Adrien

Thanks to a few deleted emails between his father and Natalie, Adrien was free that Friday afternoon, and for Valentine's Day on Saturday. Alya and Nino were already there, as pre-arranged by them for that afternoon. Alya was looking at her phone tapping her foot impatiently with a mixed look of concern and anger, while Nino waved at his bro, "Dude, I can't believe that worked! Your old man must be so confused."

Adrien fisted bumped him, a victorious smirk crossing his face, "It would be worth it to see the look on his face when he realizes his perfect son broke into his office and hacked his computer." Nino laughed as Adrien turned his attention to Alya, who was still looking frustrated at her phone. "What's up, Alya? Trying to find Andre's cart?"

"We found him already, he is parked at the Eiffel Tower." The blogger let out an exhausted sigh, "It's Marinette, she isn't replying to any of my messages. I have been texting and calling her since lunch and I haven't seen her since."

Adrien felt his face heat up in shame. 'Crap, she took it worse than I thought,' he figured, trying to find a way to tell Alya without becoming a dead man. She already seemed to be on edge on something else and hearing that he just broke her best friend's heart probably won't help at all with Alya's mood.

As he opened his mouth to spill the beans, Lila popped up out of nowhere and clung onto his arm like a leech. A lying manipulative leech, who was now giving Alya and Nino her stage smile, "If Marinette can't go with you guys, then I can take her spot. I am sure she wouldn't want you guys to not have fun just because she couldn't make it."

Before Adrien could retort or shake her off, Alya lunged forwards, "You lying piece of sh*t! How many interviews have I posted of you? In every single one, you always claimed to be Ladybug's best friend. Yet not two hours ago, I got a surprise visit from Ladybug herself, who discredits you as a source and says everything you claim is not true. Well if it isn't true that you and Ladybug are best friends, what else have you lied about? Knowing Prince Ali? Jagged Stone?"

Lila sputtered, recoiling away from Adrien as she tried to gain back her momentum, "She only said that so Hawkmoth won't attack me. I never lied to you about anything Alya! You have to trust me." She looked to Adrien and Nino for help, but neither were feeling sympathetic. Alya would have a lot of work explaining that Lila was an untrustworthy source and taking down all the theories made from Lila's information.

"Leave before I tear you to shreds," Alya spat. "And if you ever try spinning some tale about knowing a famous celebrity, I will be there to discredit you." Lila ran away with her tail tucked behind her legs, crying loudly for all to see. Alya glared in her direction one last time before turning to Adrien, "You looked like you were going to say something before she showed up. What is it?"

Adrien swallowed loudly, "Please don't kill me , but I kinda broke Marinette's heart this morning."

Alya stared at him, processing the information as Nino leaned over to Adrien. "Now would be a good time to start running," he advised, "A headstart is your only hope for survival."

Adrien looked at him in shock, just as Alya forward, grabbing him in a headlock. "You have one minute to explain. If I don't like what I hear, we learn if I can snap your neck with my bare hands."

Ladybug

Why can't people notice Marinette for a change instead of Ladybug? What is so bad about her? She is everything Ladybug is and more. Marinette hissed in frustration not for the first time since she got to the Eiffel Tower. She thought exposing Lila's lies would make her feel better, but here she was, pissed, frustrated and heart broken. Sure Adrien has a crush on Ladybug, but at what point did that have to become love? The only person even qualified to truly know her as Ladybug is Chat Noir and she rejected him every other week.

Ladybug stared out at Paris, wary of dark butterflies that might try to get her. Instead, she spotted Alya, Nino and freaking Adrien, who somehow wasn't murdered by Alya. Using her bug phone, she zoomed in on the group. Adrien had his hands up as if trying to defend himself while Alya and Nino glared at him. Curious, she activated the eavesdropping option she found earlier, listening in on the three friend's argument.

Adrien's voice came through, "I really am in love with Ladybug! I can't just give up on her because Marinette has a crush on me." Ladybug scowled, glaring at the model on her phone.

"You don't actually have a chance with Ladybug!" Alya exclaimed, "She said so herself that she would never date someone as Ladybug or reveal her identity to prevent Hawkmoth from using them against her. Heck, I even threw out my research to keep her identity secret."

Nino nodded in agreement, "Ladybug probably doesn't even know you outside of your billboards, let alone have a crush on you." Looking at their direction, Ladybug realized they were still headed to Andre's.

Adrien put his hands in the air, "Maybe she might give me a chance, all I would need is a chance to confess to her." Marinette smirked to herself as Alya and Nino snorted. Maybe she should give him an opportunity to confess, then he can see how it feels.

Waiting for the trio to get closer to the ice cream stand, Ladybug swung down and landed perfectly a few feet away from Andre, her back turned to her friends. As she asked Andre for her ice cream, she could hear Alya whisper to Adrien sarcastically, "Now is your chance, show us how much of a chance you got."

She pointedly ignored Adrien nervously approaching her from behind, watching Andre scoop her usual combo: vanilla and mint. She thanked and paid Andre, then turned and pretended to be surprised that he was right behind. She flashed him a kind smile, "Hey, you are that model, Agreste right?"

Adrien nodded, face flushed to the point he looked like a tomato. He looked so cute that Ladybug regretted that she was about to destroy him. "Uh, I've wanted to tell you something for a long time." He took a deep breath while she gave him a patient look, mentally preparing to slam this boy six feet under. "I am in love with you!" he blurted out.

Ladybug tilted her head, "How? You don't know my identity."

Adrien managed to bring himself under control, "I love whoever the girl is under the mask."

Ladybug smirked, "So you are saying that if any girl claimed to be Ladybug, you would love her?" Her eyes lit up with another though, "What if I am too old for you? Or what if I am secretly Lila?" Adrien panicked, this is not how he expected his confession to go. Ladybug didn't stop, "You can't possibly know who I am under this mask because the girl under this mask is completely different. If I acted the same on both sides, my identity would have been revealed a long time ago." She stepped closer, causing him to take a step back. "And I heard about the bang up job you did breaking Marinette's heart."

Adrien's eyes widened, "You know about that?"

"Only because she was almost akumatized," Ladybug hissed. "After that, I stayed with her and we had a little girl talk, in which I heard so much about you. That girl loves you more than anyone and you called it a celebrity crush? She made you a scarf for your birthday, but when you thought it was from your dad, she let you because she saw how happy you were. When Lila stole your dad's book, she took the blame so you could stay in school with your friends, which probably ended any chance of her getting to work for him because now he thinks she is a thief."

Alya muttered, "Damn girl," while Nino stared in shock. Adrien couldn't speak, also shocked by her sudden mood swing.

Ladybug started stalking towards him, forcing him to keep backing up. "Oh and she is just a friend? She has gone to the moon and back for you, put her feelings aside so you could be happy. When you decided to pursue Kagami, you might as well have stomped on her heart when you asked for help. And your class picnic, she kissed you on the cheek. Then there is the time you bailed on your group's last trip to Andre's, leaving her alone and heartbroken." Adrien found himself falling onto a bench, trapped by Ladybug. "Ooh, and the whole 'take the high road' thing you told her? Great advice, 'friend'. Because she listened to you, she almost lost everyone's trust and expelled from school. How do you want to justify that?"

Adrien looked completely destroyed, shaking as he tried to find something to lean against. Nino growled in a voice onl the readers could hear, "Finish him!"

Ladybug wasn't done yet, "Oh and don't get me started on the freaking wax museum! She literally confessed to your face and tried to kiss you and you still somehow deny the existence of her feelings for you." She started to stalk away from him, looking over her shoulder at him, "If you are so blind to someone next to you, how can I expect you to truly love me." She swung off, leaving behind a wrecked Adrien, a stunned Nino and an concerned Alya.

Adrien

He hadn't seen Ladybug that angry since she told off Lila when she tried to tell him that she was the descendant of a miraculous wielder and that the Fox miraculous was hers. Nino walked over to him, shaking him gently, "Dude, are you okay? She wrecked you hard."

Alya frowned at the direction she left, while Adrien looked at his friends, "Did you guys know?" Nino looked away while Alya just ignored him, lost in thought. "DID YOU GUYS KNOW?" he asked, an edge of anger creeping in his voice.

Alya glared at him, then looked at Nino, "You deal with him. I need to find Marinette and give her a hug."

Nino gave her a kiss on the cheek, then settled down next to Adrien as she left. "Dude, I have been keeping this secret for like two, three years? Alya had always told me that she would kill me no matter how much she loved me if I told you before Marinette had a chance."

Adrien shook his head, "Does that mean she had a crush on me for three years."

Nino looked over at him, staring him directly in the eye, "No, she was in love with you for three years." Adrien dropped his head in his hands, groaning. Nino remained unsympathetic, "So you never noticed Marinette being head over heels for you because you are in love with Ladybug? Dude, she is a freaking superhero, no one has a chance with her except maybe Chat Noir. And that dude gets rejected at least once a week. She has told Alya time and time again that she doesn't want to date someone as Ladybug. It even makes sense considering we have a terrorist willing to harm children."

Adrien glared at him, "I thought friends are supposed to support each other."

"They do, meaning they make sure the other knows when they screwed up big time. The fact that Ladybug herself took the time out of her day to tear you a new one should send some kind of message."

Adrien dropped his head back in his hands, "She doesn't like me in or out of the mask."

"Huh?" Nino stared at him wide-eyed in shock.

Adrien stared back, "What?"

"Did you just say she doesn't like you in the mask?"

Adrien sighed, there was no turning back now. He held up his hands and gave Nino a sheepish grin, "I guess the cat is out of the bag?" Nino fell off the bench.

Alya

The Dupain-Chengs let her in with a smile, telling her that Marinette was eating ice cream in her room. Alya thanked them, then went to comfort her friend. Peering into the room, she saw Marinette sit backwards in her chair, staring at the ice cream in her desk. "Ugh, I can't believe I actually feel bad for him now. I mean the guy broke my heart, telling me I am not as good as a superhero in the process. I mean, who does he think he is?"

Alya heard another voice she didn't recognize speak up, "Maybe he will see how wonderful you are now that Ladybug has turned him down, Marinette."

Marinette sighed, "What's the point, Tikki. I would just be his second choice next to Ladybug, not his first. He had a chance to change his mind, but then he actually confessed to me as Ladybug!" There was silence for a moment, then Marinette suddenly spun around to glare at Alya. "Stop snooping and come in." Alya opened the hatch the rest of the way, pulling herself up the rest of the way. Now that Marinette was facing her, Alya could see her eyes were red from crying, most likely hidden earlier by her mask. "So, how much did you hear?"

"Enough to know someone named Tikki, who I assume is the Ladybug kwami, is also here." Marinette opened her mouth to deny, only for Alya to raise her hand. "Of course there is that rant Ladybug let loose on Adrien very passionately." Marinette groaned as Alya continued, "Which explains why you hate hearing about LadyNoir so much. And that you don't like Lila because she lies about you, not because she is interested in Adrien." Alya looked at her feet, "I am sorry for saying you were jealous."

Marinette shrugged, "It's water under the bridge. So what are you going to do now?"

Alya gave her a questioning look, "What do you mean?"

"You have been working so hard to discover Ladybug's, my, identity for a while now. So what do you plan on doing with this knowledge?"

"Keep it to myself, my best friend is a superhero! I should be keeping her secrets. Though I am a little bummed out that my best friend is also my idol and never told me." She tilted her head, "Though I guess I can understand why you didn't."

Marinette sighed in relief, "Thanks." She looked down sheepishly, "I shouldn't have gone off on Adrien like that."

Alya gave her a look of concern, "Care to share what happened?"

Marinette sighed, "He told me that I am just a really good friend and that he is too in love with Ladybug to give me a chance fairly."

"So naturally, when you spotted him as Ladybug, you decided to give him a reality check?" Alya asked.

"Yeah, I feel bad for that, but I do not feel sorry," Marinette stated firmly. "He more or less told me to my face that I wasn't good enough for him. Then went on about how he was too in love with Ladybug to give me a chance." She hissed in frustration, "Honestly, I'd rather say yes to Chat Noir then give Adrien a chance."

Alya gave her a sly grin, "Because of how good he looks in leather?"

Marinette blushed, stuttering out, "No. No. No. That is not why at all."

Alya wiggled her eyebrows, "Oh really, you never had a Chat Noir fantasy? Come on girl, there are two kinds of people in this city. There are people who don't have eyes and people who want to be snapped like an akuma's object over a superhero's knee." She froze as she just realized she hinted that she had fantasies about her best friends alter ego. Her face grew hot as she sputtered out, "Not that I ever, uh, you know."

Marinette giggled, "Wow Alya, I never expected to hear that from you." She gave her embarassed friend a sheepish smile, "I would be lying if I said a never had a Chat Noir sex dream." The two friends giggled, the awkwardness slowly disappearing. Marinette looked at the Chat Noir doll sitting on the shelf with all the other heroes, both retired and current. "Chat always had my back and never let me down. Sure he can be cheesy and a huge dork, but I can always count on him." She sighed, "I'm just worried he would be like Adrien, too blinded by Ladybug."

Alya hummed her agreement as a text from Nino lit up her phone. Her eyes widened as she read the message: Adrien is freaking Chat Noir. "I gotta go," she said hastedly, getting up to leave.

Marinette gave her a suspicious look, "What's up? Is Adrien okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything is okay." Just found out my friends are in a love square and just rejected each other, but everything is okay. "Just stay here and rest up, eat your ice cream. Bye!" Marinette stared at her friend suspiciously, then shrugged and went about eating her ice cream.

Nino

"Alya is on her way, she still might want to kill you depending on how Marinette is doing." He looked at Adrien, "So I hope you have a very good answer for what you plan on doing when she gets here."

Adrien looked at him, "How do I explain to her that I am too in love with my superhero partner to even give her a chance."

"Dude, one question. What would you do if there was no Ladybug?"

Adrien eyed Nino carefully, "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, no Hawkmoth, no heroes. Who do you think of then?"

Adrien hesitated. His first answer was Kagami, but that was an automatic answer. They tried dating and that ended ugly, with Kagami leaving Paris after. The only time he saw her since was at fencing tournaments and that was very uncomfortable. "I don't know."

"Come on, no one that is extremely kind and always there for you doesn't come to mind?'

Adrien sagged, it was true that Marinette was always there for him. There were times in the past where he had drawn comparisons between her and Ladybug. Other times, he thought of asking her out but always thought she didn't like him or that she was with Luka. "I guess Marinette, but she always seemed out of reach. I never had a clue she was interested in me."

Nino sighed, "I guess that's partly our fault. We always kept it secret and were sworn not to tell you. Plus the fact that you were homeschooled probably didn't help at all. We really need to make you less sheltered. Try turning off safe search or something."

Alya burst into sight, "I'm here! I'm here!" She bent over, panting as Adrien looked at Nino, who gave him a shrug. Suddenly she sprung in Adrien's face, "So you are Chat Noir, that explains your stupidity."

"Hey!"

"You are chasing the same girl for years, despite constant rejection and her telling you she is not interested in dating with the mask. All of that while the perfect girl who would do anything just to see you be happy is just there hoping to be noticed by you. So yes, you are stupid." She stared him down, causing Adrien to look away. "Anyways, I had an interesting chat with Marinette. I told her what Ladybug did and she admitted that she felt kind of bad for you."

Adrien groaned, dropping his head in his hands, "She probably hates me. The one person who had always been there for me and I screwed up so bad to the point Ladybug chewed me out."

Alya put her hand on his shoulder comfortably, "If it makes you feel better, she is just mad at you, not over you. She is even interested in Chat Noir."

Adrien perked up, "Really?"

"Well, yeah, not a crush, but she likes Chat Noir."

"I should go apologize to her!"

"No, let the girl be alone for now in peace to eat her ice cream. Go home and figure out how you are going to woo that girl into forgiving you tomorrow. And it better be amazing!"

Adrien sighed, "Okay. You aren't going to kill me are you?"

Alya shrugged, "Ladybug didn't, why should I?" She made a sho gesture as she went to sit next to Nino, "Go away now and plan. I need alone time with my boyfriend after all this drama." Adrien walked off, waving at Nino before stopping in an alley.

Plagg zipped out, "Congrats, now two people know your identity. You are just piling on the mistakes today aren't you?"

"Shut up Plagg, I need to figure out a way to apologize to Marinette!"

"Fine, but if you want my help, I need cheese. Lots of cheese."

On the bench, Nino glanced at Alya, "Ice cream?"

Alya gave him a smile, "By tomorrow morning, both LadyNoir and Adrienettte will be canon."

Nino frowned, not understanding his girlfriend, "You just told Adrien, who is Chat Noir, to woo Marinette tomorrow. How would LadyNoir become a thing?"

"Well let's be real, you really think he can wait until tomorrow?" Alya shook her head, smiling as she continued, "Don't worry I will explain everything later." She rested her head on her very confused boyfriend's head, leaving him wondering what was going on.

Chat Noir

He spent the rest of that afternoon setting up his surprise for Marinette, setting up candles and flowers everywhere on his selected rooftop. He decided if he was going to woo Marinette over, he was going to have to show her both sides of him. He briefly went home to make an appearance to make his grumpy father happy. Now he was transformed, watching Marinette sketching on her balcony. She looked so alluring, hair left untied as she sat in what appeared to be pajamas in the moonlight.

Taking one last deep breath, Chat launched himself towards her balcony. He landed on the roof behind her, crouching just above her. "I don't feed strays." He blushed hard, speechless. He could have sworn he was silent when he landed. She looked up and smirked at his flustered expression, "Are you just going to sit there like a creeper or are you going to come down?"

"I, uh, yeah, I'll come down." His face burned under his mask as he hopped down. He stood there, fidgeting nervously, completely thrown off balance as he stared at her. How did he not notice how beautiful she was before? Those curves...

Marinette for her part was amused at the sight of a flustered Chat Noir, something she never thought she would see. "So do you normally spy on girls late at night or am I special?"

Chat forced himself to smile and not stare at her very attractive form, bowing, "Of course you are special purrincess." She giggled as he straightened and gave her a wink. "And I was hoping to steal you away tonight."

Marinette started blushing slightly, Chat Noir wanted to steal her away? Did he discover her identity? She narrowed her eyes, "Where do you want to go?"

He gave a cheeky smile, "That is a surprise for you, purrincess." Chat waited for her answer, nervously fidgeting.

Marinette sighed, "Can't say you let me down before." She gave him a stern look, "But if you try something I don't like, you will take me back here right away. Got it?" Chat nodded solemnly, earning a smile from her. Satisfied that he will behave, she gave him a bright smile, "Okay then, you may steal me away."

Chat brightened instantly, then scooped her up gently bridal style, "Close your eyes, I don't want the surprise spoiled." Marinette closed her eyes, resting her head against his shoulder. Chat felt his heart race as he jumped rooftop to rooftop, carefully carrying his princess. He landed on his chosen rooftop, gently setting her down. Grabbing a bouquet of roses and hiding them behind his back. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Marinette opened her eyes and gasped. The rooftop was decorated, even more than the night she stood him. Rose petals littered around the ground, candles lining the railings and ground. A little table sat on a picnic blanket, her favourite chocolate cake sitting on a plate. She stood there shocked speechless, unable to speak as Chat stood there blushing with a small smile. "Th-this is amazing, Chat. But why did you do this for me?"

He gave her a shy smile, "Because you deserve it and so much more. I shou…" Chat found himself cut off as Marinette hugged him tightly, tears forming in her eyes. Carefully setting the flowers down, Chat returned her hug, holding her close. "Purrincess, please don't cry."

Marinette hugged him tighter, "I'm sorry, it's just I had a really bad day and this means alot to me." Chat froze up, guilt washing over him. He opened his mouth to start his apology when she reached up and pulled his face down. Before he could react, she pressed her lips against his, her sweet scent overwhelming him. Before he knew it, he was pulling her closer, kissing her back.

Finally, his guilt forced him to break the kiss, "I'm sorry, I can't do this without telling you everything."

Marinette looked at him, seemingly upset he broke off the kiss, "What is it?"

"Claws in." Marinette's red eyes widened as the green flash left Adrien in front of her, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at her nervously. She stared at him in shock, causing him to panic, "Please don't be mad, I realized how much I messed up today and I just couldn't wait until tomorrow and I wanted to try and make it up to you so I set this up because you really liked…"

She cut him off with a kiss, lightly touching his lips for a moment, "You stupid cat." She giggled at his confused face, "We were locked in a stupid love square for three years."

Adrien stood there confused as she laughed, leaning against his chest. Then realization dawned upon him, "M'lady?"

"Kitty." The duo held each other tight, laughing at how stupid they were. Adrien cupped her face, opening his mouth to say something when a horn sounded behind them. An explosion of confetti rained down on them. Marinette smirked at him, "Really?"

Adrien shrugged, "I don't hold back for the girl I love. Marinette, will you be my valentine?"

"Yes, you silly cat." The duo kissed again, unaware they were being watched.

Ten rooftops away staring through high power binoculars was Alya and Nino. "See, I told you it would happen."

Nino groaned, "And it happened so why are we still here?"

Alya grinned, "To take incriminating photos of our friends of course. Then use it to force them to do as many interviews and photos as I want." Alya laughed evilly into the night as Nino shook his head grinning.