A/N: So uh. Guess this is a threeshot now

"You're not joining the party?" Chat—Adrien—asked when Marinette slipped through the hotel room door. He sat on the carpet beneath the window, nearly hidden in the shadow between the wall and the rectangle of sunset spilling in. It felt wrong to see him slouched on the ground and not perched somewhere, like on the king size bed, or the arm of the couch she brushed as she approached him.

"You really think I'd go down there and celebrate while you're…" She trailed off, not really sure where to go with that. Crying over the fact that we arrested your dad? She knew she could talk about anything with him, but that still felt insensitive.

"Sitting here moping?" Plagg supplied even less sensitively, and she cut him off with a glare. If she hadn't been suited up, she'd have Tikki go distract the kwami somewhere. But she couldn't detransform yet, not when she didn't know if Adrien still wanted her to.

She sat down beside him and took his hand in hers. No claws brushed the back of her hand. Only soft skin, manicured nails at the end of trembling fingers.

"I'd rather be here with you," she said softly.

He looked up, meeting her eyes with his damp ones. How long had he been here by himself? Well, with Plagg, who for all of his blunt words looked just as worried about his chosen. Of course he would be; the kwami had been Adrien's only support for the few days he'd been separated from her.

"You're—you still want to be with me? Even though you know who I am, and you know Hawkmoth's my..."

"Shh, shh, it's okay," she murmured as lingering tears dripped down his face. "I mean, it's not okay, nothing he did to you was okay—but it's not your fault, Adrien."

She wished she could've told him that a thousand times already. Wished it hadn't been two days since she'd been able to see him alone. Wished she could deck Gabriel Agreste again for how much he'd hurt his son.

But no amount of punching supervillains would erase her boyfriend's pain.

"Should've been stronger," he mumbled. "I was useless."

"Hey." She put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to face her. "No one calls my boyfriend useless." Besides, it wasn't even true. Sure, he'd been more reckless than usual—and she'd barely cleansed Hawkmoth's butterfly before it akumatized him—but he'd given his all to the fight, even knowing it was his father behind the mask.

His lips twitched into something that was almost a smile. "What are you going to do about it? Fight me?"

"Yes." She put on her most serious face. "I'm going to pin you to this wall and you're not going to move until you stop blaming yourself."

A startled snort burst from him. "Trying to threaten me with a good time?"

"Oh—Chat." Her face burned when she realized how her words had come out. Apparently her ability to embarrass herself in front of Adrien had never completely gone away.

At least he was grinning now. She'd gladly pin him to the wall if that was all it took.

"The point is, you've never been useless, Kitty. I was so so proud of you standing up to your… to Hawkmoth like that. I wish I'd had more time to tell you that, before…"

"Before the press basically took me hostage? Not your fault." He shrugged. "I'm just lucky they didn't find out I was Chat Noir. And lucky I'm eighteen and they couldn't try to ship me off to live with Aunt Amalee."

She shuddered at the thought of that. Particularly considering that would mean he'd be living with his cousin, who she'd be willing to deck in the face a second time. Since Adrien was legally an adult though, once he'd been questioned and cleared as having no knowledge of Hawkmoth and Mayura's actions in his home, he'd been allowed to stay at the Le Grand Paris. Chloe was making sure he got free boarding, and Marinette had never been more grateful for the girl who used to make her life miserable.

"They wouldn't. I'd make my parents adopt you first."

"That'd be hard to pull off, considering we still don't know each other's... well, I don't know your identity, anyway." He looked down at the carpet, tracing a pattern in it with his index finger. "Sorry for that too. I wanted it to be romantic, not… like this."

"Again, not your fault."

She'd been the only one to overhear Chat's faint cry of "Father?" when Max had located Hawkmoth's lair below the Agreste mansion. She'd been the one to tell him to hang back, to tell him he didn't have to fight. But he had fought, even after Hawkmoth nearly akumatized him during the battle. He'd even been the one to hold the villain's arms behind his back as Marinette tore the butterfly brooch from his throat.

No one else had known why hot, angry tears stained Chat's face as she did.

And then came the media swarm, and they'd gotten separated as their miraculouses timed out, and… and she'd only been able to visit him surrounded by paparazzi since then. Until she found his room in the hotel while the other miraculous wielders prepared for their celebration in the ballroom below.

"So much for our private party, huh?" He sniffled.

Her face softened at the memory of their promise made while balancing in the sky. Had that really just been three weeks ago? She felt like she'd been dating Chat Noir—Adrien—forever.

"Well… it is just the two of us." She snuggled into his shoulder, and his arm came to wrap around her middle. "If you don't want to think about Hawkmoth and everything else right now… we could…"

He looked down at her hopefully. "We could…?"

"You could know who I am," she murmured. "If it's not too much for you. I know everything's happened so fast lately."

"No, my Lady—of course I want to know who you are." He hugged her tighter, pulling her into his lap. "Nothing would make me happier than the love of my life being by my side through all this, both in and out of our masks."

"Good, because I'm not going anywhere." She brushed a lock of his hair behind his ear, her heart hammering so hard she was sure he could feel it. "You better get used to being glued to me until all of this is sorted out." Did that sound wrong? This wasn't something that would just go away; this was his family she was talking about. "I mean, I don't want to ignore how serious this is. I know you must still be freaked out about your father and everything—"

"Ladybug," he said softly. His finger pressed against her lips before falling away, his hand tangling with hers. "I'm going to be okay. Really. Maybe I didn't know he was Hawkmoth, but… you know, I'm not really surprised either." He winced. "I shouldn't say that. He's still my father, but… no, he's not, not in any way that counts."

Conflicting emotions played out in his expression before he shook his head. "It's just complicated right now. But the point is, I still have a family. It's with you, and all the other heroes downstairs. That isn't going to change."

This time, when he smiled, it reached his glistening eyes.

"You're amazing, you know that?" she said, her thumb tracing the edge of his cheek where his mask would be. Adrien. Chat Noir. Her partner, her boyfriend, her friend. Who else could handle the truth about his blood family and still smile at her like that?

"I know you are, but what am I?" he teased.

"My kitty." She kissed his cheek. "My prince." His nose. "The light of my life."

He shivered as her lips brushed his jaw. "That's my line."

"You're not the only one who gets to be sappy," she giggled before finally working her way to his lips.

It felt just as amazing as kissing him for the first time. Maybe more amazing, because she didn't have to worry about keeping her balance, about plummeting through the sky. He clearly wasn't worried either, with the way he tilted his head for better access, ran his hands up and down her back, the suit transferring every spine-tingling brush of his fingers.

"Spots off," she breathed against his lips.

Adrien jumped, nearly knocking his teeth against hers by accident, but she didn't stop. He'd have plenty of time to stare at her maskless face, whether in shock or… she didn't know what. Not disappointment; she had too much confidence in his love to fear that. But for now, she just wanted to savor the feeling of his kiss, of knowing that he loved her no matter who she was, of the last few heartbeats before everything changed again.

"Ladybug," he murmured through her kiss. "You're killing me."

She laughed and finally pulled back, leaning her forehead against his. When she opened her eyes, his were still shut.

"You can look now, you know," she said, heart beating faster. This would be a moment she wanted to save forever.

He opened his eyes, and if she thought he normally stared at Ladybug with a smitten expression—well, the soft arch of his brow as he gazed at Marinette was enough to melt her like butter.

"It's you." He laughed, just as brightly as he had that first day in the rain. "It's you!"

She found herself laughing too, her heart swelling. "You don't sound surprised."

"Marinette, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me." He beamed, and maybe she was a thousand meters in the air again, because she swore she was falling harder for him than ever.

"You—really?" she asked as he peppered her cheeks with kisses. Tingles ran all through her, the way she imagined they would back when she was fourteen. Would there ever be a time when he couldn't make her come undone?

He stopped his flurry of kisses, only to surround her in a hug again. Maybe they really would be attached at the hip at this point.

She couldn't say she'd compain.

"Do you have any idea how many times I thought you were—well, you?" he asked, his breath tickling the back of her neck. "You were too good at protecting your identity, but I don't think I ever stopped hoping. Not really."

"Even after Multimouse?" She'd been so sure of that one, too. But did he mean he'd really loved her as Marinette this whole time, too?

"Especially after Multimouse. Only you would be amazing enough to be two superheroes at once."

"Stop it," she laughed into his shoulder. "My ego will end up as big as yours at this point."

As big as Chat's, anyway. It wasn't until she'd learned his identity that she realized how shallow some of his self-aggrandizing comments were.

"Come on, Bugaboo. You know I only speak the truth."

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to the fact that Adrien Agreste calls me Bugaboo." She giggled.

"I hope you don't expect me to stop. Though I guess I can call you Princess now too."

"I won't object to that."

She smiled, relaxing with her head nestled in the crook of his neck. She was just contemplating the fact that she could now kiss the curve of his collarbone without his suit in the way when Plagg cleared his throat.

"Are you too done being disgusting yet?"

"Plagg!" Tikki crossed her tiny arms. "This is a touching moment for them! You know they've been planning this for weeks, even if it didn't turn out exactly like we expected."

"Yeah, but at this rate they're going to miss the cheese platter!"

"Is he always like this?" Marinette asked Adrien, still not making any move to leave his lap.

He chuckled. "Pretty much. Don't let him fool you though, he actually cares. He knows how much I was looking forward to the party with the rest of our team. You know… before, anyway."

His gaze grew distant again.

"They're not going to judge you for being related to Hawkmoth either," she reassured him with a squeeze of his hand.

She knew they'd be thrilled to see him. Alya at the very least would probably have a heart attack at seeing her OTP of four years finally become "canon." Nino would go for his and Adrien's secret handshake. Chloe's jaw would drop at the fact that she'd talked down Chat Noir so many times before.

"I just don't want them to feel like they can't celebrate because of me. They're so happy—they should be happy. If I go down there…"

Of course even after everything he'd been through, he'd still be more worried about everyone else. This was her kitty, who was always the first to comfort akuma victims. Her Adrien, who gave even people like Lila a second chance until they threw it back in his face again and again.

"Hey. This is our team we're talking about. They'll want to be here for you."

"But…" he sighed, slumping a little to rest his chin on her shoulder. "It's going to be so weird. I just want them to treat me like they always treat Chat."

"You can always transform back if you want," Marintte said, ignoring Plagg's disappointed groan. "No one says you have to reveal yourself. Plagg and Tikki can go down and get some treats now, and then we can suit back up and join the party afterwards."

"I… yeah, we could do that. That sounds good," he said softly. "You always have the best ideas, Marinette."

Her face warmed at the honest praise. She nodded towards Tikki and Plagg, who smiled before zipping through the floor towards the ballroom.

"I just want you to be comfortable."

He adjusted her on his lap so that she was sitting perpendicular to him, her legs stretched out over the side of his thighs. "I'm very comfortable right now, my Lady."

"Me too."

Even if they just sat holding each other for the whole duration of the party, she would've been happy. His breaths tickled her cheek, making it difficult to resist kissing him again. But just being here with him, with no walls or secrets between them, was just as sweet.

"Hey, Princess?" he whispered just when she was wondering if he'd fallen asleep.

"Yeah?"

His nose brushed the curve of her jaw.

"I love you."

Her heart jolted. He was her boyfriend; she'd heard him say those three words almost every day since she'd accidentally confessed to him. Hearing him say it while detransformed shouldn't have such an effect on her.

(But it did. Oh, it did.)

"I love you too, my Prince."

Her resistance broke. His lips still tasted of the saltwater he'd cried, and she was determined to remove it even if it took a hundred kisses. He'd asked for that, right? His breath filled her lungs like helium, making her feel lighter than air. She could only hope she had the same effect on him.

(If they were even later to the party than she expected, well, they'd had more important things to do anyway.)