So I've been a bit slow with my updates recently, and I have been busier with work, and illness, and life in general… however, I have also been working on this.

I've done 17 chapters so far, and it's probably only going to be 20 in total, so this fanfic is practically finished. I hope you enjoy, and there will be some season four spoilers, but I honestly have stopped watching the new episodes as I want to watch them in order.

It's not exactly canon… just imagine that Marinette sits at the back whenever Lila decides to make an appearance. 'Kay? Also, as I started this back in January, some of the season four developments have been written in, others have been completely discarded. Alya is still Rena Rouge for instance. Anyway, any questions, ask away, I'll answer them if the story doesn't later on.

Also, I'm running out of names for these things, which is why I've gone for the main plot point in the title.

Enjoy!

P.S.

Thank you CaulderPine for reading through and catching my mistakes! Lifesaver =^.^=


Marinette watched as Adrien left the room abruptly.

Again he had been pulled away from school for a photo shoot, and Nino had made another comment about his 'ol' man' and how Adrien should stand up to him. Marinette could not work out why Nino was suddenly so forceful on the matter, as it was obvious Adrien was frustrated by his own inability to stand up for himself when it came to his father: he did not need the added pressure from his friends.

Standing up herself, she pushed the fact that her stutter would most likely cause her a hindrance in comforting him, and made her way to find the blonde. Not really knowing where he would have gone (she found him sulking under the stairs last week), the ravenette checked all the cupboards down the hallway on her route to the locker room.

Not expecting him to actually be in any of the closets, Marinette never bothered knocking, which is exactly why she was able to disturb him talking to a familiar tiny black being.

Eyes wide, as her and Plagg stared at each other for a brief moment, until Adrien hurriedly scooped him back into the confines of his shirt, Marinette stayed mute. But the moment her eyes met his, she found the mask of her black clad partner positioned on the blonde's face. Blinking rapidly to get the image out of her mind, the dumbfounded teen shook her head and shut the door quickly. Escaping after a moment of 'oh my Kwami' reflection, Marinette made her way in a state of shock to the girls' toilets: she desperately needed a chat with her own Kwami.

"You knew Adrien was Chat Noir and you never thought to mention it?" She exclaimed in hushed and annoyed tones to Tikki; the little red being looked helplessly at her holder.

"I couldn't tell you Marinette, you know that!"

The teenager huffed, the proper thing to do now would be to go and tell him everything is fine and that his secret is safe, but she simply could not bring herself to. Marinette knew she should probably tell him it's not the end of the world because she was, in fact, his polka dotted partner, but she simply could not. The prospects of what had happened with Chat Blanc weighed heavily on her mind: that had indeed been the end of the world… There was also the tiny issue that Chat flirted with Ladybug; Ladybug pushed Chat away; Marinette loved Adrien…

Adrien who happened to be Chat…

Adrien who did not seem to see Marinette in that way… 'What are the chances?!'

Marinette needed time to come to terms with this revelation in her own way, and her tiny little Kwami seemed to have an idea of what Marinette was thinking over. "You said that he knew who you were Marinette, there's nothing to say you knew who he was." Tikki placed a comforting Kwami hand on Marinette's cheek causing the teen to look at the goddess. "Bunnix hasn't arrived, so far so good, right?"

"I can't tell him who I am Tikki," she whispered as she sat down on the closed toilet lid. "I'm not ready to give my identity up to him yet, and if I go to him, I'll probably let it slip an-"

The mighty goddess patted Marinette's cheekbone, "you don't have to unless you want to, you're the Guardian, this is your decision to make. And you never know, it will probably bring you both closer." Tikki winked encouragingly.

"He always said he liked me Tikki, Ladybug me," she shook her head again, "but he sees me me, as just a friend… what's to say that this will change anything?"

"You've got to be fair to him Marinette," TIkki griped and crossed her arms, "he doesn't see that side of you as Adrien at the moment, you can barely talk to the boy for starters-"

Tikki stopped when she heard Marinette's bitter half chuckle, "yeah, something tells me I should be fine talking to him now… he's completely different as Chat, I never would have thought…" The teenager remembered when Alya had her suspicions and actually laughed quite hysterically, "Alya would have a field day knowing she was friends with both of Paris' heroes."

Tikki looked at her holder with caution, "are you ok Marinette?"

Marinette smiled to herself, "I think I am Tikki." With a determined look, the ravenette stood up and gestured for Tikki to make her way back into her purse, "class will be starting in a minute, let's just see what happens."

With a nod from Tikki, they left the bathroom and headed to the classroom to start their afternoon sessions. The heroine decided to not go back to the library where her friends had been: the ravenette needed to think about how she was going to address this revelation, and if giving her own identity to her partner and facing her fears was something she could bring herself to do.

Eventually.


Marinette sat in the back of the classroom as Lila had turned up again and the budding designer wanted to save any arguments. It also gave her the perfect excuse to avoid speaking to Alya about going after Adrien. She thought it would be beneficial to have some quiet reflection time during calculus. Trouble was however, as soon as Adrien walked in, he avoided their other classmates in favour of going straight to the ravenette. It was not until he sat down in the vacant seat next to her though that she had even noticed, and Marinette was surprised when she did not feel the normal heat occupying her cheeks: it was there, just nowhere near as intense. Adrien on the other hand, seemed nervous: the trepidation dripping from his pores.

Marinette was not ready.

Neither was Adrien apparently.

They both sat there in an awkward silence while Lila shot them not so inconspicuous glares from the front row: obviously annoyed that the blonde had failed to sit in the seat he was known to. Alya threw Marinette a not so subtle wink with a thumbs up, and looked surprised when the ravenette failed to react in her typical flustered manner. Nino on the other hand, blatantly stared at his blonde and dark haired classmates, possibly wondering if Adrien's silence meant he was still annoyed at his ranting about Gabriel a mere twenty minutes ago.

As Miss Bustier began the lesson, instructing the class to take out their tablets, both teens on the back bench did so robotically. Marinette's eyes catching a black blur as she reached into her bag, did not surprise her, and she surmised the two tiny Kwami were having a little powwow in her purse. When their educator finished explaining the work, the redhead exited the room for a reason neither of them paid any notice to, and their peers began talking amongst themselves.

Adrien took the opportunity, and Marinette had decided the way she was going to spin the conversation.

"What you saw," the blonde began hesitantly, only for Marinette to look at him, pleasantly waiting to hear his explanation. "I-it was a bug-"

"No it wasn't Adrien," Marinette replied calmly and quietly, finding that she was actually able to have a conversation with him as long as she pictured the mask on his face. "You may remember that I have experience with them."

His eyes widened for a moment, and his green orbs darted about sheepishly while his hand found purchase on his nape.

'Why did I never notice that before?' Marinette smiled as he seemed to be racking his brain, "Kwamibuster…" she prompted quietly, and he immediately relaxed.

"Hehe," the blonde giggled awkwardly, "I remember now, yeah."

Marinette glanced around and noticed two olive eyes aimed in their direction. "Maybe," she fluttered her eyes in Lila's direction, "we should talk about this another time…"

Adrien knew exactly what Marinette was getting at, as he too spotted Lila's eyes narrowing before she turned around. "Good idea." He bumped her shoulder as he leaned into her space, "I'll be sure to call tonight."

Marinette groaned as she let out a sigh, Adrien chuckled at her, causing the ravenette to turn and see the broad grin which was much more at home on his alter ego's face. "I guess I'll leave the cat flap open for you," she replied wryly while rolling her eyes, earning an even bigger grin from him.

'I can't believe how easy it is to talk to him now!'

He whispered cheekily in reply, "is that an open invitation, Purrincess?"

'Maybe not,' Marinette stilled with the rosy blush tinting her cheeks intensifying. Turning her attention to the tablet in her hands, she avoided all eye contact with him for the remainder of the afternoon's class and chose to ignore the way her heart skipped several beats whenever their arms brushed against each other's.


After school, Marinnete paced the width of her floor nervously as Tikki watched with a bored expression from her computer desk. The Kwamis currently living in her room had been instructed to make themselves scarce as their constant chirping was giving her a headache. Wayzz had been particularly vocal alongside Pollen, but Tikki assured them that her and Plagg had it covered.

"It'll work Marinette, Plagg thinks it will too."

"So he doesn't think I should tell him yet either?"

"No," TIkki replied, "neither of you were ready, but now it gives you the opportunity to bond outside of the masks, and it will help your partnership."

Marinette deflated somewhat and turned to fully focus on her Kwami, "but it's completely one sided Tikki, what if he thinks I was being cruel when he does find out?"

Tikki smiled confidently, "Plagg knows his kitten, and he thinks this is the best way regardless." Marinette nodded but added nothing further, Tikki tilted her head understandingly. "Just get to know him Marinette, there's so much you both need to learn about each other, this will be good. I promise."


Once the clock on Marinette's wall signalled ten, the ravenette had a feeling that Chat or Adrien would be making an appearance sometime soon. Her stomach had been in knots all afternoon, and the wait had become almost unbearable. Not even a disagreement between the Kwami, alongside their enthusiasm at seeing Plagg, had distracted her fully. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, there was a thud of rubber boots landing deftly on her balcony. With Tikki already hidden out of sight, separate from the other tiny inhabitants of the room, Marinette headed up to the trapdoor alone.

'I can do this, I can do this… the love of my life just so happens to be my dork of a partner… I can do this...'

Letting out a breath, she opened up the hatch and looked up to see a feline hero kneeling next to the entrance. Green eyes darted around nervously.

He sheepishly scratched at his nape, "Marinette I-"

"Do you want to come in, uh, Chat?" Marinette hovered awkwardly in the entrance to her room, unsure if he would want to enter, "I brought some snacks up an-"

"Stray~ no more," he kind of bowed the best he could in his current position, and any suave the blonde was applying to the gesture was lost in his bent legs. "I would love to join you inside."

Marinette was surprised when her cheeks failed to flame as warmly as usual, and moved down to let him in. The secret heroine was not expecting him to transform as soon as he hit the floor in a graceful crouch however, but when her blue eyes landed on his Ladybug pyjama pants and plain black, loose fitting muscle top, she snorted, causing Adrien to dryly raise an eyebrow. His hair was nowhere near its usual shape either, and the sight of his fluffy blonde mane was begging to be ruffled. She poorly hid her amusement behind her hands while her eyes kept flickering to look at it.

"I do wash my hair, y'know."

"Sorry for staring, Adrien," she dropped her hands and smiled at him while biting her lip, "it's just so different, even from the Chat Noir side of you."

"You wanna touch it don't you?" Adrien teasingly pursed his lips at her giggling.

Marinette shrugged, the night was going much better than she expected, even if her cheeks had begun to feel like they were sunburnt. 'I haven't even stuttered!' "Maybe later, do you want talk about this or~"

"I don't really know what there is to talk about," he smiled kindly down to her, seeing her mouth drop open with surprise. "I trust you Marinette, and my Kwami does too strangely enough." Adrien glanced around quickly, "where the hell has he gone?"

"I'm sure he's just leaving us to it," Marinette shot a quick glance in the direction of where Tikki was hidden with a stash of cookies and Camembert. "He'll be fine, as long as my parents don't see him."

"I just hope he's not raiding the fridge," Adrien commented with a sheepish wince, "he has a never ending appetite, and doesn't really respect boundaries when cheese is involved."

Marinette snorted again, Tikki had made the same comment about the god of destruction, "should I get something special for the next time you pop in?" Marinette cursed her mouth when she realised how presumptive the question sounded, but she wanted it to seem that she did not already know about his need for Camembert. "I didn't mean, uh, I mean, if you wanted erm, y'know, just let me know and I can, y'know…"

'Smooth.'

Adrien's whole expression lit up, "you'd do that?" The look on his face was such a mixture of joy and astonishment that Marinette giggled again.

"Of course!" She grabbed the plate off her desk and handed it to Adrien, "I can't exactly only feed you now and leave your friend to suffer."

"You're amazing Marinette, you know that right?" Adrien hummed in delight as he closed his eyes and savoured the pain au chocolat in his mouth.

Marinette was required to turn and busy herself with the console while the redness dissipated in her cheeks. "What would you play to like-uh like to say-gah!" She deflated and let out a lengthy breath, handing over the controller to Adrien without looking at him. "Just pick something."

The rest of the evening went on without a hitch. Marinette wiped the floor with Adrien easily, and after an hour or so, the blonde left with his classic Chat grin plastered on his face.

The ravenette lay back in her bed, reflecting on how easy the night had gone and was glad she had not told him her identity. They had chatted about nothing much, but the teen could tell that Adrien felt comfortable enough around her now to be himself, which was surprisingly a generous serving of Chat with a sliver of Adrien thrown into the mix. As her eyes closed, her mobile dinged and the message which appeared on her screen gave Marinette a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest.

Adrien: I'm really glad you opened the door on my tiny little secret today. It's such a relief to have someone I can turn to now that the cat's out of the bag. I'll see you in school tomorrow, and can't wait for our next gaming night. Maybe we could set up a few study sessions too? Thank you for being the amazing Purrincess that you are and for making this less weird than it could have been. I knew I could count on you.

Marinette fell asleep with her phone clutched in her hand and a smile resting on her face when the sandman came to ease her into the land of nod. Adrien was her Kitty, and she would tell him that eventually, but right now, she was content in getting to know Adrien as a friend and strengthening their partnership before anything else. Tikki and Plagg had faith in the plan, and now Marinette felt confident that she could be the person to support her partner, both in and out of the mask.


I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I look forward to hearing your thoughts of what could pawsibly go wrong!

Take it easy =^.^=

Lady Rhi X