Chapter Twelve

Adrien dropped in through his bedroom window and spun in a silly, dizzy circle as he fell towards his bed, Plagg whirling from his miraculous just before the blonde hit the mattress. Adrien had a dopey, lovely grin on his face, buried in his pillow as he loosed a record-breaking sigh of satisfaction, his hands curling under the pillow as he closed his eyes.

He was pretty sure he was dreaming.

"So you got the canary, then." Plagg commented after a few moments munching on the plate of cheese Adrien had left out before going to Marinette's, snickering at his own joke as he looped-the-loop across the room to land beside his Chosen.

"And the cream." Adrien sighed, turning his face to the side so that his kwami could see the red stain that still heated his face, the unquenchable smile he was wearing.

Plagg rolled his eyes, but there was a quirk to the corner of his mouth, one fang peeking over his bottom lip.

"Are ya happy now?" he asked after a moment, letting his gaze flick deliberately from the top of Adrien's head to his chin and back.

Adrien merely closed his eyes, the smile growing again, uncontrollable, unkillable. Like his feelings for Mari.

"You have no idea." he answered.

Plagg heaved a sigh and snorted.

"Yeah, never seen this before." he snarked with no heat, buzzing over to the light switch on the wall, shaking himself out before flying right at it with his shoulder to flick it.

The room fell into dusky shadow, the pale silver light filtering from the window giving the room a wintry, fairytale look. Satisfied, Plagg zipped over to the bed, settling on his corner of Adrien's pillow and curling into a ball. He cocked one eye half-open, watching the smile on Adrien's dozing face. If caught he'd deny it, of course, but he watched the smile stretch and relax, like a heart beating in time with whatever thoughts the teen was thinking. Plagg smirked.

"Night, Kid."

"Mmmffnette, Plagg."

With a roll of his eyes, the kwami tucked his head under in paws and pounced upon sleep.

"What?"

Adrien turned away from his half-empty school bag to look at Plagg, scrunching his nose as the kwami lifted a particularly large, foul-smelling piece of camembert and waved it in his paw. A piece that size meant he was going to get crumbs everywhere.

Well, everywhere but all over the clothes that Marinette had made for him. Adrien wasn't stupid. He might have been pre-occupied lately, but he hadn't missed how attentive and careful Plagg was of the outfit. He never wore any of it when he was eating.

"Marinette." Plagg answered, sounding disinterested and a little… something else. Weird. "I want to meet her."

Adrien looked at him in surprise before it struck him that his partner was yet to meet the kwami, a fact he felt a little bit guilty about considering that he'd met Tikki last night. The reminder sent heat to his face, the memory of the night before making him smile.

Marinette.

He was giddy once more, ignoring his kwami's snarking comments as he turned his head away once more to finish packing his schoolbag. He couldn't stop smiling, couldn't think of anything but the feeling growing once more in his chest, the knowledge that Marinette had kissed him.

Nathalie gave him funny looks over breakfast, the Gorilla raised an eyebrow or two during the journey to school, but it didn't make a difference. Adrien was so in love it actually hurt, the pain of his ribcage being too small for his heart.

Ideally, he wanted to catch her before school, before there were eyes everywhere. Before he had to sit in his seat and know that she was right behind him, knowing he couldn't spend the whole day turned to look at her even though he wanted to. God, he wanted to.

But it doesn't always work that way, and so Adrien was stuck, trying and failing to focus on whatever Nino was talking about, responding to Alya's teasing laughter a little too late, to assure them he was fine, just… had something one his mind.

Someone, not that he could tell them.

He was pretty sure he should check with Marinette first before he went off spouting his love for her in front of their classmates.

If he thought he was on a high then, he was dead wrong. Because barely thirty seconds into the register being taken, the classroom door flew open and a human-sized bundle of sunshine tumbled inside.

His breath caught. His hands grew restless and sort of sweaty, his mouth dried up and his collar felt overly tight all of a sudden. His face was warm, his heart raced.

"Sorry!" Marinette cried, straightening and tugging her rucksack straight on her shoulders, "I didn't hear my alarm go off."

Her cheeks were pink and every move was apologetic, right down to the way she ducked her head as the teacher sighed.

"I have yet to reach you on here," the teacher said, sounding almost amused as she waved a sheet of paper in the air, "so I shall overlook it."

Marinette's face lit in a lovely expression.

"Thank you."

The teacher waved her to her seat, a smile creeping across her face. Adrien didn't blame her. Marinette's smiling was infectious, something he had always known but had only truly realised during his visits as Cat Noir. He already knew he himself was going to find it difficult to stop at all today.

When she turned towards the desk, her eyes met his and the world clicked into place once more. She smiled bashfully, her face reddening even further.

"Good morning Mari." he whispered as she passed his desk, turning to keep her gaze as long as he could, his stomach full of fluttering wings.

"Hi." she breathed, and the way her eyes sparkled made it difficult not to stand up right there and then and hug her tightly.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"Yes?"

He turned to see the teacher, looking their way, exasperated and amused in almost equal measure. A look LadyBug had perfected.

"The correct answer is here, normally. Or present."

"Present." Marinette mumbled apologetically, dropping her schoolbag with a fumble. "Oh, shoot."

Adrien was most definitely going to find the whole day difficult.

By the time the bell rang for break he was feeling desperate. To look at her for as long as he wanted, to talk to her without feeling like the whole world was watching. To ask if he could hold her hand, to give her a hug, to do literally anything but sit in his seat knowing she could be looking at him right then and he couldn't look back.

And then the universe gave him a gift. Just as the bell was going, everybody scrambling to throw their things into their bags in the hope of earning themselves those precious extra seconds, the teacher called a handful of names.

"I'd like to speak to the following people for just a minute."

A collective, muffled groan could almost be heard.

"Kim, Nino, Juleka and Alya, could you wait behind please?"

Yes!

Everyone else bolted, as though afraid that to stay might get them on whatever list that was. Adrien gave Nino a sympathetic smile, fiddling with the strap of his bag as he awaited Marinette. She seemed to be moving slowly, putting things away so very very carefully. It made him anxious and impatient and even more nervous than he already was.

Eventually she was done, making her way to the door, touching Alya's arm as she passed her and giving her a grin.

"Meet you outside!" Nino called after them, and Adrien raised his hand to wave in acknowledgement.

When he finally left the room he was surprised to see Marinette half-way down the corridor already, standing with her back to him and with her hands clenched at her sides. He approached, feeling a trickle of fear shiver down his back.

What if she was avoiding him on purpose? What if she felt differently now it was daytime?

What if she regretted last night?

"Uhm, Mari?" he greeted, stepping up beside her to see her face.

She didn't jump, not like she usually did if he spoke to her before she saw him. Instead she looked up, her eyes full of so many things it made him feel a little dizzy, and she was biting her lip.

"Hey." she said, looking back down at her feet.

He couldn't read her, unsure if what he was seeing was sad or unhappy, or nervous. Or… it felt like something else.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, hesitantly. "I… uhm."

She looked up again, her cheeks bleeding deep pink and her hands twisting together. She smiled softly.

"I'm good, I'm just… I don't know what I am." she gave a small laugh. "I… I've been freaking out all morning wondering how to… I don't know."

He laughed, knowing that even to his own ears it sounded strange.

"I know. It's… weird, right?"

She shot him a look, her eyes becoming clear and familiar, teasing.

"You know we make no sense, right?"

And there was his salvation. He grinned, feeling the familiar confidence sneak back in. He cocked his head to one side, watching as it showed on her face that she could see it, she could see him for all that he was and it was wonderful.

"Why, we make purrfect sense." he answered, and the way it bloomed across her face made him feel better right away.

They were going to be okay, because what he had said was completely true. This made sense to him, had always made sense. Not always so much when they were both civilian, but in their suits?It made sense. When he was Cat and she was herself? It made sense. And now, now it made sense here like this too.

"You're awful." she answered, smothering a giggle with her hand.

Adrien smirked, bumping his shoulder against hers in a friendly manner.

"You mispronounced clawsome."

There was no smothering her laughter that time, and Adrien felt his heart swell as he chuckled with her.

"I… I dunno if I can survive puns at school too." she said, softly, looking up a him with fond eyes.

"I can cut down." he offered instantly, his eyes earnest. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

She melted, watching him look at her like that, feeling how true his offer was. He was wonderful, her friend, her partner, her Cat Noir. Adrien. She drew a brave breath, feeling her nerves fade marginally. It was going to be weird, for a while. She'd known that the second he left last night, known it as she lay unable to sleep, known it as she washed and dressed and ate her breakfast.

But it was also right. This, between them, his thing that they always were, it was what she wanted. The to-and-fro, the teasing, the laughter. He was everything, she knew now. And damned if she wasn't going to make sure he knew it. And she'd start by getting used to him as himself, because she owed him that much.

"No." she said, before reaching out to offer him a fist bump. "You be you, and I'll be me."

His grin was wide and awesome as his knuckles met hers.

"Deal."

They were standing there, grinning ridiculously at each other as someone shouted out behind them, before barreling right past.

"Snowballs, after school!" Alix cried, speeding down the hall on her rollerblades, dodging between Alya and Nino when they rounded the corner, "Sorry guys!"

"What was that about?" Nino greeted as they neared, adjusting his hat and shooting Adrien and Marinette a grin. "She looks psyched dude!"

"Battle tonight." Marinette answered, smiling back at him and giggling at Alya's enthusiastic, full-body jerk as she spun around from where she was glaring at Alix's disappearing form, "You bring the bubbles?"

"You got it, Nett." Nino laughed in response, offering her a fist bump.

"Wicked!" Alya beamed, hefting her rucksack onto her shoulder and then stopping to untangle a lock of her hair from the strap, "I love snowball fights!"

"Only because you're so good at them." Marinette laughed, bumping her knuckles to Nino's, "If you were as bad as I am, you might not like them so much."

"You're not bad at snowball fights, Mari." Adrien assured her, dropping an arm around her shoulders and grinning when her cheeks turned pink.

She tipped her head to the side to look at him from under her lashes, her lips catching his smile and returning it sweetly.

"Aaww, thank you." A gleam entered her eyes, "You're not all that bad at them either."

Alya stopped what she was doing as Adrien spluttered and pretended to be offended, making Marinette giggle at him. Both were pink; Marinette cerise and Adrien a faint rose, and Alya found herself staring at Marinette with a disbelieving look on her face. The fact that Marinette hadn't spontaneously combusted from Adrien's arm around her was one thing, but that and a full sentence when he was standing less than a foot from her face? And that sentence being an all out taunt? Something was definitely up. Marinette met her eyes briefly, an evasive light in her expression as she smiled sheepishly.

"You don't hate Snowball fights though, do you?" Nino asked, seeming not to see anything out of the ordinary. (Or if he did, he was pretending not to, which made Marinette smile more.)

"Well, no." Marinette conceded, her gaze flickering Adrien's way for a moment, "In fact I kind of love them."

"Well, maybe Alya'd still love them too, even if her arm was rubbish." Adrien reasoned, and Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Shut up."

Alya looked to Nino pointedly as the pair began to bicker, meeting his amber eyes with her own wide stare.

Are you seeing this? she mouthed, freaking out inside.

Was what she thought was happening… actually happening?

Also, what?

Nino shrugged, giving her a bemused sort of smile and looking entirely okay with the bizarre situation they were standing in. But his eyes were full of sparkle, excitement clear and evident for anyone who cared to look.

I know. he mouthed back, distracted by whatever their friends were whisper-arguing about, Marinette's laughter lovely to his ears, Awesome, right?

Alya looked at him skeptically, her gaze moving deliberately from their friends to him, and back and forth again. Nino rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and then sticking out his tongue at her.

Alya was just about to begin calming down when Adrien laughed, Marinette's face in a faux pout that made it clear he'd won some sort of bicker. His arm around her shoulders hugged Marinette close, before the boy dropped an almost un-catchable kiss atop the hat on her head.

And that was when Alya had her meltdown.