Someone To Watch Over Me, Chapter 10: A Kiss Is Just A Kiss... Until It Isn't

After about half an hour passed, the most tempestuous portion of the storm passed by, and the booming thunder reduced itself to occasional rumbles.

Outside of the Agreste mansion, the atmosphere also began slowly returning to normal conditions.

"Adrien?" whispered Ladybug.

She ran her gloved hand through his hair as gently as she possibly could, admiring the handsome face resting against her shoulder. In the dark, sitting on the couch with him, she could barely make out his features.

He looks so peaceful, she thought.

Oh my gosh... did he fall asleep?

Ladybug wasn't sure if she felt more like laughing or melting from that. She nudged him, very gently, and she saw his eyes slowly open.

"Hi," she whispered to him. "Welcome back."

"Oh," he breathed, very quietly. "For a moment there, I was afraid that this was all a wonderful dream."

"Nope, I'm real. Still tingling, but very real," smiled Ladybug. She leaned down to steal a few more light kisses, then sat up again. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I'm... I don't know what I am," he admitted. "I'm happy and excited and scared all at the same time."

"Me, too. Those were my first kisses, too, but you knew that," reassured Ladybug. "I wasn't sure that we'd end up like this... but I'm not complaining."

She felt him trembling a little bit against her, and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked.

"I think we need to," replied Adrien. "Very, very much."

"Well, at least I know that you're a cheap date," quipped Ladybug. "Thirty minutes of kissing and he's out like a light."

Even in the dark, she was sure he turned beet red at that, though she did get a laugh from him as well. She ran her hand up and down his arm to comfort him and added, "I'm just teasing, you goof. I'm overwhelmed, too. Definitely not ready for anything more than kissing any time soon."

"Me, neither," Adrien agreed. "I'm not sure that I was ready for that."

"Well, you were a quick learner! Not that I have a basis for comparison," Ladybug giggled. "There's no one else I'd have ever picked for my first kiss, Adrien."

"I'm so glad," he replied.

"Now that we can breathe again... maybe we should figure out together what this night means," she added, in a tone of voice indicating that this topic would not be evaded.

"Yeah. Because-" he began.

The lights came back on at that moment, making both kids wince and cover their eyes as they readjusted.

"Haha!" laughed Ladybug. "Perfect timing. I'd rather see each other clearly while we talk about this. How about I'll start?"

Adrien nodded, and Ladybug swiveled around to be face-to-face, still close enough to touch him if she wanted to. She could see Adrien's face becoming very tense as she readied her thoughts, and her own worries surfaced within her.

Okay, Marinette, she thought, talk your way out of this one! You just made Adrien's LIFE and broke him again at the same time. This is going to take a lot of finesse to get us both out of here in one emotional piece.

"First..." she began, "I'm really glad that this happened... and I'd do it again. Just looking at your face right now makes me want to kiss you again! And I can feel just how much I'm blushing right now, and I don't care. You are really special to me, Adrien. I'm so happy that I can finally say that to you... and show you. But..."

"Somehow I knew there'd be a 'But,'" Adrien grimaced.

"Hush, you. My turn," Ladybug chided him, pleasantly. "But I also meant every word I said about Marinette earlier. This is not a competition, where the first one who kisses you wins! She has real and deep feelings for you... and it's sure sounded to me like that's mutual. And how we feel about each other doesn't change either one of those at all."

"I'm a little confused, then," said Adrien, looking troubled. "If you want Marinette and I to be together, and you kind of sound like you do... why did you kiss me like that? You don't want me to be your boyfriend?"

"I don't know what I want just yet, okay?" Ladybug begged off. "I'm figuring this out just like you are. I keep reminding you, I'm just a teenage girl under this suit... never-been-kissed, until someone came along... and I can get emotional and be impulsive like anybody else. And you are so sweet and so handsome, and we have so much fun together, and I adore that you want to be there for me just like I'm there for you, and you played that amazing song for me, that you wrote about me, and I just... I'm babbling now."

Ladybug rocked into a little ball, her arms around her knees, but with a gigantic smile. "Adrien, like I said when I did it... that was not an optional reaction. I needed to kiss you so badly that it hurt. And that incredible thing you did for me finally gave me the courage to do it. I was just so... I felt so..."

She gave him a soft, shy look. "Adrien... I don't think we're ever going to go back to being 'just friends' again. Not the way that we were before this week. And not just because we just kissed," she told him. "We're going to be something more than that, no matter what. But I want whatever we are... whatever we become... to be something that you are comfortable with, and that Marinette is comfortable with, too. And before the lights went out, you still sounded really conflicted."

"I was... and I still am," Adrien admitted.

"Then let's talk this out some more," ventured Ladybug. "If you had heartache because you weren't sure that I liked you that way... I don't want you to have more heartache because I do!"

Adrien took all of that in with a face that Ladybug couldn't quite read. "I'm... kind of glad to hear that? I think? But I'm not quite sure what I'm thinking," he began. "It's a little bit of a relief that you're not sure, too. Because if you said 'let's just be friends' or you said 'I love you' right now, I'd probably pass out cold."

"Well, let's go one step at a time, okay? I want to keep you conscious," Ladybug giggled. "Not that you weren't so cute asleep against me a minute ago..."

"I can't believe I did that," blushed Adrien. "And I can't believe that I even have doubts about this. I have wanted to be close to you... to kiss you... from the moment I met you, Ladybug. It wasn't something that started when you caught that Akuma, or took me out to the park and talked with me, or anything else this week. I fell for you hard before I even knew you well. Everything since has just made that stronger."

"Wow," replied Ladybug, with a little quiver in her voice. "I've got the full-body shivers hearing that... No one's ever said anything like that to me before. Ever."

"And if it was just you and me... I know what else I'd want to say right now," Adrien gulped. "But it's not just you and me. And thinking about how to explain this to Marinette has my stomach tied in knots."

"You're... going to be honest with her, right?" prompted Ladybug, a little hesitantly.

"I have to be. I'm not sure that I can lie to Marinette, and I know that I'll never want to," he half-smiled. "But that's the problem. When I asked her out on our first date, when I held her hand, when I said she is the sweetest girl I know, when I told her that I'm interested in being with her... none of that was lying, either."

Ladybug's eyes shone at him as he added, in a serious voice, "I meant every word. Those feelings are real." His head slumped down as he added, "And now I get to tell her that I'm so interested in her that I just kissed someone else over and over."

"Did tonight change those feelings that you have for Marinette?" asked Ladybug, delicately.

"No, they didn't. But..."

"Then don't you think that she needs to hear that, too?" she replied, with a little emphasis. "Are you still going to take her on those dates? Call her and talk with her for hours? Walk her to school and back? Tell her those sweet things that turn her to jelly, and still mean them?"

Adrien's anxiety increased visibly. "I... I really want to do all of those things with her, for her. And more! But now I doubt that she'd want me to." He looked helplessly at Ladybug and added, "I was kissing you! And meaning that, too!"

"It sure felt like you meant it," Ladybug grinned. "But I'm not the only one who has a place in your heart, and I have to respect that."

"You're the only one I've ever kissed, let alone made out with. I'm not used to the idea of... well... doing any of that casually," Adrien struggled to say. "I mean, like you said, it wasn't a marriage proposal, but..." He trailed off as it became clear from her reaction that he really, really should.

"Do you think that I jumped on you casually tonight, Adrien?" asked Ladybug, with a growing frown. "My first real kisses ever? Do you think that this wasn't important to me, or that I just throw those around?"

"NO! That's not what I meant at all," gasped Adrien, desperately scrambling for a rephrasing. "Not even a little bit! But that's what I'm trying to figure out now. I can't... I can't quite wrap my head around kissing someone like that and then not wanting a relationship with them."

Ladybug looked at him very carefully, and weighed how to phrase what she was about to say.

"Then there's something else that you need to understand."

Adrien stared at her, uncomprehending, but very much wanting to.

"You can be just friends with someone, or you can be in a full romantic relationship with someone, falling madly in love with them. But those aren't the only two choices."

The room was silent for a moment.

"Don't just drop that on me and leave it there," said Adrien, finally. "Explain what you mean by that, please."

"Adrien, when I kissed you like that tonight," Ladybug began, "it was because you are very special to me. Because you touched my heart with that song and my emotions just took over. Because no one else has made me open up the way that you have. Because I really, really wanted to."

She gave him a meaningful look and asked, "You get that none of that was casual, right? There are people who'll get kissy with anyone, just for the thrill of it. I'm not one of those people."

"I never thought that you were," replied Adrien. "Believe me, I know that you're not."

"I feel closer to you than anyone else while I'm wearing this mask," Ladybug said. "That's not a small thing for either of us."

"Even closer than to Chat Noir?" he wondered, slipping out of him before he could think better of saying it.

"Well, see, that's an example of what I'm talking about," Ladybug argued. "I've told you before how I feel about Chat. He is so important to me in so many ways! He's way more than just a friend; he's my partner. He's my equal. He's someone I share things with that no one else ever gets to see. I rely on him for a whole lot more than fighting Akumas, and I couldn't be Ladybug without him."

Her head sank, in frustration. "And I'm mostly sure that he understands that, deep down. But the one thing that I can't give him is a romantic relationship, and sometimes I feel like that's the only thing he wants. That if he doesn't get that, none of the rest is worth it. Like it's either Love or the Friend Zone, one or the other, on or off like a light switch."

Adrien's face froze. "You really think that he feels that way?" he said, in a hushed voice.

"Not all the time. Not even close! He's matured quite a bit in the time I've known him. I think he understands how much I genuinely care for him. At least... I truly hope that he does, and I try to remind him of that all the time."

Ladybug curled into a ball again. Adrien wanted to wrap his arms around her to comfort her, but held back for a moment, not sure that it was what she wanted at that point.

"But once in a while, he does push too hard, asking for all or nothing. It hurts me when he does that. And I can't do that with you, Adrien. I just can't."

"...Okay," Adrien conceded, looking thoughtful. "You have a point there. More of one than you know."

Ladybug looked up at him with something of a sad smile. "Then maybe you do understand. I am crazy about you, Adrien. You get me emotional, you make me nervous, you make me shiver like nobody else does. I need some kind of relationship with you. Maybe it can be romantic, in our own way! Maybe it won't be. But I don't know what kind of relationship that it needs to be yet. We're both still figuring that out."

"And I'm not going to apologize for showing you how I feel without words... just like you did, with your song... or for wanting to give us more time to figure out if this is what's best for both of us."

Adrien was silent.

"If I end up being your steady girlfriend, and we do what we did tonight all the time, I'd love that. If I end up being a very close friend instead, and we watch movies and crack jokes and share things between us and kiss sometimes and you date other people at the same time, I'd love that too. If I stay as your good friend but Marinette gets all of those kisses, I'll be so happy for her - and for you!" pleaded Ladybug. "As long as I have you in my life. But I'm not the only one that you need to keep in your life. Am I making sense, Adrien?"

"You are," he answered. "My head is still spinning, but you are making sense. But..."

"Keep talking," Ladybug replied. "I really need to know what you're thinking right now."

"The girl I've been head-over-heels for all year just came to my house, threw her arms around me, blew my mind with our first kisses, told me how much she's crazy about me... and is now encouraging me to maybe date someone else. You'll have to pardon me if I'm still processing all of that," he smiled, sheepishly.

"I kissed you, and I meant to. That doesn't mean that I own you, or that you own me. I know you're more than smart enough to get that," replied Ladybug. "And if we decide that this is what we both want most, you'll get a lot more of those. But I'm not the only one you're head-over-heels for any more... am I?"

Adrien's head dropped again, but with a defeated grin. "No, you're not. And you're right. I can't just make a snap decision on this."

"I'm not saying that Marinette will feel the exact same way. I can't speak for her, or for how she'll react to what just happened," Ladybug replied. "So be gentle with her, okay? Be totally honest with her. And hear her out before you write off your chances with her just because you kissed me back. She's just as crazy about you as I am... maybe more."

He nodded at that. "Maybe the three of us should get together sometime and all talk about it?" he ventured. "Clear the air between us?"

"Um... I'm not sure that would be a great idea just yet," she stammered. "How about you talk to her first without my complicating things by being there?"

"Okay," Adrien replied, quietly.

"Are we good, Adrien?" Ladybug asked, intently. "Are you good?"

"I've got a ton to think about... but I'll get there. I have two wonderful friends to help me through it," said Adrien, with a hint of a smile. "And at least one of them is an amazing kisser."

"Maybe we both are. Did you ever think of that?" winked Ladybug. "But it's up to you if you want to try and find that out."

The goggle-eyed look on Adrien's face made her giggle. "Not to put ideas in your head, or anything..." she laughed. "Anyway... it sounds as if the rain has slowed down. I'm going to head home before my mother has a coronary worrying."

The pair moved to the window, reluctantly. "I'm serious, Adrien. Are you going to be all right?" asked Ladybug, with visible concern. "I don't want to leave here until I know that you will be, and that you won't be up all night worrying about the two of us. The three of us, even."

"Then I'll fake that I won't be all right, and just keep you here," he chuckled.

"Very clever, smart guy. I'll put it another way. This..."

Ladybug leaned forward and planted one more searching kiss on Adrien's lips.

"...should tell you that I'm not just your friend. But these..."

She tapped gently on his head, then over his heart, and added, "...should tell you that Marinette's not just your friend, either. What happens next is up to you. Just... be honest with both of us, and with yourself, okay? Nothing bad ever comes of that."

Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Do I deserve either one of you?" he asked her.

"I think so. I keep coming back, don't I?" Ladybug grinned. She kissed him on the cheek, stepped outside, and was gone.

Adrien stared out the window for a few minutes, then closed it, walked back to his bed and flopped down on his back with a glazed smile on his face.

Plagg flew out of his pocket and hovered above him, gauging Adrien's mood as best he could. He wasn't giving away much at the moment.

"So... um... That was quite an evening, huh?" Plagg said, as nonchalantly as he could manage.

"You could say that," replied Adrien, distantly.

"What do you think you're going to do next?" asked Plagg.

"I have absolutely no idea. None. Nada."

Plagg stared at Adrien for a moment, wondering what he could possibly add to the moment. "Well, um... I'll be right over there if you need me. If you don't, uh, then sleep well!" he mumbled, then flew over to where he customarily spent his nights. I need to buy a little time to figure this out, he thought. And he needs a little more time to tell himself that that was all real.

I don't ask for a lot of favors, Hawkmoth, wherever you are, Plagg chuckled to himself. But no Akumas tonight, please? If you send one, I'm pretty sure the kid's going to thousand-yard-stare it to death.

As a scarlet-and-black figure swung across the skyline of Paris, a cold and damp evening closed in around her. Misty raindrops pelted her face, stinging the exposed skin there. Wind whipped at her from various directions, trying to chill her to the bone. Her hair became soaking wet, as did the outside of her costume.

She never felt a thing.

When she reached the alleyway in which she'd stashed her bicycle, Ladybug quickly transformed back to Marinette. To her mild relief, it was right where she'd left it, locked securely to a metal railing. That's all I'd need, she smiled to herself. Not that I expected it to be stolen, but then how would I explain how I got home?

Tikki floated beside her, giving her a concerned look. She watched as Marinette thought for a moment, then stepped out from under the overhang into the pouring rain. "What are you doing?" she asked her.

"Well... if I rode my bike home from Adrien's through the rain, wouldn't it look a bit strange if my street clothes were completely dry?" reasoned Marinette, twirling a bit on the sidewalk. "I'm sure Mom would notice that."

"Heh, that's a good point. I'm glad that you're back to thinking about those kinds of things," Tikki replied, dryly.

Marinette's smile faded somewhat. "Wait... what do you mean by that, Tikki?"

"We'll talk upstairs, okay? Let's get you home before someone does notice you. Or before you freeze," suggested Tikki.

Marinette remained bothered by what she'd just heard, but hopped on her bike and pedaled the short distance remaining to her house.

"Mom, Dad... I'm home!" called Marinette, as she entered through the back door and wiped her feet on the mat.

As she expected, her mother came flying over to meet her, and was perturbed by what she saw. "Marinette! You're soaking wet!" she chided her. "Why didn't you just get the Agrestes to drive you?"

"It wasn't that bad when I left!" ventured Marinette. "The lightning had stopped, and the rain had died down to almost nothing. It picked up again a few blocks from here, and I was close enough that I didn't want to call from there. I did beat my curfew, right?"

Both heads turned to look at the clock on the wall. "You did... but just barely," conceded Sabine. "Next time, you'll listen to me and we'll handle this a little differently?"

"I will, I promise," Marinette said, with what she hoped was a conciliatory smile and her most innocent expression.

"All right. You're young, you're in love, I won't yell at you too much," Sabien smirked. "But get upstairs and get changed before your father sees you, or he'll have a fit!"

"Oh, I intend to! I'm freezing," replied Marinette as she headed for the stairs. As she reached the bottom step, her mother called out to her again.

"...Was it worth it?" asked Sabine.

"Sooooooo worth it," her daughter grinned, then took off up the stairs two at a time.

Good, thought Sabine. I think.

A quick shower helped restore Marinette to her normal operating parameters. With a bathrobe around her and a towel around her head, she fell backwards onto her mattress, arms outstretched, a peaceful smile on her face.

"Drink it in, Marinette," encouraged Tikki. "This was a very big night for you."

"It sure was," Marinette agreed. "A very big, romantic, passionate, electrifying, complicated night." She opened her eyes and sat up, turning towards Tikki. "But you're not happy with me, I could tell. Adrien was awfully fragile again after I kissed him. How badly did I screw that up tonight?"

"Actually... I'm okay with that part," Tikki answered. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen once the kissing started, or how either of you would react. I figured Adrien would be starstruck, and I was more than a little afraid that you would be, too."

"You were?" asked Marinette.

"You've been in loooooove with Adrien for how long? And here he was, in your arms at last. If you'd gone into full I-love-you-forever mode right then and there, I wouldn't have been surprised," grinned Tikki. "But everything that you said afterwards: how you feel about him as Ladybug, to be sure and consider Marinette's feelings for him, how he shouldn't read too much into all that kissing and snuggling, but to not take them too lightly, either... that was all very mature of you, and I liked it a lot. I think he learned quite a bit from you tonight."

Not to mention that maybe THAT will jar him out of the possessive way Chat acts towards Ladybug sometimes! thought Tikki. That part looked like it connected with him hard, and it should've.

"That's good. I had the advantage of having rehearsed most of it in my head all morning," smiled Marinette. "But if that's not what's bothering you, what is?"

"Um..." hesitated Tikki. "The part where you gave away your secret identity? I wasn't as much of a fan of that part."

Marinette froze in place, a mask of horror growing rapidly on her features.

"Tikki... what in the world did I do?" she gasped.

"Now, I understand why it happened. You weren't in full control of yourself at that moment, so I'm not going to blame you for it..." evaded Tikki.

"WHAT?" demanded Marinette.

"You told Adrien 'The boy that I've had my heart set on? It's always been you,' as Ladybug," said Tikki, simply.

Marinette did some quick mental math and frowned, not quite making the connection.

"To the same person whom you told twice this week that the boy you were crushing on was a friend of yours that you knew well without your mask on," Tikki continued. "So if Adrien was paying attention, now he knows for sure that Ladybug's secret identity is a personal friend of his. How many friends his own age does Adrien have? And how many of them are blue-eyed girls with dark pigtails that he knows have feelings for him?"

Now it added up. Marinette sank back down flat on her bed, with an anguished expression. "No... How could I have been that stupid?" she wailed.

"Stop that right now," lectured Tikki, immediately. "You are not stupid. You are a sweet girl in love, whose crush had just told her 'I love you' with that amazing, beautiful song. It's a miracle that you didn't yell 'Spots off!' right then and there. And with those kisses you laid on him, it's possible that what you said floated straight out of his skull! Those were some kisses, honey."

"He'd earned them," mumbled Marinette.

"He sure had. And maybe he hasn't put two and two together yet. But now we have to act as if he has, or that he's about to, if we want to keep your secret," Tikki told her.

"Agreed. What should I do, Tikki?" asked Marinette, looking and feeling helpless.

"Something that might be a little tricky for you, but it's important, and you're already kind of doing it," Tikki said, looking thoughtful. "You need to put a bunch of obvious distance between Marinette and Ladybug."

Marinette looked at Tikki as if she'd just been offered a grilled platypus with a Caesar salad appetizer. "Say that again?" she said.

"You heard me right. I didn't really want to do it this way, because it would be easier on Adrien if we could've avoided it, and it makes slip-ups more likely. Any time we're introducing deception, that happens... But if your identity is in danger like this, we need to protect it," Tikki replied. "Right now, you and Ladybug are working in perfect harmony. You're both trying to make Adrien feel better; that's not going to change. You're both trying to romance Adrien; that's not going to change, because it'd be suspicious if one of you just went hands-off and let the other have him."

"Okay..." Marinette said, trying to follow along.

"But so far, you're being super-considerate of Adrien giving Ladybug a chance. Almost telling him flat-out 'think about dating her instead of me, or about dating both of us.' And as Ladybug, you're pushing him towards Marinette the same way. Because you do want him both ways, and I get that; it makes sense from some aspects. But people are going to notice if you're completely nonchalant about your boyfriend having another girlfriend. I'd bet some people around Adrien have noticed that already," mused Tikki. "Adrien himself may be wondering why. And we can't have any of them asking 'But what if that means they're the same person?'... and you just accidentally drew a straight line between them."

"So what, exactly, are you suggesting that I do next?" asked Marinette.

"To at least some degree... your two sides are about to become rivals," grinned Tikki.

Marinette shook her head in mild disbelief. "Okay, slow down. My brain hurts. How do I do that?" she wondered aloud.

"Like I said, you're already halfway to doing it. Think back to your conversations with Adrien this week," Tikki explained. "You talked about Ladybug with Adrien as if she was someone else. Ladybug talked about you with Adrien as if you were someone else. You've said that he reacts to your two sides differently, at least in subtle ways. That much should be second nature to you by now, right?"

"Yeah, I've been doing that... but I already act differently as Ladybug than I do as Marinette," argued Marinette.

Tikki's raised-eyebrow stare made Marinette add, "...Don't I?"

"What you're physically capable of is different. The girl inside is the same. That's part of why he's falling so hard for both of you," said Tikki. "And I'm not suggesting that you and Ladybug should suddenly hate each other, or anything dramatic like that. Neither side of you is going to give up on Adrien, either."

Tikki's face showed that she was trying to be as soothing as she could, despite her worried state. "What you said to him tonight, about how if one of you was his girlfriend and the other a close friend... that's still a great end goal! But what I think you need to do is get a friendly rivalry going between your two selves. He has to think that Marinette and Ladybug are still on good terms, but that they're each trying to win his heart for themselves in different ways! Show him different sides of yourself. Kill him with sweetness and flirtatiousness. Give him distinct options. Don't help each other quite as much. Convince him to make a decision... but stay close to him both ways, so you don't lose that intimacy with him one way when he's kissing the other."

"His head will explode," Marinette stated, flatly.

"A little? Yeah. But didn't you just spend half an hour explaining to him that he's not a terrible person for liking both of you? I know how much you want to bend over backwards and give him exactly what he wants... but he doesn't know who or what he wants any more. You're seeing that up close, right? And that's tearing him up as much as your love is healing him. Maybe he needs a little nudge or two."

"Maybe..." said Marinette, not entirely convinced. "I mean, what I'm doing right now is kind of working... but it is getting really complicated..."

Tikki continued, undaunted. "Besides, he's way too close to the truth right now. We need to get him off balance for a while, without making him feel like he's losing either side of you. And I'll bet that a crafty young lady I know could have a lot of fun with the concept... and blow his mind with how happy he is with both of your selves taking turns spoiling him rotten, not how stressed he is over hurting one or both of you."

Marinette pondered the situation for a minute... and as possibilities presented themselves to her, a slightly scary grin appeared on her face. "So I could be a one-girl Betty and Veronica, you're saying?"

"And kiss Archie either way," Tikki grinned.

"Tikki..." smiled Marinette, "I hope you know what ideas you're inspiring in me right now."

Tikki breathed a small sigh of relief. "I hope Adrien's taking his vitamins," she giggled.

Plagg debated whether or not Adrien would be ready to talk yet...

"You all right over there?" he hissed, from several meters away.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he heard Adrien half-whisper back. "I think so. I can feel my legs again."

"That's a start," the Kwami agreed. He flew over and landed on the nightstand beside Adrien's bed. "Are you going to be able to sleep tonight?" he asked.

"Eventually. I'm going over everything that Ladybug said... and I think she and I are on the same page now. But I still don't know what I'm going to tell Marinette," sighed Adrien.

"Well, let me put it this way. You're a football fan, right? Treat this situation like shootout rules apply," grinned the tiny cat.

"Come again?" asked Adrien, jarred out of his thoughts by the unexpected metaphor.

"You went into tonight's visit, and the two of them were tied. Ladybug went first in penalty kicks, and scored a goal tonight. Wow, did she score a goal! But having done that... is the game over now?"

Adrien thought hard... and grinned. "No, it isn't. Marinette still gets a turn to respond and try to tie the score again. Just like Ladybug said she did. Well, kind of."

"Exactly. Now, she may not try the exact same method... I highly doubt that you're going to see Marinette at your window holding pizzas... and she may not jump right into kissing, either," mused Plagg. "And you could use some rest and thinking time before you try. But like Ladybug said... let Marinette respond. You owe her that for sure. And get ready."

"Get ready for what?" asked Adrien.

"If Marinette knows that she has that kind of competition... just about anything," Plagg grinned.

"All right. Step one, then," said Marinette, as she reached over and turned her phone off for the night.

"Already?" wondered Tikki, watching Marinette's action. "No midnight chats with anyone tonight?"

"Tikki, I think someone needs some time to breathe, think, and make sense of all of this." She gave Tikki a tired smile and added, "And so does Adrien."

"Well, I can't argue with that." Tikki floated a little closer to Marinette and asked, "Hey... do you want to talk about things tonight? I mean, we already did just talk about some of it, but a lot of that was managing how Adrien feels. I need to know how you feel about what's going on."

"Like what?" asked Marinette, giving Tikki her full attention.

"Like, for starters, what it felt like to kiss the boy of your dreams tonight and have him kiss you back! You've done a lot of heavy lifting this week, Marinette, and if I were you, I'd be exhausted! You've kept Adrien sane and made him feel loved - twice over. You've flipped his life upside down and carried him on your back, emotionally. You've watched him fall for you twice. You've had your first kiss and given him his. I just gave you a big scare, on top of all that. You've worried so much about making everything just right for Adrien that I hope you're focusing on what you need, too!"

Tikki's eyes were soft and caring. "So, you don't have to right now... but could you use a little Girl Talk, just you and me for a little while?"

"You know what, Tikki?" said Marinette, with a sincere smile. "I think I'd really like that."

"You might be the strongest girl in Paris," Tikki added, "if they measure it in heart. But it's okay when you're feeling a little vulnerable, too, and I'll always be here for you when you are. And one reason I'm very happy that Adrien's falling for you is that he's there for you, too... for both of you."

Their conversation floated along for another hour, not as mentor-and-student... but as friend-to-friend.

The morning brought with it clearer skies, bright sunlight, and the distinct smell of pancakes in the Agreste mansion's main dining room.

"Good morning, Adrien," Nathalie called as she saw his pajamaed form approach her. "Long night?"

"Is it that obvious?" he replied, scratching his head idly. "But a good one. How are you?"

"Hungry," she smiled, working on her plate as Adrien took a seat at the table. "And we have some more time for it, because your noontime photoshoot is postponed."

"It is?" Adrien asked, surprised. "What happened?"

"The site took a beating from the storm last night. Mud, tree limbs, nothing they can't clean up in a day or so, but there's no way it'll be ready for us by mid-morning," explained Nathalie. "We're pushing it to Tuesday after school; I've adjusted your schedule appropriately. So you caught a break today; instead of being in a rush, we can relax for a little while, and if you had something social to do today you can get to it earlier."

"That's good," he smiled. "I'd told Nino I wanted to hang out with him today; that'll let him pick whether we should get lunch or wait until tonight."

"Nino?" marveled Nathalie. "I would have thought that you'd be dashing out the door to your new girlfriend! Or your other new girlfriend."

That got a stunned expression from Adrien, followed by an awkward grin. "I don't know that either of them is my girlfriend yet... You're aware of who the other person is?" he asked.

"Who else could deliver pizzas to your bedroom window? Or could possibly have you thinking she might be out of your league? Adrien, I know just about everything that goes on around here," said Nathalie, proudly.

"Plus, you talked to my father," countered Adrien.

"Plus, I talked to your father," Nathalie confirmed. "Ladybug? Seriously? How did that come about?"

"Well..." Adrien gave her a highly condensed version of their interactions to date, leaving out the kissing parts for discretion's sake. "They've both been absolutely wonderful friends to me... especially lately, when I've needed them most. As Ladybug put it, she's not a strange visitor from another planet... she's a girl my age who lives somewhere nearby, just like Marinette is, and we seem to have a lot in common."

"Like what?" asked Nathalie, her interest piqued. "Tell me about her. What have you learned so far?"

Adrien gave Nathalie a slightly surprised look - Why do you want to know? he thought - but continued on. "She's all business when dealing with Hawkmoth, of course... but underneath, she says she's a normal girl, nothing unusual about her. She's super sweet. A llttle bit shy. She has a great sense of humor; it's been sneaking out more and more as we've gotten comfortable with each other. We've been watching Marx Brothers movies together and she's a huge fan now."

"Aren't she and Chat Noir... um... an item?" Nathalie continued.

"Not so much, from what she's told me," explained Adrien. "They're very close, but they're good friends, not romantic. Trust me, she has... ways of letting me know that she's available."

Hmmm, thought Nathalie, while maintaining her smile as cover. Not a lot there that I can pass on to Gabriel... but maybe he can divine something he can use from that.

"So now I'm kind of stuck, trying to figure this out," sighed Adrien. "They're both adorable. One's absolutely irreplaceable, and the other's just as irresistible. And I can't hurt either one of them."

"So don't," said Nathalie, reflexively. "I know that you'd never hurt either on purpose. You'll find the right balance, I'm sure."

Having finished her breakfast, she stood up to leave and to allow Adrien to work on his. "The leftover pizza was delicious, by the way," she smiled at him. "It's a shame that the power went out like it did."

"Actually, that wasn't so bad," Adrien replied. "Two young people, alone in the dark like that... it gave us a chance to do something we'd really wanted to do together."

Nathalie's eyes widened.

"To sit and talk about things. Whatever are you thinking?" grinned Adrien.

She chuckled, involuntarily, as she left. All right, he got me good on that one, she thought.

Nino picked up his phone around one and greeted Adrien. "Hey, let me guess. Is your dad making you bail on me again?" he asked.

"Actually... just the opposite! I've got my afternoon free, too. Want to get together sometime soon?" replied Adrien.

"Sure!" said Nino, happily surprised. "Come over whenever and we'll figure something out. Are things with your love life getting any easier for you to figure out?"

"That would be a very large 'no.' But a good 'no.' I'll fill you in when I get there, I'm leaving right now!" Adrien told him.

Over at her house, Marinette's parents did their best to find out more without being overly nosy throughout the morning. Marinette got a good laugh when Sabine explained, "Oh, you don't have to tell me everything, dear... just the parts that you don't want me to know about."

"How about this?" countered Marinette. "I'll tell you the parts that I don't want you to know about, if I can leave out the parts that you don't want to know about."

"And which parts were those?" asked Sabine, innocently.

"None so far," Marinette giggled. "You can rest assured that we're still in the stare-at-each-other-nervously-and-grin phase."

"Can we keep you there for, oh, the next ten years or so?" called Tom from across the bakery. "Or just until you're married."

"How about 'no?'" Marinette laughed back.

"We know that we can trust you, Marinette... but every parent worries. It's our job," smiled Sabine. "Especially the first time around, and while we like what we've seen from Adrien, we don't know him that well yet."

"Can we fix that, then?" asked Marinette. "I'd love to have him over for supper some night this week, if we could. I'm sure that he'd enjoy it, you'd get to show off your cooking and desserts, and you can ask him anything you like then."

"Sure, we can set an extra plate. When are you thinking? Does he like anything in particular that I could make?" her mother asked.

"The only thing I know is he's lactose-intolerant, but he has something he takes for it, so that's fine. I've seen him eat ice cream and cheesy pizza," explained Marinette. "I'll ask him if he has any favorites... As for when, I'm thinking like Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday? That way, I can see when he's free and we'll have time to prepare."

"I was half-expecting to hear 'tonight,'" grinned Tom. "No hot-and-heavy plans for this evening?"

"I'm giving him a little room to breathe, Dad," she grinned back. "I'll call him tonight. As well as things are going so far, I don't want to cling onto him like a backpack with pigtails."

"You don't want to, or you don't want us to know that you want to?" her father laughed.

"Now, Tom?" Sabine interjected. "That part about 'things that I don't want to know about' that she'd mentioned?"

"That was awesome!" beamed Adrien, taking his headphones off. "This mix you've been working on is something else, Nino!"

"Thanks, dude!" Nino replied, wiping his brow. "The last party I did went pretty well, but I'm always trying to build something better, y'know?"

"It shows. I could tell what you changed from the last one you played me. This one flows a lot better in the middle."

The pair walked over to crash on a nearby sofa, trying to think of what to do next. "So... do anything interesting last night?" asked Nino.

One look at Adrien's face told Nino that it was definitely time to go close the door before continuing.

"Okay, lay it on me," grinned Nino quietly, once he'd returned to his seat. "What happened?"

"Oh... just my first kiss," blushed Adrien. "I mean... I guess Marinette gave me my first one at the picnic... it definitely counts... but my first mutual kiss. And a few more than that one."

"Awesome!" beamed Nino. "So you and Marinette, you're a couple now?"

"Would it be bad if I said 'no'?" said Adrien, putting his hand behind his head awkwardly.

"You're not a couple?" asked Nino, looking confused.

"It... wasn't Marinette."

"Are you telling me..." gasped Nino.

Adrien nodded, silently.

"DUDE!"

By this time in their relationship, Adrien knew Nino's vernacular pretty well. There were the casual "Dude," the playful "Dude!", the questioning "Dude?", the admiring "Duuuuude..." and many, many others.

But this one crossed boundaries that Adrien had never heard before. And with good reason, Adrien had to admit...

This was the Atomic Dude.

"You are kidding me right now. You and-"

"Keep your voice down!" cautioned Adrien. "I don't want the neighborhood to know! Or anyone but you!"

"Ladybug kissed you?"

Nino's face betrayed a variety of emotions as Adrien told yet another edited version of the evening's events. That's, like, great and everything... but the next time I get to be Carapace and we all get together, this is going to be awkwaaaard... Oh, man! If Alya finds out, is she ever going to want to be Rena Rouge again? She wants Marinette and Adrien to be together so bad...

"Have you told Marinette yet?" Nino managed, once Adrien had finished.

"Not yet... though I'm going to, and I'll need to tell her everything. Ladybug insisted on that, and that she and I aren't a couple yet, either. Ladybug said that we're definitely more than just friends now, but so are Marinette and I, and Marinette deserves a chance to respond and to express herself."

Adrien sat back, visibly still overwhelmed himself. "When you and Alya first kissed, did you... know right then?" he asked.

"Pretty much?" offered Nino. "Though neither of us were involved with someone else at the time. And I'd come to the zoo that day so that you could help me ask Marinette out. And we were kind of locked in a cage alone together while Ladybug and Chat fought a supervillain. It was, uh, kind of a weird day for us all around."

"That's one way to put it," Adrien agreed. "It ended well, at least."

"Yeah, it did," Nino grinned. "Really well. Now, how do you want this to end, Adrien?"

"Nino... I'm not sure. I'm just not. And if you'd ever asked me if I had any doubt if I wanted to be Ladybug's boyfriend," he replied... then mimed his own head exploding. "Seriously. I didn't think anyone in the world could make me even wonder, let alone run fifty-fifty with her. Which might be the best compliment that I can never say out loud to Marinette. Not quite like that, anyway; I don't think she'd exactly take it as one," he grinned, getting a laugh from Nino.

Adrien sat back, with a thoughtful look. "But what I can say is that I need to make both of them feel like the luckiest girls in the world, to treat them both like the angels they are..."

"...starting with Marinette."

Next time (or the time after, if Chapter 11 runs long again):

* Alya just can't seem to get straight answers these days.

* "I really need to see you... for more than a few reasons."

* Gabriel does another night's homework.

* "I can't swing from buildings... but there are things I can do."

* "I screwed up just now. How, I have no idea..."

* A chill in the air, and a moment of truth.