*A/N I don't own these characters. Big things ahead. Sorry that I'm updating this around midnight. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!


Marinette loved Chat Noir more than she had ever expected herself to, and right when she had had the perfect moment to tell him, she had instead simply held him in a tight hug until it was too late for him to stay any longer. She should have said something, anything to express her true feelings. Something told Marinette that he wouldn't truly understand how she felt unless she spelled it out for him.

With a groan, the girl rolled over in her bed the next morning, more than slightly dissatisfied with herself for how the evening had ended. But Marinette knew that Chat would be back and that she would have another chance to tell him her feelings. Subconsciously, her fingers went to her lips. They trembled a bit at the thought of telling him that she loved him. He loved her, too, didn't he? He had wanted to kiss her. He had hugged her first. Why was she so nervous? Was it because of the mask?

Who knew who was under that mask?

"Marinette?! Are you up?!"

"Y-yes!" she squealed in reply to her mother as she scrambled out of bed. "I'm almost ready!"

"You don't have to lie to me. I know you just woke up, dear!" her mother replied with an audible chuckle.

Marinette rolled her eyes to herself playfully before hurrying to get ready for school, pushing Chat Noir from her thoughts. At least… for the moment.


Adrien waved his good morning to Juleka and Rose as he entered the school. Seeing their happy expressions as they waved back brought a smile to Adrien's face. It was a short-lived grin; he ran straight into Chloe, who was blocking the doorway.

"Adrikins! I was just waiting for you!"

"Oh, hey, Chloe," he muttered, looking around for Nino, Marinette, anyone to save him. He'd even settle for Alya angrily tugging him away at this point.

"My father, you know, the mayor, is throwing a super big party this weekend! Do you have an outfit?" Chloe asked him, batting her eyelashes furiously in his direction.

"Uh, what?" Adrien asked, distracted.

"An outfit? For my party?" Chloe squealed in a sickeningly sweet tone, grabbing his arm. "I want us to match!"

Adrien stared at her grip, barely hiding his horror and discomfort, "Uh, that's really nice of you, but I actually…"

"Adrien!"

Chloe froze with her arms wrapped around him, gazing with him at the source of the voice.

"You promised you'd help me with this psychics homework. You know you're a whiz at that stuff."

Adrien let out a sigh of relief as he gently tugged his arm out of Chloe's tight grasp. "We'll talk later, Chloe."

"I'll text you details!" she grinned before glaring at Alya, who had stolen away her Adrikins.

Alya tossed her hair over her shoulder, shoving a notebook at Adrien to make it look like she was actually getting help on homework, "You're welcome."

"Thanks," Adrien smiled genuinely.

The girl appeared pained, opening and closing her mouth, wishing to say something but also not wanting to say it. Finally, Alya spat out, "So, you let Marinette off the hook yesterday?"

"What?" he responded, at first not knowing what Alya meant. Then, Adrien remembered how he had confronted Marinette before they both left school. "Oh, you mean apologizing? It's what any decent person would do…"

"Yeah, but… did you see her last night? You know… as…" she trailed off, raising her eyebrows as she studied his expression.

Adrien looked up at her, guiltily, "None of your business if I did."

Alya grabbed his arm angrily, pulling herself closer to him and hissing, "I told you to fix this!"

"Yo, Adrien! Oh, Alya!" Nino called behind them. Both Alya and Adrien straightened up in shock at their friend's voice, forcing any anger from their faces to appear normal.

"Adrien," Alya muttered, whacking him lightly and dropping her grip on him.

He opened the notebook, frantically spitting out, "I'm working on it!"

"What are you two doing?" Nino asked, eyes shifting between the two.

"Psychics," Alya answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, cool," Nino commented, looking around once more before his eyes landed on Alya. "No Marinette?"

"No. She's probably going to be late, as usual," Adrien responded to himself with a smile. It was a surprisingly endearing aspect of Marinette, her lateness. The way she would rush into class flustered, her hair pushed back from her forehead by the wind she had most likely been running through. Adrien hated it when she got in trouble with the teacher, but he loved seeing her breathless expression, her bright eyes when she wasn't given a tardy. His smile deepened without him really realizing it.

The two looked at him before he realized his grin. He shut the notebook and handed it to Alya, hurrying off with a quick, "See ya in class." Though it wouldn't have been the first time, for some reason, Adrien didn't want them to see his cheeks flush with color.


Nino put his arm around Adrien's shoulder before he even had a chance to stand up from his seat. "How about we go get something to eat before you head home?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow at his friend before he snuck a peek back at Marinette, who had been late that day. When she didn't meet his gaze, he peered back at Nino and nodded, "Sure."

"Excellent," Nino smiled. "I heard of this great new café…"

"Sounds great," Adrien smiled as they walked out of the classroom, forcing himself not to take one last look at Marinette.


"Earth to Marinette. Hello?"

"Huh? What is it?" she asked as she shoved a notebook into her backpack.

"You seem, like, super tired today. Up late last night?" Alya asked, crossing her arms.

Marinette fought a yawn as she pulled her straps over her shoulders, "I don't know what you're talking about." Then, she did yawn.

Alya gestured at her with a short laugh before opening her mouth to speak.

"I'm fine!" Marinette cut her off. "Honestly, just… too much homework!"

"It's not a… boy that you aren't telling me about?"

Marinette immediately thought of the Ladyblog and knew she couldn't give away anything that could hurt Chat's identity. Not only that, but… she liked having the secret of Chat Noir all to herself. No one, except maybe Ladybug, had this close of a bond with Chat Noir. Call her selfish, but deep down, Marinette wanted to keep it that way. She chirped, "None at all!"

"Not even… Adrien?"

"Geez, Alya. I've moved on from him, okay?" She shook her head, "How many times do I have to say it before you believe me?"

"As many times before you believe it yourself."

She snorted to herself, refusing to let the words truly sink in. Part of Marinette knew the words had some value to them, but the larger part of her was convinced Adrien had no piece of her heart anymore. Setting a hand on her heart, Marinette leaned towards her friend intently. "I know myself, Alya. I don't care about Adrien like that anymore. Okay?"

Alya nodded slowly, making it seem like she still didn't believe Marinette.

After a long moment of silence between the two girls, Marinette excused herself, "I'll see you tomorrow!" Then, she hurried home, still a bit shaky from their conversation.


Adrien happily bit into his croissant as Nino watched him carefully over his cup. He tried to pretend like he didn't see his friend's watchful eye, but eventually, it grew too great for Adrien to ignore.

"Is something up?"

"Why would you ask?" his friend questioned.

Adrien tried not to roll his eyes, settling instead for a deep sigh. "I'm just assuming you didn't bring me out here to watch me eat."

After a long pause, Nino finally took a deep breath and asked Adrien, "Why've you been spending so much time with Alya?"

"Wh-what?" He was utterly taken aback. That was not what Adrien had expected Nino to ask him.

"You two are just… talking more than usual… and I…"

Adrien began to shake his head furiously, "Nino, nothing is…"

His friend continued on, sounding more and more desperate as he spoke. "Look, I know I'm no model, but I'm just as good looking as you are!"

"Yes, of course! And I would never…"

"Sure, you can speak Chinese and play piano and are just generally cooler than I am, but… I'm a DJ for goodness sake! I have… rights!"

Adrien was getting flustered, so finally he reached across the table and gripped his friend's wrist, settling him down. He grew serious and answered, "Nino, nothing is happening with Alya."

"Dude…"

"No, it's true! Alright?"

Nino struggled to find words and ended up stammering out, "Then, why…"

Adrien grumbled for a moment.

"I thought you had a thing for Marinette!"

"I do, Nino!" Adrien exploded before composing himself. In a slightly lower tone, he murmured, "Geez, Nino, I am head over sneakers for Marinette."

"Then, with Alya," Nino started. "Really there's…"

"Nothing between us. I swear. She's just helping me out with Marinette." Adrien looked him in the eye, nodding as he stated, "I promise."

Nino smiled before gulping, "Sorry, I was just really nervous that you might like her."

"I could never compete with you, even if I did like Alya in that way," Adrien grinned, holding up his closed fist over the table. "We're cool?"

"Yeah," Nino replied immediately, sounding breathless and relieved, knocking their knuckles. "So what's the hold up then with Marinette? Didn't you apologize for, you know, your quote unquote big mistake?"

"I have, but that's not going to be enough."

"It seems like she's forgiven you," Nino observed, sipping his drink.

Yeah, for that. Not for when I tell her I'm Chat Noir.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Adrien answered swiftly with a smile, taking another bite of croissant. "I don't think she'll want to be in any type of deeper relationship with me."

"What? Because of you turning her down? You're a great guy," Nino nudged his shoulder from across the table. "She'll give you a second chance."

Adrien smiled sadly to himself, realizing he had to tell Marinette sooner rather than later who he was and accept the consequences. He was just… scared. Scared she would reject him, ignore him more than she already had. And worse… she would ignore Chat Noir, as well. Was he ready to lose her?

There really shouldn't be a choice in the matter. He needed to tell her the truth, before it ate him alive. Marinette was such a kind person; maybe she would let him remain her friend.

"Yeah, a second chance," he mused to Nino. Glancing out the window, he breathed out softly, "I hope so."


Adrien and Nino parted ways after finishing their meal, and Adrien began his walk home alone. He had forgotten to tell his bodyguard where he had been going; this would mean trouble later. Oh, well. To Adrien… it had been worth any trouble with his father later. Anything to clear up a misunderstanding with Nino. If for some reason he lost Nino's friendship, on top of everything else that was happening lately, Adrien knew he'd really lose it.

That thought alone got him through the walk home, but as soon as he saw the disapproving look on Natalie's face when he entered his house, the feelings of relief inside him completely disappeared.

"Is Father home?"

Natalie stared him down and curtly told him, "Yes."

Adrien gulped, "You can tell him that I'll…"

"I already told him that you were busy with homework," Natalie responded, even more sharply than she had before.

With a nod, Adrien began to walk up the steps. He always felt guilty when Natalie had to lie for him; he hated putting her job on the line for his own mistakes.

She spoke behind him, "I'll let him know you're home. He'll be in to see you soon."

Without responding, he walked faster, hurrying to close the door to his room and throw down his bag. What would his father say to him this time? He hated to even imagine. Running his hands through his hair, different scenarios of what was about to occur flitted through his head, each worse than the next. It made him feel helpless and pathetic. Why was hanging out with his friend such a big problem to his father? It frustrated Adrien to no end that he felt so guilty over something so innocent. Nino mattered just as much in his life as his homework did. How could the great Gabriel Agreste not see that?

Plagg flew out from his shirt, "You could always just jump out the window. Chat Noir style!"

"Shut up, Plagg," Adrien groaned, sitting at his desk and rolling his fingers over an uncapped pen. "It's not the time for jokes."

"I wasn't exactly joking," the kwami grumbled, flying off to search the room for any cheese.

Adrien tapped his keyboard a couple times, bringing up the Ladyblog. Ladybug's face once again took his breath away upon seeing it. It had only become more stunning to him the more he got to know Marinette. He spun his chair around, tapping the pen to his lip thoughtfully. He glanced up into his spacious room, muttering to himself, "I need to tell Marinette who I am. It's time."

"I'd say it was time weeks ago," Plagg commented from somewhere behind Adrien. "Like, when you first discovered she was Ladybug… weeks ago."

"I know," he agreed, humiliated.

He was planning on doing it soon, but depending on how harsh his father would be to him, Adrien was suddenly feeling like having Marinette not speaking to him wouldn't be the best thing to have at the moment. If Gabriel Agreste got upset at him, he would need someone there for him, like Marinette was there for Chat Noir. No, that would be a selfish reason not to tell her. And Adrien couldn't keep leading her on like this; Alya was right. He was being awful and terrible, and maybe he deserved to have Marinette never speak to him again.

"Soon," Adrien told Plagg.

"Whatever you say, Loverboy," his kwami responded sarcastically.

There was a beeping sound, causing Adrien to spin his chair around quickly, diverting his full attention to go to the large screen. An… an akuma attack? Not the best time, but maybe all he needed was time to get his mind off of Marinette, maybe he could get there before Ladybug and have some time to just forget himself. Just as he was standing up to transform, there was a loud knocking at the door.

"Adrien?" his father called through the door firmly.

"Oh, no," Adrien whispered, glancing from the monitor to the window to the door in a vicious cycle before glancing at Plagg desperately. The kwami, of course, was no help whatsoever. Adrien curled his lip and closed his eyes in deep thought, wondering what the right choice was in this situation.

By the time Gabriel Agreste had opened the door, Adrien had hurried to his bathroom, transformed, and leapt from the window to where the akuma was attacking Paris.

He could deal with his father some other time, though, he knew now that the consequences would only be worse. His mind was so rattled at the moment that Adrien could only hope he had made the right decision.


Chat Noir landed on the scene just in time to have the akuma victim toss something at him. It exploded, but the hero had thrown himself to the side in time to avoid whatever was inside the object. A green smoke filled the street. Using his baton, Chat propelled himself upwards to crouch on a rooftop, wondering who the victim was. Another bomb was lobbed up at him, making him take off in a sprint. Didn't this suit come with a gas mask of some sort? He groaned and rolled his eyes to himself; amazing supernatural powers, a virtually indestructible suit, and yet, no gas mask?

If Chat could get close enough, he could probably take on this victim in combat; the only problem was those explosives, whatever they were. And Chat really didn't want to find out.

Chat began to run along the roofs, keeping an eye on the villain but avoiding the bombs. Some sort of chemist he would guess. Maybe the villain was shouting his name, but Chat didn't hear it. Suddenly, all his thoughts were consumed with his masked partner, and more importantly, if she would show up. He had wanted some alone time to think, but he had been wrong. He desperately needed Ladybug by his side.

She should be here by now, he thought to himself, stopping his running for one moment to look for her.

This proved lucky for the evil scientist. One of the strange explosives landed at Chat Noir's feet and exploded, leaving a sticky residue on his legs, gluing his boots to the roof. He couldn't get out of the suit without detransforming, and there were too many people below watching the fight. Fear began to overtake him as he saw the akuma victim readying more bombs to throw at him. Chat didn't want to test out if they were deadly or not. Though he wasn't too fond of the idea, he decided to use his miraculous power to escape and then recharge while waiting for Ladybug to show.

"Cataclysm!" he shouted, slamming his hand down on the gunk. It melted away from his boots, allowing him to jump away from the public's view and hurry over the rooftops until he found a safe, abandoned street to release Plagg.

"That's it?!" Plagg grumbled as he dizzily fell from the ring. "Didn't take very long."

"Do you want your cheese or not?" Adrien asked, shoving the kwami into his shirt pocket and sticking one of the pieces of Camembert he keeps in his pocket after him.

"Thanks," Plagg muttered with a mouthful from the pocket.

Adrien sprinted back to the area of attack, watching for Ladybug and waiting for Plagg to be ready. He was just rounding a corner into one of the large, green foggy areas when suddenly something wrapped around his ankles and pulled him upwards. He gulped down fear as he tried to think of what might have caught him, and how to make sure they didn't figure out his secret, until he saw Ladybug's face looking at him in concern.

"Adrien, are you crazy?" she asked him without formality of any kind, unlooping her yoyo from around his legs and setting him on the roof next to her. She crouched lower so that her hands touched his cheeks, turning his head this way and that to make sure he was alright.

"Uh…"

"Don't run into the fog! You don't want to get hurt," Ladybug ordered. She stood up, gazing down at him. There was a long moment where neither of them said anything. Finally, the heroine let out a long breath, holding her forehead in one hand, whispering, "Geez, you scared me."

"I…" Adrien tried to stop himself form feeling hopeful over the fact that Marinette was worried for him, but he couldn't seem to. Maybe there was still a chance for him if he confessed his secret. He allowed that small ray of hope to consume his heart.


The fear over losing Adrien to this villain made Marinette realize that Adrien still had a hold over part of her. How much, she wasn't sure, but she could tell that part of her was so insanely terrified when she saw him sprinting towards the fog. She didn't want to lose him.

Because… he was just a friend? That's what she had been telling herself all this time. With a sigh, she realized that she was just in high school. Marinette didn't know exactly what her feelings could mean at this time, but she knew that if Adrien got hurt, she would never forgive herself for allowing it to happen.

Ladybug grinned down at Adrien, "Stay here, okay? Stay safe."

"O-okay," he breathed out, sitting up on his knees as Ladybug smiled warmly and him and zoomed away, flying across the roofs with little aid from her yoyo.


"Hello! You alright, Mr. Goo-Goo Eyes?"

Adrien gave an angry pout in Plagg's direction as he stood up. Seeing her smile had charged him up, and he felt ready to take down the villain alongside his lady.

"You see her every day," his kwami whined. "Why just get all lovey-dovey now when…"

"Let's go!"

"Oh, but Ladybug told you to stay here," Plagg mocked him.

Adrien rolled his eyes and threw out his fist, "Transform me!"


"Nice of you to show up," Ladybug called to Chat Noir as he appeared across from her. They were standing on the street before the one that held the villain, planning.

"I was here earlier, my lady. You were the late one," he pointed out with a smile.

"Then tell me, are the bombs dangerous?" she asked, crossing over to him a bit hesitantly. She hated to admit to herself that she was as worried for him as she was, especially since she knew he could take care of himself. Yet, part of her wanted to go set him up on the rooftop where she had left Adrien and handle this herself so she knew neither one of them got hurt.

"I got hit by one. It was sticky, and I couldn't move. But he may have more. Different sorts, you know," Chat answered, pulling out his staff and holding it at the ready. "You think we should just go for it?"

"No," she answered immediately, glaring at him. No, of course you shouldn't just go for it.

"Oh? You have a different plan, my lady?" Chat grinned, leaning in close with his eyebrows raised.

"Not yet. But you're idea sounds like an easy way to get yourself hurt," she looked away, "or worse."

"Is that worry I hear?"

"For one of my closest friends? Of course it is!" She surprised herself with how sharp her words had been.

Chat's mouth fell open, matching her expression, before he closed his lips and set a hand on her shoulder. "Ladybug, I can take care of myself."

She looked at him, biting her lip, "I know. I know you can." Suddenly, his gloved hand on her shoulder felt like a million pounds, and she wanted nothing more than to take it in her own and hurry him away from the danger. His grip was so tight on her shoulder. Was he worried for her as much as she worried for him? A selfish part of her hoped so.

"So, I say let's go for it. His only strength is his explosives. If I can get close to him, I can attack him and win. I know it! Then you just purify the akuma, and we can go out on a date tonight. What do you say?"

She knew she should have made a face or something at the mention of a date, pretend like she didn't actually want to go out with Chat, but she couldn't. Instead, the heroine lightly punched his shoulder, leaving her fist there. "Don't die."

They stood still, letting the heaviness of the moment settle. Then, Chat moved his face so that she was forced to look at him. "I wouldn't dream of it," he responded before running off. "Not without that date!"

Ladybug hurried right after him, not wanting to let him out of her sight. She watched from afar as he swung his baton left and right, knocking the villain's explosives away from him as he attacked.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she shouted, daring to turn her eyes away from Chat for a second to use her power. Before the item fell into her hands, she looked back just in time to see Chat thrown down a street and out of her view by the villain.

"Chat!" she shouted, hearing her item fall to the ground loudly behind her. The villain turned her attention towards her and readied himself to throw one of his explosives at her. Without being able to think anything else, Ladybug threw herself from the roof and wrapped her yoyo around a lamppost, swinging to the ground next to the villain, crouching and ready to fight.


The ring flew off his finger as he was thrown down the street, but luckily, no one was there to see him turn back into Adrien. Aside from one shallow scratch on his elbow, he was unharmed. Sitting up and rubbing his head, he began to look around for his ring. By the time he had found it and looked up, ready to transform, he noticed the Miraculous Cleansing Light spreading over the city.

Ladybug had defeated the victim already. Without him.

"Upset you missed the action?" Plagg asked.

He wasn't upset to have missed a fight. He was upset that he had missed being there to protect her. He had so stupidly thought that he could handle fighting the victim himself. If she was hurt because of him…

Ignoring Plagg's complaints, Adrien started to run towards where he had been thrown from, worried for Ladybug and wanting to see her more than anything.


Ladybug frantically ran through the streets, looking for Chat Noir. He was nowhere to be found. She should have never let him talk her into a plan like that. It was all her fault if he was hurt. An image of Chat lying bloody in the streets alone wouldn't leave her mind, and it was enough to make her stop for a moment in the middle of one of the alleyways to compose herself and wipe a few tears from her cheeks.

She had barely noticed that Adrien had sprinted from around a corner, saying, "Oh, Ladybug. Good I found you. I was worried that…"

She suddenly felt a flash of anger amidst her concern. Chat was the one in danger; Adrien wasn't supposed to worry her like that, too. "I told you to stay there. You could've been hurt."

"Yes, but, I was wor…"

Realizing he was perfectly okay, Ladybug went back to searching for Chat as Adrien continued speaking behind her. His words were incoherent to her due to her mind being focused on one thing and one thing only.

"Are you okay?" Adrien suddenly wondered.

She whirled around to face him, barely hiding the scared expression on her face. "Have you seen Chat?"

It took him a long time to answer. "No, but I'm sure he's f…"

"He never came back," Ladybug interrupted, running past Adrien to peer down another street. Adrien followed her.

"He's fine, Ladybug."

"Where is he?" she breathed out anxiously. "I… I need to find him."

Adrien grabbed her arm, turning her to face him, "Just calm down. He's a superhero. He's fine!"

How dare Adrien assume that Chat would just be fine? Marinette needed to find him or else she would die of worry, staying up without sleep simply wondering if Chat was okay. She should have made him stay put when she had the chance. Now, he was nowhere to be found. Her heart began to race, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She wanted to run and scream, anything to get rid of the jumpiness that was suddenly overtaking her body.

Adrien moved his hands to grab her shoulders, "Everything is ok…"

"Let go of me!" she shouted, finally letting the tears spill over her cheeks. "I need to find him, or else I'd never forgive myself!"

His grip tightened, "Don't run out there looking for danger. He's okay!"

"How could you know?" she spat, tearing herself from him. "I need to find, Chat. He could be hurt! I can't lose him. I can't lose him, not like this. I'm… I'm sorry, Adrien."

"Ladybug…"

"Don't follow me," she ordered harshly, starting to run off. And Adrien didn't follow.

But after she had barely made it halfway down the alley, his words stopped her dead in her tracks.


"Plagg, transform me."


She skidded to a stop, feeling herself begin to hyperventilate. Was it some sort of sick joke that Adrien was making, or did she really dare to turn around and see for herself if he was real, if he was her partner?

"I'm right here, my lady."

As if in a dream, Ladybug slowly turned to see that Adrien was replaced by none other than her masked partner himself. Her head shook slightly, and she took a step back.

"A-Adrien?"

"Yes… It's me," he called out to her.

"No… No, it's can't be you," she breathed out, taking another step away from him.

"Please, Marinette, just…" Chat stopped mid-sentence.

It took her a moment to register what he had just said, what he had just called her. Then, Ladybug turned and sprinted away as fast as she could.