Yeah looks like this wasn't posted on Sunday but...That last episode...I have no words...it was just so amazing and filled to the brim with feels and new information! Gah I can't hold it in! XD After that Volpina episode I'm not sure how I could fit that into the story, I know I like to keep stories in line with their respected show, but this episode was just too much! XC

I'll see if I can include it, if not then it'll be left out so just letting you know in advance, and a reminder to those who are new to this story that most of this was written before some of the new episodes were released so don't say a certain part is wrong because of a new episode that released after it was posted, I can't do anything about that. Some parts of the new episodes aren't included because then it just gets way too confusing for this story, so some of those new released episodes are left out.

So, enjoy the chapter! I must say this story has become increasingly popular, I love it! :D

Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon

Chapter 23 – Taking it in

Adrien walked into school with pride, he was glad Nino wasn't out the front waiting for him to not see him exit out of a car, he brushed past Alya on his way to his locker, he shot a friendly smile at her and a wave, she waved back, not changing her expression. She was still unsure of how to feel about Adrien's feelings to Ladybug, and the kiss posted everywhere, but it seemed that Marinette was okay with it, and although it was a little suspicious for her to not be overreacting, she decided not to over think Marinette's complicated emotions.

So by the time Adrien made it to his locker, Nino called out from behind. He turned to see his best friend approaching him with a bright smile.

"Hey dude, how have you been?" He asked, fist bumping Adrien's hand in a welcoming gesture.

He had been to hell and heaven, was his honest answer. His family was in a crisis while his love life just got a million times better. But he knew he couldn't tell his best friend any of that, it would blow everything.

"Not too bad, father's making me stay in more so I might not be able to hang out with you later." He explained, scratching the back his head nervously before preparing his things.

He knew that if he and Nino were to hang out they would ride in the car Gabriel would send for them, but with those recent and utterly shocking events unfold in front of him, there was an extremely slim chance that his father would send a car for him. So he decided that he'd stay in the shadows away from his father until he and Marinette could work out a plan together.

Not long later, the bell rang for class. Adrien and Nino started to walk over to their class, meanwhile Adrien kept his eyes on the front door. Alya was there waiting for her but she started to walk away. He was hoping Marinette wouldn't be too long, he smirked to himself in thought that the kiss was too overwhelming for her, but it did cause him to become lost in a trance before Nino snapped him out of it.

"You okay Adrien? You spaced out." He implied, his expression full of concern as they walked into class.

With a shake of his head, Adrien was snapped back to reality as he and his best friend sat down together in class.

"Sorry Nino, I just had a weird dream last night that's all."

The teacher had not arrived yet, but neither had Marinette. Adrien was getting a little worried, but then he heard the familiar footsteps of a clumsy girl just as Alya sat down in her spot.

And then, there she was. The love his life standing at the door. It was their first full day of knowing their secret identities; Adrien gazed at the navy haired teen as she rearranged her books in her arms before her eyes connected with Adrien's. Marinette felt her heart stop for a moment, remembering the sweet and passionate kiss they shared moments earlier, it made her heart melt. But they were in class and there was no way she wanted this to go public, as much as she wanted to tell Alya everything, she wanted Hawkmoth defeated and Adrien to have his miraculous back first.

Pink blushes appeared on both the teens' faces; luckily Nino was playing around on his phone to not notice the obvious blush on his best friend's cheeks. Marinette walked past him, her cheeks on fire from just the sight of him. She sat down and lowered her head shyly. She didn't know how she was going to keep it a secret, she felt like she was going to explode. But she knew if she could keep her identity as Ladybug a secret, she can keep this a secret.

Alya nudged Marinette, causing her to jump a little as she turned to her best friend, who was smirking at her.

"So, are you still going to try?" She whispered, her eyes gesturing to Adrien.

Marinette bit her lower lip as the blush remained constant on her cheeks, she was glad that she usually blushed around him otherwise Alya would get suspicious, but now almost every moment was going to be more and more difficult to handle when she was around him.

Then, the teacher walked in to begin the class. All the students remained quiet as the teacher introduced the first lesson of the day. As the class went on, Marinette couldn't help but look down at Adrien, now it was torture. Now that they were both secretly in a relationship it was extremely difficult for her to remain focus on the lesson, she could tell during some stages Adrien struggled also, but she knew he was going through a lot more pain than she was, it was pain that wasn't caused by her but by his family.

Adrien felt so conflicted inside, he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs but knew he couldn't say a word, he wasn't even sure if he was comfortable with letting it all out when he was alone with Marinette, they were both still getting used to knowing each other's secret identities, plus they were both now living under the same roof. But for now, Marinette was the only one he could basically tell anything to, he couldn't say anything about this to Nino and that's what frustrated him the most, if Nino noticed him struggling, he was more than likely going to fall apart and tell him everything all at once.

It wasn't because he couldn't keep a secret, but it was because he had so much negative emotion hidden away from the world that it was building up to the pressure point. He had to let it out, it only seemed fair that he let it out on his father, but with how everything was now, he knew he would only be helping his father by luring Ladybug in and capturing her miraculous.

So it wasn't long later that class was over, Adrien glanced at Marinette, giving the expression that he wanted to talk to her. Marinette bit her lip nervously as she looked to her best friend who was packing up her things, she hoped she wouldn't find anything suspicious about her staying behind, Adrien too.

Nino left without a question, he knew that sometimes Adrien would stay behind to catch up on schoolwork or talk to the teacher. But shortly after Nino left, the teacher left also. Marinette gave an assurance that she would catch up with her a few minutes from now. And with that, Adrien and Marinette were alone in the same room together.

Marinette sat in silence, looking down shyly at her lap, fiddling with her fingers before Adrien spoke up.

"I know this is going to be hard for us, but I know we can do this." He stated, having determination and confidence.

She looked up at what she could now call her boyfriend, it was too shocking for her mind to come to terms with everything that's happened in the last 24 hours, she was still trying to wrap her mind around everything, and in all the meanwhile she had started dating the love of her life, it was going to take her a while to get used to all this.

But what worried her foremost was how long could the two of them keep their relationship secret from everyone else? They couldn't tell anyone without giving the whole story, neither of them wanted that to happen, they weren't even sure if they'd be ready to tell everyone else when Hawkmoth was still out there and now he was after only Ladybug, but Adrien feared that his father would find him somehow.

"But for how long? I'm holding back as much as I can and it's only been half a school day." Marinette implied, her glossy eyes meeting Adrien's with concern and worry.

Adrien rested his hands over Marinette's as he scooted closer toward her, he could see her struggling on the inside, it made him realise how hard he was holding back to, it was worse for him because it was on top of everything else that happened, but he knew to some extent that Marinette was shocked with the revelation of Hawkmoth also, it didn't affect her as bad as it affected him.

"Marinette...I know you can do it. Right now I am holding back so much anger against my father I feel like I'm going to explode. And I'm more worried that I'll explode on you. Don't worry, we'll make it through today and after school we'll work out how to defeat my father." Adrien assured, bringing Marinette's hands closer to his chest as he smiled at her.

Marinette still felt unsure, but knew that with everything else that had been happening, she felt like trusting Adrien was all she could do at this point. And of course she trusted him; she just didn't trust her thoughts on how she could work this out. Only she had her miraculous and there was no doubt Hawkmoth was working out a plan to stop her. She knew Adrien could help but she wasn't sure how yet. As she thought to herself, she smiled as she felt relief gently wash over her.

"Okay..." She breathed softly, looking down for a moment before she locked her gaze with his. "Thanks Adrien."

His smile widened in reply, he gave her a sweet peck on the cheek before he grabbed his bag and proceeded to leave. Marinette sat there, almost frozen by the warmth of his lips meeting her already flushed cheek, she gently caressed that cheek before snapping back to reality when she heard students fumbling about outside.

As she walked out, Alya was talking with some other girls before she spotted Marinette. She said goodbye to the other girls and followed Marinette to the locker room. When she went in she saw Adrien there also at his locker putting his things away. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, it was getting all too weird for them to be arriving and leaving almost at the same time. But she decided not to look too deep into it, she approached Marinette with a smirk.

"So, what are you and Adrien doing, hm?" She teased, her arms crossed over her chest.

Marinette jumped and almost collapsed when she heard Alya say that, she thought in an instant that Alya knew that they were dating, but turned to see the playful expression on her face, Marinette remained in a panic as she recollected her books and placed them neatly inside her locker, her muscles relaxing and feeling much calmer once she made eye contact with Alya.

"No...w-what would give you that idea?" Marinette asked nervously, biting her finger as the anxiety rose back up.

Her best friend chuckled in laughter; she loved it when Marinette got so flustered and nervous whenever she brought up Adrien. She rested a hand on the tense girl's shoulder in assurance.

"Don't worry; it's just getting more and more coincidental that you two left at the same time. Do I even need to ask why you stayed behind?" Alya questioned her, raising an eyebrow as her smirk widened.

Marinette clenched her teeth as the pair walked past Adrien who was still at his locker, she tried her best not to look, she knew her face would be crimson red if she did, but she didn't realise it was already close to that colour, and Alya could tell, she giggled with laughter as she saw Marinette react how she always would when she was around him, but this time for some reason it was more extreme.

"Are you not telling me something?" She asked, nudging her friend in the arm, causing her friend to jump and whelp a little.

Adrien turned and saw Marinette struggling very hard to keep it all inside, he had confidence in her. Marinette was Ladybug, she was always so confident when she was Ladybug, but now that she was just Marinette, Adrien could really tell the differences and how he couldn't really pinpoint them before. They both acted so different, but so did he and Cat Noir.

He immediately sighed in guilt and anger when he thought about the moment when his miraculous was taken away from him. His finger felt bare, his bag smelt cleaner (A/N He had a spare in his locker), and there was no kwami floating next to his head demanding for cheese or wanting to get home and sleep.

As he sighed, he closed his locker and went out to look for Nino.

Meanwhile Marinette was trying all she could to hold her in, she assured Alya that nothing was going on and that they should talk about something else. But now Alya thought Marinette was okay with the whole Ladybug and Adrien situation, she decided to talk about it.

For the remainder of the school day, Marinette was under intense pressure, all she wanted was for everyone to know, or lock herself away so she could scream the truth and no one could hear her. She felt like she wasn't ready for this. It was still too much for her to take in.

Meanwhile Adrien kept it all inside, he wanted more than ever just to be at her side all the time, embracing her and just being with her. He needed someone that could truly understand everything he was going through, he wanted to talk to her more than ever about everything but he couldn't otherwise Nino and Alya would get suspicious.

So as the next break carried on, the pair shot glances at each other every now and then while with their friends, and they continued to do so well into their last class for the day until it was time to go home.

Unfortunately Adrien had forgotten that Nino usually waves him goodbye at this point and watches him leave in the car, he grew worried as soon as the bell rang and he remembered. He decided to make up a lie and make a run for it so Nino wouldn't see him.

"I have to leave asap, father's expecting me home in less than ten minutes!" He exclaimed, before zipping out of the classroom and running off.

Before Nino could even respond, Adrien was out the door. So the teen shrugged and turned to Alya and Marinette to comment on how Adrien had been acting.

"Wow, I'm so glad I don't have a dad like Adrien's." He commented, smirking as he pointed his thumb out the door.

Marinette knew exactly why he rushed out the door, he didn't want them to be seen together, but as she remembered correctly, he usually gets picked up and Nino's usually there with him. That's more likely the case why he left all so suddenly. The trio left together and out the front doors of the school to head home, now Marinette had to think of an excuse to not have Alay follow her, but luckily that was already taken care of.

"Well, I'll call you later Marinette. I'm going to hang out with Nino for the afternoon." She implied as she walked off towards Nino, waving at Marinette.

"Oh...um bye." Marinette called out, smiling nervously before she turned around and let out a sigh of relief.

She looked all over for Adrien but couldn't find her anywhere; Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's purse to talk to her owner.

"Where did Adrien go?" She asked.

Marinette looked around to double check her area but couldn't see him in sight; she grew worried as her frown became more obvious. She opened the door to the bakery and gasped when she saw who was talking with her parents.

"Adrien!?" She cried, causing her parents and Adrien to turn around.

"Oh, hey Marinette." Adrien greeted in a friendly tone, grinning. "Sorry I didn't ask you in class but I just asked your parents if I could stay the night."

She couldn't believe it, Adrien had so much confidence in her parents saying yes that he didn't even tell Marinette that he was going to ask them, better yet not let her ask them instead. By the looks of her parents' faces, it seemed like it was a yes.

Marinette wanted to know what kind of lie he gave them to make them say yes; she wanted to ask but felt like she should just ask Adrien privately. She approached her parents and Adrien, her legs shaking subtly.

"Yep, and it's more than okay with us." Tom, Marinette's father assured, having an arm wrapped around his wife Sabine.

"Oh...okay, well in that case...we'll be up in my room okay?" Marinette implied nervously as she pointed to her room upstairs.

Her parents nodded in agreement before the two teens went upstairs following one by the other, Tom and Sabine awed at the two, wishing that they were a couple. He was such an adorable boy to them.

Marinette closed the trap door of her room as soon as Adrien climbed in, she felt like asking him a million questions as to why he would do that without telling her, but she didn't want to be all demanding on him just for that. She decided to let him explain it all, so she sat in her desk chair and waited for the explanation.

"Okay look, as much as I love you carrying me onto your balcony...we can't do that every day." He explained, his arms in a motion, wanting Marinette to remain calm about his explanation. "So I asked your parents if we could have a study sleepover together." He implied, smiling as he sat on his temporary bed across the room.

The navy haired teen thought deeply about how Adrien was going about this, sure it was a great idea. But it was only for one night. "And how about the other nights?"

Adrien didn't respond, instead he stood up and grabbed Marinette by the hand pulling her in close to his chest as his expression turned from cute Adrien to flirtatious Cat Noir.

"I'm sure Ladybug will figure that out." He assured, raising his eyebrows suggestively at her before he knelt down and kissed her hand.

Marinette giggled and blushed at Adrien acting like Cat Noir around her, even though they were the same person. It was going to take some getting used to with knowing that Adrien was Cat Noir. She could see that Adrien was already used to it, or she couldn't see him still making the adjustments on the inside.

But they were going to work this out together, they had to find a way to stop Hawkmoth once and for all and get Adrien's miraculous back.

For some reason...after all that action I had in the previous chapters...this chapter feels a bit boring but that might just be me. I just wanted to show the struggle these two with have to go through in their everyday lives until they can work out a way to defeat Hawkmoth and so on.

And you know...after that Volpina episode...it's actually given me more ideas for this story ^^ You'll have to wait and see what my menacing plans are...hehehe