The next morning, Marinette dragged herself into the school. She was going through the motions with her only goal as not being late for class. She was, surprisingly, not the last of the quartet to arrive in the classroom. Even more surprising was the fact that the last to arrive was Adrien.

She took a few minutes to rest her head on her desk while, listening to Alya and Nino talk while she waited for either Adrien to arrive or for class to start. Adrien walked in with coffee for all four of them and, much like last time, placed Marinette's hand around the base of the cup.

"Took you long enough to give it back, minou," she said, not thinking at all about the words that came out of her mouth. Alya and Nino started laughing and Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not opposed to the nickname, but I don't think I want to replace Chat Noir anytime soon. Maybe we'll stick with Alya's Sunshine nickname for now." He chuckled. "I saw this outside of my window this morning. I don't necessarily know why this is how the heroes went about it, but it got the point across."

"Yeah, Chat makes some interesting decisions sometimes," Marinette said with a giggle.

"How do you know it was Chat instead of Ladybug?" Nino cocked his head questioningly toward Marinette.

"Oh, he stopped by yesterday and asked to borrow my tumbler. I didn't know what he was planning to do with it, but I think this was practically the best-case scenario. Thank you, Adrien. I kind of lost track of time last night and stayed up way too late."

She took her first sip, expecting another Chai Noir. It was similar, but it didn't quite taste like it had in the past.

"What is this," she asked with an innocent curiosity in her voice.

"Chai Blanc," he chuckled. "It's a vanilla version of the Chai Noir, so I guess it deserved a special name, too." He could see Marinette visibly flinch at the name Chai Blanc. The reaction was unexpected, but she tried to play it off as a reaction to something else. He gave her a slightly concerned look and she smiled, pretending everything was great.

"It's good," she said, wishing it wasn't, "but I prefer the Chai Noir. You can't fix what's not broken." She choked up on the word broken when the memory of Chat Blanc chasing her over the rooftops played through her head with his call of 'You're breaking more than just my heart, Marinette.'

She put the tumbler on the desk and plastered a fake smile on her face. "I'm going to go get a little more air before Mme. Mendelieve's class this morning." She stood abruptly from her seat and kissed the top of Adrien's head. "Thank you, again, for the coffee." She walked through the door and once she was out of view of her classmates, she started running.

She didn't know where she wanted to run, but she knew she didn't plan to stop anytime soon. Her heart was racing faster than she was and she knew she needed to choose whether she wanted to be at school that day or not. She did a once over of herself, checking what she did and didn't have on her person when she left.

She had her purse, which thankfully meant she had Tikki. She had her phone, so if she went home, she could still ask Alya for notes. She didn't have her backpack, which meant she didn't have her color-changing cup, but she didn't necessarily think another Chat Noir vessel would help her calm down.

She picked up her phone and called her parents. By the time her parents answered, she had collapsed in tears on the floor near her locker at the school. After that, it didn't take very long to convince her parents to let her come home for a mental health day. It had been a while since she had broken down like she did that day. She couldn't even remember the last panic attack she'd had.

It was before Adrien had given her the necklace; she knew that. She held the necklace in her hand as tightly as she could, chanting 'Chat Noir, Chat Noir, Chat Noir' repeatedly in her head. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to silence her sobs, but it didn't work very well.

"Mari." She heard a voice around the corner from where she was sitting, but in the fog of her panic, she couldn't even begin to try to identify the voice. Tears were spilling out of her eyes and she didn't know how to make it stop. She never knew how to make it stop. She just wanted it all to stop.

The person who came in sat down near her, close enough to provide support if she reached out for it, but far enough that they weren't in her personal space, making things worse. She reached out by leaning into the person who had sat with her. They put their arms around her, and she fell into a new bout of wailing.

"Hey, you're okay," they told her, "Everyone is okay." They didn't try to stop her crying, but she could feel the warmth and caring radiating off of the person who held her in their arms. "Princess, whenever you feel okay to talk, I want you to tell me 5 things you can see, okay?"

"Jeans," she said quickly, it was the easiest answer she could get to. Everything else she could see through her tears had too many syllables and she didn't think she could get that far yet.

"That's great, what else?" The person gently rubbed her upper arm, trying to show her as much support as they reasonably could.

"Bench." The person kissed her temple without saying anything. "F-floor." Her voice shook, but she was able to say the word after a moment of hesitation. She ran out of one syllable answers and took another short time to get the word to come to her. "Locker." She felt their fingers run through her hair while she tried to come up with a final answer. "Necklace." The necklace wasn't as visible as everything else, but she was able to see it. It helped ground her during the panic attack.

"Wonderful job, Princess. Now, what four things can you touch?" She moved her hand back to her necklace, but she didn't think it was fair to give the same answer twice.

"Jacket," she said, running her fingers up and down the fabric of her usual blazer. She raised a hand to the ribbons she'd been wearing regularly for the four or so weeks. "Ribbons." She placed her hands back down and one of them found the shirt of the person who was holding her. "Shirt." She counted it as being distinct from her own jacket. She could tell easily that the garments were made of completely different fabrics. Her hands moved down one of their arms and found a hand that had previously been playing with her hair. "Ring."

"You're doing purrfectly," they told her, "Can you tell me three things you can hear?"

"Bad jokes." She tried to give a playful response and it caused the person to smile. They pulled her closer, wanting to envelop her in affection and support. "Pigeons, too bad for you." She let out the smallest, quietest laugh he had ever heard from her. He was willing to consider it a win, even though it was almost unrecognizable. "Heartbeat." She was talking about theirs. After the experience from a short time ago, she would be okay if she never heard her own heartbeat again.

"Princess, please tell me two things you can smell?"

"Stinky cheese," she told them. She pushed herself into the body, purposely avoiding just how much of the cheese smell surrounded them. The next thing she could smell didn't smell like one thing. It was interesting. It was as if someone had sprayed Adrien the Fragrance onto a new leather jacket. "You," she added with a laugh.

"I don't know if I can accept that one, little lady. Can you tell me what I smell like?"

"Adrien the Fragrance and Leather. I can't tell which one is more powerful, it's a nice combination, though." He knew that the panic attack started after he brought her the latte, so he didn't want to ask for one thing she could taste.

"I can taste the salt from my tears," she offered without prompting. She was mostly done crying. She was done panicking, still spilling a few tears once in a while. "Will you keep holding me?"

CW End

"Of course, Princess." That response made her suddenly more aware of her surroundings. Whoever she was sitting with was calling her Chat's nickname, using his voice, and giving her the affection she'd come to expect from only him. She immediately closed her eyes when she made the realization.

"You're my minou," she said quietly. She wasn't on the verge of crying like she had been before. "I don't know who you are as a civilian, but I can tell that you're Chat Noir. Thank you for supporting me, Chat. I really needed it. I'll keep my eyes closed if you want to leave. I won't learn who you are."

"You're the only one who knows Chat comforted you," he responded quietly. "Everyone else knows my civilian side came to comfort you. I'm okay with you learning who I am, but I want you to learn from me, not because someone mentions offhandedly that I came to help you. I love and respect you too much for that, Marinette."

That was not how Adrien planned to tell her his feelings, but he couldn't say that he had regretted it. "I love you too, minou." He kissed her hair.

"Now, little lady," he began, "it seems to me that we have a few options for what to do for the rest of the day. I can take you to class and you'll almost certainly find out who I am whether you're ready to or not. You and I can go on an adventure, nothing super exciting, but just a nice little adventure, just the two of us taking a mental health day. You and Chat can go on that adventure. Or Chat can take you home and we can watch a movie or maybe just take a nap. There's probably other options, but these were the plans I can immediately think of."

"I would appreciate if Chat could take me home," she said quietly, "only if he can stay with me, though." He nodded silently against her hair.

"Are your eyes still closed, Princess?" She nodded and he called for his transformation. He picked up in a princess carry and brought her home. Once he was transformed, she opened her eyes, admiring the caring look in his eyes as he looked at her.

He brought her in through her balcony. "Loft or chaise?"

"Loft." He placed her down on her bed.

"I'll be right back," he told her, "I'm going to get you some food, some water, and let your parents know that I'm here. Is that okay with you? I promise I'll come back as soon as possible." She nodded and he leaned over to kiss the apple of her cheek. He went down to the bakery and paced outside for a few extra seconds debating whether he should go in as Adrien or as Chat.

Given how comfortable Marinette was with Chat compared to Adrien. He decided he should probably go in as Chat. When he walked inside, the bakery was thankfully empty.
"Hello M. Dupain, Mme. Cheng," he greeted, immediately reminded of the last time Chat Noir came face-to-face with Tom Dupain. He partially regretted his choice in identity, but he wasn't here for his comfort, he was here for Marinette's.

"I heard from a few of Marinette's friends that she had a rough morning and they asked me to take her home. She's upstairs in her room and asked that I stay with her for a while, we just plan to watch a movie, maybe play some UMS3. It would really mean a lot to me if I could have your permission to stay and look over her for a while today." He spoke quickly, but his words were clear. He looked up, making eye-contact with Tom, as much as the idea terrified him.

"Thank you for letting us know you're here," Tom said, "No funny business."

"Of course not, Sir. I like Marinette and I'm not going to ruin that by doing anything when she's in a vulnerable state. I respect her and your family too much to even think about something like that."

"Well, what do our daughter and her hero want for their snacks during their movie session," Tom asked with a large smile splitting his face. Chat approached the counter and was immediately embarrassed by the fact that he didn't actually know Marinette's favorite pastries.

Chat's smile visibly deflated. "I don't know what she likes," he admitted. Sabine offered him a kind smile in response.

"Sounds like now is the perfect time to learn, then." She beckoned him toward the counter so he could watch her put together an assortment of Marinette's favorites. Sabine put two strawberry macarons, one almond croissant, three chocolate chip cookies, and a fruit tarte into the box. All of Marinette's pastries fit into half of the box, so she asked Chat's order.

"Two passionfruit macarons and two pains aux chocolats, please, Mme." He smiled, eying the pastries in the display. "Oh, and one cheese Danish, please." He knew he was going to be in his suit for a while, so he decided to prepare a snack for Plagg in advance.

"Before I forget, may I also have permission to go into your kitchen upstairs to get Marinette and me some water?" Both parents gave him a nod with a matching smile and Sabine gestured him through the back to take the normal stairs up to their apartment. It was the first time in a while he had been on this staircase.

When he got to the apartment, he opened the door and grabbed two tall cups of water. He climbed through the lower trap door of Marinette's bedroom, carrying everything easily.

He climbed most of the way up the loft and placed the pastry box and waters on the top step. "Do you want me to grab your laptop so we can watch something, or would you rather just take a nap?"

"Laptop," she decided easily. "After this morning, I don't think I'm up for sleeping immediately." He grabbed the laptop from her chaise and carried it up to her loft. Marinette took the side closer to the main area of the room and Chat Noir took the side against the wall.

They chose a movie and Chat Noir put an arm around Marinette trying to give her as much comfort as he had given her earlier. "You can tell me anything," he said, "I know that isn't really relevant right now, but I know what it's like to be burdened by your own choices, secrets, nightmares, or anything else. I would be honored if I could be by your side to support you when you need me to be. You don't have to tell me anything, but if you ever want to, I'm here."

They chose to watch Spiderman: Homecoming. Neither of them really knew how they landed on the choice, but neither of them really minded. It was an enjoyable movie they had each seen before. Neither of them had to pay close attention to it in order to enjoy it. They were having fun making their own comments during the movie like they had done with Howl's Moving Castle and when they had gone to the movie as Chat and Marinette when Glaciator got re-akumatized.

By the end of the movie, Marinette could barely remember what had been so upsetting to her that morning. "Have you ever had a nightmare. One that was so real, and vivid, and visceral that you can't let go of it?" She needed to say it was a nightmare. She didn't want to lie to him, but she wasn't planning to tell Chat her identity that day.

"Kind of," he said. "Usually it isn't a nightmare for me, though. It's usually an akuma attack where something happens to be before I can help Ladybug finish the battle and save the day. Please don't tell me if you aren't ready." He pulled her further into his side, kissing her temple. She nodded, affirming to herself that she was ready to tell him about her 'Nightmare'.

"It was a few months ago," she began, "I was spending some time with my friends. We were talking about boys and whatever. One of them challenged me to bring the boy I liked a present. Next thing I knew, I was practically flying in through his bedroom window and left behind a gift." He nodded, assuring Marinette that he was listening to her words.

"I leave the bedroom and this older superhero shows up. She tells me I need to go save the future, basically. She drops me off in this… Dystopian Paris? I was on top of the Montparnasse Tower and I saw someone who I thought was you at first, but he was wearing white instead of black, his eyes were ice blue, and his hair was a more platinum blond than yours is." She ran a hand through his hair, reminding herself that this was her Chat, her chaton, her minou, and she loved him.

"He said his name was Chat Blanc. He was you, if you ever got akumatized," she visibly shuddered at the name, and he squeezed her hand lovingly. "He was the one who made Paris a dystopia. Most of the city was underwater and he was the only survivor. He split the moon in half. I ran across rooftops to try to get away from him, but he was shouting at me. 'It was our love that did this to the world.'" She sniffled in an attempt to keep from crying again. "'Now you're breaking more than just my heart, Marinette.'"

"That's why I left school. I had a vanilla version of a drink named after you. Whoever came up with it decided to accidentally name it after him and I just, I couldn't keep myself from freaking out when it happened."

"Are you going to be okay if I hug you," he asked politely. She nodded and he immediately enveloped her in the strongest hug he could muster. "I'm so sorry, Marinette. I didn't know you've been carrying this. I'm proud of you for recognizing that the person who named the drink happened to make a mistake instead of maliciously trying to worry you. You're so strong, and I know there are plenty of people who aspire to be even half as strong, brave, and clever as you are."

She wrapped her arms around him in reaction. He pressed his lips into her hair and refused to move. He didn't want to ever let go of her. She was crying, but he could tell that it was different than the panic crying from earlier that day. She needed to release the emotions and it was easier to release the emotions by normally crying instead of letting her emotions swell until she had a panic attack again.

"I think I'm ready to learn who you are, minou." Her voice was almost a whisper. If he weren't transformed, he didn't think he would've been able to hear her.

"Are you sure?"

"No, but that's what 'I think' means, isn't it?" A few stray teardrops continued to drip from her eyes.

"Of course, Princess. Just tell me what you want. Do you want to see me transform, close your eyes and open them when I'm a civilian, tell you about myself and let you figure me out, whatever you want."

"I'll close my eyes. Let me know when you're a civilian. I want to see all of you all at once." She closed her eyes and he kissed her cheek once again before he got off of the loft to detransform. He figured that this way, she could see all of him far more easily than she'd been able to when he'd been laying next to her. Chat Noir stood in the center of Marinette's bedroom, nervous but excited. It was the first time he'd told someone his identity.

He spent years thinking Ladybug was going to be the first to learn his identity, but the more he thought about his future, the more certain he'd become about the fact that Marinette was the partner he wanted to spend his future with.

He called his detransformation phrase. "Okay," he said, exhaling shakily, "I'm ready for you to look." Marinette looked over the edge from her loft, staring at the boy standing in the center of her bedroom. The boy she felt like she knew everything about while simultaneously feeling like she didn't know anything about him. Her heart burst in her chest and for the third time that day, she started to cry. He rushed toward the loft, desperate to be a comfort to her.

"What's wrong, Princess?"

"Nothing," she said with a sniffle. "Can you come back up here, though?" He took it as a good sign that she wasn't rejecting Chat's affection now that she knew it was just Adrien. He took his position back at her side and she cuddled back up to him. "Guess this explains why you smell like a combination of your cologne and leather," she stated, "I'm not sure I get where the cheese is from, though."

"The cheese is for my kwami," he explained. "Plagg is a glutton and because of him, I need to have Camembert cheese on my person at all times." He gave a slight shrug. "Plagg," he called. "There's a cheese danish up here for you, please don't steal the Dupain-Chengs' food." Plagg appeared from out of seemingly nowhere. He took the pastry. "Hey, pigtails, nice to see you again." Marinette saluted toward Plagg with a smile on her face before he disappeared back from whence, he came.

Marinette knew, realistically, that he was either with Tikki in her little bed area, or with the rest of the Kwamis catching up in the Miracle Box. Marinette knew she should probably tell Adrien all of her truths now that she knew who he was, but she was still nervous about Chat Blanc and not ready for more to change between the two of them.

"What do you want to watch next?" He laid his cheek against the top of her head.

"Do you want to watch something, or do you want to go on that adventure I mentioned this morning. Alya and Nino should be getting off for lunch soon and we could probably meet up with them. I can even be a buffer between you and them if you're worried about them asking questions."

Marinette looked at the time on her phone, noticing that she had lost track of time again. After everything that happened that morning, she was surprised to learn there were only about 10 minutes left of morning classes. "Promise they won't ask too many questions?"

"Of course, Princess. Alya is a reporter, but she's still your best friend. If she can stop herself from trying to uncover my identity, she can stop herself from prying. And Nino would never even consider doing anything that would even risk someone being uncomfortable. If you don't want to go, no one is going to make you. If you choose to go, I'll be right there with you."
Marinette placed a hand on his, basking in the comfort that came from the contact of his skin on hers. He put his arm around her, wanting to make her feel protected. Her smaller stature curled up more, trying to make it easier for him to hold her curled up in his arms.

"I want to talk to them with you," she landed on. "I think I have something that I have to talk to you about first, though."

"And what would that be?" Adrien's tone was playful but it was clear that he was nervous from the 'we need to talk' adjacent words that Marinette had just said to him.

"I like you," she admitted with an almost imperceivable wince.

"Well, yeah. I like you too," he responded, a grin growing on his face.

"No. I mean, I like you, like you. I have feelings for you. I've had feelings for Adrien for so long, then I became friends with Chat Noir and fell for him, too." She knew, based on her conversation with him as Ladybug, that he had feelings for her too, but that didn't quell the nerves bubbling in her stomach.

His smile became softer. "I like you, too. In fact, I love you, Marinette. I think I've loved you for a while, but I didn't know how to tell you. I just realized how much I liked to see you wearing green and black and how much I liked the idea of you being mine. Not belonging to me of course because I respect you more than that, but I like the idea of-"

"Adrien?" He stopped talking to listen to her. "I understand, you don't need to explain it to me. I would be honored if you'd call me yours." Marinette looked to him with a shy smile on her face. He looked at her with affection in his eyes and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes, loving the contact of his lips on her.

"My girlfriend?"

"I'd love to," she responded with a full heart. She placed a loving hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. "Nothing would make me happier right now."

He squeezed her hand and placed his forehead against her's. They both blushed and looked away. "So, are you ready to see anyone else or should I let them know that lunch is just going to be the two of us for today?"

"Let's go," she told him. She placed a kiss on his cheek and he pulled out his phone to text their other friends.