Oh for heavens sake. Only her, only Marinette, would end up in this situation. How, she wonders, will she mange to make a fool of herself this time?

From her hiding place behind the door, the worst possible place she could have picked, she can see Adrien and Nino collecting their books from the last lesson. They're talking about some video game; she can see Nino's enthusiastic hand gestures and prays they don't see her.

It wasn't entirely her fault. She'd only been in the classroom in the first place to pick up her sketchbook, and of course, the natural reaction to Adrien Agreste walking in was to get to the closest hiding spot. In this instance, the door.

It's not like her to give up on an opportunity to stalk her crush, so she peers through the crack in the door again. The boys are looking at something on Adrien's laptop, and she has to bite back a gasp when she sees his background.

It's her. Well, not Marinette, obviously, but Ladybug. She recognizes the photo; it's from the Ladyblog, taken after she and Chat had saved Alya from the Pharaoh. She's smiling, relieved, with her yo-yo in mid swing. It strikes her for a moment how ironic it is that her background is of him as well, and she can't help feeling slightly elated.

Nino rolls his eyes, half exasperated, half amused. "Really? Still hung up on Ladybug?" He laughs.

Adrien rolls his eyes back. "I'm not hung up on her."

"Oh come on," Nino scoffs. "Your bedroom is covered in posters of her, and it's not like you're interested in any attainable girls. All for some celebrity."

"Superhero," Adrien corrects. Nino only raises an eyebrow. Marinette supposes he can be quite perceptive when he wants to be.

"Isn't she dating Chat Noir anyway?"

Marinette suppresses a snort of laughter. As if.

"O-oh yeah, I bet," Adrien replies, flustered. "Do you think she'd like him?"

"I thought he was your competition?" Nino looks at him oddly. "Anyway, enough about your stupid crush. We should probably get some lunch."

"S'not a stupid crush," Adrien mumbles as he follows his friend out the door. Marinette stands frozen as he pulls the door behind him. She doesn't move even when she can no longer hear their footsteps in the corridor, her mind in overdrive. What was she supposed to make of that?

However, she's not allowed much time alone with her thoughts before Alya bursts in, breaking the silence. "Marinette?" Her friend calls, scanning the room.

"Where are you, you mad wom-" she turns and see her. "There you are! I've been looking for you all lunchtime."

"I was hiding from Adrien," Marinette says, feeling a bit ridiculous. "Behind the door."

"I thought you'd gotten better at talking to him?" Alya crosses her arms. "What happened?"

"It's not like I was spying on him," Marienette defends.

"Sure you weren't." An eye roll for good measure.

"I wasn't! But, I heard..."

"What?" Alya leans forward, ever the journalist hunting the story.

"He's got a crush on Ladybug!"

»»-¤-««

"I can't believe that boy," Alya fumes. "He's got an amazing girl right here under his nose and he pines after a celebrity!"

Marinette resists the urge to say 'superhero' and instead thinks about how much easier situations like this would be if she could tell Alya her identity."

"It's not his fault," she argues. "I mean, who would like me over someone like Ladybug?" And it's true; it hardly surprised her that Adrien would prefer her persona over her boring civilian self. That was one of the benefits of being Ladybug, to be able to come across as confident and beautiful, even if it was only when she was wearing a mask.

"Mari," Alya's brow furrows in concern. "If Adrien can't see what's right in front of him then that's his loss."

"Thanks Alya," Marinette says, trying to look at least a little upset. As ridiculous as it is, she can't help but be flattered by Adrien's infatuation. She wonders briefly what he'd do if she asked him out as Ladybug.

"At least it wasn't Chloé," Alya jokes.

"Oh God, can you imagine?" She laughs back.

Alya nods. "Yeah, it's not like he'll ever get anywhere with Ladybug."

Marinette grins back and tries to ignore the nagging feeling at the back of her brain telling that maybe, just maybe, this could be her best shot with her crush.

»»-¤-««

She is normally an attentive student, but the rest of the day passes in a blur of confusing thoughts and what-if scenarios. What if she steeled herself and went for it? What if he rejects her? What if she didn't care? It would be Ladybug being turned down, not her.

It's a relief to break of the crowded corridors and loud voices, and she decides to take the longer route to her house, traveling through alleyways so she can talk to Tikki, her faithful companion.

The kwami however, is a lot more apprehensive about the idea than her charge.

"But Marinette, what are you going to do, just turn up at his house in the middle of the night? Then what?"

"Well," she begins slowly. "I- Well... I'm not really sure about the details yet, but-"

"See?" The kwami shakes her head. "You're getting nervous already and you haven't even spoken to him yet."

"Yes, but I'll be Ladyb-"

"And besides," Tikki continues, cutting her off. "This isn't what your miraculous was intended for. It's supposed to be used for defending Paris."

"Yes, but think about it," Marinette cries. "Adrien loves Ladybug. He's hardly going to turn her down!"

Tikki mutters something that sounded vaguely like 'on your head be it', but makes no further comment. As they draw closer to the bakery, Marinette opens her purse for Tikki, and she obliges, shaking her head in disapproval before settling down.

»»-¤-««

By midnight, Marinette has made up her mind. She's going to be brave. After all, what's the point of having a secret identity if not for things like this?

"Are you sure about this, Mari?" Tikki frets, buzzing behind her nervously.

She sighs. "Calm down, it'll be fine." She hopes she doesn't sound like she's convincing herself at the same time.

She fixes what she thinks is a confident smile on her face and turns around. "Tikki, transform me!"

Marinette is immediately more at ease as Ladybug and it's encouraging to feel that familiar spike of adrenaline. Gliding across the roof times as she's done so many times before, she could almost go as far as to say she feels completely relaxed.

She touches down on Adrien's balcony without making a sound, and presses herself against the wall next to the doors. The doors to Adrien's bedroom. She gulps.

Breathe, she reminds herself. Be like Ladybug.

Peering round, she can see Adrien through the glass, sitting and reading on his bed. At least he's awake, she thinks, before steeling herself and stepping forward. She knocks once on the door, before leaning back on the railings, arranging her face in what's meant to be a smirk, but is probably more like a grimace.

Adrien looks up and blinks a few times in shock. Neither of them move until Adrien crosses the overly large room and opens the door. He's wearing sweatpants, a worn T-shirt and a mildly embarrassed expression.

"M'lady, I mean, um, Ladybug," he stammers. "What are you doing here?" His nerves fuel her confidence, and it's nice not to be the stuttering one for a change.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" She grins at him.

"I-, er, if you want," he says, and stands by to let her through. Ladybug stalks across his room and settles down on his bed, crossing her legs and hardly believing her own daring. Adrien settles in the desk chair a few feet away.

"You look purr-fect tonight," he tells her, and then immediately looks like he regrets it. Ladybug giggles; she'd never imagined Adrien would be one to make bad cat puns. Although, looking around his room, he does seem to be fond of cats. He's probably a fan of Chat, she thinks.

"Anyway," he clears his throat. "What can I do for you?" Marinette has a sudden moment of panic. Adrien was sitting across from her; she ought to be shaking with nerves. She feels her face flush behind her mask, and is grateful for it.

"Have you ever wondered what I'm like in real life?" It's out of her mouth before she thinks it through, but she feels like she needs to know.

"I guess," he nods. "Why? Have we met?" He adds eagerly.

"It doesn't matter," she says. "But I was curious... Is all this," she gestures at his Ladybug memorabilia. "Because you think I'm a hero? Brave and strong and all those things?"

"Not think," he shakes his head. "I know."

"But you haven't know me," she conquers. "Not properly."

"Maybe we have met," he says earnestly.

"We haven't," Marinette lies, not wanting to give anything away. "But you wouldn't know me if we had."

"Why? What's different about you?" He asks, eager for details.

"The clothes, for one thing," she laughs. "I'm not interesting, not like you'd think. I'm not confident, or heroic."

"Ladybug," he tells her. "I have no doubt whatsoever that whoever you are, and however you act without the mask, you'd still be the most interesting person I've ever met."

She wonders if Chat thought that too. She tells herself to stop thinking about Chat.

"I... I'd, er." She swallows hard, touched. Maybe he wouldn't feel like that if he met her, but still. "Thank you."

Before she knows what she's doing, she's on her feet.

It feels natural to walk the short distance to his chair, and it's surprising how easy it is to rest her knees next to his thighs on the seat, and isn't it weird that there's no nerves in her stomach, only butterflies, when she closes the distance between them.

She kisses him once, lightly, to gauge his reaction. He stares at her, mouth agape, eyes wide. She begins to doubt her impulse, and is about to climb off, when he moves his hand to cup her cheek, and leans her head down to his.

Adrien's lips taste like the cinnamon gum she always sees him chewing, and she likes it and she wants more please, and although she doesn't know what to do next, that's okay, because Adrien does and he's pushing her mouth open and flicking his tongue over her teeth and, oh

And suddenly she's Marinette again because he's good at this and she hasn't got a clue. But then Adrien's breath hitches and he murmurs ladybug into her mouth and yes, that's who she is, she's Ladybug so she tangles one hand in his hair and grips his hip with the other,

Well, she can't be that bad because he's shaking slightly and smiling into her and it's because of her, she did that so she takes his bottom lip between her teeth and sucks lightly and he likes that because his hand slips from her face and he practically purrs and she feels positively electric

and she is momentarily disappointed when Adrien's lips leave hers but he makes up for it with what he's doing with his mouth where her neck mets her jaw and she ought be embarrassed by the noises she's making but she's not so instead she moves her hand from his hip to his jaw and she doesn't know what he's doing with his tongue but she likes it and wow

"Chat."

She stands stock still, frozen. Did she really just say that? She must have done because Adrien's stopped moving too. Marinette realizes her hand is still on Adrien's face so she lets it fall and takes a step back.

"I- I'm sorry," she blurts out, not making eye contact. "I should go."

"No, wait," Adrien reaches for her as she turns away. "It's-"

"I shouldn't have come," she says, perhaps a little harshly, but she needs to leave. "Bye Adrien."

She steps out the door and seconds later, she's gone.

»»-¤-««

Ladybug's long gone by the time Adrien reaches the balcony. He groans in frustration. Just when he had her where he wanted, she slips from his grasp.

Adrien has no idea what to think. He sits on the floor next to his bed and rests his head on his hands, rubbing his forehead with his palms. He's still as confused as ever.

On one hand, Ladybug liked Adrien enough to come over here - he remembers the shock he felt, and still feels, that she would like the boring, ordinary version of him more than Chat Noir - yet like Chat enough to say the name; the right name, just the wrong time. On the other, he sincerely doubts that she'll want to see Adrien anymore, and he's worried that this will make things awkward when she's around him as Chat.

Oh God, he was supposed to be going on patrol with her half an hour ago. He guesses that's not going to happen now. At least Plagg was sleeping heavily after a cheddar overdose. Thank heaven for small mercies.

Well, he sighs. There's nothing that Nino can say now. He's not going to forget Ladybug for a long time: not after that.

»»-¤-««

She transforms back just as she collapses onto her bed, head in her pillow. Tikki rests on the duvet beside her head.

"I don't want to say I told you so, Mari," she begins, gently.

"Don't." Marinette wails. "I don't want to hear it."

Marinette doesn't cry often, but when she does, it's uncontrollable. She's shaking into her pillow as sobs wrack her body. For some reason, she feels a twinge of worry that she forgot to met Chat for control: but what does that matter now? How is she going to be able to face him again?

Anyway, it's not like she said his name because she, you know, fancied him. It was because Adrien was making catlike noises, probably. Actually Adrien's entire room was decorated with black cats, that must have had something to do with it. He was just... On her mind.

Oh God. What's Adrien going to think about her? It was going so well, she'd never felt so in control around him and then she had to go and ruin it. What if he tells people? Her reputation as Ladybug is at stake here, and there's no doubt it would get back to Chat as well.

"This is such a mess," Marinette groans, rolling onto her back. Tikki nuzzled into her arm.

"Shh," she soothes. "It'll be okay. You can go apologize to Adrien when this has all blown over, in a couple of days, and what Chat doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I'm seeing him tomorrow night though," Marinette sniffs.

"I did warn you," Tikki's eyes are already starting to close. "But I wouldn't worry. It'll turn out okay."

Marinette settles against the pillows, tries to ignore the lump in her throat and prepares for a sleepless night.

»»-¤-««

Marinette doesn't feel more than remotely better until she's back on the rooftops of Paris the following night. It's peaceful, with the wind in her hair and her troubles far away.

That is, of course, until one of those troubles appears in front of her, leaning on a chimney with a slightly nervous grin.

"Sorry I missed patrol last night, Bugaboo," he smirks. Oh, that's a relief. It wasn't just her.

"It's fine, I missed it too," she says, shooting him a small smile.

"Anyway, m'lady," he purrs. "You look pawitivley pu-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, you daft cat," she holds up a hand and walks past him, properly smiling now. Banter, she can handle.

"But you don't even know what I was going to say!" He protests. She can practically hear him pouting.

"I took a wild stab in that dark."

"Hmm," he murmurs, catching up with her. They walk in silence for a few minutes, Chat's tail brushing lightly against her arm. She can't quite put her finger on it, but he seems on edge.

"Hey," he stops still, tugging on her wrist to get her attention.

"Er, right, yeah. Hi." She's nervous in front of Chat? This is new. "What's up?"

He takes a deep breath without meeting her eyes, staring at his feet. Then he steps forward and she can see the determination written in his face. He leans forward and she can see it coming but for some reason she doesn't move. She lets him.

His lips feel soft against hers, and all Marinette can think is cinnamon. Chat pulls her towards him by her waist, and although she knows she should stop this, she's equally sure she doesn't want to. She can feel the tough leather of his cat suit beneath her fingers, except, wait, it's gone. Her hand brushes against soft cotton, and she pulls back, sharply. Chat lets her.

No, that's wrong. Adrien lets her. Adrien. Because there he is, standing in Chat's place, scratching the back of his neck a little sheepishly.

"Adrien?"

"Yeah." He spreads his hands as if to say, here I am.

"Oh my God."

"I know. I'm sorry. I would have told you, but..."

"But?" She prompts.

"I didn't want to disappoint you," he looks down.

"Disappoint me?" She nearly laughs. "Me, the girl who has had a gigantic crush on you for the past three years? I mean, really." She's grinning now, and tears glisten in her eyes. Adrien wants to say something clever about how beautiful she is, but he doesn't know what to say. So he says nothing at all.

And that's all that needs to be said. Because before his eyes, his Lady has transformed.

"Hi," says Marinette.

Adrien thinks a lot of things in that moment, wondering how he could have been so oblivious, and especially how he could have been so oblivious to her but most of all he's just happy.

"Marinette?" He asks, a little tentatively, reaching out his hand.

She takes it, and smiles at him. "Here I am."

A/N: Well, that was it. The present tense thing was a bit unplanned, but I went with it. I'd love to hear what you think!

[The title comes from Superman (It's Not Easy) by Five For Fighting.]