Another chapter. Not sure what else to say. I think it's cute.

I do not own anything Miraculous Ladybug

It was the woman's third pass by her shop, and Marinette had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what the woman was there for. Every time she passed, she wasn't looking at the displays in the window or the clothes in the store; she was looking at Marinette herself. Marinette sighed and tried to brace herself for when the woman would inevitably pluck up the courage to come inside.

Briefly, she played with the idea of just going into the back and letting Manon take care of her, but that wasn't fair to her employee. This was her problem to deal with. In another thirty minutes, she could put up the closed sign and that would solve the problem. One could dream.

Apparently, she didn't dream hard enough, because about ten minutes to close the woman finally slipped into the now empty store. She was petite, with her honey blond hair pulled back in a stylish ponytail. She approached Marinette with a bright smile, bringing her hand out to shake. "Hi, my name is Aurore. I'm an underwriter to M. Alec Cataldi."

Marinette shook the offered hand, but kept her face in a guarded, neutral expression. "How can I help you?"

"Well, you never got back to us on that interview, so we thought that we'd drop by and ask you in person."

"How did you find me?" Marinette asked, genuinely curious.

"Your name isn't exactly a common one. We Googled it. Only three people came up, and you were the only one in the right age bracket on Facebook, and you look like the girl in the photo going around. Your home page is connected to your work page on Facebook, so that's how I knew you'd be here," Aurore's smile did nothing to stop Marinette's growing horror. They got all that from Google and Facebook?

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help you. If you're not here to buy something, please leave. I need to start closing up," Marinette said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Wait," Aurore said. "If I found you that easily, imagine how much easier it would be for someone else to do the same. Someone who might not be nice enough to ask permission before they start writing about you, or take another photo."

Before Marinette could come up with a retort, the back door opened once more, and Manon stepped out. "I'm done cleaning. I was going to punch out for the day, if that's alright with you- Oh, hello Aurore."

Both women turned to the newcomer. Aurore raised her eyebrow in surprise, but it was Marinette who spoke. "You know her?"

"Yeah, she works at the same place as my mom. She's the ghost writer for the romance advice column 'Stormy Weather'."

"Hang on," Marinette said, turning back to Aurore, "if you write the romantic advice column, what are you doing here trying to get the scoop on my dating Adrien?"

"So you are dating Adrien?"

"Whether she is or is not is none of your business. She asked you a question," Manon said, stepping forward defensively in front of her boss.

Aurore crinkled her nose and left out a frustrated huff. "I overheard Mme. Chamack and M. Cataldi talking in the breakroom about you. I thought that if I could find you and if you agreed to do the interview with me, then it would up my chances of getting a promotion. Do you know how unfair it is to be a ghost writer? I just want people to see my name."

"That still doesn't excuse poking your nose in like you did," Manon said.

"I wasn't talking to you," Aurore snapped before turning back to Marinette, impatience bleeding into her tone. "I'm just saying that it would be better for the interview to come from a friend who can make sure that you're fairly represented than some stranger."

"You're not a friend," Manon sneered. "She's never met you before today."

"Friend of a friend, then. Look, do we have a deal or not?"

Before Manon could open her mouth to object, Marinette put her hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Manon," she said, quietly, but sternly. The girl turned back to her, up in arms and ready to defend her even from herself. "I believe you were going to clock out. You have my permission to head out early. Thank you for everything today."

Manon wilted, the fight leaving her, and she walked out, but not before turning and staring down Aurore. She raised her pointer and middle fingers in a "V" and pointed them at herself before flipping them around to point at Aurore, the action for 'I'm watching you', then stalked out, slamming the door behind her.

Marinette gave a small sigh at the teenager's attitude before turning to face Aurore once more. "I'm sorry you had to come all this way for nothing, but I'm really not comfortable doing interviews."

Aurore looked put out, but nodded. "If you change your mind, here's my number." She handed her a plain, white card with black font that said 'Aurore Beauréal' with a phone number and email beneath it.

Marinette took it, putting it into her pants' pocket. "Thank you. Have a nice day."

Aurore only gave a nod in acknowledgement before she headed out, the door jingling behind her. As she watched her go, Marinette felt her phone vibrate and slipped it out to check it. It was a text from Adrien.

Are you still at work?

Frowning, she entered her reply. Yes, but I should be heading out in the next 30 minutes.

Oh good. Is he there yet?

Before she could even ponder what that meant, there was tapping on the glass of the front door. She looked up to see a man in a delivery uniform holding an enormous bouquet of flowers. She gasped and rushed to open the door for him.

"Delivery for a Marinette Dupain-Cheng," he said, glancing down at his clipboard.

"I-I'm she," Marinette stuttered, holding out her arms to accept to bouquet he handed off.

"Please sign here."

"Oh, umm yes. Just one second." She made her way over to the checkout counter and set the flowers down before turning back to the man. She signed and handed the clipboard back to him. "Do I owe you anything?"

"No. It's all paid for. Have a good day Mlle. Dupain-Cheng," he said with a nod of his hat and left just as quickly as he'd entered.

Marinette was shuffling about with the giant bouquet, trying to figure out where to put it, when she heard the door open one more time. "I'm sorry, we're closed."

"Do you need some help with that?" A deep, amused voice asked. One that sounded very familiar.

She peered around the flowers and almost dropped them in surprise. "Adrien!"

He reached over and pulled them from her hands, with a wide grin on his face. "The one and only."

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I got off work early and thought I'd drop by. I'm glad I caught you," he said, looking around for somewhere to put the flowers. "Do you have a vase or a sink I could put these in?"

"Uh, yeah. There's a sink in the employee room." She smiled when he continued to look around confused. "Let me show you where that is."

She led him to the back room, which was a hallway with three doors. One lead to a bathroom, a second lead to the changing and fitting room for customers, and the third she opened to show Adrien the room full of sewing supplies and a fridge, microwave and sink so they could eat . Marinette would admit that during busy season she practically lived in this little room. He placed the flowers in the sink before turning back to her with a grin. It was then that she noticed he had something else in his hands.

"Adrien, what's that?"

He glanced down at the black object in his hand, then held it out to her with a nervous grin. "Alya told me your shoe size. I know we talked about going together, but if your day was anything like mine, I wanted to get you something to apologize for the trouble."

She accepted and examined what looked like little black flats. A flash of red caught her eye, and she noticed they had red bottoms. Carefully, she flipped them back over to check inside the shoe. Yup, she was right. "Adrien. Did you buy me Louboutin ballet flats?"

He beamed. "Yeah, the lady at the store recommended them. She said you'd like them. I thought they were cool because they were red and black like Ladybug."

She looked up at him, gobsmacked. "Do you know how much these cost?"

He shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention. I just handed my card over to the lady." Her shock was so palpable that she choked when she next tried to speak. His smile slipped as he looked at her with concern. "Do you not like them? Did I do something wrong?"

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "No, that's not it. Adrien, I love them. It's just that no one's ever spent that much money on me before, and you just went and did it without thinking twice."

He pursed his lips in confusion. "So did I do a good thing or a bad thing?"

She grabbed his head and pulled it down to meet hers. The kiss was ridged and awkward at first from his shock, but Adrien quickly overcame it and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her closer. She let it go on a little longer before she pulled back to give him a smile. "Good. Very good, but don't ever do it again. For the record, I would have been just as happy with ten-euro flats as with these."

He blinked a couple times, and she swore she could see his brain restarting. He grinned down at her, and his hold around her waist tightened. "But my purrrincess deserves only the very best."

A camera clicked, and they both turned to see Tikki standing in the doorway, holding up her phone. She gave them an impish grin. "Oh, don't mind me. You two are absolutely adorable. Just continue like I was never here. By the way, I'm clocking out now, Marinette, and just wanted to let you know I was leaving. It's just the two of you now. All alone. By yourselves. With no one after me to walk in on you." She walked past them with a wink and a wave before heading out the door that lead to the alleyway exit.

Marinette's face was burning as she buried it into Adrien's chest. When he leaned down, she could feel his cheek pressed against the top of her head. He shook gently, and she knew he was laughing. "Shut up," she muttered in his chest.

He pulled away to look down at her. "But, My Lady, your friends are so a-mew-sing."

"Keep laughing, and you'll find yourself single."

"That would imply that I'm not single now." His eyes sparkled with excitement, and he practically purred as he spoke.

"I- You- Gah!" Marinette said, or rather didn't say, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

You're incredibly adorable, I hope you know that," he said, leaning down to nuzzle her neck.

"You're being very forward for having just started dating," Marinette said with a boop of his nose and a gentle push.

"I just can't hold myself back anymore, I've been waiting for this for so long," he said, despite the fact that did actually pull back when she used her finger.

"No, you were trying to date Ladybug for the longest time."

He blinked down at her. "I fail to see the difference."

"You never once thought about trying to date Marinette." She wasn't chastising or angry, just stating a fact.

He frowned. "Okay, first off, I did think about asking you out as Marinette because your amazingness shines through with or with a mask. I just didn't because I'd asked Ladybug first and don't like the idea of asking multiple girls out at once. Also, I figured you, Marinette, were too busy with your sewing business."

Marinette rolled her eyes to try and hide the fact that her knees had nearly given out at his sweet words. "So, of course, once you found out that I'm seamstress by day and pretend-superhero by night, you figured I obviously had time to date you even more than when you thought I was just one of the two."

"No," he said, leaning down to nuzzle her again, "when I found out you were both, I knew you were too impossibly purrrrfect for me to pass up."

She turned to thump her head against his chest with a groan. "Stop doing that!"

"What?" he asked, concern in his tone suggesting he thought she was actually mad.

"Saying words that turn my brain to mush and make me fall for you all over again," she said, trying to glare at him.

His face split into a Cheshire grin. His arm slipped behind her back, and before she could register what was happening, he had dipped her and she was hanging by his arm, with one foot up in the air, her face very close to his. "Falling for me, My Lady?"

This- this- this DORK! She pulled him closer and kissed him until she had the confidence to pull back and said, "I already fell."

His eyes lit up and he brought her face towards his once more with a whispered, "Marinette."

Warmth flooded everywhere his hands touched, building and spreading to a heat that promised to consume her. She grasped at his shirt and sighed into the kiss to let him know she approved of the deepening kiss. He made a hum of pleasure of his own that almost sounded like a purr to her. His arm around her lower back tightened, and she could feel his muscles flex. He pulled her tighter against him until their torsos were flush.

The loud banging of someone knocking on her glass window pulled them apart with a jolt, both gasping in the embrace as they tried to come back to themselves. The knocking repeated, and Marinette reluctantly stepped back, running a hand through her hair as she did to make sure it wasn't too messed up. She muttered a curse then gave him a smile to let him know that it wasn't directed at him. "I think I forgot to put up the closed sign. Give me a minute."

His arms hesitated before releasing her with a step back. Marinette had to bite back a whine at the loss of warmth. "I'll go with you."

She nodded her assent and headed back out to the front area. His long legs overtook hers, and he reached the door before her to hold it open for her. Her face was turned to smile at him so she didn't catch a good glimpse of the brunette on the other side of glass who took off when Adrien came into view. By the time Marinette turned to look, it was just a blur of orange and white and brown jogging away.

Marinette frowned, wondering what had made the person disappear after knocking so insistently but shook it off and decided she should close up shop before someone else tried to come in. Adrien leaned on the counter with all the ease of a model, like his comic counterpart, Felix. Marinette flitted about drawing down the window protection, turning off lights, and locking everything up for the night. Once done, she looped her arm through Adrien's and lead him back to the room they had just been making out in, turning everything off as they went. Adrien made sure to pick up Marinette's new black shoes as he went, which had been dropped when things had gotten heated.

"We'll have to go out through the back. I hope that's not too far from where you parked," Marinette said.

"It's fine," Adrien assured her. "Actually, I wanted to know how you were planning to get home."

She blinked in surprise at the question. "I was just going to take the Metro."

"Can I give you a ride? I figured you might want to avoid crowds right now, in case you were recognized."

"Umm, I don't know cars, but I'm pretty sure that the car you drove last night was pretty conspicuous."

"Today, I drove my inconspicuous car," he told her with a grin as they exited the building.

She paused in her footsteps to stare at him. "You own more than one car?"

"Yeah, I'll show you my collection some time."

She still hadn't moved. Shock had started to settle in. She'd known Adrien was well off, but today put in perspective just how much so that was. He'd bought her Louboutin shoes without a second thought, was apparently one of the most sought-after bachelors in France, and he just said he had a car collection. How on earth did she match this new information with the dork who had this side of stalked her at every signing, Comic Con, and other events she'd attended as Ladybug? "A collection implies you've got three or more," Marinette said.

He grinned. "I would lean towards the 'or more' side."

"Just how much money do you freakin' have?" she demanded.

Now it was his turn to pause in his walk. They were now at the lip of the alleyway leading out onto the street adjacent to her shop. "You didn't know?"

"I mean, I knew you weren't poor from your costume requests. Not everyone can afford that quality of fabric, but the fact that it's not just me, but all of Paris that sees you as some kind of Adonis of desire? No, I didn't know that, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

He threw his arms around her in a glomp. She yelped and stumbled backwards. She probably would have cracker her head against the brick wall behind her if he hadn't completely enveloped her in a hug. "You didn't know and you still said yes to a date with me."

People were staring at the spectacle, Marinette felt her face heat up as she reached out to pat him on the back. "You know how much I hate attention as Marinette, I think it's a greater testament to how much I like you that I'm agreeing to a second date now that I do know." Tikki's advice came back to whisper in the back of her mind, but she pushed it away. That was a problem for future Marinette.

She could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. "Very true, My Lady, I should count myself doubly lucky then."

Marinette blushed, not sure how to respond to that other than to snuggle in to the hug and revel in his warmth. They stayed like that until someone walked by and gave a disapproving cough. The couple broke apart, red-faced. Adrien stepped back and offered Marinette his arm. "Well then, My Lady, I believe I promised you a ride home."

She looped her arm through his, grinning up at him through her blush. "Which I wholeheartedly accept, Kitty."

His eyes light up at the nickname, and they walked down the street arm in arm. As the turned the corner, Marinette thought she saw another glimpse of orange and white and brown, but by the time she'd turned to check, it was gone. She shrugged it off and returned her focus to Adrien, neither aware of the pair of green eyes glaring at their retreating backs.

Something special coming up next chapter at the request of one of you lovely reviewers! Keep an eye out for it!

Oh, and a warning. I'm studying for a national licensing exam for my job. Depending of some circumstances I might have to temporarily put this story on hiatus so I can study, depending on how soon I need to take the test.