Author's Note:

I do not own any of these characters.

Troublemaker threw the chaise at Cat Noir and pictures flew out of it. A picture of his civilian identity stuck to his face. He pulled it back and stared at it in shock. As he pondered exactly how many pictures of him Marinette had in her room, and in all the different places, Ladybug yanked the picture out of his hand. "I said later, Cat Noir!"

Troublemaker snuck around behind the heroes and threw the chest at their backs. Ladybug was knocked down and watched in horror as the chest popped open and all of the gifts flew out. She instinctively cried out, "Adrien's presents!" before she could stop herself.

Cat Noir was shocked yet again. Not only that Marinette had all those presents for him, but that Ladybug knew about them... not that she knew they were for her partner, though. She gathered herself off the floor and Cat Noir just looked at her. He was brought back to the present by Troublemaker jumping up through the floor and reaching out for Ladybug's earrings. He immediately knocked Ladybug's legs out from under her and hit Troublemaker, making her pen fly across the room.

The rest of the fight was a close call. Troublemaker had actually gotten ahold of one of Ladybug's earrings and she was slowly detransforming before he got her to drop it. The hint of pink jeans he saw on Ladybug's legs as he flew towards Troublemaker with his cataclysm active was enough to confirm his earlier suspicions that Ladybug was Marinette.

After the fight, he decided to play it off and tease her a little. He got the exact reaction he wanted. The next day at school, Marinette was back to her usual stuttering mess. Of course, he was there as Adrien. She had played off the photographs but slipped up when she joked about someone having pictures of him under their bed. After all, Adrien wasn't the one to have seen the pictures under her bed... it had been Cat Noir while she was Ladybug.

Adrien half-listened to the teasing Alya was giving Marinette behind them before class started. He was trying to figure out how Ladybug could've figured out his identity. It was easy to see how he could've figured out her identity the day before, but unless she knew he was Cat Noir, she had no reason to make the under-the-bed comment earlier.

He figured it could only have been how he was acting to everything the day before also. The way he said he didn't expect the reveal to happen that way and the way he teased her about being the girl of his dreams. The way he reacted to the pictures must've been a bit personal also. Would he have been so interested if it had been pictures of any other boy or in the room of someone he didn't know personally? Ladybug was smart... so was Marinette. He was sure it wouldn't have taken her much thought on the subject to figure it out.

He was growing more and more excited about the reveal. He knew. He was almost certain she knew from her comments that morning. He had to make sure. He didn't want it to be one-sided if she didn't really know and just slipped up. He had to be subtle though... just in case he was wrong. He also had to worry about Marinette being a crazy fangirl. She didn't hang all over him... but she did act differently around him than other people. Adrien continued revising his planned conversation for patrol that night. He figured he had only one shot at doing this right.

Cat Noir waited patiently. As usual, he arrived before Ladybug for patrol. He sat on the roof, looking over the city and stilling his mind. It wasn't silent... not by any stretch of the imagination. The sound of cars and pedestrians wafted up from below. Cat Noir's ears twisted backwards trying to tune out the bulk of the noise coming from in front of him.

He smiled as his ears picked up the sound of Ladybug's yoyo. As was usually the case, Ladybug landed and joined him for a few minutes to sit and look out over the city she loved before they left to do the actual patrol. Cat Noir could tell she was nervous as he watched her fiddle around with her yoyo. A heavy sigh escaped her. "Still shaken up from almost losing your miraculous yesterday?"

"Yeah." Cat Noir hoped she would say something else, but she just left it at that. She moved to stand up and he placed a hand on her arm. She looked at him with wide eyes. "Cat, please don't try to lift my spirits by saying everything's fine. I had a hard-enough day today already."

Cat Noir nodded. "Let's change the subject then... That was A LOT of pictures of that boy on the wall... in her chaise... under her bed..."

Ladybug threw up her hands to stop him. "Okay Cat! I get it. She had a lot of pictures of... that model."

Cat Noir scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Oh! He's a model? Hm..."

Ladybug seemed to be taken aback a little. "Y-Yeah? I mean, he's pretty famous."

Cat Noir nodded slightly. "She must be a really big fan... borderline stalker..."

Ladybug huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Hey! You don't know that. She could be one of his friends for all you know."

Cat Noir smirked at her reaction. "You're right. I'm sorry. Maybe she's his girlfriend. That could explain it."

Ladybug's stance softened dramatically. "Well... if she isn't, I'm sure she wishes she was."

Cat Noir leaned in to drive home his point. "If she isn't... that's getting back into fangirl/stalker territory."

Ladybug looked exasperated. "Cat! I doubt she had as many pictures of him as you do of me. Does that make you a fanboy/stalker?"

Cat Noir wiggled his eyebrows. "Purrhaps."

Ladybug slapped her head and groaned. "Cat!" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I bet her feelings for him are just as genuine as your feelings for me. Maybe... Maybe she just can't get up the courage to tell him."

Cat Noir nodded and rubbed his chin again, until he finally commented, "That's dangerous."

Ladybug looked shocked. "Dangerous? How?"

Cat Noir sat up straight and started counting off the possibilities on his fingers. "Well... she could get friend-zoned. Or... he might find someone else while she's too shy to confess to him. Or... Maybe... He likes her too and they're both secretly pining for each other... both too shy to make the first move."

Ladybug looked sad at that last statement. "That'd be terrible. I never even thought of that. That... That'd be... tragic."

Cat Noir had finally set her up to be able to tell if she really was Marinette. He smiled hopefully. "We can only hope he saw the program yesterday and that she didn't play it off. Who knows... maybe they're blissfully together right now."

Ladybug stood up. "H-Hey, Cat? Do you mind doing patrol alone tonight? I just remembered I needed to get something done tonight before 21:00."

Cat Noir stood up, taking in the look of sheer terror in Ladybug's demeanor. "S-Sure. I'd hate for your identity to get blown because someone was expecting you and you weren't there."

He watched as Ladybug zipped off. He quickly headed home himself. Patrol was going to have to wait if he was expecting her to do what he thought she was leaving to do. If he got a call from Marinette, then he'd know for sure.

Adrien sat in his chair catching his breath when his phone dinged. He looked and saw it was a text message from Marinette.

Are you up?

He smiled to himself.

Yes. What's up?

He watched as the three dots showed she was typing. He lightly strummed his fingers on his desk.

Can we meet somewhere? I think this is important enough that it should be done in person.

He knew he could sneak out, but she didn't know that.

Tonight?

He looked over at Plagg as Plagg was thumbing through a magazine about exotic cheeses.

If you can?

He smirked.

For you, anything. Just tell me where you need me.

It seemed to take quite a bit longer than he expected for a reply. He figured she must be debating the location or even debating if she should back out.

At the park, near the bakery?

After replying that he would be there, he called out, "Plagg! Claws Out!" The magazine fluttered to the floor as Plagg got sucked into Adrien's ring, transforming him into Cat Noir.

He leapt out his window and made his way to the park. He thought it best to run past the park to see if she was there and to make her think he was really patrolling. After all, based on the fact she hadn't confessed on the rooftop made him think she might not know his identity.

He spotted her sitting on a bench already. He decided to hop down. "Hello, Purrincess. What brings you out tonight?"

Marinette looked up and smiled at Cat Noir. "Just getting some fresh air. I've got a friend meeting me here shortly."

Cat Noir feigned shock and placed a hand over his heart. "Marinette! I never expected you'd be one to make out with a guy in a park at night."

Marinette turned bright red. "Cat Noir! We will not..." She stopped... which made Cat Noir blush a little that maybe she wasn't going to correct his assumption.

Cat Noir finally lifted his hands in surrender. "Don't worry. I'm no peeping tomcat. I'll leave you be. Just yell if you need any help." Cat Noir used his baton to get back up to the roof and made sure he was out of sight before dropping down into an alley.

Plagg looked miffed as Adrien stared back at him after detransforming. "You could have warned me at least."

Adrien smiled slightly. "Sorry, Plagg. I was just so excited to come see her."

Plagg huffed. "I expect a whole wheel of camembert when we get home, or I'll know you weren't really sorry."

"Done deal. Now hide." Adrien opened his jacket and Plagg flew in.

Adrien ran through the entrance of the park and made a beeline for Marinette. "H-Hey!" He stopped in front of her and bent over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

Marinette blushed deeply. "Please... have a seat."

Adrien collapsed on the bench next to Marinette and turned his head over lazily to look at her. "I made it. I hope I didn't take too long."

Marinette waved her hands at him. "N-No... I've just been sitting here for a few minutes myself."

He sat up and turned his body to face Marinette. "What can I do for you?"

Marinette started tapping her fingers together. "I... uh... I was talking to a friend tonight, and he said something that made me think I might have acted rashly this morning in my embarrassment."

Adrien relied on his modeling to look utterly confused. "You were embarrassed this morning? I hope I didn't make it worse by questioning you."

Marinette looked at him as if the very thought of him doing anything wrong should never have existed in the first place. "Maybe a little... but it's okay. You had questions and you... deserved an honest answer. I'm sorry."

Feigning innocence, Adrien asked, "Sorry? For?"

Marinette returned to tapping her fingers together. "I wasn't completely honest with you today. I-I'm sorry."

Adrien placed a hand on her arm, causing her to look at him again. "It's okay. Now that I understand you were embarrassed, I feel a little guilty actually."

She blushed slightly. "Y-You have nothing to feel guilty about. I do."

Adrien began to worry this was going to descend into an apology war. "Please... don't feel guilty. Let's... just have a do over. Especially now that you seem to be more open to talking."

Marinette nodded her head and took a deep breath. "You see. I might have not been honest about why I had your pictures on my wall."

Adrien's eyes widened. "Really?"

Marinette grimaced slightly, like she was expecting him to yell at her. "Y-Yes."

He needed to be certain. "Then... are you just a fan?"

"No." Marinette tapped her fingers together some more. "I'm... your friend. But ever since you explained things to me and gave me your umbrella, I've haven't been able to control my feelings for you."

Adrien's eyes went wider than he ever thought they could, even as Cat Noir. "That was like... the first day we met!"

Marinette cringed. "Y-Yes... I know. And... I've done some things I'm really not proud of because of this crush that has completely taken over my life."

Adrien smirked and leaned in. "Ooh! This I need to hear."

Marinette smiled and pushed him back. "Adrien! I said I wasn't proud of them. And... you expect me to just tell you?"

Adrien tapped his chin in thought. "It'll be a great bonding experience. It'll even help crush that crush."

Marinette's eyes went wide. "Y-You think? But... what if I've done something you can't forgive?"

Adrien held her hand gently and looked deep into her eyes. "I swear... I forgive you for anything you've done because of that crush."

Marinette took a shaky breath. "I might've created a huge schedule of your activities so that I'd know where you were at all times... just so I could accidentally bump into you." Adrien smiled and nodded for her to continue. "I may have used said calendar to know you were at fencing class so I could steal your cell phone to delete an embarrassing voice mail."

Adrien looked way too excited. "What was on the voice mail?"

"You would ask that..." Marinette took another breath. "It started off cringy enough with me asking you to call me back, but it didn't stop recording and caught me explaining to Alya that I couldn't just walk up to you and ask you out."

Adrien looked like he was expecting something juicier. "That doesn't sound too bad."

Marinette cringed a little. "I may have called you Hot Stuff while talking to Alya."

Adrien's demeanor returned to its formerly excited state. "Ah..."

That seemed to make Marinette more hopeful that Adrien was sincerely not going to hold anything against her. "Yeah... And then there was the time I sent you a Valentine's Day card and forgot to sign it."

"That was you?" Adrien sounded a bit more surprised than he expected.

Marinette smiled. "I take it you got it."

Adrien answered excitedly, "Y-Yeah I got it. I wondered who it came from... it was answering a poem I had written during school."

Marinette giggled a little. "Yep... that was mine." She seemed to be hesitant again before asking, "W-Who were... Who were you writing the poem for?"

Adrien slumped back against the park bench. "You're going to think it was silly... just a celebrity crush."

Marinette pointed to herself. "Hello! You were just listening to me tell you about the embarrassing things I've done."

Adrien chuckled a little. "Okay. Okay. I guess you're right. It was... uh... for Ladybug."

Marinette blushed deeply. "D-Did you ever get the poem to her?"

Adrien decided they had been dancing around this long enough. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. "A-Apparently so... Bugaboo."

Marinette slapped his arm. "So, you did figure it out!"

Adrien laughed heartily. "Judging from your lack of surprise... so did you."

Marinette sat back against the bench and seemed to say this more to herself than Adrien. "So... we've been playing it safe all evening and could've had this conversation on the roof without having to run all over half of Paris."

Adrien chuckled. "Yeah... that's why I was playing it safe. I thought maybe you didn't know since you left patrol early."

"You two were both dancing around each other," Plagg's gruff voice emanated from Adrien's jacket.

"Plagg! Shush!" Tikki's squeaky voice shouted from Marinette's purse. "Let them have this moment."

"Plagg, would you like to hang out with Tikki?" Marinette opened her purse and Plagg darted into it. "I'll take that as a yes."

Adrien chuckled and shook his head at Plagg's antics. "At least Tikki will keep him from interrupting us again."

Marinette looked back up at Adrien. Longing was in her eyes as she blushed. "S-So... earlier... when you accused me of making out with a boy in the park... were you just teasing me... or..."

Adrien leaned over and gazed deeply into Marinette's eyes. "Maybe... I was... just being hopeful..."

Adrien couldn't finish his sentence as Marinette nearly knocked him over as she pulled him into and embraced and smashed their lips together. She poured every ounce of longing into it she had built up over the past several months. Adrien responded in kind.

After a while, they had settled into leaning back on the bench, gazing deeply into each other's eyes, and kissing each other with short, quick kisses sporadically. Adrien finally asked, "What's the story with all those presents?"

Marinette grinned widely. "Well..."