Lowkey this chapter is the one that I've been looking forward to the most. And is the one that ultimately convinced me to actually write this fic, even when I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and wasn't sure if I would or not.

MariChat

Alix couldn't wait to get out of the classroom for lunch. There were entirely too many couples in this class for her taste, and they were all being sickeningly sappy since the-day-that-shall-not-be-named was in just a couple of days.

Turns out that she was in a bit too much of a rush, because as she was hurrying along, she naturally tripped and fell, with her bag opening up and the contents of it scattering.

So she was still picking up her stuff while nearly everyone else escaped to the cafeteria for lunch.

Keyword: nearly.

"So, you two are together, hmm?" That was Alya. And it wasn't hard for Alix to guess that she must've been interrogating Adrien and Marinette. She peeked over the desks to confirm, before going back down to continue getting her stuff.

"N-not yet." Wait. That was Adrien stuttering.

Alix knew that she tended to try to drown out all the love-related mania around Valentine's Day, but she thought that Alya would've kept the girls up-to-date on any and all new developments with Adrienette. You know, like she had done for the past three-and-a-half years.

"Yeah, we told you Sunday that we agreed it would be better if we waited a bit before we date."

Alix looked over the desks again just to confirm that it was Marinette who was speaking. Had she finally confessed after all this time and didn't care to inform them? And apparently Adrien wasn't opposed to it, just… not quite ready to date yet?

"Then care to explain why you two both disappeared at the party last night and showed back up around the same time?"

Wait. Alix made sure to steer clear of the party, but it sounded like they had snuck off and made out, or at least Alya thought so. She shook her head. She was very baffled by this conversation.

Alix had everything picked up already, and could leave, but she didn't want to either get in the middle of their conversation or stop listening to it. So she just sat, remaining out of their view.

"Alya, if you think we snuck off to make out, you're wrong."

"So you're not denying that you two were together, huh?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, Alix peeked again. Marinette and Adrien were both blushing slightly, but neither of them seemed to be denying it.

"Can you let us go eat lunch now, Alya?" Adrien finally asked.

"Fine," Alya sighed. "But if you two don't tell me what you did do together, I won't be able to know for sure that you didn't make out."

The three of them left the room, leaving Alix free to escape to sit with Rose and Juleka. Nathaniel was working on his comic with Marc today, and of course Marinette, Alya, and Mylène were with their boyfriends- or not-quite-boyfriend in Marinette's case, though it was more like she, Alya, Nino, and Adrien just all sat together. Sure, Rose gushed about romance a little too much for Alix's taste, but Juleka's presence seemed to counteract it.

"Hey, guys," Alix greeted as she sat down. "Say, um… did you two know that Marinette confessed to Adrien?"

"Yeah," Juleka mumbled.

"Of course!" Rose said, obviously delighted that Alix had actually purposefully brought up the topic. "Marinette told all the girls before school on Monday, before Chloé announced her party, remember?"

Alix did remember that they got together. "Oh. I was…" Somehow, thinking about how I could prank Kim back for stealing my skates for an entire weekend didn't seem like the best answer. "…distracted."

Yeah, that would cover it.

Now, maybe she could steal Kim's swimming goggles. That seemed like a fair trade-off, right?

Marinette let Adrien and Alya get a bit ahead of her on the way to their table.

This was beginning to drive her mad. She didn't know how long she could keep this up. When Alya had asked if they were together, she had wanted so badly to say yes, grab Adrien's face and pull him down to kiss her right then and there. Quite romantic for a fourth kiss, if she didn't say so herself.

But she hadn't. And Marinette knew that it was only a couple of days until Valentine's Day, but… just how much easier would it be to tell him now? Aside from avoiding the hassle of him being a model and how difficult it would be to get him alone to tell him everything.

But she was Ladybug. She was a planner. So she started to plan…

Tonight was Chat's patrol, right?

Chat couldn't wait until Friday.

Even more than when he first came up with his plan. Even more than when she visited him Monday night. Even more than when they were dancing together at Chloé's party last night.

Each moment that it approached just increased his anticipation- and his nerves. He would have loved it if he were able to say that they were together earlier. The idea of dating Marinette was almost too good to be true.

"Chat!" Speak of the devil… well, Marinette wasn't the devil. She was just about as far from being the devil as a human being could get. But it's the expression.

Chat stopped on her chimney. "Yes, Princess?"

He could've sworn he saw her blush slightly. "I, uh… was wondering if you'd like to talk. It's been nice the past couple of times, and uh…"

"Sure," he said, saving her from her words. "What is it this time?"

"Could we go inside first?" she asked.

"Why?"

Marinette exhaled, her breath coming out in a white cloud of water vapor. "Because it's cold outside."

Chat was still skeptical.

"And there's macarons inside."

No need to tell him twice. He jumped down from the chimney and over to where she was already climbing back into her bedroom. He followed her, closing the door behind him.

By the time he was off of her bed, she had picked up a plate of macarons and held it out to him.

"Macarons. As promised."

He gladly took one and plopped it in his mouth as Marinette set the plate back on her desk. Mmmm… it was passion fruit, his favorite. Wait. Why was she giving passion fruit macarons to Chat? It wasn't that common of a favorite flavor, unless… had she somehow figured out his identity?

"I also wanted to talk inside so that we could have some privacy, Adrien."

Well, that answered his question. Wait. She… Marinette… "You know?"

Marinette nodded. "What? Your Lady is smart enough to figure it out, isn't she?"

"I know," he breathed. Now that he was starting to realize that she knew who he was (which was considerably less of a shock than initially finding out her identity), Chat couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face.

It was her turn to look incredulous. "Wait. Do you mean that you knew I was smart enough to figure it out, or that you knew I was Ladybug?"

"Both. Though I didn't know you had figured it out."

After a moment, she started laughing. "We're both idiots, aren't we?"

"Do you mean the part where we friendzoned each other because we were in love with each other or the part where we both realized who the other was without realizing they knew?"

"Both. When did you figure it out? For me, it was after we talked the second time on Saturday and you said something that only me and Adrien knew."

Chat laughed at that. "Saturday for me, too. Basically your whole speech gave it away."

Marinette chuckled, going into a sigh, and they fell into an awkward silence.

"So…" Chat tentatively said. "We both know each other's feelings- for both sides of the mask. What does that make us now?"

"Well," Marinette said thoughtfully. "We still haven't made anything official yet. So, what do you want to be?"

Chat bit his bottom lip. "Would… would you be mine?" Wait. That sounded possessive. "My girlfriend! Would you be my girlfriend?"

Marinette smiled. "I would be yours, if you would be mine. But I'll settle for being your girlfriend if you'll be my boyfriend."

He broke out into a grin. "Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes YES!"

Chat scooped her into a hug and picked her up, holding her so that her feet weren't even touching the ground. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in, kissing him. It was almost instinctive to kiss her back.

She pulled back. "Not bad for a fourth kiss, if I don't say so myself."

Chat didn't reply, just going back in for their fifth kiss.

He didn't know how strongly she felt about him, but Chat- Adrien, both sides of him- was most certainly hers.

I know that kissing and implied making out is on the higher end of general audiences/ k+… but I don't think that it's TOO much. That said, if I had to put a rating for each chapter, this one would be teen and up.

And- YAY!- this one's done. The other two are probably going to be shorter than this, so I stand a fair chance at finishing this today. Even if I don't I'm happy with whether this is the last chapter I post today, or if it's the next one, or if I do finish. Because all of these chapters have a good enough of an ending for me.