"Marinette? Marinette! Yoo-hoo, anyone in there?"

Alya waved her hand in front of the designer, but she just had this goofy grin on her face. Alya sighed- it was time for drastic measures.

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!" she yelled into Marinette's ear.

"AAH!" Marinette screamed, jumping so high her knees hit the table. "Ow," she muttered, as she rubbed them.

"Oh my goodness girl, you're never this out of it," Alya stated. "What's the dish?"

"Huh? Oh no, everything's fine," Marinette reassured, but Alya saw that glazed look arriving in her eyes.

"Oh no you don't," she said, grabbing Marinette by the shoulders and shaking them. "Spill."

The designer blushed hard. Alya raised an eyebrow, but Marinette looked away. Wait, did that mean…

"YOU KISSED ADRIEN? OH MY GOSH WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS BEFORE?"

"Because," Marinette said shrugging, "I was just trying to convince myself that it happened, and it wasn't a dream."

Alya just stood there watching her, her eyes big and watery. "My little girl's all grown up," she said, wiping her eyes.

Marinette just shook her head. "Really?" she said, exasperation evident. "You're going all mom-like on me?"

"Well as it's you we're talking about, then yes. You could do with another parent-figure anyway. You need it."

"Hey!"

"What? It's true!"

Both girls laughed and Alya went over and hugged Marinette. "Now you're both officially a couple!" she squealed. "We can double date, meet up every fortnight-"

"Woah, slow down there," Marinette cautioned. "Maybe we should take it slow. I mean, I've never had a, a boy-ff-ri-" she stuttered.

"Oh come on! You can't even say boyfriend? Wow, you're in a worse condition than I thought." Alya said shaking her head, until Marinette punched her arm.

"OW!"

"You had it coming!"

They just laughed together, just like old times. It felt good just to hang out.

"I'm so glad you're finally with Adrien, Marinette," Alya confessed. "I know how long you've been crushing on him, and for you to be together…well, it's just perfect. Now if only my other ship would happen!" Alya wailed.

"Other ship?" Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you been having other best friends behind my back all this time, Miss Césaire?"

"No," Alya snorted. "I'm talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Marinette almost stumbled out of her chair. "La-la-ladybug and Cha-chat Noir?" she stuttered. "Wh-, why would you think they would become a coup-pl, couple?"

Thankfully, Alya didn't notice her stuttering. "Well everyone knows Chat Noir adores Ladybug, but Ladybug's playing hard to get. She doesn't give him a time of day, but she must love him. They're perfect together!"

Marinette was just about to respond that Chat didn't love Ladybug but she stopped. Because Chat did love Ladybug. He had said so himself. But now he had stopped loving her, because of her constant rejections.

It was so stupid to think, that she, Marinette, didn't realise that Chat Noir loved her, when the rest of the world did.

"But maybe," she said quietly, "Ladybug couldn't fall in love with Chat Noir, because she already loved someone else."

"True," Alya mused. "But why would she love someone else when the one who really cared for her was right next to her? They're like yin and yang. Perfect, y'know? But it's her life, after all. I'm just thinking about the 'what if'."

"Well it doesn't matter anyway," Marinette said, a hint of bitterness in her voice which surprised her. Alya picked up on it, and frowned at her, questioningly.

"Um, I mean that it's all good now, right?" She said, laughing nervously. "They're just partners, and that's the way it should be. No romance to mess things up, y'know?"

"I guess," Alya trailed off.

"It doesn't matter that Ladybug finally knows Chat loves her," Marinette whispered, too soft for even Alya to hear. "After all, Chat Noir has already found the one of his dreams."

What if.

Chat Noir leapt from roof to roof, finally landing atop the windowsill on the Agreste Mansion. Gently lifting the window that was already slightly ajar, he crept inside, just as his transformation wore off.

"Ugh," groaned his kwami, Plagg. "Did you have to take me for a walk, in the middle of the day?"

Adrien shrugged. "I needed the exercise and so did you."

"Why don't you go and walk with your girlfriend instead?"

At the word girlfriend, he blushed but continued smoothly. "Marinette has a lot of coursework to do. And I have work as well. Besides, we've decided to meet each other at college anyway, as well as going to the carnival this weekend."

"But why couldn't we have just stayed inside?" the kwami huffed.

"Oh quit it, Plagg," the blonde said sternly, before going to sit at his desk.

He breathed deeply, feeling content. After confessing to Marinette, he felt so much lighter, and free. He truly felt happy. As Adrien, feeling this satisfaction was rare and he wanted to cherish every moment.

That wasn't to say he didn't like being Chat Noir. He was given a freedom he never had before and he relished it. But being Chat Noir also meant carrying a burden, that the one you worked with, the one you trusted your entire life with didn't love you back.

At least it was before. Now, it was different.

Confessing to Ladybug made it easier, and suddenly, it was okay that she didn't love him back. It was okay, because he had someone else he loved, and she loved him back too.

It was okay, because he loved Ladybug the right way now, and everything fit.

He was okay.

And he was happy for it.