A/N: I think it's obvious by now that I love reveal fics. And what with rewatching the series for research purposes, the ideas keep coming in. Enjoy. This was meant to be a fluffy one-shot but then the angst came and I thought: Why not?

Content Notices: slight language

Ladybug was the lucky one in their duo, it was a simple fact. It probably accounted for her being able to jump into a tyrannosaurus' mouth and getting out again no worse for wear. If Chat had tried a stunt like that, well, it was better left unsaid.

The basic gist of it was that Chat Noir was the unlucky one between the two of them and that where Ladybug's luck held out, his didn't. At all.

That was the only explanation for why, when he jumped to the roof to get away before he transformed back into his civilian self, his transformation wore off mid-leap and Adrien came crashing down on a terrace, tumbling ungracefully until he was stopped by a small iron-wrought table.

As a Chat Noir, he would have shaken off the impact easily enough. As an Adrien, though, the contact with the table knocked him out. Plagg fluttered over him, letting his worry show as there were no witnesses around but once the kwami established that his chosen partner was still breathing, the worry ebbed. All he had to do was wait for Adrien to wake up and pester him for cheese so they could finish getting away.

Waiting was boring, though. Plagg was a cat. Actually, he was a cat kwami. The ultimate essence of catness was what made up the very core of his being. And as a cat, he got curious very quickly. And with the very inviting trap door right there...

Plagg peeked over the railing, seeing that Ladybug was talking to the man who had been the Akuma. He could hail her and explain things but he could always do it later after he took a peek into the house. What if there was a cheese inside? If there was and he ate it, he could transform Adrien as soon as the boy woke up and there would be no need to involve Ladybug.

She was quite touchy about the whole secret identity thing for some reason. She wouldn't appreciate Plagg forcing her to take care of the unmasked and unconscious Chat Noir. No, it was better to handle things on his own.

Having justified his actions, Plagg dived into the room beyond the trap door. There was a very nice bed right beneath - too bad he had no time for a nap - and further on was a familiar looking room. He had been here with Adrien before, when the boy had come over to play games with Marinette. Except the décor was different.

Plagg took a look at the pictures of Adrien put up all over the walls and cackled. Someone had a crush on the boy, one that probably rivaled the one the boy himself had on Ladybug. Plagg flitted over to look closer at one picture when there was a thump on the roof and a hastily muffled scream.

Plagg zipped beyond the computer monitor when the trap door opened and someone thudded down on the bed. There was a flash of pinkish light and then came the sound of a voice.

"Oh my god, Tikki, what's Adrien doing on my terrace?"

Plagg knew how to put two and two together and he very much liked the potential for mischief this particular four promised. He straightened out his feelers - he hadn't seen Tikki in a while, after all - and floated straight up to where Ladybug, now in her civilian form, was busy screaming into a pillow.

"I think I can explain, Ladybug," he said with a grin. "Or do you prefer Marinette?"

Two sets of large blue eyes blinked at him and then he was tackled by a red blur.

"What's the meaning of this, Plagg?!"

Plagg wiggled out of Tikki's hold and dusted himself off with a huff.

"Yeah, missed you too, Tikki. Now, can we get to the point where I ask you to help me take care of my Chat Noir? You might have noticed him knocked out outside."

The way Ladybug's eyes widened and how she grabbed the pillow to scream into it again was the funniest thing Plagg had seen recently. This was shaping up to be one of the most entertaining days he had had in a while.

Adrien woke up to a familiar sounding voice.

"Alya, I can't really meet with you right now. I'm really, really sorry for everything today and I promise I'll make it up to you... No! You don't have to check up on me! I'm fine. Totally, completely fine, nothing going on here, I swear!... Yes, we can meet up later... Yes, see you then, bye."

The sigh that came after that was of a person who had just gotten a reprieve but didn't expect it to last. Adrien turned his head to see Marinette putting away her phone. He quickly looked around and found his suspicions confirmed. He was laid up on a chaise in Marinette's room.

The movement of his head dislodged a cold wet cloth sitting on his forehead and it fell to the ground with a plop. Marinette looked up at the sound and their eyes met and held. She looked like she had had the biggest shock of her life and when Adrien cautiously felt around his eyes and hair, he understood why. He had no mask on.

The last thing he remembered was falling down and tumbling across a terrace after his transformation had worn off earlier than expected. Which meant that Marinette had had to find him lying prone out there. It would explain the shock she must have felt. There was no good, reasonable explanation that wouldn't give away his secret. But Adrien had to try and come up with something. While he trusted Marinette to keep the secret, Ladybug was right about one thing. It could be dangerous to know and he wouldn't forgive himself if Marinette got hurt because of it.

"I can explain," he started, hoping the words would come to him somehow but Marinette held up her hand.

"There's no need. Plagg told me what had happened."

"He did?" Adrien asked in surprise before the meaning registered in his mind. "Oh, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," she said, her voice curiously flat. "Plagg laughed himself silly while telling me how stupid and oblivious we both were."

Adrien frowned. Plagg could be a handful, sure. The kwami didn't know the meaning of tact or restraint but divulging Adrien's secret and insulting his friend didn't sound like him.

"I'm sorry for any offense he might have-"

Marinette - Marinette! - cut him off.

"We're not accountable for everything our kwami do or say," she said and Adrien was suddenly glad to be lying down because if he understood her correctly...

"You're Ladybug," he said with a wonder. Marinette nodded and looked away. "You're Ladybug," he repeated, the new knowledge dawning on him slowly. "You're Ladybug," he said again, the thought getting more exciting by the minute. "You're Ladybug-"

"And you're Chat Noir," Plagg spoke up and floated lazily towards Adrien, looking him quickly over before settling in his hair. "Are we done or do you want to say more perfectly obvious things?"

"Sorry," Adrien said, finally noticing how red Marinette had become. Of course she didn't need to be told, repeatedly, that she was Ladybug. She knew and she hadn't wanted him to know except now he did and... this was a giant mess. This wasn't how he had imagined the big reveal going down, with him getting knocked out because of his own bad luck and forcing Ladybug to take care of him in her civilian identity.

"It's okay, I was shocked, too," she said quietly and Plagg snickered.

"She was screaming into her pillow for some time. And then she freaked out because she thought you had died while she had the breakdown and-"

Adrien grabbed Plagg from his perch and did his best to silence him without resorting to outright violence.

"Will you make it home on your own?" Marinette asked, ignoring the scuffle.

"Well, I need to give Plagg some cheese," he said but Plagg finally got his mouth free.

"She already gave me some. It's enough to get us back but you owe me more."

"Sure, just," Adrien paused and looked at Marinette who was still looking away from him. "Shouldn't we talk about this?"

She flinched, just the tiniest bit before she shook her head.

"I need some time to think about everything. And Alya has been calling me a lot, too. I have to talk to her."

"Okay," he agreed. She was right, it would do him good to think things through, too. Now that he knew that Ladybug was someone so close to him - literally in his arm's reach, he had to decide how to act around her. Would he be more of a Chat or would she prefer Adrien? He would have to think about that. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He transformed, waved to her and left, taking extra care not to trip again.

Thoughts on what to do occupied Adrien for most of the evening, although he found time to talk to Nino about the surprising twist in his friend's romantic life. Adrien was actually glad that Nino didn't like Marinette like that anymore. With the new knowledge he now possessed, he wasn't sure he could have been as supportive as Nino deserved.

Plagg was quite for the most part, aside from complaining that Adrien wasn't as nice to him as Marinette was to Tikki and it was easy to block him out. He much preferred thinking on all the similarities between Ladybug and Marinette that he had been too blind to notice.

In the end, he decided that he would do as he always had done - follow his lady's lead, wherever that may take them.

The next day, he walked into class on time, fist-bumped Nino and settled down to wait for Marinette's arrival. He imagined they would exchange secretive looks, maybe a smile or two, he could try and send her a note with a cryptic message only she would get... The possibilities were endless and Adrien felt positively giddy at the thought of spending so much time with the most important person in his life.

Which is why it came as a nasty shock when Marinette stumbled into the class ten seconds before the bell and beelined towards her seat without so much as a glance in his direction. Adrien tried to turn around to talk to her, maybe wish her a good morning but the teacher came in and he had to at least pretend to pay attention.

Adrien stared at his worksheet but his mind was elsewhere. Maybe she didn't think he could be subtle about this. As a Chat Noir, he was rather more outgoing but he knew better than to draw too much attention. There was nothing strange about two friends talking to each other, wasn't there?

The moment the bell rang for the end of the first lesson, Adrien turned around.

"Hi," he greeted her and finally noticed the paleness of her face. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern. Marinette stared at him for a moment and then her face tensed, her jaw locked and her eyes narrowed.

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."

Adrien was taken aback, both by the hostility and fluency of her answer.

"Marinette, I-"

She held up her hand to stop whatever he was going to say, he wasn't sure himself.

"I think it would be for the best if you left me alone for a few days. I just can't deal with this right now."

To punctuate her point, she opened her textbook and stared down at the pages, even though it was clear she was just pretending to read. Adrien turned back in his seat and stared unseeing at the blackboard.

How the hell did this go so wrong?