Chapter Summary: Boys seemed to have a habit of getting a little ahead of themselves around Marinette.

Pairings: one-sided Nathanael (Le Dessinateur)/Marinette, MariChat, Ladrien, Jealous!Chat LadyNoir

A/N: if you wanted to know what happened to Le Dessinateur's art or his crush on Marinette, here you go. Some pretty good meat happens here, just so you know.

Thanks so much for your well wishes guys, my week has still been pretty crap, but it's slowly getting better. I'm going to a concert tomorrow night, literally my first one ever, and I hope it's just as amazing as it may seem.

Thanks of Mikan, lollipop1141, catgirl505, Sophia, SGee, yzlee0428, Owl Awesomeness, Cabbit and the Weasel, Q-A the Authoress, and the 3 guests who all reviewed the last chapter.

They finished and Adrien said goodbye. Marinette still felt bad for snapping at him, but his smile assured her everything was alright.

She texted Alya to let her know she was done, and she started heading over to the coffee shop. Her phone buzzed as she walked in the door and she grabbed it out of her pocket.

Alya: Im gonna be a little while, girl. Le Dessinateur is selling his Chat and Ladybug paintings today, and I wanted to interview who bought it for the Ladyblog.

Marinette froze. She knew Le Dessinateur was going to sell the paintings, but he had never said when. She wanted to see who sold it. Marinette quickly ordered her drink, and texted Alya while she waited for it to be done.

Marinette: where? I wanna see

Alya took a moment to see it and respond. She texted Marinette with the address.

Alya: You should come as Ladybug!

Marinette's name was called and she grabbed her coffee. She raced out the door while she texted her reply.

Marinette: No time, I'll be there as soon as I can.

Marinette was impressed. The studio was a really nice place to hold an art auction. It was on one of the higher floors of a building, and overlooked la Seine as well as the rest of the city of Paris.

"Hey, you made it," Alya said as she made her way over to Marinette. She was wearing her Lady Wifi costume. "Just in time, c'mon and sit."

They sat in the seats in front of the auctioneers podium. Nino (dressed as the Bubbler) was also there and sat on Alya's other side. Marinette jumped when someone practically flew into the chair next to her. A person dressed in all black with messy blonde hair.

"Hey, princess," Chat whispered in her ear. "Nice to see you again."

Marinette could've screamed. Chat remembered her from her first night at Miraculous? Well, fuck.

"You remember me?" she whispered back.

"It's not every Friday someone faints from the mere thought of dancing with me." She could've slapped the smirk off his face and not felt the least bit bad about it. Her face was bright red and she covered her face.

"Don't feel bad, princess. A little kitty told me you've been practicing."

Marinette gasped audibly, but her mouth was covered by her hand. How did Chat know about her break dancing?

Alya kicked her foot. "Are you alright?"

"Y- yeah."

Alya made a face and looked at Chat. "Leave her alone, kitty cat, or I'll rip those stupid suspenders right off your furry ass."

Chat's eyes widened and scooted his chair away from the two women. Alya was referring to the green suspenders Chat had recently added to his all back ensemble, along with a shirt that had a green paw print on it. He let the suspenders hang off his pants as loops.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road." This turned their attention to the Auctioneer "The artist would like to say a few words before the auction starts.

Le Dessinateur stood at the podium and pulled out a few note cards. He cleared his throat and looked up. His eyes met Marinette's and his entire face turned as red as his hair.

"Someone's made an impression on him," Chat whispered in her ear. Marniette knocked his shoulder with her own and smiled at Le Dessinateur, nodding for him to go on.

"Uh- uh-, Bienvenue," Le Dessinateur started. "I would like to thank you all for coming to my auction. All of these pieces are originals. Most of them are my own, but a few I had help with-"

"That's me!" Chat whispered emphatically into Marinette's ear. "I helped out." Marinette ignored him.

"-And those will be indicated. I would like to thank all the dancers who helped." He read off a somewhat long list of dancers (including Chat Noir and Ladybug) before going on with his speech. "And, last but not least, I would like to thank Plagg and Tikki, the owners of Miraculous for, well, for everything. Thank you so much, guys." He clapped and everyone joined in. "I would also like to note that 80% of the proceeds is going to be donated to Miraculous. Please enjoy the auction."

Several pieces were auctioned off. Some spray paint, some water color, some acrylic, and so on. They all had a vibrant exclamation point in the corner to indicate that they were indeed Le Dessinateur's. There were pictures of dancers and of

The painting that was Marinette's favorite was called "Duo in Red." It was spray paint on canvas with a purple background, and a red silhouette of a two dancing figures. The woman's arm was planted firmly on the ground, holding her body upside down and her legs were stretched out wife. The mans was sliding in a downrock towards the woman. Marinette bid on it, but was outbid by someone else.

"Pity you couldn't have that one," Chat whispered. "It's quite beautiful."

"There are others," Marinette whispered back.

A few paintings later, Chat slouched in his seat. Marinette had been looking out the window at la Seine and had missed what the painting was. Chat's reaction jolted her attention and she looked towards the podium. Her jaw immediately dropped.

There was no mistaking Marinette as the subject of the painting (well, Ladybug at least). It was a long and narrow canvas that pictured Ladybug facing away from the painter, and looking back over her shoulder. The background was a dark blue, and Marinette's body was a silhouette of red with black spots.

"Hey, what's this one called?" Marinette whispered to Alya.

"'Red Beauty'," Alya whispered back. "You should bid on it, it's you!"

By now the bidding was in the several hundred Euros' range, and closely approaching a thousand. "I can't afford it."

Marinette looked over and saw Chat on his phone.

"Boring you, Kitty cat?" she whispered in his ear.

He shot her a look and then turned his sneer on the painting. "Asking us to help him paint is one thing, but painting her like- like that is a whole 'nother thing. Thank goodness Ladybug isn't here to see this."

Marinette wrinkled her nose. Was Chat jealous?

"Isn't he painting mural of m- of her for Miraculous?"

Chat scoffed. "Yeah, but that's different. Look at that picture, Marinette. Every line and curve was done purposefully."

"Would you rather he half-ass it?"

Chat shrugged. "Maybe."

The painting was bought by some big-wig in dark glasses, which perked Chat up. They started on the break dancing paintings then, and Marinette realized something.

"How do you know my name, Chat?" she whispered in his ear which made him freeze.

"Uh-, you're friend Alya told me that one night you visited Miraculous, yeah."

Marinette nodded, she guessed that made sense.

A few break dance paintings went and sold. Some by Le Dessinateur, some not. Finally, the last painting of the night was "Miraculous" by Chat and Ladybug. Marinette perked up. The red, white, black, and green recorded the relationship between the two of them, and Marinette teared up at the thought of it hanging in a stranger's home.

Chat had become more than just a dancer to her. The former champ had become a rock to stand on, a lighthouse in a storm. The pressure to lead the Miraculous dancers was so much work, and he was there for her every step of the way. She bit her lip to hold back the tears, and unconsciously overlapped her hand with Chat's next to her.

Chat lifted his head and looked at the girl on his elbow. His eyes widened when he saw her expression.

"Hey, it's almost over, but you can step out if you need a moment." He didn't ask why, he just tried to help her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, sorry. I just- I really love art, Chat." She fanned herself with her hand and mentally kicked herself for the stupid comment. I really love art. What the hell did that even mean?

Chat bit his lip and looked away. "Ohhhkay, whatever you say." But he didn't move his hand under hers until she herself did first.

He immediately checked his phone. Marinette didn't mean to snoop, but she saw his lock screen. It was the picture of him and Ladybug after painting with Le Dessinateur. Chat's face was covered in black paint, his arm slung around Marinette's (well, Ladybug's) shoulders. Their smiles were wide and happy.

She looked away when he got a text, not wanting to pry.

"Miraculous" sold to the same big-wig who bought "Red Beauty" and the auction was over. Le Dessinateur came back up to the podium and thanked them all for coming. They adjourned and had h'ordeuvres.

Le Dessinateur almost immediately came over to where Marinette and her group were standing, and greeted them.

"I'm so glad you all could make it," he said, shaking their hands. When he reached Marinette's, he leaned down to give her a light peck on the knuckle. Marinette blushed and smiled at him. "Marinette, how did you know about the auction?"

Marinette looked at Alya, who shrugged.

"Uh- Lady Wifi told me," Marinette said awkwardly.

"I'm so glad you could come. The event could not have been more perfect with you there."

Chat huffed and crossed his arms. "Ladybug wasn't there," he muttered.

"That's true, she didn't," Le Dessinateur commented, brows furrowed. "I hope she got my invitation."

"I don't think she did," Alya piped up. "She never mentioned going, and she definitely would've come if she'd known." Alya kept her eye on Marinette the whole time.

"I'm sure she appreciates your hard work," Marinette assured Le Dessinateur, patting his arm. Le Dessinateur blushed again and rubbed the back of his neck.

"D- did you buy any of the at, Marinette?"

"Uh, no, unfortunately, they're all a bit out of my price range."

"Oh, well, I have a few pieces that I didn't put up for sale here if you like to see them. Maybe one of them will strike your fancy."

"I couldn't-"

"Come on, I'll show you." Le Dessinateur grabbed Marinette's hand and dragged her away from the group. Marinette locked eyes with Alya who was containing her laughter behind her hand. Nino just raised his glass to her in a toast, Chat crossed his arms and frowned as Marinette and Le Dessinateur walked away.

Le Dessinateur pulled Marinette into an adjacent room, and flipped on the lights.

"Tell me if you'd like one," he said, letting go of her hand.

Marinette inspected the paintings. Most of them were spray paintings, but a few were break dancing.

"Why didn't you put them up for sale?" she asked him as she inspected a spray painting with words on it.

"I was advised to cut a few for the sake of time. I'll most likely have another auction in a few months so I'll try to sell them off then."

Marinette moved on to the next painting. "Is it true that you're donating 80% of the proceeds to Plagg and Tikki for Miraculous?"

"Yes, it would have been all of it…but, well…"

"Hey, we artists gotta eat too."

"S- so, you're an artist too?"

Marinette shrugged. "I dabble, I prefer costume design myself. How much for-" She turned with a painting in hand and jumped when she realized how close Le Dessinateur was. She could feel his breath, and there was a certain dreamy look in his eyes that made Marinette's stomach flip.

"I- I have a confession to make, Marinette," Le Dessinateur said. "Did you see my painting, 'Red Beauty'?"

Marinette nodded. "It was one of my favorites."

"It's of Ladybug, you know, that Miraculous dancer. But I- I didn't base it off of her." He looked down as he spoke. "I based it off of you, Marinette." He looked right into her eyes. The two blues clashed, and Marinette had to let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Uh- uh thank you…?"

"You're my muse, Marinette. I've waited so long to-"

"Le Dessinateur, please, I-" Marinette dropped the painting and tried to make her way to the door.

Le Dessinateur grabbed her arm. "Wait! Did I come on too strong? Damn, I know I should've asked you out to dinner before admitting it. Please, can we just start over?"

"Le Dessinateur, I-" Marinette tried to pull her arm away.

Le Dessinateur's grip tightened. "I'm free tonight if you want to go someplace. We can go anywhere, I've made quite a bit of money off of this auction. Even if it's only 20%."

"Nathanael! Let me-" She was dragging him to the door by her arm. The muscles in her bicep were screaming, but her adrenaline was kicking in from her fight-or-flight instincts.

"Please, Marinette, I-"

"Nathanael, I'm Ladybug!" Marinette yelled at him, which immediately caused him to let her go. Marinette rubbed her arm and moved to the door.

Le Dessinateur looked like his entire world had been turned on his head. "But- but, you- what?"

Marinette groaned. She definitely should not have said that. Honestly, it was the only thing she could think of to get him to let go of her arm. "I loved the auction. I didn't have time to change into my costume after ballet, but I wanted to see the auction." It felt so good to be able to be real with someone. No lies and half-truths. No allusions and inside jokes.

"So, when Ladybug and Chat came to dance…"

Marinette nodded. "That was me. It's been me the whole time. Look, Nath, I like you, you're a nice guy. But I don't think we'd be good together in a relationship."

"H- how do you know?"

Marinette shrugged. "I don't really understand why you like me, to be honest. There's nothing special about me."

Le Dessinateur's eyes lit up. "You're amazing, and beautiful. And now you're Ladybug, the best dancer at Miraculous! You're perfect."

Marinette winced. "That's why we wouldn't be good together. I'm not perfect, I'm just Marinette."

Le Dessinateur's eyes fell. "I- I'm sorry to have come on so strong."

"It's alright, trust me. I know what it's like to have a crush."

"Is it Chat Noir? I've seen the way he looks at you, and the way you two talk to each other."

Marinette forced out a laugh. "Chat? No, he's just a flirt. And we're friends, really good friends."

Le Dessinateur grumbled, and sniffled. Marinette bit her lip. She did not expect any of this to happen while she was in here. "Look, Le Dessinateur, I know you don't owe me anything, but, if you would please keep my secret, I would be eternally grateful."

Le Dessinateur's entire face perked up. "Does Chat know about you?"

Marinette shook her head. "Especially Chat, don't tell him. That's for me to tell him…someday." Never.

"I will on one condition."

Marinette flinched. Fuck, he could do whatever he wanted and she would do it (almost). "What is it?"

"Will you model as Ladybug for me? I want some reference for the mural, I'm having trouble with it."

Marinette thought to herself, then nodded. That sounded like a fair trade. "Alright, I'll model for you for one day, and one day only, and you don't tell anyone who I am." Marinette extended her hand to shake and Le Dessinateur shook her hand.

"Deal."

"Alright, thank you for letting me see your art, I'm leaving now."

"Are you free Thursday for the session?"

Marinette thought for a moment. "Sure, after my ballet class. Meet me over by the ballet classroom, I'll reserve a practice room." Marinette opened the door and rushed out before Le Dessinateur could make any more suggestions.

"Hey," Alya said. "Did you end up buying any art? You guys were in there a while."

"Uh, no, uh, Lady Wifi, I'm going to head back home. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bye Bubbler, bye Chat." Marinette spoke while looking at the the door she came out of. Le Dessinateur emerged and she tried not to run out of the room.

"Bye Marinette," Alya called out to her.

Marinette wondered if she was ever going to have a ballet class where she didn't drift off in thought and was called out by the teacher. It was Thursday, and she couldn't wait to have the whole modeling session with Le Dessinateur done with. Every day the competition drew closer, and Marinette had to keep planning the next rehearsal. Not to mention remembering what she had already learned at the Academy troop's rehearsal, plus schoolwork, plus trying to keep up with being the top dancer at Miraculous.

Though she and the rest of the dancers had refused payment from Plagg and Tikki for their dancing, they still danced every Friday without fail. Marinette was sure Miraculous was still going to close even with their refusal for money, and Le Dessinateur's donation from the auction. All the more reason to win the competition, she guessed.

Finally, the class ended, and Marinette attempted to zoom off to change into her Ladybug costume.

"Marinette!" Adrien called after her.

Marinette's feet skidded to a halt and she turned to look at Adrien. The one day she couldn't afford to miss a second was the day Adrien decided to notice her. Perfect.

"When are you free again to practice?"

Marinette thought back, but the only thing she could think of was Le Dessinateur waiting for her, Marinette's secret burning on his tongue as he looked around. "Uh, uh, I'll have to get back to you, Adrien. I'll text you, but right now, I don't have time to talk. Kaythanksbye." She rushed out of the room, went to the bathroom. She made sure no one was in there, and she changed. She left the bathroom undetected, and met Nathanael (dressed as Le Dessinateur) over by where her class had just gotten out.

"Good to see you, Ladybug," Le Dessinateur said to her with a wink.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Alright, the room I requested is right over here." She took him into a room and set her bag down. He pulled a portable easel out of his bag as well as a pad of paper and several pencils, pens, and paints.

Marinette rolled her shoulders and her back, trying to loosen up her tense muscles. "What do you want me to do?"

Le Dessinateur shrugged. "Turn on some music and dance a little."

Marinette did so, pausing mid dance when Le Dessinateur asked that she do so.

They had been at it for nearly fifteen minutes when the door swung open and they both looked to see. Marinette turned pure red as Adrien Agreste himself looked into the room.

"S- sorry!" he coughed out. "Wrong room." He looked in awe at Marinette and she looked away from him, trying to hide her blush.

"Hey, could you help us a minute?" Le Dessinateur asked.

No! "I'm sure he's busy, Le Dessinateur," Marinette huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Adrien's look of awe turned into unease. "What's going on here? Is he pressuring you?" Adrien spoke directly to Marinette with squinted eyes.

"What happens between artist and muse is strictly confidential," Le Dessinateur argued, still sketching.

"Look, buddy." Adrien came to stand next to Le Dessinateur, and grabbed his paper. "You think you can just force Ladybug to come here so you can live out your lurid fantasies is sick and wrong. I don't care if she is your muse, you can't make her do anything."

"As a matter of fact-"

Marinette had to stop this before the cat was let out of the bag. "Le Dessinateur asked me to model for some reference sketches for him, A- uh, sir. I'm doing this on my own."

Adrien's whole face turned red and Le Dessinateur yanked his note pad out of his hands. "O- oh, alright then, I'll just go- um, yeah."

"Hold on," Le Dessinateur said, grabbing Adrien's arm. "While you're here, you may as well be of some use. Stand next to Ladybug."

Adrien turned redder and looked at Marinette, but did as Le Dessinateur asked.

"Alright, now Ladybug, rest your arm on his shoulders. No, not like that, bend your arm and lean the elbow- yeah, like that. Now hold it."

Marinette wasn't sure who was redder, her or Adrien. He swallowed, but kept his eyes trained forwards.

"And done," Le Dessinateur as he finished with a flourish.

"Are we done?" Marinette asked.

"Sure, we can be." He nodded to Marinette as he packed up his easel. "Pleasure doing business with you, my Lady."

Adrien's brow furrowed and he took a step towards Le Dessinateur. "Hey, you can't-" His countenance immediately changed. "I mean, how do you know you can call her that?"

Le Dessinateur rolled his eyes. "You just don't get it, my friend. Goodbye, Ladybug, have a nice life."

"You too, Le Dessinateur, you too," Marinette replied as Le Dessinateur left the room.

There was an awkward silence as the two of them stood there. "Um, thanks for helping," Ladybug said. "You can use this room if you want." She started to reach for her stuff and Adrien grabbed her arm.

"I'm Adrien Agreste, you may have heard of me," he said.

Marinette nodded. "Yes, I have. It's nice to meet you. I'm Ladybug"

"Will you-" Adrien's face was bright red again. "Um, will you dance with me?"

"D- dance?"

"You don't if you don't want to. Man, I must sound just like-"

"I'd love to!" Adrien's face lit up when he looked back at her. Marinette beamed back at him. Being Ladybug sure had a way of stripping away her insecurities.

"G- great, lemme pick a song." He grabbed his phone and started flipping through his music. He turned on Ella Henderson's "Ghost", not even bothering to hook it up to speakers. He waited for her to start and she took the lead.

His hands were on her hands, her arms, her hips, her waist. And with every touch she lost herself a little bit more to the music. Her heart hammered in her chest, but she ignored it.

They ended with their faces extremely close together. Marinette couldn't help but think how she had been this close to Chat at the end of Doubles Night. Adrien blinked once, twice. Then he closed his eyes and leaned into her. Marinette's eyes fluttered close and she braced for the kiss. He smelled musky and woody, just like Chat did.

Marinette gasped and stepped out of his grip. She turned her back to him, and covered her mouth.

"Thanks for the dance," she said as she grabbed her bag and ran out of the room.

The thought that had torn her away had been simple: What would Adrien think if he knew it was me? Marinett's eyes were opened to the situation clearly after that. If and when Adrien and she actually started dating, she would tell him she was Ladybug. And if they kissed now, he would most certainly think she used her alternate persona to get close to him. That wasn't what Ladybug was for, and she knew it.

The other thing was that Adrien didn't know Ladybug other than an internet sensation. If she encouraged him as Ladybug, he may never love Marinette. It was imperative that he fall in love with Marinette before Ladybug. Though her heart ached from leaving him alone in the the practice room, she knew in her gut that this was the right thing to do.

She called Alya as soon as she got home.

"Alya," she whispered into the phone, tears fighting at the corners of her eyes. She wiped her eyes and saw red on the tips of her fingers. She hadn't even realized that she'd walked all the way home in her Ladybug costume.

"What is it, girl?"

"I- Adrien and I-" Her voice wavered and she bit her lip.

"Marinette, are you crying?"

"Adrien almost kissed me."

"What?! That's great! How? Tell me-"

"No, it's not great! I was- I was dressed as Ladybug at the time." The tears flowed freely. "He tried to kiss Ladybug."

Alya was silent for a moment. "Take a shower. I'll be over in fifteen minutes with ice cream. We can hash this out further."

Alya truly was the best friend any girl could ask for.

A/N: this chapter is dedicated to all the people who keep asking for these two dorks to kiss either while they're dancing or after they dance. You may laugh, but it has literally happened so much I had to make a response. And that is: why would they do that? Why would they kiss? At this point there is no good reason for the two of them to kiss. So there you go, hope you're happy.

You guys seem to like the idea of an Adrien POV fic from his perspective, and I'm not 100% sure if it'll become a reality, but I'm seriously thinking about it.

I can't say for sure, but I think we're coming upon the end pretty soon guys, I'm thinking within 5-7 chapters more (maybe, don't quote me on it) which may seem like a lot to you guys, but I'm currently writing two chapters ahead of where you're reading, so it's like 3 chapters for me.

Again, reviews are always loved and appreciated, but not necessary.