Bonus chapter! This was the reveal that took place between Marinette and Adrien before the story began. :)

Thank you to enteaa and Eagle9 for beta-ing this extra chapter!

The Reveal

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was doing her best not to die right now.

What was supposed to be a quick shopping run had been turned on its head when she had ran into none other than Adrien Agreste– her classmate, her friend, one of the sweetest guys she had ever met, and her crush.

And of course Adrien being Adrien, he had caught her when they collided, keeping her from crashing to the ground, then gathered up all of her fallen items when she fumbled for them herself, and then offered to carry them for her on the rest of her trip. He smiled so brightly when he presented his offer, mentioning how he had never really gone shopping with anyone outside of Chloe before, and how awesome it would be to spend some proper time with her outside of school.

Marinette's replies had mostly been scattered babbles.

It wasn't fair– her tongue always got twisted when she was flustered, and of course the appearance of her crush was enough to make her do so. It didn't help that he didn't comment on her stammers and stumbles, just patiently waited for her to finish and carry on the conversation like she wasn't being strange. She didn't understand how someone could be so amazing!

"Gah, I'd love to have a shirt like this," Adrien said, pausing to look at some t-shirts that read 'Feline Purrfect', along with a cartoon cat grinning printed on them. "I know Father wouldn't let me though."

A slight smile pulled at her lips, knowing who else would love that shirt. "Looks like something Chat Noir would wear."

"Heh, yeah," he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Most certainly seems like something that would suit him."

There was a sparkle in Adrien's eyes that was all too familiar, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "...Was that a pun?"

He winked at her. "Purrhaps."

"I that how think–" She began, words meaninglessly spilling from her mouth. It was funny, actually, the Ladybug side of her instantly searching for some retort– but she couldn't say a thing when Adrien gave her that illegally handsome wink. He grinned, and she felt a blush climbing onto her face, voice fading into a squeak as she buried her head into her hands.

"You okay?" Adrien asked, laying a hand on her shoulders, and she looked up at him with her face bright red. This wasn't fair! How could he look at her in such concern so easily, those green eyes so soft and his hand warm and–

The moment was shattered when they heard a scream from outside.

They both shared a glance, before running side by side towards the exit of the store. It was strange, considering how most people from out on the streets were fleeing indoors, but soon they both managed to slip out onto the road to see what was happening.

Marinette cursed under her breath, looking at the akuma flying across the sky, held aloft by what appeared to be a chilly wind. His entire appearance was covered in a frosty blue, even his skin was tinted with that tone. He held a long staff in his hands, which was sending out large blasts wherever it was aimed. As soon as the orb of energy hit something, a wall of ice would form, swelling into a large sphere. Marinette winced as she saw it hit several fleeing people, and she hoped that she had remembered to bring her power ups for Tikki.

"I gotta go!" She and Adrien said at the same time, turning to leave– bumping into each other in the process. Marinette let out a grunt as she found herself falling to the ground for the second time that day, knowing she was going to have bruises. "Sorry–"

Both hastily scrambled to their feet, muttering more apologies in the process, but before either could turn to leave a shadow fell over them. Together they looked up to see the winter-themed akuma, who was glowering at them.

Without a single word he aimed his staff down at them, a flash of white light forming as it flared out at them. Marinette barely had time to raise her hands in a vain attempt to block the blast before a wave of cold rushed over her.

She didn't know what exactly to expect, her whole body tensing up as it braced itself to be frozen away into an icy prison– and while the cold did close in all around her, the sunlight dimming, she found that she could still move. She uncertainly lowered her arms, and found herself staring up at the ice above her.

It seemed the icy blasts weren't encasing people in solid ice, but rather in domes of ice. She let out a small shaky breath of relief, knowing that she wasn't out of the fight quite yet. She started shivering from the chill that was beginning to set in, frost creeping along the floor.

"Marinette!" Adrien cried, and the next thing she knew he was right in front of her. "Are you okay? Here, can you stand?"

She took his outstretched hand, the blond pulling her to her feet. "Y-yeah," she said, rubbing her hands against her arms in an attempt to warm up. "I'm okay."

Adrien went over to the walls of the dome, which looked almost like marble with the ripples of whites and blues– much too thick to see anything out of, but still light could filter in so they weren't left in darkness. Adrien pounded on the wall for a moment, but the ice didn't so much as chip or crack.

"Well," he said softly. "I don't think we're going to be breaking out of this anytime soon." He glanced around, closing his eyes. "I... I think we're going to have to wait for Ladybug to get us out of this one..."

He trailed off, not sounding too happy about this, but panic had already set into Marinette's mind. Ladybug. She was Ladybug– she needed to get out there to fight the akuma! She couldn't hunker down in this ice dome! If she was alone this would be no problem, but with Adrien trapped with her she couldn't transform to do a thing!

"No!" She cried, rushing towards the wall. "We need to get out of here!"

She started pounding on the walls herself, instantly regretting it as she did so. It was like hitting solid stone– and not only that the ice also was freezing cold. She pulled back for a moment, seeing as to why Adrien stopped so quickly, but she couldn't just stop. She dug through her purse, but found nothing but an uncertain Tikki looking up at her, and she returned her focus to the wall, this time kicking at it with her shoes.

"Marinette, it's okay–" Adrien began, laying a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be fine–"

"No! I have to get out of here!" Marinette cried, pulling out of his grasp as she started kicking at the ice again, but already her toes were starting to hurt and the ice did not even budge. "I need out, I need to get out–"

"Woah, woah, Mari, hey, Marinette," Adrien grabbed her shoulders, carefully pulling her back. "You're going to hurt yourself if you do that."

Chat Noir would have to fight this akuma on his own, but she couldn't leave her partner on his own! He wouldn't be able to purify the akumas without her, and he had no healing magic to get rid of the ice, and all of Paris would be wondering where she was, and when she didn't show up they would realize she had failed them and was a horrible hero, and they wouldn't trust her ever again–

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt something be wrapped around her shoulders, Adrien carefully slipping his button down shirt around her, sleeves rolled down. She instantly pulled it close, it both being an extra lair and carrying the warmth of Adrien, but it didn't take her long to realize that this only left Adrien in his black short sleeved t-shirt.

"Wait–" She began, going to slip it off, but Adrien stopped her with a smile.

"No, you need it more than me," he said, and she wasn't sure if the red on her cheeks were from blushing or from the cold.

"B-but–"

"Nope," he said. "I refuse to wear it– so if you take it off then it's going to waste." He carefully grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go to the middle, the ice hasn't reached there quite yet."

She glanced at the ground, and sure enough the frost was slowly spreading across the ground. They carefully made their way towards the middle, where they both cautiously sat down. Marinette pulled her knees up, trying to keep as much body heat as she could. Adrien sat next to her, glancing at her uncertainly.

"Um," he said. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable at all, but... it would probably be warmer if we were closer together?"

"Y-yeah, it would," she stuttered out, and normally she would probably be having a panic attack at the thought, but her mind was only on the akuma battle. After a moment she realized he was asking for permission. "Yes. That's okay."

She inched towards him, and he moved closer, his arm and shoulder pressing up against her, and she couldn't help but press closer– because he was so warm and she was shivering. It didn't take her long to realize that he was shivering as well, fumbling to pull out his phone. She looked over as he pulled up the akuma alert, where Nadja Chamack was reporting.

"A new akumatized villain has appeared, who goes by the name of North Wind." She said. "His motives remain unknown, but he has been moving across the downtown area trapping people and cars in blasts of ice. There is currently no sign of Ladybug and Chat Noir..."

She shifted guiltily, and Adrien put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in close.

"It's fine," he said. "Ladybug will come skating in with her ice powers and fix everything."

Marinette just nodded. "Y-yeah. Chat Noir could shatter this dome easily. Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, he could..." Adrien trailed off, while an idea popped into Marinette's mind. She quickly fished for her phone, angling it away to where Adrien couldn't see, typing out a message on her notes app.

Go find Chat Noir and bring him here. Tell him I'm trapped in this dome and to get it open but not to look at me. Then we can get out of here and go transform.

She stuffed her phone back into her purse, where Tikki read it. Marinette glanced over at Adrien, who was focused on his own phone (arm still wrapped around her, she happily reminded herself), and she looked back at Tikki so she could take the opportunity to go.

The little kwami shifted, swallowing, then shook her head.

Marinette's eyes widened, not knowing why she would refuse. Chat Noir would not look at who she was unless she gave him permission, Tikki could lead him here with no worry. She signaled Tikki to leave again, who just shook her head harder. Marinette didn't know what to do, because her kwami wasn't doing the one thing that would let them get out of here. She was forced to shut her purse as Adrien looked towards her, a look of worry on his face.

"Ladybug hasn't shown up yet," he said in worry.

She looked down at his phone. "No sign of Chat either... don't one of them usually show up by now?"

"Yeah..." He said, before tucking his phone away. Marinette let out a yelp as Adrien then wrapped both of his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. "Don't worry though, I won't let you freeze."

"I– I– I–"

"This is okay, right?" He asked.

"Y-yes," she stuttered out. "This fine is just, very hot you are– and I mean you're hot! I mean you're warm! Um, the hug! The hug is warm, yes, thank you–"

Adrien chuckled. "Can't let the akuma get the better of us, huh?"

"Yeah," she said, feeling as if it already had.

Some time passed in silence, and Marinette grew more and more worried. She could still feel Tikki in her purse, and when Adrien pulled out his phone once more there was still no report of Chat Noir showing up to fight the akuma, who was freezing more and more people by the minute. A pulse of fear ran through Marinette, wondering if somehow Chat Noir had ended up in the same situation as her.

What was she supposed to do?

She looked over at Adrien, who had a very serious expression on his face. Her number one rule was to never reveal her identity... but she couldn't leave Paris hanging either. Adrien was someone she trusted, it wasn't like he was some random stranger she had been trapped with. Her secret was important, but it meant nothing if she couldn't actually protect Paris.

Marinette closed her eyes, swallowing, but her mind was made up, and she opened her mouth to speak. "Adr–"

"Marinette," Adrien said, speaking at the same moment, and she found herself falling silent. "I... I need you to keep a secret."

She stared at him in confusion as he pulled away, pushing himself to his feet, looking out at the ice dome around him. Usually there was a smile on his face, but right now his expression was one of determination and focus. He looked down at her, green eyes looking like they were almost burning.

"S-secret?"

"Yes," he said. "I'm only doing this because I trust you... and I just can't keep sitting here doing nothing." He held up his hand, looking down at his silver ring on his finger, taking in a deep breath. "Plagg, claws out."

Marinette stiffened up at the familiar name, eyes widened as she watched a cackling mass of black fly out from Adrien's pocket, which turned into a pulse of green energy as it was absorbed within the ring. Her mouth went dry as she stared at the now jet black ring, a glowing green paw pad resting on its face. The energy radiated out, engulfing Adrien in moments, leaving Marinette to only stare.

As the light faded there stood a very familiar figure, dressed in a black suit from head to toe, wild blond hair and unnaturally green eyes looking down at her. She stared back with wide eyes of disbelief, any words she might have were long gone as she looked at her partner standing before her.

Chat Noir gave an uncertain smile, drawing his baton. "Don't worry, Princess, I'll have us out here in just a moment."

He expanded his baton, the ends of the silver staff stretching out and slamming into the ice walls. Unlike her kicks from before it instantly cracked as the magical weapon slammed into it, bursting through the walls. Marinette inched back as she watched the cracks web out along the edges of the dome, several shards of ice falling down.

Chat Noir twisted his baton, the action instantly shattering the icy dome. He leaped towards her as he shrunk it down, one arm wrapping around her waist as he pulled her flush against his chest, the other raising his baton up, spinning it about to shield them as ice rained down. She closed her eyes, bright sunlight flooding them, and before she could say a word she found herself in Chat Noir's arms, being vaulted up towards the roofs.

"Ch-chat–" She began, mind still trying to process everything, but Chat Noir wasn't slowing down. His eyes kept locked straight ahead, jumping across roads and alleys as he held her tightly in his arms.

Adrien had transformed into Chat Noir right in front of her.

Adrien had transformed into Chat Noir.

She didn't get a chance to properly process this though, Chat drawing his baton once more, expanding it as he sent them flying up into the air. She instantly held tighter to him as they began to fall, but she felt no fear as he swung his baton under him, using it to break then fall as they came landing down onto a roof. He carefully set her on her feet, hands out to make sure she had her balance.

"Chat–" She began.

"Just wait here for me, okay?" He said, inching towards the edge of the roof. "You should be far enough away from the attack. I gotta go take care of this akuma, then I'll be right back– we can talk then, okay?"

He didn't give her time to reply, running and jumping off of the edge of the roof, before vaulting away. Marinette stood there in shock, a breeze rushing by, and her hands curled into fists.

"Chat get back here right now!" She cried. "You just can't– you can't just– and run–!"

"You two can talk after the akuma fight," a voice said with a giggle, and she turned to find Tikki, who was already eating the macaron that would give her an ice powerup. "Do you see why I couldn't leave to find Chat Noir now?"

"Tikki," Marinette whispered, and her kwami let out another laugh as she turned into 'Stalac-Tikki,' her tail now icicles. "Did... did that really just happen? Did Chat Noir just...?"

Tikki tapped her on the nose. "Is Chat Noir really Adrien Agreste? Yes, yes he is." She spun around. "You can worry about that later though– we need to transform and fight the akuma!"

"Akuma... Adrien..." she muttered. "Y-yeah... Fight the akuma... spots on..."

Tikki let out one last giggle as she turned into an orb of energy, being drawn into the earrings.

"Well, awesome work, M'lady," Chat Noir said with a grin. "Pound it?"

He offered out his fist to Ladybug, but she didn't return their traditional fist bump, and he gave her a glance. His worry only grew when he found that she was staring at his hand, face growing red under her mask. He didn't know what to make of this reaction at first, but then his eyes widened in realization.

Ladybug let out a yelp as he scooped her up, vaulting them up onto the roofs. She grabbed onto him as they landed, and he carefully set her on the ground. "What on earth were you thinking?"

"H-huh?" Ladybug stuttered out, and now that they were close he could see just how red her face was.

"Coming out to fight an akuma when you were sick!" He cried. This explained everything, while she had been so late to the fight, even more so than him. How something had been off about her fighting, stammers in her voice and how she didn't keep pace like she normally did. "Look at you, you're burning up! How long have you had this fever?"

"F-fever?" She croaked, and she buried her face into her hands. Then she started laughing, not her normal melodic laugh, but one that seemed almost hysterical. As soon as she started she didn't stop, and his fear only grew. Clearly it was bad, but he had no idea how to get her home.

Besides, how was he supposed to tell her that he revealed his identity to someone when she was in this state?

His mind turned to Marinette, who he had abandoned on the roof, and he knew that he needed to get back to her. He had left her there so she couldn't talk to anyone, which did seem cruel, but he needed to talk to her before she had the chance to mention his secret to anyone else. Not that he thought she would tell anyone, but he couldn't take any more risks today. But he couldn't just leave Ladybug here either, not when she was sick.

"Chat– Adri– Chat Noir– what are you doing?" Ladybug yelped as he scooped her up once more. "I– we need to talk– this is too much–"

"Let's get you somewhere safe," he muttered, before making his way towards where he had left Marinette.

"Chat! Put me down!"

He ignored her, only holding her closer– causing her to let out a yelp. This was only further confirmation that she wasn't feeling well, because Ladybug never even blinked when they held each other, but when he looked down she was covering her face. Was she feeling dizzy from all the movement and leaping? Why on earth had she thought that it was a good idea to come and fight?

It didn't take him long to reach the school, as the fight hadn't been too far, but his heart only started pounding as he found himself looking at an empty rooftop.

"Oh no..." He muttered as he came to a stop, holding Ladybug close as he looked around. "Marinette? Marinette– please tell me you're still here!"

"Um... Chat–"

He carefully set his Lady on her feet, hands on her shoulders to help her keep her balance. Her entire face was now clashing with her suit, and his gaze softened. He rubbed his thumbs over the back of her hands in hopes of calming her, even though his own panic was rising. He then took in a deep breath.

"Um, okay– we have several problems on our hands," he began– but as he started talking everything came out at once. "I mean you shouldn't have come out to fight when you were sick, do you realize how hurt you could have gotten? I would have never been able to forgive myself so please next time just send Tikki and I'll use the Ladybug Miraculous and fight myself so nothing happens to you–"

"K-kitty, I'm–" she tried to cut in, but words were spewing from his mouth at this point.

"I mean if you still want me to be your Chat Noir at this point, because I kind of messed up big time but I had no other choice because the akuma was on the loose and I sort of got trapped with one of my friends in one of the ice domes and you weren't showing up to fight which I understand now that I see that you were sick but I sort of revealed my identity to her so I could come and fight and I left her up on this building but now she's gone and I don't know where and I know this sounds bad–"

"Chat," Ladybug tried once more.

"–But it was Marinette and Marinette is like one of the most trustworthy people I know. She wouldn't tell anyone but I'm more worried about her freaking out over this knowledge and the pressure that might come from that so I need to find her as quickly as possible and I really feel horrible because she was like my first close friend ever and I don't want anything to change between us but I just dump this big secret on her with no warning–"

"Adrien!"

"–And I don't want her to hate me– what did you just call me?" Chat Noir paused mid sentence at the sound of his name, and Ladybug let out a small nervous laugh.

"Adrien," she said again, and the sound of her saying his name made his heart flutter, and she grabbed his hands. "Kitty."

She said the nickname softly, as if testing the sound of it on her tongue. She then let out a soft laugh as a thousand questions ran through his head.

"Adrien, it's okay," she said softly, face still bright red, but there was a gleam in her eyes that he knew so well. "Of all the people you chose to reveal your identity to... let's just say you picked the best person."

"M-my Lady?" He stuttered out– the reason as to why she would know his name having already run through his mind– but it hadn't seemed to yet take hold.

"Tikki, spots off," Ladybug said, blue eyes locked right on him as a pink light surrounded her. His mouth was dry as he realized just what was happening, but he had no time to prepare as he watched the mask fall away, revealing the face he had longed to see since the moment he had met her.

And what he saw was a face he already knew so well.

Marinette stood sheepishly in front of him, Tikki hovering next to her shoulder, giggling. Her face was bright red as it often was around him, hand still tightly holding his as those beautiful blue eyes stared into his own.

"Hi Kitty," she said softly.

He gawked at Marinette, his thoughts racing as they thought over the 'two' girls he had cared so much for– trying to make sense of the idea that they were one and the same. Each moment he had been around her carefully being compared, and it was surprising how seamlessly the two seemed to meld together in his mind, the magic glamour that had been shielding his mind for so long falling away.

Amazing? Check. Brave? Check. Creative? Check. Beautiful? Check? Reliable, adorable, daring, protective, caring? Check, check, check, check, check.

"That explains how you got off the roof."

His eyes went wide as those words came from his mouth, and he could hear Plagg laughing within his mind, and horror ran through him– that was not the first thing he said to his Lady after learning her identity– that could not be what he said to her–

His ring gave one final beep, and he felt his transformation falling, Plagg's laugh from within the ring now echoing around them as he materialized between them.

"You're brilliant, kid, absolutely brilliant!" He cackled. "What a stunning observation! Ha!"

"Plagg, cut him some slack!" Tikki cried.

"Slack? Never! I'm going to treasure this moment forever!"

"Well it's the only part of this moment you're going to remember!" Tikki snapped, grabbing him by the tail to drag him away. "You're going to give them some time alone now!"

"Nooo!" Plagg cried, fighting against her. "No! I've been waiting for this reveal forever! I'm not missing out on this!"

"M-marinette," he stuttered, his eyes having never left her despite the clamor of the kwami.

"Eep!" She cried, covering her face. "No, no– transform back! I can't do this!"

"It's just Chat, Mari!" Tikki said.

"No! His face is too hot!"

"H-huh?" Adrien blinked in confusion– though he did like the words he was hearing.

"No! No! I did not just say that!" She cried, waving her arms.

He felt a grin creeping over his face, and he leaned forward. "Did you just say my face is hot, M'lady?"

She glared at him, her bright red face being that of Marinette, but those burning blue eyes were definitely the glare of his dear Ladybug.

"Y-yes," she stuttered out, crossing her arms. "Yes I did."

He pulled back, eyes wide, having been expecting a retort, and honestly didn't know how to react. He just gawked at her for a moment, trying to make sense of this wonderful and strange moment.

She turned towards him, his reaction seemingly making her gain some of her confidence again.

"And you know what? It's not just your stupid face that's hot. It's... all of you! Yeah... all of you is hot!"

"Bravo," Plagg said, clapping his paws together, only to be smacked by Tikki. "Hey!"

"W-well all of you is hot too," Adrien replied with a slight stutter, his mind still on auto pilot, trying to understand what had just happened. He... he knew his Lady's identity. She was one of his most amazing friends.

And she had just called him hot!

Marinette's face was now redder than her Ladybug suit, staring at Adrien like she had never seen him before. Her mouth was opening, but no words were coming from her mouth. He swallowed, before taking a step forward, holding his hands out.

"Hey, Bug, it's just me," Adrien said, smiling softly.

"No it's not!" Marinette said, burying her face into her hands. "You're Adrien! Chat Noir is Adrien! You don't understand! The boy I've had a crush on for ages has been head over heels for me this entire time and I've been rejecting him! I'm an absolute blind idiot–"

She was rambling on in her Marinette way, while her words bounced about his mind. He just stared at her for a moment as she rambled on– until some of her other words started to reach him. He blinked once, before reaching forward and taking her into his arms.

"Hey, no one gets to talk about My Lady like that," Adrien said as he pulled in close. "Not even My Lady."

"Wh-what?" Marinette squeaked adorably.

"You are wonderful," he said, her wide eyes staring into his. "You don't get to call yourself a blind idiot, or anything else. You are an amazing girl, Marinette, the most amazing person I ever met. If anyone is a blind idiot it was me for not realizing that my Ladybug and my everyday Ladybug were one and the same."

Marinette blinked, before flushing even more. "O-oh..." she whispered. "Th-that was you. Chat Noir called me an everyday Ladybug..."

"Marinette was the one throwing me across Paris," Adrien replied, a smile flickering up on his face.

Marinette's face retreated back into her hands, muffling the panicked sounds coming from her. Adrien smiled at how adorable it was, leaning in close, so when she peered between her fingers his green eyes were looking right into her blue, and with a yelp she closed them again.

"Y-you stupid cat!" She stuttered out.

"Is what you said true?" He asked softly, and she peered out at him again.

"H-huh?"

"That I'm the boy that you liked?" Adrien asked. Marinette stared at him for a moment, before slowly lowering her arms. She hesitated for a moment, before her head bobbed up and down.

He felt a warm feeling surged within his chest.

"I... I've had a crush on you forever..." she whispered. "Ever since you gave me your umbrella..."

Marinette liked him. Marinette liked him!

"My feelings for you haven't changed," he muttered. "I love you, Marinette."

He didn't know what he was expecting, but he was surprised that she didn't squeak and hide her face away again. Instead she just stared up at him like she had never seen him before, unblinking in what seemed to be some sort of awe. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came from her, only managing to swallow.

"Heh, you broke her, kid," Plagg cackled.

"Marinette?" he asked. "M'lady?"

"Y-yeah?" she managed to choke out.

"Can I kiss you?"

Her face, which had gone from a red to a more pinkish hue, immediately flushed back to crimson. He wondered if the question had been too bold to ask as she stared at him once more, seemingly lost at the request he had given. He opened his mouth, ready to backpedal, because there was no way he was going to ask anything of her that would make her uncomfortable– when the stunned Marinette suddenly came to life once more.

Her hands reached up, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, slamming his lips down onto hers.

For a moment he could only stare, Marinette's eyes pressed shut as she pulled him into the kiss, but he then immediately melted into her embrace. His arms wrapped around her back, pulling her even closer as they kissed. Their arms tightened around the other as their eyes cracked open as they slowly parted.

Marinette stared up at him, cheeks still red and blue eyes soft. "I love you too, Kitty."

Adrien didn't hesitate to bring her into another kiss.