Chat well remembered how everything had happened. It all began with a simple landing on the girl's balcony,the slip of his usual nickname for her from his lips,Marinette being surprised he still called her that,and it had continued with never ending conversations about several topics. He had liked it so much,he had decided to come back everytime he didn't have to patrol the city. Everything went perfectly fine: the two acted like two long-time friends. Chat teased her a lot,Marinette always rejected her "flirty" moves. Except for the fact that,as time passed,and he came back home each night from the bakery,let himself slip into his bed and closed his eyes,he forgot that he used to dream about a certain black-haired spotted girl and started to think about another that had no spots,but was as equally beautiful and funny as the other.

The best happened one day. Chat was running out of time and Marinette had gladly invited him to detransform in the very dark kitchen (Chat would have helped her getting there thanks to his night vision),since he mentioned the 'thing' that transformed him into a superhero needed to eat.

A flashing green light was followed by a little voice murmuring something like... "Cheeseee...A-"

"NO NAMES PLAGG!" Adrien shouted probably a little too loud.

"Shhh Chaton,you're going to wake up my parents!" Marinette whispered.

"You're right. Sorry,princess." The girl heard the other voice snorting.

"Sorry,my kwami becomes easily irritable if he doesn't eat at least every hour. He's unstoppable."

"Kwami?" Marinette asked,pretending not to know. Tikki was sleeping soundly upstairs. She couldn't wait to tell her she had met Chat's kwami. Well...kind of.

"Yes...the 'thing' that transforms me in Chat Noir. It's complicated to explain." 'Try me' Marinette thought. "Everybody thinks our miraculous are just magic jewels but...there's much more."

"I'm much more than just a 'thing' kid. Respect." Plagg grumbled.

Marinette chuckled. "I bet he's the cutest thing. Especially if he looks like a cat." She could only see his glowing green eyes,but she was sure he was a lovely creature. "Well...I can't disagree." Plagg muttered.

"I didn't think you were vain...well you learn something everyday." Adrien said.

"Alright kwami...I don't have cheese but my dad made a cheesecake this afternoon. Is that okay?"

"Not exactly. But I will accept for once."

"Very kind of you." Marinette murmured. Adrien sighed. Plagg was impossible sometimes but he always let Adrien win. He loved that damn floating cat. And the kwami loved him,even if he didn't like to admit it.

Marinette pulled a slice of cheesecake out of the fridge and put it on the table. She assumed Plagg had night vision,so he knew where to go. With that being done,he grabbed Chat by his arm and they went away from the table,so that Plagg could have enjoyed his meal in peace. The kwami murmured something like "Tikki would have loved living in a bakery like this" and Marinette couldn't help but smile. She would have asked her if they missed each other later.

The awareness of the fact she was grabbing the arm of the boy behind Chat's mask made her almost jump. He was warm. Nice. Adrien on the other hand,felt a cold shiver running over his spine. The two sat on the ground,leaning on the wall. They were standing so close their shoulders were brushing,and none of them seemed to mind at all.

"Thanks Marinette." he breathed. "I didn't know what I would have done without you."

"Hey,it was nothing." he wished he could have seen her smiling. Cause he knew she was. He could somehow feel it.

"I'm glad I have a friend like you,you know." This wasn't only Chat speaking. This was Adrien. Adrien telling Marinette he was lucky to have her as a friend. Adrien telling Marinette that he was glad they got to clarify their divergences when they first met,Adrien telling Marinette that he needed to stop thinking about her in a certain way before doing something that wasn't fair to her. Except he was telling none of these things out loud."It's difficult to have friends when you're famous. You might have many fans but not so many friends."

"Hey...I may not know much about you...but you can consider me as your friend for sure. And Ladybug of course." Marinette added.

She couldn't know Adrien was also referring to his life out of the costume. He had only a a few friends who really loved him,but that was also because he basically had none until the current year. He prayed Plagg was going to eat his cheesecake slowly,so that they could spend more time together. Noticing Chat's silence,Marinette tried to speak again. "Even if...I know you would like to be more than a friend with Ladybug." The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop and wasn't sure about the boy's reaction. But the damage was done anyways. For the first time since she had become Ladybug,she felt jealous of herself. Jealous of not being able to get his new found crush as Marinette rather than as her alter-ego. Jealous of guys not seeing the girl behind the mask.

"It's...complicated honestly. We work great as partners and it's so easy to jeopardize a friendship you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...fixing things with a friend is easier than...a friend who turns into something more. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore Marinette." he lightly chuckled.

Was it just her or his voice was somewhat...softer? It reminded her of someone else,someone who she had forgotten during these weeks spent so close with her kitty. So forgotten that she had even removed all of the posters from her room. (So Chat wouldn't have asked about them). Alya insisted Marinette was finally over Adrien but was she really? The way she felt drawn to her leather-covered superhero friend confirmed so.

"What if...What if I was just in love with an idea? I mean I don't know the girl behind the mask...I don't know what to think anymore. All I know is that I love spending time with you and...I.." he gulped. He needed to get a grip. He could have told her. He was so close. He could have told her what he has been denying in his mind for so long.

"What about you Chat Noir?" she added. "I have no idea who you are,yet...we're here."

"Touchè,princess." he chuckled.

An hand found his in the dark. Ocean blue eyes uselessly searched for emerald green eyes. The hand he was holding had managed to find her cheek and Chat couldn't help but pull her face close to his. Marinette startled,but did not pull back. He knew he shouldn't have but he kissed her. He kissed her in the silence of the dark,when the only noise was the sound of their lips smashing together,hungrily and passionately,like it was their last. And since then,they never stopped.

The relationship between Marinette and Chat Noir was going well and steady. The girl was even working on something to sew for him and to give to him as a gift.

The only bad thing? They could only see each other at night and Marinette came to school more and more tired everyday. And Alya,suspicious as she was,started noticing something wasn't right.

"You look...tired,girl. Why the hell don't you sleep at night?"

Oh you know,patrol as Ladybug cause yes I'm Ladybug. My secret boyfriend is a superhero and I'm trying to make something for him. You know normal stuff.

"Well you see my...cat. Yeah,my cat...he doesn't stop meowing at night. He thinks it's funny." Marinette chuckled nervously,scratching the back of her head.

"I didn't know you had a cat."

"I don't,infact! He's a...stray. A very stubborn one. He keeps coming on my balcony. Every. Night."

"Why don't you just make him leave? Cats are easy to scare. You know they're...pussies!" Alya started laughing loudly at her own joke while Marinette facepalmed. Perfect,everyone I know likes puns.

"Well...you see...the truth is...I kind of actually grew fonder of this cat. He's pretty cool." she mentally kicked herself for blushing so hard. Too bad she didn't notice the huge smirk growing on Adrien's face as he was listening to the conversion since he was (obviously) sitting in front of her.

The new found relationship helped not only Adrien understand sides of Marinette he had never seen more,but also made him notice how much more chill she was with him now.

Her stuttering was gone. Talking to her had never been easier. They could even tease each other at times. It was almost like how she acted with Chat. Sometimes he forgot Marinette was his girlfriend. He wanted to say it out loud,scream it to everybody he knew,tell the world he was proud of being with her. His mind went back to the day he gave his umbrella to her,and how happy he was that he had finally a friend. Now he was happy,oh so happy,this friendship had developed and had secretely gone further than that. A secret relationship wasn't so bad after all. No paparazzi commenting on it and he had the possibility of seeing her everytime he wanted. He knew he was bound to reveal his identity to her one day or the other,but for now he was enjoying too much the fact he got to interact with her both platonically and not. Also,he was doing it to protect her. If Hawkmoth got somehow to know he was dating her,he could have used one of his villains to kidnap her and he didn't want even to think about that possibility.

When Adrien and Marinette got paired up for a school project,he was convinced everything would have been alright. He only had to pretend he couldn't hold her like he wanted to. He only had to pretend he was a simple schoolmate,like Nino or Nathanel. He didn't have to think he had kissed those plump limps less than 24 hours ago.

Nothing could have gone wrong right?

Wrong.

Despite their new conversative level,Marinette seemed stiff anytime their hands accidentally brushed or everytime she caught him lovingly glacing at her.

Had he always looked at her like that? Was she just imagining things? Marinette was trying to get a hold of herself. You're over him. Stop looking at him like that. Stop overthinking. He's your friend. You have a boyfriend. Your boyfriend is Chat Noir. Your boyfriend is as awesome as he is. Adrien is your friend. Noted.

All of these thoughts ran through her mind in the spur of a second. It was almost like she wasn't nervous cause Adrien was there,but more like cause she didn't know why he kept staring at her like he had caught Stendhal's syndrome.

Marinette cleared her throat. "Adrien you should focus you know? You're slacking a lot today. I promise we will play videogames after we're done."

Adrien pouted at her.

She sighed. "Yes we will eat cookies too. Promise." the blonde boy grinned. "You really read my mind,Pr-I mean...Marinette!" Okay he definitely had a problem with nicknames.

"You know you're worse than..."Marinette stopped herself. She was about to say Chat.

"Who?" Adrien really didn't want to show the smirk creeping on his lips. But he couldn't help it.

"No one important." Marinette muttered crossing her arms. It was so weird to be at this level of friendship with Adrien. And yet it never felt better.

"Oh come on! I'm your best friend! You can tell me..." Adrien tried to persuade her with his puppy (or kitten?) eyes.

"Actually my best friend is Alya..."

Adrien snorted. "But you and me have a special bond. Come onnnnn..." he wrapped one of his arms on her shoulders,pulling her closer.

"You're impossible"

Adrien had to admit,hearing Marinette gushing about Chat would have been great. But would it have been fair to her? Probably not. He finally got on more than good terms (literally!) with the girl and still wanted to respect her space until the big reveal would have happened.

Still,he was curious as to why she was suddenly super chill with him. Marinette wasn't shy,he knew that. He'd seen her standing up to Chloe who was well...Chloe. Heck,she had even scolded him the first time they met for that freaking gum misunderstanding. He couldn't really put together why she used to stutter so much around him. Now the problem was solved but he wanted to know more. Maybe he could have figured out. Maybe he could have asked her. And he would totally have. Just not as...someone she knew.

He showed up at her balcony that night,as usual. He greeted Marinette,his girlfriend,with a peck on her lips and then handed her a beautifu bouquet of white gardenias.

"For you,princess."

Marinette's eyes lit up. She brought the bunch to her nose,and smelled their perfume.

"Oh Chaton...you shouldn't have I..."

"Shh...It's for our monthiversary. It was the least I could do."

"I've seen bouquets like these only being held by brides,Chat. This must have costed a lot."

"Don't worry about it." he mumbled.

"Is there a particular reason you chose these flowers? Are you trying to propose?" Chat nearly chocked on his spit. He knew Marinette was just teasing him but he had actually imagined her wearing a wedding dress. Except it was in his dreams and they were adults.

"God,no Princess no,no! Actually..." Marinette giggles interrupted him. "Calm down,kitty. I was joking."

"Gardenias mean secret love in flower's language. Just like ours." Marinette gave him a heart-warming smile.

"I have a gift for you too. But it's not ready yet. I've been working on it for days but i'm also working on a school project and it all overlapped." Oh,and also Hawkmoth never goes on vacation so there goes my chances of having a free time.

"Is it cookies?" Chat squealed. Marinette frowned. "What is it with blonde guys and cookies? Every blonde guy I know seems to be obssessed with them." she chuckled.

"Well,princess,it's not my fault if your bakery is the best of Paris...wait...who else is obsessed with my cookies?" Chat knew where this was getting at. Oh,if it was gonna be interesting...

"I was talking about Adrien. We're working on the school project I told you about together. He kept pressing me to eat cookies. He really likes them."

"Should I be jealous,princesse?"

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "What? No why? Don't get me wrong Adrien is cool and Ihadacrushonhim but it's over and he's not interested in me anyways and I'm so over it and you and your beautiful flowers are here so I-" she rambled.

Had his ears heard correctly? She...had a crush on him? All of these times wondering why she was so rigid everytime they talked was because...she liked him? Oh god,did he feel dumb.

"So.." he choked. "You're telling me you had a crush on Adrien?"

"Y-yeah? I was...obsessed with him really. I used to know his entire schedule by heart,oh god,I was so embarassing and...and then you came and I just forgot he existed and I took off all the posters from my room..."

"Posters?"

"Shut up." she snorted.

He chuckled. " I wasn't making fun of you,I swear! I was just...curious? So was his dashing smile that made you fall for him? His golden hair that swepts perfectly with the wind? His sw-"

"His kindness."

Chat's eyes widened as he felt a pang in his heart. "What?"

"He's so...kind,Chat. I've never seen someone as compassionate and kind as him. Until I got to know you better,that is."

Marinette froze at Chat's next action. He hugged her. It's not like she wasn't used to it,but this hug felt different than the others for some reasons. He just pulled her closer,nuzzling his neck in her shoulder. "I love you" he whispered. He didn't know what he had done to deserve her,but that day he found out that bad luck was just in his head.

Adrien couldn't stop thinking about how lucky he was. Heck he was luckier than Ladybug herself. Plagg was on his desk,munching a piece of Camembert,trying to get distracted from his chosen's daydreams.

"Do you understand...she fell out of love with you...to fall in love...with you? That's the most asburd thing I've ever seen in 5000 years. And I've seen a lot. Trust me."

Adrien sighed. "I know Plagg! This is so...MINDBLOWING! No matter in which identity,her heart has always been mine...wow. I...I don't deserve her Plagg I'm too lucky."

"And no matter what I do,I'm still here listening to your love rants. I can't escape."

"I'm sorry Plagg but...you're going to hear them a lot. But you're also going to get extra cheese because of it."

"Deal." The kwami muttered,not leaving his eyes off his cheese.

"You know what would be even more mindblowing?"

"Yes?"

"If she was Ladybug! Can you imagine?" Adrien started dancing around in his room to express his joy.

Too bad he didn't hear the kwami mumbling something about them being "disgustingly meant to be" in between one bite and the other.