A/N : Cross-posted on Tumblr (porcelainkittykat) and Ao3 (porcelainkitty) as part of Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa 2016.

And a small request, if you are a fellow book nerd follow my bookstagram Theravenclawnook on Instagram :D

Adrien looks expectantly at Kim and Alix as they instruct the entire class to make themselves comfortable on the floor. It was summer break and the class was trying to get together whenever possible. This time, it was Chloe's turn to host this nonsense; her words, and hence Adrien and the entire class were now sitting in a circle in a room at the Bourgeois hotel.

"Excuse me! You expect me to sit on the floor, THE FLOOR and ruin my outfit. Have you guys lost your mind?!" screeched Chloe. "You know what! I'm not going to be spending my time playing your annoying games, especially at the price of my new outfit. Sabrina, call the salon and tell them that Chloe Bourgeois is coming. And make sure to tell them that if they don't have someone ready this time, Daddy is going to have a few words with them. Now come." And with that, she turns around and walks out the door.

The class just stares at her as she takes her leave, quite used to it as this was the third time she had bailed on them.

"Okay guys!" Kim jumped up, followed by Alix as they tried to reign in their friends' attention. "Who's up for an intense round of DARE or DARE?!" They share a sideways glance, similar smirks donning their faces, using exaggerated theatrics for emphasis.

"I thought it was truth or dare. Also, why did you make us sit in pairs?" A confused Adrien looks at them and then at the people around him. These pairs were, Ivan and Mylene, Max and Nathaneal, Juleka and Rose, him and Nino and finally Kim and Alix. Alya was going to film anything that seemed internet worthy as Marinette was out sick. Kim swooped down and slung an arm around Adrien's shoulder, patting his head, "Well little lonely marshmallow, Truth or Dare is for the weak. We are not weak. Got it?"

"Okayyyyy, but why are we still in pairs?"

"Cause double the people, double awesome the dares, duh."

"Oh." Adrien lets out a Cheshire smile, "well, that does sound… clawsome."

The entire class groans at the pun.

"Model boy, you may be perfect, but please, stop with the puns".

The class then settles down to play the game, eating the few snacks that their host had remembered to arrange before ditching them. As the game progressed, Max got sick due to stuffing his face with marshmallows, Mylene was able to tell a horror story (and not get too spooked out), a prank call was made to Ms. Mendeleiev, and Alix and Kim had to kiss for two minutes during spin the bottle, which annoyed them both greatly. Then, the bottle was spun again, and it landed on Adrien and Nino.

"Uh, you want us to do what?" Asked Adrien.

"Dude, his dad already hates me." Nino complained, discomfort etched on his face.

"Also, I'm sure you won't fool everyone. Adrien's fangirls would be all over the Internet in seconds and figure out that Nino's with me." Alya stated, trying to be the voice of reason.

"We can dress Nino up in a new jacket, I'm sure we can get something here. And then maybe we can use a different hat to cover his face? You just have to leave the post of you kissing Nino on there for like 2 hours, marshmallow. Then you can tell everyone it was a dare. " Said Kim.

"I guess that'll work." Said Adrien as he contemplated the situation.

"Also, you can't tell anyone out of this room that it's a dare until 2 hours later. Not even Chloe or Marinette."

There was an objection from Alya about keeping the dare a secret from Marinette, which was denied. This satisfied Kim. And a new jacket and hat was brought for Nino by Chloe's butler, Pierre, at Adrien's request. The kiss was nicely captured by Alya which concealed Nino's face perfectly, and at Adrien's insistence a cheesy caption was added to the post as well. Then, the group of friends continued their game of Dare or Dare until it came time to say goodbye.

Marinette stirred awake, her eyes barely opening as her head throbbed, a warning of an incoming migraine. She looked around her room, registering the plate of food, water and Aspirin that her mom had left her. Marinette's parents were out for a catering event at a high profile event that they couldn't miss.

"Ughhhh. Tikki? Tikki, where are you?" Marinette climbed out of her bed when she spotted Tikki napping in one of her fabric baskets, a half-finished chocolate chip cookie next to her. "Tikki, wake up."

Tikki woke up, her blue eyes focusing on a sick Marinette. "Oh Marinette. How are you feeling? Are you better? Your mom left you some food and medicine."

"I noticed. My head's still aching but I can't sleep any more. I'm just so tired."

Tikki flew up into the air and cuddled her chosen's cheek in comfort. "You'll feel better in no time Marinette, after all you have a ladybug's luck." Marinette smiled at her and with that they went to have some lunch.

"Marinette, your phone's blinking." Tikki flew up to her chosen's face, phone dangling in her tiny paws.

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot. I'm pretty sure it's Alya telling me something crazy that everyone did." Marinette unlocked her phone, a smile on her face; a smile that disappeared as she continued to stare at the screen, eyes becoming wider as the minutes passed. Tikki flew around her and peeked over her shoulder trying to see what had caused Marinette to enter a state of shock.

" .God. Tikkkkki. Oh my god! This can't be happening. Tikki. Adrien. And who is this guy? Tikkki. Tikki."

Tikki looked at Marinette's shocked face and the picture on her phone; the picture of Adrien kissing a guy and a cheesy caption apparently stating how in love they were. "Okay, Marinette, don't freak out. You shouldn't freak out. Think sanely. Maybe call Alya."

"How can I NOT freak out Tikki. The guy I've liked for so long is gay?! Tikki, this is not how it was supposed to happen. I was going to invite him for a smoothie one day and then we would fall in love and get married and have three children and a dog and a cat, never mind the cat, maybe a hamster and NOW IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN." Marinette was pacing around her room, pulling her hair as she ranted when she noticed all of the pictures of Adrien she had on her wall. "Tikki, I can't think like this. It's so weird. I need some fresh air."

"Marinette, what are you saying now? You're freaking out. Just call Alya or something."

"Not now Tikki. Tikki, SPOTS ON."

And with that Ladybug vaulted off her balcony into Paris.

Meanwhile a few blocks away Adrien was walking back home, a very rare instance in his life when he noticed a red blur jumping across the roofs. With a look of confusion he found the nearest alley and woke up Plagg.

"Whaaaaat Adrien? Unless you have Camembert kid I don't appreciate you waking me up."

"Is there an akuma now? Did Ladybug try to contact you?"

"Kid, do you see any destruction now."

"No."

"See, you got your answer. Now I'm going back to sleep unless you have some cheese."

"You can sleep later. I need to see what Ladybug needs. Plagg, CLAWS OUT."

"Adrieeeeeeen." Despite Plagg's protest Cat Noir now stood in place of Adrien, baton at the ready as he followed his Lady across Paris.

Cat Noir landed on to the roof of an abandoned building. Normally he and Ladybug stopped there during their Patrol breaks. He spotted Ladybug pacing along the roof, so into her thoughts that she didn't see him approaching.

"Well, My Lady, you sure seem to be feline a little troubled right now."

Adrien was sure that Ladybug had produced one of the loudest screams that he had ever heard. "Cat! Don't scare me like that ever again! What are you doing here?"

"I saw you and who am I to refuse myself some time with My Lady." Cat flirted, winking for good measure.

"Cat, this is not the time." With that ladybug continued with her muttering and pacing.

"LB, you seem really tense right now. You could talk to me if you want, cause what type of furr-iend would I be if I didn't offer you my help. "

"Cat, it's nothing. Just something about a guy I like."

Ladybug turned to look at the city missing the stunned expression on Cat's face and the way his ears drooped.

"Well, My Lady, if a guy is making you feel this bad I don't think he deserves you."

"No, No Cat. He didn't do anything. He's the nicest human being ever and he's really kind to everyone. It's just that I have a slight crush, okay, huge crush on him; and it might have been slightly verging on the line of obsession but I think he might be gay. Oh. My. God. I can't believe that. I thought I knew everything about Adrien and I couldn't even figure out why he wasn't into me. I guess with all the stuttering and the fact I can't even get a sentence out in front of him, maybe, there was no way I could know."

"Wait, you mean Agreste? The model."

"How did you know?" Ladybug asked surprise evident on her face. "Ughh, I just said his name didn't I."

Cat Noir now stood in shock, trying to process the fact that apparently his lady knew him, she had a crush on him and that she thought he was GAY. What was that she said, she stuttered in front of him? Who did he know, who was always nervous; wait, Marinette? Blue pigtails, Check. Blue eyes, Check. But they were so different. Except all the times when she stood up to Chloe, helped Mylene and the time she ran for class president and all the times when she wasn't interacting with him. He couldn't believe that he never saw it before. His Lady was Marinette and SHE THOUGHT HE WAS GAY. How did that happen? Oh; the dare.

"Cat? Cat!? Are you there? You zoned out."

"Marinette?" It was almost a whisper but Ladybug heard it. "What did you say?"

"You're Marinette!" Chat said as he hugged Ladybug ignoring her look of horror.

"This cannot be happening today. How's this happening. HOW DID YOU KNOW?" Ladybug pried herself out of Cat's embrace, panic setting in once again as she ignored Cat's shouts to come back and made her way back home as fast as she could.

"Marinette, let me in. There is no need to be embarrassed. Princess? Buginette? Bugaboo? My Lady? I just want to talk to you."

Marinette had shut herself in her room and had locked her trap door when she noticed that Cat had followed her. "Leave me alone Cat. Ugh, what has become of today. First Adrien and now this!" Marinette paced around her room trying to make light of the situation at hand. "I can explain the Adrien thing."

"Cat, I know that you might have a crush on me but please this is not a nice time to talk about Adrien."

"Marinetttteeee." Cat tried once again to persuade Marinette to let him in, a pout on his face.

But Marinette continued to ignore Cat and instead slowly went up to her wall and started taking off all the pictures she had of Adrien. She just needed time to accept the fact that her crush was now in no way of ever liking her and that she needed to let go to be there for him. And that began with removing the excessive amounts of posters she had plastered the walls of her room with. Cat on the other hand was still crouched against Marinette's window, knocking every few minutes.

"Princess, I'm not leaving till you let me-" Cat's sentence was broken off by the last beeps of his ring. What even, he hadn't used Cataclysm yet.

"What?" And with a green flash Adrien was back in place of Cat Noir. "Plagg what is the meaning of this?" Adrien was pretty annoyed with his Kwami's inconsiderate timing, frowning as he started to scold him but was cut off by Plagg.

"Kid, I haven't had something to eat for way too long. I need Camembert. You owe me so much."

"Plagg I don't have Camembert."

"Kid-"

"What happened Cat? You stopped knocking and; Adrien-?"

Plagg was trying really hard not to laugh at the scene in front of him. Marinette, it seemed like had gone into a another pre-freakout shock mode as she stared at Adrien next to what seemed to be a cat version of Tikki in the exact same spot as Cat Noir. Adrien on the other hand was smiling sheepishly.

"See, I knew what I was saying when I said I can explain the Adrien thing."

"Why are you here?"

"What do you mean by that My Lady?"

"My Lady? In the exact same place as Cat Noir. Tiny Kwami."

Marinette was now muttering to herself and Adrien was starting to get a little concerned. He went over to her and tried to put a comforting arm on her shoulder when a finger was suddenly pointed right at his face. "YOU'RE CAT NOIR!" Marinette whisper shouted.

"I thought we already established that." Said Adrien, amusement and worry evident in his eyes.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. This can't be happening."

"Aren't you happy it's me My Lady, I thought you liked me." Adrien tried to diffuse the situation with a joke but it only resulted in making Marinette turn a shade of red that almost resembled her suit. With a sudden pull, Adrien now found himself in Marinette's room.

"Oh my god, you're Cat Noir and I just told you all those things about you and- Oh. .. You saw all these pictures and now you think I'm weird and you're not even into me and this might be such a disappointment."

Marinette finished her panic blabber as she fell into her bed and covered her face with a pillow.

"What are you talking about Marinette? How can I be disappointed in you? You're nice, polite, you help people and you're super talented. Also you are my wonderful Lady."

"Stop flirting Cat!" Marinette admonished.

"Marinette?" A confused and slightly hurt Adrien asked.

"Why are you so oblivious? Stop trying to make me feel better about my crush even though you like, you know, guys." Marinette mumbled the last part, turning redder by the minute.

"But I don't."

"What!?"

"Uhhh, it was a part of the dare that Nino and I had to do. Kim thought it would be funny and to avoid anyone from recognizing Nino we dressed him up a little."

"But Alya would have told me."

"Kim didn't let her. We could only tell you after the 2 hours were up."

"2 hours?"

"That's for how long the dare was going to be up."

"Oh. So you're not into guys."

"Nope."

"And you're not disappointed in me being Ladybug."

"Nope."

"Marinette, um, are you okay with me being Cat."

"Yep."

Marinette lowered her pillow as she looked towards Adrien, a shy smile gracing her face. Adrien slowly lifted his hand into a fist, "Pound it?" Marinette smiled and lifted her hand for a fist bump. "Pound it."

With that the two super heroes of Paris hugged it out, till Plagg lost his patience and demanded cheese despite Tikki scolding him about ruining the moment.

An hour or so later. "AKUUUUUMAAAAAAAAAA!" Destruction all over Paris.

"Tikki, SPOTS ON." "Plagg, CLAWS OUT."

"What seems to be the problem here?" Cat asked, in his usual way of annoying the akuma. "Adrien Agreste will be mine, even if I have to remove each male from existence, I will. NOW LADYBUG AND CAT NOIR GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS"

"Oops." Cat mumbled as he remembered something.

"What is she talking about Cat?" Ladybug looked at her partner in confusion and whispered. "I thought the dare was over like an hour ago?"

"I might have forgotten to update everyone."

"How? Whyyyyyy?"

"I might have been distracted."

"Did you find a laser pointer to play with."

"Very funny My Lady, but I was busy visiting a beautiful, talented Princess and I might have been distracted by her pretty blue eyes."

Ladybug pushed Cat's face away, in a way of telling him to pay attention to the akuma, rolling her eyes hoping that her mask would somehow cover up her blush.

-The End. Happy Holidays.