"Plagg, I've got to find out," Adrien told his Kwami in the empty locker room.
"What? I thought you loved Ladybug. Why bother with her?" Plagg asked, wolfing down some Camembert Adrien keeps in his locker for emergencies.
"I do, I mean, that hasn't changed. There's just - just something about her...," he replied dreamily. He wore the same expression he usually did when speaking about Ladybug.
"I've noticed. You flirt with her a lot, you know. It's one thing having to put up with you flirting with Ladybug, but when you're with her I actually lose my appetite! You can't expect me to transform you at a moments notice when I can't even eat my Camembert!"
"Oh please, if the smell of that stinky cheese doesn't make you lose your appetite, nothing will." He sighed, "I've got to get back to class, c'mon, Plagg."
Plagg ducked into Adrien's shirt as he rush back to class, his excuse for leaving class tucked under his arm.
When he walked in with his book, while heading to his seat, he waved at Marinette. Her face turned scarlet, and she quickly hid her face in her arms. Alya patted her back, and said something to her that Adrien couldn't hear.
"Dude, you've gotta stop doing that," Nino whispered.
"What?" Adrien asked, confused.
"You like her, don't you?"
"What?" He asked again, only in an alarmed tone this time.
"I can tell you like her. Ask her out already, she's really great y'know."
Adrien recalled how Nino had a crush on Marinette awhile ago, but realized Alya was really the one for him, thanks to Ladybug locking them up in the zoo together.
And Nathaniel, he too had, and maybe still has, a crush on her. Who wouldn't after all? He never really thought about others liking her before, and the thought gave him an uncomfortable burning feeling in his chest.
"I think she hates me," he said gloomily. "Whenever I talk to her, she barely talks to me. She's calm and happy around everyone else, but with me, she hides and looks away."
Nino snorted. "Alya's going to kill me for saying this, but you're my best bro, and this is getting hard to watch. Dude. She likes you."
Adrien just blinked. She couldn't possibly. Plagg whispered only loud enough for Adrien to hear, "Told you so!"
Nino, clearly realizing he didn't get it, explained what Alya had told him about that day at the zoo. Though nothing seemed to be registering with him. Losing patience, Nino said quickly, "Just ask her out!" and went to work on his assignment, before he got in trouble yet again with Mrs. Bustier.
After class, Nino and Adrien walked out into the hall.
"Go ask her!" He said, gesturing toward Marinette who was walking with Alya down the stairs.
"Can't right now, I have a photoshoot I have to get to. The Gorilla and Nathalie are probably getting ready to bust the door down to drag me out. I'll see you tomorrow."
He ran down the school's front steps, and flung himself into the car. He did have a photoshoot he had to get to, but he wasn't running late, and it was only scheduled for a half hour in the park . And what a good thing it was, for it to be short. He had planned to go talk to Marinette afterwards, only not as Adrien. If Marinette talking to Adrien was in fact making her uncomfortable because she liked him, she'd have no problem talking to him as Chat Noir.
Just after being brought safely home, Chat Noir leaped out Adrien's bedroom window, and bounded over rooftops, towards The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie.
He could see Marinette on the balcony, watching the city of Paris all around her. She looked down about something.
"What's got you down, Princess?" Chat said, balancing perfectly on the railing in front of her.
"Oh, hey Chat," she greeted with a small smile. "It's nothing, really. What are you doing here? There's not an akuma coming after me again, is there?"
"No, it's nothing like that. I just thought I'd pay you a visit."
Marinette raised an eyebrow. "You don't usually go around visiting random civilians, do you?"
Chat chuckled. "No, and you're not a 'random civilian'. This is a special visit. I needed someone to talk to, and here you were, on your balcony. It was purrfect timing."
"Your puns are pawsitivley pawful," Marinette said, sticking her tongue out.
He winked. "People love my puns! But in all seriousness..." he looked over his shoulder, glancing down at the street below.
"Is this about Ladybug?" She asked.
"Uh...well...kinda...And kind of about this other girl I know."
"Oh?" she said, sounding politely curious, though the corners of her mouth twitched, as if she was stiffling a laugh.
"Yeah, well it's no secret how I feel about Ladybug. All of France knows that. But I've never been able to tell her how I really feel. That I've loved her since the day I met her. Honestly, I haven't told her because she keeps pushing me away. I know we're partners, saving Paris from Hawk Moth's akumas, but is that all I am to her? Is that why she pushes me away?"
Marinette glanced at him with wide, anxious eyes. Then slowly, she closed them. She looked as if she was deep in thought.
"I don't think she'll see me as anything more than partners, and I don't want to keep hoping for something that'll never happen. She's like a fairytale, too good to be true. Of course she wouldn't like me back... Which brings me to this girl."
"Do you like this girl, too?" Marinette asked, her eyes not meeting his.
"I do, but I don't think she likes me. When I'm not Chat, when I'm just me, I think I scare her."
"What do you mean?"
"She's all awkward, and barely says anything to me. But when she's with others, she's more confident and isn't afraid to say anything. Would you act like that, if you liked someone? Or does she hate me, like I think?" He looked at her from the corner of his eye.
"I'd definitely act like that, I do act like that. Just today, I made a fool of myself in front of him. I said something pretty incoherent, and then fell flat on my face. ...To answer your question from earlier, that's what's got me down."
Chat was replaying in his mind that incident. It was just that, that made him determined to find out why Marinette acted so weird around him. He found himself laughing without realizing it.
"It's not funny, Chat! It was so embarrassing. I can't even look at him now," Marinette hid her face in her hands.
"So, you like him then?"
She sighed.
"Is that a yes, Princess?" he asked teasingly.
Marinette just groaned.
"What do you think about me? You know, like that?" Chat wiggled his eyebrows playfully.
She went pink. "What? I barely even know you."
"Oh come on, you like me."
"Shut up, Chat," she couldn't help but smile.
"I know you do, you just won't admit -"
Suddenly, a young woman in brightly colored clothing went flying by, firing something at the people below on the streets.
"You have to go!" Marinette shouted anxiously, and with the nod of his head, Chat Noir took off across the buildings at high speed.
"Come on, Tikki! I have to help him."
Tikki gave Marinette a look, but nodded.
"Tikki, spots on!"
Within a minute, she was swinging over the streets of Paris, and quickly caught up to the akuma, and Chat Noir.
"Always nice to see you, m'lady."
Ladybug gave him a brief smile, and went into full superheroine mode.
"You will all appreciate me, for I am your Queen!" shrieked the woman.
People in the streets bowed to her, and sent them off to do her bidding. Several were sent out to obtain Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous.
"Where do you think the akuma is?" Chat Noir shouted, as he was fighting off a couple of citizens under the control of the Queen.
"There! The tiara on her head."
"Oh... I should've thought of that. Allow me?"
"Be my guest."
He approached the Queen slowly, being polite and courteous, choosing his words carefully while he spoke to her. It was enough to keep her occupied long enough for Ladybug to swipe the crown, and break it.
Once she had purified the akuma, they spoke with the woman briefly before Ladybug took her leave.
Chat decided to head back to Marinette's, and noticed Ladybug was going in the same direction.
He felt a pang of guilt because he was following her, but it certainly wasn't intentional and he had somewhere else he was heading.
But the closer they got to Marinette's, the more he worried he'd be caught following her.
The bakery was in sight when he slowed down, thinking she'd continue on and he would never be seen by her.
However, he was astounded when he saw Ladybug land on Marinette's balcony, and detransform.
He hadn't meant to witness her detransformation, he didn't mean to find out her identity. Chat always knew and respected how important it was to her that it remain a secret from him. The day he found out, he wanted it to be on her own terms, because it's what she wanted.
Chat Noir stood there in utter shock, a voice in the back of his mind telling him he should leave and not tell her that he knows her secret, but his body wouldn't budge.
Marinette suddenly turned around, spotting Chat Noir staring at her like a deer in the headlights.
"Chat..." she whispered, though he could still make it out with his heightened hearing. The look she gave him was filled with disappointment and sadness.
His ears drooped as she motioned him over.
A few jumps later, he was standing in front of her on her balcony, his ears still drooped and his eyes wide.
"Did you... did you follow me?" she asked weakly, her tone flooded with the sound of betrayal.
"No, no of course not!" he shook his head, his tail flickered behind him. "That's not what happened at all."
"What happened then?"
"I wanted to come see you after the attack, Marinette, since we were interrupted," he hopped backwards and perched up on the railing. "And I noticed Ladybug going in the same direction. I thought that she'd keep going once she passed your house. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to nor did I want to find out this way."
She examined his face, which held nothing but regret and sincerity. He resembled a lost and lonely kitten, and it hurt her to see his expression.
"Oh, no, no, please don't look like that Chat Noir, I know you wouldn't do it on purpose I just - I wanted to be the one to tell you, when I was ready. It was an accident that you found out, I know that. But still..."
There was an air of silence between the two, then Marinette spoke again.
"Are you okay?" she asked, noticing he had gone off into space, his bright green eyes out of focus.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just thinking... It's been you all this time," he beamed at her then, which caused Marinette to blush and look down at the floor. "Every time we interacted, whenever I've been over to your house, you were Ladybug and I never even knew it."
Marinette glanced back up at Chat Noir, thoroughly confused. "But we didn't really interact that much, only a handful of times, and very briefly when we did."
His expression became even more amused, his smile a little too wide. He leaped off of the railing to face Marinette.
"I see you every day," he spoke softly, taking her hands. She glanced down at them a moment, then her blue eyes met his. Marinette found she suddenly couldn't look away, his eyes were holding her. "We speak to each other all the time, and we've had some crazy adventures, too. But like me not knowing it's been you all this time, you don't know that I've always been right there with you, either."
His words began to sink in when he continued on.
"That other girl I was telling you about... The girl I was talking about is you, Marinette."
Her breath caught in her chest, and Chat pulled her in for a hug.
"Plagg, claws in," he muttered.
"Chat, no! Are you sure you want me to know?" Marinette had her eyes squeezed shut.
"The only thing that was keeping me from telling you myself, was you. Now that I know who you are, there's nothing holding me back. You can open your eyes," he reassured her. Marinette opened them, and slowly let go of him.
She glanced up to see Adrien looking down at her, his eyes piercing and his smile vibrant.
"Adrien?" she asked breathlessly, taking a few steps back. She covered her mouth with her hand. "Wha...?"
He chuckled. "It's okay, you need some time to process. I'm sure there are questions you want to ask me, as there are some I want to ask you, but I have to go. I'll come by tomorrow, early afternoon, okay?"
Marinette simply nodded in response, her mouth slightly open. He turned away a moment, then turned back around and pulled Marinette into another hug.
"Goodnight," he whispered. Quickly, he turned around, shouted, "Plagg, claws out!" and was gone in the blink of an eye.
She leaned on the railing, and looked over her part of the city, everything a beautiful orange with the setting sun. Marinette sighed dreamily as she replayed everything over in her mind.
"You'll never guess what I just managed to capture," a woman a few buildings away said excitedly into her phone, while she flipped through the expensive and sleek camera in her free hand. "It's going to be the biggest story to hit Paris in years!"
AN: I found part of this chapter written up in a old document from over a year ago, and decided today to finish it. I was about to make this a one-shot when inspiration struck me and I got the idea that would make this an ongoing fic. Yes, for those that read my other work, I already have several of them but I think you'll like this one. ;)
Let me know if you like it by reviewing, favoriting, and following!
~ToujoursMiraculous