When Adrien arrived home, he headed directly for his room. Natalie and the Gorilla were trying to get him to tell them what was wrong, as he clearly didn't look well, but he was so lost in thought that he didn't notice.

"You finally know who Ladybug really is, huh?" Plagg said, escaping Adrien's jacket. "How do you feel?"

Adrien was lying on his bed, an arm covering his eyes. His face a vivid scarlet.
"I feel... I feel like I somehow already knew. I mean I suspected her, even before I moved to New York, but deep down it's like... I've always known. I just needed it to be proven to me," his grin stretched across his face. He was completely elated.
"She was pretty much telling me who she was earlier, too. I should've known..."

Plagg snickered. "Just wait until she finds out how you figured out the last piece to the puzzle."

Adrien removed his arm from his face to give Plagg a glaring look.

"What? You're going to have to tell her eventually." He then did an imitation of Adrien. "Marinette, I found out you were Ladybug by snooping through your room, where I found the letter Chat wrote to Ladybug behind the one I wrote to you. Yeah, I'm sure she'll love that."

"I'm not even going to tell her I know yet," Adrien said in response.

"What?! Why not?!" Plagg demanded, flying over to Adrien. "Are you crazy, kid?!"

He sighed. "Marinette has had practically two years to get used to the fact that I'm Chat Noir. Now, I'd like to take a little time to let it sink in, without her knowing that I know. Then, when I'm ready, I'll tell her I know... and how I found out."

"Well... I suppose there could be some benefits in waiting..." Plagg trailed off. His devious tone caught Adrien's attention.

"Like?"

"Nah, you can find out for yourself. Maybe. Mmmm, I'm hungry," he zipped up the stairs, where his secret stash of Camembert was kept.

Usually Adrien would've been very annoyed at his Kwami, but he was too happy to care.

An hour later, he received a text.

Marinette [6:23 PM]: Hey, I think we should do the presentation on William Clark. He lived about twice as long as Meriwether Lewis, so he contributed a lot more to history. What do you think? Also, I hope you're feeling better!

Adrien had the strongest urge to reply with puns, and calling her Princess, but he was determined to keep her in the dark for now. She might know he's Chat Noir, but if he loosely uses puns in front of Marinette, she'll suspect he knows.

Adrien [6:26 PM]: I'm feeling a lot better. Thank you for worrying about me. :) I think William Clark would be a good choice. The more material we have to work with, the better, right? Sorry for leaving early, but I'll give 110% on it tomorrow.

Marinette [6:32 PM]: I think so, too. Anyway, if you're up for it tonight, could you do some research?

Adrien [6:34 PM]: Sure, just tell me what you need.

He laughed to himself. Marinette might not think she's like Ladybug, but even when she's not suited up, she takes control of a situation, while he blindly follows her.

A few minutes later, Plagg had come back down with some cheese in hand.

"I decided I'm going to tell her once the project is over," he announced, taking his eyes off the screen to look at the cat Kwami. "I think I'll be ready, then."

Plagg was still munching on the stinky cheese. "Good kid, good. Ahhh, just like this cheese," he nearly purred.
Adrien rolled his eyes in response, before turning his attention back to the screen.

The next couple of weeks went by. Adrien and Marinette spent a lot of time together, working on the project. Alya made her suspicions obvious to the two, both of which blushed when approached the the concept of them secretly dating.
Adrien kindly told her that they were just working on the presentation, but she didn't buy it. However, Nino knew both Adrien and Marinette very well, and knew they weren't lying. But he also could tell something else was going on with them.

One day during patrol, Emerald Turtle and Ladybug were atop of a random Parisian building, waiting for Vixen and Queen Bee to show up.

"Uh, so I've been meaning to ask you something," Emerald Turtle said nervously. "Don't hurt me or anything, but you now how... she has been bugging you about him?"

Ladybug laughed. "Yeah?"

"I know you're both telling the truth, but... I can also tell there's something else going on," he looked determinedly at her.
Ladybug opened her mouth to speak, but instead looked down at the ground.

"Look, I don't expect you to tell me anything if you don't want to. But remember that if there's something going on that you need to talk about, I'm here. Always," he reminded her. "And er, he has been acting so different around you, and he's been so quiet about it. He was never shy to tell me about his crush on Ladybug, so I can't help but worry a bit, you know?"

She looked surprised at him. "He told you about that?"

"Yeah, of course. But I didn't know he told you," he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, well, he didn't. Exactly. I...kind of realized after I encountered him as Ladybug. Which happened a lot, because A- I mean, he was involved in some of the akuma attacks." Ladybug said awkwardly, sounding a bit frantic. She only really caught on that he had a crush on Ladybug when he was Chat Noir, but she wasn't going to say anything about that.

"Ah. Vixen and Queen Bee are coming," he pointed to the yellow and orange that could be seen moving a few rooftops away.

"I think today's going to be a quiet day," Emerald sighed.

"What, do you want an akuma attack?" she asked him in shock.

"Of course not! It's just been awhile since we've really done anything, and I'm bored."

"Hey Turtle, what's with the face?" Vixen smirked, mocking him, as usual.

"Psh," was all he said, as he crossed his arms and looked away from her.

"Same to you," she replied bitterly, crossing her arms as well.

Ladybug and Queen Bee exchanged glances, shrugging their shoulders in confusion.

"What's going on here?" asked Queen Bee. She walked up to Emerald Turtle. "I know you guys have had some... issues from the start, that thankfully haven't translated into our akuma fights, but seriously, you've got to work whatever this is out. You're driving me crazy here!"

"It's on him!"
"It's on her!" the two super heroes said at the same time.

"Queen Bee is right. You guys have to work your problems out before they escalate any further," Ladybug walked toward the edge of the building, getting her yo-yo ready. "Bee, why don't we leave the two of them to talk."

"Right," she agreed, walking towards Ladybug before she turned around. "And you two better have worked things out before we all meet again, or so help me..." Queen Bee snarled.

"Easy, Bee," Ladybug tried to soothe her. "They'll get it worked out, I'm sure," she gave the two bickering heroes another look before she took off with Queen Bee.

Only, Emerald Turtle and Vixen hadn't worked everything out. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

AN: Next chapter (or the chapter after) will contain stuff that gives it the T rating due to violence and injury. Just a fair warning for you. Which aka is angst.

~ToujoursMiraculous