Author's Note: The little exercise that Professeur Seydoux forces Marinette and Adrien to do is actually something my winter play director did when I was in high school! We were doing Miracle on 34th Street and all of us who were playing minor roles kept laughing during the romantic scenes, so she made us sit there and watch them kiss over and over again until we got bored of it. Needless to say, it's a little tidbit I've wanted to have an excuse to use in fiction for a long time now :)

Everyone backstage bursts into laughter as Marinette and Adrien stare at the professeur in shock.

"It's the most important scene in the finale," says Professeur Seydoux, raising her voice to be heard over the giggling, though barely anyone is listening.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir are reaffirming their relationship after defeating the toughest akuma they've had to face yet. They're still breathless from the fight, and in the middle of their adrenaline rush, they run to each other and kiss."

"But our relationship isn't like that!" is what Marinette wants to say as Professeur Seydoux continues to explain the mechanics of blocking the scene and why it's such a pivotal moment in the play.

Even if we wanted to kiss, we wouldn't actually do it during a fight. We're not that irresponsible.

To say she feels conflicted is an understatement. It's true that she really wants to kiss Adrien. She really, really wants to kiss him, over and over again, and this play is the perfect way to make that happen without making things weird. And things are plenty weird already, since she can barely string together two words in front of him without making a fool of herself.

But she also doesn't want the play to tell the wrong story about her and Chat Noir. It's true that she and Chat are always flirting. But it doesn't mean anything—at least she didn't think it did.

It was one thing to almost kiss him when she was standing in for the role of the secret agent. Those weren't real people. But Chat? He is absolutely real, and she doesn't want to hurt his feelings. Marinette's had a feeling for a while that he's got a bit of a crush on her, and while he's always respectful and polite (despite his terrible puns), she's never tried to encourage it. And she certainly doesn't want to do it now.

And okay, now that the professeur is talking about how close they are, she's feeling a little confused about the whole relationship, but the point is that she likes Adrien, not Chat Noir. And she doesn't want to mix it all up.

To Marinette, it makes a difference that she's taking on the role. If it were someone else playing the role of Ladybug, it wouldn't matter how the play was written, because authenticity wouldn't even come into question. There is no way another actress could possibly know what it's like to truly be in her shoes.

But Marinette is Ladybug and if she has to portray that side of herself as a civilian, it's her responsibility to make sure that Ladybug is as real as she can possibly be.

What if Chat Noir hears about the play and shows up to see it? Of course, that would be another problem—if he shows up, people will expect the real Ladybug to be in the audience as well. And unless she finds some way to clone herself before opening night, that's not going to happen.

Marinette knows that Alya just wanted to help her and Adrien come together faster. She's just not sure this is the right way to go about it. Unfortunately, there's nothing she can do but go along with it.

Adrien, on the other hand, is not conflicted. He's just wistful.

I wish I had a relationship like that with Ladybug, he thinks. He wonders what she would think if she found out about the production. Would she be angry? Would she be happy? He wonders whether he should mention it to her the next time he sees her, or if that would be a bad idea. Perhaps it would actually be a good way to approach the topic.

The laughter continues, and Professeur Seydoux frowns. "I do not approve of how lightly all of you are taking this. It's not funny, and all of you must stop laughing at the idea of our two leads kissing. What will happen if all of you continue to act this way every time Adrien and Marinette are rehearsing this scene?"

"It will take four weeks and twelve hours to learn one scene," says Max, looking at his watch.

Professeur Seydoux rolls her eyes. "Thank you, Max, but that's not my point. What I need all of you to understand is that all of you must get used to seeing your two leads kissing in front of you, or we will get nowhere during rehearsals."

She pauses to clear her throat as Adrien and Marinette turn redder and redder, and their classmates continue to titter, except for Alya, who is wearing a pained expression for Marinette's benefit and Nino, who feels like hiding in the janitor's closet, after remembering the story that Adrien told him this very morning about directors on his photoshoots pulling weird stunts to make him more "comfortable" with the female models he often has to shoot with.

He's afraid that Professeur Seydoux, who has a reputation for being a little quirky, is going to do something similar.

He's right.

"So we're going to do a special exercise. Adrien and Marinette are going to kiss each other in front of all of you, over and over again, until all of you stop thinking it's funny."

"Is that really necessary—" starts Nino before Alya grabs his arm and shakes her head. It's a bad idea to argue with this professeur. She won't listen to anything he has to say. And she also doesn't want him to ruin this moment for her best friend, when she's so close to finally kissing her crush.

"Come up here, you two," says the professeur, beckoning at an empty space in front of the other students as she picks something up from the prop table.

"And put on these two masks so it will be easier for you to get into character."

Adrien and Marinette walk towards Professeur Seydoux with trepidation. Marinette feels like every step is a thousand miles—she never thought that her first kiss (kisses!) with Adrien would be in front of the entire class, while she pretended to be her superhero alter ego.

As for Adrien, it's not the first time that he's kissed someone on stage or for a photoshoot, but they're always kisses on the cheek, or on the forehead. The closest he's ever gotten to actually kissing someone on the lips for something like this was during the student film—ironically, with Marinette—and that didn't end up happening after all.

They put on the masks and stand, facing each other silently, waiting for what comes next. Marinette is struck by how different the plastic imitation mask feels on her face, and how it makes her feel exposed, rather than comfortable and confident. And she tries not to think about how much Adrien looks like Chat Noir right now, peering at her curiously through that black mask with those green, green eyes.

Professeur Seydoux waves her arms, directing them. "Marinette, place your hands around Adrien's neck. Adrien, stand a little closer, and gently place your hands on her hips, and lean in. Close the gap."

The space between them is electric, and tense. Marinette's heart is beating so fast she can hardly take it, and her face is burning up but her hands feel like they're turning into ice. She tentatively places them on his shoulders. She can feel the warmth of his skin rising through his cotton shirt, soft to the touch. And even though they're almost the same height, up close, he suddenly seems much taller. She slides her hands instinctively up to cup his face and pull it closer to hers.

Adrien can feel Marinette's nervous energy as she leans into him, and it's overwhelming but pleasant. He shifts his weight onto the balls of his feet and presses his hands against her waist. She's soft to the touch, her gaze flickering up and down from his lips to his eyes, and even though he can hear the Professeur's directions, he already knows instinctively what to do.

The first thing Marinette notices as Adrien's lips touch hers is that it feels familiar, like she's kissed him though that's impossible—she's only ever fantasized about doing what she's doing right now. And yet she recognizes the curve of his jawbone, the place where his mask ends and his face begins—and the way he sinks into the kiss with a sigh and presses his arms against the small of her back, like he doesn't want to let go.

It lasts a few seconds at most, but it feels much longer. And though Marinette doesn't want to admit it, it feels exactly like she's kissing Chat Noir. And she likes it. Why does she like it?

As they pull apart, though they can hear the giggling of their classmates, it almost feels like they they're standing on an island on their own. They lock eyes and look at each other in a daze. They both feel like they're in a daydream, and they're afraid to let go.

Professeur Seydoux's shrill voice breaks the spell. "Marinette, Adrien, kiss again. You need to do this again until your classmates stop giggling. Don't just stand there. Show me your chemistry."

This time, Marinette is the one to lean in first, and Adrien feels a weird sense of deja vu as the edges of her mask bump against his. It truly feels like he's kissing Ladybug, and he smiles a little bit and squeezes her waist as he pulls her a little bit closer.

The laughs continue, but they diminish slightly. The novelty is beginning to wear off. Still, Professeur Seydoux makes them do it again.

By the third kiss, they both lean in at the same time, and Marinette feels like she's melting into him. She can't tell where she ends and Adrien begins, and at this point, the others have stopped laughing, and some of them are even looking away. The tone in the room has completely shifted, and what started out as something performative now feels completely intimate.

Even Professeur Seydoux wonders whether she should have made them go this far. She didn't count on this happening when she began the exercise, and she needs to draw the line. As she looks at their faces, she realizes that Marinette and Adrien are in no shape emotionally to continue rehearsal, so she ends it early and asks the two of them to stay back for a few minutes afterward.

Once the three of them are alone, she reminds her two leads that this is just a play, and that even though it's important for actors to identify with the characters they're playing, they shouldn't get too emotionally involved in anything that's happening, because it's not real.

As they walk out unsteadily, the professeur sighs and shakes her head. She doubts the message got through. At any rate, she hopes that the exercise doesn't affect the rest of rehearsal. But she's sure they'll be fine. They're teenagers. Nothing for them is that complicated.

Marinette walks out of the theater in a daze, barely paying attention to what Alya is saying to her. She can't quite believe what just happened, and she has no idea what to make of it. She's both delighted and utterly conflicted. Kissing Adrien was better than she could ever have even imagined, but she had never in a million years thought it would remind her of her silly kitty.

"Girl, you were all over Adrien! I knew writing those kisses in would be a good idea," babbles Alya in delight. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I thought it would be a fun surprise for you, and then what with Professeur Seydoux—"

"Alya, you know that Chat Noir and Ladybug aren't actually in a relationship, right?" blurts out Marinette. She doesn't know why she says it. But she can't think of anything else to say.

Alya looks at her in surprise. "What makes you say that?"

"I mean—did Ladybug ever tell you that she's dating Chat Noir when you met her?"

"Well, no. But it's pretty obvious, don't you think?" says Alya, grinning brightly. "Anyway, she's doing superhero work without even knowing! She's helping you and Adrien finally get together!"

Marinette smiles weakly and shrugs. The truth is so much more complicated than her best friend knows.

As Adrien stands waiting for his father's limo to show up, he watches Marinette and Alya walk away into the distance. He wonders if she feels as mixed up as he does about everything that's happened today. He thought it would be easy for him to put on the mask today and feel the rush of confidence that he always does after transforming, but he didn't, and he wonders why.

What he does know for sure is that the minute Marinette put on that mask, her entire demeanor shifted, and he keeps thinking about how Marinette kept looking into his eyes like she was searching for something. He can't stop wondering what it was.

Mostly, he can't stop thinking about how much Marinette reminded him of Ladybug the second time they kissed—the way her body moved in sync with his, the way she seemed to instinctively recognize the shape of his face and his mask, even though it was made of plastic.

It is, quite frankly, a bit of a turn on, and he wonders for a millisecond whether he should ask her out instead of waiting for the right moment to confess to Ladybug, since quite frankly, it would make everything a lot easier—especially since Marinette is a sweet girl and a great kisser.

And then he immediately rejects the idea, because he doesn't want to betray his one true love, even though she has no idea how he really feels about her, regardless of how Alya's play portrays their relationship. He doesn't mind waiting—the right moment for him to confess his feelings to her will definitely come if he's patient.

Close to midnight, Marinette is still awake, her mind racing from the events of the day. She lies down on her bed and gazes out the window, unable to fall asleep. The kisses are still running through her head in a constant blur, and she still can't quite believe it all. Today was just day one. How will she make it through two months of rehearsals? She's not sure her heart can handle that kind of stress.

She closes her eyes and softly touches her fingers to her lips as she tries again to fall asleep. Maybe she can worry about that later.

And then Marinette remembers what all of this is for, and she groans and sits straight up as Chat Noir's silly but earnest grin dances across her mind.

Tikki looks at her with concern and leans across the pillow. "What's wrong, Marinette? Are you okay?"

Marinette turns to her and shakes her head. "Tikki, we have to make sure that Chat Noir doesn't find out that this play is happening."

"But how?" asks Tikki. "I heard the the director say that she's going to put ads up all throughout Paris! I don't think you can stop him from finding out."

"I don't know, but I'm going to do it somehow. He doesn't deserve to have his feelings hurt like this."

"But Marinette, can't you just talk to him about it? I'm sure he'll understand!"

Marinette sighs. "But it's so complicated, Tikki! How would you talk to him about something like this? I don't even know how to bring it up."

"It won't be easy, but I believe in you! But you need to go to sleep or you won't be able to focus at school."

"You're right," said Marinette, yawning. "Good night!"

"Good night, Marinette. Sweet Dreams."

Tikki smiles at her disheveled friend. History has repeated itself so many times that she knows exactly how this is all going to play out, but she knows she has to watch from the sidelines. In the end, it will all work out. But for now, she's going to sit back and and watch the fun.