"Is it bad that at the first sign of my crush liking me back I quote an actual comedy? Like, do you think that is just the universe's way of telling me my life is one big joke?" Adrien slipped into his seat next to Nino, and looked over curiously at his friend as he asked.

Today was a big day, he needed to figure out just how to bring the topic up, and also how to get some private time where it'll be safe to talk about. It had been a while, actually, since he had talked to Ladybug. Of course he was excited to tell Nino, but he spent the last week basically just trying to juggle everything. He was so busy with work and stopping the akuma that he hardly had time to talk to anyone outside of school. He found Nathanael out one night when he was running around trying to cool off for a bit (After a long day, little is better than cutting loose for a while even if he's always exhausted after), but past that he was basically all work and no play. Today, though, Adrien decided enough was enough. He'd tell Nino even if he had to do it over lunch break.

"No, I think the fact that I have to ask which crush you're talking about is the universe's way of telling you your life is a joke. Not that we didn't already know that."

Adrien opened his mouth to reply, but then thought better of it. Still in school, real smooth Adrien. Shouldn't have brought it up yet in the first place. "I'll tell you all about it, can you come over after school today?"

Nino gave him a weary glance. "Uhh, your dad hates me though…"

"I live there and I'm lucky if I see him once a week, it'll be fine. Come on, we can chill and play some games."

"And you can unload your emotional daydreams. Yeah alright, fine."

"Sweet." Adrien grinned as he turned back to unpack his bag. Step one, complete.

Of course he had a plan. He was Chat Noir. He was a superhero. What kind of superhero didn't have a plan? If it consisted of two parts and basically summed up to "Get Nino alone. Tell him you're an actual cat" then that's still a plan. A totally official and foolproof plan that was in no way under-thought.

I probably should've thought through this better. He gripped his pencil probably a whole lot harder than he needed to and cast a single nervous glance at Nino's concerned expression. Why didn't I realize he probably won't like that his best friend has literally been lying to his face? It seems like a pretty obvious problem!

"Dude, chill." Nino said, touching Adrien's shoulder gently. "Tell me your quote, I'll try to guess who it was."

Adrien swallowed hard. He could feel the blush find its way to his cheeks as he looks away and said as quietly as possible, "No, it's lame."

"I already know how lame you are, just tell me! Come on man, give me something before the big reveal."

Adrien couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's choice of words. Big reveal, dude you have no idea. "Lady, as you are mine, I am yours. I give away myself for you and dote upon the exchange."

"That's so freaking cute."

"Shut up!" Adrien crossed his arms and turned away from Nino, who was laughing and teasing.

"Adrien, I didn't know you were a poet." Alya leaned in from behind them with a huge grin. "Who's your Lady then?"

My Lady? Ladybug, of course. He kept on staring at the desk, "It's not mine, it's Shakespeare."

"Oh? Interesting." Alya said when Adrien didn't offer any more. "So who's the lucky lady? Or is it Nathanael, and you just didn't want to change it since it's a quote?"

Adrien sat straight up, feeling like someone sent electricity down his spine. "What?" I told Nino, yeah, but not Alya. Besides, she shouldn't be saying that so loudly in the middle of the classroom.

Adrien cast a glance to the back of the room where Nathanael was sitting as Alya laughed. "Oh please, like we don't know you like Nathanael."

He decided then, that Alya was being just a little bit too forward, and that gave him grounds needed to be just a little bit testy, "It's Chat Noir, obviously." He said. Of course Nino had already guessed correctly that Adrien's crush on his own alter-ego was fake, and so he wouldn't be fooled, but that didn't mean Adrien couldn't use it to his advantage with other people. "He's all over me. If I don't take pity on him, I'm a villain."

"Did you just quote Shakespeare again? Dude, we need to talk about this." Nino said, though Alya took it in stride.

"Oh, so he visited you again?"

"Nearly every night, recently. He's totally in love with me."

"Did he tell you that?"

"Oh yeah. He's not shy about that kind of thing you know."

"Mhmm, so why did you change the pronoun on that second quote but you still said "Lady" in the first?"

Adrien smirked. Clever. I was having fun with the ruse, but I have to hand it to her, Alya knows how to dig out a lie. Sometimes I forget how careful I have to be with her. "I changed the second one to sound more modern, minor changes, contractions, you know. No point in not changing the pronoun with it."

Alya gave him a look that told him she didn't believe a word. "And what exactly did you say to Chat Noir after he confessed his love for you?"

Adrien leaned in close, as close as he could given their awkward positioning across from the desk, and gave her a challenging smirk. "I said: Chat, love on. I will requite thee."

Nino added, "Seriously Adrien at least use a different play."

Alya burst out laughing. Adrien smiled, knowing he'd successfully turned the entire situation into a joke. I'll tell Nino about it, but for now Alya is way too dangerous, even to just say I know Ladybug. "Then we made out all night; it was awesome."

"U-uhm…" Oops. "What?"

Seeing Marinette's very shocked and confused face after she walked in at the actual worst time made Alya laugh too hard to explain anything, and Nino just snickered and gave Adrien a purposeful look so he knew he had no backup on this one. "I- I was joking."

"Uh-huh."

"I didn't actually kiss Chat Noir."

"Of course not."

Adrien spent the rest of the day quietly hiding his face in his notebook and pretending that Marinette wasn't sitting directly behind him.

On the bright side, it gave him plenty of time to think about what he just did. Oh god what do I do if she asks me about it next time I visit as Chat? "Haha, I'm flattered, really, but no I did not make out with a hot model. Yet."

Oh my god I really need to work on that I'm calling myself hot in my own thoughts. I can't even pass this off as joking anymore. Without lifting his head, he casually drew little squiggles in the margins of his paper. "Oh, you really think I'm on the same caliber as a model? Marinette, you flatterer." Ugh that might actually be funny if I wasn't going to tell her that I am a model. Now I can't joke like that without sounding self-centered.

If there is anything I have learned from this lecture it is that I really need to stop pretending to have a crush on myself. But… it's so fun. Sorry Ladybug, even if it does stroke my ego a bit, it's too funny to pass up.

When the school bell rang signaling their lunch break, Adrien was finally able to forget about Marinette, but only because he was so surprised and confused when he saw several students passing a sketchbook between them and giggling, occasionally sending him pointed glances. Nathanael's sketchbook. He thought, wondering why Alix, Rose, and Juleka had it. Of course, he knew that the three girls were kind to Nathanael, so he didn't have to worry that they had taken it or anything, but seeing Nathanael blushing like mad and desperately avoiding his eye contact made Adrien worry just a little.

Enough to get him to approach, at least.

There was an ordeal, when he did approach. The girls broke down in giggles and Nathanael buried his head in his arms and just refused to come out, no matter what Adrien said. He gave up after a few tries when Alix said that there was this drawing that he absolutely had to see.

Oh dear. There's no way this ends well. He didn't want to look at the sketchbook, not without Nathanael's permission, but… well they say curiosity killed the cat for a reason. And he never said I couldn't look at it, so it's all good, right?
At the top of the page, written in elegant script, were the words, in quotation marks, "Chat, love on. I will requite thee."

Adrien was already blushing before his eyes drifted down to the actual sketch. Did I really say all that that loud? Under the quote, however, was a rough sketch of two boys. Well, of one boy twice, but Nathanael had no way of knowing that when he drew Chat Noir pinning Adrien Agreste against a wall and aggressively kissing him.

Oh my god.

Well, at least he knew why Nathanael wouldn't look at him.

Their teacher kicked them out before Adrien was capable of forming words again, so everyone dispersed and he left with Nino (who was downright cackling after he saw the drawing) to go get his lunch.

"Dude, you look like you need an adult."

"I think I do, honestly."

"I didn't know Nathanael drew stuff like that either, to be fair."

"But you don't have a crush on him." Nino just chuckled at him as he continued. "Did you see how he drew me?" It wasn't really that he was drawn kissing himself, no, it was the fact that he was drawn kissing himself with his back to the wall while his counterpart pressed up against him like he was somehow trying to get back in the same body. There was also the fact that it was Nathanael who drew it.

Adrien shivered at the sudden thought of replacing one of the two in the drawing with its artist (and then started blushing all over again when he realized he didn't know which of the two he would prefer Nathanael replaced).

"Yeah," Nino agreed, still fighting his chuckling. "You were… in a situation there."

I wonder what Marinette would say. Adrien took a bite out of his lunch, just to have a reason not to reply just yet. Or Ladybug. "Why do you think he drew it?"

"You did tell everyone you were making out with Chat Noir. You probably just branded the image into his mind."

"I was joking!"

"I know, still."

Adrien decided that it was probably best if he just pretended he never saw that drawing. But now the image is branded into my mind.

When lunch ended (and Nino was still unaware that the two in the drawing that he couldn't forget were actually both him. Adrien figured that there wasn't any need, since it'd be altogether easier just to tell him after school since he knew he'd be able to see him.) and Adrien returned to the classroom, he was immediately met with Nathanael, blushing and anxious, who stammered out a very complicated, very disjointed apology. "…I d-didn't mean for anyone to see it, and I-I know I shouldn't have drawn you without permission, I'm so, so, so, sorry Adrien."

Luckily for everyone in that situation, Adrien had an hour to process everything, so he could laugh it off without it being at all forced. "Oh, don't worry about it. I don't mind. Really, it's an amazing drawing. I'm honored that someone as talented as you would draw me."

"I-I… what? You're… not mad?"

"Not at all. I was just surprised to see you'd drawn something like that."

"I- I d-don't usually!"

Adrien chuckled. "Seriously, it's not a big deal. Though, I'd like to see Marinette's reaction."

Nathanael, if it was possible, turned even redder than he was before. "M-Marinette? Why?"

"She's friends with Chat, remember? She'd probably get a kick out of that." Nathanael gave him an odd look, so he explained, "Well, she knows like I do exactly what Chat would say if he saw it."

"And that is?"

Adrien smirked and winked, "Life imitates art."

If he didn't know any better, he'd think Nathanael just about died at that moment. Well it is what Chat would say. He'd also say, "Why don't you help me prove that's true?" But maybe it's best that I have a bit more of a filter when I'm Adrien.

Class started then, and they both scurried to their desks. When it was all said and done, though, school was over and Alix, Rose, and Juleka each gave him a teasing glance as they left while Nathanael did his absolute best to avoid him entirely.

Deciding that he'd put Nathanael through enough for one day, he went outside with Nino, climbed into the limo sent to pick them up, and headed home, focusing his mind back onto the main problem of that day. How do I tell Nino I'm actually Chat Noir?

He knew that Nino could see the shift in his attitude. The slight widening of scrunched up eyes that happened when a real smile turned fake halfway through was something Adrien was all too familiar with. Besides, his best friend could read him like an open book (most of the time), and he could read his friend as well.

The two made their way through the large house to Adrien's room in silence, broken first by the closing of the door behind them, and then by Adrien's sigh.

"Alright dude, are you going to tell me what's been bugging you all day now?"

"Yeah. That's the plan anyway." Nino sat down and watched him patiently. "Well… you see I've got something I need to tell you. I've been keeping it a secret for… a long time now, and I'm finally in a situation where this is okay. Uh, what I mean is telling you is okay. It will probably be a big surprise and I understand if you hate me for not telling you earlier but, um, just… please keep this a secret."

Nino leaned forward. "Hate you? Dude you're my best friend." He said simply. Adrien tried to make the words in his throat, but he choked on them. I trust him completely, I know he'll still love me, but this is still one of the most terrifying things I've ever done. "You can tell me anything man." Anything, yeah, like "Hey remember that drawing of me and Chat yeah that couldn't happen no not because I don't absolutely love him or anything just because we're both unfortunately in the same person" that probably wouldn't work all that well. "If you tell me you have another crush though I may have to stage an intervention."

And that comment alone made Adrien break down laughing.

It took a while for him to calm down enough to speak, and Nino just smiled and laughed along with him, ever the patient best friend he was, so supportive and caring. I couldn't ask for a better friend. He thought, wiping the tears from his eyes, which formed during his outburst. "No, no I don't have another crush."

"Then what did you want to tell me?"

"I'm Chat Noir."

"You're- wait, what?" Nino's smile fell, the comforting glint in his eye replaced by pure confusion.

"I'm Chat Noir." Adrien repeated, opening his schoolbag. "I finally talked it through with Ladybug, and we decided that I could tell you, so…" He trailed off, glancing down at Plagg, who was still at the bottom of his bag, not yet in Nino's view. "So… Nino, meet Plagg."

To his credit, Nino didn't freak out when Plagg revealed himself. "Hi… Plagg." He said a little dumbly as he stared at the kwami.

"Whew." Plagg said nonchalantly. "It's good to finally have someone else I don't have to hide around. Adrien is the worst company."

"Hey!" Adrien protested.

"Anyway my name's Plagg, I'm a creature known as a kwami, and I go into Adrien's ring to turn him into a cat." Plagg said in what Adrien guessed was supposed to be an introduction. "Oh, and I like cheese, so if you ever find it in your heart to feed your best friend's poor, overworked kwami, then that's what you should bring."

Nino just gaped at Plagg for at least a minute. Finally, he tore his eyes from the floating creature to meet Adrien's nervous gaze. "Dude."

"…Well?"

"Dude. What- wh-" He shook his head. "Man, I feel like an idiot. It was all so obvious. I can't believe my best friend is an actual super hero. This is… absolutely ridiculous what the hell."

"Nino?" Uh oh, is this the part where he freaks out?

"I mean seriously, what's next? Is Alya Ladybug? Has she been Peter Parker-ing us all this whole time reporting on herself?"

"There's footage of Alya being rescued by Ladybug, it's not her."

"And you are an actual cat like what the heck." This is the part where he freaks out. Great. "All this time your dumb obsession with Ladybug was like… an actual crush? Not even a celebrity crush because you're a celebrity too and you know her and oh my god you pretended to have a crush on yourself what the actual… Man just… What?"

"The crush thing was actually meant to throw people off. Plus it's fun."

Nino stood and grabbed Adrien roughly by the shoulders. "I cannot believe you."

Adrien swallowed hard. And this is the part where he realizes just how much I've been lying to him. "Nino…"

"Like, I knew you had an ego but man you even crush on yourself? You'd give Chloe a run for her money and she has a lot of that. I probably need to stage an intervention anyway."

"What?"

Nino grinned widely at him. "Seriously though, show me. I want to see the transformation. Then we'll be friends again."

Adrien smiled back. Of course he'd be cool about it. "Alright, but you owe Plagg cheese for this."

"So that's why you always have cheese on you!"

Adrien chuckled and shook his head, nodding to his kwami. "Plagg, transform me."

When the flash of light passed and Adrien was once again Chat Noir, Nino just laughed loudly, saying, "I told Alya you were a freaking dork!"