Noir!" Manon yelled, scattering crumbs everywhere as she sprinted through the house and up to Marinette's room.

"Okay, okay. No running." She let Manon beat her upstairs and grab the toys that she wanted this time, the Queen Bee and Cat Noir dolls. It was probably therapeutic for her. Those two had played the biggest part in her rescue yesterday.

"Can I play with this one?" Marinette asked, holding up her alter ego's stuffed doll.

"No, you have to be the akuma!"

"Then who's going to play Ladybug?" Marinette asked, picking up Lady Wifi instead. "Can't purify the akuma without her."

"That's Cat Noir."

"What?"

Marinette's eyes found Manon's outstretched hand, which clutched the Queen Bee doll and was pointed straight at Adrien's framed picture next to her computer.

"What?"

"Cat Noir! He fights akumas!" Manon insisted, getting close enough to poke Adrien's nose. "Just like you, Marinette!"

While Manon sat down and started playing, her babysitter was rooted to the spot, afraid the floor might disappear from underneath her if she took a single step. Manon knew she was Ladybug? Had she told anyone? How had she figured it out?!

Or maybe it was just a guess. After all, she'd obviously guessed Cat Noir's identity wrong. Marinette took one glance at the photo and suddenly wished she hadn't. Her imagination painted a black mask over Adrien's features, and she knew. She knew. Manon had been right.

The akuma that afternoon was so pathetic that Manon's Cat Noir and Queen Bee didn't even need Ladybug to defeat it. Which was good, because the superheroine's brain was too busy short-circuiting to help.

How on earth was she going to face him at school in the morning?

Today was... not going to be a fun day, Adrien thought to himself as he clambered out of the limo and trudged toward the school. He had piano lessons, fencing, AND a photoshoot, not to mention homework that he was falling behind on, and he somehow had to fit in patrol and maybe an akuma around all of that. Plus, hours and hours of school ahead of him. Not that he was complaining about school! It was just a lot, and he wasn't looking forward to anything except seeing his friends.

Nino and Alya waved him him over, and they fell into easy conversation as they waited for the first bell to ring. Wrapped up as he was in the discussion, he didn't notice Marinette quietly walking up to them until she was right in front of him, face only a few inches away from his, staring up into his eyes. It eerily reminded him of Manon the day before.

"Uh," he said. "Good morning."

She didn't respond. Instead, she slowly lowered her head and leaned forward, faceplanting into his chest with a heavy thud. He took a step back to avoid them both toppling over, but it didn't to anything to dislodge his friend. Her hot breath seeped through his shirt, and her shoulders started to shake.

This is bad. What did I do? What DO I do?! No class he'd ever taken had given him instructions on what to do if a girl started crying all over him.

Completely bewildered, he looked to Alya and Nino. Alya recovered the fastest and tried to peel Marinette off of him, saying soothing things like, "Girl, what's wrong?" and "Who do you need me to kill?" After only a few seconds, it became obvious it wasn't going to work. Marinette simply clutched his shirt and started to mumble, though the words were lost in the folds of his clothing, and Alya gave up with a small shake of her head. Whatever was wrong was beyond the best friend's comfort. It must have been bad.

To Alya's left, Nino shrugged, looking as lost as Adrien felt, though he tried to help by miming a hug. Wouldn't that just make it worse? In every movie he'd ever seen, people started crying harder after getting hugged. So instead, he patted her head, hoping she would soak up the comfort he wanted to give her. "There, there?"

Nope. Abort mission. That made it worse. Her breathing became gasps, and her sniffs became sobs. Adrien put his traitorous hands down at his sides and looked pleadingly to his friends again.

Marinette hiccuped and finally turned her head enough to speak. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Adrien said. Maybe if she felt like he didn't blame her for whatever was bothering her, she'd feel better faster. He placed one hand on her elbow and another between her shoulder blades. Those seemed like neutral enough places, though he felt stiff and awkward holding her like that. "What's wrong?"

But Marinette didn't seem to be listening. Between whimpers he could make out the phrases, "Can't unsee!" "Figure out!" and "Didn't mean to!"

There was really only one thing about him that someone would need to apologize for figuring out, and it made the ring on his finger feel suddenly heavy and cold as panic of a new sort lanced through him.

When had so many people arrived at the school? It felt like every single person there was looking their way, waiting to hear what she had to say. He suddenly wished Alya and Nino would leave. If Marinette wasn't careful, she could easily let the wrong thing slip.

"I'm sorry I said your jokes weren't funny!"

Jokes? He didn't remember her ever saying he wasn't funny, in or out of the mask. But this was progress! She'd gotten out a whole sentence, not a word of which was incriminating. He wasn't sure if he was more confused by what she'd said or just relieved that she was coherent.

Marinette shifted under his hands, standing up straighter and looping her arms behind his neck, and Adrien felt his face heating up as she hugged him tightly. It may have been just a friendly hug, but he couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him this intimately. Marinette had made sure there wasn't any space between them.

Her lips were right next to his ear, so he was the only one who heard her whisper, "I'm sorry I said we weren't meant to be."

There was only person he'd ever said that to, had ever dreamed of saying that to. Only one, and she had denied it. His perception of the situation tilted and snapped back into place, and Marinette's reaction suddenly made sense.

Almost on their own, his hands slid down to her waist and pulled her even more snugly against him. "You want to change your answer?" There was no way for him to tell which was more surprising, that Marinette was Ladybug, or that she was finally returning his feelings.

"Please?"

Scratch that. It was the second one. He'd dreamed about this for over a year, and he could barely believe it was finally happening. Was this what dying would feel like? Because he was pretty sure his soul was leaving his body.

"I think we can work out a deal," he said.

"A deal." Marinette pulled back, though she couldn't go far. There was no way he was letting her go just yet, so he kept her pinned to him at the waist. Tear tracks still glistened on her beautiful face. "Are you serious?"

His teasing tone was bringing back some of her masked confidence, and Marinette being Ladybug suddenly seemed obvious. Who else could she possibly have been?

"I'll let you change your answer," he said, "but you have to give me something in return." He glanced down at her lips and moved their faces closer together, certain she would get the hint.

She did.

Author's note: In case you were wondering, Alya and Nino can also take a hint and left after Marinette started whispering in Adrien's ear. They gave them some privacy... by spying from a safe distance. Alya caught the kiss on camera.