Marinette brows furrowed, having been distracted by Adrien all class long, and not in the normal way. Adrien seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, as if considering a life altering decision. She was glad over the last couple years she had known Adrien that they had become better friends, not only that but she could not speak to him without melting into a pile of goo. Once the bell rang she shoved her things in her bag and walked over to talk to him, "Hi, Adrien!" She said, just barely catching the model's attention, "Something on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing important," He said, brushing the question away as he ran a hand through his hair in the sort of way that distracted Marinette for a few moments

"Adrien's just having problems with his old man," Nino piped in, probably already having heard all about Adrien's problems since he was his best friend.

"Oh, sorry about that, I hope everything works out. So, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this afternoon?" Marinette asked nervously, having gotten a little better at asking Adrien to hang out. They had become better friends since they met but she had never had the courage to confess her true feelings.

Adrien looked at Marinette for a moment, seeming to think deeply about something, "Sure, why don't we go to the movies? Maybe get some dinner to," He suggested with a charming smile that left Marinette swooning, "I'll pick you up at five?"

She nodded, watching him stand up and walk out with Nino. She didn't even notice as Alya walked up to her and gave her a congratulatory punch on the arm, "You go, girl. If I didn't know any better, I would say you just got a date with Adrien tonight,"

Marinette's face immediately lit up in a bright blush, "A-A date? Are you sure? Do you think it's really a date? I mean we are seeing a movie, and then getting dinner… alone… Oh my god it's a date!" She squealed, her excitement freezing in a near instant, "I'm not ready. I need to go home, take a shower, get dressed, do my hair, oh I have so much to do, I have to go. Bye Alya!" She stammered, hugging her best friend hastily before dashing out the door to get ready.

"Father."

"Son."

"I've thought about this for a long time."

"And?"

"...I'll do it."

"Good, come with me and we'll talk about it more."

Marinette squealed when she heard a knock on the door, she would have ran into the door with the speed she was going in her father hadn't stopped her. She was wearing a scarlet dress accented with black lace and an ebony ribbon around her waist. She shooed her father away, not about to let him ruin her first date with Adrien before opening the door.

Adrien stood behind the door in a pitch black suit and tie that contrasted amazingly with his blond hair and green eyes. He held out a single red rose to Marinette with an endearing smile playing on his lips. A blush spread across Marinette's cheeks as she realized, yes, this was definitely a date. She took the rose with a shy smile, squeaking out a thank you.

"Let's go," Adrien said, offering his arm to the blushing girl. Marinette took his arm and he walked her to a restaurant next to the theater. The poor girl was playing with the hem of her dress nervously as Adrien sat next to her in the booth.

"They have really good sea bass here," Adrien said conversationally, glancing over at her.

"O-Oh, is it? I think I'll try it," She said with a small smile, looking up as the waitress came over to take their order. Once the woman left, she was all alone with Adrien and no idea what to talk about.

"You're a fashion designer aren't you?" Adrien said, catching her attention, somehow, just the sound of his voice helped the tension flood from her, "What kind of clothes do you want to focus your career on?"

"Um, well I really enjoy designing evening dresses. There's just so much you can do with it, there's floral patterns, stripes, polkadots, not to mention ribbon and lace you can add to the dresses. I um," She paused, becoming bashful, "I actually made this dress myself,"

"I think it's beautiful," Adrien said, patting Marinette's leg and making her flush even more.

"I-I also like to design suits too, there's um, less to do with them but I love adding my own personal touch that makes it unique," She said, staring at the table.

"That's really cool, maybe you can make me some clothes sometime," He said with a warm smile. The waitress swung by their table and delivered their food, leaving the two of them too busy eating to continue talking.

Before long, they were in the theater and halfway through the movie she realized that Adrien's arm was around her shoulders. The blush returned to her cheeks but at least this time it was dark enough that he couldn't see it.

She hid her blush through the whole movie, unable to get it to subside with Adrien's arm draped around her shoulders. She didn't know what suddenly made him so forward with her, he had never returned her advances before but she was by no means going to question it.

Marinette, being the love sick teenage girl she was, was watching the rom-com with her full attention and was completely engrossed when the two leads kissed in the end. So engrossed in fact that she didn't notice Adrien leaning towards her until his lips were touching hers. Whatever red tint that had left her cheeks had returned with a vengeance as he kissed her and she shyly attempted to return it.

Adrien chuckled softly as he broke the kiss, his eyes expressing a sense of adoration for Marinette, "You're so cute,"

She was swooning on the entire walk home, getting another kiss on her doorstep before her father opened the door. Marinette giggled, pushing the intrusive man away and stepping inside, "Thank you for the wonderful night Adrien,"

"And thank you for making it wonderful, have a good night," Adrien said, giving her a charming bow before walking off.

Marinette closed the door and leaned against it as she attempted to get her speeding heart rate down. Squealing, she raced to her room to call Alya and tell her everything.

"Hello there, my lady," Chat said as he swung onto the roof where Ladybug was waiting for him, "Have you been waiting long for me?"

"Not too long, or else I would have left already, you know that Chat," Ladybug said with a small giggle. She was still feeling light and airy after her date with Adrien.

"My lady, you wound me," Chat said, pressing a hand to his chest in mock hurt. The tilted his head slightly as he observed Ladybug, seeming to notice her somewhat dazed look, "Did something happen, my lady?"

She glanced at him, only just realizing that she had been spacing out, "Huh, oh sorry, I just came back from a date with my crush of nearly three years and it went really well," She said, swooning at the memory of being kissed by Adrien/

Chat frowned slightly, a small spark of frustration and anger glinting in his eyes. He stood there silently, agitation coming off of his suddenly tensed body.

"Chat, are you okay?" Ladybug asked upon noticing his agitation, "You're not still mad at me about our little argument are you?" She asked in a guilty tone, remembering the first time Chat ever seemed even a little mad at her.

It wasn't very often that Ladybug talked about her civilian life, let alone her civilian crush but when she got talking about it, she didn't stop. It was the prior week when she was up on the roof with Chat, already having done enough patrolling for the night and just enjoying each other's company now.

"He's so sweet and caring, always looking out for other people. It's hard to believe how kind he is given his difficult home life but there's no doubt he's the most amazing person in the world," Ladybug said, having been prompted to tell Chat about her crush.

"I'm sweet and caring too, bugaboo," Chat purred, leaning in closer to Ladybug only to be pushed away again.

"Yeah, but you two are different. He's just… amazing," She said, swooning at the thought of her crush.

"And I'm not?" Chat asked, a little bit hurt about how much she talked about this guy. He had been pining after her for almost three years and she would still barely give him the time of day. All she wanted was this stupid crush of hers who was too stupid to see that an amazing girl loved him.

"Huh? Oh, well, you're cool too… and you're an amazing partner, but that's all we are Chat, partners, you know that," She said, attempting to be sensitive.

"Now more than ever," He murmured, "I think I'll take my leave, my lady. I have an early morning so I should really get some sleep. I bid you adieu," He said with a bow, hopping off the roof before she could say anything.

"No, no, it's not that," Chat said, sighing in deep thought, "Hey, Ladybug?"

She furrowed her brows, Chat Noir almost never called her that. He always called her his lady or bugaboo or sometimes ever bug, but never Ladybug, "Yeah…?"

"I don't know if you're ever going to love me with your mask on… I just wanted to let you know my reasons for what I'm doing," Chat said with a straight face.

"Chat what are you talking-" A muffled scream escaped her throat when a wet cloth pressed up against her face, almost instantly making her world turn black.

Chat sighed, brushing Ladybug's bangs out of her eyes as he picked her up carefully, he still loved her after all. But he had come to the conclusion that as long as their masks remained, as long as he couldn't spend every waking minute trying to get her to love him, then she never would. That's why he ever agreed to do this in the first place. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop on his way back home where he was sure his father was waiting for him impatiently.

He jumped through the window of his bedroom, walking to a guest bedroom and setting Ladybug down on the bed. She looked beautiful there, he wanted to keep her forever but she was a free spirit and that was one of the things he loved about her.

"Good job, Adrien," Chat turned around to see his father walk into the room, transformed into his Hawk Moth persona. Their relationship was still incredibly tense at best but Chat had found it easier to talk back to him when transformed.

"Don't call me that, Ladybug doesn't know who I am yet," Chat said, turning back around to look at Ladybug.

"Go on then, take her earrings for me," Hawk Moth said insistently. Chat knew his father was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it so it must be hard for the man to have waited for this for so long.

Chat shot him a quick exasperated glare before looking back at Ladybug, he would finally know what her true identity was, "I hope you know father, I'm not doing this for you," He had tried to let go of Ladybug for his own good, tried to forget about how much he loved her by going on a date with that cute Marinette girl but he just couldn't ignore how much he loved her. He couldn't just forget how she had his heart skip a beat every time she touched him. He needed her in his life more than anything else, "I'm sorry about this my lady," He said as he reached towards her spotted earrings, caressing one of them before reaching behind her ear to remove it.

As if flipping a switch, Ladybug's eyes popped open and her hand shot up to grab Chat's, making him freeze in place.

Ladybug slowly gained consciousness, her senses coming back to her one by one. Touch, taste, smell, hearing…

"I'm sorry about this my lady,"

The moment she felt a hand on her earrings, she knew something was wrong. Her instincts kicked in and she felt her arm shoot out all on it's own to grab the intruding hand. Her eyes were wide, a feeling of dismay and betrayal hitting her like a ton of bricks. Everyone was shocked still for a moment, but the tears that stung in the corners of her eyes brought her back to reality, "You stupid cat!" She screamed as she roughly pushed him away, adrenaline flooding through her body as she sprung up and jumped straight through the window.

She hardly noticed how the shards of glass dug into her skin or how Hawk Moth behind her yelled at Chat to go get her. She didn't look behind her to see if she was being followed, she was running on auto pilot, not even considering what would happen if Chat managed to follow her all the way home.

Ladybug crash landed onto her roof with a weak cry of pain, both physical and emotional. Alya was an amazing friend for sure but Ladybug knew that Chat had become her closest friend, she never expected him to betray her like this. She staggered into her room, locking both the trapdoor to the roof and the one to the living room downstairs. Releasing her transformation, she fell into her swiveling chair, the pain of her cuts beginning to intensify as the adrenaline ran out.

"Marinette!" Tikki squealed with concern, the small kwami immediately zipping around the room to try and find some sort of bandages, "It's going to be okay Marinette, everything is going to be fine, you can handle this," She said encouragingly as she brought a roll of bandages over to her. The kwami began cleaning Marinette's cuts and wrapping them in bandages.

"How could Chat do that…?" Marinette murmured, staring down at the floor with a hopeless look, "He… I… I thought we were friends…"

"You've always known how he feels about you Marinette," Tikki said as she moved on to another cut, "He loves you, Hawk Moth probably promised him that he could have you if neither of you had your miraculouses."

"I don't know what to do Tikki, I've always had Chat fighting by my side, I don't know if I can beat Hawk Moth and Chat Noir," Marinette said, feeling like she had already lost the battle.

"Don't give up Marinette, Chat Noir still has a good heart, he's not going to let Hawk Moth akumatize anyone so why don't you take a little break from Ladybug," Tikki suggested, finishing up Marinette's bandages and flying up to float right in front of her, "You need some time off to calm down. If you don't have a straight mind then you'll never be able to help Chat Noir,"

Marinette sighed, looking up at Tikki, "You're right…"

Adrien yelled out in aggravation as his fist connected with the wall. His breath came heavily as he watched blood drip down the now splintered wood of the wall.

"Adrien," Came his father's calm voice, "Calm down, I have no doubt she will show her face if someone is wreaking havoc on the city and then we will have her in our grasp again,"

"No!" Adrien snapped, whipping around to glare at his father, "We do this my way, or not at all. You will not evilize a single person in this city or our deal is over. I'll take care of it myself…" He growled, ignoring the feeling that he had lost Ladybug forever after that episode. She probably hated his guts the moment she opened her eyes, "Please get out of my room," He said quietly, taking a deep breath as his emotions simmered down to a numb feeling.

His father stood there for a moment longer before nodding silently and complying to his request. Adrien was left all alone to wallow in his own pity. He had been so close, so close to taking Ladybug's earrings and ending everything once and for all. He and Ladybug could be together without any secrets or limited time.

He felt completely hopeless, and tried again to listen to the voice in the back of his mind telling him that Ladybug would never love him and to just move on, be with a girl who actually liked him. All he could do was try again tomorrow and try with all his might to replace Ladybug.

"Oh my god, girl, what happened to you?" Alya panicked in concern, rushing over to Marinette as she walked into the room.

Most of Marinette's bandages were under her clothes but there were a few she couldn't hide. Pointedly the ones on her forearm and, if her turtleneck slipped, the one on her collarbone. Marinette rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "I may have dropped a hot cookie sheet on myself at the bakery last night…" She said sheepishly, happy that she could use her natural clumsiness as an excuse.

"Girl, you have to be more careful," Alya said with a sigh, her brows still furrowed with concern as she inspected the bandages.

"Marinette," The girl's heart jumped into her throat when she heard the voice of her long-time crush. Boyfriend? "What happened to you?"

Marinette would have answered but here eyes were drawn to the bandages wrapped around Adrien's right hand, "What happened to you?" She asked, immediately fussing over whatever injury Adrien had.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just stumbled and ran my hand through some glass. Now tell me what happened…" Adrien requested softly, putting his hands on Marinette's shoulders and making her flush.

Adrien's story sounded oddly familiar considering almost the exact same thing had happened to her last night, "I just got some minor burns from a hot pan at the bakery," She said, looking away in an attempt to hide her flushed face.

"You should be more careful…" He said, rubbing her shoulder before letting go, "Hey Alya, would you mind if I sat next to Marinette today?"

Alya was quick to agree upon realizing that meant she would be sitting next to Nino and soon class started with Adrien sitting rather close to Marinette. She was kind of intimidated to tell the truth, to have Adrien sitting so close to her in the middle of class. It was even more distracting than when he sat in front of her, if that were even possible.

The sound of a phone pierced the silence, leaving everyone looking for the disruptive device. The teacher listened carefully for a moment before walking up to a student's desk, "Ivan, go to the principal's office. Honestly, doesn't anyone know how to follow the rules in this school?" She asked in frustration, her anger only rising as another phone went off, "Sabrina, you as well. Out,"

Marinette frowned slightly, this didn't look good. Whenever something like this happened, something always followed close behind…

As if on cue, a purple butterfly flew through the open window and landed on the teacher's pointer stick. Before she even had time to feel shocked, Adrien was yelling at everyone to run and pulling her out of the classroom by the hand. She followed him without thinking, the familiar feeling of adrenaline filling her as time seemed to flash by until Adrien pressed her into a closet, "Stay here, you'll be safe," He promised before closing the door and running off.

As Marinette's pulse slowed, she noticed Tikki in front of her face trying to get her attention, "Finally! Marinette I know you need a break and I know this is all probably too much for you but everyone needs Ladybug right now!"

Marinette was silent for a moment, "I know…" She said somewhat solemnly, "Tikki, spots on,"

To say that he was mad would have been a vast understatement, in fact, he was fully considering murdering his father for doing this. But he had no time to think about it at the moment, instead he transformed and ran back into the classroom hearing the teacher's shrill voice ring through the classroom, "I am Ms Academy, I know everything! Listen to what your teacher says!"

He raced into the room, clearly angering the akumatized teacher. But the anger seemed to disintegrate a moment later to a more amused expression, "Chat Noir… You seem to be at a crossroads… Let Ms Academy help you, teachers know everything after all,"

Chat frowned, keeping his distance and eyed the teacher suspiciously, "And how exactly are you going to help me?"

The teacher chuckled all knowingly, "Why, I will help you relieve Ladybug of her miraculous of course,"

Chat's frown deepened when he heard his father's voice echo in the back of his mind like an unwanted pest, "Get Ladybug's miraculous and I'll release your teacher." Chat growled in irritation, yes, he was definitely going to kill his father. But… Even he had to admit that it wasn't the worst plan in the world.

"Fine, but you're not allowed to touch Ladybug, only I'm allowed to touch her," He said sternly to the teacher, driven by the idea of Ladybug finally being his. He glanced up at all the students, those who had become the teacher's victims and were now following her every command. He sat down next to one of them, crossing his legs and waiting for Ladybug to show up and save the day like she always did.

He didn't have to wait long before the women who stole his every thought burst through the door, "Hello there my lady," He could see the betrayal and accusation in her eyes but he cut her off before she could say anything, "Just so we're clear, I did not give permission for Hawk Moth to do this again. In fact, I told him he wasn't allowed to do this at all, so it's really not my fault,"

"Leave me alone Chat, you don't love me," She snapped before promptly ignoring him. Chat's heart skipped a beat, he didn't know why he loved her attitude so much, that stubbornness was just irresistible.

He watched her silently as she fought the akumatized victim, finding comfort in the knowledge that the teacher would be released one way or another. The battles always felt the same regardless of the akuma and that was probably why his father had never gotten their miraculouses. The fights were nothing more than avoiding whatever was being chucked at them, grabbing the akumatized item and snapping it in half.

Of course, that wasn't what happened this time. He eyes locked on Ladybug intently as she tripped backwards and lost her balance. His ever so keen cat-like reflexes kicked in and before she even hit the ground, Chat was on top of her, pinning her wrist to the floor.

He could see the terror that flooded into her eyes as she began to struggle, "Chat, let go of me, don't do this!" She said with a panicked voice, trying to release herself as Chat slowly moved her wrists above her head so he could pin them down with one hand.

"It's okay my lady," He said softly, his hand gently caressing her cheek in an attempt to calm her racing heart. She called his name again when he reached a gloved hand behind her ear, struggling more but to no avail. The first earring came off, making Ladybug's costume begin to glitter, as it about to disappear any second. When the second came off, a bright flash of light illuminated the room.

Chat slowly blinked his eyes open, his heart stopping as he recognized who it was he was pinning to the ground, "Marinette…" He whispered. His throat felt dry as everything began to line up, making him feel sick to the stomach, oh god…

He stood up and jumped out the window of the classroom, barely noticing that everything was already back to normal. In fact he hardly noticed that there was anyone else in the room, he just knew that he needed to go somewhere alone and think for a long time.

Adrien stood in front of the door to the classroom, trying to gather the courage to enter. He knew perfectly well that no one knew he was Chat, not even Marinette. Chat could very well disappear forever and they could ignore that he ever existed. Except that Adrien knew he existed, Adrien would know what happened, and it would burn a hole deep inside of him every time he so much as looked at Marinette.

Taking a deep breath, he walked through the door, looking up at everyone chatting as they waited for the bell to ring. His eyes locked on Marinette, this was a lot harder than he thought it would be. Her eyes were downcast with a lost expression, staring at the wooden desk without participating in the pre-class chatter. He gulped, walking up to her. He knew he wouldn't be able to sit through an entire class period feeling her gaze burn into the back of his skull, he had to get this over with now. "Hey Marinette… Can I talk to you…?"

She looked up at him, her usual stammer replaced with the ever lingering expression of loss. With a small nod, she stood up and they walked to the corner of the classroom for a little bit more privacy. She glanced at him expectantly, clearly wanting to get this over with fast so she could get back to her mourning.

"I… Marinette…" Adrien murmured, not sure how to start so he figured he might as well just come out and say it, "Ladybug…"

What followed was a range of emotions that morphed from confusion to realization to a mix of terror and rage as she stumbled back a few steps, clearly trying to create distance between the two, "Get away from me!" She yelled at him, tears burning in the corners of her eyes. Suddenly the classroom was silent and all eyes were locked on the two of them.

Adrien felt guilt manifest and take over as he tried to step forward, only making her flinch back, "Marinette, please, let me explain," He didn't know what he was going to say even if she let him explain but anything was better than flat out rejection.

"No, just leave me alone!" Her hands trembled as she took a couple more steps back.

Irritation bubbled inside of Adrien as he saw Alya get up and rush to Marinette's side. She had no business here and should just be sitting down minding her own business.

"It's okay girl," Alya said, hugging Marinette and stroking her hair, "Maybe you should go Adrien," She said, glaring at him despite not knowing what was going on. No one knew what was going on and it pissed him off. Rage boiled inside of him at the people who were standing between him and Marinette, they were in his way.

He took deep breaths to calm himself down, glaring at Alya, something no one had ever seen him do before, his expression softening as he looked at Marinette, "I will see you again, my lady," He said with a bow before turning around and walking out of the classroom. Yes, he would be back, he would never give up on his lady until she loved him just as much as he loved her. But for now, he needed to get rid of the people in his way.

Hey guys! This is my first fic for Miraculous and I think it went really well. I had so much fun writing it and I hope you had just as much fun reading it. Let me know what you guys think! I don't know if I'm going to continue it or not, let me know if you want it to be continued and any ideas you may have to feed my creative juices. Thanks for reading! Bye!