Author's Note:

I was reading Find Me: A Reveal Story by LunettePendragon and was on Chapter 3 when the call from Marinette's phone to Adrien's phone was mentioned. So, I had to watch that part of the new Oblivio episode again as it flew completely over my head the first time (and the implications of it). I'm writing this from Adrien's perspective using that phone call as the catalyst for the reveal.

I do not own any of these characters.

"That's twice now," Adrien said in a huff to Plagg while looking at the picture of Ladybug and Cat Noir kissing on the Ladyblog. "Ladybug's kissed me twice and I don't remember either time."

"At least you found out sooner this time..."

"Yeah, I know. No finding out about this one on prime time television." Adrien spun around in his chair and decided to check his phone for messages as he usually did after being Cat Noir. No messages, he thought to himself. His eyebrows furrowed, but one missed call? From Marinette, at 15:14.

Adrien swiveled back around and looked at the article on the local news station about the battle and scrolled down to the Play By Play section of the article. "Hey Plagg, check this out..."

"If it's not camembert... I'm not interested."

Adrien shook his head, but continued talking to Plagg anyway. "According this news article, Ladybug and Cat Noir retreated from Oblivio at 14:58 and defeated Oblivio at 15:24."

"So? Not camembert, not listening."

"So... why did Marinette call me at 15:14 and not leave a message?"

"Do I look like a mind reader? If you want to know, ask Marinette."

"That'd be very suspicious if I did it now. I'll check with her tomorrow to see what she was doing during the battle and see if she volunteers the fact she tried to call me."

"She's your girlfriend, not mine. So, talk to her whenever you think it's appropriate."

"Plagg... Marinette's just a friend." Adrien shook his head. Plagg seemed extra stand-offish tonight. "What's got you in such a bad mood, anyway?"

"I didn't like what happened today. It put me off."

"Why?"

"Well, you remember Dark Cupid?"

"Not really..."

"Exactly... but I do."

"Yeah, I remember you teasing me about saying horrible things to Ladybug."

"Well... this time... even I don't remember what happened."

"Oh... First time?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry. I know how it feels."

Plagg huffed a little. It was funny when it happened to Adrien, but wasn't a bit amusing when it happened to him. "It's not your fault, kid."

"I can be sorry that it happened to you without being the cause of it happening..."

"You're right. I'm just still flustered by the whole situation."

"It's okay. Why don't you go get another piece of camembert? I'm sure that'll make you feel better."

Plagg zipped off with the words, "You don't have to ask me twice," trailing behind him.

Adrien entered the locker room and saw Marinette at her locker. True to form, he snuck around the row of lockers and hid behind her open door. There was just something about ambushing Marinette that tickled his fancy. Marinette closed her locker and, "Hello Marinette!"

Marinette squealed in surprised, making Adrien smile. "H-Hi, A-Adrien..."

"That was some field trip yesterday, huh?"

"Tell it about me... I mean tell me about it."

Marinette was getting better, but being surprised almost always caused her stuttering to relapse. She let out a frustrated groan, making Adrien feel a twinge of guilt for enjoying it so much. "I saw you hanging around the closet after everyone else left. Did you get your memory erased when they came out as Oblivio?"

"I decided to follow the rest of the class and give Alya and Nino some space. I heard the crashing of the door fly open and I ran to hide in another closet. I could hear Oblivio pass by the door, chasing after the rest of the class. I stayed in there until I heard other people again, walking by and talking about how Ladybug and Cat Noir had defeated the villain. What happened to you?"

"Pretty much the same. Though, I did venture out a bit trying to see if I could help get anyone else to safety after Oblivio had left the area. But, no one remembered who I was or that they were in danger. I went back to hide when I heard Ladybug talking to some of the class that were mulling around aimlessly down the hall. I figured if she was there, then everyone would be okay and I didn't want to be there if Oblivio showed back up to fight with her. I'm glad you weren't hurt."

"Me too. I'm glad you weren't hurt either."

Adrien patted her on the shoulder and left the locker room, more convinced than ever that Marinette was hiding something. I know she's not a liar, like Lila. So, it has to be that she either was affected and doesn't remember being affected and called me during that time, or she's embarrassed that she tried to call me. Maybe I can see if she called someone else during that time who can confirm if she lost her memory.

Adrien knew she kept her phone in her small purse that she almost always wore. However, he knew she wouldn't have it during gym. He waited for everyone to leave the locker room when gym was beginning and then snuck in. "Plagg, please open her locker for me."

"I'd rather not get involved..."

"Plagg, do you want to me to switch you to processed cheese food for a week?" Plagg's eyes widened as he flew into Marinette's locker. He poked Tikki to wake her up and pointed at the locker door indicating it was about to be opened and for her to hide in a different location. He then opened the locker door from the inside.

"Thanks, Plagg." Adrien opened Marinette purse and pulled out her cell phone. It was locked and he frowned. For some reason, he decided to breathe on it to see if the pattern would show itself. I can't believe that worked. I can't even believe I thought of trying it.

Adrien was immediately taken aback that he was Marinette's background on her phone. He shook it off and opened the call history. Adrien scrolled through Marinette's call log from the previous day during the time of the battle. She called her mother at 15:09, most likely to let her know she was safe. Then, she called me at 15:14 as I found out yesterday from my phone. And then... Adrien's eyes widened in shock. She called someone named Fu at 15:20. Adrien tapped on the call for details and then dropped her phone. The number was the same one he had gotten for Master Fu after fighting Syren.

Tikki flew out and faced Adrien with a stern look on her face. "You're not supposed to know. It's dangerous for both of you."

"Y-You must be Ladybug's kwami..."

Plagg flew up next to Tikki. "Yes, this is Tikki."

Adrien bent down and picked up Marinette's phone. He turned around silently, still in shock, and replaced the phone into her purse and closed the locker. He turned back around and faced the kwamis. "I-I can't believe it. I really didn't think I'd find out she was Ladybug. I swear."

"Well, you did," Tikki retorted, still scowling at Adrien. "What are you planning on doing now that you know?"

"I don't know. I know she doesn't want us to reveal or identities and I'm sure this will hurt her, especially if she finds out that I swiped her phone just to see why she was trying to hide the fact that she called me."

"Not to mention what Master Fu will think."

"But, I can't hide the fact that I know. That'd be worse."

"At least you're smart enough to realize that."

"Maybe I can find out another way, making it look like an accident. I mean, that would at least keep her from wondering how I found out, right?"

Tikki folded her arms and glared at Adrien. "You really think so?"

"No. I guess not. I should just man up to what I did."

"Exactly."

Marinette closed her locker and, "Hello Marinette!"

Marinette squealed in surprised, but Adrien didn't smile. "H-Hi, A-Adrien. I-Is everything okay?"

"We need to talk. I'm afraid you're going to be very disappointed in me."

"I could never..."

"Don't say never. Let's go somewhere we can talk in private."

"This sounds really serious."

"It is."

"School's over in an hour. How about we go to the park after school?"

"I'm afraid we need to go somewhere you won't hesitate yelling at me."

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "Sounds scarily serious."

"It is."

"Okay. How about my room. My parents should be down in the bakery for a few hours after school."

"Sounds good."

Adrien didn't remember much from the last hour of school. He kept playing with his ring and dreading the upcoming conversation. When the bell rang, he waited for Marinette and then the teens headed to her room.

"Hello, Mama, Papa! You remember Adrien."

"Hello Adrien," both parents said in unison.

"Hello." Adrien was still somewhat out of it.

"We're going up to my room to hang out. I'll grab some sweets for us so that you don't need to bring anything up for us this time."

Marinette's parents nodded and went back to work as Marinette and Adrien headed upstairs to the apartment and then up again into Marinette's room. Adrien and Marinette sat on the chaise lounge, facing each other.

"I'm so sorry. But I found out last night that I had a missed call from you yesterday. So, today when you said you weren't affected by the akuma, I got suspicious. I thought maybe you really did get affected, but didn't remember calling me. My curiosity got the better of me, so... I broke into your locker during gym and looked through your call history to see if there was anything there that would've indicated why you called me."

"Adrien... why are you telling me this?"

"Because, it's the right thing to do. I did something stupid by swiping your phone. I know you'd never do something like that and I feel bad for not living up to your standards..."

"I... I wouldn't say that I would never swipe a cell phone. But, there'd have to be a really good reason." Marinette blushed as she almost confessed to her own phone swiping shenanigans.

"It's just... just that I don't think you remember calling me yesterday. And I found some other calls during the time of the battle with Oblivio that you might not remember either. Why don't you look for yourself?"

Marinette pulled out her phone and blushed after she unlocked it and saw Adrien's picture. "I assume you saw the background also?"

"Yes, but that's not why we need to talk."

Marinette looked confused, like she couldn't figure out why a phone call would be more important than her crush seeing his picture on her phone. She shook her head and opened the call log. She scrolled down and past the entries from that day. Scrolling back up, Adrien could see the look on her face as she saw her mother's name in the call log, followed by Adrien's name, and then she froze and all the color drained from her face. "I-I see I called my mom, you, and my... grandfather during that time."

"I know that's not your grandfather, Marinette. Your face wouldn't be so pale if he was."

"I-It's... uh..."

"Marinette. I know... I know you're Ladybug."

Marinette's hand flew up it cover her mouth as tears began forming in her eyes. "But... how? How could that one phone call make you think I'm Ladybug?"

"Because, I have that phone number in my phone also." Adrien held up his phone and showed Marinette his contact for Master Fu, listed as Substitute Chinese Teacher.

"Why do you have his number? How do you know him... besides the fact that he's obviously posing as your Substitute Chinese Teacher?"

"I think you know there's only one way."

"No... No it can't be..." Marinette shook her head side to side frantically and Adrien's heart dropped.

"I'm so sorry. I never thought I'd find out you were Ladybug. I swear. The thought never crossed my mind. But, I couldn't keep it from you after I found out."

"All this time?"

"Yes, all this time."

Adrien watched Marinette's face shift through a myriad of expressions that he was sure his face must've also done throughout the afternoon. "And then we kissed yesterday..."

"I been thinking about what could've happened yesterday to make us want to kiss before you fixed everything. I think we detransformed for some amount of time, but didn't know who each other were, much less ourselves."

"That makes sense. We did use our powers before we were hit while getting on the elevator... At least, that's what I saw on the news reports from yesterday."

"We must've unlocked our phones somehow. You would've seen the picture of me, and I have lots of pictures of Ladybug on my phone. We must've assumed we already knew each other's identities... and probably... thought we were already a couple."

"That's logical. But, why would we kiss before fixing everything?"

"I must've somehow known there was a chance we weren't already a couple and that we wouldn't remember each other's identities after the fix."

"That's perceptive of you, kitty."

"Kitty?"

"Yes... kitty."

"I... uh... expected you to be yelling at me before this point instead of calling me kitty."

"I guess... I guess I'm just too much in shock to be mad right now."

Tikki flew out, causing Plagg to fly out. Tikki had that same stern look on her face from earlier. "You two need to talk to Master Fu. Now."

"Hello, Marinette," Master Fu answered the call.

"Hello, Master. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the Miraculous Ladybugs reverted mine and Cat Noir's memories. The bad news... is that it missed erasing our call history from yesterday."

"Is there a way Cat Noir could find out you were with him?"

"Apparently, I called his phone yesterday. We must've needed a distraction or something. It was before I called you."

"I see. Do you think he saw your missed call?"

"I'm sure he did. In fact, he's sitting right next to me... right now... as Adrien."

"Oh. I see. Well, the Miraculous Ladybugs usually fix everything, but occasionally something is missed... either on accident or on purpose. You'll have to ask Tikki which it was as she's the one who controls what is or isn't fixed."

The two teens turned back to Tikki who was no longer scowling, but sporting an embarrassed smile. "Oops?"

"Tikki says oops. Or rather, asked it," Marinette said back into the phone. "She was the one who insisted we call you."

"She was also the one who insisted I come here and confess the truth of what I had learned."

Master Fu chuckled. "Sounds like it wasn't much of an accident to me."

"I'm sorry Master. I couldn't help myself. I had to leave a clue. But, I didn't force Adrien to act on it."

"As long as this doesn't negatively affect your duties as Ladybug and Cat Noir, then it's okay. But, you two need to talk this out. If you can't keep your civilian lives from affecting your superhero duties, then I'll be forced to find a new Ladybug and Cat Noir. It's way too important to ensure that Hawk Moth does not get ahold of your miraculouses. So, I will give you time to talk, but I need to know... preferably before the next akuma."

Adrien nodded. "We understand Master. We'll let you know what we decide."

Marinette hung up the phone and stared at Tikki. "Would you and Plagg give us some privacy, please?"

"We'll be on the balcony. Come on Plagg." Tikki and Plagg flew up and phased through the trap door to the balcony.

"I'm so sorry..." Adrien started. "I don't know what I'd do if we lost Tikki and Plagg because I couldn't control my curiosity."

"It's not completely your fault, Adrien. Tikki shouldn't have left that clue."

"We know that we can work together when we love each other and know each other's identity or we wouldn't have defeated Oblivio."

"Yes, but because we couldn't remember anything, we likely thought we already knew each other's identity and that we were a couple. That would've taken our... crushes... on each other out of the equation."

"Each other? I thought you liked Luka? I..."

"You... I like you, Adrien. I never even considered you might be Cat Noir."

"Oh... I guess I can quit being jealous of your beau."

"I'm so sorry I kept rejecting you. I... I just kept holding out hope that you'd eventually see me as more than a friend..." Marinette let those words hang out there for a while and turned her head away.

"I never let myself see you as anything more because I was holding out for Ladybug and I thought you liked Luka."

"I do like Luka. He's a nice guy and he treats me nicely. I could see a future with him. But, I want a future with you more... even if you prefer Kagami."

"Prefer Kagami? Oh no... What a mess I've made. Kagami's nice, and I think she likes me. I even tried going out with her, when we met you and Luka at the ice rink, but I told her I just couldn't give up on the girl I had a crush on. The movie premier and the royal wedding were events my father made me attend with them as he had business to do with Kagami's mother. But, dating Kagami would feel too much like a business deal now. Plus, she's always so intense."

"Ugh... the ice skating fiasco was my fault. I'm the one who invited Luka to join us. No wonder you thought I liked him. But, even Luka could tell that I have a huge crush on you. That's why he encouraged me to run after you."

"Oh... uh... I just remembered that I actually asked you for advice about Kagami. I... I..."

"You were just thinking of me as a friend... which I was... and am. I just want to be more."

"I want that too." Adrien looked at the Marinette's face sadden a little and then quickly added, "As Marinette... not just Ladybug. I love both sides of you. I... I just wouldn't allow myself to admit it before." It was Adrien's turn to sadden a little. "But... I know you don't feel that way about Cat Noir."

"That's... not entirely true." Adrien's head shot up and he looked at Marinette with great anticipation for the next sentence she was about to utter. "I was in the same boat, I was friend-zoning you as Cat Noir so I wouldn't hurt him when you as Adrien finally noticed me. I can't say I always cared deeply for Cat Noir, but I certainly have grown to over the months we've been partners. I can't imagine a world without you... either of you." Marinette took a deep breath. "I knew I'd always choose Adrien if I had to make a choice and I didn't want to hurt Cat Noir if or when it happened. I always thought I could let our partnership bloom into something more if Adrien ever did finally reject me."

"I think I understand. But this whole... Love Square... thing just makes my head... and my heart... hurt, just thinking about all the time we wasted dancing around each other."

"Can we..." Marinette bit her lower lip. "Can we start over? Without all of the crushing and just see where we go from here?"

"I think I'd like that." Adrien and Marinette smiled at each other. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you like to go on a date with me to the movies and to get some ice cream?"

"Adrien Agreste, I'd love to."

They held hands and just quietly enjoyed each other's company for a few moments before Adrien realized he had to leave for a photo shoot. "I'm sorry. But, I have to leave soon."

"That's right! You have a photo shoot today."

"How'd you know?"

"Well... I may have memorized your schedule." Marinette giggled nervously.

Adrien just smiled and shook his head a little to let her know it was okay. "But, before I go... if I may... I'd love for us to have a first kiss that we both remember."

Marinette nodded. They leaned in and kissed gently. It was a great first kiss.