You know, it's really nice to see the amazing feedback from you guys on this story, DeviantART especially but I love the feedback on here too, it really helps me keep the story going, not that I would stop writing a story, especially like this one with so many people following it. I never leave a story incomplete ;)

So, sorry this was updated late, I caught a bug at the start of August and then by Thursday it was getting really bad so I ended up losing a lot of time just laying in bed with a lack of sleep because of my stuffed up nose, I couldn't smell or anything, but anyways enjoy the Chapter! :D

P.S I've also been trying to make ways for this story to last longer, because I want it to get to a certain point and then I'll end it but I don't want to just skip to that certain point I want to add some interesting stuff in between, so if you guys have any suggestions that would be great ^^

Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon

Chapter 13 – Working Together

Adrien caressed Marinette's cheek with an assuring smile, knowing that there was going to be tough times for them ahead, but for now all they had to do was remain positive and face one problem at a time. There was a lot they had to work out, and talking quickly to each other now wasn't going to sort everything out at once, they needed to talk to each other more often, but at the same time other people might get suspicious of the two of them.

"I know eventually we'll have to come clean, I can't imagine something this huge being a secret forever, but for now it's our secret." Adrien assured with a caring smile.

In that moment, Marinette looked down; knowing that their secret was shared with her parents too, but her parents didn't know the entire story yet. This caused a rush of panic and worry to sweep over her body as she knew now she had to tell her parents who the father was. She wondered how her parents would take it, would they ask for an entire explanation of how this came to be? It was going to be really tough to explain it all to her parents without revealing either of their secret identities.

"Adrien, about that...I've already told my parents..." She admitted, gripping her hand close to her mouth in worry.

Adrien's eyes lowered, seeing the deep worry in her eyes, knowing exactly what she was thinking, but also hoped that she didn't tell her parents too much about what happened. "You haven't told them much, have you?" He asked with some uncertainty.

She looked down, biting her lip as she looked back up at Adrien, her mind still trying to process everything she learnt about him over the past few days, she took in a deep breath, calming herself down before she shook her head, assuring Adrien she didn't tell them everything. "Don't worry, I didn't tell them all the details. All I said was that I was pregnant."

This raised more concern for Adrien, her parents knew about the baby before he did, in one way he felt hurt that she told them before she told him but at the same time he completely understood why it was so hard for Marinette to tell him when she didn't know his secret identity. If only there was a simple way to solve everything and turn back time, but in another way, Adrien knew he had to accept what happened that day and carry on with life. Things were going to be brutal at times, Marinette was going to need his help more than ever as the months went by and her pregnancy became more obvious.

But then this raised more concern, what about to the public when they were in their superhero forms? Sure, Adrien was fine to continue fighting on his own but at the same time he couldn't bear to fight without her, they had to keep that balance intact, but he knew that without Ladybug fighting alongside him there wouldn't be a successful fight. Unfortunately as Marinette's pregnancy would progress it would show through, and judging by their suits they seemed pretty slim and showed their slimmest size of their bodies, it wouldn't be long until Ladybug would show through her suit and questions would be raised.

This was going to be a very complicated situation they both had to overcome, although Adrien had a little less to worry about he still felt like he had much more to worry about than Marinette, he hated that he done this to her, and wished he could somehow share the burden more but he didn't know how, he wanted to suffer with Marinette but he knew there was only so much he could do.

Adrien sighed in relief, glad Marinette didn't tell her parents everything, but at the same time his thoughts shifted towards telling Marinette's parents about him. How would this go about? Would he have to tell them that they were together? It wouldn't make sense if they weren't together, but then this began to raise more questions in his mind. Were they actually together now? They hadn't established a relationship yet and they both knew their feelings for each other were mutual so why were they both holding back?

They were still adapting to the big revelation, so much information had overwhelmed the two of them on Friday that neither of them had even thought about a relationship until now, all they had thought about was how were they going to be able to keep this pregnancy a secret from everyone while at the same time keeping focused on school and their double lives.

"How are we going to tell them about me?"

Marinette lowered her head, tears came to her eyes as her mind went downhill extremely fast, having no clue how to tell her parents about Adrien being the father. It would make no sense to them if she told them that it was a onetime thing, but they knew Adrien well enough that he would never do that sort of thing, and they were both underage for drinking so it was literally impossible for them to come up with any reason except for them being together.

"I guess we could pretend to be together...or...b-be together?" Marinette suggested, her heart racing at the thought of them ever being together in the first place, now she was here asking that very question to Adrien.

A deep shade of pink tinted Adrien's slightly tanned cheeks, he rubbed his neck nervously with a crooked smile, never really thinking that he and Ladybug would actually end up together, and to think that if Marinette had the courage to ask him out when he didn't know who she really was, it would've been one of the worst mistakes of his life. They could actually be together now, but with all these thoughts in his mind about how would they make this work without it seeming suspicious to anyone, they wouldn't be able to keep it a secret forever, but it was something they could suggest.

Adrien cupped Marinette's cheeks, leaning in close to her lips. "Of course we can." He answered, before backing away slightly as the worried thoughts swept across his mind. "But we can't tell anyone right now, we need time to sort everything out, but I think telling your parents would be a great first step for the both of us." Adrien assured, caressing her chin as he leaned his forehead against hers.

Marinette smiled in reply, relaxing herself as she felt his warm head melt against hers, they were a total match, but it was going to take a lot of work for the both of them to make this work. They had so much ahead of them but they both had a good starting point.

"I'll pop by the bakery later today alright?" He said, giving her a small friendly wink before closing his book.

With a nod in reply, Marinette smiled. "Okay, I'll see you after school then." She replied, nervous and excited on the inside.

So with that they both parted ways, not wanting to stay in class anymore in case it raised suspicion for their friends, they had already spent a good ten minutes of break in after class so it seemed fair that they took a break before their next class would start.

They stopped talking to each other the moment they left the classroom, being out in the open they had to remain casual about this, they both hoped that their friends wouldn't pick up on anything. While at the locker room, before either of their best friends showed up, Marinette stared at Adrien and then thought about Adrien's father and how he would take it, unfortunately knowing little about him and only knowing that he was very strict about Adrien's schedule she knew his father wouldn't take her being pregnant very well as much as her parents did.

She sighed at the thought of Adrien's father ever knowing about the pregnancy but she knew eventually that he would have to know, she hated keeping secrets from everyone, and she felt like Adrien wouldn't keep anything a secret unless it was for his own safety. There were so many obstacles they had to overcome before they could make it to the end, Marinette had a goal set in her head. She wanted all the problems worked out before the baby was born.

In that moment Alya ran up to Marinette, her phone in hand paused on another Ladybug video, she casually rested an arm against Marinette's shoulder as she carefully placed her things in her locker. "So, how was alone time with Adrien, hmm?" She teased suggestively, poking Marinette's arm before pointing over to Adrien.

Marinette blushed the moment she looked over to Adrien, the thoughts of what just happened between them robbed her mind, and then the reality of the situation struck her. She and Adrien were together now, Adrien was her boyfriend and she couldn't tell Alya anything. She bit her lower lip and took in a deep breath, wanting to relax herself before she responded.

"No I just studied...and took a few glances." She admitted, shrugging her shoulders nervously with a shy grin.

Alya giggled in reply, but then her serious face returned once she remembered what she wanted Marinette to do asap. She pressed her hands against her hips firmly with a smirk, tilting her body a little as she raised an eyebrow. "You know, that could've been a perfect opportunity to finally tell him about your feelings." She implied, keeping the teasy smirk on her face.

A gasp escaped Marinette's mouth within an instant, it was then she realised she was in a dire situation which had certain circumstances, Alya wanted her to tell Adrien about her feelings towards him, but the problem was that they had just started being together and they had already admitted their feelings for each other, but it was all in secret. Marinette had to tell Adrien in advance what Alya was trying to make her do before she would tell him in front of Alya, it was going to be nerve wrecking, even though he already knew.

If she told him when he didn't know all the facts he wouldn't know how to respond, she needed to tell him in advance before it was too late, and unfortunately it could be any day now that Alya would force her to tell him about her feelings, she knew sometimes Alya could be unpredictable and not plan very far ahead, just to surprise her so Marinette wouldn't bail on her.

Luckily she had this afternoon to tell him about it, she only hoped that Alya wasn't planning to make her tell him before then. So with that they both headed off for break, Alya continued to talk about the many ways Marinette should confess her feelings to Adrien, while also at the same time switching to the topic of Ladybug and how there haven't been many akuma attacks lately. Marinette remained quiet for the most of it, not finding a good response to most of what she was saying but smiled mostly.

After break was over, they headed to their next class which was science. When the teacher called out for the role, she was surprised to see Chloe and Sabrina both absent from class, and they had both been absent all day. Marinette had been too distracted by her huge pregnancy and Adrien situation that she didn't even notice how quiet it was without the pair, Adrien realised the same, and worried that something might be wrong with her, because as much as Chloe hated school and doing the work she would always show up, most of the time it was to see him but not seeing her in class gazing at him raised concern about her whereabouts.

The teacher shrugged, knowing that she was the mayor's daughter she couldn't do much to punish her or her best friend, so she carried on with the class, and what she announced next came to be a great advantage to Adrien and Marinette.

"Okay everyone, this next project you'll be working on it a partnered project, and these are how I'm deciding the partners. Everyone on the left or right seat will be partnered with the person directly behind them, and no switching or asking to change. That's who you'll be paired with and that's final." She announced, crossing her arms firmly.

Adrien smiled in optimism, glad that he was going to work with Marinette on this project, gave him all the more reason to hang around Marinette more and discuss their private situation; he turned around and smiled at Marinette who was blushing a light tint of pink with her lips parted slightly in a small happy smile. Alya nudged Marinette's arm in a tease, reminding her that she had to tell him about her feelings by this time. But in Marinette's mind this was perfect for the two of them to hang around more without it seeming suspicious, but knowing their friends they would be with them too, they didn't mind.

In his mind, Adrien found that perhaps catching up at Marinette's place a few times throughout the week after school would be a great opportunity to both work on the project together and sort out their situation with the pregnancy, although by this point they were only keeping it a secret for as long as possible from their friends and everyone else except for currently Marinette's parents.

"This is a two week project and I expect equal effort in this project, now here are all the details you need to get started." She informed, walking around and handing out sheets as she walked past every student.

She continued to explain the rest of the project to the class as they followed by reading what they had to do on the sheet, there was a lot of work ahead for the lot of them, especially Chloe and Sabrina who were absent for a strange reason. For the remainder of the lesson she informed that they had to do their research outside of class while for the remainder of their lesson that day was more on experiments and mixing chemicals together to see what reaction they would make.

Marinette worried herself that these chemicals could be harmful towards the baby, Adrien looked back at her too in worry, knowing that any sort of dangerous chemical that they were working with could be harmful for their unborn child, they were both glad that so far there hadn't been any experimentation since Marinette had fallen pregnant but now she grew worried, but thankfully the teacher recommended they use masks for their own protection.

This was an individual task, and while working with certain acids, they started to stink out the room; Marinette was mixing two chemicals together when the smell began to overwhelm her nose and she couldn't hold it in. Luckily the sink was right next to her, so she quickly took off her mouth mask and emptied the contents of her lunch down the drain with a few classmates witnessing in shock and disgust.

"Marinette, are you alright girl?" Alya asked, showing deep concern for her.

Alya quickly and carefully set down her equipment and helped Marinette clean herself up; they rinsed the sink out together while the teacher approached them. Adrien didn't look back but knew exactly why she threw up and didn't want to look at her, feeling that if she knew he was looking at her it would make the embarrassment worse on her, so he remained focused on the experiment, but when Nino looked up he couldn't help but turn his head slightly, seeing Marinette cover her face in shame as the teacher suggested to her to go to the nurse's office.

"No, I'll be fine; I just had a bad breakfast that's all. Don't worry." Marinette assured, putting her mask back on and prepared to go back to work.

The teacher sighed, seeing how determined Marinette was to keep working, but her concern for Marinette grew, feeling that Marinette should sit this one out if she was feeling unwell, but was willing to take the precaution of Marinette still continuing with the experiment but at the same time she was going to keep a close eye on her, and if Marinette were to throw up again she would immediately send her to the nurse's office.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Alya asked, leaning over to her friend with worry.

"Don't worry Alya; let's just get this experiment done."

Adrien turned back to his experiment, feeling like that moment was way too close of a call but at the same time he was relieved that it was over and he could continue to focus on the experiment, he didn't realise he was sweating until he scratched his cheek and felt the sweat drip onto his hands. He quickly wiped the nervous sweat off his face before anyone would notice and continued on with his work.

Once class was over, Adrien went to call Chloe's cell phone, he always had her contact on silent as she would constantly contact him but when he went to check if she sent anything to him there was nothing. After reaching his locker and grabbed his things, moving on ahead of Nino and walking out the front, he dialled her number and waited for her to answer. No response.

He sighed, worried that something might be up with Chloe, his worst thoughts were that Hawkmoth had something to do with it, but unfortunately that worry had to wait, after telling his driver not to pick him up from school straight away, he looked up to see Nino, Alya and Marinette walking down the steps together. Marinette looked straight at Adrien and their eyes locked for a second but what seemed to them to be forever, a tint of pink swept across their cheeks before their friends started to talk.

"So, I'm heading off to try and see if there have been anymore akuma attacks, I need to document as much footage as I can for my Ladyblog!" Alya exclaimed excitedly, gripping her phone in hand. "I'll chat to you later Marinette, don't forget what I told you about!" She called out with a wink and a smirk as she walked away.

Nino waved out to Alya, wanting to hang out with her too. "Hey wait Alya, I want to come with!" He called out, running after to her, before realising he hadn't said goodbye to Adrien and Marinette yet. "Oh, see you two tomorrow at school!" He called back to them with a wave before catching up to Alya.

The couple chuckled as their best friends ran off towards the park, Adrien smiled at Marinette as he gestured a hand to go towards the bakery. Marinette giggled as she walked forward, Adrien following closely behind, smiling brightly as he looked forward to spend a good hour or two being with her, but at the same time, there was one step they had to overcome first.

Telling Marinette's parents that he was the father was going to be tough, they had to make sure they were well prepared for any questions to be asked, neither of them wanted their secret identities to be revealed, they had to think of other ways to explain how the pregnancy happened while at the same time sticking to the truth as much as they could without revealing their secret identities.

Damn what a chapter! Aw, looks like Adrien and Marinette are officially together now! And I think you guys were expecting something more to happen in that moment too, but I'm holding that out till later. So, looks like there's some obstacles in their way in order for them to make this work, but what about Chloe and Sabrina? You know, one of my reviewers actually mentioned that I haven't really included the two of them much, but now I have the perfect reason why, you'll just have to wait and see what happens next! ^^

Also again, I apologise for the late update, it was only because I was feeling unwell, and trust me the day this was meant to be updated I was at my absolute worst in my sickness but hopefully the next update will be on Friday. So see you all then! :D