A/N: So I'm still not doing very well. I'm still thinking about what happened in school yesterday, but I'm trying my best. I have my headphones in, I'm cuddling with my stuffed bunny, and I'm writing. Also, it is a blizzard outside, so that means it's a snow day today. I have plenty of time to catch up on homework and writing my stories.

Chapter 6: First Date, Retried

POV: Adrien's

I fidgeted with the edge of my white dress shirt as I sat in my room, waiting for Marinette to show up. Plagg watched me with bored eyes. "You need to calm down," he sighed. "And you should find me some camembert."

"Do you ever think of anything other than cheese?" I asked him, looking up at him.

"I do. I'm just hungry," he said. I shook my head, looking at the time again. It was only 5:30. "And you do realize that you have half an hour before she's supposed to get here, right?"

"I do realize that. I just don't know what to do until then," I told him.

"Feed me," he offered. I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring him otherwise.

"Fine. Let's go get you some camembert," I said, getting up off of my bed and walking out of my room. Plagg flew after me, telling me how I didn't understand the delicacy of camembert or something like that. I wasn't really listening.

I walked into the huge kitchen and headed straight for the fridge. Nathalie had been confused as to why I was constantly asking for camembert, so now we had a huge collection of camembert in the fridge. I had to hold Plagg back to keep from flying at it and just eating it all.

As I set down the plate of camembert on the counter for Plagg, I heard someone buzz in at the front door. I smiled, heading to Nathalie's office to unlock the gate for whoever it was.

I looked at the little screen that showed who was at the door. Marinette was standing there, dressed in yet another stunning black dress. She was talking to Alya, who looked like she was ready to leave at any moment. Maybe she was just providing pep-talk and support for Marinette, who looked incredibly nervous.

I pressed the button on the desktop that opened the gate. As soon as the gate opened, Alya took off. Marinette smiled, the nervousness still clear on her face. Aw, come on, Marinette. I won't scratch.

I ran out and opened the door for her. She smiled, her fist raised to knock on the door. A little laugh escaped from her lips. "Come in, my Lady," I said to her, holding the door open. She walked in, smiling. "I have prepared a dinner by hand since I seemed to impress you with my amazing cooking skills the other night." She laughed, grinning.

"So where is your dad?" she wondered.

"He is out of town working on stuff. Nathalie and my body guard went with him, figuring he needed him more than I did," I explained, shrugging. She nodded. "But that means we have the house to ourselves for the evening."

I led her out to the massive dining room and pulled out the chair closest to my own spot. She smiled and sat down, letting me push her chair in.

"So...what would you like to talk about?" I asked her after a few minutes of eating in silence. I still wasn't sure what we were supposed to talk about during a date. It had felt so natural to start the conversation the last time. Maybe it was because we were at the park in a non-formal location.

"Whatever you would like," she said, smiling at me.

"Hmm... Maybe the fact that I can hear Plagg eating in the kitchen," I suggested, trying to lighten the mood. Then she stopped moving to listen. A huge grin broke out on her face, and I couldn't help but smile in return.

"He's such a loud eater," she laughed quietly.

"Oh, I know. And he's always demanding that I feed him camembert. The issue with that is that it smells awful. I have to carry it with me just in case something happens and I need to refuel him. So I always smell like stinky cheese," I laughed.

"Now I'm definitely lucky that Tikki only ever wants sweet things, so I can just carry cookies in my purse with me," Marinette gloated, and I huffed a bit in her direction. She smiled. "But now I understand why you always smell like cheese."

"It's not a pleasant smell to other people, is it?" I asked, and she shook her head slightly.

"I've learned to accept it, though. I mean, before I understood why, I was just happy that I could be around you at all, so I didn't mind it," she admitted.

"That reminds me. How long have you liked me?" I asked her.

"To be honest, ever since I first met you," she said. "The night I first found out that you were Cat Noir, I was shocked. Because you like Ladybug so much, and it was just kind of a pleasant surprise that you liked me all along, whether you knew it or not."

I laughed a bit, nodding my head. "And I fell in love with Ladybug the second I met her," I said honestly.

"I guess our relationship has just been pretty screwed up from the start," she laughed.

"I definitely agree with that," I agreed.

"I'm starting to see now that hiding our true identities from each other made everything more complicated than it needed to be," she sighed.

"At least, it's working out for us now," I pointed out, and she smiled.

Plagg flew into the dining room from the kitchen. He looked annoyed. "There's no more camembert," he told me seriously. I cracked a smile at Marinette before looking back at Plagg.

"There is more. You just can't have any," I said. "I need that for when I need to transform. If I can't give you food to refuel you, what are we supposed to do?"

He huffed at me. Marinette smiled, looking down at her purse. "Is it safe for me to come out?" I heard a little voice say. Marinette responded with a quick yes. A little thing that looked a lot like Plagg flew out of Marinette's purse. This must be Marinette's kwami, Tikki. She looked like a little ladybug, red with a few black spots. She was truly adorable.

"Tikki!" Plagg said excitedly.

"Plagg!" Tikki responded, just as excited. Marinette and I shared a happy glance.

"Well, it's a great thing that they get along well," I said, and she nodded.

"Adrien," Tikki said to me. I looked at her. "Hello. It is nice to actually meet you. I've seen you plenty of times before, but I've never gotten a chance to introduce myself. I am Tikki."

"Hello, Tikki," I said. "I remember talking to you on the phone a little while ago."

"Oh, yeah! I forgot about that," she said.

I looked over at Plagg. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" I asked him.

"To who?" he asked, and I flahsed a glare at him.

"To my girlfriend. Tikki introduced herself to me, and now it's time for you to introduce yourself to her. You're not setting a very good impression. The first thing you said when you came out here was that there wasn't any camembert left," I said.

He sighed deeply. "Hello, Marinette. I'm Plagg, the black cat kwami. If you ever want to know any deep secrets about Adrien, I'm the guy you can come to," he said, smiling. Marinette smiled a bit wickedly.

"I might have to take you up on that offer," she said to Plagg.

"I think it's time for you to go, Plagg," I said nervously, not sure what he was planning on telling her.

"I just introduced myself to your wonderful girlfriend, and you already want me to leave?" Plagg asked me, appearing deeply offended. Before I could say anything, he turned back to Marinette and said, "He has a Ladybug poster that he stares at before he goes to bed."

I felt my cheeks go red as Marinette smiled in my direction. "Don't worry. Marinette has pictures of Adrien all over her room," Tikki spoke up. It was Marinette's turn to go red.

"I think it's time for both of you to leave," Marinette and I agreed. The two kwamis laughed with each other as they flew out into the kitchen. Plagg was probably going to get into the fridge, but I didn't really care at this point.

"Pictures of me all over your room, huh?" I asked Marinette. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes. I kind of adore you. No, not kind of. I completely adore you," she admitted under her breath. I smiled. "And you have a Ladybug poster?"

"Yeah. I keep it under my bed, but as I'm falling asleep, I'll pull it out and look at it," I told her. She smiled.

"I'm so glad that this is finally working out," she murmured, taking my hand. I smiled brightly.

"Me, too," I whispered before leaning over and kissing her forehead. "Me, too, Marinette."