Plagg wasn't very encouraging when Adrien flopped onto the bed after patrol.

"What do you think?" Adrien asked him as he handed over a wedge of cheese.

"Eh," Plagg said through a full mouth. One crumb escaped and bounced onto the carpet. "She'll probably say something about it the next time you see her. Nothing you can do about it until then."

"That was helpful," he said as sarcastically as he could.

"You're very welcome! I'm glad you finally appreciate all I do for you."

Adrien climbed into bed, still fully dressed, and pulled the blankets over his head. Plagg's reaction was a good sign, right? If Ladybug was about to turn him down again, Plagg would try to comfort him, so that meant her reaction had been a good thing? Right? Or maybe Plagg didn't know either. Adrien buried his head beneath his pillow and tried, unsuccessfully, to get some sleep.

He tossed and turned as bright moonlight poured in through his windows. He was too restless to sleep. Not knowing was driving him crazy. Twice he got up, determined to at least run another patrol if he was going to be awake anyway. But Plagg hid both times, so there was nothing he could do except crawl back under his covers and wait for the sleep that wouldn't come.

When he got out his phone to check the time, Plagg grumbled loudly about the light from where he was perched on Adrien's pillow and threatened to hide again. Two hours. He'd been home for two hours already. What was Ladybug doing? Was she sleeping peacefully? Was she planning how she was going to let him down easily?

He was about to put the phone away when he got a text message from an unfamiliar number.

? – I can't believe this! It's so obvious!

That sounded like the middle of someone's conversation.

Adrien – I think you have the wrong number.

? – Sorry, Adrien. I hope I'm not waking you up, but I really have to talk to you.

Okay, so it was the right number. This was hopefully someone he knew. But why didn't he have their phone number if they had his?

Adrien – Okay... Who is this? What's obvious?

? – That you're Adrien! I can't believe I didn't see it before!

? – Or should I say Ch-

His heart flipped. Someone knew his secret. They were going to blackmail him, and he was the perfect target.

? – Wait. Are you alone? There's no one reading over your shoulder, right?

Adrien – Who is this?

? – Wait.

? – Don't you have me in your contacts already?

Adrien – Noooo?

"Plagg," he hissed. Plagg didn't respond, still fast asleep. His mind was racing. He should know who this was, which was a good sign. And they didn't want to leak his identity, at least not immediately. That– that was also a good sign, right? His hands were sweaty on his phone from clutching it so hard.

Adrien – Who are you?

? – Wow.

? – I had to psych myself up all night for this stupid text.

? – And I didn't even manage to give you my secret identity like I'd planned on.

There was a gasp, and it took him a second to realize it was his. Secret identity? It couldn't be.

? – That's what happens when I take the coward's way! I could have just come over.

? – But I had it all planned out. You'd know I knew who you were, and my real name would be right there in your contacts, and I wouldn't have to confess anything to your face.

? – It was going to be great, Adrien!

Another three dots appeared. She wasn't done talking to him yet.

? – I probably kept you up worrying. I'm sorry. I should have said something immediately.

? – I'm probably not making sense right now either. Sorry.

The messages flashed across the screen at an impressive speed. Adrien didn't even try to answer them. Was that really Ladybug? It had to be. And she knew who he was, which meant that he'd really been the "other" boy after all. The dread he'd felt all night was replaced with tingling anticipation.

He had to check.

Adrien – My Lady?

? – Hey, Kitty.

? – ❤️

"Plagg!" he yelled. That got the kwami's attention.

"Seriously, kid? I'm trying to sleep!"

"Look! Look look look! She loves me!" He thrust the phone in the kwami's face, but Plagg howled and flew off, yelling something about teenagers and idiots.

Adrien – I love you! So who are you really?!

He added a name to her contact while he waited for her response. The despair that had been pressing on him for days had completely evaporated in seconds. He wasn't even tired anymore. He was the boy!

Before she was able to type a response, he'd changed her contact name. Her response left him baffled.

My Lady – …

My Lady – …

He stared at the two ellipses. Maybe… he shouldn't have asked her for her name so quickly. Was she too nervous to tell him? Did she not want to at all?

Adrien – What's wrong?

My Lady – You don't know who I am yet. Hmmm...

Adrien – Ladybug?

My Lady – There are possibilities now.

Adrien – Yeah, like the possibility of me asking you out. Probability, 100%. What do you say?

My Lady – I was talking about the possibility of me teasing you. Probability, 200%.

My Lady – Also, yes. I would love to!

Adrien – Really?!

He wasn't entirely sure he was awake at this point. It seemed much more likely that he'd fallen asleep and was having a very strange dream in which Ladybug was admitting her feelings for him. (It wouldn't have been the first time he'd had one, but they'd never involved texting before.)

The rest of the house was dark and quiet, but his phone screen lit up again.

My Lady – Really! But–

Adrien – !

My Lady – You have to guess who I am first.

Adrien – That's not fair!

My Lady – :p

My Lady – I'm someone you know from school. There's your only hint. Good night!

My Lady – And for the record, I love you too.

She didn't text again. (If this wasn't a dream and that message was still on his phone in the morning, he was going to print it out and frame it.)

He read through the whole conversation once again. There was one hint that she hadn't realized she'd given him. They were close enough to have each other's phone numbers, and close enough that she was surprised he didn't have hers. He was supposed to have it already.

She was so much closer than he'd ever realized.


Author's note: It is important for you to know that I started this story years and years ago. Like, season one or two is when I had the idea. She got the phone number from Alya, but we didn't see her talking on the phone with Adrien until after I started writing. So she had his number but he didn't have hers! (Also, formatting on here is a pain! They gave me an option to do a block quote for the texts, but that didn't work. Then I tried to add in spaces to indent it, since I couldn't use tab. It didn't save them either. So bold type it is! Sorry!)