Thank you everyone! I was blown away by your response to the last chapter! You guys made my week! The only down side to my week was that I still don't have rights to Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng". Chat had only whispered it, but the words echoed around Ladybug's head. She pulled back so that she could meet his eyes. "Surprise?"

Ladybug looked at her partner for a few more moments before looking out across the city. Her hands were starting to tremble, and she realized that it was only a matter of time before she really started freaking out. She knew who Chat Noir was… and he was Adrien Agreste. Not only that, Chat knew who she was, and he seemed to be OK with it. Turning to her partner, she said, "I need to go home and think about all this; what this means, and what we should do. About the picture, about Hawkmoth, all of it. Do you want to come to the bakery for lunch tomorrow? We can talk then."

Chat Noir was still reeling from the fact that his dreams had actually been true, that Ladybug was really the girl who sat behind him in class. Marinette. A bit belatedly, he realized that she'd been speaking to him, and he nodded. "Lunch. Yes. We can talk tomorrow."

Ladybug stood to leave. "Good. I'll see you at school in the morning. And for what it's worth, Kitty, I am really glad it's you." With that, she swung off towards the bakery, leaving a dazed Chat Noir staring after her. As she disappeared from sight, he suddenly sat bolt upright. "Does that mean that Marinette has a crush on me?" He wondered out loud.

After eventually shaking himself out of his stupor and heading back to the mansion, Chat Noir dropped his transformation, then started pacing while talking aloud, mostly to Plagg, who was only half listening. For his part, Adrien was having a tough time accepting things. Not that Marinette was Ladybug; that much was obvious to him now. Not even that he had fallen for her when they'd lost their memories; he'd fallen for Ladybug almost the instant they met. No, what Adrien didn't believe was that Marinette was in love with him. He may have lived a sheltered life, but he knew how people acted when they loved him, and Marinette most certainly did not act that way.

His mother Emilie had loved him. She had always scheduled time with him, between her movies and modeling. Whenever she was home, she took him to the zoo, or the park; the museum or the playground. She told him how to be a perfect little gentleman. Her love came with a timetable, a schedule, but it was genuine, and in her presence, he was always happy and loved.

His father, too, loved him. He told him what to do and how to act. He prepared him for his future. His love was less hands-on than his wife's had been, even when Adrien was younger, but Gabriel did love his son. He sheltered and protected, commanded and scheduled. Until Adrien had lost his mother, his father's presence had been happy. Now he hid his love behind demands and rules, but it shone through on occasion. He tried to make both life, and his son, perfect.

He loved and was loved by his childhood friend, Chloe. She had always been bossy and demanding, deciding what games they would play, telling him what to do, who he should pretend to be when they played dress up. As children, they had a genuine bond and friendship, but as they'd got older, she'd tried to turn it romantic, but although he wasn't interested, he knew that Chloe loved him.

As irritating as it was to have to deal with them on occasion, his fans loved him. They chased him around the city, took pictures of him, demanded autographs, mementos, time. They were bossy, but loyal, and required him to take his bodyguard everywhere, but they, too, loved him.

Marinette, despite what she claimed, did not love him. Sure, they were friends, good friends, and they did care about each other, but she never told him what to do, or what to think. She asked about his feelings, valued his opinion, put his wants ahead of her own. He'd asked her for dating advice, and she'd helped him. That's what friends did, she was mistaken if she felt more for him than just as a friend.

She had said that Ladybug didn't, no couldn't, love Chat Noir, but Adrien had fallen in love with her when he first met her. How could he not? She was adorable! She'd been nervous and unsure, but she'd stepped up, started issuing instructions, and took control of both the situation, and him. She had been doing it at practically every encounter since, and he had fallen a little bit more in love every time.

Adrien explained all this to Plagg, concluding, "I know that Marinette can take charge. She's an amazing class representative. She stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves, she is kind and caring to everyone. I'm just not special like that to her, he doesn't treat me that way."

Plagg just shook his head. "This is why I love cheese. It's easier. Seriously, kid. I don't know where to start. Tell everything you just told me to Marinette, and then spend time with her and those she loves. Besides, they have cheesy bread and I can spend time with Tikki."

Back in her bedroom, Marinette was quietly losing it. "Tikki! Chat! Adrien! Gah! What am I going to do? The whole time I've been wanting Adrien to fall in love with me, I've been telling him that I don't love him!"

Tikki smiled at her chosen. "Don't worry Marinette. Adrien has been doing the same thing to his 'very good friend'. I'm sure if the two of you sit down and talk about it, you will find everything will work out just fine in the end."

"But Tikki, I just gave him a whole lecture on why we couldn't date!" Marinette wailed.

"No, Marinette. You told him why Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn't date, and everything you said holds true. However, there is no reason why Adrien and Marinette cannot date, as long as they stay completely disconnected from Ladybug and Chat Noir. I would suggest that tomorrow, after you and Adrien have talked, that you go and visit Master Fu, and let him know that you are aware of each other's identities."

After listening to her kwami's sound reasoning, Marinette was able to breathe a bit more calmly. She collected herself enough to finish her homework. It wasn't her best effort, but it was done, and she was ready for school where she would have to face Adrien. She could do this.

In school the next day, Marinette and Adrien trod carefully around each other, both a little nervous, but looking forward to spending time together during lunch. The bell rang, and Alya turned to Marinette. "You coming, girl?"

"I, uh, am going home for lunch." Marinette stammered.

"Awesome! I'll join you! I love your parent's goodies! And your parents too, of course!" Enthused Alya.

Marinette looked bashful. "Actually, I was taking Adrien. I kinda need to talk to him about something."

Alya's face lit up. "Say no more! Have fun kids." She shot a look at Marinette. "I'll need all the deets later."

Marinette nodded in agreement, already trying to come up with a plausible explanation for Alya. Smiling up at Adrien, the two walked side by side, close, but carefully not touching, back to the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie-Patisserie.

While busy with the lunch rush and unable to step away from the counter, Marinette's parents greeted the teens cheerfully. Sabine told Adrien that Marinette had said he was coming for lunch, and to let her know if the bread, cheese and beef stew she'd set out for lunch was not to his liking, and she would find him something else.

"Oh no, thank you Mrs. Cheng." said Adrien. "It sounds absolutely delicious."

"Sabine. Please call me Sabine." Marinette's mom said smiling. "You two run upstairs and have your lunch. It'll be time to head back to school before you know it!"

"Thanks, Maman!" called Marinette as she led Adrien up the stairs. The two stopped to grab steaming bowls of stew and tear off a hunk of bread each. Adrien snagged some cheese for himself as well as Plagg, and Marinette balanced a plate of cookies that she knew both her kwami and her partner would enjoy, as well as herself.

They settled themselves on the floor of Marinette's room eating and chatting, getting comfortable in their new-found knowledge of each other, trying to balance the friend with the partner, and building the foundations of a deeper friendship than they had previously experienced with or without the masts, as they truly saw the whole person before them for the first time.

Time ran short on them as they laughed about things that should have given them away but didn't, terrible excuses that now made perfect sense, and how frustrating it had been for both of them when Marinette had desperately wanted to share the secret of Master Fu with him but couldn't. That lead Adrien to gasp with realization, "That means you know everyone's secret identity! You chose Rena Rough and Carapace, and everyone knows that Queen Bee is Chloe."

Marinette grinned wickedly at him. "You know what else I know?" Adrien leaned in at her conspiratorial tone. "I know if we don't leave now, were going to be late back to school!"

Adrien groaned and looked at the clock. Snatching up their lunch things, they deposited them in the kitchen sink. "It's my night to do dishes, they'll keep." Said Marinette to her mother as the teens gathered up their backpacks and rushed down the apartment stairs.

Slightly out of breath, the pair rushed through the classroom door and dropped into their seats laughing just as the bell rang. This drew raised eyebrows from several of their classmates, a thumbs up from Alya, and a questioning "Dude?" from Nino. Adrien just shook his head and whispered "Later" while Marinette grinned at Alya.

Afternoon classes flew by, and as they were gathering their stuff at the end of the day (and before Alya could drag her off and pump her for information), Marinette lightly touched Adrien's forearm. "We never did finish last night's conversation. Do you want to come over for dinner some night this week, and we'll have more time to talk afterwards?"

Adrien looked down at her and smiled. "Sure! I'll text you tonight what works best with my schedule."

With a "Bye!" and a wave, Adrien left the room with Nino while Alya practically pounced on her best friend. "Spill. NOW!"

Marinette laughed, "Want to come over? We will do homework, and I'll tell you everything."

Once they were settled in Marinette's room, Math books spread out, but ignored, in front of them, Marinette turned to her best friend and started her story, filling it with as much truth as she could. "Well, this is actually sort of your doing: you and Nino. I didn't want to say anything, but it is because of Oblivio." Alya winced slightly at the name, but waved at Marinette to continue. "Well, while you were, uh, busy, we, uh, Adrien and I, didn't know where you were, and if you were safe, or getting way too close trying to get footage or something. So we went looking for you, and ended up getting trapped together. While Ladybug and Chat Noir were saving the day, we were talking, and actually getting to know each other. It was then that I realized he is still amazing, and I love him, but he is also just a person, and an enormous dork. Which is adorable!"

Alya squealed and hugged her best friend. "This is HUGE! I am so proud of you, girl! I knew you could talk to him! So, did you ask him out yet?"

Marinette blushed and giggled. "I'm not that comfortable with him yet. It's been nice just getting to spend time with him and not babble like a dorkasaurus in front of him. He knows I'm in love with him. I told him as much. Now it's up to him, if he wants to do anything about it."

"You told him WHAT?" Alya screeched, her tone a mixture of incredulous and proud. "That you're in love with him? And you used actual words? Ones he understood?"

"Yes, Alya. Real words." Marinette sighed as her blush deepened. "We were talking about crushes, and I told him that I was in love with someone, and his name was Adrien Agreste."

"Girl, really? What did he say?"

"Um, not much really. I think he was a bit stunned, and then I had to go. That's why I asked him to dinner, so that we could talk about it."

The girls chatted some more, and eventually worked on their homework, Alya heading home shortly before dinnertime. As Marinette was getting ready for bed that evening, her phone buzzed. Glancing at her phone, she saw that it was an incoming text from Adrien, checking in about dinner. "I'm not free until Friday. Can I come by after fencing?"

She responded with a "Sounds great. Goodnight Kitty. See you tomorrow!"

After popping down and informing her parents that Adrien would be there for dinner Friday, Marinette climbed into bed, and swiftly fell asleep with a smile on her face.