A/N: I'm glad you all liked the reveal ;)

Chapter 20

Marinette awoke the next morning with a yawn complete with the standard stretch. She smiled at her ceiling, taking note of the sun lending some of its light in her room.

Her eyes widened as last night's memories hit her, the action making her sit upright in bed.

Adrien is Chat Noir.

She pressed a hand to her forehead and slowly shook her head. If someone told her that fact before Chat revealed himself she would've laughed in their face and consider them to be crazy.

A chuckle of disbelief left her lips. The whole thing was crazy, every bit of it.

She gasped when she remembered a particular detail. Every criminal in the city was after Chat. Did he even make it home alright last night?

Marinette unplugged her charged phone and checked for messages. She had none, surely if Adrien suddenly went missing Alya would've found out and informed her.

She exhaled a shaky breath. Don't worry, Marinette. He's fine. He's Adrien Agreste, if he went missing your phone would be blowing up with texts right now.

She got out of bed to go change into her day attire. Once completed she walked to her vanity to fix her hair. She decided to leave it down, Sunday was a day to relax, after all. The bakery was closed on Sundays, so she had the whole day to herself.

After brushing her teeth, having lunch, and just having normal talks with her parents, she ventured back into her room. Maybe she could sketch a new outfit, or maybe sew one of her current designs? Or maybe she could call up Alya, if she wasn't busy with Nino, that is...

A few, sharp knocks sounded on the trapdoor on her floor.

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed as she quickly checked her phone which was devoid of any new messages. That was odd, Alya always texted her when she was coming over.

She rose out of her chaise and walked to the trapdoor and opened it, only instead of a girl with auburn curls and hazel eyes she got a blond with apple green eyes.

"Adrien?!" She squeaked, surprised. What was he doing here? She had to admit, it was strange having him visit her without the catsuit on and coming in through her balcony trapdoor.

The model grinned. "Your parents let me up, all I had to do was say I'm a friend of yours. After they made sure I was properly fed, they sent me up. You know, they really ought to be more careful. They could be sending criminals up here and they would be none the wiser!"

Marinette snorted and rolled her eyes, moving to the side to allow Adrien in her room. He winked and walked around her, choosing to settle on her chaise.

"I was worried, you mangy alley cat," Marinette chided softly, crossing her arms.

"Which brings me to the reason of my visit, well, one of two reasons."

He visited her to appease her concerns? She beamed at the considerate gesture.

"The other reason is that I just wanted to see you. Now I get to spend time with you in the day and at night!" Adrien rested his hands behind his head, peering up at her with a lazy grin. "But we should exchange numbers. Not only for this reason, but..." He smirked. "How else are we going to contact each other about our secret rendezvous?"

She looked down as a blush developed over her cheeks. She turned away from his smirking expression and went for her cell phone. They exchanged numbers and soon Marinette settled down on the chaise with her secret boyfriend.

Adrien Agreste, her secret boyfriend...she never thought she'd ever be able to think of that phrase and have it be true.

She smiled up at him. He returned it and leaned down to press a kiss to her hair. The blackette picked up his hand, moving her fingers to absently trace swirls on his palm.

"Does Hawk Moth know your identity?" She asked. "Is Adrien in danger too?"

"No," she heard him reply. "When I first met him I was wearing a mask and a baggy sweatshirt. Up until I got the costume he didn't even know what color my hair was." He chuckled. "Adrien is completely fine. Chat Noir, is not. But don't worry, they may be after me, but they're still afraid of me."

She had seen up close to what Adrien was capable of in the leather suit. Even she had been scared of those claws when they first met. Well, when she first met 'Chat Noir'. She didn't blame his enemies for being afraid of him.

"What's Chat going to do now?" Marinette inquired curiously. "Is he still going to steal stuff?"

"I don't know. I have all the money I could ever need, maybe I'll just use the suit to escape at night. You know, jump across buildings and that. Freedom is all I ever wanted."

"Jump across buildings? Won't you get bored?"

"I suppose so. But then I could just visit you." She felt his lips press against her hair again.

She closed her eyes, preparing herself for this next question. She had to slowly ease him into the plan to become a hero, she still believed it was possible. And now with all the criminals as his enemies? That just made the plan easier.

"Yes, but, wouldn't you rather be doing something? You must've gotten a thrill at stealing and fighting other criminals."

Adrien snickered. "Yeah. I'll never be able to describe the feeling I got when making out with money and jewelry and the like. Fighting other criminals was uncommon, but I'll admit I got a rush when it happened."

"You can still fight them you know." Okay, here it is. Just a little closer...

He laughed. "Yeah, if they try to catch me or something."

"Well...maybe you can do the catching." She braced herself.

Adrien paused. "What do you mean?"

Marinette took a breath. "Well, maybe you can catch them and...bring them to the police?" She inwardly winced at the harsh rejection she was about to receive.

Instead, Adrien sighed. "Princess..."

She turned around so she was facing him. "C'mon, Adrien, think about it! You'll still get your freedom, and you can fight bad guys! You can be a hero. Besides," she raised her mouth to his ear teasingly, "I think heroes are sexier than criminals."

The designer smirked when she heard his sharp intake of breath. But he quickly got over it as he looked down at her with a grin. "I thought girls were into the whole 'bad boy' thing."

She shook her head with a coy smile. "Not me. I prefer a hero who defeats all the bad guys and can carry me off into the sunset without having to worry about the cops chasing us."

Adrien leaned back and let out a bark of laughter. She giggled in reaction.

He eventually sobered and sighed, running a free hand through his golden locks. "I don't know."

Well, it was better than a 'no'. "Think about it, at least?" She prompted.

"I'll think about it. For you." He rose her hand to his lips to seal the promise.

...

That Monday, it was hard to not walk right up to Adrien and plant a kiss on his cheek in greeting. But she and Adrien had decided that they were going to 'build up' their feelings and then publicly date. Marinette could tell Alya that she and Chat broke up and that would be the end of it.

Still, she kept the ring on her silver chain clasped around her neck. As always, she kept it hidden in her shirt.

When she walked in the class she found Nino in her usual seat. She rose an eyebrow in silent question.

"Hey, girl!" Alya grinned. "Adrien had the idea for you and Nino to switch seats so we can be together more." She and her boyfriend exchanged smiles. She turned back to her best friend and frowned. "Do you mind? 'cause you can totally switch back-"

Marinette's eyes switched to Adrien, who sent her a subtle wink and smirk.

She returned her attention to Alya. "Sure, I'll switch with Nino! I don't mind."

"You sure? Because I'll move if you really want me to," Nino spoke but Marinette insisted that the switch was fine. She took her place next to Adrien and scooted closer to him.

"Nice idea," she whispered with a grin.

"Always full of them," he replied and chuckled.

The two of them sat close to the other and whispered to each other for the entire class. Thankfully Chloe was absent, so nothing could distract the pair. Alya grinned at the interaction, but it faltered when she remembered that Marinette was seeing Chat Noir. Maybe she'll pick Adrien after all? Who knows.

After class, Marinette clutched her books to her chest as she walked to her next class. Literature with Adrien was great but...also kind of funny. To pretend to have budding feelings for each other when they were already secretly dating, it felt like a joke that only she and Adrien were in on. Was this what he felt like whenever they had talked about Chat Noir and he would comment on how scary he was?

She bit her lips to stifle her giggle. She clearly remembered a time when Nino and Adrien argued over the possibility of Chat Noir turning over a new leaf.

"You're not him, so you wouldn't know!"

"You're right, Nino. I wouldn't."

She snorted in amusement. She had no idea how Adrien could keep a straight face after that one. If she was him she would've burst out laughing.

Marinette shrieked in alarm as a hand latched itself onto her arm and pulled her into a dark and secluded room. Passing students who saw looked at the spot the girl previously occupied in confusion, then shrugged their shoulders and continued on their way.

The blackette's heart went into overdrive in panic. Her kidnapper must've noticed because he eased his grip on her arms.

"Relax, Princess, it's me."

Adrien. She narrowed her eyes in the darkness, hoping she was looking into his own. "You scared me, you-mmph!"

Just like in her fantasy, she was silenced by his lips. Her annoyance evaporated and she closed her eyes in bliss, letting out a pleased sigh. Adrien made a muffled noise that sounded like laughter and continued kissing her.

She had to admit, she had daydreams about her and Adrien making out in a secluded area somewhere in the school plenty of times since she had fallen for him, but now that it was actually happening? Simply miraculous.

Her arms rose and wrapped around his head, her fingers starting to tangle themselves in that soft, golden hair she loved to touch. She felt Adrien pull out her hair ties and dig his fingers into her own raven locks.

Adrien pulled away and began trailing kisses down her throat.

"I've been waiting to do this for years," he mumbled in between kisses. "Do you know what it's like, wanting someone for so long and wanting nothing more than to pull them aside and kiss them senseless?"

Yes, she thought breathlessly, gasping as heat shot through her at his latest remark.

He chuckled and playfully nipped at her skin. Oops. Did she say that out loud?

She felt him smirk against her skin. "Yes, you did," he teased.

Damn it. It's his fault, making her forget her name and causing her to have no filter on her mouth. Why did he have to be so good at this?

He returned his mouth to hers and delved his tongue inside, entwining it with her own.

What was she annoyed about, again?

They continued for what felt like an eternity to the blackette, before they reluctantly pulled away from each other.

She heard him inhale deeply to catch his breath. "Told you I'd take advantage of a janitor's closet," she heard him say cheekily.

"You could've warned me," she shot back, trying to regain her own breath.

"No, this way was more fun," he insisted, snickering. "Besides, how romantic is it when you already know about it?"

He had a point. If he had told her when he was planning on pulling her inside a janitor's closet, she would've been anticipating it and some of the spark would've been lost.

"What about class?" She questioned. There was no doubt they were extremely late.

She heard him chuckle, if she had to guess, she would say that he was grinning. It would've been nice if there was at least one light bulb in here.

"Chloe isn't the only one who can influence the principal. I got us two passes, saying we were in the nurse's office."

"Adrien!" Marinette squeaked, face heating in mortification. "Did you tell him we were going to be doing...this?!" She didn't exactly want Mr. Damocles to know about her secret rendezvous with Adrien, or her love life in general.

"Of course not," he scoffed. "I just asked for two passes, I didn't tell him what it was for. I filled out our names and that."

Marinette sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"A knight would never try to embarrass his princess," he reassured. "Her reputation and safety is his greatest priority." She felt his soft lips touch her forehead lovingly.

His hands shifted to her hair, when he began tugging on it.

"Adrien, what are you doing?"

"Fixing your hair," he replied as she felt him tie a hair tie on the newly-made pigtail. "I'm the one that ruined it, only fair that I fix it."

Marinette bit her lip to suppress the grin. He was such a sweetheart, she didn't deserve him.

He moved on to the other tail and when she was finished she cupped his face and guided his lips to meet hers.

"Thank you," she told him gratefully. "I'm lucky to have you."

"I tell myself the same thing about you." He planted another soft kiss on her forehead. "You should get going." She felt the pass slip into her hand.

She hesitated before nodding. She really didn't want to go, she wished she could just stay in this closet all day kissing Adrien. But she knew that would be impossible, their friends would come looking for them sooner or later.

Marinette felt for the doorknob and turned it, walking out of the closet. When she turned back, she caught Adrien's sly grin and wink before the door closed. Taking a breath, she marched to her class, hoping no one would be suspicious of her. No, why would they be? She was clumsy, so the nurse's office was a perfect excuse.

Curious, she brought the pass to her sight. In loopy, cursive writing was her full name, along with the time she left the nurse's office. She had been to the nurse before and received passes from her, and she was surprised to see that Adrien's writing looked just like hers.

Although, should she really be surprised? Forgery is probably second nature to the city's number one lawbreaker.

She shyly walked in her class. The teacher narrowed her eyes at being interrupted, and questioned Marinette on why she was so late.

"I-I was at the nurse's office," she stammered. She always hated liars, partly because she was so bad at the art.

She timidly handed the pass to the teacher, who looked at it and nodded before throwing it away. "Please take your seat."

The young designer found her seat close to the back. After settling down, she felt someone's studious gaze on her.

Slowly, she turned her head to right to lock eyes with Lila Cagna. The actress's eyes narrowed in what seemed like suspicion.

Marinette turned away, wondering why she was suspicious. She didn't know Marinette at all, why would she even bother with her?

Peering down, she noticed her shirt was rumpled...and Chat Noir's ring was on full display.

Suppressing a gasp, she grabbed it and shoved it back inside the safety of her shirt. Her blue orbs shifted to Lila, who had returned her attention to the lesson.

She bit her lip. Lila probably didn't believe that she was at the nurse's, she wouldn't know the significance of her ring. She couldn't, it was impossible. Unless she saw the paw print? No, she was too far away for her to notice it.

Right?