Author's Note: This chapter…is twice as long as the others so far ahahaha :') I have so many feelings tbh and I'm sure you will too by the end, so as always, if you'd like to share them with me, please shoot me a message at chassecroise or stardusted on tumblr or leave a review on here! ❤
Ladybug leans in first. She has the advantage—she knows they've kissed before, and she's already memorized the curve of his face, the shape of his body. Being Ladybug makes her bold, and she confidently explores the contours of his face and neck with her lips as she pushes him against the wall.
But she soon finds that Adrien knows what he's doing too. He's intimately familiar with the way she moves, and glides in sync with her, anticipating exactly what she's going to do next. He wraps his arms tightly around her and pulls her closer, and she's breathless for a second as they lock gazes and she sees the intense longing in his eyes.
They're hungry for each other, and it's more satisfying than either of them could ever have imagined. It feels absolutely and unequivocally right, like this is what was always meant to be.
Adrien pulls back first, overwhelmed by what's happening as he tries to take everything in. He looks at her, eyes sparkling in awe.
"Am I really awake? Is this really happening?"
Ladybug giggles and pushes a lock of hair out of his face. She looks at him fondly and says without thinking, "You look like a blushing little kitten. Un petit minou."
Adrien's expression quickly changes from awe to curiosity, and then suspicion. Does she know?
It can't be. Ladybug's eyes are friendly, curious, gentle—and full of desire. Deep blue desire, reflecting the feelings inside Adrien's own heart, and it distracts him completely. He stops thinking as he leans back in to meet her lips, made bold by the knowledge that Ladybug wants him, Adrien, as badly as he wants her. Perhaps it's as simple as that.
They fall onto the bed, Ladybug on top, and though Adrien has always called her princess, it's clear that she's a queen.
Adrien never thought that heaven would feel like a roller coaster, falling fast and hard as Ladybug's soft lips press against every part of his flushed skin, emotions flooding into his chest as his heart beats faster and faster. He never wants to stop falling, and he stares with reverence at her perfect face as she smiles down at him, the answers to all his questions about her identity behind her magical mask.
He reaches up and lightly runs his fingers down her right ear and touches her earring. "Ladybug, who are you? How do you know me? How do we know each other?"
Ladybug stops him by pressing her fingers against his lips. "I'm sorry, Adrien, but I can't tell you," she says, gently, but firmly as she sits up and moves to the side of the bed, looking away. "It's for both your safety and mine."
Adrien sighs. "I understand. I just—I really want to know, because I really, really like you. And—you obviously like me, but I can't believe it's because I'm a model, or because I'm Gabriel Agreste's son. I know you're not that shallow, and I don't believe you're a gold digger. So why? Why choose me?"
Ladybug is struck by his earnestness, the deep sense of yearning in his voice. How can she tell him that it's because he's perfect, because he's kind and sweet and everything she's ever dreamed about? How can she tell him that there's no logical reason why she feels such a deep connection to him, she just does, and for her, that's enough?
She especially has no idea how to explain to Adrien how she fell for him, because the one time they've interacted while she was Ladybug was when she saved him from The Mime—and she still remembers the way he looked at her that day, starstruck and silent. In retrospect, she should have known then how he felt about Ladybug. She wants to tell him, she really does. But it's not safe for him to know.
And if she's honest with herself, the real reason she doesn't want to tell him is because of the selfish fear that's gripped her heart. As Marinette, she gets to kiss Adrien on stage, fulfilling her own desires, even though she knows he doesn't feel the same way about her. But as Ladybug, she gets to fulfill both Adrien's desires and hers at the same time. He wants her—and she wants him—and that's all that matters.
So she shakes her head. "I wish I could tell you, but it would put us both in danger. And I can't risk any harm coming to you. You mean too much to me."
"I understand," says Adrien, his voice low as he hangs his head.
"I'm sorry—" begins Ladybug when she suddenly notices the clock, blanching white as she realizes that it's close to midnight. Adrien catches her arm as she jumps off the bed.
"Wait! Where are you going? Are you leaving already?"
She smiles sadly. "I have to, Adrien. It's past midnight. Time for Cinderella to go home."
"Does that mean I'm your Prince Charming?" he says, flashing a disconcertingly cat-like grin and bowing gallantly. It gives Ladybug pause for a minute before she starts laughing.
"I'll see you tomorrow! Farewell, mon cher. Sleep well," she says with a wink as she pulls out her yo-yo and springs out the window.
Adrien sighs with contentment as he watches her leap over the rooftops and disappear over the moonlit horizon. He might not know who Ladybug is yet, but this is an arrangement that he can live with for the moment. He just has to be careful not to look too infatuated around her when he's Chat Noir.
Plagg floats up beside him. "Your masked sweetheart smelled a lot like sugar and flour tonight."
Adrien rolls his eyes at the grumpy kwami. "All you think about is food, isn't it? At least you didn't say she smells like camembert."
Plagg shrugs his tiny shoulders. "I'm just saying. You're trying to figure out who she really is, and I'm sharing something that I observed. You should be grateful that I'm trying to help you."
"Thanks, Plagg, you've been super helpful," retorts Adrien. "I'm sure that information will be—"
He stops as he remembers a certain classmate whose family owns a bakery. A certain classmate who's been reminding him a lot of Ladybug lately. A certain classmate who has cerulean blue eyes and dark pigtails, who often has a faint cloud of cinnamon and caramel hovering around her whenever she walks past him.
"Very helpful, actually. Very helpful indeed."
Marinette collapses immediately onto her bed after she jumps into her room and de-transforms. She knows she should be exhausted, but she's filled with adrenaline and joy and an incredible sense of sheer satisfaction.
"That was the best night of my life!" she says, hugging her pillow and squealing while Tikki floats beside her with concern.
"I know you told Adrien that you're going to visit him again tomorrow, but are you sure that's a good idea? Look how tired you are!"
"But Tikki, he's so cute, and he likes me so much—and it's not like I used Lucky Charm, so my transformation won't wear off as long as I use it."
"But—"
"Hey, wait! Tikki, what would happen if I use Lucky Charm in a non-emergency situation? Can I do that?"
"Yes, you can use Lucky Charm outside the presence of an akuma, but you really shouldn't!"
"Why not?"
Tikki sighs. She's always been afraid when her Ladybug realizes that she can use Lucky Charm in situations outside of emergencies, because it often leads to rash decision-making and dangerous situations. Not all of her Ladybugs ever have the impulse to try, but it always happens at least once when her Ladybug is young, and Marinette is the youngest one there's ever been.
"If you do, there's a chance that you won't be able to use Lucky Charm again for 24 hours."
"But that doesn't make any sense. I've never had a problem using Lucky Charm twice in one day when there are multiple akumas."
"That's because Lucky Charm is supposed to be used against akumas. As soon as you say Miraculous Ladybug, the energy resets. But if you use it in a non-emergency setting, Lucky Charm won't start regenerating until you de-transform—and the longer you stay Ladybug, the longer it will take to reset."
Marinette nods. She's listening intently, but is still far too excited about the prospect of having a perfect date with Adrien courtesy of Lucky Charm to absorb the implications of this information.
"Okay, noted. So how does Lucky Charm work outside of battle? Like if I wanted to go on a date, would it whip up movie tickets, or a fancy dress?"
Tikki tells her the details and shakes her head as Marinette writes them down with excitement.
"Oh, Marinette, what am I going to do with you? And what about Chat Noir? When are you going to tell him about the play?"
Marinette looks up and frowns. In her excitement about Adrien, she's forgotten that she still hasn't done that. But she knows she shouldn't put it off any longer.
"Tomorrow," she says with conviction. "I'm going to tell him tomorrow, when we meet for our night patrol."
"Girl, you look wrecked! Are you getting sick?" says Alya with concern the next day, as Marinette slowly walks into the classroom, looking dazed and exhausted with dark circles under her eyes.
"I only got three hours of sleep last night," responds Marinette, breaking into another huge yawn.
"What? What were you doing all night?" Alya screeches.
"I was, uh, talking to a friend," says Marinette.
Alya raises her eyebrow. "Who could you possibly love more than me that you were talking to them for hours, so late at night?"
Marinette blushes bright red as Adrien turns to look back at them, having overheard the entire conversation. She avoids making eye contact with him and invents an excuse about a cousin in China and the time difference, but Marinette has never been good at making up complicated lies, and it's obvious to both Alya and Adrien that she isn't telling the truth.
Alya figures there's a good reason she's lying (knowing Marinette, she was probably up all night making a scrapbook of Adrien's latest photoshoot, which came out in Mode Magazine two days ago, and she just doesn't want to admit to it while he's sitting right in front of her), so she doesn't press the issue.
But Adrien knows why she's lying. Or at least, he thinks he does. He wishes there was some way of proving his suspicions. The best place to do it would be rehearsal, but Professeur Seydoux has a cold today and has canceled practice, so he has to wait another day. Not that he minds. He'll be seeing Ladybug tonight again anyway—not once, but twice. And he can hardly wait.
Sometimes, having a superhero alter ego can be pretty amazing.
From the very moment she wakes up in the morning Marinette is filled with a mixture of euphoria, contentment, and nervousness, swirling around from her head to her toes. She still can't quite believe that she actually went to Adrien's house last night, or that she read her love poem to him out loud, or that she pushed him against a wall and made out with him. Is this real life?
And yet she's jittery and restless at the same time, because even though she's excited about Adrien, she still has to tell Chat Noir about the play, and she's not sure how he's going to react to the news.
After staring at the back of his head the entire school day and wondering all the ways in which she could kiss him that she hasn't yet, it occurs to Marinette as the final bell rings that maybe she could actually ask Adrien for advice. It wouldn't be weird, right? He always knows the right thing to say to people. Surely he could help her figure out what to say to Chat.
She runs down the stairs and walks up to Adrien while he's waiting for his limo and taps his shoulder. He jumps and turns around and to his surprise, sees Marinette standing behind him.
"Salut, Marinette! What's up?" he says with a smile.
Adrien can't believe how casual he's being about the whole thing, given that he was most likely making out with this girl the night before. He finds his eyes wandering to her lips, which seem a little swollen, like she's been kissed recently…but he could just be imagining things.
Marinette hesitates for a moment. "Adrien, can I ask you something?"
"Of course. You can ask me anything!" says Adrien as he places his hand on her shoulder with a bright smile.
Marinette wants to melt into a puddle on the floor. It should be illegal for someone to be this cute. But she has to focus—she can freak out once she gets home. She's here to ask Adrien a question. And if he's going to keep looking at her like that with that smile of his, she has to do it before she goes weak in the knees and falls over. She takes a deep breath.
"How do you tell a friend something that might hurt their feelings?"
Adrien considers. "Well, I think you should be as direct and honest as possible, but be kind."
Marinette nods. That makes sense. And she is nothing if not direct when she is Ladybug. She knew that Adrien would have the right answer. He always does.
"Merci, Adrien!" she says, smiling brightly. "Thanks for the help! I'll, see you tonight—I mean, tomorrow!"
She waves and quickly scuttles away towards home, hoping Adrien hasn't noticed her verbal slip-up.
But if she were to look back, she would see him smirking at her rapidly retreating back. Because he did notice, and he knows exactly what she's talking about.
At half past nine, Chat Noir and Ladybug meet up for their weekly night patrol. Ladybug looks somber and serious the whole time, and for some reason, Chat Noir recalls the conversation he had with Marinette after school. He suddenly wonders if it has something to do with the awkward way Ladybug is acting, even though still has no definitive proof that they're the same person. And yet—something tells him he's about to find out.
He turns to look at Ladybug and wishes he could kiss her—it's a full moon above Paris and the stars are shining bright, but that would mean revealing his identity to her, and even though he'd like nothing more than to do that, he knows that now is not the time.
"Buginette, you're very quiet tonight. Is something wrong?"
Ladybug sighs. She knows it's finally time to tell him the truth, and the best way to do it is to just rip it off like a bandage.
"Remember how I told you I wanted to talk to you about something earlier?"
"Of course. You never got the chance. Do you want to talk about it now?"
"Yes. It's really important—it's about something I'm doing at school."
Here it was, here was the proof—
"It's a play about the two of us, and I've been cast in it. As Ladybug, can you imagine?"
Chat calmly nods in acknowledgement, though he's screaming internally. His hunch was right—Marinette is Ladybug! Things can only get better from here.
"So what's the problem, my lady?"
Is she going to admit that she's in love with her co-star, and that she's visiting him at night? That would make things even more interesting than they are already. And it would give him license to tease her, though to be fair, they tease each other enough already.
Ladybug takes a deep breath. She's prepared for this moment for the past few hours, but it's still not easy.
"The story is about how we fell in love while learning how to save Paris together, and well—I have to kiss you in the play, and I just—I'm so sorry, Chat."
He cocks his head, confused. This isn't the direction he was expecting her to go in. "Sorry? Why are you sorry?"
She sighs. This is the hard part.
"Because I know that you and I have never had those kinds of feelings for each other! Our flirting, our banter, it's just been the way we interact with each other. But my classmates who wrote the play, they think that it means that there's something going on between us."
Chat listens in silence, and Ladybug continues in a torrent of words.
"I wanted to tell you because I didn't want to see your feelings get hurt, in case you come to see the play. I know they're planning to invite the two of us to attend, and I still haven't figured out how to be in the play and the audience at the same time, but it's honestly so embarrassing—and I just wanted to apologize. I should have tried to change the script, but the boy playing Chat Noir, well—I really like him. And I think—I hope—that he likes me."
She trails off. She's not quite ready to tell Chat Noir about her night-time rendezvous to Adrien's room. In fact, she's not quite sure she'll ever be ready to tell him about that.
I know that you and I have never had those kinds of feelings for each other.
I didn't want to see your feelings get hurt.
It's so embarrassing.
I'm so sorry.
Chat Noir hears every single word, and each one feels like a tiny little stab in the heart. It's true that he's constantly flirting with Ladybug, telling her that they're destined to be together as she rolls her eyes and sighs. It's all harmless fun and he's never genuinely been serious about it, except the one time he came so close to telling her J'taime on Valentine's Day.
So why does it hurt so much to hear her actually say it out loud, especially when he knows that she loves him as Adrien? She still wants him—just not all of him. Shouldn't that be enough?
How do you tell a friend something that might hurt their feelings?
I think you should be as direct and honest as possible, but be kind.
"Chat Noir? Are you okay?"
What can he say? How does he respond?
He remembers Professeur Seydoux saying something about putting posters all over Paris, and so he says the first thing that comes to his mind.
"—I know. I've seen the posters."
Ladybug is surprised. "I'm sorry?"
"I've seen the posters for the show at your school! They're all over Paris. So you're playing Ladybug, huh? Do your classmates think you're doing a good job?"
"Oh! Well, I was kind of pushed into the role, and I don't know all my lines yet so we'll have to see—but wait, does that mean you know which lycée I go to?!"
"Well, I do now," says Chat Noir, grinning brightly. "And the boy at your school—he must be the cat's pajamas, if you like him so much."
Ladybug blushes in the darkness even as she rolls her eyes at his pun. "I guess the cat'sout of the bag," she says, punching him lightly on the shoulder. She feels so much lighter now that she's told him the truth. He's taken it better than she could have ever hoped for.
"Thanks for being so understanding about this, kitty," she says. "I've been worrying about telling you this for a week. I guess there was no reason to be worried, huh?"
She turns to look at the clock tower directly across from their survey point, and notices that it's almost eleven. "Oh—! Chat Noir, I've got to go right now. I've got somewhere important to be."
"Does my lady have a secret rendezvous with her lover?" says Chat Noir, wiggling his eyebrows seductively.
"Like I would tell you!" retorts Ladybug, sticking out her tongue as she leaps away.
Chat Noir waits until she disappears before he leaves. He knows he has to be quick, because he knows exactly where she's going, and he needs to get there before she does.
Chat Noir leaps through his bedroom window and leans against the wall, his mind racing at all the pieces of the puzzle that have come together all at once.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug, the masked superhero and beloved savior of Paris. And she's in love with Adrien Agreste, so much so that she's willing to risk everything to visit him at night as Ladybug. And Chat Noir is her trusted partner, someone she respects but does not love.
And she's coming to Adrien's room to see him again within the next five minutes. For someone who's usually the responsible one between them, this is unbelievably reckless for her, and Chat Noir is not sure how to handle it.
He quickly de-transforms into Adrien, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor as he feels himself unexpectedly starting to cry. Even though he's been in love with Ladybug for the longest time, he's realizing that he's been slowly falling for Marinette all this time as well, and he's beyond worried about what she's going to do when she finds out that Chat Noir and Adrien are one and the same.
Will she still feel the same way about him? What if she's disappointed? What if she feels betrayed? Adrien has to make sure that she doesn't find out the truth, even if it's the hardest thing he's ever done.
He can't take advantage of the fact that he knows Marinette's secret identity now, especially since she's put so much effort into keeping her two lives separate. He can't screw this up for her.
Adrien sighs as he thinks about the valentine she wrote for him—and rehearsal—and last night, which he still can't actually believe was real. God, it's going to be hard. But he can do it for her. He has to.
He closes his eyes and balls his hands into fists as he wishes for the courage and conviction to do whatever it takes to keep his princess happy, ignoring the tears slowly leaking down his face.
"Bonsoir, mon cher!" says a cheerful, singsong voice from the window. Ladybug is here to see him again tonight, just like she promised she would.
Her demeanor has changed completely from before—there's no tension in her face, no hesitation. Clearly, she had been nervous about telling Chat Noir about the play. But she's happy now, standing here with Adrien. And her happiness is his happiness.
He pushes the negative thoughts from his mind. It's better to live fully in the present than to worry about the past or the future.
"Did you miss me?" she says, smiling brightly until she notices his tear-streaked face. "What's wrong?!"
Adrien wipes the last of his tears away. "Nothing, now that you're here."
"Are you sure?" she says, cupping his face, with her hands, her bright blue eyes wide with concern.
"Yes, of course," he responds. This is what he's always wanted, isn't it? To be with Ladybug, the one he loves. He can figure out how Marinette and Chat Noir fit into the picture later. In the end, both of them have two different sides to the same coin. It's just a question of matching them up at the right time.
She kisses him on the cheek and pulls back to look at him solemnly. "You don't really mean that. I know you too well."
He looks at her and smiles. "I'm fine, I promise."
"Well then, kiss me before it's midnight and I have to go home."
"I think you'd be beautiful even in rags, Cinderella," says Adrien with an adoring sigh.
"Okay, cheeseball. Shut up and kiss me," she commands with a cheeky grin, and he is all too happy to comply.