Little Red Dress

by Cicilicious

Marinette is tired of pretending like she is two different people and the only person who can understand how she feels is Chat Noir. She decides at last to share her identity with him, ideally in the least dramatic way possible. But how? When the duo are invited as guests of honor to the Mayor's Christmas Masquerade Ball, an opportunity presents itself.

5. Chapter 5

In which Adrien is a little bit nosey and Marinette has some conflicting emotions.

The agreed upon meet up time was just as the sun was setting. The theater they were going to was located in a shopping plaza. They were all going to meet at the benches just outside the theater, get their tickets and snacks, and probably go out to eat after. That was the plan.

Adrien had his own plan.

After spending an embarrassing amount of time pondering the whole Adrien vs. Chat Noir issue, he decided that it was probably better if he didn't have a plan. Literally every plan he'd had, had back fired on him so far. He would just act natural, pretend everything was normal, and just see what happened. Furthermore, if he saw an opportunity to flirt with Marinette, he would, and he'd see how she responded.

He decided not to tell Nino or Alya that he'd 'suddenly developed' feelings for Marinette. He might later, but if he told them now, they'd both, especially Alya, be far too transparent about trying to 'help'. They'd both tried to set him up with Marinette in the past, but he'd always resisted, claiming that they were friends and he didn't want it to be weird. He'd left out the part about his heart belonging to someone else, but that fact was irrelevant now. Nino and Alya had always had something between them, and probably just wanted them to also be a thing so as to not off-set their friendship group, Adrien had assumed.

Adrien's timing was perfect. Just as he was turning the corner towards the bakery, Marinette emerged from the front door, calling out a farewell to her parents from over her shoulder. She wore jeans and a low-cut sweater. The same red peacoat she wore the previous day was pulled over her shoulders. He watched as she brought a hand to her shoulder and rolled her neck, looking like she was bothered by it, before she set off down the sidewalk. The loose braid her hair was pulled back into whipped about in the breeze.

He had to pause. The sight of her threw him off. He realized that a part of this still felt like a dream, that it might not be true. She was his beloved Ladybug, and he knew that. But he had to remind himself that in that moment, he was Adrien and she was Marinette. And as far as she knew, Adrien knew nothing about what had transpired the night before. He was excited, but he hadn't expected to be so nervous.

Marinette didn't see him. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts.

She knew Adrien would be at the movies tonight, and she was nervous. She was nervous because she still didn't know how she felt. After everything that had happened with Chat Noir, she wondered how seeing Adrien would make her feel. A part of her hoped that she would see him and feel nothing, and then she'd be sure that Chat was the one she wanted, but she knew it probably wouldn't be that simple. Tikki had advised her, and she agreed, that maybe it was better to not think about it, and just go with it. Maybe she'd see Adrien and be just as smitten as she had been, or maybe she'd spend the night wishing she was with Chat instead. Either way, there was no deadline. She wasn't actually dating either of them, so it's not like she was two-timing. Tikki told her, it's okay to not be sure, and she was allowed to just go with the flow and see what happened.

However, she still had the desire for Adrien to find her attractive, and as such, had worn one of her favorite form fitting, low cut sweaters. It was sexy but didn't make her look like she was trying too hard. She was glad that they were all meeting at the theater, as she still had to mentally prepare herself to see him. Just thinking about it made excitement bubble up in her stomach.

She didn't see Adrien at first, and so true to Marinette, was thoroughly startled when he called out to her.

"Marinette!" He waved with a smile, as he done countless times before. She whipped around at the sound of his voice, taken back by his sudden and unplanned appearance. At first, she wasn't sure if she'd actually heard right or if her nerves were getting to her. But there he was, looking gorgeous in a black sweater pulled over a white button-up, all beneath a black jacket. He approached her with a strange, worried look in his eyes, and without warning or hesitation, threw his arms around her. She drew in a sharp breath and tensed, but brought her hands to his back.

"W-well, hello there." She said with a nervous giggle. It took her a moment to get over her nerves and properly hug him back, and even then, it was stiff and awkward. Her back was still bothering her from the day before, but that had nothing to do with it. She was worried he could feel her erratic heartbeat against their joined chests.

Adrien Agreste was a model, not an actor. But he'd mentally written himself a script, and he was about to take home an Oscar.

"Sorry, I just..." He paused, drawing back from the hug. His hands remained on her shoulders. "What happened to you yesterday? Are you okay? I tried to find you after everything calmed down, but I couldn't."

A cold gust of panic washed over her as she struggled to find both her voice and an excuse.

If that were true, hypothetically, he would've just called or texted her. But luckily for him, Marinette was too put-on-the-spot to poke holes in his lie.

"O-oh, um..." She shrugged, but then winced. She tried to brush both off. "I-I just... went and hid like everyone else did! I, um... You know, Ladybug and Chat Noir were there pretty quick so... Um, I just went home after that. I thought you would have too..."

"Are you hurt?"

"What?"

He ran his hands along her shoulders gently, making small circular motions with his thumbs, and her face lit up a deep crimson. "You keep... twitching like your in pain..."

"O-Oh, I...um..." It was difficult to think, much less form words, with his face so close and his hands on her. His eyes were so bright and he just looked so concerned for her, and his hands felt like heaven, even through the thick material of her coat, leaving a burning trail in their wake...

Well, at least one thing was clear. She still had feelings for him.

One hand had inched it's way around her and kneaded lightly at the top of her spine, just below her neckline, and she couldn't stop from flinching, sucking in a breath through her teeth.

"Sorry!" He said, retracting his hands and holding them up in surrender. "You are hurt, what happened?"

He was pretty sure he knew. He remembered her being tackled by the akuma victim and taking a pretty hard fall. He was still kicking himself for not getting to her sooner.

"N-nothing really... I just, um... I mean, you know how clumsy I am... I just fell, that's all. During all the commotion, you know..."

He made a little gasp. "It wasn't when I pushed you down, was it?" He replaced his hands on her shoulders. "When the attack first happened?"

She stared at him. After everything else, she'd completely forgotten that had happened. Her cheeks burned at the memory, but it was also a perfect excuse.

"Uh... yeeeeah, that was probably it." She smiled, attempting to look innocent.

"Oh God, I'm sorry," He truly did look sincere as his thumbs resumed tracing circles over her clothed shoulders. "I hadn't meant for you to fall so hard, I just... reacted, you know?"

"Oh no, don't worry about it!" She insisted with a warm smile, and placed her hands on top of his. Her intention was to stop his thumbs, because the motion was making it hard to think, but as soon as she felt how warm they were compared to her's, she didn't want to let them go. She stuttered out the end of her response. "B-b-better than being sliced up by glass from a broken window..." She finished it with an awkward giggle than made her cringe on the inside.

Adrien mistook her stutter for a shiver, as they had been standing on the sidewalk the whole time, and the cool air was starting to creep in. "Marinette, you're hands are freezing again."

It was true, her hands were freezing. She was beginning to think that it had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with nervousness. He cupped them in his own hands, which easily engulfed her's, and brought them to his lips, breathing on them to warm them up. His eyes slipped shut as he did so, and the warmth of his actions all but skipped her hands and went straight to her face, as well as some other areas. When he opened his eyes again, they were piercing and intense and made her want to moan.

Her hands still held up to his lips, she saw the corner of his mouth curl upwards in a mischievous smile. A smile like that looked very out of character for sweet, charming Adrien. But for some reason, the expression did not look out of place. She was sure she'd never seen that look on Adrien before, but at the same time, she could've sworn she'd seen that very same look before.

It was smoldering and hot and almost reminded her off...

He pressed his lips against the back of her hand, eyes locked onto her's, and she thought she might faint. When he spoke, she felt the vibration of his words on her hand and they feeling went straight to her chest.

"I'm glad you're okay. I was really worried about you."

The first noise that escaped her was something between a gasp and a squeak. Surely, he was doing that on purpose. No one was that sexy naturally. Were they? Oh God.

"Th-thank you..." She said when she'd found her voice. "Um... I'm... glad you're okay, too."

He smiled, no longer a mischievous smile, but a genuine warm smile that reached up to his eyes. "Well, let's not stand around in the cold." He said, releasing her hands, but offering his arm. "Shall we?"

As soon as they were free, her hands retreated to her chest, where they clutched at her heart. She stared at his waiting arm, wondering if she was imagining all this. Literally stunned speechless, her brain was having a hard time catching up and all she could do was stare. Her gaze darted back and forth from his arm to his eyes, and she noticed that the longer they stood and she didn't take his arm, the smaller and smaller his smile became. Until finally, he retracted it completely, rubbing the back of his neck instead.

"Um... sorry." He said awkwardly. She just continued to stare with wide eyes and a blank expression, and he began to worry that this had been a bad idea. He shoved his hands in his pockets, insecurity clawing at him.

They started to walk in silence, very uncomfortable silence, and Marinette's mind finally seemed to process what was happening. Was Adrien flirting with her? Why, all of a sudden, was that happening? She'd never before gotten the impression from him that he liked her as more than a friend, but then again, she'd liked him so much for so long, maybe she just hadn't believed it. Or maybe it hadn't shown because of their friends. She and Adrien rarely spent time together alone, she realized. It was easy to talk to him like a normal person when they had people around to buffer their interactions. But here, with no one around, just the two of them, with him acting like... that... She felt hot. She was so put off by his actions, that she felt light headed. She didn't even know what to think.

She felt a small squirming from her coat. She looked down, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, and met eyes with Tikki, who's small head popped out of her sweater. The kwami looked up at Marinette, and then to Adrien, and then back to Marinette with a questioning look on her tiny face. Marinette responded with a quick shrug and a befuddled look.

Adrien looked over at her, and she quickly wrapped her arms around herself to hide Tikki, offering a quick smile. A sudden gust of wind blew past them, bringing a cold chill with it. And being as small and clumsy as she was, the gust damn near knocked her over. She didn't stumble much, but she did almost lose her balance. And she might have, had she not grabbed the first thing she could to stop herself.

Which was Adrien's arm.

Of course that would happen, of course. How cliche could she be?

She didn't look at his face, she couldn't. But she was already here, so she'd roll with it. She was shivering, but it had nothing to do with the cold. "I-it's f-f-freezing." She stuttered out, clinging to his arm. He was warm, very warm. Even through his jacket, she could feel his firm biceps.

Was he actually warm, or was that just her own rising temperature?

A low chuckle escaped him, rumbling deep in his chest. She could feel it. Oh God, she wanted to-

"It is pretty cold, isn't it?" He said casually. "Do you think it'll snow anytime soon?"

"M-maybe. I hope so, I like the snow."

"Me too. Not too fond on the cold, myself. But if it's going to be this cold anyway, it might as well snow."

She smiled and hummed her agreement. She was so grateful that he kept his cool, as should be expected from someone as stoic and charming and effortlessly bewitching as him, but it allowed them to carry on without any more awkwardness. He was just so casual and level-headed, starting a conversation as if nothing uncomfortable had happened. Which was something she would never be able to do on her own.

Little did she know that he had brought up a random topic to ease his own jitters. And the weather, of all things. He could've smacked himself. Neither Marinette, nor Ladybug had ever made him this nervous before, did it really make that much of a difference now that he knew they were the same person?

Adrien knew how to be charming, the way a rich party host would charm a rich, important dinner guest. He had no idea how to be charming in the way that a man would charm a woman. He faked it as Chat Noir, but he was not Chat Noir right now. He was Adrien, and Adrien needed to pull it together. A difficult task, he found, seeing as how the object of his undying affections clung to his arm like a lifeline. She was shaking like a leaf and he wondered if maybe it was alot colder than he thought, and he was just being kept warm by his own anxiety and underlying embarrassment. He removed his hand from his pocket to hold his arm in a more gentlemanly position, and smiled when he felt her relax and wind her own arm a bit tighter around his, hooking her wrist over his forearm as her own forearm lay in his elbow. He looked down at the hand perched delicately on his sleeve and his heart gave a little skip at the memory of observing those hands and what had come from it.

They walked on, and she gave a small cough, and he realized he didn't know what to say. How far could one really stretch a conversation about the weather, after all? He'd have to improvise.

"So... how was your night? After the attack, I mean."

"Oh, um..." Her voice was soft. The Parisian streets weren't crowded, but there was a bit of hustle and bustle, especially where they were going. It was a Saturday night, after all. "It was... interesting."

He recalled from the previous day how she had been slowly opening up to him, giving vague answers to specific questions. "Yeah?" He pressed.

"Yeah..." She cleared her throat again. "I, uh..."

She paused when they stopped at a crosswalk. He took the opportunity to look over at her, curious as to what she would say. Obviously, she would lie, but he was curious. He noticed that she was red in the face, from the weather or from the memories of the previous night, he'd never know, but she was adorable. Her nose was the reddest part, her lips parted as she was avoiding his gaze. She glanced up once quickly and met eyes with him, but she quickly looked down at their joined arms, and then away again. The light turned at the crosswalk and they continued on.

"I had... a really weird encounter." She said. "... with Chat Noir."

He could've choked. It's fine, just be cool, Agreste, he told himself.

"Really?" He did his best to sound surprised and interested. "A weird encounter, like how?"

"Well, I left my sketchbook at school and he brought it to me at my house-"

"He came to your house?" He was trying to sound shocked, but even to his own ears, he had to admit he sounded alittle rehearsed. But she didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, uh, yeah." She continued. "He uh... he does that pretty often."

He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about her telling him this. He knew already, of course, she was talking about him. But she didn't know that. He knew that Marinette hadn't really told anyone about the visits he sometimes made to her house, because he was a part of her circle. If she was going to tell anyone, she would've told Alya, and Alya would've gone crazy over the knowledge. So why was she telling him this now?

"Ah," he said, faking curiosity. "I think I remember you saying you'd talked to him a few times. So you're friends with both of them, huh? Both him and Ladybug?"

She fidgeted a bit. She looked uncomfortable. "It's... not really something I advertise."

"So why are you telling me?"

It came out sounding a bit sterner than he intended it to, as evident by Marinette visibly shrinking back and curling in on herself ever so slightly, her hold on his arm loosening.

"Y-you... asked about my night..." He heard the regret in her voice and he scrambled to salvage the situation. He did truly want to hear about it, mainly because he wanted to hear what she'd say, not knowing who he was.

"No, no! That's not what I meant, that came out wrong." He said, placing his hand over her's, keeping it on his arm. "I want to hear about it, it's just... you're not usually this open... with me." He added the last part hesitantly. It was true and part of him wanted her to know that he noticed.

She relaxed and finally looked over at him, meeting his gaze. She looked a little surprised. She really looked at him, searching his face for something. she wasn't shy or flustered or hesitant. She was observing him. It wasn't the same intense, soul gazing stare that he'd gotten from her before, both as herself and as Ladybug, but even still. He offered a small smile, but it soon fell from his lips as he found himself lost in her eyes again.

He was often watched, it was what he did for a living. His job was literally for people to look at him. He was displayed and ogled and watched. He was a model, meant to look good and portray whatever they told him to. He could fake emotions, he could fake a smile better than he could actually smile. He could portray happiness, heartbreak, excitement, spunkiness, smoulder, all of it. So why was he having such a hard time right now? It was his job to be displayed and watched and looked at. But not really seen.

Right now, Marinette was seeing him. She wasn't just looking at him, she was really seeing him. He couldn't fake an emotion knowing that she'd see past it.

As they held their gazes, he saw a blush creep up onto her cheeks and she finally looked away. He was so lost that if she hadn't been holding his arm, he could've easily walked right into something.

"I... I don't know if... you've noticed," she giggled softly. "You probably have, but... I'm not the most... outgoing person." She turned a corner and had to pull him along with her because he wasn't paying attention. She went on, "I'm, uh... I'm trying to open up a bit more. You know, come out of my shell..."

"That's great!" He said eagerly. "I mean, I'm glad. I guess I can only really speak for myself, but... to be honest, even though you've always been super sweet and kind... for a while there, I thought maybe you didn't like me."

She seemed completely taken back by his words, looking over at him with an arched brow and downturned lips. "What? Why would you think that?"

They were nearing the shopping plaza where the theater was, and he knew that once they arrived, they would have to put this conversation on pause. He decided that he just wasn't going to censor himself. He was going to be open and honest with her, just as he had been the night before. He wanted them to be closer, in any way that they could. And the way to do that was to first break down these walls. But he couldn't break them down if he didn't acknowledge them first.

"I've... I've always kind of wanted to get to know you better, but I always got the feeling that you didn't want to..." He searched for the best way to put it. "I mean, I guess I thought that maybe you were just a really private person, which is fine! But whenever I tried to get closer to you, I felt like you wanted me to just mind my own business."

He heard her whisper, You've got to be kidding me, under her breath. The theater was in sight now, as was the benches where they were all to meet up. He was glad to see that they had beaten both Alya and Nino. Marinette's arm slipped out of his as they both took a seat next to each other, and turned her body to face him, folding one leg under herself. She put a hand on his knee.

"I'm so sorry, I never meant to make you feel that way." She said. "It's not that I didn't want to get to know you, I'm just an awko-taco." He was relieved to see how genuinely upset she seemed about it. Perhaps he really had been interpreting her incorrectly the whole time.

But he couldn't help but chuckle. "What's an awko-taco?"

Her face lit up a brilliant shade of red. "A-an awkward taco." She hid her face in her hands and groaned. "See, I'm such an awkward person, that's why I keep to myself! I know I'm just going to embarrass myself, especially around you!"

Her hands, already up to her face, quickly snapped to cover her mouth. She was clearly flustered and normally, he'd find it adorable and endearing. But after the events of the night before, he couldn't help but feel that his alter ego was about to come out to play at the sight of his Lady, red faced and nervous.

"What was that last part?" He said smoothly.

She looked at him a moment longer and she sighed, seemingly defeated. "You said you thought I didn't like you and that I wanted you to mind your business? Well... I always thought that you probably thought I was crazy."

"What? I don't think that at all! Where would you get that idea?"

"Because I feel like I act crazy. Around you. Or, I used to anyway." She looked away, cheeks dusted pink. She wasn't flustered anymore, but he could tell that she was trying to make herself open up, just as she had done the previous day, and she was having trouble with it. "When I'm nervous, I act crazy. I feel like I've gotten alot better about not getting so nervous, but to do that, I kind of... I don't know, keep my distance I guess. It's easy when I'm around other people because I can use them as a buffer-"

"But why would you be nervous in the first place?" Adrien leaned closer, eyes lit up, and he looked ready to soak up whatever she said. He was alot more interested in her answer than she had anticipated.

She couldn't tell him the real reason, of course, so she shrugged and fidgeted and said the first lame excuse she could think of.

"Because you are really intimidating."

Cringe. Why did that have to be the first thing? Why was her filter suddenly gone? Why did she feel like she was fifteen again? Why was Adrien smiling?

"Intimidating?" He said it like he liked the way it sounded, but he was trying to seem surprised. "You think I'm intimidating?"

Well, Marinette, you got yourself here, now get yourself out. Despite your astounding ability to get yourself into impossible situations, you're pretty good at getting yourself out. Hell, just yesterday you caught a stick of dynamite out of the air. Cute boys really shouldn't be that much more difficult to deal with.

"I... I did... and I still do a little bit." She bit her lip, feeling her cheeks heat up. His expression morphed, looking less eager but no less interested. "Mainly when I first met you. I mean, you were this new kid, you're rich, you're a model, you got dropped off everyday in a limo, you have a bodyguard, you'd never been to public school before, you're father is my favorite designer, and you were friends with... Chloe, who is the picture perfect definition of a spoiled, entitled rich brat." She couldn't help the sour taste on her tongue at the name of her rival. He nodded a bit as he listened. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't think you're like that. But you know when we first met, we didn't exactly have the best first impressions."

He chuckled, his eyes shining. "Yeah, I'm not good at those."

A breeze pasted by them, swaying his hair ever so slightly, and Marinette forgot what she was going to say next. Adrien was stunning. He had a face that looked like it was hand-carved by Gods, using only the finest of marble. She felt faint. He was looking at her like she was the only thing in the world. His focus was so intense that she swore a plane could crash next to them and he'd barely notice. He'd never looked at her like that before. She would've noticed if he had. Someone else had looked at her like that before though, but she couldn't quite remember. She was too lost in the way his eyes crinkled at the corners from the size of his smile and the way his hair bounced in the breeze. It looked so soft, she'd always wanted to run her fingers through it. There were fairy lights in the trees that were staring to light up, as the sun was setting. The little lights reflected in his eyes, which glistened behind pale lashes.

"Marinette?" He asked, and her own name had never sounded sweeter.

She'd been staring, she knew this. But she couldn't really bring herself to care. "Um..." What had she even been talking about? Oh, that's right. "Yeah... you're intimidating."

He laughed. He must've known she got distracted, for his eyes narrowed knowingly, smile wider than ever. "So... you're intimidated by me because of my lifestyle?"

It was his comment that actually snapped her out of it. "What? N-no, it's just that..." She had actually said more than she intended to say, but no going back now. "I thought you'd be just like Chloe, and then when I found out that you were actually a sweetheart, I was like, wait, so... he's rich, he's a model, he's attractive, and he's a good, kindhearted person?" She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. "What's the catch?"

"You think I'm attractive?"

Her face fell, eyes widening. She stared at nothing for a moment, the gears in her head suddenly filled with gunk and slowly struggling to process what was happening. "What?"

"You said I'm-"

"Wow, Alya and Nino sure are not punctual, huh?" She said a bit too loudly. Her blush had extended from her face, down to her chest and up her ears.

He laughed and placed a hand on her knee. "The catch is, I'm an emotional wreck, wrapped up in a designer bow. I'm a dork and I've got daddy issues. And to be honest, I'm not really good at opening up to people either."

She met his gaze, face glowing by the intensity of her blush. They stared at each other, and he felt that he was the one who was becoming flustered. Then, she smiled. It was a warm smile, the kind that took over her whole face. She was still embarrassed, but it was diminishing.

"My point was, um, that because of... all that, and because I know I'm so awkward... that's why I get nervous and then embarrass myself. And why I was afraid to get close to you."

He rubbed circles on her knee with his thumb. "Well, I'm glad I know that now. I was really worried that you just didn't like me."

"No, I like you." She placed a hand over his.

It didn't sound like a confession. It sounded like reassurance. She didn't blush or stutter or look away. She wasn't tell him that she liked him like that. She was telling him that she didn't dislike him. It's not really what he wanted, but he'd take it. Baby steps, after all.

"I like you too." He said, trying to sound as casual as she had sounded. He succeeded, but that didn't stop the blush from creeping back onto her face. She looked away again, and gave a small squeeze to his hand. He didn't mind the platonic nature of their words. For now, anyway. He cherished any friendships he had, and Marinette was one of his dearest friends when it came right down to it. His best friend, though she didn't know that yet.

And it was an interesting thought, that a Queen like Ladybug could be intimidated by a dweeb like Adrien Agreste.

What were they talking about? They had started talking about something that had lead them here, but what was it? He couldn't remember. He wanted to remember, because he recalled being very interested in what she had to say. He wanted to know what she would share with him, not knowing that he was...

"Oh! So, tell me, what happened with Chat Noir?" He said suddenly.

When he eventually did reveal his identity to her, he'd probably have to answer for this. But he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

The smile she wore was completely wiped from her face as soon as he mentioned his alter ego. In fact, her whole face had gone blank, unreadable. "Chat Noir?" She repeated.

Her dramatic change in expression worried him. "Yeah, you said he... visited you?"

"Oh..." She looked away from him, face still blank. Slowly though, her face started to take shape, forming emotions. It was very subtle, but being able to identify little give aways in the face was part of his modeling training. It was easier to fake a feeling if you knew what it looked like in it's rawest form. He watched as her eyebrows creased slightly, the very corners of her lips turned downward, and her jaw seemed to clench. She was either sad, confused, frustrated, or some combination of those things.

And that did not sit well with him.

He supposed he should have expected something like that, and he couldn't really blame her, but it still hurt. He thought last night had gone extremely well, but if she looked back on it with that kind of expression... did she regret it? He felt the panic boil up in him and she still hadn't said anything. He needed her to start talking, he couldn't be left to assume the worst.

"Um, what's he like?" He asked, a little too eagerly. "I've actually met him before, but I don't really know him. Personally, I think he's super cool, but, um.. yeah, what's he like?"

He felt Plagg nudge him from inside his jacket pocket. He could practically hear the kwami's smug snickering, but that was the least of his worries in that moment.

"Oh, um, yeah, he is." She said softly. Her face softened as she stared thoughtfully at nothing. "He's... he's a peach. He's nothing like the way he looks."

"What do you mean?"

She laughed, and he was relieved to see it. "I mean, looking at him, he looks like a mysterious, tall, dark, handsome stranger, you know? Totally alley cat, and I think that's what he wants people to think. Between you and me, the first time I saw him, I thought he got lost on his way to the anime convention." She stopped to giggle, and he had to join in. He wasn't mad at it, sounded like a pretty accurate description now that he thought about it.

"Anyway," she went on. "That's what he tries to portray, that cool, smooth talking, street wise persona. But really, deep down, he's nothing like that."

Adrien caught himself leaning forward, very eager to hear what she had to say. This was the way she, Ladybug, described him, Chat Noir, to her friends. Basically, this was the way she talked about him behind his back. And his heart was pounding.

"He's a sweetheart. But..." She titled her head to the side with a truly thoughtful expression. She still had her hand on his, and brushed his knuckles with her thumb subconsciously. "I get the feeling he's actually really lonely."

Well, Adrien had not expected to hear that. Not at all. "W-where do you get that idea?"

"Well, I could be wrong about all this, but..." She brought her other hand up to her face, placing a single finger on her lip, pondering. "He just... I don't think he has a very happy home life. He tries really hard, and he's constantly looking for confirmation that he's done a good job. Like he needs validation. He's starved for attention and he craves affection. And when you do give him the attention he wants, his eyes light up and he gets this look on his face. It's hard to explain, but it just seems like that little bit of attention you give him is going to be the only attention he gets that day, and he knows it. All the bravado and ego, it's all show. Like it's just a character he's playing, because that's who he wants to be, that's who he wishes he could be. Underneath it all, he's really sad and lonely and it damn near breaks my heart sometimes. I just want to scoop him up and hold him."

All Adrien could do was stare, wide eyed and jaw slacked and the only coherent thought he could process was 'Yes, please, hold me.'

Everything she said had been true. I thought he faked it pretty well, but she completely saw through him. She was able to look past all the bells and whistles, deep down into who he really was. All the flirting, all the showing off, was indeed to hide the fact that he was hurting inside. Or, more accurately, an escape from the hurt inside. He didn't think anybody knew him like that. He didn't think Ladybug paid enough attention to notice anything deeper than face value. Chat Noir was, indeed, a character. And she had just presented him with a completely accurate and in-depth character analysis.

He expected her to maybe say 'Yeah, he's cool but he's annoying', or something like that. He subconscious tightened his hold on her knee.

Marinette wasn't finished though. After pausing to collect her thoughts a bit, she smiled and continued. "You know what I think his best quality is? Despite all that... and again, I might be wrong about everything, but... despite everything," He watched in awe as her eyes glossed over with the most affectionate look, and her smile was warm enough to make his heart skip a beat. "Chat Noir is easily the most selfless person I know. Hands down, no contest. He doesn't get enough credit. He really doesn't. He does so much, so much for everyone else. He'd be the first person to give the shirt off his back for someone. I want so bad for him to be happy. He deserves to be happy. He's so kind and compassionate and just..." She sighed and met his gaze and he felt light headed as his chest swelled. "He's amazing."

God, he wanted to kiss her.

The desire come so suddenly, it nearly knocked the wind out of him. He was so overtaken by emotion that he was having a hard time actually putting thoughts and words together. He'd almost forgotten that he was in his civilian form, and only remembered when caught himself leaning forward again. If he had been in uniform in that moment, he would've kissed her. Grabbed her, kissed her, and then held her as he peppered kisses all over her face. Her words echoed in his head.

That's what Ladybug, His Lady, thought of him. To say he was touched was a gross understatement. That same feeling he had the night before resurfaced. He felt loved. He felt cared for. He looked her over, trying to make heads or tails of her expression. Her cheeks had color, not so much that she looked flustered, but enough that she was glowing. Her eyes were lit up with so much passion, he could tell she meant what she had said. She was dripping in a feeling, an intense feeling. One that he'd never seen on her before, but it looked good. Damn good. She was stunning. He recognized it simply because he knew he'd felt like that before. But feeling it and identifying it were different, and he could not put name to face.

When he didn't say anything, just continued to stare, Marinette seemed to snap out of whatever trance she had been in. She coughed and shrugged. "Heh, that's probably not what you meant when you asked about him, but-"

"How can you tell?"

"Hmm?"

He didn't care if he said too much, secrets be damned, he needed to know. He flipped his hand over and interlaced his fingers with her's, his other hand clasping down on it as well. He didn't miss the rising color in her cheeks.

"How do you know all that just by the way he acts?"

She grinned meekly and glanced away. "I mean, like I said, I could be wrong-"

"I don't think you're wrong." He said, leaning forward a great deal. He watched with fascination as her eyes widened, yet she did not retreat.

"I-it's basic human development, when children don't get enough attention, they act out." She said with a smile. "I think all that... exuberance is his way of silently saying pay attention to me! Besides... anyone who acts that extra is trying to hide something."

"You're beautiful."

It slipped out. It was either that, or 'I love you', and he had just enough self control left to choose the safer option.

As soon as it was said though, he realized how odd it must've sounded, especially if Marinette's red, shocked face was any indication. To her knowledge, he just listened to her go on about another man, sing praises of another man. It made no sense in that context, but the reality was she wasn't talking about another man, she was talking about him.

But she still didn't know that, and he knew she didn't want to know that, so he scrambled to cover his tracks.

"Erm, it's beautiful... that you care enough to...um, pay that close attention." He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. "You really are amazing, Marinette. You're such a good friend. Chat Noir is lucky."

The hand that wasn't tangled in her fingers went to grip her knee again. "I'm lucky too. Th-that you're my friend."

Fuck. That wasn't what he was going for at all. He could've said he was lucky without added the friend thing, he wasn't going for the friend thing! He was so frazzled, he was blurting out whatever to ease the tension that he was probably the only one to feel.

He physically winced at his own awkwardness, and Marinette looked nothing short of confused, with her pursed lips, arched brow, and tilted head. And he couldn't say that he blamed her. He was Chat Noir, he didn't know how to flirt without being overzealous. Subtlety was not his strong suit, not at all. He was trying so hard to not be Chat Noir, flirt with her as Adrien would, and see how she responded. Problem was, he was trying so hard to be subtle with his advances, he was underselling it. He feared he would lay it on too thick, and that fear caused him to not lay it on thick enough. So far, he wasn't even sure if he'd been flirting at all.

He needed to relax and stop over thinking. And although he was happy hearing what she had to say about his alter ego, he needed to shift the conversation away from Chat Noir. God forbid she think he was a Chat Noir fanboy, just like she knew he was a Ladybug fanboy...

Aaaand, yet another thing to blush over.

"I'm, uh... lucky that you're my friend, too." Marinette said a bit awkwardly. It snapped him out of his inner monologue. He smiled, and then realized that he hadn't a clue what to say next. He knew he'd better come up with something fast, because he was sure he looked like a crazy person just sitting there, holding her hand, gripping her knee, smiling like a maniac.

He turned his head to cough onto his shoulder, for no other reason than to have something to do, and to look away from her. Her confused pout was both adorable and distracting. He saw her shift about from the corner of his eye, and nearly squeaked when she shuffled closer to him on the bench, her knee fully pressed against his thigh.

"Are you... okay?" She asked with another tilt of the head.

"Fine! I-I'm fine, totally fine, fine! Why, uh, why... why do you ask?"

Idiot.

She looked him over curiously and he had trouble remembering that it was socially frowned upon to pull a girl into your lap and kiss her senseless in public.

Not that he would do that, because he was a gentleman and she hadn't yet given him the green light, but still, a guy could imagine.

"You seem... uncomfortable..." She said slowly. She retreated in on herself, raising her shoulders and ducking her head down slightly. "Is it... what I said about Chat?"

Yes, but not for the reason you think.

"No! No, not at all!" He assured her, rubbing his thumb on her knee. "It's nothing to do with that... well, actually... It's just..."

Well, trying to come up with mindless small talk clearly was not working, nor was he any good at it anyway. He had no idea what to say.

"I... I was just thinking..." He turned to fully face her again. He didn't say anything, he had gone completely blank. He'd hoped that maybe he could come up with something to say when he met her gaze, but the opposite happened. All he managed to do was notice that a lock of raven hair was dancing across Marinette's face. She tried to blow it away a few times, but it returned to tickle her nose. Without thinking, the hand that gripped her knee moved on it's own accord up to her face, where it gently took the strand and tucked it behind her ear, trailing the backs of his fingers along her soft skin as he did so. Her skin was set ablaze by his touch, deep red blooming to life right under his fingertips. He lightly dragged his fingers down her cheek, down to her jaw, and he watched, fascinated, as her eyes widened and she seemed to be doing her best not to retreat.

"We've never.. really hung out... just the two of us." Adrien said as he casually retracted his hand, replacing it on her knee.

"N-not since the video game tournament a few years back." She agrees, but her tone is quiet, almost hesitant.

"I like spending time with you." He smiles, and feels his face heat up again. Even more so when he hears her breath hitch and sees the glimmer in her eyes as she processed his words. The corners of her mouth tugged upwards, attempting a large, goofy smile, but she did her best to tame it. She looked almost starstruck, which he thought funny, considering who she really was.

She looked like she wanted to respond, but the words were stuck in her throat. Her lips moved, forming words but remaining silent, before she was finally able to whisper, "I... I like spending t-time with you, too..."

He was going to say something else, but her gaze snapped over his shoulder and she pulled her hand free from his in an instant, blush still present but glimmer gone.

He was about to inquire if something was wrong when he heard the unmistakable voice of his best friend coming from behind him. "Duuuudes! You're both here!"

Adrien had a very great amount of affection for Nino, he was very near and dear to him, and would always have a special place in his heart as being his first real friend, but never before had he wanted to hit him in the face so bad.

Adrien retracted his hand from Marinette's knee, for no other reason than because she had released his hand first, perhaps fearing the overzealous reaction of her own best friend, who he saw was with Nino and was already looking towards Marinette with a smug look in her eyes. They approached the bench, Alya practically buzzing with excitement, and Adrien had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't because of the movie they were about to see.

Nino and Adrien greeted each other with their standard fist bump as Alya leaned over the back of the bench to embrace Marinette. He heard fast, hushed words being exchanged between them, but he couldn't make them out. He could only guess, based on the way Marinette's face lit up crimson and she shook her head viciously, that Alya had seen them before they saw her.

"You guys ready for this?" Nino asked, drawing the girls' attention. "I'm so pumped, I've haven't seen a movie in forever!"

Marinette chimed in quickly, welcoming a change of topic from whatever Alya had been whispering to her about. "I'm excited, the trailer looked really good."

Alya hummed. "Do we know if this a sequel or a remake?"

"Um... 'spiritual sequel' that could stand as it's own movie I think."

"Did you guys like the original one?"

"I thought the story was cool, but the effects were too cheesy for it to really be scary." Marinette responded. Nino nodded in agreement, and Adrien realized that he didn't actually have any idea what they were seeing.

"Yeah, at the time I guess that's just what they had to work with, but hopefully this one will be better." Alya said, reaching in to her pocket to pull out her cell phone. "By the way, before we go in, you guys have got to see what someone submitted to the Ladyblog last night!"

Adrien felt Marinette tense up next to him, her knee was still pressed against his thigh, but it wasn't obvious enough see. Alya held the phone out in front of them at arms length so they all could see the screen.

Staring back at them was a photo, slightly blurry like the person who took it was moving, but plenty clear enough to see a very focused Ladybug, straddling a clearly panicked Chat Noir.

Alya scrolled down, the next picture was much clearer. It showed Ladybug with a lit stick of dynamite in her hand. Her expression was unseen from the angle the picture was taken, but Chat Noir was wide-eyed and looked like he was shouting something.

"What kind of moron would hang around an area where an akuma was blowing up buildings, just to take pictures?" Marinette said as she looked over the photo. Adrien darted his eyes to her to catch her expression. She wore a look of annoyance, but she couldn't mask the blush that rose upon seeing herself in that position with her partner.

"Seems like something you'd do, Alya." Nino said, elbowing her playfully in the ribs.

Alya was too proud to be annoyed, and simply nodded in agreement. "My blog has got some pretty dedicated readers." She said with a smile. "Wait, there's more."

Adrien heard Marinette whisper 'Oh God...' under her breath. His own heart skipped a bit, knowing full damn well what had happened next.

Sure enough, as Alya scrolled down, another photo came into view. Seems whoever had taken the photos had moved to a different spot with a better angle. Staring back at them was a photo of Ladybug, with a downright devious look on her face, looking down at Chat Noir.

Adrien hadn't actually thought about how it looked from an outside perspective, he certainly didn't think anyone was around to see when that happened. Ladybug had described his face as 'vulnerable looking', which he thought was fitting, because that's how he felt at the time. But actually seeing it, the look of sheer flustered, eager submission that coated not only his face, but his entire body. The look of his Lady above him, staring down at him with such unadulterated possessive dominance, like he was her next meal. He looked the part too, so helpless and trapped. What's more, he looked so much like he wanted to be there. He was absolutely laying himself before her, so pathetically wanting. He was literally begging her to ravish him. The desire was dripping off both of them. He was suddenly hyperaware that his very Lady who had looked at him like that was sitting right next to him. He once again had a feeling that the identity reveal could still be a dream, because it was hard to imagine that sweet Mari was even capable of such expressions. He was almost afraid to look at her, for fear the memory would prove too much to handle and he would break. He was about to turn to see Marinette's face, when Alya scrolled down again and he near choked and he heard Marinette gasp quietly.

Zoomed in, in all it's HD glory, was a photo of Ladybug, leaning over Chat Noir, her teeth scraping against his jaw. His head was all but thrown back, mouth open mid-moan, eyes fluttered shut. It was sinful looking and naughty and suggestive and absolutely gave off the impression of a more-than-just-professional relationship. If people were thinking that they were a thing already, there was no longer any room to argue.

Adrien usually didn't mind when unflattering photos were published to the Ladyblog, it wasn't that big of a deal. He actually found it funny, seeing as how his other job was to look perfect in front of a camera. But this, this was probably the first time he didn't know that he was totally okay with that being out there on the internet for the world to see.

Not to say he was unhappy that these pictures existed. First thing he did when he got home, he was going to download those pictures onto his computer for his own personal use, but after that, maybe Chat Noir would have a talk with Alya about taking those down.

"Dude, those two are totally fucking." Nino stated unceremoniously.

Adrien nearly lost it.

Alya hummed her agreement. "I bet they have the best, hottest, most passionate-"

"Alya!" Marinette practically shouted. Adrien still couldn't bare to look at her just yet, but she sounded breathless.

"What? It's not a bad thing!" Alya responded, speaking as casually as if they were discussing the weather. "They save the world together all the time, how can they not be into each other? I mean, look at them!" She shoved her phone in Marinette's face to emphasize her point. "Look at this picture and try and tell me there's nothing going on there!"

Nino reached out to tilt the screen towards him. "Seriously," he said. "The sexual tension is real. If you told me they started going at it right after this picture was taken, I'd believe you."

"Right?" Alya said, and then took notice of a certain blond who was stubbornly staring straight in front of him and had remained silent. She placed the phone screen right in front of his face. "What do you think, Adrien?"

He was startled back by the sudden appearance of the device in his face, and had no choice but to look at the photo again.

He couldn't be honest and tell them what he really thought, of course, because the truth was, the pure animalistic stance of his Lady combined with the raw vulnerable emotion on his own face... made him feel very hot. In an instant, he was reliving the memory of the events. He perfectly recalled the excitement he felt looking up at his Lady, who looked back down at him with the most inviting eyes and tempting smile. He remembered when his heart jumped when she kissed his cheek, and another part of him jumped when she lingered just long enough to bite his jaw. It caused a spark of want to stir deep within him and he was once again reminded that Ladybug was actually sitting right next to him, her knee still pressed up against his thigh. He wanted so badly to just grab her, look her dead in the eyes and recreate the moment they'd shared the day before. He suddenly felt the need to steady himself and couldn't stop his hand before it reached out to lay upon her knee, as he had done before.

His hand had been settled innocently in his own leg, the journey to Marinette's knee was a short and mostly unnoticed one, the only one who actually realized what he had done being Marinette herself. She looked at him fully, but he couldn't make out her expression because he still couldn't look back at her.

"I think..." He said. "That it sure does look like... something, doesn't it."

It didn't sound like a question. His voice came out awkward and rehearsed. Luckily for him, no one called him out.

"Yeah, something. I guess that's what they're calling it now." Nino joked, nudging Adrien's shoulder playfully as he and Alya shared a laugh.

"Sh-should we get tickets now, or...?"

"Oh, shoot Mari, you're right." Alya said, exiting the Ladyblog on her phone to pull up movie times. "The next one is in 20 minutes, but it just came out so let's hurry before all the good seats are taken!"

Alya and Nino started towards the theater, assuming Marinette and Adrien were right behind them. Adrien did not move, nor did he look at Marinette.

"Adrien?"

She didn't sound the least bit affected. He wondered if seeing the images of the two of them in that position did anything for her at all, or if she was just able to hide it much better than him. It probably didn't hurt that she didn't know that Chat Noir was sitting right next to her, too.

"Are you okay?"

Say something, idiot.

He finally looked up at her and found that he could not interpret her expression, not for the first time that night. She wasn't smiling, her gaze was soft, but her mouth was tight almost as if her jaw was clenched. She was sitting up more now as well, no longer leaning towards him. His chest tightened, for a completely different reason than before. She was pulling away from him.

"Y-yeah... yeah, I'm okay."

She glanced down at his hand on her knee, and then darted her eyes back up to him. She slowly took hold of it to lift it off her leg so she could stand. She didn't release it right away. "Well, c'mon, let's go."

He forced a smile and stood as well. He tried to wrap his fingers around her's, but her hand quickly slipped out of his grasp before he could. She started after Nino and Alya without another word.

She felt guilty.

First off, she was absolutely going to see to those photos being taken off the Ladyblog, they were borderline obscene. The knowledge that someone had not only witnessed, but also captured what she thought had been a private moment, and then posted it on the internet... she didn't know the word to describe how she felt. Violated? Mortified? Humiliated?

But on the other hand...

She also felt hot, bothered, and she suddenly missed her kitty. Seeing herself in that position with him caused a feeling of raw heat to rush through her, and suddenly he was all she could think about and she had the strongest desire to be on top of him again. His eyes, his lips, his voice... the sound he'd made when that photo was taken, the look of vulnerability as he lay sprawled out beneath her...

The sincerity in his voice when he told her that she was his everything, the look of total heartbreak when he came to see her as Marinette before he knew who she was...

The bliss in his eyes and smile when he realized it was her...

Oh God, she couldn't think about this right now. This was not the time or place.

Had Adrien been trying to hold her hand?

She glanced back at him, he stood completely still. His gaze was locked on her, and sure enough, his hand looked to be just now retracting back from where it hovered in the air when she'd pulled free from it. What had started as a hurried trot to catch up with Alya and Nino slowed down until she stood motionless, looking back at him.

She'd had a brief feeling of guilt wash over her, seeing those pictures and remember Chat and what they'd shared yesterday. Guilt because she was here with Adrien, who had been uncharacteristically affection towards her today.

She'd already told herself that she wasn't going to worry about it, as she wasn't actually dating anyone. She didn't need to feel guilty. She was still figuring things out.

Chat Noir was not here. Adrien was. And she was pretty sure that he was just trying to hold her hand.

"Wh-what's the hold up?" She asked, trying to sound casual.

"Uh... n-nothing." He forced a smile and jogged to catch up with her. As they started after Alya and Nino, their hands brushed each other more than once and Marinette could tell that, yes, he was doing so on purpose. Which meant that he probably was, indeed, trying to hold her hand.

She wished she had the balls to just grab his hand and be done with it, but she couldn't bring herself to for fear of a potentially awkward situation. Perhaps once they were in their seats and the movie had started...

By the time they caught up to their friends, they were inside already purchasing the tickets. Nino was paying for both himself and for Alya. Adrien saw Marinette reach into her pocket, but before she could retrieve any money and as soon as Nino was finished paying, he placed his own credit card on the counter and politely said, "Same movie as them, two please."

The cashier smiled and took his card. He saw Marinette look at him through his peripheral vision, but he continued to just smile at the cashier. She pressed some buttons, swiped his card and handed it back to him. Her eyes darted between himself and Marinette. "You two are a cute couple." She said with a grin as she handed him two tickets.

His first reaction was to say "Thank you!" whether for the tickets or for the compliment, he wasn't sure. Both, he supposed. He wasn't going to correct the ticket girl, but he wondered if Marinette would. He glanced over at her only to see her being grabbed by Alya, who proclaimed they were going to get in the line for popcorn before she dragged her off towards the rather long concession line.

The next thing he knew, Nino's arm was around his neck. "Dude, spill, what's up with you two?"

"Huh, what?" The force of the arm thrown onto him as soon as the girls were out of earshot was enough to throw off his train of thought. He didn't know why he didn't think about it, but he hadn't expected to have to answer any questions like that.

In hindsight, he really should've expected as much. He'd never answered Nino's text the previous day where he had asked what the two of them had talked about when they were alone.

"You and Marinette!" Nino clarified impatiently. "You guys dating finally?"

Adrien felt his cheeks heat up. He wanted to share with Nino, mainly so he could ask for advice because Lord knows, he had no idea what he was doing. But he also knew that Nino would have a hard time not telling Alya, and that was a dangerous game.

But on the other hand, Nino was an understanding guy, and despite his habit of catering to Alya's overzealous tendencies, Adrien thought that if maybe he voiced his concerns, Nino would respect his wishes.

Not that he didn't trust Alya, she was a good friend, but he knew damn well that anything she heard would make it's way back to Marinette's ears. If there was anything to be said about Alya, it was that she was honest, almost to a fault, was an absolute seeker of the truth, had minimal secret keeping ability, and an over-eagerness to 'help'. She was going to be an amazing journalist someday, he was sure.

Point was, learning about his affections from her friend would quickly turn his true love story into a teenage rom-com, and that wasn't what he was going for.

"We're not dating... but..." He started slowly, but then hesitated. Nino picked up on it, and smiled encouragingly. "You have to promise not to tell Alya!"

"Oh, dude..." Nino said, smirk spreading across his face. "Must be juicy if you don't want Alya to know." He gripped Adrien's shoulder and gave it a light shake.

Adrien made a huff to communicate his frustration as they walked to a less busy area in the lobby, next to a pillar, not quite near the concession line where the girls were, but they were in their line of vision. "It's just... I mean... you know she can't keep a secret! ...A-and I-"

Nino chuckled. "Relax, Bro, I'm picking up what you're putting down." He said with a wink. "Besides, whatever it is that you don't want me to tell her, I'm sure she's pressuring it out of Marinette right now." He nodded his head towards the line.

Adrien followed his gesture and saw the girls, and though they were too far to hear them, Alya's wide, bright eyes and excited bouncing, combined with Marinette's red cheeks and defensive hand gestures said it all. They were clearly in the middle of similar conversation, looking more like an interrogation than anything else.

"Man, Alya really is merciless, isn't she?" Nino continued. "Poor Mari doesn't stand a chance."

"Well, I don't know what Alya is expecting to get out of her, but what I want to tell you... she doesn't know."

Nino looked away from the girls to meet his friend's gaze. "Say what?"

"Don't tell Alya." He drew in a breath through his nose, and released it through his mouth. "I have a crush on Marinette."

Nino didn't look surprised at all. Just confused. "But... you're not dating?"

Adrien shook his head, which caused more confusion to pass over Nino's face. "Um... Why not?"

"Dude, it's not that simple!" Adrien looked back over towards the girls.

"What do you mean, it's not that simple?" Nino looked back and forth between Adrien and Marinette. "It's super simple. You like her, she likes you, you ask her out, she says yes. Simple."

Adrien gave a humorless chuckle. He wished it were that simple, but of course Nino didn't know about the whole secret identity thing. The whole situation was way more complicated than that. Technically, he was his own romantic rival. He knew her secret identity, she didn't know his. She had no idea that Adrien was the same person that all yesterday's drama had happened with. She'd told Chat Noir she had feelings for him, not Adrien. Ladybug and Chat Noir shared something incredible, but Marinette and Adrien were just starting to get to know one another at more than just a surface level.

Maybe he was overthinking it, maybe he was making it more complicated than it needed to be, but no matter how he looked at it, he just couldn't imagine it being as simple as Nino described.

"What if she doesn't like me, though?" Insecurity leaked into his voice. That was his main fear after all. He'd started to feel a bit more confident talking to Marinette on the bench earlier, but she still didn't know his secret and he couldn't shake the fear that she would be disappointed.

Nino, on the other hand, now looked to him like he was stupid. "You're... you're kidding, right?"

"Oh, c'mon, man!" Frustration crept into Adrien's voice. "What, am I just supposed to assume that any girl I like has to like me back?"

"No, but that particular girl has had a crush on you since freshman year." Nino said completely monotone. "Did... did you seriously not know that?"

Nino said it like it was common knowledge, like the truest truth there was, but Adrien's first thought was that Nino was either sorely mistaken, or was trying to be supportive and encourage him. Adrien happened to know for a fact that Marinette...

Wait.

Adrien had thought that Marinette didn't like him, but they had literally just had a conversation about that before Alya and Nino showed up. During that same conversation, Marinette had said that she thought he was attractive. And she seemed completely floored to learn that he thought she didn't like him.

Could it be...?

Nino continued, oblivious to Adrien's inner musings. "I mean, I didn't know until Alya told me, granted I didn't really pay attention, but then it became painfully obvious. She's gotten alot better about it, but she used to get so nervous, she'd stammer and trip over herself whenever you were around." He chuckled. "In hindsight, it was kind of endearing-"

"But, wait..." Adrien interjected. "We talked about that, and she told me that she got nervous around me because she was intimidated by me."

"And why would she be intimidated by you if she didn't like you?" Nino answered with a laugh. He leaned against the pillar casually. "Seriously, dude, why do you think Alya's so hellbent on trying to set you guys up?"

"I thought it was because... of you two... she wanted us to go on double dates and stuff..."

"Well, that's part of it, I guess. I mean, what do you call this?"

Was this a date?

He looked back over to the girls to see that they were almost through the snack line. Nino began walking towards them and pulled Adrien along after him. "You paid for her ticket, dude." Nino said with a wink over his shoulder as they approached the girls. "That makes this a date. Like I said before. Simple."

They caught Marinette and Alya in the middle of discussing what kind of snacks they should get for the group of them. They had clearly seen them coming and changed their topic on the fly. Marinette's face was still beat red from whatever they had been talking about.

"We usually go through a medium popcorn with just two of us, would a large be enough for four?" Marinette was saying.

Alya hummed in contemplation before acknowledging Nino and Adrien walking up to them. "Well, boys, thank you for joining us. Where did you two skirt off to?"

Nino gave her a knowing smirk and said, "I'm pretty sure we were having similar conversations."

The devious smile that spread across Alya's face told Adrien that Nino was right.

Marinette either wasn't paying attention, or was making a conscious decision to ignore what was being said, as her gaze remained up at the concession menu. "We could do the combo with two mediums and two drinks and just share, that's cheaper anyway..."

"Yes, let's do that!" Alya said enthusiastically, and then looped her arm through Nino's as they made their way to the counter. "What drink do you want to share with me, Nino?"

"Wait, wha...?" Marinette muttered.

"I hope you like Diet Coke, Adrien, that's Marinette's favorite."

"Oh, uh..." Adrien suddenly regretted saying anything to Nino. Of course he could've have said anything to Alya already, but they clearly had their own set of verbal cues and it was starting to happen. Alya was trying to 'help'.

He didn't mind sharing a drink with Marinette of course, but she was just starting to feel comfortable around him, he didn't want her to feel overwhelmed and start to pull away. She already looked like she was going to burst from what she and Alya had talked about, whatever it was.

"If you don't want to share, I can just get another one." He offered.

She looked up at him with pink cheeks, then looked to Alya. The two of them shared a silent exchange, with Marinette shooting her a pout and Alya responding with a smirk and a wink. Marinette looked at her best friend for a moment longer with narrow eyes, and then seemed to accept defeat. She drew in a deep breath through her nose, and then released it in a heavy sigh.

When she met Adrien's gaze again, she wore a mixture of resignation and determination. "I hope you like Diet Coke, because that's my favorite."

He smiled. "That's my favorite, too."

That was a lie. He never drank soda. His father didn't allow 'junk food' in the house. He wasn't sure if he'd ever even had Diet Coke.

Marinette tried to pay for their snacks, but Adrien didn't let her. Both he and Nino gave their cards and asked the cashier to split it down the middle. Marinette initially tried to protest, but quickly realized it was useless, so she just huffed as she and Alya took the popcorn to the butter station.

"Dude, a couple things." Nino said to Adrien, grabbing him by the shoulder to stop him from following. "You're doing good on this, but don't let her pay for anything tonight. If she does, she might argue that this isn't a date. Second, this is a scary movie so you'll probably end up holding her hand. Make sure the hand closest to her isn't covered in butter, eat with the other one."

"Wow, I wouldn't have even thought of that." Adrien said back. "Thanks, man."

"I got your back, bro." He said as they headed over. "I learned that one the hard way."

The four entered the theater and found it much more crowded than they would've liked. As was to be expected, they reasoned, as it was opening weekend to a highly anticipated horror movie remake.

After some searching, they were finally able to locate four open seats next to each other. Adrien took the first, then Marinette, then Alya and Nino. They shed their coats as they settled into their seats, and Adrien felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Confused, he retrieved it and saw a text from Nino. He looked to his friend to see him holding his phone, screen open to their messages. Why in the world would he text him when he was right here?

(1 New Message From Nino)

-One more thing I forgot to ask. Have you guys kissed yet?

Oh. That's why.

Technically, the answer was yes. But he couldn't tell Nino that.

-No we haven't.

-Okay, then bare in mind Mari likes scary movies so don't try to kiss her during UNLESS she tells you that she thinks the movie is boring.

-…I'll keep that in mind.

-Save it for a romantic good night kiss! (; This IS a date after all!

Now there was something he hadn't pondered. He wasn't planning on kissing her, he hadn't even thought about it. But he also hadn't considered this being a date until recently. With the possibility suddenly presented to him, his mind started reeling. He wasn't ready, he knew that, but would he really reject the opportunity if it was presented to him? It seemed too soon and what about-?

"Do you like scary movies?"

Marinette's quiet voice broke him from his thoughts.

"Oh, um…" He honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd seen one. "I don't really watch alot of scary movie, but I don't dislike them."

She smiled as she slid down in her chair, pulling her knees up to her chest to get comfortable. He noticed that as she curled up, she leaned her body more towards him. "I love scary movies. But I startle really easily." She chuckled. "Not that that's a big surprise."

He smiled warmly. He'd never been on a date before, and he still wasn't sure if he could call this a date. He didn't know what it was supposed to feel like, but as the lights dimmed and the big screen lit up, he leaned closer to her and felt like everything was exactly as it should be. He felt warm and happy and was very glad that Alya had invited them all out tonight.

Trailers for upcoming movies started to play and he had to lean in fairly close to hear what she was saying.

"Tell me what is it we're seeing again?" He said to her, trying to speak loud enough for her to hear him without disturbing the people around them. "I haven't actually heard of it before."

"Oh," she responded and turned her torso to face him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke low against his ear. "Basically, the story is-"

The trailer that was playing was very loud, so he couldn't really hear her after that. But even if he could, the feelings of her breath on his neck was far too distracting. He picked up a few words, like "… demon witch thing…" and "… haunted woods…"

He nodded along, as if he heard every word. She finished explaining just as the current trailer was ending and he was able to hear her say, "….. anyway, I am so excited for this." He glanced over and caught sight of her wide smile. "I can't believe you've never heard of this, the original was like a cult classic!"

She was starting to act like her normal, comfortable self, and as the trailer ended and another began, and a thought struck him.

He didn't quite know how to describe it, but he was now realizing that the fact that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person hadn't really sunk in for him. He knew it in his head, had confirmed it with her via phone, but he hadn't any actually visual confirmation. It hadn't yet been made real. Maybe it was the nerves getting to him, or the fear that everything that had happened the night before could still be a dream, but he needed proof. Real, physical proof. He needed to see something. To prove to himself that he wasn't crazy, if nothing else.

Up until this point, he realized, he had kind of been on auto pilot. He'd sought out her attention because he knew in his head that she was His Lady, but as he looked over at her now in the flickering lights from the screen, he saw Marinette. That wasn't a bad thing, not at all, but when he recalled that the young woman before him was actually Ladybug, he still found himself in a state of disbelief.

Well…. He could worry about that later. For now, he should focus on just enjoying himself. He already felt that he and Marinette had become closer tonight, broken down some walls that had been between them. He was on the right track, and he shouldn't expect everything to happen at once. It would take time for the bond they had as Ladybug and Chat Noir to translate to Marinette and Adrien.

But it did give him something to look forward to.

He'd forgotten he had a bucket of popcorn in his lap until she reached over to take some, quickly snapping him back into reality. After the trailer on the screen faded to black, she leaned closer to him and whispered, "That one looked really good."

"Yeah, it did." He whispered back. He hadn't really been paying attention to it.

He did his best to focus on the screen in front of him for the remainder of the trailers, only getting slightly distracted every time her hand appeared just below his line of vision to take another piece of popcorn.

As the movie started, he found it much easier to ignore the thoughts that kept popping into his head. The story so far was very interesting and he thought about maybe inviting Marinette over to his place to watch the original together. Would she go for that? And if she agreed, what then? It would be so late by the time it was over, would she stay the night? Should he make a move? Kiss her? Reveal his identity? What if she didn't react well?

What if she did?

Just watch the movie, Agreste, he scolded himself, fidgeting in his seat. He knew damn well it was too early for all that.

This movie was good. As he watched on, he found himself getting more invested in the story and characters. A group of teenager were camping out in the woods, the same woods where one guy's sister had disappeared a year before. After someone in the group had wandered off to investigate a strange sound, there was a scream in the darkness and his friends scrambled off to find him. Adrien felt himself tense up. The group ended up getting split up and it seemed that something else was out there with them. Adrien didn't watch alot of scary movies, but he pretty sure his should brace himself for a jump scare.

"I'm just gonna…." He heard Marinette say from beside him and saw her hand nervously inching toward his. "…take this."

She snatched his hand up and jumped right as the camper on screen was attacked, and Adrien was embarrassed by the yelp he made. He squeezed her hand tightly as they watched the camper try to flee the unseen monster. Marinette held their joined hands up over her face and leaned heavily against his shoulder. He wish he could say he enjoyed it, and he did, but he was far too engrossed in the film now to overthink anything.

They kept their grip on each other. Every time a jump scare happened, Marinette would hide behind their hands and sometimes even make a startled squeak. Adrien had never know himself to be a jumpy person, but this film was bringing it out of him. The tension had him so stressed out that every little thing made him jump. They finally reached a point in the film where some plot was happening, which promised no jump scares for at least a bit. Marinette untangled herself from him to stretch herself out, as all the scares had her curled up in a tight ball at Adrien's side. He also took the time to crack his knuckles and flex his hand a few times. Marinette saw this and chuckled.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"No, it's fine." He responded with a chuckle.

As they settled back in, he lay his hand on the arm rest between them, wanting her to take it, but not yet brave enough to take her's first.

She noticed this. She couldn't believe how well this was going. She hadn't lost her nerve once. She was able to take his hand without any issue, a feat that never would've been possible only a few months ago. And unless she was imagining things, he seemed to be wanting her to do it again.

She didn't, however. In a quick act of boldness, she gently laid her head on his shoulder. She tried to do so without much shuffling to avoid any potential awkwardness, but found that this left her neck tilted in an uncomfortable position.

He smiled and lay his hand on her knee. Marinette seemed to be really warming up to him. Such physical contact was completely new territory for them, and for her to be the one to initiate it was a pleasant surprise. He began to feel hot behind his neck, despite the cool temperature in the theater. The reality of their position dawned on him. It was dark. Even though they were surrounded by people, no one was watching them. She was snuggled up next to him, and he had the strangest suspicion that she was anxious about something. He felt her twitch about like she was trying not to move but couldn't help it.

She nuzzled closer to him and lay a hand on his sleeve. Now he was sure, she had nervous energy about something. His mind began racing over what it could be. But before he could even come up with a theory, she lifted her head from his shoulder, her hand traveled from his forearm to his bicep and she gave his sleeve a tug. She was trying to get his attention. She wanted him to turn towards her.

She wanted to kiss him.

His heart rate increased tenfold and his face caught flames. He was sure that's what she wanted, he could feel how close she was. As soon as he turned to look at her, her lips would be mere inches away. He was looking straight ahead of him and it was too dark to see her from his peripheral. He wanted to kiss her, but being so close to the reality of it caught him off guard. He froze up.

She tugged his sleeve again, more insistent this time.

He was taking too long. If he didn't move now, she was going to think he was rejecting her and she'd withdraw all affection and her walls would go right back up. In that moment, his mind went blank. He forgot about pursuing her as Chat, he forgot about taking things slow, he forgot everything except that she was there now and she was tugging on his sleeve and she wanted to kiss him.

He turned towards her, his best smoldering model look in place, leaned in, lips pursed….

Only to find that she wasn't even facing him.

He damn near bumped into the back of her head. In fact, she might've felt his breathing on her hair. She was facing toward Alya and Nino, whom Adrien now saw and now understood why she was trying to get his attention.

Adrien had never seen two people making out quite as vigorously as the two of them were now. With no shame, in front of God and everyone. He'd known that they had a thing between them, but Nino had never told of things like…. that happening. Nino's fingers tangled in Alya's hair and Alya almost seemed to be trying to jump over the armrest separating their bodies and the passionate between them made Adrien wonder what else they had done and it would be a lie to say he wasn't a bit curious, very shy, and the smallest bit jealous.

Marinette was less amused. She reached down to the tub popcorn that had been placed between their feet during the scary parts and retrieved a handful of it. Leaning back against Adrien once more, she started throwing the kernels, one at a time, at the back of Alya's head.

Nino was the one to notice, as a piece hit the back of his hand. He broke the kiss to shoot Marinette a questioning look. Alya, confused as to what had interrupted them, followed his gaze and turned to see their best friends staring at them. Nino seemed a bit embarrassed, Alya was annoyed at the interruption.

"You are missing the movie!" Marinette whispered.

"I'm more interested in something else right now." Alya responded. "It's fun, you should try it." And with that, she turned to Nino once more, who was more than eager to receive her.

Marinette made a scoff sound, trying to sound annoyed, but the truth was that she was about three seconds away from a freak out and was trying brush it off.

She was about ninety-six percent sure that Adrien had just tried to kiss her.

She had tugged his sleeve with the intention of him seeing what their friends were up to, but did he think she had wanted something else? She felt him, clear as day, lean in and brush the back of her head. She could feel his breath on her ear. She heard him make a small sound of surprise and stop suddenly when he'd gotten too close.

He was currently stiff as a board, staring mechanically in front of him up at the screen. He was so much more relaxed a moment ago. This added to Marinette suspicion. What was she going to do now? If he tried again, would she let him? And then what? What about Chat?

Marinette, she told herself firmly, stop thinking. Watch the movie. Let's just see where this night takes us.

She wrapped her arm around his and hid her face behind his shoulder just as another jump scare burst forth from the screen.

…

So this took awhile, but honestly I had wanted to write the whole night as one chapter, but it got too long. This chapter gave me some trouble but I think it might be my favorite one so far.

More chapters coming soon!