If Adrien had to point fingers, he'd blame Alya for everything.

No really.

He had been content with just following the Ladyblog for updates on anything and everything Ladybug did, but then Alya went and reported on stuff within the fandom as well.

Heck, he didn't even know there was a Chat Noir and Ladybug fandom!

It started with one fic by PrincessFragrance. Alya swore it was a fic she only read because her friend wrote it and betaed it out of the good of her heart. She had written a genuine review and talked about how enjoyable it had been, so Adrien figured he could read it on his phone while being driven to his various activities. It would be a good way to learn what people thought about his lady and him!

It kinda snowballed from there.

One fic lead to two fics which lead to three and then all of a sudden Adrien realized it was 4 in the morning and he had been crying so much his pillow was soggy.

Adrien closed every page he had open in his browser with fanfics on it and deleted his history, vowing to never again to read a fanfic about himself.

Until the next day when he was stuck in traffic for over an hour and Alya had posted another fic review (This is it, I swear this is the last one I just had to read it since it was about fake dating and that is my favorite trope). Hey, if he didn't do something soon he was going to die of boredom, right?

Right?

A week and god knows how many fics later, Adrien had given up trying to justify reading fan fiction. It was just… A hobby. yeah, that's the way to put it. Something he wasn't forced into doing and actually found joy in it. Even being Chat Noir was a responsibility that could be a heavy burden.

So reading fan fiction about his superhero alter ego and the girl he was in love with was Adrien's guilty pleasure, so sue him.

At least he didn't let it get to his head. Ladybug was still Ladybug and they were still only partners who protected Paris. Chat Noir still flirted with Ladybug and she still avoided his advances.

He knew that fiction would always remain fiction and that Ladybug would never love him back.

Adrien's new found fanfiction obsession didn't really become a problem until one day after his patrol with Ladybug. They did a patrol every week at random times, mainly to ease the fears of Paris. When the people saw the heroes watching over the city even when there wasn't a threat, it helped them feel safe and kept people from panicking.

For the most part, their patrols were just running around playing tag so they didn't get bored and Chat Noir making advances on Ladybug only for her to sassily dodge them.

But Ladybug must have been in a very good mood that fateful day. She coyly flirted back, flicking the bell on his collar and pulling on his tail to keep him from straying too far from her. It was driving Adrien crazy and he really just wanted to pull her close and confess everything to her.

He wanted to tell her how she was the best part of his life and made him feel like there was more to him than bending backwards to please his father. How almost all of his favorite memories included her in some way. How she was his first love and he hoped she was the only person he would ever love. He wanted to ask her to be his Lady forever.

But he couldn't.

Because behind the mask was someone he didn't even know. The girl who masqueraded as Ladybug was beautiful and confident and amazing in so many different ways, if her superhero alter ego was anything to go off of. But Adrien had no idea what her hobbies were, how old she is, or even what her name was.

And she didn't know anything about Adrien either.

And even if he trusted her completely and wanted to tell her everything, he knew Ladybug was right about hiding their civilian identities from each other.

The only way to keep a secret was to tell no one. Because the second you told one person, everyone knew. Secrets never stayed that way for long.

So Adrien had to hide everything from the person he loved the most in the world

When he got home from patrol, Adrien wrote a letter to Ladybug. He liberated himself and poured all of his anger, frustration, and longing into it. It was thousands of words long, yet it felt like Adrien had barely began to scratch the surface of the deep feelings he had for Ladybug.

But it would have to do.

He made an account (HerBlackCat) on the website he had been reading fics on and posted it. It was silly of him, he knew, but a part of him hoped that Ladybug would read it and know it was him. That maybe she would understand his pain, they would finally be able to discuss the tension that has always been between them, and Adrien could finally get closure on his crush.

And if she didn't, at least other people would know what Chat Noir was really going through behind the mask, even under the guise of fiction.

Marinette loved Alya. She really and truly did.

But sometimes that girl was just too much.

Alya often critiqued her designs. While she didn't know a lot about fashion, she had a good eye for detail and was a trusted friend. So it wasn't unusual that Alya would flip through her sketchbook without permission and scribble notes in the free space.

Marinette's sketchbook was filled with hundreds of designs for every kind of clothing imaginable. She had dreamed of going into fashion for so long that it was pretty much a habit to sketch out even the smallest bits of inspiration she got. Most of her fashions had been patterned after things found in nature. She had designed everything from peacock feather patterned socks to necklaces with bear paw charms.

But sometimes… Other sources of inspiration got sandwiched in between all the sketched outfits.

"I didn't realize you were a Chat Noir fan, Marinette," Alya giggled one day as she stopped flipping through the sketchbook's pages.

Furrowing her brows, Marinette stopped cramming for the test they were about to take in their first class to looked over her friend's shoulder to see what she was talking about. She didn't remember designing anything inspired by him-shit it was that really embarrassing portrait she doodled of him that totally emphasized his abs she was dead.

Marinette snatched her sketchbook from her friend and clutched it to her chest with a terrified expression on her face.

"Alya, please forget your ever saw that." She looked her friend in the eye, begging with her whole heart.

"Too late!" Alya grinned mischievously. "I've seen it. I can't forget it that easily."

Marinate groaned and hid her face behind her hands. "I have a lot of regrets right now."

Laughing, Alya patted her back. "At least I was the one who saw that drawing and not Chloe."

"Still," Marinette remembered how much time and attention she had put into drawing Chat Noir's abs and blushed. "I'll never be able to live this down."

"This is just going to go down as another one of your famous 'I-Drew-In-The-Wrong-Notebook' moments."

"Alya, how any times do I have to tell you that those were body studies!"

"Call it what you want," Alya teased. "But those very detailed boobs speak for themselves."

Sputtering furiously, Marinette tried to defend herself only to find that she couldn't think of anything to say. She instead put her face in her hands and groaned.

"But serious, that was a really good drawing of Chat Noir! Have you ever thought about posting your art online, Marinette?" Alya asked suddenly. The school bell rung, the girls gathered their stuff, and they began to walk to class.

Marinette shook her head. "I'm not an artist. I'm a designer. I might draw a bit, but that only because I need to keep my skills sharp."

"Well, if you ever post that drawing of Chat Noir, let me know! I'll boast you on the ladyblog!" Alya took out her phone and pulled up her blog. "The fandom around Ladybug and Chat Noir has really exploded lately. This fan art got over 40,000 notes."

Marinette took her phone and looked at the pencil drawing of Chat Noir. It was similar to the sort of thing she did just for fun to practice drawing, yet this person had gotten so much attention.

"Seriously?" Marinette blinked in surprise. "They got this many notes for such a small drawing?"

"Yep, the artist was even commissioned by the Mayor to sculpt a statue in the park." They entered their classroom and sat down in their seat. "Hey, who knows! Maybe you'll be able to design outfits for Ladybug and Chat Noir! You could totally give them an updated look! Maybe add in a cape or something!"

"…" Marinette looked at her sketchbook and touched it's cover gently as she considered. "… I'll think about posting some of my fan art."

That night, in a moment of bravery, Marinette made an account (MiraculousLady) on the same blogging website that hosted the Ladyblog and posted a picture of the Chat Noir drawing she had taken with her phone. After messaging a link to Alya, she threw her phone down on her bed and buried herself in blankets to try to ease her nerves and forget what she just did.