Chapter Three

I have no idea how long I've been staring at Marinette but she is staring right back at me. Then it dawns on me that I haven't answered her question yet. What was her question? I'm having trouble remembering. It's floating to the forefront of my mind when I see the pink tip of her tongue run across her top lip and the pistons of intelligent thought completely fail me.

All I can do is focus on her lips and cautiously lean closer. But then a myriad of unsuccessful attempts to woo Ladybug flitter through my mind and I pause. Ladybug only sees me as a friend. Marinette also only sees me as a friend. So, me moving in to kiss her would seem uncharacteristically strange to her, especially since I haven't expressed any romantic interest in Marinette before as Adrien.

Dropping my gaze from hers, I focus on my hands fisted atop of each knee. How to proceed? I desperately want to reach out and pull her into my arms for a long and lavish kissing session but she may not want that. Given my experience with Ladybug it's practically guaranteed.

"Adrien?" Her voice is low, cautious and matches the furtive expression on her face as I lift my head to look at her.

"Yes," I rasp in return.

"What makes you think I have a partner?" Those blue eyes dart away from mine briefly then search my face as she waits for me to answer.

Nervousness has me reaching up to rub my nape. "Well…" But before I can frame how I want to respond, my gaze snags on her computer monitor or more precisely on the love-hearts scrolled around my photographs. My eyes dart to her wall which is also covered in many a photo of me, and only me. I turn my gaze back to Marinette and watch as her cheeks pinken under the intensity of my perusal. Perhaps my feelings aren't as one-sided as I believe. Could it be possible? I have to know.

Leaning forward in my chair, I rest my elbows on my knees and clasp my hands together. "Before I answer your question, I want you to answer this one."

Marinette blinks apparently taken aback by my statement. "Uh, okay."

Ignoring the thundering acceleration of my heart, I ask. "Do you have a crush on me?"

Blue eyes snap wide. The colour bleaches from Marinette's face and then turns the darkest shade of pink I've seen on her yet. "Uh, I um… you answer my question first."

Her flustered panic gives me a boost of confidence. "I didn't realise it was such a difficult question to answer, Marinette." All the while I creep into her personal space and she doesn't move away. That right there is progress, Ladybug would have already found a means to place more space between us.

"It's-It's not…I mean I am…ugh!" Marinette shoots up from her seat, her hands plaster over her mouth as she paces with clear agitation.

I quickly get to my feet, shift to block her path and take her by the shoulders. "Marinette," I call gently in attempt to get her attention. Her hands drop from her face but her eyes stay fixed on my chest. I raise my right hand from her shoulder to caress her jaw, sliding my fingers along her smooth skin and stop at her chin to tilt her head upward. "Marinette," I call again, finally capturing her gaze. "I only ask because I want to know if your feelings are the same as mine."

A shocked gasp escapes her full lips. "You-You…"

Ploughing ahead, I drop the bombshell she may or may not have figured out. "While I gave you that hairpin as an anniversary gift to signify our partnership, I also gave it to you because I love you."

Her jaw drops and I move my right hand away, lifting it to display the silver ring on my finger. Those beautiful blue eyes dart from mine to look at my fingers and suddenly she breaks away from me and stares. "Chat Noir? You're…really him?"

Part of my initial excitement deflates at her skittishness, yet I answer her truthfully. "Yes, I am."

"But…you can't be Chat Noir."

Her statement floors me. "Why not?"

"Because I've seen you and Chat Noir at the same time!"

A roguish grin spread across my face. "Rena Rouge isn't the only one who knows how to create illusions."

"What? How? The cat miraculous doesn't have that power."

"No," I grin wider as I tap a finger against my temple. "But as you've said many a time, I have to protect my secret identity and I've done just that."

"Until now! We aren't supposed to know! And now I know who you are and you know who I am. This is a disaster, a disaster!" Marinette cries while pulling at her own hair.

Regret tugs at my heart. "This was a mistake. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry, Marinette. Forget this. I should go." I sweep down and pick up my bag, securing the strap over my shoulder as I head to the trapdoor. I'm about to lift it when I look back up to the girl who is my everything. "I um, assume we'll still be patrolling tonight?"

She's staring at me like I'm some sort of apparition that's beyond belief. Swallowing hard, I nod. "Right, forget what we know." And with that said, I disappear through the trapdoor and scamper out of the Dupain-Cheng household with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

"I shouldn't have said anything." I repeat for the umpteenth time.

Plagg gives me a bored look, clearly over my pouting. "What's done is done. Cat's out the bag, live with it." That has me shooting a glare at my kwami. "What? I'm not about to coddle you. Neither of you will conveniently forget what transpired this afternoon."

He's right but I don't say as much. Instead I stare at the black and white keys of my piano and position my hands to play. The song I select is both sad and hopeful, one I've picked up from gaming. The extended edition of 'I Was Lost Without You' by Sam Hulick from Mass Effect 3 echoes mournfully throughout my room. It's not a song on my practice list, but it suits my mood.

I'm barely a minute into playing when movement from outside catches my eye. My fingers continue floating across the keys as I turn my head but abruptly stop as my gaze lands upon Ladybug poised at my window. Self-consciousness has me rubbing at my nape and I feel the heat of a blush stealing across my face. "Milady- I mean Ladybug, um, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Ladybug drops from the window with less finesse than I'm used to and only then do I notice that she's holding something. Something my brain is having trouble computing. I consider standing but I'm not sure my legs would hold my weight because Ladybug is carrying a bouquet of roses, a dozen red roses.

She strides to me with determined purpose and thrusts the flowers towards me. "These are for you."

My eyebrows lift with the suddenness of it all but I accept her gift without hesitation. "For me?" I repeat feeling dumbfounded.

"Yes, they even come in a vase. I wasn't sure if you'd have one in your room and I thought you might need one, so I got one."

The flustered ramble is so Marinette that I can't help but smile. "Thank you."

"Um, so…about what you said in my room."

I place the roses upon the piano and rise from the stool to face her. "Which part?"

She wets her lips with her tongue and her eyes flicker nervously over my face. "About being my partner, about being in love with me." Her voice waivers at the end, as if she can't quite comprehend the depth of my feelings.

"I meant every word." Slips from my lips before I can think better of it.

Those beautiful masked eyes drop to my mouth as she strides to cover the distance between us. Two gloved hands cradle either side of my face and draw my head down. My heart is pounding with anticipation but a burp to my left has me glancing over to my smug little kwami.

"Plagg, claws out!" I say with a smirk and feel the magic of the miraculous wash over me. Ladybug continues holding my face, her eyes alight with wonder.

"It really is you," she gasps with astonishment. "All this time, you were by my side and I didn't know."

"Kind of ironic, isn't it?" I say with a grin.

Ladybug shakes her head with continued amazement. "If only I knew I would have done this sooner."

My lips part to pose a question but my partner shoots to her toes, her lips capturing mine and my eyelids flutter closed. Bliss, absolute bliss. Her fingers sink into my hair as my arms envelope her. I don't know how long we stay like that, exploring each other's mouths like it's our only purpose in life, but eventually we part to breathe in much needed oxygen.

Those mesmerising eyes never leave mine. "I can't believe I didn't see it before." Her fingers stroke over my masked face as if she's trying to memorise every curve. "I love you," she rasps as she curls her fingers into my hair, gently urging me back for another kiss.

Yet I hesitate. There's something I need to clarify. "Wait. What about that other boy? The one you said you love."

The smile lighting up her face has me confused. "Well, that's a little embarrassing."

"How so?"

Ladybug gnaws on her bottom lip, glancing to the floor and then back at me. "Turns out that boy was actually you without your mask on."

"Me?" I gasp in shock.

She dips her head and nods. "Yeah. I'm sorry I brushed you off as Chat Noir. If I'd known, well, things would have been very different."

"Really?" I ask while my masked eyebrows threaten to hit my hairline.

Her answer is a breathy, "Yes."

"Drop your transformation."

Without hesitation, Ladybug dispels her magic. "Spots off."

It boggles my mind to watch my partner switch from heroine to classmate.

"Now you," she insists with a shy smile.

"Claws in." And I'm back to being my regular self.

Marinette stares at me in a way that has my heart pounding. Desire is practically etched into her features. It's a sight I've never seen before, this unchecked passion freely expressed. As I take her in, I suddenly notice that her hair is different, partly up and partly down. Curious, I walk a circle around her and stop as the light reflects off the jewelled pin in her hair.

My voice drops an octave as I state, "You wore it."

The look she gives me over her shoulder is coy. "It seemed the right thing to do."

A tightness seizes my throat. "Is this the first time?"

"No," she says with a shake of her head, "I've worn it multiple times at home on the weekend. It, um, vanishes when I transform."

Elation sweeps through me at her admission. "I had no idea."

"I guess I should have told you but I didn't want to lead you to think…well, um, it doesn't matter now."

A shard of sadness cuts into my elation. "You didn't want to give Chat Noir false hope, right?"

Marinette won't meet my eyes but nods her confirmation. "I'm sorry."

"I suppose nothing is ever simple between us."

Plagg clears his throat. "Yeah, that tends to happen when someone adamantly insists that true identities can't be revealed."

"I don't make the rules, Plagg." Tikki snaps in return.

"No, but you do love enforcing them."

Tikki shoots Plagg a searing glare but he merely shrugs and floats off to his cheese stash, no longer interested.

With a sigh, I ask, "So where does that leave us now that we know?"

"I'm not sure," Marinette answers looking forlorn. "At least we can find joint excuses to run off together when we need to transform."

I can't help but smirk. "It would be much more plausible if we were a couple. Just saying." This is point where Ladybug usually shuts me down, instead Marinette's cheeks turn pink.

Biting her bottom lip, she looks up at me through her dark fringe. "Are you suggesting you would like me to be your girlfriend?"

"I am," I reply with a crooked smile.

Much to my surprise, Marinette lets out a squeal of delight and launches herself into my arms for a fierce hug. It's kind of reminiscent of Chloe, but I'm sure not telling Marinette that. Besides, I'm more than happy to hold my partner close. She is my one and only after all.

So this chapter went a lot longer than I intended. I had planned to wrap it up here but hey it needs a bit more resolution so I'll be doing one last chapter/epilogue.

I'll be so glad to get back to third person writing XD

Thanks for reading and your support!

BTW, I love the Mass Effect trilogy - just had to throw in some of the music because I could :)