Ladybug had to admit that she didn't quite expect the reaction she got. Not that I can complain. I screamed too. Keeping her head (she did have all day to think about it, after all, so she was… relatively accustomed to it), she just smiled and laughed as Chat Noir cut his own scream short.

Chat's face turned red and he clapped a hand across his mouth, appearing absolutely mortified. Hopefully mortified at his reaction and not me being Ladybug. "Chat?" she asked gently when he went quiet. "Is this okay?"

"O-okay?!" Chat Noir bit his lip and looked away, fiddling with the zipper on one of his pockets. "I was going to ask the same thing…"

"Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Well… you don't like Chat Noir. Not… you know, the same way you like Adrien."

Marinette frowned. He really thinks him being Chat ruins any chances he has with me? "Chat Noir, Kitten, hey." She took his face in her hands, cupping it gently and smiling at him. "Want to know a secret?" Chat hesitantly nodded. "Adrien and Chat Noir, you're not two separate people, you know. Tikki's told me I'm Ladybug without the suit enough times that I think I can say I've learned that."

"But I alwa-"

"Shh, remember what I said when you asked me to describe my soulmate?" Chat flushed even further, and nodded. "Does anything I said not apply to you on both sides of the superhero thing?"

"No?"

"Exactly. Don't think for a second that it's any different."

They both sat in contemplative silence for a few moments. "So why do you need to ask if it's okay?"

Ladybug laughed. "Because you screamed and freaked out! I mean, the screaming is one thing, but I had to make sure you were just paralyzed by embarrassment and not horrified that I'm Ladybug. Just to be safe."

Chat Noir grinned and brought his face close to hers. "I could never be upset that my Princess is My Lady. This is probably one of the best things to ever happen!"

"The best?" Ladybug arched an eyebrow at him.

"Of course! It's literally the best case scenario!" Chat smirked and winked. "It really makes the whole situation so much simpler."

Ladybug scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means my attention is no longer divided, Princess." Ladybug squirmed slightly. The nickname sounded awkward when used for the wrong persona. But then, she'd been collecting her fair share of nicknames, for some reason, so she just rolled with it. "And Nino and Alix can finally shut up about me just liking you because you're my soulmate."

Ladybug hummed. "Except you can't tell them, so they can keep being suspicious."

"Why, I'll never know."

"Because you're shady, you dumb kitty."

"I am not! I am perfectly proper. A total gentleman. You said it yourself!"

"Actually, I said can be. Most of the time, you're pun-loving trash."

"Pawlease, I'm always pun-loving trash. They're not mutually exclusive." Ladybug rolled her eyes, smiling. Chat Noir slowly let his grin fall. He touched her shoulder, furrowing his brow and staring intently into her eyes. "Seriously though, Ladybug, what…" He hesitated, breaking eye contact and averting his gaze to the city. "What does this mean for us? Are we going to be okay? Are we going to… do anything?"

Ladybug took a deep breath, turning her body to face him directly. "Chat, if you're fishing for something, just ask. I think we've had enough shenanigans to stop beating around the questions we really want to ask."

"Well…" He entwined his fingers and wrung them nervously. "I'm just not sure what we should do since… I mean, I like you, you like – Adrien, at least, but you said you didn't want to rush into anything, and that's totally f-fine! I mean, I…" Chat Noir hunched over a little, looking at anything but her. "I totally respect whatever you want to do, I'm just wondering if the shenanigans… changed anything?"

Ladybug had to take a moment to think about it. Does this change anything? Obviously he doesn't just like me because I'm his soulmate, that's not really a worry anymore, but after all the crazy revelations we had… even if I want to, I think it's probably smart to wait just a little bit. God, Alya is going to kill me.

So I guess, in that sense, it doesn't change anything. Right? Then of course, as I said, Adrien and Chat are the same person, really. Which is… strangely appropriate? It's kind of embarrassing that I didn't notice before, honestly. He was right, that night on my balcony. He's the same person. Quieter, as Adrien, and with more "poise", but still him.

Or maybe I should be saying that the other way? He's still Adrien when he's Chat, just louder and more rambunctious. Which, when I think about it, isn't that much of a difference.

"No," Ladybug said, "nothing's changed." Chat swallowed and nodded, seeming crestfallen. Ladybug averted her own gaze, frowning. "I still have an embarrassing crush on you." The flash of movement caught Ladybug's eye long enough for her to see that Chat Noir had turned his head suddenly to stare at her in shock. "You're still a dork," she added, jokingly and in a vain attempt to preserve her dignity. I can't believe I told him I have a crush on him… I can't believe I called him pun-loving trash to his face, oh my god. "Alya and Alix both are still going to be throwing us together until we either date or tell them that we hate each other and would actually prefer death."

Chat snorted. "Not that last one. Then we'd have a 'Much Ado About Nothing' moment on our hands, dear Beatrice."

"True." Ladybug inclined her head to acknowledge him. "Approaching them together and asking them to stop would probably do it."

"Do you want them to stop?"

"I don't really care, honestly. I don't think they're necessarily going to be very helpful anymore." She bit her lip. "I still think it's a good idea to wait a little."

"To… wait?" Chat leaned back slightly, away from her, lifting an arm hesitantly over his chest.

"Before going into anything more," she elaborated. "It's the same deal as when we first met after finding out we were soulmates. I think we should sit back for a little, let things settle. I don't want to rush into anything we aren't ready for, is all."

Chat Noir opened his mouth to speak, but bit back his words, chewing on his lip thoughtfully. "Okay," he said. "You're right. I guess it would be pretty dumb of us to jump into a relationship literally right after finding out our identities."

"Exactly."

"But, Ladybug, you know I do want that, right? I do want to… to date you."

Ladybug felt her heart flutter a little at that. It shouldn't sound strange, I don't think, but it does. And am I only happy because it's Adrien saying that? Or because it's Chat? Ladybug sighed, trying not to grimace. Even for all my words, I still separate them. Heck, I still separate Marinette and Ladybug. All the more reason to wait, I guess. Until I can better reconcile Adrien and Chat Noir at least. Again, it makes a strange amount of sense, but in my mind they're still separate people and that's not fair to him. I shouldn't have to remind myself that liking one of them means liking the other.

Though… how true is that? Ladybug looked at Chat Noir carefully, enjoying, for once, the way her heart sped up in her chest and the way she was so overcome with the desire to just be close to him. How happy it made her to be allowed to be his friend, and with the possibility of more right in reach.

She reached over and took his hand, peeling his own fingers apart and replacing one half of their knot with her own. He looked at her with bright eyes, cautious, anxious, but hopeful. "Chat Noir… I want to date you too." She felt him move as he sat up straighter, but she moved her eyes to the cityscape instead. "I just really, really don't want to mess this up."

"But My Lady," Chat purred, "you're literally my soulmate." Ladybug rolled her eyes. Chat chuckled. "Okay, so maybe that's not the best reason. But I'll never stop liking you, Marinette. I won't."

Ladybug hummed. "I believe you. That doesn't mean what we're talking about doing isn't dangerous. More than just our relationship is on the line if we can't handle ourselves properly."

"It won't come to that. But if we needed to, we would. We wouldn't let the city down because of our drama. Don't you believe that too?"

"I'd like to." She sighed, turning away and leaning backwards onto him again. She smiled when Chat adjusted to accommodate her, even bringing their joined hands above her head and around her, refusing to break contact. "I guess I do," she amended. "It's just… a risk that's there." Chat Noir silently brought his other arm around her. The way his arm paused on its way made Ladybug think he was nervous, so she didn't say anything about it. When his arm settled around her waist, she just patted it gently with her free hand, and rested that hand atop his arm. "I suppose you're right." She tilted her head back, allowing it to rest on Chat's shoulder. "We don't need to rush anything anyway; we have plenty of time to talk though everything if we need to."

Chat Noir rested his head on her shoulder, so their cheeks touched. "Of course. We can take it slow. What should we tell Alya and Alix, though?"

"If they weren't both so scary good at sniffing out the truth, I'd recommend no less than twenty different scenarios that we use as stories so that it's different every time they ask."

Chat laughed. "That would be funny. Alas, they'd see through us in a heartbeat."

"Yeah. Which is why the truth is the only real option."

He nudged her playfully, sporting a small smirk. "The truth?"

"Well, mostly the truth." She shrugged (gesturing with her hand rather than her shoulders, so as not to disturb Chat). "You told me who you were, and we talked tonight. Fudge it a little, maybe, and say you came over."

"I was warned not to bother you tonight. I was actually going to go over tomorrow."

"I asked you, then. Anyway, we talked, and we decided to take it slow."

In her periphery, Ladybug didn't notice how green his eyes were when he turned them to her face, twisting a little to do so more easily. "And what… exactly is our relationship right now?"

Ladybug thought for a moment, tapping his arm gently. "Imminently dating."

Chat laughed. "Hey, I'll take it."

She laughed as well. "Or, if you want, when they ask you can just tell them this." She lifted her free hand and tilted it back and forth in a "so-so" gesture and made a noncommittal groan.

"Oh, that would infuriate them."

"Yeah, you'd have to worry about Alya being Achilles instead of me."

She felt his body shaking, though he didn't laugh out loud. After a moment, she felt him nuzzle into her neck gently. "She could never. You're my Achilles."

Oh my god, so that's what he meant. "So tell me, Tomcat, do you often compare me to ancient Greek heroes?"

He hummed in response. "I'm not going to lie, that one got away from me a little. It kind of turned into a thing before I could stop it. I can't believe Alya told you, though. That's so unfair."

"If it makes you feel any better, she didn't tell me that you meant yourself as Patroclus in a 'Achilles' gay lover' kind of way. I thought you wanted to be Patroclus in a 'calm Achilles down' kind of way." Ladybug turned her head to see his cheeks flush red.

"So why do you think I meant it that way now?"

"You just called me your Achilles."

There was a beat of silence before his response. "Okay, yeah, that's fair." Ladybug laughed. "Anyway! I think that it's a great idea. They've been having way too much fun with us, I think we deserve to have some fun in return."

"Honestly, us not dating already is probably going to be irritating enough for them."

"Haha, that's true. Still, there's nothing saying we can't tease them a little."

"If you want to tease them, send them a selfie of you and me together and refuse to elaborate."

"Now, now, My Lady. I don't want to be cruel."

Ladybug chuckled. "Speaking of, do you think they're texting us right now?"

"It's likely."

"How freaked are they that we aren't answering."

Chat shrugged. "Well they know I'm Chat, so they know I at least won't respond. You though, Alya's probably going nuts."

"Should we tease them?"

"You're so devious."

She smirked. "Is that bad?"

"No it's lovely. I love it."

If we spin our story through text, we don't have to put up with them seeing through us too. Plus, it's fun. They've both been a pain, this is just comeuppance, honestly. "Should we go get our phones?"

Chat hugged her tighter. "Mmm, I don't want to move from right here."

Ladybug laughed and pulled away from him, despite his whines and how cold her back suddenly felt when it wasn't pressed against him. "Then we'll race. First one back gets to open the conversation with the other's respective meddler."

The gleam in Chat's eye was no doubt more to the challenge and to the idea of both of them racing back to each other than the prize itself. Still, he stood and shook a little. "Let's do it."

"Ready?" Ladybug asked.

"Go!" he exclaimed, shooting off. His cackling carried back to her in the wind as she protested his premature start.

It took no more than ten minutes for the round trip, and when Ladybug found their rooftop again, Chat Noir was just touching down, looking ridiculously pleased with himself. "You cheated," she said, though she didn't really mind.

"I went on 'go'. There's no cheating there."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and sat down again, catching her breath from her frantic rush. Chat sat down next to her and held out his arms. "I don't know, I'm not sure a cheater deserves hugs."

Chat whined loudly until Ladybug shut him up by shifting towards him, reassuming their position before, where he sat behind her, arms around her. She held up her phone, unlocking it and opening to the conversation with Alya. "Well, a deal is a deal. Even if you cheat."

He took the phone, holding it up in front of them, and switched to the camera. "Would you mind de-transforming, Princess?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I thought you said that was cruel."

"I remembered that she made it her goal to never let me forget my Iliad metaphor."

Ladybug had to laugh, and let the transformation go. Sitting in his arms as Marinette, she suddenly felt so much more fragile, so much more careful, but strangely, no less safe. "That's as good of a reason as any."

After Tikki had hidden in her purse (after a quick greeting and introduction to Chat), Marinette watched his Cheshire grin on the screen. "Smile, Achilles."

She did.

Chat Noir swiftly changed back to the text conversation and sent Alya the picture. The response was near immediate.

A – GIRL
A – U GO GIRL

As he started texting, Chat groaned and erased everything, retyping and grumbling. "You and your capitalization. Making me type properly."

"Trust me, your allergy to proper capitalization is just as, if not more, painful to me."

"Hey! It's easier!"

"How you got your phone to autocorrect your 'I's but not the beginning of sentences is still a mystery to me."

Chat chuckled. "Hey, Autocorrect is a fickle master. I don't understand half of what it does."

"Pfft, me neither."

Chat looked back at the screen, debated for a moment, and erased what he typed, sending instead nothing just the smiling cat emoji.

A – I need the deets girl
M – It was his idea.
A – ofc it was what is ur status girl don't leave me hanging

"Confused face picture?" Chat asked.

Marinette burst into giggles. "Confused face picture," she agreed. Chat switched back to the camera and both of them made exaggerated confused face, throwing their hand in the frame in shrugging poses as well.

A – WHAT DOES THAT MEAN
A – is operation iliad done or nah
A – srsly girl wTF ANSWER
A – where even r you?

Chat giggled. Marinette was tempted to tell him that the agreement was just starting the conversation, but she was laughing too, so she let him go on.

M – Well, after what happened at school I wanted to talk to him.
M – So I invited him over.
M – And now we're on a rooftop. Seeing the sights.
A – sights like his ass
A – oh wait no bc ur IN FRONT OF HIM
A – IN HIS ARMS I SWEAR IF I SEE YOU 2MORROW BEING LIKE
A – KIND OF JUST SHRUGGING ALL IMPUDENT OR WHATEVER
A – IM GONNA FLY OFF THE HANDLE

Chat Noir flushed scarlet and nearly dropped the phone. Luckily, Marinette was able to just take it from him. "What does she mean by that?!" he exclaimed.

"What do you think?" Marinette left him to stew on that while she typed her own response.

M – Nice going, you broke him.
A – pls the boy knows he has a nice butt
A – and in tight leather too like come on
A – THATS NOT THE POINT THO

Chat let out a little groan and buried his head in Marinette's shoulder. His arms around her stomach tightened, pulling her closer. His mouth was pressed against her so she felt when his lips pulled upward into a grin.

A – its a yes or no question
A – r u dating
A – Y/Y
M – N
A – WTF COME ON WHY NOT UR SO CLOSE
M – Our relationship can be described like this.

She sent the picture of her and Chat shrugging again, laughing at the onslaught of texts from her best friend, most of them meaningless.

"It's not even leather." Chat mumbled when he came out from hiding.

"Do you want to tell her that?"

"I will." He reached for the phone, and Marinette allowed him to take it.

M – He says it's not leather.
A – oh rly what is it then
M – boyfriend material.

"Oh my god, Chat! No!" She swiped the phone from his hand, but the damage had been done and he was already cackling behind her.

A – excuse me
A – did u just
A – I am
A – I am in shock
A – Im not upset
A – just disappointed
A – jk that was obvs just chat good try patroclus

Chat snickered. "She didn't notice when I was texting her at the beginning though."

"That's because you didn't use terrible jokes. And typed with proper capitalization."

"Oh my god! It's just capitalization, sheesh! Let it go."

"Never." She took the phone back.

M – Alright, well you've officially been updated.
A – HAVE I
M – Yes. So I'm going to go.
A – We are SO talking about this tomorrow.
M – 3
A – have fun with your furry bf 3

"I'm not furry." Chat frowned, touching his own chest.

"She meant a furry."

"Oh."

"Your turn," Marinette said. "Time for Alix's update."

"I can't wait. Here." He brought his phone, already unlocked, and dangled it in front of her. "Your turn."

Marinette grinned and took the phone. When she looked, though, there were already new texts from Alix.

A – I know you're on patrol right now.
A – Whenever you get these though, let me know how it went.
A – Did dear Achilles call up dashing Patroclus?
A – Come on you're like Schrödinger's cat right now. Dating, not dating, we just can't know until an observation has been made.
CN – fur your information, it went quite well.
A – Seems to me it's still usual patrol time for you. You sure it's okay to be texting on the job?
CN – actually, it's her idea.
CN – she told me who she is.

"Uh, Mar-"

"Alix already knows. She confronted me about it just a little while ago."

"Oh."

Marinette giggled. "I like that, though. You're Schrödinger's cat."

"Well after all the dumb shenanigans we went through, I am pretty dead."

A – See, didn't I tell you that you wouldn't regret it?
A – Ye of little faith.
A – So what's the damage? You together now or what? Got to check if Alya's little operation needs some more juice.

"Oh man, hang on." Marinette quickly took out her own phone again and sent the "confused face" picture to Chat's phone. Once it arrived, she saved it and sent it to Alix.

A – …
A – Okay.
A – Your faces say one thing, but your bodies say something else.
A – Are you just putting the dating off because of post-reveal shock or something?

"What the heck?" Marinette pouted.

"She's good," Chat said. "This honestly doesn't surprise me."

CN – Yes, we're waiting until the shock wears off. Until then, we decided to just stay friends.
A – Proper capitalization? Is this Marinette?

Marinette squeaked, looking back to see her mistake. "Oops." Chat took the phone.

CN – of course not silly, why would princess have my phone?
A – You just took the phone back, didn't you?

"Is this girl actually psychic?" Marinette asked. "Every time, I swear. There's no winning with her!"

CN – alya was more fun, you know.
A – Oh, pfft, you bothered Alya with your dumb noncommittal bs?
A – That's honestly a great idea. I can't wait to see her tomorrow. She's going to have driven herself insane by then.
CN – :c
A – 3
CN – what did I say about the hearts?
A – 33333333
A – You're welcome, by the way. It would have taken you guys forever if I hadn't stepped in.
CN – we could have handled it!
A – Wow. That's your best joke yet, Friskies.

Marinette and Chat Noir sat on the rooftop texting and talking until patrol time was over and they both needed to return to their homes. Despite the impending best friend that she knew was going to be at her on all sides the next day, Marinette felt great. She felt comfortable, light, happy. Maybe that will work.

As it happened, Alya gave up after three days and an actual explanation. Marinette had to take her into her room and calmly explain that since Adrien was Chat Noir, she didn't want to let identity shenanigans mess with whatever feelings she may or may not have had and Alya gave her her blessing to take as long as she needed to figure out her feelings.

And Marinette took that time gratefully.

She knew it was driving Adrien crazy, but she also knew that he was going through a similar situation with her and Ladybug, and she trusted that he was using the time to carefully consider everything as well.

When Marinette came to her decision, over a week later while sitting in her room staring at some unfinished designs, everything came with little fanfare. "I like him," she said quietly. Tikki looked at her curiously but said nothing. Marinette chuckled. "I like him." She ran a hand through her bangs, pushing them up off her forehead.

"You like him," Tikki repeated.

"Yeah."

"Which him?"

"Just him. Whatever crazy human makes up both Adrien and Chat Noir." She laughed. "I like him."

"Then tell him."

Marinette smiled, took a pen and drew. She knew that Adrien wasn't busy that night, so there was no worry about his father being angry because of a photoshoot or anything, so she drew on her arm and hand.

First, a black cat chasing a ladybug. It was crouched low, ready to pounce on the little bug. Next, on the underside of her forearm, she drew a rose. As she was drawing, little hearts, in blue rather than the black she was using, appeared around the black cat. Marinette smiled.

When she moved on from the rose, a tall, thin vase started to appear around the rose's stem.

Deciding to be a little silly, she drew, on the back of her hand, a large heart. She wrote at the top of it "MDC/LB" and quickly moved on to the back of her forearm, where she started some abstract doodles.

A quick look at the heart a few minutes later, and Marinette saw that the blue had filled in the rest of the heart. Bold and centered, was a plus sign and just under that, "AA/CN". Filling in all the blank space was smaller hearts and little swirls.

Smiling, Marinette found some empty space and wrote one word. "Hey."

"Hey," his reply read.

"Will you go out with me?"

"I would be delighted, Princess."

Marinette grinned from ear to ear and had to duck her head into her arms. It's so weird thinking that he likes me back. This is actually happening. I just asked him out. He just said yes. What is even going on?

When she lifted her head, she also lifted her pen. "Are you ready? Do you want to try actually dating?"

"I'm ready. Nothing would make me happier." Adrien punctuated the sentence with a little heart.

He is. We are. We'll do it. She took out her phone and texted him.

M – So when Alya and Alix ask…
CN – they stopped asking.
CN – also you could just text my main phone, you know. I'm not sure why I still even have this one out.
M – What do we tell them?
M – Or I guess what I'm asking is what do you want us to be able to tell them?

There was a moment of silence a bit longer than normal between his texts.

CN – I want to be able to tell them that you're my girlfriend.
CN – and that I'm your boyfriend.
M – Lofty goals indeed.
CN – :c
M – But I think we can make that happen. Don't you, Schrödinger? We should let them open the dang box already and see if you're still breathing.
CN – Absolutely 3
CN – Does this mean I can finally say we're dating?

Marinette laughed a little.

M – Yes. We can be dating, if that's what you want.
CN – it is all I have ever wanted.
M – That's not true. :P
CN – may as well be. can I come over?
M – If you want.
CN – see you in ten minutes, max.

The knock on her balcony door not five minutes later didn't surprise her. Being nearly pulled out of her room the moment she lifted the door and spun around in Chat Noir's arms, while his loud, clear laughter rang through the neighborhood.

"Chat! Not so loud!" She hissed, looking around. The few people in the streets didn't seem to notice them.

"Sorry," he said, still smiling. He put her down gently. "Should we go inside, then?"

Marinette nodded and shooed him inside, following him down into her room. Standing in the middle of the floor, she looked at him, at how the corners of his eyes crinkled with his massive smile, and she felt her heartbeat begin to quicken. He let his transformation go, Plagg quickly zipping over to Tikki with little more than a passing hello to Marinette, and she grinned back at him.

Adrien just wrapped her in his arms again, picking her up so that she was on the tip of her toes, though not clearly on purpose like when they were outside. She hugged him back just as tightly until Adrien broke into laughter.

Marinette started chuckling along with him. "What?" she asked, trying to frown, but his laughter was infectious. "What?!"

"I'm just…" Adrien shook her back and forth gently, refusing to even slacken his grip around her. "I'm so happy."

Marinette snickered. "I'm sure Alya and Alix will be, too."

"I'll bet." Adrien giggled. "Should we let them in on this important development?"

"Oh, absolutely. And I have an idea of how."

Adrien bit his lip, still smiling, and raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Give me your phone."

He let go of her and complied, and Marinette quickly brought up the camera. She held it out, so that they were in the frame, and Adrien leaned closer to look at the screen as well. Marinette held the camera there and turned to face him. He was already so close; it wouldn't take much for what she had planned. "Hey," she breathed. "Can I kiss you?"

His eyes went wide, and his smile faltered to shock for only a fraction of a second before it returned full force. "I don't know. Can you?"

"Really?"

"You may any time, Miss Proper Grammar in Texts."

She reached up, tangling her fingers in the soft hair on the back of his head and pulling him even closer so that their lips were just a hairs breadth apart. "Oh, shut up you stupid, stupid cat."

She grinned, moving forward just that tiny, tiny distance, and kissed him.

Pressing the button on his phone was an afterthought.