Yeah, yeah... I know... I took some time to come back with a chapter. I was sick and I really needed some rest. I'm fine now! I was hoping a few more reviews to motivate me but whatever, here's some misunderstandings, misunderstandings and more misunderstandings! It's a longer chapter (2 in 1, because I'm very sorry for making you wait more than a week.)

Notes: You asked for crack? Here, may receive. Sharing her body with her boyfriend (and handsome superhero partner) is quite hard to hide from Marinette's best friend.

CHAPTER 6: Busted

The rest of their first day of classes stuck together had gone relatively well. At least, until they left the University building and stumbled onto Alya earlier than expected. An angry Alya, though.

They were far from imagining how complicated things would get for them from then on. Although, Marinette could almost guess it from the look stuck on her best friend's face. She swallowed, mouth dry, and waited for her fate.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! You owe me some huge explanations, girl!" Alya claimed, gesturing with her arms how big she wanted these to be.

She gulped, wondering how Alya could have understood the situation they were in. Maybe one of the sneaky Kwamis got to Trixx?

"Hi, Alya! What's going on?" She tried, sounding less confident than she wanted.

"Spare me that! When were you going to tell me that you and Adrien were dating? It's all the talk on the campus today!"

Oh! That would explain the strange, curious glances some people gave her earlier in the hallways and also on the campus.

"Argh! Maxime! I wasn't feeling this fucking idiot, and I was right!" Chat Noir shouted with clenched jaws. "I'm not dating Adrien," Marinette sternly added, balling her hands into fists.

Alya looked completely unimpressed, her arms folded over her chest, eyes narrowing under her glasses, obviously waiting for something more convincing.

"Oh, dear! This is a disaster," Marinette groaned as she grabbed Alya's wrist, dragging her far from prying eyes. "I'm not dating Adrien," she stated again.

"Hm. I see. I'd have to squeeze the facts out of Adrien later then..." Alya grinned slyly.

"No!" Marinette squealed as she felt her body tense against her own will. It seemed that her boyfriend was not feeling great with this misunderstanding. "Adrien can't know about this!" she begged with pleading eyes.

"Aha!" Alya pointed at her. "I knew it! You don't want me to talk to Adrien 'cause you're keeping your relationship a secret!"

No, no, no! Marinette facepalmed and groaned. She had to get out of this misunderstanding. She couldn't let Alya believe this.

"Tell her," her partner suddenly suggested. "She already knows you're Ladybug anyway."

"Of course, I know. Marinette? Are you sure you are okay?" Alya inquired, her voice filled with concern.

"This is so embarrassing," Marinette mumbled as she buried her face in her hands.

"She will understand," Chat Noir replied, praying her hands away from her face.

"Fine." Marinette's shoulders slumped. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Alya's hands suddenly coming to rest on her shoulders forced her to snap her eyes open and listen to her. "Why the hell are you saying things that don't make any sense, Marinette?" Alya lifted her hand to her best friend's forehead. "Are you sick? We can cancel our meeting later if that's the case."

"I'm fine, Alya." She pulled her best friend's hand away from her forehead. Her bluebell eyes locked with Alya's brown as she took a deep breath, "I'm not dating Adrien b-because… I'm… I'm d-dating… Chat N-Noir."

As she should have guessed it, Alya squealed like a fangirl. Too bad, she was going to have to play the killjoy and shorten her victory dance.

"But that's not all… Something…s-something went w-wrong…" Argh. There. She was going to tell all the truth to Alya as embarrassing as it was.

The girl instantly regained her seriousness. "What happened? Did he cheat on you?! I swear if he—"

"Hold on! I didn't do anything! I love her. I'd never do that! Cat's honor!" Chat Noir blurted out, interrupting Alya's threatening.

The Ladyblogger made a face, her eyes widening and her mouth gaping like that of a fish. As for a scoop… This one was a huge one!

"Chat…Noir?" She asked as she leaned in very close from Marinette's face, scrutinizing her every feature. "Oh my gosh! You swapped bodies, didn't you?!"

"Er, if only it'd have been that easy…" he sighed. "Long story short… We're currently sharing the same body," Marinette eventually explained.

Alya turned around them, detailing Marinette's shape from every angle. "Wow… this is… Wow!" She was left speechless.

"Yeah, crazy… We know…"

"Who just spoke there?"

"Chat, and now, me," Marinette answered.

Alya nodded, humming in a thoughtful way as her curiosity was thoroughly aroused. "How did this happen?"

This was the dreaded question. The one that she would have preferred to avoid—that they both would have preferred to avoid. Clearly, they'd no way to escape this. So, Marinette just took the plunge. She explained to Alya how it happened. Their warm embrace in the Parisian quiet night, the unexpected connection between their Miraculouses, the wish and… she'd been interrupted. Of course.

"Wait, you two finally got some! Damn! You lost your virginity to Chat Noir, and you didn't tell me!" Alya scolded as she nudged Marinette's side.

Soon, Alya's face was split into a devilish grin. Marinette gulped, not sure she'd like what would come next. "I gotta ask, though… How was it? Does he have as much in his pants as the amount of flirting he dishes out?" She inquired, wiggling her eyebrows.

Oh god, yes! He was as good at fucking as he was at flirting. In other words, actually, as meowderful as the thrilling meow he made when he cums.

Marinette made a mental note to tease her boyfriend about that later then berated herself—she could definitely not confess that to Alya. Yet her thoughts started to race through vivid memories and images in her mind as well as sharp sensations straight between her thighs. She blinked, trying to chase her thoughts away as her face heated up, and she had to fan herself a little. Luckily, Chat Noir was her savior today.

"Hi, I'm still here in case you forgot, and I can hear you." Chat made it clear for Alya to cut it off until Marinette got her body back for herself and could talk about those 'girls' stuff' in private.

Marinette sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Alya, listen… I couldn't even tell you that we were together, let alone give you juicy details... It was a secret relationship because we—"

"—because you ," her boyfriend corrected her.

Marinette sighed again, knowing all too well that he was right. She scowled a little and admitted defeat.

"Because I was… scared," she eventually confessed, lowering her head and looking at her feet, avoiding Alya's gaze. "I was scared that our love might be a bad thing because of Shadowmoth, as well as for Paris. For us . I thought that keeping it a secret would be easier. Keeping secrets has become one of the things I'm best at in the last 4 years. I can even say that I'm very good at it now and that it feels reassuringly familiar ," Marinette admitted, her voice thick with emotions. "And I'm still scared because I know that Chat Noir and I still have a lot of things to sort out…"

Alya stepped toward Marinette and wrapped her arms around her back, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, Marinette... This is okay. I understand that you wanted to keep it for yourselves a little more," she whispered, voice gentle as she tightened her embrace.

"You're squeezing the life out of my girlfriend," Chat Noir mumbled, short of breath.

Alya jumped back and apologized before her eyes widened. "Hm. Wait. A lot of things to sort out?" She mused out loud. "Crap! You don't know who Chat Noir is, do you?"

"Well, I didn't have a choice with my identity as you can guess," Marinette explained. "As for mine, we want to take things slowly," Chat Noir added.

"This is so weird to see you finish each other's sentences like that. You're not out of the woods yet!" Alya noted, lips pursing. She then grabbed Marinette's hand and dragged them out of the corner where they were hidden. "Come on, we have to meet the boys in fifteen minutes. Maybe you could continue to explain to me everything you know about your condition? I want to help you."

Marinette nodded, trying to ignore the knot twisting her guts and the lump in her throat.

Confessing to Alya that they had no solution to resolve their issues was scary and so was the prospect of screwing and messing up things in front of the boys.

As if she could read her thoughts, Alya locked Marinette's arm with hers and encouraged her, "If the kitty cat can keep it quiet, the glamour will stay, and the boys wouldn't suspect anything. Don't worry," she reassured her before leaning in close to her ear. "Also, I still want juicy deets!" she whispered, voice teasing and curious.

Marinette's face flushed; Alya would never let her live this down.

"I'm still here. Just because you whisper doesn't mean I can't hear you," Chat Noir stated.

"Sorry..." Alya blushed a little, an apologetic smile stretching her lips. "I can't wait for you to get your body back only for yourself."

Well, she wasn't the only one hoping for that.

When the 'girls' arrived in front of the café where they were to meet the boys, Nino was already waiting for them at the entrance. He looked quite impatient, his foot nervously pounding the ground.

"Adrien isn't with you?" he asked the girls as he took a step forward to meet them. His face wasn't as cheerful as usual, his lips curved downward.

"Why would he? I thought you were going together to the sport's shop before meeting us here?" Alya inquired before pressing a quick peck on his boyfriend's mouth.

Nino sketched a small smile which faded away almost instantly. "He didn't come, and he hasn't answered my messages yesterday, nor my calls. Same today… I immediately got his voicemail," Nino stated, pouting. "I know the dude is busy, but he could have at least warned me that he would not come," he sighed, his voice filled with disappointment as he fidgeted with his fetish cap.

"Adrien had to join his father in Belgium yesterday afternoon, for marketing reasons," Marinette's mouth blurted out. Except that the words weren't coming from her because she was completely unaware of this detail.

Which could mean only one thing… Oh, dear!

A thing that clearly triggered a gasp from Alya's mouth as well as it also caught all her attention and stupefaction. Her best friend was now looking at her in disbelief, her eyelashes fluttering, "How do you know that?" she asked cautiously, and Marinette turned as white as a sheet of paper. To be honest, she didn't know which of the two of them had paled the most all of a sudden. She or her boyfriend?

"Er...because, h-he…" she stuttered. "... he asked me to feed his cat!" Chat Noir , Adrien freaking Agreste , added, offering the best excuses he came up with.

Smooth. Nothing better, Agreste?

"But…Adrien hasn't got a cat, has he?" Nino looked utterly puzzled.

There. What did she say before?

She had to intervene and cut this mess off. "Haha, no. Not his cat but a stray, you know," she giggled nervously. "You see, t-there's this cat who prowls around the manor, and A-Adrien feeds him. You know what they say. Once you feed a cat… he always comes back," she explained with a cringe-worthy grin. "Especially that one," she mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Oh. I see." Nino seemed to take the bait and pushed open the café' s door without asking for further explanations.

As for Marinette, she rushed inside and dragged Alya with her.

"Alya, can you come with me? I need to pee," she pleaded—coded message for: 'I'm freaking out, can we freak out together, please?' Or something like that. She then turned toward Nino, "You know the girls, always going to the restroom together, haha," she laughed awkwardly as she pulled her best friend's wrist, heading straight to the restroom.

Marinette locked the restroom door behind them. She and Alya were silently staring at each other, completely taken aback, until the latter burst out laughing. That was a hell of a way to break the uncomfortable silence.

"A stray cat… Oh my god…" Alya facepalmed. "I should've guessed it earlier. This… you two…" She paused, waving her hand toward Marinette's body. "It totally makes sense."

"Why's that?" Adrien asked, raising an inquisitive brow. In the meantime he took a deep breath, trying to get his girlfriend to breathe again.

"Oh, gosh, Adrien... I'm sure you both perfectly know what I'm talking about." Alya winked at them still chuckling, and it made them both blush instantly. "You're such disasters…you're really made for each other," she mused out loud.

Adrien folded Marinette's arms over her chest, scowling.

"Hey! How did you know I was the one asking and not Marinette?" he inquired, eyes narrowing.

"Well, I know my girl. She's broken right now. If it wasn't for you speaking, I'm not sure she would still be breathing." Alya shrugged and bit her lip, holding back another laugh. "Besides, I think you've got some things to 'sort out' . You'd better get back home. I'll tell Nino you're not feeling good."

Adrien just nodded, watching Alya as she unlocked the door. The girl opened it and paused, turning around before stepping out of the restroom, calling for him.

"Adrien, maybe you should go get your phone at home before my boyfriend has a breakdown," Alya chuckled before vanishing.

A sigh escaped Marinette's mouth, her body turning toward the sink and the mirror there.

"M'Lady? You okay? I know this is not exactly how you planned this to happen. I'm sorry," he apologized.

It took a few, long seconds before he got an answer, but he didn't want to rush her.

"It's alright… Nino was worried. You did the right thing. Just… let's get home now, okay?" She averted her gaze from the mirror, looking a little uncomfortable, and turned back to take hold of the doorknob.

"Sure. Anything you want," he whispered. He made her voice sound a little shaky, though.

After a quick stop at the Agreste Manor to pick up Adrien's phone, they made their way toward the Dupain-Cheng's place. Neither of them had spoken during their walk, a heavy silence settling between them .

When they arrived, Sabine Cheng was closing the shutters of the Boulangerie . Seeing her daughter outside, she paused, pulled up the shutter a little and opened the door.

"Hi, honey. How was your day?"

"Uh, good," Marinette tried to sketch a relaxed smile but it came out cringy and Adrien didn't want to interfere.

Sabine cast her a concerned glance and closed the shutters.

"Can we talk a little while your father is cleaning the back shop? You know… a kind of mother-daughter talk," Marinette's mother suggested, voice soft but her features looking pretty serious.

"S-sure." Marinette's voice felt uncertain.

They followed Sabine into the apartment, moving into the living room and sitting on the couch. Without expecting it, Marinette found herself with one hand in his mother's, whilst her other hand gently cupped her cheek.

"You've grown so much. You're not my innocent, little girl anymore," Sabine whispered.

Marinette's cheeks flushed instantly and… she grumbled?

Adrien wondered what could possibly be bothering her all of a sudden. Sabine was a caring mother, gentle and affectionate.

" Maman , we already had this talk," Marinette warned her straight away. "The birds and the bees, I know…" She blushed deeper following her statement, and Adrien felt his own blush merge with hers.

Sabine chuckled softly, smiling. "Good to know that you took note of our last talk. But, you see, honey, there's something else I wanted to talk about…" she explained softly, "...this precisely." She pointed her finger against Marinette's heart. "You know, for a moment I've been worried about you. You seemed sad and defeated…" Sabine noted with a soft look. "I thought that as hard as it could've been, you may have… moved on. There weren't as many pictures as you used to have on your walls and once, I even found some of your love notes for Buttercup in the dustbin. Yet, something didn't feel…right. As if a puzzle piece was missing. So I just took the puzzle from another angle and went back to fitting the pieces together one by one," she let her enigmatic statement linger for a few seconds. Sabine fondly stroked her cheek, and her smile widened. "How long have you and Adrien been dating already?" She inquired, going straight to the point, a satisfied smirk popping on her lips when Marinette whimpered, eyes widening.

Adrien felt as if Marinette's heart was going to explode and burst out of her chest because of him. For a moment, he was afraid of becoming a murderer. He didn't want to kill his Lady. But he wasn't sure he could take much more, and his reaction showed throughout his partner. She was gasping for breath and looked like she was about to combust on the spot. No pun intended. Well, thinking back at it, maybe it was her reaction as well. Maybe they were just reacting the same way. Whew, he wouldn't be held accountable for manslaughter.

Then, how could the poor Marinette answer this properly? She was dating Chat Noir for almost three months, but Adrien? She knew she had been dating him since… Thirty minutes? More or less. And she hadn't even had the time to get used to it. Well, following her mother's statement, she shouldn't mind his identity, right?

"I-It…It's been a few… days?" Marinette eventually tried when she recovered her ability to speak and breathe, but still sounded unsure.

Sabine folded her arms over her chest and raised a brow as if to say, 'I've been a teenager before you, spit it out' .

"Three m-months…" Marinette eventually admitted. "It's been three months."

"Why didn't you tell us? You knew we would be very happy for you. You both deserve to be loved." Sabine smiled worryingly, her eyes scanning through Marinette's, searching for an answer.

"B-because...uh, because…" she stammered, her voice shaking. "Because of my father. I mean, his father!" Adrien prompted, hoping Marinette would play along.

Sabine brows furrowed and, luckily, his girlfriend got into his game.

"You know... The internship I applied for at Gabriel Company for the summer break... I really want to do it and we didn't want our relationship to earn me special treatment..." she lied, coming up with a rather tangible excuse. "...or even worse, that our relationship discredits me," Adrien added, supporting Marinette's statement even stronger.

"I see. That's pretty forward-thinking of you. But we're still your parents… We should know about these things. We'd have respected your wish and kept the secret," Sabine sternly insisted, but somehow, Adrien could hear from her gentle tone that she wasn't upset.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I'll talk to papa . I promise," Marinette whispered sheepishly.

Sabine smiled and leaned in, pressing her lips in a soft kiss against Marinette's forehead.

"Have you and Adrien already…?"

" Maman !" Her face lit up like a traffic light.

Her mother pursed her lips, holding back a laugh. Obviously, she knew how to read her daughter's reaction. Well, Marinette was eighteen now so it wasn't surprising or disconcerting but, rather, natural. Nothing to be mad about.

"You really grew up much more than I thought. Yet, don't forget about the talk… Birth control pills and—"

"—Condoms! I know!" she interrupted her mother, and Adrien would bet her cheeks were as red as Ladybug's suit. "I think that I heard Papa coming and we wouldn't want him to hear that… haha, see you later!" She whimpered as she quickly got up from the couch and rushed into her room.

"Buttercup, hm? For some reason, this sounds utterly familiar…" Adrien couldn't help but tease her once they were finally alone.

"Oh, shut up…" Marinette mumbled, hiding her face shame between her hands.

"Why would I? I think it's cute." Adrien prayed her hands away from her face.

"You think so?"

Marinette fidgeted nervously with the heart-shaped buckle of her belt.

"Well, it means I was right. You wouldn't be able to resist me behind the mask." He forced her lips to stretch into a smirk belonging to Chat Noir's face. "It also means, we loved each other without even knowing it… We were such blind dorks."

She sighed and sat on her chaise longue.

"Tell me about it… I thought I finally moved on from Adrien, you , only to fall in love with Chat Noir, you , all over again." She suddenly jerked, whimpering. "You are Adrien," she cringed.

It looked like the realization finally sank in and, true to herself, she started to freak out.

She folded her knees against her chest, and her body started to slowly rock back and forth. "Oh my god, you're dating me! Marinette me, " she mumbled.

She seemed so taken aback, almost vulnerable, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.

"Is it a bad thing or a good thing?" he inquired, feeling both their anxiety creeping up.

"Well, you never saw Marinette that way…" she sadly murmured.

"Nonsense!"

They turned toward whoever complained—that is to say, Plagg.

"He always liked Marinette back. He was just too blinded by Ladybug to open his eyes. Also, too stubborn to even admit she was more than just a friend ," Plagg sneered.

This time, Marinette blushed, and it wasn't from her being flushed but him.

"Is… I-Is this true?" Marinette asked, and he could hear the hope in her voice.

"What can I say? The heart knows what the eyes can't see. I always felt something special around you. I was also very admirative of your whole being. Your kindness, your devotion to always help the people you love, your courage… I never thought I could love Ladybug stronger than how I actually feel for her, but that was a lie. I love her even more since I know it's you."

"Show me."

He blinked, neither expecting, nor really understanding what she was waiting for from him. "What?" he voiced his disbelief.

"Show me...that you love… me," she whispered more explicitly as she looked down her body and got rid of her cardigan before her belt followed suit.

Next chapter on Friday (I PROMISE)

Please, leave a review if you're enjoying the story (also, do you want longer chapters like this one? Or shorter so the story keeps going a little longer over the upcoming weeks?)