"What's taking Adrien so long?" Mylène asked Nino.

Nino was looking at his phone. Evidently he got a text. He looked around at the others, Ivan with his arm around Mylène, Alya tapping her foot, Marinette stiffly standing, and Chloé trying to work up the courage to hold Marinette's hand. He scratched his head. "He says his dad isn't letting him out…"

"Oh no!" Marinette exclaimed.

"But!" Nino held up a hand. "He also says 'Don't worry, I'm still coming.'"

Ivan tilted his head. "How's he gonna sneak out of that mansion? It's even got those huge walls."

Nino shrugged, but Chloé smirked. Perhaps Adrien had learned something from her and got a grappling hook for himself.

As they waited, Chloé glanced down at Marinette's hand. It was down by her side, innocently hanging, palm facing inwards. Physically, grabbing it would be no challenging. Emotionally? Chloé's stomach was doing flips.

She had kissed Marinette plenty, but that was either in private or to prove a point publicly. And a kiss was something you had to focus on doing. Holding hands was like… some sort of continuous contact in public sort of thing. It was telling everyone who passed by exactly what was going on.

Chloé took a deep breath. She wanted the world to know about her and Marinette. She just had to gather up the courage to make the subtle declaration a reality. She took a side-step closer to Marinette, so their hands were less than a foot apart. Slowly, as though afraid of Marinette being a frightful deer that would spook at the slightest touch, Chloé reached her hand closer. She angled behind, so she could slip into the palm, she was practically touching-

Marinette raised her hand to wave. "Adrien!"

Chloé pouted. After a moment of feeling sorry for herself, she also waved to Adrien as he jogged over. He smiled widely at his friends gathered. "Hey guys!"

Everyone greeted him, then Nino changed the topic to today's objective. "The deal with André and his ice-cream cart is that you never know where he's gonna be." He pulled out his phone. "You gotta follow his clues to find out where he's going to set up."

Ivan smiled. "The first time Mylène and I wanted André's ice-cream, it took us three hours to find his cart!"

"Hey! Someone posted a photo! He's on his way to the Pont des Arts!"

They set off for the elusive ice-cream vendor. On the way, the large group naturally branched out into their own conversations. Mylène and Ivan were reminiscing, and Marinette got dragged into a debate between Nino and Alya. That left Adrien and Chloé in the rear. Chloé leaned closely to Adrien, speaking quietly so they could have some semblance of privacy.

"So how'd you escape?"

Adrien laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh… you know, just by, um, doing stuff."

"Have I been a bad influence?"

"I prefer to think I'm being a good influence on you."

Nino shouted, "He's here!"

André was singing and scooping ice-cream, wishing couples well as he passed them delectable treats. He recognized Mylène and Ivan, and happily gave Nino and Alya some ice cream. As Marinette stepped forward, Chloé finally reached out to grab her hand, not wanting André to mistake for anything other than a couple. Marinette responded to her action with a squeeze of the hand, and Chloe practically vibrated out of her own skin from joy.

André smiled at the two. He narrated as he scooped the ice cream. "Strawberry pink like her lips, blueberry like both eyes, and a mystery flavor for each disguise!"

"Each disguise?" Marinette asked.

André winked. "Now, now, darling dears. You've both got stuff to hide and fears. But if you share your darkest secret, you'll get to love without regret."

Chloé bit her lip. There was no way André knew about Chloé being Chat Noir. But his rhyming diagnosis was, coincidentally, terribly relevant. "T-Thank you, c'mon Marinette, let's eat."

The two of them accepted the ice-cream, and Chloé went straight for the 'mystery' flavor. It was something dark. She took a scoop. "Is this… blackberry?"

Marinette tried some as well. "I think so? It's the right color, nice and dark."

Chloé plucked the cherry from the top. A bright red, much like a certain superheroine's suit. She shook her head, she shouldn't be thinking about Ladybug while on a date with Marinette.

Wait, was this a date? She looked at Marinette, who was well occupied with trying the other flavors. Technically they had called it a "hang-out", since there were other people there, but pretty much everyone with them was a couple. It was like a double… no, triple-date.

Well, except for Adrien.

"And you, monsieur alone! I will help your love be grown!"

Adrien gave André a placating model smile. "No thanks, I'm alright."

André clucked his tongue. "Non non! Everyone needs a someone to share the night! Let me bring you love and make you right!"

Adrien took a step back. "I'm not really looking for love right now."

He was already turning to his cart and pulling out a cone. "One cannot live without romance! I shall find someone with whom you'll dance!"

"There really isn't anyone," Adrien's smile was starting to get strained.

"Come on guys, let's go find a place to sit down!" Chloé interjected.

André watched them walk away with a sad face, but Chloé led them away before he could say more stuff.

Was it too much to ask for Chloé's first date(?) with Marinette to not be interrupted by an Akuma?

"We should stick together, safety in numbers," Mylène said as they watched the icy villain from a distance.

"That's a great idea!" Marinette started inching away. "But I really, really need to call my parents, and don't want to disturb you guys, so I'll just be in the, uh, restroom."

Chloé piped up as well. "My Daddy called for a limo to take me somewhere safer, so I'm just going to go find that."

Adrien also spoke, "Nathalie just noticed that I sneaked out, so I'm going to run home."

Mylène called out to them as they split, but Chloé didn't dare to slow down. Once she was somewhere moderately hidden and out of their view, she opened her jacket so Plagg could float out. "Plagg, claws out!"

Glaciator was towering over them, and their attempts to attack it just glanced off of it's snowy exterior. They were tired from dodging, but he was aiming another shot at them. Ladybug was already spinning her yo-yo, ready to deflect, and Chat Noir had her baton out as well.

But they didn't need to do that.

Glaciator froze (well, he was already frozen, but he stopped moving). Ladybug and Chat Noir still stood in defensive position, but were confused by his lack of movement. Was he trying to throw them off their rhythm? He wasn't even talking his usual rhymes.

Then a figure walked out from behind him. He was blonde, with black streaks strewn through his hair, and wore a tight yellow and black suit. His mask prevented identification. Did Hawk Moth make two Akumas at once?

Ladybug took a step forward and refocused on the new challenger. "Who are you?"

He raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Don't shoot! I'm a fellow hero!"

Ladybug gasped. "The Bee Miraculous."

Chat Noir stepped closer to her. "The what?"

Ladybug grimaced. "Um, I might have lost a Miraculous while fighting Style Queen."

"You lost a miraculous?"

"I'm not the only one who's ever lost a miraculous!" Ladybug defended herself.

The boy spoke again, "I'm Drone! And I used my Venom to immobilize Glaciator, so you can easily purify the Akuma!"

Chat Noir grinned. "Well that certainly makes out job easier."

"Whoever he is, he's not supposed to have the Miraculous!"

"But he's doing good so far?"

"He wasn't chosen."

That made Chat Noir a little sad. He seemed to be doing his best. There was also something strangely familiar about him…

Before she could further contemplate that, Glaciator started to move again. Whoops, guess that discussion took up some valuable Venom time.

"Lucky Charm!"

Once the Akuma was defeated. Drone was already flying away with his top. "Wait!" Ladybug called out to him, but apparently he didn't hear her or was rushing away to prevent detransforming in front of everyone. Speaking of, Ladybug's earrings were beeping urgently.

Ladybug groaned. "Chat Noir, can you chase after him and get that Miraculous back? I'm about to transform back."

Chat Noir bowed. "Your wish is my command."

She used her baton to take chase, though it was a challenge. Drone was fast with that spinning top, and it took all of Chat Noir's stamina to keep up. Eventually, the black and yellow hero ducked into an alleyway.

Chat Noir landed on the roof above the alleyway, then just as Drone's time ran out, she flipped onto the ground. "Drone, you need to give me-"

All of her words died in her throat when she saw Drone's identity.

Adrien Agreste stood in front of her, hand hovering over a comb.

"Adrien?" Chat Noir guffawed.

He immediately launched into pleading, "Please please please don't take it away, I've always wanted to be a hero, and with these powers I can finally leave my house…"

Chat Noir's ring was at its last beep, but she just stood there, staring.

"I know you don't really know me, but I was finally able to go hang out with my friends using the powers. Wait, that sounds bad doesn't it? I don't just want it for me and my selfish reasons, I really, really want to help people too-"

Ladybug always said they had to keep their identities secret. But good people were fair, and was it fair for Chat Noir to know who Drone was if Drone didn't know?

"I'll do my best, I'll be the greatest side-kick ever, if you guys would just pretty please give me a chance-"

Chat Noir's transformation ran out, and Chloé Bourgeois stood in front of him.

His eyes bugged out. He stopped speaking, just letting his jaw hang open at the sight. Chloé stood, biting her lip. Why did she think this was good idea? Her nerves were on fire, she had never exposed her secret in front of anyone. But this was Adrien, her best friend since childhood. If there was anyone she could trust, it would be him. After a minute of staring, he finally swallowed and composed words. " Chloé?"

"I- I'm not going to take it away," Chloé told him, "Ladybug told me to, but I trust you."

"Wait, wait, back up still, you're Chat Noir?"

Plagg came out. "Yeah, yeah, kid, she detransformed in front of you, didn't she? Not really any way to make it more obvious."

A little yellow Kwami popped up. "Plagg!"

She tackled Plagg, and the two of them spun in the air for a minute. "Whoa there Pollen, I'm exhausted, can we have a reunion after some cheese?"

"We should probably go somewhere more private than an alley to discuss this," Chloé decided.

Adrien agreed. Fortunately, they were near the Bourgeois hotel. They grabbed some cheese and sweets as they made their way upstairs.

Chloé locked her door behind them.

"So, um, you've been Chat Noir this whole time?" Adrien asked, standing awkwardly in the center of her room.

"Please Adrien, you can sit down," Chloé told him as she settled on the couch, "And yes, since day one."

Adrien breathed in and out. "Sorry I seem fried… it's a lot to take in. Pretty shocking."

"Why, you don't think I'm superhero material?"

Adrien shook his head. "I didn't think of Chat Noir as civilian material. Like, I knew there had to be a person under there it just didn't… I didn't really care who was under. I assumed it would be some stranger."

"I assumed I was going to have to beat up a stranger to take that Bee Miraculous back," Chloé admitted.

"You said you're not taking it back though, right?"

"Yeah. I changed my mind after seeing you. Even if you weren't officially 'chosen', I think anyone with any brains would choose you."

"Aww, Chloé…"

The two of them settled into silence. There was the soft muttering of their Kwamis having their own conversation.

"Adrien…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not like, trying to change the subject away from these big superhero identity revelations today, but why didn't you accept the ice cream from André?"

Adrien furrowed his brow. He was silent, thinking, hesitating on every possible explanation.

Chloé decided to add in her postulation, "Does it have to do with the like, couples-thing?"

"Yeah."

Chloé waited for him to elaborate.

"I don't know… He was so insistent that I would find someone, that I would fall in love someday, and I know lots of people want that. Everything I've seen tells me that people want romance, and even the people I was with were all couples, like you and Marinette. You guys seem really happy to be together, but I… I can't imagine that for myself."

"I'm sure you'll find someone some day," Chloé tried to comfort him.

"That's not the problem!" Adrien's voice was sharper than she had ever heard it. When he realized his own outburst, he coughed and gave Chloé an apologetic look. "Sorry. It's not that I can't find someone, it's more like… like I don't want to find someone."

"At all?" Chloé asked.

"Yeah."

"Like you don't want to obsess and swoon and make out in a school closet with someone one day?"

He crinkled his nose. "Not really."

"Huh."

Adrien kicked his legs out, watching his own feet. Chloé couldn't really relate to his feelings; even before Marinette she had dreams of being married or being swept off her feet and she had always been excited for a future that she would share with someone romantically.

But Chloé didn't need to relate to know the respect Adrien deserved. "Well then that André dude was a real dick."

Adrien gasped at the vulgar word.

"I'm sorry I'm being a bad influence with that language, but it's true. He was completely ignoring when you told him how you felt, and he kept pressing even when you got uncomfortable. If you're happy with how you are, then he was utterly rude."

That made Adrien smile. "Thanks, Chloé."