A bonus chapter… very overdue

Adrien came into his new apartment and hung his keys on a rack by the door. He bypassed the light in the entrance hall and made straight for the kitchen, tired of hearing Plagg complain about his empty stomach.

"I told you to bring something with you," he scolded.

"How was I supposed to know the snack bar would be out of cheese crackers?" Plagg asked. "I thought they restocked it at the end of day!"

"You can't expect a luxury snack bar, Plagg! We aren't at a modeling studio anym—"

"Hello, Kitty."

Adrien stumbled back as the lamp beside his couch flickered on. Marinette sat in the corner seat of his couch, his phone plainly displayed in her hand. "Missing something?"

Adrien frantically padded at his pockets, pulling out what he thought was his phone, only to find Marinette's phone instead.

"We must have grabbed the wrong ones at dinner last night," Marinette said cooly, before he could even say 'hello.' "I didn't realize til this afternoon when Nino called and his contact came up as 'Best Dude.'"

"Yeah, he changed it the other day for a laugh," Adrien tried to chuckle, but stopped when he realized Marinette wasn't smiling. "Thank you for stopping by to drop it off," he tried.

"Oh, it was our pleasure," Marinette smiled falsely, sending a knowing glance to Tikki. "You got a lot of other messages today. You didn't tell me you were getting into real-estate."

Adrien's heart seemed to stop beating. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. Many optional responses flashed through his mind, none of which were helpful.

"Are you going to tell me why you had Desmond evicted, or not?"

"M'Lady, I'm so sorry. I never meant for things to go that far, I was only—"

"Only what, Adrien?" Marinette pushed back, standing up from her place on the couch. "Stalking my ex's? Threatening them? What on earth were you even thinking!?"

"I don't know!" He said with some panic, "I… I… I don't know

He sunk down in a nearby chair, burying his face in his hands. Plagg floated into view, hovering by his head with a look of concern.

"I don't know," he muttered again. "It started out as me just being idiotic, and before I knew it… I'm so sorry, m'lady. I should have told you."

Marinette's expression softened. She crouched down in front of his chair with a sigh.

"Adrien, I just don't understand. How did this even start? Why would you even think about— the box." She groaned. "Oh my gosh, Adrien, it was the box wasn't it?"

"He practically lost his mind over it!" Plagg said with a touch of relief in his tone. "I tried to tell him to leave it alone but I couldn't stop him."

"Thanks for the support, Plagg," Adrien huffed, but he couldn't be too frustrated with Plagg, not with such a concerned expression on Marinette's face.

With a sigh, he took Marinette's hand and led her back to the couch where he told her the whole story. When he was done, they sat in silence. Adrien stared hard at Marinette, uncertain of what was going to happen next.

"Luka gave you Desmond's address?" She asked quietly.

"He… yeah, he did," Adrien admitted. He hadn't meant to rat Nino and Luka out as well, but once he started the truth had come tumbling out without reserve.

"I don't even know what to say, Adrien," Marinette finally admitted. "I'm shocked and angry, but I'm also relieved and touched and…" she wiped at her eyes as tears began to come, and Adrien couldn't help but pull her close to him.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette."

After a few minutes, Marinette pulled away and dried her face. Adrien's foot bounced nervously.

"If you need some time…" Adrien said when he could no longer take the silence. "I-I understand."

"What?" Marinette asked in her tear-stained voice. "No! I don't want that, Adrien!"

"But, what I've done…"

"Was poorly thought and a bit on the crazy side," Marinette said quietly. "But… you didn't physically hurt anyone and… Desmond… I can't really feel bad about what you did to him. Just knowing that he was still… I'm almost… relieved. I can't say that what you did was right, but… considering all of this…" she sighed and sent him a small, real smile. "I think we're okay."

"Really?" Adrien said hopefully. "Do you mean it?"

"I do," Marinette chuckled at his surprise. "I really do. But I'm serious. If you ever pull something like this again…"

"Trust me, I won't," Adrien promised. "Cat's honor."

"Good," Marinette smiled, handing him back his phone. "Now, can I have my phone back?"

Adrien started to hand it back to her, then an idea flashed through his mind and he grinned. "Hmm, I don't know… I think I might like it better than mine. You're gonna have to give me a real good reason to—"

As he hoped, Marinette made a lunge for her phone, landing her right in his arms. When she noticed how close they were, her face grew warm and her eyes widened. Adrien smiled, satisfied, and slipped her phone into her pocket.

"I've got a lot of things to make up to you," he said quietly. "I can't promise that I won't disappoint you again, but I can promise that I love you, and that I always will."

"I love you too, Kitty." Marinette pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I love you too."