May

"I'll be with you soon, Monsieur Agreste, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng."

The waiter takes off with their order and they clink their glasses together before taking a sip of the red wine that has been poured for them.

"I still think I don't belong here," Marinette says, repeating the statement she told him when he said they would be going to L'Abeille for a birthday 'friend date'.

"And I still think you're being dramatic," he eyes her. "You're wearing that dress, right? Last I checked, only a very few working class people have something from Gabriel."

"Adrien," Marinette whines, "It's so obvious I'm not upper-class. Besides, everyone knows I'm Tom and Sabine's daughter, so everyone will know I don't belong. A fancy dress doesn't change that."

He takes another sip of his red wine and puts the glass down, looking at her. "You're overthinking this. No one pays attention to other people, only to themselves and how fancy they are for eating here. And you don't have to worry about the bill; it's a gift from me. So I don't understand your concern. Just relax and enjoy yourself."

Marinette huffs, but it seems like she's satisfied for now. She does sigh every few minutes, anxiously looking around, and Adrien puts a hand on her wrist.

"If you're really uncomfortable we can always leave, you know that right? Just tell me."

"It's fine," she breathes, "It's just… you ordered my food."

"So?"

"You totally don't want me to look at the prices."

"Because I know you will want to leave."

"Because it's too expensive! You already gave me that dress yesterday!"

"It's not too expensive."

"I googled the wine, Adrien. 1996 Château Lafite Rothschild 1er Cru Classé. One bottle for € 2.095,00!"

"You… were not supposed to know that."

"Well, I do and I don't want to drink it anymore."

"When did you even google that?"

"Doesn't matter," she pouts, "I just… it's all too much."

Adrien puts a hand in his hair and growls. "Why do you refuse to let me treat you?"

"Because you're not my boyfriend!" She exclaims, tears in her eyes, and it silences him. They're probably attracting some attention now, but he can't seem to care. "We're just friends. Friends do nice things for each other, but this… no."

Adrien frowns. "I didn't know that still bothered you. I thought we had come to an understanding with that."

"We did! I just… it's harder on me than I thought it would be. It's killing me being this close to you every day and not…"

"I'm doing my best, Marinette. I want us to go back to where we were."

"Then don't bring me on dates."

"It's a friend date!"

"Not in a fancy restaurant like this!"

"Monsieur, Mademoiselle, your entrée," the waiter interrupts, trained to keep himself out of the customers' business but still concerned. "Can I get you anything else? A glass of water perhaps?" He eyes Marinette with that last question, seeing how watery her eyes are. "It's free of charge."

Marinette nods. "That would be lovely, thank you."

When the waiter leaves again, Adrien does what he did earlier and puts a hand on her wrist. "I'm sorry. I don't want to argue with you."

"Me neither," Marinette smiles.

"And I have to admit I might had some… other intentions with tonight. Hence why it might seem a bit romantic."

"So… this is a date-date?"

His hand slides from her wrist to her hand and he laces their fingers. "If you want it to be."

Marinette smiles, a dainty pink blush on her cheeks. "What changed?"

Adrien uses his other hand to scratch the back of his head. "I lied to you that day. When we kissed… wow. I said the opposite, because…"

She inches closer to him. "Because?"

"Because there is this girl that has been on my mind for years and it just wasn't fair to you. I can't be with you if I see another girl in front of me, no matter how hard I try to forget about her."

Marinette releases his hand so fast he barely notices. "But now that you realize it's not gonna happen you come back to me? So I'm second choice?"

"No! No, not at all-"

"Because if that's the case then I'm out of here."

"Marinette, please let me finish?" She eyes him for a second and then reluctantly nods. "I talked to Alya about this, and she told me to tell you, so… here we go."

She waits for him, but she's far from patient and it shows.

"I'm in love with Ladybug."

There is no reaction from her, and he doesn't know what that means.

"…Ladybug?"

"Yes."

Marinette glares. "Are-are you messing with me?"

"What? No! What are you talking about?"

"You said you spoke to Alya about this, she didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

She presses two hands against her chest. "I'm Ladybug!"

"Y-you?"

"Yes!"

Adrien takes a long sip of his wine and sags in his chair. It doesn't look proper, but who cares? Marinette is Ladybug!

"No wonder Alya was so cool about… she knew it was you."

"I… yes. I told Alya and my parents."

He lets out something akin to a laugh yet a sob and takes both of her hands. "Well, then I guess the cat's out of the bag… My Lady."

Marinette's eyes widen and all color drains from her face. Adrien has to admit he has never seen any person this pale before.

...Oops? :)