"Marinette?" He whispered, his fingers grazing her own. "Dance with me?"

"Yes. Yes, please." She breathed, taking his hand, and he pulled her out onto the dance floor. Immediately they joined the other waltzing couples and her heart raced as if she'd been running..running for years…running from him. And now..now she loved him. How could she ever apologize? How could she ever handle it if she lost him? They were so close. So close to the happy ending. So close. And still..so far. It all came flooding back as they danced:

Their first meetings, both in and out of costume.

All of the battles they had fought, and won, together.

All of the times he had sacrificed himself for her.

All of the times she turned him away.

How could she be so blind?

Hours later as she still contemplated this disaster of a situation she had found herself in, Adrien noticed the fear in her eyes and stopped them both.

"Marinette?" He whispered, leaning down to graze her cheek with his lips. "Are you alright?"

"I've made a terrible mistake." She whispered to him, her voice cracking.

"I'm sure whatever it is can be fixed."

"No, Adrien. I've hurt a friend of mine. I've hurt him badly and I didn't know how much. I didn't know-"

"Shhhh, Mari. Hush. It'll be alright. I'm sure your friend will understand." He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and she wanted to cry at his tenderness. How had she missed it? How had she missed him? The similarities..

His golden blond hair, those beautiful green eyes, the way he moved both in and out of the suit…

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I'm sure whatever you did was just a misunderstanding."

A misunderstanding..definitely. She should have told him. She should have tore down the walls between them at the first possible second. Now she may never have her chance. The three kids, the house, the hamster…

"Come on, let's get out of here. You look pale. We'll take a break then we can come back if you feel up to it. I don't want you to faint." Adrien gently tugged on her arm and she followed him out of the dimly lit ballroom and through the back door.

"I have to tell you something." She tried to keep track of her footsteps as he led her down the street and into an alleyway.

"Mari." He pushed his lips onto hers and took a step forward, pushing her back into the wall behind her. She returned his kiss, reaching her hands up to cup his face and she felt him frown against her lips. "The truth is, I've got something to tell you too..and I'm a little worried you'll be upset with me."

"I could never."

"I know you're ladybug."

"What?" She yelped, looking up at him just in time to see him wince. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I just…how?"

"I saw you transform…that day the historian from the local university was akumatized. It's been weeks. I'm so sorry, Mari. I was going to tell you right away, but then you kept saying how much you hated liars like Lila and I was worried you'd think that I had followed you on purpose and kept it from you. I thought if I told you, you'd be upset. And I'm still afraid you will be, but I promise the secret is safe with me and I think once I tell you what I need to tell you, you'll know that for sure. I need to tell you that I'm-"

"Chat." She whispered, running a finger down his jaw line.

"You…you know? When? How?"

"The day you asked me to hook up..I could tell by the words you used. It just kept being confirmed the more I got to know you. I didn't tell you because I thought you'd be upset with me. I thought you'd remember all the times ladybug pushed you away and rejected you and I thought then you wouldn't want to see me as Marinette either."

"Of course not, Mari. Of course I want to stay with you. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, in and out of the suit M'lady."

"I love you!" Marinette blurted, her heart racing as she looked up at him.

"Marinette," Adrien smiled, pulling her into his chest. "I love you too."

"You do?"

"Of course I do! Love, you are everything to me." He held her close to him and she bit her lip in worry.

"There's something else I need to tell you. Your father…"

"My father.."

"My kwami, Tikki, she said we both got our miraculous because of our family ties and that they knew to find my mom and uncle because Tikki and Plagg knew them from before, from their time as their holders but you, your connection was to a different kwami and Master Fu didn't know which one because it wasn't any of the kwamis that were with him when we were chosen meaning-"

"Marinette, Marinette, breathe..slow down." Adrien tried to process everything she had said, the reality of her words kicking in second by second.

"The only kwamis that weren't with Master at the time…the butterfly and the peacock." Adrien sighed, leaning his head against Marinette's as he took a shallow breath. "I suspected..you suspected. I should have followed up, I should have.."

"No, minou. He's your father. Of course you didn't. But it doesn't mean he's Shadowmoth. It could be someone else in your family..from long ago."

"That would be a big coincidence, my love. It's okay. You don't have to comfort me. My father and I..we've never been close. If he's Shadowmoth..I can accept it. I can fight him. We can defeat him. Get this over with and just be together forever."

"Adrien…are you sure? I-"

"Marinette." Adrien kissed her gently, holding her by the jaw. "As far as I'm concerned, you are my family. You, Alya, Nino…I don't need someone who ignores me, someone who berates me every chance he gets and, if he is Shadowmoth, I don't need someone who will terrorize them city of Paris for nothing."

"I don't think it's for nothing." Tikki's voice interrupted them.

"Tikki," Adrien smiled, greeting the little god. "What do you mean?"

"He's after the wish, kid." Plagg added, coming to sit on Adrien's shoulder.

"The wish? Like combining our miraculous for a wish?" Adrien looked to Marinette who explained quickly. "What could he be wishing for?"

"I'm not sure. But I have theories." Marinette closed her eyes, taking a steadying breath, before looking up at Adrien and admitting something she never thought she would.

"I've stalked you and your dad online..in books..magazines..I've noticed some discrepancies."

"You…what?"

"I've noticed that-"

"No no no. Wait a minute. Pause. You did what?" Adrien held his hand up to stop her and Marinette blushed crimson.

"I had such a big crush on you I kinda..well, compiled as much information about you as possible. Which means I've got lots of information on your dad too, him mostly for fashion research but..I have a binder full of things that don't make sense."

"Okay first, I need to see this binder. Second, I'm never going to let you live down the fact you stalked me. My lady..ladybug, crushing on me, compiling information on me. The irony. I followed the ladyblog religiously. At least my info came free. How long did you spend gathering everything?"

"How long have I known you again?"

"Three years."

"So about 2 years, 11 months and 30 days."