As Chat Noir observed Marinette though out the night he could tell something was wrong. Someone who didn't know Marinette well probably would have missed the way she flitted from one task to another around her room or how she did all these tasks with just a little more force than necessary. "Do you need to talk about something Princess?"

Marinette let out a long sigh through her nose. "Sorry Chat, it's been a long day. I was just thinking about some things, my life choices mainly." She huffed another sigh.

"I'm all ears if you want to talk about it." He smirked as he wiggled the cat ears on the top of his head. She rolled her eyes but shot him a look of thanks before beginning to explain her mood.

"Today after school I was approached by a guy from another class. He wanted to know if I'd go on a date with him. I said no." Chat was slightly surprised at the jealously he felt hearing that another guy asked Marinette out and at how relieved he was that she said no. "I didn't even have to think twice about it. Saying no had just been a no brainer. I felt like it wouldn't be fair to him to go on a date with a girl who is so hung up on someone else."

His ears perked up as the mention of someone else. There was a small hope in him that she had feelings for him since she spent so much time with Chat. "Does this someone else know you like them?" Marinette snorted in response.

"No, he doesn't and he probably never will. That is what I've been thinking about all day. I was taking that other guy's feelings into consideration but am I doing that for myself too? Am I being fair to myself by holding out hope that somehow Adrien Agreste will fall for me even though I know it will never happen? Should I have said yes in hopes that it'll help me fall out of love with him?"

Chat felt like his heart had stopped. She did like him, not the side he thought she would, but she liked him. He wanted to detransform right there and tell her he felt the same. Unfortunately, secret identities were secret for a reason. He realized that he was supposed to produce an answer to her last question when she raised a brow in his direction. "NO!" He coughed. "I mean, no you should not have said yes to the date and you should not give up on Adrien yet. If he doesn't even know you have feelings for him then how do you know he doesn't like you?"

She smiled ruefully and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just Marinette. I know Adrien is sweet and down to Earth but I'm not really in his caliber of girl. Plus, since I want to be a fashion designer I know someone will accuse me of just using him to get a leg up in the fashion industry. People can say what they want about me, I don't care, but I can't let Adrien think someone else in his life is just using him as a thing. His father does it enough."

Nope, he wasn't going to say it. He had restraint. He was Chat Noir and he had control over his words. "I love you." Well, he said it. Chat figured he might as well go all the way. "Plagg, claws in." The green light washed over him as his transformation released. "I love you Marinette."

She was staring at him, just staring. She was staring for so long that Adrien thought he might have broken her. The silence overwhelmed him. "No matter how you feel about me now that you know who I am, I don't want you to ever think that you are just Marinette. You are the strongest, most caring, and most creative person I've ever met. You're not just anything."

Adrien was interrupted from his tirade about how great Marinette was. He was interrupted by Marinette's lips pressed against his own. His arms wrapped around her to bring them closer together while she rested both of her hands upon his cheeks. The kiss was long and gentle, the two only surfacing from each other to breath.

Their foreheads rested together, green eyes looking into blue. Marinette's voice was a raspy whisper. "I love you too."