Sorry for the delay! Life completely got in the way! I hope you all enjoy. Thanks to A True Hufflepuff 13 for helping me beta read this chapter!

Nedzlisima: Oh wow! Thank you so much! That means a lot to me.

ivysharonivysharon: I am updating as fast as I can. I wish I had more time to write, but sadly, I don't

wolfrunnerable12: Always go with your gut :)

stephdekker.1999: You would be surprised to find many young adults in this fandom. There is just something about it that is so alluring. I am so glad that you love my story!

Bleach power: Great predictions!

Bittersweetlie: Ask and you shall receive. Do you have any ideas of what you would like to see between Adrien and Marinette?

Niom Lamboise: Thank you!

5/18/18

Chapter 22: Surprise

"Throw me that lighter will you?" Adrien panted, annoyed with himself for getting out of shape. Sure, he had spent the last several minutes climbing up and down the ladder (that Tom had so graciously provided) outside of the Dupain Cheng's bakery, and he had hurriedly set up all of the decorations, but that shouldn't have been enough to tire him out so quickly. In his days of saving Paris, Adrien could vault across the entire city without breaking a sweat. He wished that he could blame the difference from then to now on enhanced endurance from the magic that his suit provided, but sadly, Adrien knew there was more to it than that. Even without being Chat Noir, Adrien had possessed quite the athletic skill; it had been way too long since he had practiced his fencing.

Adrien softly chuckled to himself amused at the pathetic image of his current state. He was still wearing his gray sweatpants and had added an oversized black hoodie. His hair was a disheveled mess, he had forgotten to shave, and he was quite out of breath. If anyone, besides Nino, were to see him right now there would be no way that they would recognize him as the famous model, Adrien Agreste. In fact, if his father knew that he had actually left the house looking this bad, then Adrien was sure that his father would deny that this man was even his son.

"Here," Nino huffed as he pulled the lighter from his jacket pocket and tossed it to Adrien.

Hey. Adrien thought. At least Nino looks good.

And it was true. Adrien's history of attending prestigious events had suddenly come in handy. His closet was full of outfits from the top name brands, and the boys had ransacked it to find an outfit that would fit Nino. It had taken some time to find a set that fit Nino perfectly, but the hour had been well spent. He was dressed in a solid black oxford with the top two buttons remaining undone. The jacket was sleek and smooth, designed to hang open without a button in sight. Slim fitting pants and a black belt with a large silver clasp completed the look along with a pair of black rectangular tipped dress shoes. Nino's hair was slicked back without any lack of volume.

"I'm gonna go back down and grab one more thing." Nino announced, grabbing on to the ladder. "Don't burn the bakery down while I'm away."

"Hey, I'm not Marinette," Adrien pouted as he began lighting the candles. "Just hurry. It's starting to get slightly chilly out here."

Several candles later, Adrien finally let out a sigh of relief at a job well done. Everything looked perfect: from the roses and candles that adorned the balcony rail to the luminous full moon ascending on the horizon. This time, his plan would not fail.

Adrien pulled up his hood to block the crisp air. If he had known how cold it was supposed to get, he would not have suggested this plan, but why would anyone expect it to drop so low in mid August?

As Adrien pulled out his phone to see what time it was, he noticed that he had one unread message. He unlocked his phone and read the text.

[Marinette: I'm glad that I could inspire you, but what exactly is your idea? Please let me in on this before you decide to do something stupid.]

Something stupid. Could what they were doing be defined as something stupid? The answer to that, to put it simply, was yes. He and Nino had been prancing around for the past ten minutes directly above her room. If the girls heard their footsteps, who knows what they would think. The sudden image of Marinette and Alya cowering below was enough to make Adrien swiftly respond to her text.

[Adrien: FYI don't freak out. We are on your roof]

He just managed to send it before something hard crashed against his head. Stars filled his vision as he crumpled to his knees. Another blow, which felt like a rounded point being thrust into his back, sent him careening, and his face smacked against the ground.

Marinette made a note to never get on Alya's bad side. Alya had taken down her prey with two simple strikes and proceeded to straddle her victim and hold him down with the broom pinned against the back of his neck. Marinette loosened the grip on her own weapon, now that it no longer served any use, and took a moment to look around.

"Marinette, call the police!" she heard Alya demand, but she was no longer focused on the two who were piled up on the ground. She was lost in the scenery, dimly illuminated by the full moon, that had been so meticulously set.

Candles adorned the railings of the balcony, each perched atop two flowering roses. Brilliant red petals were scattered across the ground along with more candles and a pile of red and white pillows. Her heart faltered and her breathing became more shallow. She had seen this exact set up before.

"Uh, Alya," her voice shook at the revelation that she was about to say, "I don't think this man meant us any harm. I think… I think that he is…"

Just then Marinette's phone buzzed in her pocket. She whipped it out to see the warning that appeared across her screen. The poor soul pinned beneath Alya hadn't been who she had thought at all. Her stomach churned and her lungs felt as if they had been filled with lead. The crumpled figure, thoroughly beat and sprawled out on the ground was none other than...

"Adrien!" Nino yelped, having just made it up the ladder was not the scene he had expected to return to. He had been gone all of what, one minute? How had Adrien managed to find himself victim to Alya's wrath in that short amount of time?

"Holy heck, Alya," Nino panted, somewhat wary of the deranged look that still glinted in her eyes making him unable to move any closer. "What have you done to my best friend? Not that I'm not impressed, because I am. I mean daaaang girl. But seriously, is he okay?"

"-s all good," Adrien muttered, shifting restlessly beneath Alya's weight. "But I would be much better if you would get off me, please."

In a flash, Alya dropped the broom and pushed herself off of Adrien, scooting away on her derrière in a rather ungraceful fashion. Had she seriously just taken out Marinette's boyfriend? In any other situation, she would have been extremely proud of what she had just accomplished, but now she only felt sick to her stomach.

Adrien slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure if he was as okay as he sounded. His vision still hadn't quite come back into focus and his brain was pounding against his skull along with a high pitched squeal in his ears.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Alya spluttered. "I thought you were some sort of burglar or worse."

Adrien turned towards the brunette, offering a lopsided grin. "Don't worry about it Alz. 'ssss my fault for not letting you know sooner. I'm glad that you're protecting Marinette ."

Hearing her own name, Marinette finally snapped out of her frozen stupor, quickly closing the gap between them. She jumped into mother hen mode, checking out his head where Alya had hit him, and looking into his eyes to see if his pupils were dilated.

Tenderly placing her hand beneath his chin, Marinette asked, "Adrien, are you alright? Headache? Ears ringing? Dizzy?"

"Um… all of those thingssss," Adrien hesitantly replied, knowing exactly what Marinette was getting at. However, he did not want to be the cause of yet another ruined proposal for Nino. "Why don't you help me downstairss-sso you can get me a drink of water? Alya and Nino can ssstay up here and clean up this mess."

"Adrien I…" Nino began, worry laced within his words as he reached towards his clearly injured friend.

"Don't worry about me," Adrien reassured him. "I'm fine. I have Marinette looking after meeee." He glanced over to see Alya, unmoved from the spot she had initially retreated to after scampering off his back, shaking with wide eyes fixed upon him. A wave of nausea swept through him. "Besides, it looksss like you have your own signifffficant other to look after. Makesssure she's okay for me. Alright?"

Marinette's eyes snapped back to Adrien. His slur certainly wasn't going unnoticed. She placed Adrien's arm across her shoulder, helping him to stand. "I'll be taking him down now. Nino, you look very handsome tonight. Take care of my girl."

Somehow, miraculously, Marinette managed to get Adrien off of the balcony and on her bed. For the most part, he had been self sufficient, but never once did Marinette let him out of her grip. Now that they were alone, Marinette could truly assess the situation. She'd had to treat someone with a concussion before, and she remembered it well.

It had been pretty apparent that something had been wrong with Chat after he had jumped directly in front of her and been hit with a giant rubber duck right in the head. Immediately he had begun slurring his words and stumbling around as if he was in a daze. As if it wasn't hard enough for Ladybug to take down the akuma on her own, she then had to keep watch over Chat Noir to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid and get hurt even more.

After she had cleansed the akuma, Chat had heavily complimented her on being, "suchhh a pretty laaaady to take onnn such a mean baddieee."

Luckily Chat hadn't used his cataclysm, so she didn't have to worry about his transformation wearing off anytime soon, but she had been quite worried when she had been forced to leave him behind, humming to himself sitting on a rooftop, while Tikki recharged. When she had returned, she found Chat curled into a tiny ball, almost like a real cat, fast asleep. Marinette had wanted to let him rest, but she knew that staying all night on a roof was not the best idea.

After waking him up and making sure that he had plenty of water, Marinette had to make a tough decision. Chat needed personal care, that much was obvious, and the best treatment that he could receive would have been from the hospital. However, it wasn't like Ladybug could just drop Chat Noir off at the emergency room. There were so many risks involved with that. If his transformation wore off, then everyone would know his identity. Of course, Marinette knew that this was something that could happen no matter where she took him. If she was the one to stay by side, then she would be the one to possibly discover who he truly was. Even though Marinette had desperately not wanted that to happen, she knew that it would be much better for her to find out rather than anyone else.

Once Marinette had put it in her mind that she was the one who would take care of Chat, she had to decide where she could go to give him the best care. Her first idea had been to take, the now somewhat delirious, superhero to Alya's house and to care for him as Ladybug there. But again, the risks were just too extreme. She had never remained in her suit for an extended period of time, and she had no idea how long her or Chat Noir's transformation would last. If either or both of them reverted back to their civilian selves, then Alya, the author of the Ladyblog, would know their identities.

No, the only place that Marinette knew their identities would be safe was in the comfort of her own room. With that solution, unfortunately, a new problem had arisen. Should she care for Chat as Ladybug or as Marinette? If she stayed as Ladybug, Chat might not suspect her identity, but there was still the issue of possibly detransforming. If that happened, then he would definitely discover who she was. But if she began as Marinette, under the rouse of being Ladybug's friend, then her identity just might be safe.

After weighing all the options, Marinette had known that caring for Chat Noir as herself was her best bet. She took him to her room as Ladybug, and later returned as Marinette, pretending that Ladybug had already filled her in on the situation.

Taking care of Chat hadn't been so hard; he had practically fallen right to sleep as soon as she had placed him in her bed. Marinette made sure that he had plenty of water and had given him some aspirin to help the pain in his head.

What she hadn't expected was the sweet and genuinely grateful attitude that Chat had displayed the following day. He had slept for the majority of the time that he had stayed in her room, but when he had been awake, he had taken an adorable interest in finding out about Marinette's life asking about her friends and what she enjoyed to do with her spare time. He had watched, with unwavering eyes, as Marinette knit him a black hat, complete with her signature and cat ears. Chat had even shared with her some of his favorite hobbies such as fencing and playing the piano.

Marinette's heart jolted at the memory of these details that Chat had shared. How had she never noticed that his hobbies had been the same as Adrien's? With the distraction of the urgency of the latest current events, Marinette had completely forgotten about the decorations that Adrien and Nino had placed on her balcony. For the briefest moment, before she had seen Adrien's text, Marinette had believed that the man that Alya had attacked had been Chat Noir. But she had been wrong. Adrien wasn't Chat Noir. Adrien couldn't be Chat Noir. Could he?

Marinette shook her head. She couldn't be thinking these kinds of thoughts right now. She needed to take care of Adrien.

Marinette sat, legs hanging over the side of her bed, holding Adrien's hand as he laid, contentedly on top of her sheets. "Have you had a head injury before? I've taken care of someone who had a concussion once, but it might be a good idea to go to the hospital. Want me to drive you?"

Adrien cautiously sat up, resigned to the fact that he shouldn't get too comfortable. "Umm… I've had one or two," he surreptitiously responded, knowing that the only concussion he had ever suffered from had led him straight to this very bed. "They'll just give me an aspirin and tell me not to play video gamesss. Besides, Alya and Nino would flip if they thought they'd sent me to the ER. Let them have their night. I can go home."

He paused, clearly struggling with the logistics of his plan, inadvertently rubbing the back of his head. "We came in my car. Umm, could I leave it here with Nino? Would you run by the drugstore with me and then drop me off back at home?"

Marinette giggled at just how ridiculous Adrien sounded. "Lay back down you silly goof," Marinette gently commanded. "I have everything you need. Just give me a second to grab some medicine and that glass of water you wanted. Then, I'll gather you more pillows and make some soup."

Adrien immediately complied, without even a thought of resisting. Marinette had taken good care of him once before, and there was no doubt in his mind that she could effortlessly do it again. He tried to remember his time as Chat Noir that he had spent with Marinette, but his mind and memories were clouded as if they were lost in a boundless, engulfing fog, that only grew bigger with the spinning of his head.

Peering over the side of the bed, Adrien watched as Marinette opened the door to a closet that was filled to the brim with first aid equipment. If he had been in his right mind, he may have wondered why she held this ridiculous overkill supply. However, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to his ever thrumming cranium, and he simply smiled and gratefully swallowed down the medicine at her return.

Marinette gently brushed Adrien's overgrown locks from his face and tenderly leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"Marinette," Adrien began, cupping the side of her face once she had lifted back up, "Thanks for taking care of me agai..."

A shrill scream emanated from above them causing Adrien to drop his hand. His heart pounded frantically as he jolted, sitting straight up in bed. The sudden movement, however, brought with it a painful throb in his head and an instantaneous surge of nausea.

"Hold on," Marinette firmly commanded, placing her hands on Adrien's shoulders to keep him from trying to stand. "You need to lay back down. Everything is okay. I think that was just Alya saying yes."

Adrien's muscles relaxed and he took a deep breath. Of course. The whole reason that he was here in the first place was so that he could help Nino propose. How had he so easily forgotten that?

Carefully, Adrien eased himself back down on the bed. "I think… I think that I need to rest. -s it okay if I sssleep in your bed?"

Marinette chuckled in response, an empty laughter that she hoped Adrien didn't catch.

Again.

Adrien had almost said again.

Did that mean that she had taken care of him before? Surely he had meant to say something else, or he was referring to something completely unrelated to this. Because the only person that she had ever helped with a concussion had been Chat Noir.

()

Plagg tossed and turned restlessly in the confines of the front pocket of Adrien's hoodie. It was stifling and, much to Plagg's utter dismay, completely lacking of any sort of cheese. The disgruntled kwami cursed Adrien underneath his breath, stomach growling, for his holder's complete lack of responsibility in keeping him comfortably satiated.

"You can come out now," an all too familiar voice sung out. "They are both you want, we can sneak downstairs and get some cheese."

Before Tikki could even finish her sentence, Plagg darted from Adrien's pocket and wrapped the red and black kwami in a warm embrace.

"Thank goodness you are here!" Plagg rejoiced, as he spun Tikki around. "You've always known how to take care of me, unlike Mr. Frequently-Unprepared over there. Show me to the good stuff."

Tikki snorted, this wasn't the first time that she and Plagg had taken the chance to spend some time together since Marinette and Adrien had been hanging out. They had spent several hours catching up the night that Marinette had gone over to Adrien's house and oftentimes snuck away together while their two keepers were distracted at work.

"Do you think they will ever figure it out?" Plagg groaned as they made their way down to the bakery. "I'm getting sick and tired of seeing them dance around each other, afraid to fully commit. If they only knew, there would be nothing to hold them back, and nothing keeping me from roaming freely when Marinette is around. Can I please just tell Adrien now? I thought letting him figure it out on his own would be fun, but now it's just getting pathetic."

Tikki grabbed Plagg's hand, forcing him to stop and look at her. "Just give them a little bit more time," she smiled, years of experience and knowledge pouring from her eyes. "They are almost there. In fact, I think that in their hearts they already know. However, their minds are not willing to admit the truth."

Tikki sighed. "You know, they kind of remind me of us. When I first met you, I thought you were selfish and conceited. After centuries of getting to know you, I still held on to that initial belief even though you had proved over and over to me that I had been wrong. It wasn't until you nearly sacrificed yourself, after the death of one of your Chat Noir's, in order to protect me that I allowed myself to truly admit that I was in love."

"I think Marinette and Adrien are the same way," Tikki's voice shook as a small tear glistened within her eye. "It's going to take something big for them to finally admit to the truth that they had known all along. And for some odd reason, I can't shake the awful feeling that this something is going to happen very soon."

"You feel it, too?" Plagg questioned, completely forgetting about his need for cheese and catching Tikki's tear on the tip of his paw before it could slip down her cheek. "I've had this feeling all day that something ominous is about to happen. I thought that it may have just been some bad cheese that I ate, but now I'm not so sure. Do you think they're ready?"

"They have to be," Tikki frowned. "Their time as Ladybug and Chat Noir is far from over."

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that," Plagg groaned. "It looks like Adrien is going to have to start buying more cheese."

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! My next chapter is going to be predominantly fluff. If you have any ideas on something you would like to see between Adrien and Marinette, let me know! (I'm thinking mainly conversation wise)