So...I still can't sleep. And now that I've written out the first chapter, it's going to bother me that I haven't established any connection between our lovely heroes and my OCs, so here it goes.

Paris, Present Time:

"Come on, my lady, surely you trust me enough to know who you are under the mask." Adrien smiles sweetly at his Ladybug, hoping that maybe, just maybe today will be his lucky day.

Marinette huffs at Adrien and shakes her finger at him. "Silly kitty, I'm not just going to give up my identity just like that to you." She laughs a bit before flicking his bell lightly. "Sorry kitty, I'm not ready for that yet. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, she swings off, off to prepare her home for her guest.

At home, Adrien groans to himself as he looks at Plagg, who is less than sympathetic. "I still don't see why you're so hung up on Ladybug. She's a girl like all the others."

"Plagg, you don't understand love. At least, for other living beings. I'm quite sure the only thing you love in this world is cheese." Adrien lets out an audible groan. "What am I going to do? I just want to know who my lady is behind her mask."

Plagg rolls his eyes and swallows his wedge of cheese whole. "Well, I don't know what you should do about Ladybug, but what I do know is that you should be getting ready for your cousin's visit-you know, the one from London who has been planning to visit for the past six months?"

Adrien sits up straight with wide eyes. "Mon Dieu! I completely forgot!" He runs around the room, attempting to straighten it out, and just as he's about to exit the Ladyblog, Nathalie's voice calls out.

"Adrien! Alex has just arrived!" And within moments, his cousin is in his room, grinning at him.

Alex envelops him in a hug, the classic Agreste smile on his face. It's undeniable that the two are related-though Alex's eyes and hair are both brown, besides that, the features were uncanny-the clear Agreste blood in his veins. "Adrien, how have you been?"

"I've been fine. How's London? I really wish I could have visited more." Adrien's body relaxes, so sure that he was able to cover everything up before cousin arrived.

"London is wonderful. I know you've been busy with shoots just as I have, so it's only natural that you weren't able to give a proper visit. Alas, at least we can spend quality time with each other now." Alex smiles and looks around the room as he folds up his red and black sweatshirt in his arms, raising an eyebrow at the monitors, clearly plastered with the pages of the Ladyblog. "Ladybug fan, I see."

Adrien's eyes widen, and his cheeks turn pink, embarrassed that he had been caught so soon by his cousin. "I-I-I can explain…."

"There's no need." Alex casually waves his hand dismissively. "I've done some reading on Ladybug and Chat Noir. They're amazing heroes. I can easily see why you'd be fascinated by Ladybug." There's a small smile on Alex's face, though Adrien can't quite place the emotion behind it.

While the two Agreste boys were engaged in conversation, Plagg curls himself up in Adrien's shirt, trying to figure out what was that nagging feeling in the back of his head that was telling him that he had met Alex before...that is, until the alluring call of the Camembert also in Adrien's pocket pulled him in, and the thought was suppressed for the moment.

"Ah! Terese! It's so great to see you again!" Marinette pulls her older cousin in a hug, happily bouncing in place. "It's really been so long since you've visited from London!"

Terese laughs, bowing at Tom and Sabine before heading up towards Marinette's room. Despite being adopted into the family, most people would never really notice that Terese was actually Vietnamese, rather than even partially Chinese like Marinette. And even though she was not technically related to them by blood, that did not mean that she loved her adopted family any less than she did now. "Yeah, I really wish I could have visited sooner, but so many things just kept coming up…" Like Akumas and how I couldn't let you get hurt….

Marinette smiles. "No matter. I'm just really glad you're here." Marinette proudly shows Terese her room, the Adrien posters hidden carefully in her desk drawer.

"Marinette, your room is just so lovely. It's so homey and nice-I love it." Terese walks around and examines the mannequins around the room, her smile getting wider and wider with each design she sees. "And I can see that your skills as a designer have progressed even further since the last time I saw you. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you so much-ah, sometimes I doubt myself, but I'm really so glad that you think so highly of my designs, Terese!" Marinette smiles happily as she watches her cousin look over all her designs before draping her leather jacket on the back of the computer chair, plopping herself in front of the computer.

Terese shakes her head, a smile on her face. "No problem at all, Mari. I've always been a fan of your work-ever since you made me those bracelets when you were eight and wanted to congratulate me for turning ten." She turns on the computer and a slight smirk graces her face. "Adrien Agreste, huh? I finally can put a name to the boy you've been gushing over to me in your letters."

Marinette's face gets all red, and her voice squeaks as she attempts to stutter out a response, all while Terese is laughing. "Relax, relax, there's nothing for you to be ashamed about. It's normal to develop crushes. Especially on handsome models like him."

Marinette huffs a bit as she crosses her arms at Terese. "You're one to talk, Terese. I still remember how you fancy a certain model yourself."

"Hey, now hold on, Alex is something we're not going to talk about, got it? That is not going to go anywhere, and I'll thank you kindly to not bring him up while I try to enjoy my visit here in Paris." Terese sighs a little bit to herself.

"You still like him~" Marinette grins at her cousin, and she ducks just in time to avoid the pillow thrown at her head. "Come on, Terese! It's true! You still like him!"

Terese groans and throws another pillow at Marinette. "Mari….come on, no more of that, please?"

Marinette laughs and shakes her head stubbornly. "Not until you admit that you still like him. Even after all this time."

"You'll be waiting a long time then." Terese throws yet another pillow at Marinette, and the two engage themselves in a heated pillow fight.

Hidden the bookshelf, Tikki watches the two of them with interest, and as she happily eats away at her cookie, she can't help but wonder why Terese reminds her so much of someone she had met before…

Quick explanation, I kind of envisioned this where Terese and Alex are around 17 and Marinette and Adrien are around 15, so….yeah...just so everyone's on the same page. I swear, once I sleep I should have another chapter out by tomorrow. Hopefully. And this will be where all our characters meet up.

Until then, au revoir, dear readers.