Marinette rushes home after her talk with Chloe, despite knowing she has to return to school. She can't bear the thought of Adrien alone in her room, separated even from Plagg, and feeling unwell. If staying with him had been an option initially, she would never have left. She runs into her room and squints as she looks around for Adrien. If he's not where I left him, at least he's up and walking.

She hears Nadja Chamack's voice and looks up at her bed to see the source of the sound: Adrien is sitting on her bed, watching the report from the battle. He climbed into bed all by himself so he must actually be feeling better, right?

Marinette can't see his face and she won't be fully convinced he's okay until she does. "Adrien?"

He whips around and grabs the railing of the bed with both hands, pulling his face in to peer down at her with a big goofy grin. "Mari!"

Is he that excited just to see me? I haven't even been gone that long. She wants him to come down and talk to her, but she isn't sure how to ask. She wants to hold him and feel his heartbeat in his neck while she listens to the sound of his breathing. She wonders if he even realizes that she has a reason to be worried about him.

"You looked amazing! How'd you like filling in for me, purr-incess?"

She flinches. Oh. That's why he's so happy. She ignores his comment and instead asks a question of her own, "The cat puns are only going to get worse from now on, aren't they?"

She's surprised when he ignores her own question, not even opting to make a pun in response. "We are tigers!" He sings.

Marinette can't help but giggle. She hasn't seen him this excited about anything since she gave him that button to contact her while she was in New York. She shakes her head at him, but continues the jingle, "We are tigers!"

"Mighty mighty tigers!"

She tries to keep a straight face as she echoes him, but a few stray laughs sneak out and interrupt the flow of the song, "Migh- ty, mighty— hehe tigers!"

"So, you wanted to be blonde, huh?" He smirks at her.

"Oh um… yeah?" She shrugs and tries to hide her growing grimace.

He tilts his head, "You wanted to look more like me, didn't you?"

Marinette's eyes widen "What? N-no."

His smile widens, "That wasn't very convincing, petit chat."

"Whatever…" She takes a deep breath and rolls her eyes, "Come get your ring back, silly cat."

He climbs down from the bed and Marinette takes in a sharp breath, nearly lurching forward when his foot slips slightly. She tries to calm her heartbeat when he turns around to walk over to her. She scans his body, looking for any sign that points to him not being okay. When she finds none, she looks up and their eyes lock.

Without breaking eye contact, she holds out the ring and he takes it from her with a crooked smile, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Marinette's remaining self control runs out and she runs into his arms. He returns the hug immediately, but they collide so hard that he has to take a step back to steady them.

Her face is buried into his chest so her response comes out muffled, "Ladybug said you got sick when she did the cure earlier. I was really worried about you."

He squeezes her tighter and kisses the top of her head, "I'm a tough cat. I'm fine."

She pulls back and looks into his eyes again, "Are you sure? Because I can make up some excuse not to go back to scho—"

"No." He grabs her hand and kisses her knuckles, "Get back to class. You've already had to miss out on so much because of me. I'll be fine."

She desperately tries to distract him from the heat rushing to her cheeks, "But are you sure? Ladybug said she found you staring at my chaise."

"Ugh, I forgot to tell her that was a secret." He groans.

Marinette raises her eyebrow, "You wanna tell me what you were doing?"

"I'll... tell you after you get back from school."

"Fineeee." She rolls her eyes and turns to leave but she stops when he tugs on the hand he's still holding.

He gives her a pouty kitten face, "Pound it?"

She smiles softly and bumps her fist into his before pulling her hand back to her side and leaving.

Adrien breaks into a wide grin and dances around her room. God I love having her as a friend. She's just so amazing.

Throughout class, Marinette tries to ignore the way Alya keeps sneaking glances at her. What makes her even more uneasy however, is when she catches her looking back at Lila too.

As hard as she tries, she can't focus on the lecture. If she's not distracted by the girl sitting next to her, her mind drifts back to whatever the hell Adrien was doing when he was sitting alone in front of her chaise with a blank stare.

The few times where she isn't thinking about either, she finds herself glancing at the back of Chloe's head. By the end of class, all she has written in her notes are the words 'Physics' and 'Notes'

When school finally lets out, Marinette grabs her belongings and quickly rushes out of the classroom, intending to get home and back to Adrien as quickly as possible.

She barrels into the library and throws her stuff down in front of the copier. After a moment, Alya puts her hand on her shoulder, "Marinette, we need to talk."

She yelps and nearly drops all of her papers. Marinette whips around to see that the brunette has followed her, "Uhhhh, sorry Al, this isn't a great time. I'm kinda in a rush but we can talk later, okay?"

"Marin-"

When her papers slide out of the machine, Marinette shoves them into her bag and runs out the door, "Later, I promise!"

Marinette opens the door with one hand, balancing a plate of finger sandwiches on the other. She freezes when she hears her own voice yelling, "..being held together with sewing thread and he might die if I can't fix his stitches. Do you think I would be here asking for this if I could just bring him here?! I have been a hero for four years. How much have I done for you since then? For EVERYONE? And you can't give me a bit of string." Her features pale and she nearly drops the food. Adrien snaps his head to look at her when she yelps.

"Marinette, oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god, ohmygod!" The smile he wears is the largest she's ever seen. His eyes are wide in an almost childlike wonder.

Nonono, Marinette did his stitches, not Ladybug! He figured it out, but he looks… happy? It just hasn't hit him yet. When it really sets in he's going to hate me. Tears brim in her eyes. She debates on closing the door and walking back out, but decides that whatever he has to say to her, she deserves. She closes the door and sets the food on a table. "Hm?" She finally says, unable to form real words. Dread swirls through her.

"Someone posted this video of Ladybug at the hospital! It went viral. She- She's talking about me!" He rushes over to her with the laptop and she watches in horror when he presses play and shoves it in her face. She grimaces as she watches her mental breakdown.

"Okay… Wh-what's so exciting ab-bout th-at?" Her heart is beating so fast, she thinks it might explode. She clenches the muscles in her legs, fighting the urge to run. However he reacts to this is your fault. You don't get to hide from it.

He sets the laptop down next to the food and balls his hands into fists. He bounces from foot to foot excitedly. "She called me 'her person', Mari. Her person! Can you believe it?"

She blinks, realizing he hasn't actually put the pieces together. Her dread is replaced by a more gentle feeling, one that she's used to experiencing around the blond: Nervousness. "W-well you are her lov- partner!" She blushes, silently praying that he's too riled up to notice her blunder.

"Yeah but-" he flaps his hands excitedly as he searches for his next words, "I- She- I'm special to her! She's so amazing, Mari, and I'm important to her! She's so smart and kind and confident and- and beautiful and strong and- I'm not just some partner she's forced to work with, I'm her favorite person! I'm the luckiest cat alive."

She tries not to laugh at his overzealous fangirling and is thankful that his mind appears to be moving too fast for him to register that he's making her blush. "You've been working together for years, Adrien. Of course you're important to her."

He grabs her shoulders and gently shakes her. "You don't understand, Marinette! This is- She's- I'm-"

"Slow down you goof! Take a deep breath. Let's grab the sandwiches and continue this conversation while we eat." She laughs.

He takes a few breaths and then swallows. She grabs the food and pulls the blanket off the chaise before setting the plate down and sitting beside it. He sits down on the other side. She hands him a sandwich and he shoves it in his mouth before continuing to gush about her. "So like, I've obviously been in love with Ladybug for- well since I met her really. You know that. She does, too. But she doesn't feel the same, so she's always kept me at arms length. I know it's because she doesn't want to lead me on, but I think part of her has always been scared she might actually fall for me, too. Because she likes someone else and liking two people is messy and confusing. I- it's also because she doesn't want to hurt me. Does that make sense?"

She tries to hide the way she winces at his words. He could tell. Marinette nods and takes a bite of her food, refusing to look him in the eyes. "Anyway," He continues, "Because she's always been so distant- which is partly just her personality, too. She takes our responsibilities as superheroes very seriously- and I do too, of course! But she doesn't like to joke around like I do. Well, sometimes she does and it always makes me really happy, but it's rare. She's just always so focussed on whatever the current goal is, even on patrol. Which isn't a bad thing! It's one of the things I love about her. Anyway, the point is, she'd never say something like that to my face, y'know? I've never heard her talk that way about anyone, not even the boy she's in love with. Not that she talks about him that often. I don't even know if she still has feelings for him; she doesn't like to discuss her personal life because, y'know, secret identities and all."

She's never seen him like this. It's truly a sight to behold: The sweet and reserved model allowing what sounds like every thought in his head to spill out clumsily. The suave and confident cat rambling nervously, trying not to stumble over his words. A strange mix of pride and guilt dances in her stomach. She's almost certain he's never been this authentically himself around anyone aside from, maybe, Plagg. She's sure he'll regret it when he finds out she was the girl he was talking about the whole time. This feels private, like something she has no right to see.

"Yeah, I get that." Marinette decides to stop him from sharing anything else that he wouldn't actually want her to hear and she grasps for a way to change the topic, "So," She gives him an amused smile, "Adrien Dupain-Cheng, huh?"

He furrows his brow, "What? Oh, yeah." He takes another bite and continues with his mouth full, "I like your family better than mine."

She nods, "Okay fair, but you are not my brother."

"Maybe not but I still want your parents." He laughs, "Wanna trade families? Marinette Agreste doesn't sound so bad."

"N-no thank you." Maybe she's flustered, or maybe she's just plain dumb because the words she decides to follow that up with are, "I'd like to live till my next birthday, thanks." Great job Marinette. She shoves her sandwich in her mouth in an attempt to muffle her groan which turned out to be a huge mistake.

He shrugs, "Guess I'll just have to become your husband then." And that is when the evil sandwich enacts its revenge. Marinette chokes and Adrien rushes to her side and rubs her back as he hands her some water.

After she has mostly recovered, she chokes out, "A-and here I th-thought we were just friends."

Adrien beams, "Best friends! You know," He wiggles his eyebrows, "They do say you should marry your best friend."

Marinette's eyes widen, He doesn't mean it. He's just teasing you. Don't be stupid. He was just raving about Ladybug. He doesn't know that you're the same person. She shakes herself to clear her head, "Then it's settled!" He gives her the happiest smile she's ever seen on him, "You're marrying Nino." He's only smiling because he thinks it's funny. The idea of marrying you is a joke to him. He doesn't mean it…. Right?

"And you'll marry Alya." And with that, reality crashes into her like a wave of ice water. Of course he doesn't. He's made it perfectly clear how he sees 's never going to change. If you stop getting your hopes up, It won't hurt so much every time something like this happens.

"Mari? Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"

She looks up, "Yeah- I mean no! I mean…" She takes a deep breath, "Me and Alya had a little argument this morning. It's nothing really, that just reminded me." Marinette forces as much brightness into her voice as she can muster, "So, do I get to be in your wedding?"

He scrunches up his face and opens his mouth to question her but thinks better of it, "Of course! You'll be my best man."

His classmate lets out a soft giggle "Does that mean I'll have to plan the bachelor party?"

"Absolutely. I expect passionfruit macarons and a variety of croissants."

She bows, "Only the best for The Adrien Dupain-Cheng. I better be designing your tux."

He shakes his head dramatically, "Oh no no no, Mari, you'll be designing my dress. I'll certainly be enlisting the help of my favorite princess to make a gown worthy of being seen by the eyes of my prince"

She smiles, "You would look great in a wedding dress."

He looks her up and down and grins, "So would you."

Marinette squeaks, "SURPRISE!" He jumps at her sudden explosion of noise, "I mean, a prize! Thing for you! I-" She drops her head and groans, "I give up." She pulls a stack of papers out of her bag and passes them to Adrien.

After his initial shock wears off, Adrien grabs the papers from her with a chuckle, "What is it?"

Because Marinette's face is now buried in her hands, her, "Just look at it," comes out extremely muffled.

"Oh my god." He gasps, "I love homework!" Marinette peeks through her fingers to see Adrien staring at the assignments with starry eyes. Suddenly, she dies laughing before he rushes over and crushes her into a hug, "Thank you!"

After Adrien gets the homework, he drags Marinette over to her desk and they get to work. "It's a lot nicer doing homework with you around" He muses.

"Yeah," Marinette smiles at him dreamily, "It is."

They continue working for a while, with Adrien occasionally asking questions about the recent lessons he missed.

After a few consecutive minutes of staring at the same problem, Marinette dramatically flops over onto Adrien's shoulder, "Why does math have to exist? I wanna be done already."

Adrien looks over at Marinette's math homework. "Mari."

Marinette glances up at him "Hm?"

"Question number 6 is wrong."

"What?" She looks back at the equation, "No it isn't, that's a formula we learned this morning, I can explain how it works if you want."

He shakes his head, "Nah, I learned that in one of my homeschool lessons a while ago."

"That's probably why you think mine is wrong, you must have memory loss or something." She flips her hair.

"Nooooo Mari, your answer is wrong." He starts tickling her so she cant respond but he fails

She gasps out through her laughter, "Hate to be the one to break it to you, Sunshine," she pushes him away, "but you are wrong."

Adrien grabs her hand right as she pushes him back. Her plan completely backfires when he falls onto the floor and pulls her with him. They land side by side with a thump. "Jesus Mar, how are you so strong when you're that tiny?"

She pushes herself off of him, "I'll have you know that I could totally kick your ass."

"Yeah, probably. But like, how, though?"

She flashes him a mischievous grin, "I'll show you." She pounces on top of him and tickles him. He pushes her off of him and grabs a nearby pillow and whacks her with it. She wrestles it out of his grip but pauses at the smug look on his face. "What?"

"You can't hit me back because I'm wounded." She throws the pillow directly at his face. He barks out a laugh and tackles her onto the ground. "Gotcha."

She hooks her leg around his thigh and flips them over, "I think what you meant to say is that I got you."

His face softens, "Yeah, you did."

Knock knock

They both whip their heads towards the trap door. Adrien tries to push Marinette off of him so he can hide, but she's frozen and he is completely pinned beneath her. He searches the room frantically, but he finds nothing he can use. He squeezes his eyes shut, "Plagg claws out."

Sabine comes through the door and looks over to where they're laying, "Marinette?"

Immediately after it would have been useful, she regains the ability to move, but she opts to stay frozen in hopes that her mother will overlook them. Once Sabine looks directly at her daughter, she decides to try to keep her attention away from Adrien. She glances down at him and when she realizes he's transformed, she panics. "Uhhhhh hi maman, look at this hyper realistic plushie of Chat Noir that I made."

Sabine glances down at the leather clad hero and smiles, "Oh that's so cool! Why are you straddling it though?"

Marinette presses her lips together and says slowly, "Testing the durability."

She gives her a questioning look, "For?"

"I don't know…" Panic settles in her stomach and she giggles nervously, " Ladybug is really gonna want something to punch so I thought I'd make sure it won't break."

"Uh huh," Sabine gives her an understanding nod, "and how do you feel about this, Chat Noir?"

Marinette snaps her head to look at him, still hoping she can find a way to explain everything away, he remains unmoving. "...OH! The breathing. As I said, it's hyper realistic so I put a battery powered balloon that inflates and deflates."

Her mothers lip twitches, "And I supposed you manueverd something like that for the eyelids as well?"

"You guessed it!" Marinette exclaims brightly.

Chat pokes her cheek, "Mari, I think she knows."

"Ahaha and a voice box."

"A voice box?" Adrien immediately cracks up and dies laughing.

"You stupid cat, she was at least going to pretend! Now we have to explain this for real." She groans, rolling off of him.

He wheezes as tears roll down his face, "I can keep pretending if you want to continue trying to explain the intricacies of how to create a hyper realistic doll."

"I'm sorry Maman…" She trails off when she sees her doubled over in laughter. Marinette groans and collapses on top of Chat, hugging him to her tightly and burying her face in his neck in an attempt to hide from her embarrassment.

He hugs her back and his laughter dies down as he smiles at her fondly, snuggling his cheek into the top of her head.

Sabine sobers and tilts her head at the two, "So why are you really on top of him? Or do I not want to know?"

Marinette turns so her ear is laying on his chest, "He told me I answered number 6 wrong…."

"..."

"..."

He looks down at her and boops her nose, "I was right though."

She swats his hand away, "No he wasn't."

Sabine sits on the floor and crosses her legs, "Considering how convoluted your plan was just now, I'd say he was probably right."

"See?" He nudges her arm and she rolls off of him so he can sit up, only to flop back onto his lap when he's settled, "Even your mom knows I'm right."

"Oh hush! She doesn't even know the problem."

"So I take it this is who you were hiding in the bathroom the other day?"

She shoots up pin straight, "You knew?"

Sabine raises her eyebrow and stares at her silently for a moment before she continues, "Oh, Bitsy-boo, as you've just demonstrated, you're a very bad liar."

Marinette puts her hand to her chest, offended, "I'll have you know I have the best excuses for my laaaaaa-absences- when I'm late to school"

Chat Noir leans over and completely blocks her view with his face, "Bitsy-boo?"

"Don't. You. Dare." She wrinkles her nose and emphasizes each word with a poke.

They stare at each other for a moment before Marinette see's Sabine tilt her head and peek around him. "So, how long were you gonna wait to tell your parents, lovebug?"

She pushes him away by the nose and pauses to chew on her lip, "...forever?"

Sabine fake pouts, "Well that's rude, Uggie Buggie, Were you not planning on inviting us to the wedding?"

Marinette squeeks, "What?!"

"He's here for a study date, right, Maribug?"

Chat turns to her as he tilts his head in question and she gently pushes him away, "Mom, can you please stop with all the nicknames?"

"That'd be a great ship name for Marinette and Ladybug." He muses quietly. Sabine and Marinette both turn to him with blank expressions. Chat looks up, "Well the other option is "Buginette" but I already call Ladybug that"

"Do you…" Marinette swallows, "Ship that?"

Before she even completes her sentence, he blurts out, "No!"

"Can somebody please answer my question? Is this or is this not a secret date?"

"What? No!" They say in unison. "We're just friends."

"Uh huh…" She gives a single nod, " So, why is your friend really here, then, Beetlejuice?"

"Hawkmoth discovered his identity and is trying to kill him, you know, the usual." She mutters casually.

Sabine stares at them for a moment, making sure she heard her daughter correctly. "Kill him?"

"Yeah… He came pretty close to succeeding." All of the humor quickly drains from Chat's eyes, leaving fresh tears in its place.

Sabine gasps. "Oh, you poor thing. So you've been hiding out here? Does your family know that you're okay?"

He laughs bitterly, "Oh, he knows. He's pissed he didn't finish the job." He pauses for a moment, remembering his last encounter with his father. Adrien begins sobbing.

Sabine looks at him with furrowed brows. "Hawkmoth is..."

He nods.

She rushes over to him and pulls him into a hug. "Oh honey…" she rubs his back soothingly, "You'll always have a place in our family."

After a moment of hesitation due to the shock of a parent actually caring about him, he wraps his arms around her and cries harder. A comforting hug from an adult is something he hadn't experienced in years and that feeling was almost enough to completely override the grief he felt over his father.

After his sobs quiet down, she pulls away slightly but her arms remain firmly wrapped around him as gives Marinette a stern glare. "So the boy almost died and you thought it was a good idea to sit on him, Supergirl?" She swats her daughter's arm.

She opts to glare at Chat Noir instead of answering, "This is your fault."