Marinette waited for the elevator, hands trembling. This was really happening.

Plagg and Pollen poked their heads out of her purse to give her a reassuring smile. Marinette tried to return the gesture but felt her lips split into something between a grimace and frown. She sighed heavily when the elevator ding!ed and gave up on seeming calm.

She was about two minutes away from meeting Coccinello. Or, rather, the man who was Coccinello. AKA the love of her life. No pressure at all.

She pressed the "4" and tried to control her breathing as the elevator doors closed. To distract herself, she peeked at her phone for the time. It was 14:28 — she would be right on time.

The previous day, Tortunello had given her his address. He'd asked her if 14:30 worked for her, and since it was Sunday, and the PDH was closed, Marinette had agreed. He had mentioned that he lived alone, which was why his apartment was a good place to discuss everything they would want to talk about. Marinette tried to imagine the situation at her apartment and shuddered. Despite that, she was a little nervous to be alone with him, among everything else. She wasn't sure what would be expected of her.

The elevator ding!ed again and opened to the fourth floor, and Marinette almost fell over.

She knew exactly where she was.

As she moved towards her destination, her eyes automatically closed in on the door in the middle of the hall. Apartment 76. Nino's place. Even though she'd only been here once before, she would recognize it anywhere.

But that wasn't the reason for her rising sense of dread.

Marinette turned her gaze very slowly to the apartment right next to Nino's. Adrien's apartment. Number 78.

Mechanically, she reached into her purse for the slip of paper Tortunello had written on yesterday. She lifted it to her eyes even though she already knew what she would see.

Number 78.

Marinette moved to stand in front of the door, just staring at those numbers. She gulped, head spinning. Denial set in instantly. This couldn't be right. There must be some mistake. Maybe he wrote his address down wrong. Or maybe he was a friend of Adrien's, and Adrien was nice enough to lend him the space for this meeting. Or maybe…

Marinette didn't get more chances to sink further because Plagg flew out of her purse, rang the doorbell, and dived back out of sight.

"Plagg!" Pollen and Marinette cried in unison, although Pollen's tone was a disapproving hiss and Marinette's was a desperate whine.

Slow and muddled, as if in a dream, the door began to open. Marinette waited, frozen, stuck between wanting to bolt and wanting desperately to know if her suspicions were true.

First a sliver of an apartment, then a shoulder, then a lock of golden hair, and finally, Sunflower Boy stood in the opening, his eyebrows raised in his forehead, hidden under his untidy hair. His face was open, a little surprised, but there was no fear. Nothing like the utter terror which must have been all over Marinette's features at that moment.

The sluggish dream feeling was still there, because it felt as if they stared at one another for ages, and finally, Marinette opened her mouth, still trying to find a way out, about to apologize for bothering him, about to say she had the wrong address, when he beat her to the punch.

"…Kitty?" Adrien breathed, and Marinette was left winded. It really was him. Adrien Agreste was Coccinello.

She flushed but could only nod in response, and Adrien stepped away from the threshold, gesturing for her to come in. She followed, her eyes darting around the room, trying to look anywhere but at him. She could feel his gaze burning into the side of her face, regarding her with curiosity now, a little bit of anxiety.

"Um," Adrien began, but his voice was hoarse, so he cleared his throat gently before trying again. "Can I get you anything…? Water, juice, coffee?"

She didn't hear him. The gears in Marinette's head were in danger of breaking, they were turning so rapidly, trying to process everything that was happening, while simultaneously trying to push it all away, to pretend it was nothing more than a strange dream. She blinked when she realized he had asked her something, his hands gesturing to the kitchenette. "Sure!" she responded, trying desperately to seem at ease.

Adrien's shoulders fell and his eyebrows came together. "Um… which one?" He chuckled awkwardly and Marinette blushed.

"I'll have whatever you're having," she answered quickly, mortified, trying to recover.

Adrien nodded, disappearing around the counter to head to the refrigerator. Marinette silently smacked her face and forced herself to get a grip. She took a few deep breaths, shifting gears. Instead of stressing out about Adrien, she decided to admire his decorating skills. The apartment was very nice, similar to hers, but a little smaller, as it was a one bedroom.

The kitchen was spotless. She noticed that there was no dining table, just four barstools nestled underneath the counter. The floors were hardwood, unlike the laminate of her apartment, and Adrien had a blue rug underneath the chair and sofa in his living room. Of course, when she looked over at the sofa, she suddenly remembered that she had been in this apartment before. The window above the sofa was the one she had escaped out of the first time she had become Kitty Noire.

Her whole body was filled with a strange sense of déjà vu. It was as though she had come full circle.

Adrien was at her side, holding out a glass full of sparkling orange juice. He gave her a tentative smile as she took the drink, and she did her best to give him one in return. She realized this must be strange for him, as well.

"Would you like to take a seat?" he asked, looking over at the living area. Marinette folded herself into the chair, too nervous to sit directly beside him yet. Adrien took the half of the sofa that was closest to her. Marinette noticed that the coffee table had a glass top, and bright coasters sat in a holder near the center. She reached out and grabbed two, passing one to him, and rested her drink on it.

She wasn't sure if he was going to speak first, or if she was supposed to, and if she was, she was at a loss at what to say. All that came to mind was, "So you're Coccinello," but that much was obvious, and didn't need pointing out.

Marinette wrung her hands, combing her brain for something clever, or witty, but all she could focus on was the circus going on in her stomach.

Fortunately, perhaps Adrien could see her nervousness, because he decided to break the ice. "Well… this is surreal."

Marinette's head whipped up to look at him, and Adrien was staring into his glass with an expression on his face that made her laugh. He looked just as nervous as she was, but his eyes were wide, as if he wasn't sure where to go from there.

Her laugh disarmed him, and he chuckled as well, which softened his features. Suddenly, Adrien looked so much like Coccinello that Marinette's throat dried up. She cursed herself for reacting that way. It would be more surprising if Adrien didn't look like Coccinello.

"So, how have you been?" Marinette asked. Small talk was easy, even though it was purposeless.

Adrien's shoulders relaxed. "Um, pretty fine. Classes are good. You?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. I'm helping a friend plan a party. Never done that before."

Adrien chuckled. "Really? You're not the party queen?" he teased, no doubt remembering the disaster that was Nino's kickback.

Marinette shook her head, amused. That party felt like it was a lifetime ago. "No, not at all."

Adrien smiled and drank some more of his orange juice. Marinette picked hers up to try it. She didn't particularly like orange juice but she didn't want to be rude.

To her surprise and pleasure, it was much lighter than regular orange juice, and the carbonation was very pleasant. It tasted better than soda.

Well, Adrien was good at everything, she reasoned silently as she put the drink back down. Of course he had great taste in refreshments.

The pair lapsed into silence for a few beats. Marinette was trying to figure out what this meeting was for. She knew she had been the one who had wanted this, but she wasn't expecting Coccinello to be someone she already knew. She had imagined the reveal playing out differently, with two strangers asking each other about anything and everything, getting to know one another as people. She realized that she had to do that here, too, with Adrien, but she had no clue how to start.

Just as she was about to speak, Plagg phased out of her purse. "Oh, that's it! You two are being ridiculous!"

Marinette flushed magenta. "Plagg!" she hissed. But she didn't have a chance to scold him more than that because someone else began speaking.

"See? I knew this was a bad idea! And I know it's all your doing, Plagg!"

Marinette's head whipped over to Adrien, and her eyebrows shot up as she regarded the small red kwami, who was floating right into Plagg's face.

Adrien was just as embarrassed as Marinette had been, but he was stunned into silence. Marinette knew this must be Tikki.

"My doing? How can you accuse me without proof?" Plagg crossed his arms and looked away, all teasing.

But Tikki was enraged. "Of course it was your doing! You're the one pulling the strings here! Every time we have a pair of wielders, you always want to do reveals! How many times do you have to be told it's against the rules?!" she spat at him.

Plagg whirled around. "Stop being so uptight. There's no danger in this. And who cares about that rule? It's ancient!"

Tikki gasped. "How dare you…! The rules are in place for a reason, and that reason is to be obeyed. That's the whole point of rules, Plagg. But no, the entity of chaos and destruction would never let himself be bound by rules," she seethed, mocking. "You know, I begged Fu not to put you in commission anymore. And he almost agreed! Because you pull stunts like this!"

Now Plagg flew into Tikki's face, genuinely insulted. "You wouldn't dare. Fu loves me!"

Tikki grumbled. "I'm not sure why…"

"You know, Tikki, you'd be a lot more well-liked if you could just loosen up a little. No one likes a stick in the mud."

Marinette wanted to say something, to help Plagg, but what could she say in an argument between centuries-old interdimensional beings? However, her concern grew to suspicion as she listened to them. What was Tikki saying? Plagg had told her in the movie theater restroom that he didn't particularly care if they revealed identities… That wasn't a lie, was it?

"I am not a stick in the mud! I just like things to be orderly. And this," she gestured to the college students sitting stunned before them, "is not order!" She suddenly switched gears and turned to address Marinette. "I don't know you very well at all, Marinette, so I can't say anything, but this wouldn't be happening today if you hadn't gotten your claws into my Adrien. I know he would never approve of such monstrous rule-breaking of his own accord. But you're not completely to blame. Your kwami, on the other hand," she glared at Plagg, who flew in front of Marinette to defend her from Tikki's accusations.

"Leave my wielder out of this!"

Marinette put her head in her hands. She wanted to defend herself, but she didn't know what was going on. She hadn't realized revealing identities would be such a big deal. In the end, Coccinello wasn't too hard to win over once they realized where they stood. She had thought it was the answer. Had she been wrong? Was she endangering them all?

Pollen and Wayzz emerged at nearly the same time. "Stop this, you two!" Pollen commanded her fellow kwamis.

"Please, we're agitating the wielders. Can we have this discussion elsewhere?" Wayzz put out his paws, trying to be placating.

Tikki shot them all dirty looks before conceding. "This doesn't mean I approve of anything that's happening right now!" she shouted, glaring daggers at Marinette.

The four of them disappeared into Adrien's bedroom, and the quiet that descended on the room was heavy.

There was a moment, and Marinette released a breath she hadn't been aware of holding. She let out a weak chuckle and spoke without thinking. "Tikki doesn't like me, huh…"

It wasn't a question, and Marinette's eyes shot up to look at Adrien, hoping desperately that she hadn't offended him.

But she was worried for nothing. Adrien's gaze was glued to the coffee table. He shook his head gently. "No, that's not it, although I apologize for her behavior. This hasn't been easy for her, and I think she's mostly upset that I decided to go against what she wants, when I usually agree with her." He hesitated a moment, Marinette could tell. She waited for him to finish, her nervousness resurfacing. He turned his eyes on her and gave her a small but assured smile. "But this matters to me more than the rules."

Marinette blushed, her hand flying to the back of her neck. His smile was so lovely; it reminded her of a time that seemed like ages ago, a time when she had wanted nothing more than to be the reason for that smile, to feel that smile on her own.

Somehow, the resurgence of those feelings made her brave. Without thinking too much about the consequences, she admitted something that she thought she'd keep to herself until the day she died. "You know, Adrien, this is all so strange for me. And… it's stranger still because I used to be so crazy about you. Before everything, after that party at Nino's…" Marinette trailed off, her bravery evaporating. She had to remind herself that this was Coccinello. That nothing was weird between them. But when she looked up and saw Sunflower Boy, it was like her nerves couldn't get the memo.

But Adrien didn't laugh, as her insecurities feared he would. Instead his face turned just as vermillion and he squeaked out, "R-really?"

Marinette just nodded. "Yeah. I tried to confess to you a few times before I gave up. I guess I thought there was something between you and Chloé."

Adrien's eyebrow came up despite his embarrassment. "Me and Mlle. Bourgeois? What gave you that impression?"

She shrugged, her blush fading. He seemed confused at the whole concept, and hope bloomed in Marinette's chest. Would she have had a chance with him after all? Was it really her own cowardice that kept her from being happy with him?

Obviously, she shook those thoughts from her head as soon as they made themselves clear. She was happy with Coccinello. She should be thankful that she had misinterpreted Adrien's affections; she never would have found the love she had now without it.

"Well, it was just… the way you looked at each other. I'm not sure, really. But I had a feeling I wouldn't be well-received if I made my feelings known." Marinette settled on that as her answer, even though it wasn't the entire truth.

Adrien's face shifted into something Marinette couldn't pin down. He looked… guilty? Sheepish?

Finally, one side of Adrien's lips came up in a rueful smile, and he sighed. "I'm really sorry about that, Marinette. You're a lovely girl, and I feel like such an idiot for not picking up on the signals you were probably sending me. But in the end, maybe it's better off you didn't confess to me after all. My affections were engaged, as you suspected… but not by Chloé. I was hung up over a… certain cat, since pretty much the get-go."

Marinette couldn't keep her mouth from falling open in shock. Adrien really was in love with someone for as long as they had known each other. And that someone had been her! Kitty Noire! Of course!

The two of them locked eyes, and the laughter started softly, little chuckles of relief, little giggles at the irony of it all, and they built upon each other, growing into hearty chortles and finally full-bellied howls, tears forming in the corners of their eyes, spilling over in Marinette's case, and when she reached up to wipe them away, she allowed herself to peek at Adrien. His face was bright with his amusement, and the sight took her breath away. He was her sunshine.

Abruptly, everything in Marinette's mind clicked together. What was she doing? This was Coccinello! Who cared that he was also Adrien Agreste? Who cared that she had had a monstrous crush on him and had cried over him in her bedroom? All of that faded into the distance, and what stayed on the surface was the truth that this was the man she loved. Just because he was out of costume didn't make him a different person.

Maybe Adrien came to a similar realization at the same time. Because all the tension seemed to leak from his posture, and now he was leaning toward her from his seat on the sofa, and she was leaning toward him on the chair, and then his hand found one of hers that had been resting in her lap. He caressed his thumb over her fingers and Marinette closed her eyes to better focus on the feeling. She took a deep breath and told herself not to be nervous. If there was anyone in the whole world she could be comfortable with, it was Coccinello. It was Adrien Agreste.

She steeled herself, swallowing softly, coming to a decision. She got up from the chair and placed herself beside him on the sofa, her heartbeat never slowing. Her nerves were still twisting and tightening in her stomach, but now it wasn't because she didn't know how to compose herself around him. Now it was because she was all too aware that they were in love, that they were alone in his apartment.

And there were no irremovable magical suits in their way.

Once she was next to him, Adrien angled himself toward her, his hands traveling to her hair, tangling in her midnight waves. It took no time and no effort for Marinette to shut her eyes and close the distance between them, her lips finding his lips, her hands finding his shoulders, his back.

Marinette couldn't help but notice that things were certainly different, like this. Coccinello's suit emphasized his shoulders and chest, and Adrien was a lot leaner in reality. Part of her wondered at that; at how, at times, the kiss was new, as if she was sharing it with someone she'd never kissed before, and at other times it was so familiar she couldn't remember ever having kissed anyone else. It hit her somewhere in the middle, that it was because she was not only kissing Coccinello's civilian identity. She was kissing Adrien. That fact made her smile.

Of course, Adrien was a gentleman. Marinette suspected that even if she had tried to seduce him, he would have resisted. It was their first meeting, after all. There would be plenty of time to learn everything about each other now that the masks were off.

So Adrien played with Marinette's hair as she laid in his lap, his movements drowsy with happiness, his smile delirious with love.

"So tell me," he asked, his eyes closed, his head resting back against the couch cushion. "What was it like for you, getting your miracle stone? I already knew Fu wasn't completely transparent with you."

Marinette turned her head to look into his face as she spoke. "Hm. Well, it was weird and stressful. Mostly because I wasn't sure how I was going to keep the secret. But the power pulsing in the ring was impossible to resist…" she trailed off, replaying the memory. She played with her ring absently as she spoke.

"Resist?" Adrien asked. "Why would you have had to resist? I just put mine on immediately."

"Well, I have History of Modern Fashion right after Chinese Mythology, and then I have work, so I didn't get a chance to put it on until that night. It was really hard to resist. I know, all through class and work I kept wanting to slip away, to put it on. The way it sang to me was…" she shook her head, using the word Mme. Lenoir had used to describe the irresistible pull of the miracle stones. It wasn't a song exactly, but it was reminiscent of the ancient greek myths, of what the sirens did to the unsuspecting sailors.

Adrien shook his head, dazed. "I don't know how you did it. I don't think I could have resisted. Fortunately I didn't have to; Fu gave me the ring in his office hours."

"Ah." Marinette replied. She wished it had been the same for her. Fu's office hours was the perfect place to get privacy without arousing suspicion. But she supposed it would have been awkward to pull off; Marinette had never gone to office hours before she became a wielder.

"Yup," Adrien continued, oblivious to her mind's wanderings. "I remember it so vividly. I went in to get more personal feedback on my paper, as I always do in classes like that one. And I remember the professor asking me some questions, about whether I could keep a secret, and if I was as devoted to my out-of-school activities as I was to my studies, and I was just so intrigued, I think I would have said yes to anything he'd asked, even if, maybe, it wasn't the exact truth. But then he pulled out the miracle stone, and it was so beautiful, I was only half-hearing the things he said after that. It was a speech about how he trusted me to do the right thing, and my heart soared," Adrien lifted up his shoulders as he said the word, as if he was reliving the scene behind his eyelids as he recounted it to her, and Marinette smiled. "Because my professor was trusting me in something special, you know. And I put the ring on at last, and Tikki came out of it, and she told me everything I needed to know about what was happening. The rest is history, as you know."

Adrien opened his eyes and looked down at her, giving her a smile, squeezing her hand.

Marinette returned both gestures, wishing that her experience had been like that. She thought it would have made her more confident, made her feel less like she was blindly thrown into something she knew so little about.

But, maybe it would have been easier for her to reject the responsibility, to let her fear control her, to refuse the ring. Her stomach turned at that thought, and she squeezed Adrien's hand once more, thankful for the way things had played out, even if she may have wished it otherwise at the time.

Adrien toyed with Marinette's hands, admiring their small size just as he had done before, on top of the Eiffel Tower, the night they had gotten Andre's ice cream together. He ran his blunt fingertips over her pointed nails, marveled at the size difference of their palms, before interlocking their fingers together. Marinette flushed a little at feeling the soft skin beside hers. It was nothing like holding hands while wearing a magical costume.

"So," she teased, since her mind was on Adrien, on the parts of him that she didn't yet associate with Coccinello. "What was your first impression of me, at Nino's party?"

Adrien's eyes widened, and he smirked. "Hmm. What an unexpected question… If I'm being honest, I thought you were very pretty, but very shy. It was clear to me that you weren't really interested in the whole thing. Admittedly, neither was I. I was just doing Nino a favor. He asked me to be there, probably because he and Alya wanted to set us up." He stopped when Marinette blushed and covered her face. Adrien had known all of this during their first meeting? How humiliating!

He chuckled and pulled her hands away. "Don't hide your lovely face, Marinette."

She rolled her eyes and grinned, incredibly touched. She also tried to ignore the thrill that ran through her at the sound of her name in his voice, infused with so much adoration. Yes, he'd used that tone before. But it was different when he called her Kitty Noire, less real somehow. As if Kitty Noire was a different girl, a girl who was only 99% Marinette. This, being here, in his lap, with his gorgeous green eyes smiling down at her, calling her by her name, felt so much more real than any costumed confessions on a rooftop could do.

"Anyway," he shook his head, his grin never wavering. "I knew what Nino was up to, and you were beautiful, but you were uncomfortable. I wondered if it was just the party atmosphere, or if you were a nervous person by nature. I remember thinking I'd liked to have met you somewhere more casual. I wondered how that would have gone. Like, in a café or something."

Marinette bursted out laughing.

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed together. "Uh oh. What did I say?"

She shook her head, her mind wheeling. The irony was painful, and she clutched her sides, trying to stop the laughter, aware that Adrien's concern was growing by the second. "That's exactly what I was planning to do! I was going to ask you out, to get coffee, and then I was going to spill my guts!" She sighed, catching her breath from her outburst. And then the implications of his words hit her, and her smile vanished. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

She swallowed hard. "…If you hadn't ever met Kitty Noire, do you think that… things would have been different? Between us?"

Adrien frowned, pondering. His thumbs continued to caress her hands, and Marinette focused on that in the silence. Her thoughts, too, ran wild. Images of herself and Adrien sitting across from one another in a wooden booth, two steaming cups sitting ignored as they stared at one another, blushing and exchanging shy compliments. A world in which Marinette had never become Kitty Noire, and Adrien had never become Coccinello… Was it a world in which they would have found one another sooner? With less complications?

Adrien finally responded. "Maybe," was all his wistful reply could give her, but in his eyes she could see those same images dancing across his vision. She smiled, and it was a small thing, but she was comforted nonetheless. It made Mme. Lenoir's words about fate seem to ring a little truer for her.

Marinette and Adrien chatted for hours, about anything and everything, just as she'd known they'd have to do. The sun was low in the sky, and they were laying on the sofa, Marinette's head on Adrien's chest, his arms about her, holding her close to him. Marinette was sure she could have fallen asleep here, under other circumstances. But she hung onto Adrien's every word.

They looped back to Nino's kickback somehow, and Marinette finally remembered that there was something she'd always wanted to ask him. "What was that game of confession, when you drank instead of admitting that you had wanted to kill someone before?"

Adrien laughed without humor, rolling his eyes, tightening his grip on her waist. "It wasn't like I wanted to commit murder. I just didn't want to go into my whole life's story at a party. I figured one drink wouldn't kill me, even if it's not my activity of choice."

Marinette stayed silent, listening to the heartbeat beneath her ear. It was steady, not like hers would have been had their situations been reversed. He sighed and opened his mouth, surprising her with his answer. "You know about my father, right?" Her eyebrows flew up, more in shock than in response, and Adrien looked at the ceiling as he recounted it to her. "So, he wasn't the nicest guy ever. When I was growing up, he was really demanding and not understanding of me. He wanted me to be this perfect cherub, and he didn't tolerate it if I ever put a toe out of line, if I ever expressed any independence whatsoever. I remember once, I was twelve or thirteen, and I wanted to change my hairstyle, so I started combing it differently, and he… at dinner, he got so upset when he saw me, he flew into a rage and yelled all about disobedience, and what was I doing, trying to make him look like an idiot, and all this stuff about ruining him and his image. I cried, of course." He was quiet for a moment, running a hand in his hair absently. "It was absolutely child abuse, and if I had known how to call child protection services when I was that age, I would have done it. It was awful to have to get over the death of my mother without anyone there to comfort me, with a father that neglected me and berated me if my piano playing wasn't perfect, even though I would play until my hands were sore, until my fingers would bleed. I had no friends, no one to talk to, because I was never able to leave the house. Not that there was anywhere to go; our mansion was the only thing for miles. And it was in these dark times, when I was miserable and lonely, that my thoughts would drift to a place where I wondered how different my life could be… if it had been my father in the crash instead. Or sometimes I'd dream about how my life could suddenly change if one day he just… keeled over."

Adrien sighed, and Marinette regretted asking. His eyes looked pained, and all she could do was hold him closer, to hope to communicate with a touch that his life wasn't like that anymore, that he was loved beyond belief now.

"I never did anything of course, but I did think about it. Fortunately, my father sent me to a prestigious academy when I was fifteen to do high school. And that was amazing. I was finally free to do whatever I wanted with my time, with my skills, heck, even with my hair. It was a boarding school in Belgium, so I only came home on holidays. He actually remarried while I was away. I like my stepmom, in general. She was his assistant after my mom passed. But it was after that, especially, I think, when my father finally let me go, finally understood that I was my own person, and I wasn't going to stuff myself into a box for him anymore."

Adrien stopped speaking, his eyes faraway. Marinette guessed that he was finished, and she smiled at him. "I'm glad."

He looked into her eyes and gave her a smile in return. "In fact, that was where I met a few friends that I still have now, like Chloé." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

Marinette wrinkled her own. "What happened between you two, anyway? Alya said she was an ex of yours." She tried to strip her tone of any accusation, but she wasn't entirely sure she had succeeded.

Adrien chuckled, completely at ease now. He poked her in the side, teasingly. "There's no need to be jealous. Yes, we had a fling, but it was back then, in high school. It's ancient history now. I don't really think I'm her type, so it was destined to fail. But we're still close friends. Sometimes we laugh about it, but mostly it's been forgotten. We were just kids."

Marinette blushed at how easily Adrien seemed to read her. But she allowed herself to be comforted by his words. Her brain still didn't know how someone as malicious as Chloé could be such a close friend to him.

Adrien pulled her out of her thoughts by kissing the top of her head and asking, "Alright, now it's your turn. What was your childhood like? I'm hoping much better than mine was."

Marinette shifted a little, angling herself so that she could look into his eyes as she told the story. "There's not much to tell. I was raised in the south of France. My parents own a bakery there, and we live in an apartment above it. Like you, I'm an only child, but I think it was difficult for my parents to conceive me. They sometimes call me their 'little blessing' and stuff like that. It was nice, but also a little smothering at times. I had the same problem as you in some aspects. I felt they didn't leave me as much room to grow as I would have liked. I'm enjoying being in college so much because I can be my own person, and although I feel guilty about it, that's the reason I hardly call them. Especially now that I have this gigantic secret that I'm terrified they'll figure out if we talk for any extended period of time." Marinette sighed, realizing that this was the first time she had voiced that particular concern. She wondered when her relationship with them, her mother especially, would go back to normal. After the peacock miracle stone was retrieved? When would that be?

Adrien misinterpreted her pause of shock as the end of what she was comfortable sharing. He squeezed her hand and asked, "How do you feel, now that someone you actually know knows that you're Kitty Noire?"

Marinette let herself relax, trying to put her worries about her parents out of her head. She repositioned herself on Adrien's shoulder and exhaled deeply. "I think I'm relieved. It makes it feel less like some crazy dream that any day now I could wake up from. But other times, I know it's real because I could never dream up my relationship with you. It's too dynamic for my limited creativity," she admitted. "And Plagg. I could never come up with his half-cheeky, half-sincere personality."

That got a chuckle out of Adrien. "I wonder where our kwamis got to, anyway. They really made themselves scarce."

Marinette turned in Adrien's arms, trying to see the door out of the corner of her eye, trying to spot them. He loosened his grip on her, asking, "Do you want to go look for them?"

She deliberated. They were probably still arguing, and she didn't really want to barge in on that, especially after how livid Tikki seemed to be with herself in particular. Either that, or they were giving their wielders some privacy, and Marinette settled back comfortably in Adrien's arms, shaking her head. If it was the latter, she would take advantage of their thoughtfulness.

They cuddled in silence for a while, Marinette teetering on the edge of sleep, when Adrien pulled her back to the present with a soft admission, said so gently she wouldn't have been able to hear it had her ear not been near his lips. "I'm glad it was you, Marinette."

Her eyes popped open in surprise, and her feelings of euphoria were put aside in favor of her curiosity, which was wondering why he felt that way, and what it was that made him say so, right here and now in particular. She raised her head off his shoulder to get a better look at the expression on his face.

The serenity there faded and was replaced with a frown. "I hope you're not upset it was me after the way I made you feel, though."

Marinette chuckled, shaking her head to reassure him. "I dunno, Adrien. If the worst thing that's happened to me today is finding out I fell for the same guy twice, I think that means I'm having a pretty good day."

Adrien's eyes melted at hearing her words, and so, instead of asking him his reasons, Marinette relaxed back onto his shoulder, focusing on how happy she was, how lucky she was that both Coccinello and Adrien were hers.

She thought of how much time there would be to ask about reasons later, and couldn't stop the smile that overtook her lips.