A/N: Technically, this is chapter... I think three of the original ABOI. It's hard to explain. Long story short, the make-out scene was completely scrapped (it was way too fast-paced and way too cringe for my current tastes) and so, my dears, I have come up with a compromise: cuddling. Cause fluff always make everything better! Plus who doesn't like nights spent belting along to musicals? I know I'm a big fan of it.

Also, I'm gonna try and shorten the chapter lengths for this fic. The last chapter was over 6,000 words. Definitely too much for one chapter barely passing over a plot point. So this chapter had a strict limit of 3 - 4,000 words. :)

Demi Clayton - Awww you're so sweet! Thanks a ton for the review and your advice has been duly noted. I hope you have a nice day :D

Till next time,

D.L.D

Chapter Four: Tangled

Maybe taking action wasn't the best move on her part - that is what Marinette thought as her heart thumped in her chest, burrowed next to the one person she had been crushing and obsessing over for the past several months. Taking action without thinking the consequences thoroughly through had never been Marinette Dupain-Cheng's forte. Critical, cautious, focused, she never liked to take large risks.

Nevertheless, somehow, Marinette and Adrien had ended up here, bundled together within Marinette's mountain of pillows and cushions, watching Tangled (their traditional Marinette and Chat Noir sleepover movie). Only, it wasn't Marinette and Chat Noir having a sleepover tonight. No, it was Marinette and Adrien - Adrien Agreste - sharing the microwaved popcorn and day-old croissants under the expansive pillow fort taking over Marinette's entire room.

On a typical Marinette and Chat sleepover, Marinette definitely wouldn't be second-guessing everything. With Chat Noir it was easy to ditch the worries and doubts, opting for the shameless, carefree fun that the pair often found within their spontaneous shenanigans. Too many times they had planned to simply waste the day doing mundane activities, only to completely ditch them to the wind as they roamed about Paris, laughing as they poked fun at each other.

Carelessness came easily with Chat Noir. Whenever he was around, Marinette could loosen up, let her hair down and laugh. He was the one person who got it: the pressures, the intense sensation of unrequited romance. Between them there was little judgement, little need for feeling silly as they poured their thoughts and emotions to the other, bemoaning their realities while simultaneously making the best of it.

Maybe that was why Marinette found it so hard to accept that Chat Noir - the person she could be her most honest and open around - was also someone who she had always struggled to open up to.

No doubt, Adrien also had his own quandaries on the true identity of Ladybug. Marinette already knew that she and her alter ego were two drastically different faces of the same copper coin. There were so many glaring differences, so many reasons to call the truth in this particular situation. And yet Adrien hadn't. Almost as if he had read Marinette's mind, sensed the panic swarming to engulf her initial adrenaline, he'd reassured her and told her that it was ok. Reality hadn't disappointed him.

Despite the reassurance, for Marinette, there was still doubt. Lingering in the shadows, feeding on her thoughts, doubt would always remain.

"And at last I see the light," Starry-eyed and with signature Disney-esque voices, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider sang together onscreen, yanking Marinette from her cloudy thoughts. They'd gotten past midway now - reaching the climax of the movie. Burning lanterns lit up the background, bathing the two watchers in bright light as the two main characters continued their duet, floating along on their little boat.

At this point Marinette would have made a catty remark about such a romantic scene being impossible to do in real life, pulling a face as she stuffed her face with the closest snack available. Ever the romantic at heart, Chat Noir would disagree, arguing that if someone really did put in the effort to, they could pull off such a feat.

Tonight, though, the comment felt inappropriate, especially with the palpitations messing up her heart rate. So she'd have to creative with it instead.

"You know what's funny?" Marinette started, still watching as the scene continued. The song was drawing to its end now, heading toward the dramatic reveal of Mother Gothel and her meddling schemes for getting her precious Rapunzel back.

"What?" Adrien turned to her, gorgeous face rested on his palm. Not that Marinette would ever tell him so directly! Oh no. Only under the influence of nerves could she ever blab such an obvious, flattering truth.

"I think I know why you like this movie so much," Marinette continued, trying to maintain her nonchalant demeanour as she shrugged. Beneath it all her heart was pounding, knocking at her ribs as sweat beaded along her hairline. With Chat Noir this was much easier - he was such a dork, it was easy to act cool; Adrien wasn't entirely a dork. He was a mind-numbingly gorgeous dork, capable of evaporating her brain cells ever since he handed her that stupid umbrella in the rain.

"Oh really?" Adrien hummed, raising a brow. It was as if he was welcoming her opinion, wondering just how much of him she had analyzed within her complex brain. 'A dangerous question to ask,' Marinette thought, 'One that had too many different answers.'

"Uh huh," Marinette nodded, swallowing the slight lump to her throat. Thank god the scene had cut to Gothel once more, casting the room with a darker glow. Right now she was totally burning up with a vivid blush, all of her words sticking to the giant lump that just wouldn't go away. "You are total optimist."

"And you're a complete pessimist," Adrien grinned in response, entirely teasing. Nudging her, he rolled his eyes, "Which is why Chat Noir is clearly the most fun hero to be around."

"Well, one of us has to be realistic," Marinette responded, shaking her head. Despite her slight eye-roll, a smile had crept onto her lips, inching its way into a full-blown grin. "I've said it a million times and I'll keep saying it, that scene can only happen in movies!"

"Bet you I can do it," Adrien challenged, some of his inner-Chat-Noir appearing to flare up. Only he would be the sort of person to fight on the side of romance, being an eager advocate of large shows of affection to those that they loved and cherished. One particular memory that proved as much was when they'd fought an akuma last week, the black hero somehow finding the time to produce a bouquet of flowers for his ladybug-spotted partner.

Naturally, Ladybug had declined the offer, berating Chat for even thinking about flowers at such a crucial time. However now, in hindsight, Marinette was grateful for the action as it had allowed her to refocus, gifting them with another successful victory.

"You're betting me?" Marinette raised a brow, her own alter-ego's traits flaring with Adrien's. If there was anything Ladybug loved, it was a damn good challenge. "Are you sure about that, Chaton?"

"Yep," Adrien nodded, appearing confident in his ability. An excited grin, an brilliant gleam of exhilaration, took over him, filling his green eyes with a determined fire as he leaned in closer to her. "And if I win, which is highly likely, Ladybug has to accept Chat's advances in public."

"And if you lose?" Marinette countered, not at all panicking over the few inches between them. Her own blue eyes were alight with determination, burning with the willpower to prove her goofy counterpart wrong.

This is where Adrien faltered, appearing to consider the many options that could pass as equal weight to Ladybug officially returning Chat Noir's advances. Knowing his lady, Marinette wouldn't enter a bet unless the stakes were high and his own risk was just as big - or much bigger - than her own. Therefore, if he wanted to be smart about it, Adrien needed to ensure that he offered something Marinette couldn't say no to.

"I'll wear a shirt for a week as Chat that says: 'Ladybug knows best'," He answered, satisfied with his conclusion. She couldn't say no to that.

"Hmm, very tempting," Marinette hummed, seeming to think it over as she tapped at her chin. Cheekily, a grin curved onto her lips as she held out a hand for him to shake, "Throw in a week's worth of cuddles and I think we have a deal."

And, with that, Adrien Agreste was sold.

Soft morning sunlight greeted Marinette's sleepy eyes that next morning. Bleeding through the soft fabric of her blinds, gentle rays of sunlight streamed all over the room, illuminating the once shadowy space. Even within the shelter of their sloppily built pillow fort, Adrien and Marinette had not been saved from the early morning invasion, sly rays of sunlight creeping through the cracks between the blankets and quilts.

Releasing a small sigh, Marinette rolled over, ready to stretch herself out, only to frown as she bumped into a warm, solid mass that was wrapped around her body. Lazily, she cracked open her eyes to come face to face with Adrien, his golden hair a shaggy mess on one of her pillows. Immediately, Marinette felt her heartbeat quicken.

'So it wasn't a dream?' She thought. Usually, under normal circumstances, Marinette would be freaking out by now. If you placed yesterday's Marinette in this situation, with Adrien close by to her, his arms literally wrapped around her, she would have keeled over from a heart attack, her brain frying from the sheer panic of him touching her. But, somehow, knowing that Adrien was Chat Noir, the same goofball of a hero she worked with near-daily, made Marinette feel more confident.

Honestly, she still couldn't believe that Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir. It just seemed so unlike him to be so dorky and cocky; but then again it was just as weird for Marinette to be perceived as a confident, put-together young lady who was definitely not klutzy. Maybe she should have listened to Alya a bit more when she was talking about how Adrien looked a lot like Chat Noir if you gave him the suit and mask. Hey, Alya even once said that Marinette was Ladybug! She'd flip her crown if she knew she was right.

"Good morning," Tikki's giggle emanated from Marinette's desk, causing the sleepy girl to blink at thin air. Giggling a little more, Tikki waved to Marinette, "Plagg and I are up here."

Finally spotting the pair, Marinette smiled at the sight of the two kwamis snacking on an impromptu breakfast, sharing a selection of fruit, cheese and crackers on a small plate. Between the both of them, it looked as if they were having a nice catch up, like two close friends meeting for coffee in a cafe after not seeing each other for a few months.

"You don't need to worry about us seeing anything, Plagg and I are just catching up," Tikki spoke, taking Marinette's silence and blinking as her brain frying from impending embarrassment. "We weren't here last night either, so we don't know about anything else."

"You didn't miss much," Marinette yawned, rubbing at her eyes. A hand scratched at her head. "We watched a movie and crashed at about three."

"Well isn't that boring?" Plagg groused, gulping down a pretty generous hunk of cheese. Frowning, the feline kwami picked up a cracker and placed some cheese upon it. "All this time wasted and the two of you couldn't even- "

"Plagg!" Tikki cut in, her own tiny glare a huge surprise to Marinette. She had never seen this side of her kwami. "Adrien and Marinette are much too young. You shouldn't plant such ideas in their heads!"

"What? I'm only saying the truth!" Plagg argued, chomping down on his cracker and cheese. Flashing a pretty toothy grin, he turned to Marinette, "Kids these days know about the birds and the bees, right? I wouldn't judge you both for being curious."

"He's just an idiot, ignore him," Tikki instructed, sticking her tongue out at the kwami.

"Whatever," Plagg rolled his eyes, his tail swishing with what could only be chalked up to be sass. Abandoning his post with Tikki, the audacious black cat kwami wandered toward Marinette, bringing an empty cracker in tow, "You wouldn't happen to have any Camembert, would you?"

Rolling her eyes, Tikki face-palmed at his request before occupying herself with the breakfast spread. Without any verbal cues, Marinette could tell that her kwami needed a break from Plagg and his witty remarks. Luckily for her, Marinette was here, awake, capable and hopefully able to escape the comfy confines of her self-made prison.

"I'll go check," Marinette smiled at Plagg, gently peeling Adrien's arms off her. Despite being decent, she couldn't help the blush that stained her cheeks as she shuffled past the kwamis and opened the trap door.

Thankfully, the coast was clear downstairs. Due to the busy morning rush they often got, both of Marinette's parents were downstairs in the bakery, elbows-deep in flour, eggs and yeast. That meant the entire apartment was free for now, allowing her nerves to relax within her body. There was no chance of her getting caught.

Easily, Marinette made her way downstairs, keeping a hand fixed to the handrail so that she wouldn't trip over herself and land at the bottom in an aching, bruised human pile. Then, she headed to the kitchen, pulling open the fridge door just as Tikki joined her, curiously reading a new addition to the fridge door - a poster advertising a festival some time later this week. Right across the top of the paper was bold lettering, detailing the name of the event.

"What date is it, Tikki?" Marinette frowned as she rifled through the contents of her fridge. Midway she set two yogurts on the side - hopefully in date.

"The fifteenth," Tikki chirped in response, smiling as she hugged a strawberry gifted to her by Marinette, "And it's seven am, which means you have an hour to get ready for school!"

Nodding, Marinette smiled as she grabbed the pack of half-finished Camembert and cut a decent wedge for Plagg. That gave her plenty of time to get ready for school. Then, just as she was about to go upstairs with her tasty haul, it dawned on her: Adrien needed to go home and fast. If his father found out he had stayed out last night - let alone where he'd stayed - he'd be in for some pretty big trouble. A load of trouble.

Panic now seizing her body, Marinette rushed up the steps and threw open her trap door.

"Adrien you need to leave now!"

Content, Adrien stretched as he awoke, feeling comfortable in the oddly fluffy and squishy mattress beneath him. Only when he opened his eyes, met with the baby pink paint of Marinette's walls, did he remember why he was here and not alone at home, waking up to the stiff morning call of Nathalie, who was often accompanied with his tablet of daily tasks to fulfill. All around him were reminders of last night: the pillow fort, the movie playing on Marinette's computer, the kwamis on the desk.

"Enough with that stinky cheese, Plagg!" Tikki groused, shaking her head as the black cat gorged on another slice of cheese. "It's bad enough that every time our holders get together I have to deal with you for decades, but the smell is unbearable!"

"At least I don't have a sugar addiction!" Plagg retorted, sticking his tongue out. "Cheese can be very healthy."

"Hey!" Tikki seethed, frowning. Her little arms crossed over each other. "At least it doesn't smell."

"But it's not healthy though, is it Sugarcube?" Plagg teased smugly, holding his cheese in triumph. Adrien could feel the eye roll forming on his behalf, aware of how insufferable the black cat kwami could be most of the time.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Tikki huffed, turning her back to the kwami. "You're so annoying. In fact, I'm going to check on Marinette, she should have come back by now." No other words said, the ladybug kwami disappeared from the room, phasing through the trap door. That left Adrien and his kwami alone, both simmering in the silence leftover in the room.

"Girls, am I right?" Plagg joked, gulping down more cheese. He came to float beside Adrien, looking as if he were on an invisible lazy river as he looped around in circles on his back. "They always find ways to complain."

"Well, you're not the easiest to deal with Plagg," Adrien yawned, scratching his messy blonde head. How much time had passed since he'd fallen asleep? Raising a brow, he peered at the kwami, "What time is it?"

"Nearly seven o'clock on the dot my friend," Plagg grinned, floating over toward Marinette's alarm clock. Chuckling, the mystical creature glanced at his holder. "Right now, Nathalie would be making her way upstairs to check that you woke up."

"We've gotta go," Adrien sighed, quickly scrambling up from the pillow fort. Reluctantly, he stretched, hearing his shoulder click. "Plagg claws out!"

Within seconds the sleepy blonde was replaced with Paris' famed Chat Noir, comfy clothes replaced with highly durable leather. If he wanted to make it home in time, Adrien needed to leave now. Nevertheless, he still felt guilty, lingering in Marinette's room as he questioned whether he should tell her that he was leaving or not. Marinette was the type to overthink after all. If he just left now, hurrying over to the Agreste mansion, what would she think? Probably not highly of him. That was one thing for sure.

Deciding to leave her a hastily written post-it-note, Chat Noir stuck it to her computer and made his way to her window, ready to make his reluctant journey home. Only, just as he was about to leave, a familiar head popped through the trap door.

"Adrien you need to leave now!" Midway through the door, Marinette stopped dead in her tracks, taken aback by the unexpected sight of Chat Noir in her bedroom, appearing to be escaping through her window. An amused grin formed on her lips, her inner Ladybug shining through, "Classy. Leaving without a goodbye?"

The hero's eyes widened, "Marinette! I was going to- "

"I'm joking," Marinette giggled, shaking her head as she set down her food haul. However she kept one yogurt, handing it over the black cat hero. "I know you have somewhere to be. I'll see you later?"

"Always," Chat Noir responded, resting his forehead against hers. He wanted to kiss her - a lot - but figured it would be too much. So he settled for leaving a kiss on her soft hand, "Goodbye, Princess."

Breathless, Marinette could only watch as he leaped from her window, disappearing into the streets of Paris within the blink of an eye. A cool gust of early morning air rushed past her, reddening her already pink cheeks.

"Goodbye Chaton."