It turns out that although it's easy to find a moment's privacy in the city, it's a lot harder to find a safe place to spend time with no chance of anyone seeing you.
On the Eiffel Tower? Hardly. The view is lovely, but even though it's easy to feel alone, the same remarkable view also means you can be seen from just about anywhere if someone wants to look and has a telephoto lens.
Under the lovely romantic bridges? Sleeping people and an endless parade of boats, spaced just far enough apart at night to let a couple of lovebirds start to relax before the next sudden need to hide.
On the multitude of Parisian rooftops so familiar to travelling superheroes? It's amazing how hard it is to find a rooftop that doesn't have *some* windows that can look out on it, and where there's a window or a balcony, there could be a photographer.
In a classic bell tower hideaway? As it happens, pigeons are also very fond of roosting in clock towers, steeples, belfries, and pretty much any other high spot. And allergies are neither romantic nor good for maintaining stealth.
It was after a close call in a school supply closet- Ladybug clinging to the ceiling while Adrien explained to a suspicious Alya and Nino that he'd stayed after school to practice voice acting, and he was in a closet because he didn't want to be overheard while he was learning,
and no of course no one else was there- that Ladybug finally came up with a solution. Disguise.
Adrien stared at the pile of fabric Ladybug had just handed him. "The problem is that nobody can know I'm seeing *you*, right? But if you don't look like yourself, and we're careful to always keep the disguise on, then you should be safe."
Adrien slowly let the shirt unfurl. It was a hoodie. A black hoodie, so far so good. It was "Everyone's Favorite Tourist!" emblazoned across the front in an overenthusiastic neon font, surrounded by cartoon cameras, suitcases, and sunglasses that made Adrian's eyebrows climb. Ladybug managed to keep a straight face for only a few seconds before starting to laugh madly, her eyes glinting at him.
"Oh, you should see the look on your face!"
Adrien looked at her, and then slowly turned the shirt around so the ridiculous front faced her. Ladybug started laughing again.
"No, see, it's perfect! I found it in a thrift store. The whole point is to keep people from thinking you're Adrien Agreste, right? Well, you have to admit, nobody could imagine Adrien Agreste wearing *that*!" Her laugh rang out again, and Adrien slowly started to grin and then laugh himself. It wasn't until several minutes had passed that the two of them caught their breath, and Adrien put the shirt on. That made Ladybug grin, but it was the ridiculous modelling poses Adrien struck in his ludicrous, ludicrous shirt that made her lose it and fall over laughing again.
Eventually a grinning Adrien walked over to Ladybug, grabbed her hand, pulled the overly-large hood over his head, and said "So, aren't we going somewhere?" That night, they finally enjoyed a quiet evening under the stars, the silence only broken by the occasional giggle.
"Sooooo, Adrien my dude... who's the lucky girl?" Nino asked with a grin, elbowing his friend.
"Wh...what? What are you talking about?" Adrien had been gazing dreamily off into nothingness with his head resting on his chin, but now he sat up abruptly and looked around nervously, scratching that back of his head. "What girl? There's no girl."
"Uh-huh. You can't fool me, my man. I've never seen you so distracted in class. You're so dreamy you look like Marinette!" There was a squeak from the desk behind them.
"Marinette?" Adrien looked genuinely confused.
Nino smirked. "I could practically see the hearts in your eyes. So come on, dude, tell us. Who is it?" Alya was leaning over to watch the conversation with a gleam in her eye.
"N...no one! I mean, there isn't a girl! I'm just... having a good day! And thinking about... dinner! I'm planning on having a really good dinner tonight!" Adrien stammered.
Alya burst out laughing. "Like we can't tell the difference between dinner and a girl. So dish! Are you dreaming about a certain black-haired beauty...?" Adrien's eyes widened and he started looking nervously around, obviously seeking an escape. His mouth opened, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted.
SLAM!
Marinette's hand came down on the desk between Nino and Adrien with surprising force, causing all three of the conversationalists to jump and stare at her. "He *obviously* doesn't want to talk about it, and he doesn't have to. Come on, Adrien, we're going somewhere else where people will be less nosy." And with that, she grabbed Adrien's hand and started to drag him off, giving him just enough time to grab his bag before he was pulled away. Adrien sent a confused smile and a shrug towards Nino and Alya as he vanished through the doorway.
Nino and Alya stared after them with mouths open. "Did... that just happen?" asked Alya. "Did I actually just see *Marinette* drag *Adrien* off?"
"Yup."
"Hmmm..." Alya's eyes narrowed. "What are they hiding? Is *Marinette*
the girl? I would have hoped she'd tell me! Come on, Nino!" She grabbed her phone and hurried off to follow her targets.
Outside of the school, Marinette turned to Adrien. "Sorry about that,
it just looked like you didn't want them badgering you." Then she looked down to see that she was holding his hand, turned bright pink,
and dropped it like it burned her.
Adrien was looking at her with a friendly smile. "Thanks, Marinette! I appreciate it. Have a great afternoon!" He waved and walked off towards the waiting car. Marinette gazed after him with a dreamy smile and waved back until well after the car had left.
"OK, girl, what gives?" said Alya from behind her, poking her in the ribs and making Marinette jump. "Are you hiding something from us?"
"W...what? N-no, why would I do that?" Marinette stammered nervously,
looking anywhere but at Alya.
"Good question. Does the answer have something to do with you and Aaaaadrien?"
Marinette turned bright pink and looked even more nervous before standing straight up and looking Alya determinedly in the eye. "There is nothing going on between me and Adrien. He just looked uncomfortable and I wanted to be friendly."
Alya looked dubious. "Friendly."
"Yes, friendly! I'm... learning to act normal around him. And that's much harder to do when you're teasing him about me all the time. So... lay off of him for a bit, OK?"
Alya raised an eyebrow and shook her head, but smiled. "Uhuh. I get it, girl. You want some space to get to know each other without Alya coming in and embarrassing you. I'll give it to you for now, but"- her finger poked Marinette in the chest- "I expect a *really good* gossip session later, you hear me? With *all* the deets."
"Nn-no, you-"
Alya smirked. "Can't lie to me, Marinette. Say hi to Adrien for me next time you see him!" The smirk got wider as she turned and walked off.
Marinette hung her head. "Oh, Tikki, I am *so* bad at this."
Tikki smiled reassuringly up at her from her purse. "Don't worry,
Marinette! You'll figure it out! And I think it's a great idea for you to be Adrien's friend at school."
"But he's going to figure it out! Or Alya's going to try locking us in a closet to get us to kiss again!"
"Relax, Marinette. Take it one day at a time. The masks make it much harder for people to see who you are, so as long as you don't tell him anything too personal, it'll be fine. Just remember not to mention anything from school."
Marinette sighed. "You're right, Tikki. But this is going to be hard."
"You're the hero of Paris! You do hard things all the time! Is this really harder than fighting akumas?"
"You know it is, Tikki!" But she smiled anyway, and started walking home.
Ladybug stood on the roof looking out over Paris, Chat Noir perched on the chimney next to her. He had a giant goofy smile on as he gazed out at the city lights, and Ladybug gave him a sideways look.
"You've been awfully cheerful of late, Chat. Also, you're humming again. Why did you start doing that, anyway?"
He turned his grin on her. "Why, milady, I thought you wanted me to be more *hum*ble! And how can I not be cheerful around such a purr-fect partner?"
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "OK, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Chat Noir laughed. "Sorry, milady. Couldn't resist the *tom*tation. I've been cheerful lately because some things in my life have been looking up unexpectedly. And I have every hope they'll keep getting better."
Ladybug smiled. "I'm really glad to hear it, Chat. I want you to be happy. Even if it *does* make your puns worse. My life's been looking up lately too. But... do you ever feel bad about keeping so many secrets?"
Chat Noir looked at her with a more serious expression. "Sometimes. But as you said before, we're superheroes. We don't have a choice. And... if the secret is to protect someone... it's for the best, right?"
Ladybug sighed. "I want to think so. But I'm scared, sometimes. Will everyone hate me when my secrets come out? Is it wrong of me to be grabbing a little bit of happiness where I can, even at the cost of lying to people I care about?"
"Do the lies hurt them? Or are you just worried that, someday, they might be disappointed or angry?"
"...the latter, I suppose."
Chat Noir smiled down at her, green eyes glowing gently. "Then trust the people you love to be kind to you, the way you are to them. It may hurt for a while, but if they care about you, it will all work out in the end."
Ladybug looked up at him. "Do you really think so?"
Chat Noir smiled. "I do. You have to believe." His grin widened. "And right now, I believe I can beat you to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Last one there gets to handle the next press conference!" He extended his staff and was off. Ladybug rolled her eyes and smiled as she took off after him.
When Ladybug next swooped down to pick up her slouching, lurking boyfriend in the ridiculous shirt for a clandestine date, it wasn't until they arrived on a friendly rooftop that she discovered why his hood was down *so* far. Adrien stretched, pulled the hood back slightly, and...
"Ack!" yelped Ladybug, jumping backwards in surprise. Adrien wiggled the ridiculously bushy eyebrows of the cheap gag glasses, making the giant nose and oversized moustache bounce. The hood fell back further,
revealing a rainbow-colored clown's wig made of curly plastic hair.
"What, don't you like my disguise, mi...my creative gift-giver?" Green eyes laughed from their plastic framing. "And here I thought I was just getting into the spirit of things, following your example."
Ladybug glared at him, then started to relax into a smile. "I had no idea you had so much of a sense of humor, Adrien."
He glanced away, looking oddly uncomfortable. "There's a lot you don't know about me." Then he looked back at her, wide green eyes seeking hers. "But... that's what we're here for, right? To... get to know each other?"
Ladybug grinned, and then sat down with her back to a chimney block. "Yeah. Uh. So... tell me something I don't know about you. But please take off those glasses first, because I can't keep a straight face."
Adrien looked sheepish, and took off the glasses and wig as he sat down against the opposite chimney, stuffing them into the hoodie's pocket and pulling the hood back up over his distinctive hair. "Um... something you don't know about me. That's hard, since I don't know what you do know about me."
"It doesn't matter. Just pick something that you think is surprising."
"Umm... I... like writing poetry?"
Ladybug smirked. "And you're not half bad at it, either." Then she suddenly looked embarrassed and clapped her hands over her mouth as Adrien sat straight up and stared at her.
"You mean... that valentine was from you, Ladybug?" His smile went from ear to ear and his eyes were shining. "You didn't sign it, but I hoped..."
"Uh... I mean... uh... yes. Yes it was. Did... did you like it,
then?" She was looking away and her cheeks were tinged with pink.
The blinding smile hadn't wavered. If anything, it had gotten brighter as he gazed at her until she finally looked back up at him. "I loved it, mi... mistress bug."
She blinked and then glared at him. "Did you just call me *mistress bug*?"
Adrien looked away, but he was grinning. "Well, you did say I should find a new pet name for you."
"Well, not *that* one."
His voice was full of laughter. "I'll keep looking, then. So... your turn. Tell me something about yourself."
She sighed and wrapped her hands around her knees, looking suddenly serious. "I don't know how. I mean... it's not that I don't want to tell you. It's that it's dangerous for both of us if you figure out who I am under the mask, so I don't know what's safe to say."
Adrien got up so he could sit down again next to her and put a hand on her knee. "Ladybug, you don't have to say anything you don't want to. And I promise, even if you do tell me something personal, I won't go looking for you unless you tell me it's OK. I'll do my best to ignore any inconvenient coincidences. Just... pick something that's pretty common, to start with. What's your favorite music, or TV show? Your favorite color? Ice cream flavor? There must be thousands of girls in Paris with the same answers, so it won't give you away, but it'll still be about *you*."
Ladybug smiled quietly to herself. "Mint. My favorite ice cream flavor, that is." She looked up at Adrien and took a deep breath. "Right, I can do this. Umm... my favorite musician is Jagged Stone, and my favorite color is pink."
Adrien lit up with enthusiasm. "Jagged Stone, really? He's my favorite too! And a friend of mine actually designed his last album cover, it was awesome. So what's your favorite song? Have you gotten to go to any of his concerts?"
Ladybug started laughing and relaxed. "OK, you're right. We can do this. I got to go to his last concert series in Paris, and it was *awesome*. Although I admit I'm biased, he dedicated a song to me..."
The murmur of cheerful conversation lingered long into the Paris night.
Adrien flopped onto his bed, staring up at Ladybug's valentine taped to the ceiling far above him. "What am I going to *do*, Plagg? You'd think I'd be better at keeping secrets from Nino and Alya by now. They're starting to act suspicious again."
Plagg rolled his eyes as he dug into his cheese stash. "Well, you could stop acting like some kind of lovelorn idiot at school. Your look today was so sweet it almost put me off of my cheese. Ugh."
Adrien rolled over to look at Plagg. "I don't know how. I can't even tell when I'm doing it. I just... can't stop thinking about Ladybug. She's talking to me, Plagg! She actually likes me! She only turned down Chat Noir because she liked *me*!" He smiled giddily.
"Right, kid. So does that mean you're going to stop mooning over her all the time? Because that would be nice."
"Plagg, I do not moon over her *all* the time!" Adrien was pink.
Plagg snickered. "Ohh, Ladybug, I love you! Oh, Ladybug, you're so perfect! Ladybug, your eyes are like a summer..." The kwami's fake swoon was cut off by a thrown pillow several times his size.
"Shut *up*, Plagg. Just because you don't know what it means to love anything but cheese..." Adrien took a deep breath. "Right. Stop thinking about Ladybug in school. Concentrate on work. Must keep my grades up so my father doesn't pay attention." He shuddered. "Now there's a thought that drives romance away."
There was a long pause and Adrien sat up. "Wait a minute, Plagg. Did Ladybug ever tell us what the peacock miraculous looks like? That night was so..." He paused and turned pink again. "I totally forgot."
He face-palmed.
"Nah, I think she forgot too. But that was totally the peacock miraculous. I was looking in there too, remember?"
"WHAT? Plagg, why didn't you tell me?!"
"Eh, I forgot. There was cheese. Besides, who wants a peacock when you can have a handsome cat?"
Adrien sagged. "So... my father probably does know Hawk Moth after all. I know I hate him sometimes, but I never thought he could be *evil*."
"Chin up, kid. Now you don't have to be guilty about running away so much! And you have information you know Ladybug will want."
"But how am I going to tell her? I'm not supposed to even know what it looks like, and it's not as though Chat Noir has even heard of it. And that's another thing... why didn't she trust me enough to tell me about it?" He looked hurt.
"She was probably just too busy worrying about how to protect Adrien. It was your book, after all, not Chat Noir's. And you're not the only one who gets distracted by looooove. Just ask her to get you that description, it'll be fine. It's been months, after all, what's another few mmmmmph!"
Adrien glared at Plagg's struggling form without removing his fingers from in front of Plagg's mouth. "I do NOT need a miraculous fight on top of everything else going on, Plagg! You should know better than to finish that sentence. Now go eat your cheese before you bring any more bad luck down on us."
Adrien sighed as he looked at the drawing. "Yeah, I recognize it,
though I only saw it once. It's in my dad's safe. The one behind the painting of my mother." He put his head down on his knees.
Ladybug gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you OK, Adrien?
This is amazingly useful to us, but I was serious when I said I didn't want you hurt. And absolutely do *not* try to take it."
"Yeah, I'm OK. It's just... what if we have to fight my father for real? What if Hawk Moth is someone else I know, like Nathalie? I thought I was alone at home before..."
"*You* don't have to fight *anyone*, Adrien." He winced slightly. "If there's any fighting that needs doing, Chat Noir and I will take care of it, and we will do everything in our power to keep your father as well as everyone else safe. But, well... I may not be able to help you at home, but"- she tilted his head up to look at her-"you are *not*
alone. You have a lot of friends who would be willing to support you. And you have me. We won't let you be alone. No matter what happens."
Adrien smiled weakly up at her. "Thanks, Ladybug." She squeaked as he suddenly reached out and pulled her into an unexpected hug, then relaxed with her head on his shoulder until Adrien finally let go. She stood up and grinned at him, holding a hand down.
"OK, you. Enough moping about things we can't do anything about right now. Dark rooftops are clearly not what you need. Tie that hood on tight, because we're going on a tour of Paris at night! It's a good thing you're not afraid of heights."
This time, the smile was genuine as Adrien reached out to take her hand and they leapt off into the night.
A romantic midnight tour of Paris' most beautiful views did not mesh well with Adrien's "look casual at school" plan, as was evident from Nino's smirking elbow-nudges and the teacher's repeated surprise questions. Marinette's dreamy gaze had a lot more smugness to it than it usually did, too. Nevertheless, both of them jumped in surprise at the end of the day when Alya leaned over and said "So! I see you two lovebirds finally got together then, did you?"
Marinette turned bright pink and her eyes went wide with horror as she shook hands and head in furious negating motions. Adrien looked far more confused but equally guilty.
"W-what do you mean? Which lovebirds?"
"You and Marinette, of course!" Alya rolled her eyes. "We're not blind, you know."
The objections "Marinette? What are you talking about?" and "We're just *friends*, Alya, that's all, stop it!" rang out in unison.
"Uh huh. Riiiight. So if it's not Marinette, Adrien, then who *are* you mooning over?" Alya's finger poked Adrien in the chest, and he looked down at it and back up at her in obvious panic.
"No one! I'm not mooning over anyone!"
"Come *on*, Adrien. I know exactly what that lovey-dovey look means. So who's the lucky girl?"
Marinette's attempt to climb over the desk to get between the two while pushing Alya away resulted in nothing but a pile of frustrated girl and scattered books at the bottom of the stairs, leaving Adrien alone in the face of the merciless journalist, looking desperately for escape.
"There's no girl! I was thinking about... uh... theology!"
Alya gave Adrien a flat and disbelieving look. "Theology."
"Yeah... theology! Like, medieval poets and that sort of thing?
Contemplating the glory of God, eternal love, you know?"
Alya's expression didn't change. "Nino, has Adrien ever mentioned going to church? Or synagogue, or anything?"
"Uhhh... no? I mean, he's up early on weekends sometimes, but it's usually a photo shoot."
One brown eyebrow rose as Alya's challenging stare remained fixed on Adrien.
"I'm... a hermit! Contemplating God all alone, dedicated to solitary study, all that! You know?" Adrien tried on a hopeful look, his arm betraying his nerves as he rubbed the back of his head.
"A hermit. Adrien Agreste. Contemplating the nature of God all alone in his bedroom. Now there's a new one." Alya started laughing. "I don't think I've ever heard so transparent an excuse in my life, but I admit that I'm sorely tempted to tell Chloe. I can imagine her face when she hears about Adrien taking vows of chastity! OK,
totally-not-lovebirds, we'll leave you be. For now..." Alya grabbed her stuff and walked off, still laughing. Nino gave Adrien a look that said as clear as words "You're really weird, dude!" and followed her. Adrien and the no-longer-quite-so-sprawled Marinette were left in the empty classroom.
"Theology?" Marinette asked, giggling. "You don't need to tell me what you were actually thinking about, but where did *that* come from?"
Adrien looked sheepish. "I was reading poetry the other night. Some of those medieval monks claimed to be writing allegories about God,
but were actually writing really awesome l-love poetry. Probably to some monk or nun next door. So, uh. It was the first thing to come to mind."
Marinette laughed. "I guarantee you Alya wasn't expecting that." She looked away, avoiding his eyes. "I'm sorry she assumed we were dating or something. I, uh. Don't know where she got that from." She turned pink again.
Adrien smiled at Marinette, then offered her a hand up. "It's my fault for being so spacy. I'm sorry she decided to pick on you like that. Thanks for taking it well."
Marinette smiled as she stood up and started repacking her school bag. "It's fine! Nothing to worry about. Besides, I'm used to Alya."
As soon as they were safely in the car, with the partition closed and his bodyguard safely out of earshot, Plagg came zooming out of Adrien's pocket and stared at him. "*Theology*? That's your idea of an excuse?"
Adrien grinned, looking not the least bit chagrined. "What, are you saying Ladybug isn't divine?"
Plagg groaned and put his head in his hands. "I hadn't thought you could get *worse*!"
"So what are we going to do about the peacock miraculous, Master Fu?
Hawk Moth may have it right next to him!"
"Do not worry, Marinette. The peacock has been quiet for a long time,
and any opportunity Hawk Moth may have to use it has been there for some time. We cannot move hastily here, or we will show ourselves. The Guardians have ways of interacting with even the sleeping miraculous. I will see what I can learn. Leave Hawk Moth to me for a little while, and worry only about the akumas. The time to act will come later."
"...Master Fu, what should I tell Chat Noir?"
"What do you think, Marinette?"
"Tikki didn't want to bring me here at all until I found the book,
so... I think you are trying to stay a secret."
"Indeed. Hawk Moth is clever, and may be looking for me. As you yourself have noted, even the best of intentions cannot stop some of his akuma."
"...I'll wait, then, and trust he'll be ok with it when he finds out. His kwami can lead him here if there's an emergency. Until next time, Master Fu."