((Man, all of this support and feedback is amazing. Wish I could get this kind of response on my other stories. :/ Anyway, here's the next bit. Oh, and I've got another one in the works after this one is over, so keep an eye out. ;) Enjoy!))
Adrien fidgeted as he stood outside of the bakery the next morning. He was technically using the day of the week his father allowed him for tutoring Marinette, but he decided this counted as a special lesson. Nino, standing next to him and chuckling at his friend's discomfort, certainly wasn't helping. The plan was a day out to the park, where Nino and Alya would conveniently leave. Where Adrien was supposed to "trip" and fall into Marinette's lap, sparking a confession from one or the other.
Alya met them at the door with a conspiratorial wink shortly before Marinette joined them. As a group, they made their way to the park for a nice picnic among friends. They were all enjoying themselves, so much that three of them almost forgot the plan. Eventually, Alya signaled Nino and the two hurried off, leaving the lovebirds alone in a suddenly tense silence…and by leaving that meant they hid behind a tree to watch.
After a couple minutes, just as the matchmakers were getting ready to intervene, Adrien started laughing quietly, surprising Marinette. "A-Adrien?"
"Sorry, just… Alya had this entire plan set up, but now…I can't remember it!" He laughed harder, leaning back.
"Plan?" Marinette was deeply confused, and his actions only made it worse, his next in particular. He leaned forward very suddenly, putting their faces inches apart.
"Marinette, the truth is, Alya set this up just so that I could tell you that I like you, a lot." There was a deep silence, very quickly followed by a thud as Marinette fell backwards, unconscious.
An hour later, in the comfort of her own room, Marinette awoke with a squeal of mixed terror and joy before looking around in stark confusion. All four friends were alone in her room, her parents below bustling about the bakery. "W-w-w-w-w-?"
"Marinette, girl, calm down," Alya said, attempting to placate the frantic girl. "Seriously, that's how you react to Adrien revealing he likes you?"
Silence, then a smaller thud as she fell back against her bed, causing the other three to sigh in unison. "I knew this was a bad idea," Adrien started. "I should have stuck to my original plan. Wait until the next physics test and take her out to a restaurant to celebrate her passing."
"That actually does sound like a good idea," Nino commented before falling quiet at his own girlfriend's glare, but she sighed too.
"Maybe we shouldn't have tried such a ridiculous plan," she admitted.
"It wasn't ridiculous, just a little…" Nino fell off, stopping while he's ahead.
Adrien sighed and sat down on the chaise lounge. "Who thought it would be so difficult to admit a crush. I mean, you'd think it's not that hard. 'Marinette, I don't know how I didn't recognize this earlier, but I'm head over heels for you.'"
"Well, Marinette has had worse troubles than you in that department," Alya reminded the model. "She once sent you an embarrassing message where she forgot to hang up before ranting about her crush on you. She made it her mission to steal your phone, hack into it, and delete the message. And she did it, too."
Nino chuckled and Adrien smiled. "Really? Wow. … I guess I can't blame her. I was avoiding it myself until you told me she felt the same. I was terrified that she wouldn't feel the same. That, if she saw who I was outside of being the model Paris loves, that maybe she wouldn't like what she saw."
"Adrien…"
The three looked up in surprise as Marinette sat up, tears in her eyes. Alya moved immediately to usher Nino out and to give Adrien and Marinette some privacy.
Adrien swallowed hard and waited as Marinette stood before him. "So, you heard…"
"All of it," she answered, looking away. Adrien sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So…did you really mean it?" He nodded in response, muttering a short "yes" when he realized she still wasn't looking at him. "So, you really…"
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am in love with you, utterly and hopelessly." The two blushed in unison at his very blunt confession, but Adrien held his gaze on her, afraid of her answer, afraid to look away. Marinette swallowed hard, unable to meet his gaze at first. But after a deep breath she met his gaze solidly before speaking.
"Adrien, I—" She bit her lip, gaze starting to shift away, confidence suddenly lost. But he wouldn't let it end there, and he reached out to cup her cheek. She was startled into meeting his gaze, and what she saw seemed to help steady her. "Adrien…I- Iloveyoutoo!" she finally spewed out in a stream of sounds, but he heard her clear enough, as did the two shamelessly listening through the trapdoor.
His response startled her and himself, but as he yelled in victory, hands landing on her hips and raising her up to spin her around, everything seemed to be right. So, it made sense when the akuma attacked just then.
"I WILL DESTROY YOU, MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!"
An hour later, an exhausted and annoyed Ladybug and Chat Noir left the scene, a crying, de-akumatized Chloe left to deal with her jealousy on her own. On a nearby building, Chat sighed, watching his lady prepare to leave, to head back to where their friends were waiting, thinking the pair got lost in the ensuing crowd.
"Ladybug," he called, stopping her from swinging away.
"Not now, Chat, time's almost up for us."
"It's too late. I…already know…" She frowned, but realized after a moment. "…Marinette." She gasped, frozen. "A little over a week ago, after facing off against that Akuma, I left like usual. I decided, since I hadn't used Cataclysm, that I would visit a friend. And that's when I saw you land and detransform. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I just… I didn't know what to do about it."
"Chat, you mean…you've known for that long, and didn't say anything?"
He nodded and sighed. "I decided since I couldn't just unsee it…the least I could do was ignore it, for you. Well, except for one thing." His miraculous beeped, revealing how close his reversion was, her own ready to come right after his. "My lady… I know you, and you know me. And I just… I hope you won't be too disappointed in me…"
"Wha-?" Right about then, their transformations fell apart, and Marinette stared in shock at Adrien Agreste…before fainting…again.
