The next few days were a blur of getting measurements taken for costumes, helping Alya with the script, and starting on set design. Luckily enough, no more akuma's showed up so Marinette was able to avoid Chat Noir for a little longer, still feeling awkward about their almost kiss. Soon the script was finished and it was time to try the costumes on and start learning and rehearsing the lines.
In the dressing room, Marinette was surprised that the costume fit just as perfectly as her real one. It confused her for a second when she saw herself as Ladybug but with Tikki right beside her. She looked to her kwami, suddenly fearing she looked a little too much like Ladybug.
"Don't worry, everyone already knows you have the same hair and they haven't figured it out from that have they? No one is going to look at you and go 'she's the actual Ladybug!'. If you're really worried, just pretend to be really bad with the yo-yo." Marinette smiled, grateful for her little friend. Then a knock at the dressing room door startled her.
"Hello? Marinette? Taking your sweet time I see?" It was Alya.
"Sorry, coming right now!" She stepped outside and Alya gasped when she saw her. Marinette's heart started pounding with anxiety.
"You… you look just like Ladybug! That is so awesome!" She breathed a subtle sigh of relief. Suddenly across from her room she heard the click of a door, and almost jumped when she saw Chat Noir standing there. She gaped like a fish, wondering why he was here and he gaped right back at her, until Alya began talking.
"Oh wow Adrien you look just like Chat! That is amazing, both of you resemble our favorite heroes so much, I never noticed it before! You guys will be the best cosplayers in all of Paris! Now hurry up and be on the stage in two minutes!" She said walking away. At her words, Marinette realized it was just Adrien, although she would've sworn it was Chat.
"Um, hi you um look good." She stammered. He kept staring at her, as if trying to gather his thoughts. Then he shook himself and spoke.
"Thanks, you um look good also!" He stuttered. For once he was actually being awkward. Marinette wondered why, perhaps her likeness to Ladybug was throwing him off. They both stared at each other for another moment, still comprehending the similarities, and then walked out onto the stage together. Everyone gasped when they walked out and gave them compliments about their similarities to the actual heroes. But to make sure no one was suspicious, Marinette purposefully pretended to be really bad at using the yo-yo. She hit herself on the head several times and hit Adrien once or twice for good measure, blushing and apologizing excessively. Adrien seemed to be in a similar situation, constantly dropping his stick and tripping once or twice when attempting to learn the fight choreography. But the jokes he ad libbed and the tone of his voice was identical to that of Chat Noir, and Marinette wished he let loose like that more often. Several hours later, as the last scene was coming up, Alya handed the revised script for the next scene.
"So next we shall be practicing the romance scene! How exciting!"
"Wait what romance scene?! Chat and Ladybug aren't together!" Marinette exclaimed, blushing furiously.
"Yeah I know but I took some artistic liberties for two reasons. 1) It would make the play more interesting, and 2) Can you imagine how cute it would be for Paris's two superheroes to be together?!" Adrien and Marinette both reddened at that. "Here's how it goes, Ladybug and Chat save the day and after almost losing Chat Ladybug realizes her feelings for him and they kiss and it's the end!" Alya seemed pleased with herself. Adrien and Marinette read over the script and Marinette was sweating bullets as the scene went into action.
"Chat! I-I-I thought I'd lost you back there!"
"You'll never lose me, I'm never leaving you my Lady." It sounded so much like something Chat would say but to know it was coming out of Adrien's mouth so sincerely made it all the better.
"You better not, I don't know what I'd do without you!" Marinette tried to pretend she was talking to Chat, and that made it much easier. Her blush lessened a bit.
"And I don't know what I would do without you…" Adrien stepped closer and Marinette leaned into him. She knew it was time for the kiss and now wasn't sure who to pretend it was, so she decided Adrien was less nerve-wracking for once. She looked up into his bright green eyes and leaned in, and the two kissed.
It was a stage kiss, but it felt real for the both of them. It felt natural and right, almost as if they'd done it a thousand times before, similar to what Marinette had felt last night with Chat. Everyone applauded as the curtain came down, and the two separated. They were both blushing as the curtain came back up.
"That… that was beautiful you guys. This play is going to be the best!" Alya said.
"Dudes! Great job guys, that was a totally awesome job, I so could see the real Ladybug and Chat Noir doing that!" Nino added in. Even Chloe, who had ended up accepting her role as the villain, applauded a tiny bit. Adrien and Marinette stayed silent and accepted the praise.
"Amazing job today everybody, I promise the next few rehearsals won't be this long. If we keep this up then we'll have the best play ever! Have a good night and get home safe!" Everyone clapped and packed up, and Marinette walked out after she changed out of the Ladybug costume. As she was leaving, she heard footsteps behind her and turned around to address whatever Alya wanted to discuss this time. She froze though when she saw it was Adrien standing there.
"Hey, I just um wanted to say that you did really well." He stammered.
"Thanks! You did great-awesome-amazing also!" She stuttered in return. Then they both stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next.
"I um gotta-"
"Me too um see-"
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah sure." And they went on their way.