I don't normally write a lot of hurt/comfort, but once I got this concept in my head, I just had to do it hahaha! But don't worry - I made sure to include a healthy dose of fluff in there so you know it's still me writing.

The title of this fic is a line from the song "Mr. Sandman" by The Chordettes, though the inspiration to use it came from the cover of the song by SYML, as it has Chat Blanc type vibes. Kudos to tinuviel_tinuviel for introducing me to the cover!

Shout out to Lizzie for beta-ing this fic! I just plonked out a roughly 30k one-shot and was like "hey, wanna edit?" so a massive kudos to the amazing Lizzie!

~/~/~/~

Chat Noir was rapidly scaling the outside of the Eiffel Tower, ignoring the beeping that he could hear from somewhere as panic and adrenaline rushed through his veins. He needed to move faster, faster, faster. He needed to get higher, higher, higher. All he could think of was getting up there in time.

As he pulled himself up onto the platform, he heard a god-awful cackle that sent chills down his spine. Looking up, he saw Volpina victoriously holding a squirming Marinette up by the ropes that held his friend hostage. Marinette's feet kicked hard, but failed to even graze the platform.

'Pathetic little kitty,' Volpina taunted, walking over to the furthest edge of the platform from him as he stood. 'No Ladybug, no powers, and- ooh, nearly out of time. How will you ever save your friend?'

The beeping grew louder from his ring; he had three minutes, maybe less, before he'd be forcibly destransformed. He had used his Cataclysm, and Ladybug was nowhere in sight. It was entirely possible that the Marinette bound, gagged and terrified in front of him was an illusion (which he prayed to all the deities from every faith and religion that she was), but he couldn't take that chance - especially not with her.

'Let her go,' he growled, readying himself to launch at the akuma.

Volpina, with strength only being akumatised could give her, raised Marinette up higher and over the edge of the platform, never once breaking eye contact with him.

'Okay,' she grinned, and let Marinette go. Chat's eyes widened with horror before launching himself off the platform after her.

She was falling, falling, falling. He was chasing, chasing, chasing. All he could think of was getting to her in time.

It felt like they were falling forever, and no matter how hard he tried to get to her, she was too far away.

Next thing he knew, they were on the ground. Her bindings were gone and he was by her side, but he was too late. Blood pooled under her head, her brilliant blue eyes dull and unseeing, and her limbs were horrifically askew. He failed. She was dead.

~/~

Adrien launched out of bed and barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up into the toilet. His body was shaking, tears were streaming down his face, and his stomach churned sickeningly. He gripped the toilet seat as he threw up again.

'Hey, Kid, are you alright?'

Adrien spat the bile that lingered in his mouth into the toilet before looking up at a very concerned Plagg.

'Nightmare,' Adrien croaked, before closing the toilet lid and flushing the sick away. 'Is Sandboy around?'

'Nope, not this time,' Plagg said as Adrien unsteadily stood up and started to brush his teeth. 'No akuma alerts tonight. Must've been one hell of a nightmare; you wanna talk about it?'

Flashes of Marinette helplessly bound, falling, and dead on the ground in his mind almost made him throw up again. He brushed more vigorously.

'That bad, huh?' Plagg muttered. 'Would a run around the city help?'

Adrien nodded mutely, before spitting out the toothpaste and washing his toothbrush and hands.

'Let's go.'

~/~

The cool evening air stung his skin as he ran, but the overwhelming feeling of being unsettled and panicked that he's had plaguing him since he woke hasn't left him. If anything, it had grown stronger. Being in his Chat Noir suit reminded him too much of that awfully realistic dream, and he wanted it off. But, being detransformed made him feel extremely vulnerable, so he wanted the suit on. He didn't know what to think, what to feel, what to do, but what he did know is that he needed to see Marinette.

He raced across the Parisian rooftops until he landed on Marinette's balcony. Peering through the skylight, he saw Marinette, drooling adorably as she cutely cuddled into her giant cat pillow, breathing deeply and soundly. The tension in his chest eased a little as he took it all in. She was alright. She was alive.

He stayed there, watching her, taking all the reassurance he could get that dear, sweet Marinette was okay, and when he felt himself become somewhat calmer than when he first arrived, he forced himself to leave. No matter how much he wanted, needed to stay, he needed sleep before he went to school later today. When he leapt off her balcony, he could feel an intense magnetic pull from within himself, desperately trying to get back to Marinette, but he shoved those feelings down and kept going until he got into his room, detransformed, and clambered into bed.

But sleep never came. He tossed and he turned, but he was all too awake. He tried everything he could think of: exercising to exhaustion; taking a long, hot shower; playing soothing music to lull him to sleep… but nothing worked. Every time he closed his eyes, the images from his nightmare would flash in his mind and he'd be wide awake again.

The sunrise was beautiful, but he couldn't bring himself to enjoy it. For hours, every cell in his body was anxious, impatient, desperate to get back to Marinette. Seeing her wasn't enough, he knew that now. He needed to touch her, hold her, hear her voice, feel the homely warmth she exuded as naturally as breathing. He needed her so he could breathe again.

Abandoning the idea of sleep, he showered, changed and readied himself for the day. He checked his homework was in his bag and his exercise clothes were packed for class sport that afternoon. He made sure Plagg had enough Camembert for the day, and for any akuma attacks that may interrupt the day. He made sure his phone and tablet were fully charged, as well as his extra power pack in case he needed to recharge anything. When he couldn't think of anything else to keep his mind off his jittery, agitated nerves, he went down to breakfast.

'Adrien? What are you doing up so early?'

He looked over and saw Nathalie seated at the kitchen island with a breakfast bowl and a cup of coffee in front of her, looking at him with surprise. He couldn't blame her - he couldn't remember the last time he was up early enough to see Nathalie having breakfast.

'It's… 6:12 in the morning,' she said, glancing at her watch. 'Is something the matter?'

'Bad night's sleep,' he answered, opening the fridge. 'How'd you sleep?'

'Fine, thank you,' she replied as he closed the fridge, finding nothing that would appeal to his uneasy stomach. 'Adrien… you look pale. Are you sure you're alright?'

Adrien paused. Nathalie's usual style of expressing emotion was subtle and nuanced, so for her concern for him to be so overt by her standards, he must've looked as horrible as he felt.

'I… had a nightmare,' he admitted, taking a seat next to her at the kitchen island. 'A horrible one.'

'I see,' Nathalie hummed. 'Would you like to talk about it?'

His heart lurched, and he shook his head. Talking about it meant reliving the nightmare, and he couldn't do it, not yet.

Another hum came from beside him.

'Well, if you change your mind,' she said, trailing off.

'Thanks, Nathalie,' he replied with a barely-there smile. His leg started to bounce uncontrollably as the anxious energy continued to course through him.

'Is something the matter?' she asked, raising an eyebrow gently.

'Do you think it's too early to go to the bakery?' Adrien asked. 'To Marinette's?'

She regarded him silently for a nerve wracking moment, before saying, 'Your driver isn't here, so I'll take you. Go get your things for school, and I'll see you at the car.'

Adrien thanked Nathalie before sprinting upstairs to gather his belongings and then racing down to the car, practically throwing himself into his spot just as Nathalie had settled into the driver's seat. He couldn't sit still. It was like there were tiny fireworks going off under his skin, like his body knew that within a matter of minutes, he'd be able to see Marinette. His leg started bouncing again.

In too long and yet no time at all, Nathalie was pulling in to park near the bakery. He wanted to rush ahead, but Nathalie got out of the car with him, so he forced himself to keep pace with her. He was so close, and he was beyond restless.

The doorbell tinkled pleasantly as they entered the bakery, to see a short petite figure behind the counter.

'Ma-'

…and then he registered who it actually was.

'Uh, Madame Cheng, good morning,' he corrected. He ignored the pang of disappointment that swept through him.

Madame Cheng raised her head and smiled at him.

'Good morning, Adrien, Miss Sancoeur!' she greeted happily. 'And please, call me Sabine.'

'R-right,' he said. 'Um, I know it's a little early, but is Marinette around?'

'Marinette?' she repeated, before chuckling. 'She's most likely sound asleep. I wouldn't be surprised if she sleeps through her alarms like usual.'

Adrien cursed himself. How could he possibly forget that Marinette was a heavy sleeper? She constantly made mad dashes to the classroom to make it there on time, and her face would take on that sweet pink flush that filled his heart with a fond warmth that told him that all was right in the world. What made him possibly think that pattern would break just for him today?

'Oh,' he mumbled. 'Sorry for bothering you.'

'Not at all,' Sabine replied brightly. 'You know, if you want to stick around, Tom and I could use a hand setting up the pastries in their display cabinets, if you'd like?'

Adrien couldn't fathom leaving the bakery. That magnetic pull he felt this morning during his impromptu rooftop run had come back with a vengeance, and he had no strength to fight against it this time.

'Thank you,' he said, and she directed him through to the back of the bakery.

~/~

Adrien carefully placed the last pain au chocolat into the display cabinet, before finding refuge in the back of the bakery. Since Nathalie had left after having a little chat with Sabine, the bakery's regulars started filtering in, getting their breakfast pastries and morning coffees as the hazy golden sunlight gently filled the bakery with a warm glow. Eventually, one of the regulars recognised him. Thankfully, they were respectful and didn't make a big deal about it, but it unfortunately reminded him of his celebrity status, and while he was normally more or less fine with the attention, it wasn't something he could take today. He simply didn't have the capacity to handle it. So from that point on, he kept his head a little lower, and retreated back to the back of the bakery each time he had done his task.

'I reckon that'll do for the moment, son,' Tom (as he had been kindly instructed to call him) said warmly. Every time the gentle giant of a man had called him "son", it had warmed his heart in a way he didn't know he craved. 'Have you had breakfast yet?'

Adrien paused before shaking his head in the negative. He had honestly forgotten about it.

'Well, we can't have that, now, can we?' Tom told him with a smile. 'Let me tell Sabine we're heading up, and I'll make you some breakfast.'

Tom disappeared momentarily to the front of the bakery before rejoining him and heading upstairs. Helping out in the bakery had given him a brief reprieve from his desperation to see Marinette, but as he scaled the stairs, it came back in full force. The unwanted replay of his nightmare in his mind made his heart hammer against his ribcage and his anxiety spike. He was so distracted that he barely noticed being led into the apartment and seated on a stool at the kitchen bench. The sounds of eggs cracking, the knife chopping against the cutting board, and the sizzling of the pan were so distant in his mind. Even the smells didn't register until a plate holding a golden omelette was gently placed in front of him.

'Oh, thank you, Tom,' he said, as Tom gave him a knife and fork. 'It looks delicious.'

'You're welcome, son,' Tom replied, his moustache curling up as he smiled, making Adrien feel safe in his company. 'Eat up, and I'll be back in a moment.'

Adrien nodded and looked back down at his omelette. It looked perfect, but he just didn't quite have the appetite. Feeling guilty about letting it go to waste, he cut a small corner off the omelette, letting flavours dance on his tongue... but he couldn't bring himself to appreciate the man's cooking as much as he wanted to. Tom returned and told him that he had to go back to the bakery, so Adrien thanked him once again and the man was gone. Adrien sat there and continued to pick at his food, too unsettled to eat comfortably.

'A-Adrien?'

He looked up to see Marinette, standing in front of the staircase that led to her room, and the sheer relief upon seeing her stole his breath. She washere. She was in front of him. She was alive.

Tears sprung to his eyes, and without a second thought, he went over to her and hugged her tight. Her arms wrapped around his back, and oh god, she was alive! She was okay!

'Adrien, are you okay?' she asked gently, and he relished in feeling the vibrations in her chest as he held her close. 'You're shaking.'

He hadn't noticed that, but now that she had pointed it out, it was all he could feel, and it was overwhelming. She pulled away from him, and he whined at the loss of contact as she led him by the hand across the room to sit on the couch. She opened her arms to him and he gratefully crashed into her, clinging to her for dear life.

He didn't know how long they sat there like that, him shaking helplessly in her arms, but eventually he started to feel like he could breathe again. He pulled away just enough so he could comfortably study her face and the warmth it exuded, so he could admire her raven hair that was neatly brushed back into her iconic twin pigtails, so he could look into her beautiful blue eyes (that were somehow more blue than he had ever remembered them being) as see the life sparkle within them.

'Adrien, what happened?' she asked in that same soft voice she did before, concern and care woven into every syllable she uttered. 'You're crying.'

He didn't care that he was crying, not when there's more important things to focus on.

'You're alive,' he mumbled, but she seemed to understand his blubbered speech and she tensed as her eyes widened in horror.

'I died?' she squeaked reaching up to touch her earrings, and boy, did that remind him suddenly of the time she was the amazing and utterly adorable Multimouse. 'When did I die? And how? I don't remember there being an akuma! What happened? How am I alive? And-'

Adrien panicked. And cursed himself for not thinking his words through.

'No! No akuma!' he blurted. 'There was no akuma. I... uh, oh god, I... um...'

She just looked at him in confusion. He sighed.

'I had a nightmare,' he admitted, 'and it was so detailed and realistic and it scared me half to death, and I couldn't... I... even though I knew it was just some horrible nightmare, even though I knew you were actually okay, something in me refused to believe it unless I saw you in person, so... yeah.'

All the tension in her body washed away and she gave him a sweet, understanding smile.

'I get nightmares, too,' she said.

'You do?'

'Yeah, of the end of the world,' she continued, and his heart ached for her.

'The end of the world?' he parroted.

'Yeah, and not "getting an F in art class which means I'll never be treated seriously as a fashion designer and then my dreams are up in smoke and I'll never get married with three kids and a hamster and it's the end of the woooooorld~!"' she said melodramatically, which made him chuckle. 'Well, I do get those ones sometimes, but when I say "end of the world nightmares", I mean the moon is split in two, Paris is flooded with buildings broken and damaged, the Eiffel Tower has toppled on its side, everyone is underwater in ashes, and everything's just blue and white and it's the most silent and still apocalypse you could possibly imagine.'

She went quiet for a moment, her gaze glazed over like she was looking at something only she could see. Before he could say anything (not that he knew what to say, because that was the most awful apocalypse he could think of!), she shook her head and gave him a reassuring smile, somehow hiding the pain he now knew lay underneath her mask.

'You don't have to tell me your nightmare if you don't want to,' she said sympathetically, 'but I just want you to know that you're not alone, and that if you need someone to talk to, or to support you, or even just to hug when you're feeling low, that I'm here for you.'

It was as if her words were like some fluffy, cosy blanket wrapped around him that made him feel safe and protected.

'Thank you,' he replied earnestly. 'I will tell you about it, just... not yet.'

'That's okay, I'm here for you whenever you're ready,' she soothed.

'Thanks... and I might end up taking you up on your hug offer a lot today,' he confessed. 'The nightmare...it was a lot.'

'I'm here for as many hugs as you need,' she said kindly, before pausing, her cheeks flushing slightly, 'although, you might want to brace yourself for any teasing Alya and Nino and the others might give you for doing so.'

Adrien shrugged, before saying, 'Well, I could just say I've just discovered how amazing your hugs are - which they are, by the way - and I've decided I need more of them.'

Marinette's cheeks suddenly turned a bright pink, but before he could ask if she was okay, she jumped up and asked, 'Oh, did Papa make breakfast?'

'Oh, yeah, he did,' he answered, following her to the kitchen bench to find a second omelette sitting on a plate beside his that he hadn't noticed before. 'Sorry, it's probably gone cold by now.'

'Don't apologise for needing support, emotional or otherwise,' Marinette chided gently, smiling at him as she sat down. 'We all need help sometimes, and there's nothing shameful about that.

'Thanks.'

'Buuuuut, if you really wanna make it up to me,' she continued with a cheeky grin, 'you'll make sure to finish every last bite of that omelette of yours, and let me get you a croissant from the bakery.'

For the first time since he woke up from that horrendous nightmare, he grinned happily.

'As you wish, Your Highness,' he said, bowing with a flourish of the arm, and oh, how wonderful it was to hear her giggle.

~/~

Like he promised, he finished every morsel of his omelette. Like she promised, she snagged him a croissant on their way out of the bakery as they left for school.

It was only once they left the comforting bubble that was the Dupain-Cheng home and bakery that the fears that had plagued him all morning started to creep back into his mind.

'Marinette,' he began quietly, 'is it okay if I hold your hand?'

'You're always welcome to hold my hand, Adrien,' she reassured him, holding out her hand, which he took gratefully. 'You never have to ask me for that.'

'Thanks, Marinette. And, you know, if you want, you're always welcome to hold my hand too, if you'd like,' he added. 'No questions necessary.'

Her cheeks went that soft pink again, and she smiled. 'Thanks, Adrien.'

'Hey girl- ooooohHHHHHHHH!'

They turned to see Alya practically holding her breath as she hopped from foot to foot at the base of the school entrance as if she was walking on hot coals.

'Don't tell me-!' she screeched happily.

'Alright, I won't,' Marinette teased, and Adrien was impressed by the way Alya seemed to huff disappointedly while still holding her breath. Alya turned to face him, glancing between their joined hands and his face as hers began to turn red.

'Oh, this is, um, emotional support,' he said, recalling what Marinette had said at breakfast. 'It's something I need today.'

The wind was immediately taken out of Alya's sails, only to be replaced with a burning fire.

'Did your Dad do something? Ugh, that's it! OI BABE!' she yelled at Nino, who was walking towards them. 'WE'RE GOING TO STORM THE MANSION!'

'Oh, FINALLY!' he replied, cracking his knuckles in a way Adrien supposed was meant to be menacing. 'I've been waiting for the day Adrien would let me punch his old man in the face-'

'And you're gonna have to keep waiting,' Adrien cut him off with a chuckle. He loved how much his friends cared for him. 'There's no storming the mansion today, and my dad didn't do anything wrong.'

'Debatable,' Nino grumbled.

'I've just had a really bad nightmare, and it kind of rattled me.' Adrien winced. 'Sounds pathetic, huh?'

'Not at all, bro,' Nino countered. 'Stuff like that can mess with you big time. Whaddya need from us?'

'Yeah, how can we help, Adrien?' Alya asked. Adrien's eyes started to sting again, but he fought it back.

'Um, thank you guys,' he said, before a thought occurred to him. 'Uh, Nino?'

'Yeah, bro?'

'Would... ugh, this is going to sound bad,' Adrien groaned, already cringing internally, 'but even though you're awesome to sit next to in class, uh, is it possible for you to switch seats with Marinette today? I can't explain it, but... well...'

His voice trailed off as he held Marinette's hand tighter. His throat clammed up on him and he couldn't get the words out, but he didn't know if he wanted to, anyway. How does one say "I need to hold and/or see Marinette because if I don't, I'll think she's died a horrible and gruesome death and I failed to save her and so she's the only person that can ground me right now" without sounding overdramatic and absurdly pitiful?

Somehow, Nino seemed to understand what he meant, and nodded solemnly.

'Sure thing, dude,' he agreed. 'Just know I'll be right behind you if you need me.'

'Thanks, bro,' Adrien said, before turning to Marinette. 'Is this okay with you?'

Marinette smiled and squeezed his hand gently, and with that he somehow knew what her answer would be.

'Of course, Adrien,' she said. 'We're in this together.'

With that, Adrien and his friends made their way to the locker room, chatting about what they did on the weekend. He listened in awe as Nino described his DJ-ing gig as Marinette visited her locker, and laughed at Alya's reenactment of her sisters' antics as they visited his locker, with Marinette holding his hand almost the entire time. For a moment, it almost felt like the nightmare never happened.

Nino rushed ahead as they left the locker room, rejoining them just before they entered the classroom.

'I just spoke to Miss Bustier, and she's okay with the seat swap for today,' he said. 'Don't worry, dude, I only told her that you were going through something that Marinette was supporting you with. I didn't mention the nightmare.'

'Thanks, man,' Adrien replied, momentarily letting Marinette's hand go to give Nino a fist bump. 'I appreciate that.'

They walked into the classroom and were only halfway to their desks when Chloé and Sabrina swooped down before them, staring at his and Marinette's rejoined hands.

'Oh!' Chloé squawked, clearly affronted, looking at him as her finger pointed at him and Marinette, moving rapidly between them. 'Don't tell me you're dating her!'

He felt Marinette tense and try to remove her hand from his, but he held her hand with a gentle firmness, trying to silently tell her that he didn't approve of Chloé's accusatory tone, and that he'd handle it. Thankfully, she held his hand again.

'Marinette's helping me today, Chlo,' he said, ignoring for the moment the curious feeling he got from the idea of dating Marinette.

'With what?' she retorted.

'Emotional support.'

'Emotional support?' Chloé parroted as he heard the door open behind him, before scoffing. 'What for?'

'Chlo, remember that day you had when we were in Milan two years ago?' he asked. Chloé frowned.

'Milan? Why would-' she paused, and her expression cleared. 'Oh.'

'Yeah.'

Chloé's back straightened and she looked Marinette, before simply saying, 'Look after him.'

Marinette blinked, clearly surprised by the shift in tone, and replied, 'Don't worry, I will.'

Chloé stiffly nodded, then turned to sit back down in her seat, Sabrina dutifully following her.

'Oh, are you having a bad day, Adrien?'

The sickly saccharine voice from Lila behind him made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Images of Volpina holding Marinette hostage and her evil cackle from his nightmare flashed through his mind, and he instinctively held Marinette close to him.

'I heard you need emotional support, and I'll be happy to help you,' Lila continued as she walked in front of him, and he subtly shifted himself so he could protectively put Marinette behind him.

'Thanks, but Marinette's doing a great job, so yeah, don't worry about it,' he said through gritted teeth, barely managing to make himself sound pleasant to his classmates. Every nerve in his bodywanted to get him and Marinette as far away from Lila as possible, desperate to escape.

'Marinette? Oh, we wouldn't want to bother her with such a simple thing as a bad day,' Lila said, oozing with faux concern, as she stepped forward. 'I'm more than happy to sit next to you-'

Adrien instinctively took a step back, taking Marinette with him.

'Thanks, but no thanks,' he replied, somehow managing to keep the growl that threatened to burst from him from getting into his voice.

'And it's no bother to me,' Marinette said lightly, moving to stand beside him. 'I volunteered to help him, because he's my friend. And I am always happy to help my friends.'

Lila's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as she regarded them.

'Well,' she said, her sickly saccharine voice grating on his nerves, 'as long as yourfriendsare taking care of you, Adrien. I hope you feel better soon.'

Something about her tone made his hackles raise, like this wasn't the last time he was going to hear of this.

'Thanks,' he replied stiffly. He watched as she walked to her desk at the back of the room, and it was only when she sat down that he and Marinette took their seats.

'Adrien?' Marinette whispered, putting her other hand on top of their joined ones. 'You're shaking again.'

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the feeling of her hands on his, and tried to take deep, calming breaths. His breaths were shaky, too. It took a few moments before he was able to breathe somewhat normally again.

'Feeling better?' she whispered, and he nodded. 'What happened?'

'She was in my nightmare, too,' he murmured, just as Miss Bustier entered the classroom and started to mark the roll. Marinette squeezed his hand reassuringly.

From roll-call to morning recess, his mind was numb, yet scrambled. Marinette's presence beside him brought him the reassurance he desperately needed, and helped him keep calm. Their hand-holding became a problem when it came to writing for class, so Marinette's solution was to put his left hand on her thigh; an action that, while it still provided that comfort that he craved in the form of physical touch, felt almost too intimate and made his face flush and his mind whirl. Focusing on Miss Bustier's voice and the information she shared was much more of a struggle than normal, simply because he was too mentally drained and overwhelmed. And it didn't help that he could feel Lila's gaze burning into the back of his skull, not only bringing back memories of his nightmare, but also reinforcing the unsettling feeling that something was going to happen.

By the time the class was dismissed for recess, Adrien was exhausted. All he wanted to do was get away from everyone and take a nap... but he also didn't want to be without Marinette. But it would be awkward for her to sit there holding his hand while he slept, wouldn't it? Maybe she would cuddle with him? He wondered if friends cuddled. He supposed they would... or was that too intimate for friendship? He thought Marinette would be really nice to cuddle with. Would Marinette want to cuddle him? He hoped she would. And if so, would they cuddle in his bed or hers? And-

'Adrien?'

Marinette's voice startled him, and he realised the classroom was almost empty. Sheepishly, he stood and gathered his things.

'Sorry,' he apologised.

'It's okay,' she said, 'it looked like you were in your own little world.'

His cheeks flushed as he remembered his wayward thoughts.

'Uh, yeah, I guess so.'

'You were looking a bit out of it during class,' she told him as they walked to the classroom door. 'Are you doing alright?'

'I'm kinda drained, actually,' he admitted. 'I could really do with a nap.'

'There's not much time during recess, but why don't you come over to mine for lunch?' she asked. 'We can get away from everyone and have some space, eat some food, and you can nap until we need to head back to school for the afternoon?'

'That sounds amazing,' he replied as they entered the locker room, sighing contently. 'Thank you.'

'Anytime,' she said with a smile. They took turns visiting each other's locker, and were about to head back to the courtyard when Marinette stopped him.

'I, uh, need to go bathroom,' she said. 'Will you be okay on your own for a few minutes?'

Adrien looked between the doors leading to the courtyard and Marinette uncertainly.

'I... think I'll wait for you, if that's okay.'

'No worries. I'll see you in a few,' she said with a little wave, before ducking behind the door to the girl's bathroom.

Adrien settled himself down on the nearest bench to the bathroom door as he waited, closing his eyes in the hopes of easing the strain on his tired mind.

'That was quite the stunt you pulled in class this morning, Adrien.'

His eyes shot open and he practically jumped in his seat, his heart racing in his chest as ice travelled down his spine. Lila stood before him, arms crossed and eyes blazing with anger. Even with the few metres of distance between them, she was still way too close for his comfort.

'Stunt?' he repeated, trying to keep the rising anxiety at bay. 'What stunt?'

'Don't play the fool with me,' she hissed. 'What was with the hostility, huh?'

'Hostility?' he echoed as he stood. 'I just wasn't feeling well, that's all.'

'Seriously?' she spat. 'No. "Not feeling well" doesn't explain why you put yourself between Marinette and me, now, does it?'

His back straightened as he remembered that he was the only thing stopping Lila from going into the girl's bathroom where Marinette was. This wasn't his nightmare - he could protect Marinette this time.

'And it doesn't explain why you openly demonstrated that you could barely tolerate my presence!' she continued. 'We're supposed to be friends in the eyes of everyone around us, and you almost destroyed that this morning! Being "friends" was part of our deal - you remember our little deal, don't you?'

'I do,' he said, and he cursed himself for his oversight.

'Then do you care to explain yourself?' Lila snapped.

'I was in a bad mood. You came in at a bad time. I didn't handle it well,' he stated plainly. 'If you want, I can make a public apology in front of the class.'

'That's a start,' she sneered, before stalking towards him and standing uncomfortably close to him. 'Just remember that I hold all the cards here. I have everyone in the palm of my hand. I got Marinette back into school because of our little deal, and I can just as easily get her expelled again. Got that?'

Adrien glared back at her. 'Crystal.'

'Good,' she said, taking a step back. 'And I'll tell you this now - you threaten our "friendship" again, and I'll make your life a living hell.'

With that final comment, she turned on her heel and left the locker room. Only once she was gone did he let his body relax and let out a heavy sigh.

'What did she mean by that, Adrien?'

Adrien jumped as he spun around to face Marinette standing in the open doorway to the girl's bathroom.

'Huh?' he said eloquently.

'Your deal with her, your friendship, my being in school,' Marinette recited, 'what did she mean by that?'

He winced. 'You heard that, huh?'

She nodded. He sighed again, rubbing the back of his neck.

'The day you got expelled, I knew Lila was behind it, but I knew I needed to prove it,' he began. 'I tried to contact Nathalie about seeing if there was a legal way we could get the school to review its CCTV footage, but she wasn't picking up, and by the time I got back to the locker room, everyone was shaken by Hawk Moth's attempted Scarlet Moth mass attack, and your parents took you home immediately. I tried to do my own investigating, and I found Alya doing some of her own, but we had nothing to prove her involvement. But unlike Alya, I knew how vile of a snake Lila could be, so when she turned up at my photoshoot that afternoon, I struck a deal with her.'

Marinette's gasp was like a knife to the chest, but he kept going.

'I told her that I knew she did it, even if I couldn't prove it, and that her lies wouldn't work on me,' he continued. 'The deal was that she'd get you back in school and leave you alone, and in return I wouldn't expose her as the vile person she is and pose as her friend.'

'Oh, Adrien,' she whispered. She sounded devastated, and he decided being tortured would be less painful than hearing Marinette speak to him that way. 'Why would you do that to yourself?'

He shrugged self-deprecatingly.

'I couldn't stand to see Lila hurting you,' he said simply. 'I told her not to hurt the people I love, and she didn't listen, so I made her listen.'

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a scream from outside.

'Marinette,' he said, grabbing her shoulders, 'I know you must hate me right now, but we'll talk later, I promise. I'll do anything I can to make it up to you, but please promise me you'll stay in here and stay safe - I can't bear the thought of you being anywhere near an akuma right now, okay? Please promise me that.'

She stared at him for a painful second before saying, 'I will.'

'Thank you,' he sighed, relieved. Impulsively, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, before guiding her back into the safety of the bathroom. 'I'll be back for you, okay?'

She just nodded mutely, and he cursed himself for screwing up his friendship with one of the most amazing people he knew. He closed the door behind him and ran to the boys bathroom to transform - thankfully, the bathroom was empty. Plagg zipped out of his overshirt and hovered in front of his face.

'Hey, you doing alright, kid?' he asked.

'Not really, but Ladybug needs us,' he admitted. 'Plagg, Claws Out!'

As the wave of magic washed over him, he let out a breath. He needed to focus - his Lady needed him, and he couldn't afford to be distracted. He opened the bathroom window and leapt out, circling around to land on the roof of the school. The courtyard was sheer chaos - people were yelling and crying and... disappearing?

Chat Noir dropped down next to Alya and Nino, who both were moving around with determined expressions.

'Hey Alya, Nino,' he greeted, making the two turn towards them. 'What's going on here?'

'Lila was distraught,' Alya began, and that icy feeling crept along Chat Noir's back again, 'and she kept going on about how she thought Adrien hated her because he wasn't as polite to her as he normally is, though I have to say that he was still polite.'

'But my dude was going through some heavy stuff this morning,' Nino added, jumping to Adrien's defence, 'and he tried to tell her that, and we did too! But she must've been super hurt, because next thing we knew, she became an akuma!'

Chat's stomach rolled sickeningly as Ladybug landed next to him. 'Did you see what her powers were?'

'Oh, she's been this one before, I think,' Nino commented. 'What was the name?'

'Volpina,' Alya replied, making Chat's heart pummel against his ribcage. 'It's all illusions and stuff, like Rena Rouge? But it's weird.'

'Weird how?' he pressed.

'Like, it's almost like there's this compulsion to believe that the illusion is real…' Alya said, walking up to where Kim was pleading with Ondine. 'Ondine doesn't even go to school here, but when Volpina appeared, she set off this... mass wave of illusions, I guess you could call it? And suddenly, Kim here doesn't question where Ondine came from or why she's angry with him. Hebelieves her to be real, but never goes to touch her.'

Alya paused in her explanation to swing her arm through Ondine's illusion, making her disappear. Kim fell silent and blinked a couple of times, as if waking up from a dream.

'See?' Alya said.

'Yeah,' Ladybug said softly. 'She's like Volpina 2.0 or something.'

'Exactly,' Nino agreed. 'We're trying to get rid of everyone's illusions, but there's a lot of them.'

'And why weren't you two affected?' Chat asked.

Alya shrugged. 'We weren't in the blast zone, I guess? We were in a nearby classroom doing an errand for Mrs Mendeleiev, so we could hear what was going on through the open window, but I don't know, maybe she couldn't see us, or we were too far away? It's hard to tell, especially because of how personalised these illusions seem to be.'

'Did you see which way she went?' Ladybug asked.

'Yeah, dudette,' Nino answered, pointing beyond the school's walls. 'She went that way, like she was headed towards the Eiffel Tower.'

Chat felt like he was going to be sick. This was either some cruel joke by fate, or his nightmare was coming to life... or both. At least he knew Marinette was safe, and that simple fact was keeping him from spiralling.

'Lila's akumas do tend to use the Eiffel Tower as their battleground of choice,' Ladybug mused, before she perked up, and Chat knew an idea was forming.

'I think I have a plan,' she said, 'but I need to get one of the Miraculous to make it work. Meet you at the Eiffel Tower, Kitty?'

The last thing he wanted to do was be alone with Volpina on the Eiffel Tower, but he wasn't going to let his Lady down. Not this time.

'See you there, m'Lady.'

~/~

Chat bounded over rooftops, spotting groups of Parisians affected by Volpina's illusion-bombing as he went. From what he could tell, Volpina's blast range never exceeded the size of the school courtyard, which meant that he and Ladybug could retreat outside of the blast zone if they needed to. With that reassuring nugget of information, he sent a message to his Lady before he sped up his approach to the Eiffel Tower.

The scenes at the base of the iconic landmark were hard to witness. The distress, the begging, the panic and fear, and the endless tears of heartbroken people made Chat hope that when Ladybug's cure would come around that none of the affected people would remember the traumatic experience. He wondered how people would cope if they did.

Volpina had made quick work of affecting the people around the base of the Tower and on the first few levels, with victims crowding the stairs and elevators that lead up the monument, which meant he would have to climb his way up from the outside, scaling it like he had done in his nightmare. Ladybug wasn't on her way just yet, so it was up to him to do some reconnaissance. He steeled himself, and began to climb.

With every platform he approached, he scanned stealthily for any sign of Volpina herself. With every platform he deemed clear, he climbed up to the next one. His heart raced faster, faster, faster, as he climbed higher, higher, higher. All he could think of was proving his nightmare hadn't become his reality.

It wasn't lost on him that the higher he went, the smaller the platforms became. The first platform was perhaps the size of four school courtyards, whereas the platform he had just deemed safe was barely larger than one courtyard. It seemed Volpina was also aware of her limits. He flicked Ladybug an update before he approached the next platform with more caution. As he quietly lifted himself to scan the platform, it didn't take him long to spot Volpina… unfortunately, she managed to spot him too. As soon as she moved, he scrambled to get out of the blast zone, literally letting himself fall to the platform below to get away faster... but as he felt a wave of magic sweep over him, he cursed himself for not moving fast enough. He landed roughly, but kept his eyes shut, waiting to hear who his illusion might be, but as tortuous seconds ticked by, he heard… nothing.

Cautiously opening his eyes, there was no one there with him. No illusion at all - perhaps he just missed it? When another sweep of the area proved he was alone and Volpina didn't come down from her perch to attack him, he breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, he had managed to escape Volpina's attack.

He heard a familiar zing sound through the air, and he turned to see Dragonbug land on the platform.

'Hey, Kitty,' she greeted as she recalled her yo-yo and walked towards him. 'I got your messages. Find her yet?'

'Yeah,' he said, approaching her, hoping that she wasn't some delayed illusion. 'One platform up.'

'Good work, Chaton,' she praised, scritching him under his chin, and he relaxed. She touched him and he felt it - Volpina's illusions couldn't do that. This wasn't like his nightmare: his Lady was here, he hadn't used his Cataclysm yet, and Marinette was safe. This was okay.

'Just a warning, she's willing to attack first, ask questions later,' he said. 'She tried to attack me as soon as she saw me.'

Dragonbug immediately became concerned. 'Did you get hit?'

He shook his head. 'I thought I did for a moment there, but this cat's still got all nine lives.'

'That's good to hear,' she said, before summoning her Lucky Charm - a bracelet Chat vaguely remembered seeing Lila wearing today at school.

'Right,' Dragonbug announced. 'It looks like I'm going to be the stealthy one now - you up to distracting her?'

Chat grinned. 'This cat's got this in the bag.'

Dragonbug rolled her eyes fondly before they climbed up the outside of the Tower, keeping themselves out of Volpina's sight as they got themselves into position, with Dragonbug placing herself amongst the beams far above the akuma's head. With a thumbs up from his partner, he leapt onto the platform, and Volpina turned to face him.

'Volpina,' he greeted, 'I thought foxes were sly and cunning, but all you do is scream for attention.'

Volpina smirked. 'Who said I couldn't do both?'

She pulled on a rope he didn't realise she was holding, and a figure came stumbling out from behind a metal pylon.

No.

No. No no no no no. No!

It was Marinette, bound, gagged, and scared, with tears streaming down her face. His heart leapt into his throat and his stomach churned violently. Her sniffles, muffled gasps and cries rang clear and loud in his ears, and all other noise became distant and distorted, like they were underwater, but he didn't care about that. All he could see and hear and focus on was her.

He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. His nightmare was real. He had failed Marinette, again. He had failed her and it was all his fault. He didn't protect her. He didn't do enough. He wasn't enough.

'Let her go,' he uttered, his words sounding feeble to his own ears. 'Just let her go.'

There was some unintelligible murmur from the underwater sounds before Marinette got yanked to the edge of the platform.

'Don't do it!' he begged, but he watched as Marinette's form was lifted up into the air, swung over the railing, before she was let go.

'NO!' he cried, and it was as if a spell was undone and he was free to move again, and he didn't hesitate to leap after his friend. The wind stung his cheeks as he went into free fall, but his eyes stayed on Marinette. She was falling, falling, falling. He was chasing, chasing, chasing. All he could think of was getting to her in time.

He took his baton from his back and made it extend, watching as it shot it out towards the ground. As he felt the other end slam into the ground, he pressed the button again for it to retract, pulling him even faster towards the ground. He watched as he managed to pass Marinette's figure as they raced towards land, and hope sparked within him. He kept going down, down, down, and with only metres to spare, he leapt away from his baton and rolled across the ground to take the impact of the fall, before getting up and immediately searching the sky above him... but she wasn't there. Adrenaline was zinging through his body, but when all he saw was empty sky, dread took over, and adrenaline turned to panic.

He looked at the ground and his heart stopped. She was a mere metre away from him. He didn't even hear her hit the ground. Blood pooled under her head, her brilliant blue eyes dull and unseeing, and her limbs were horrifically askew. He failed, again. She was dead.

'NOOOOOOOOO!'

He collapsed by her side, unable to bring himself to touch her, to confirm what his eyes already knew. Tears blurred his vision and his lungs burned as they rebelled against breathing. He couldn't move. He couldn't think. His heart was being ripped apart and shrivelled painfully into a useless husk, as if his heart had died with her.

A flurry of magical red ladybugs swept through and obscured his vision completely, and when they left, so too had the lifeless Marinette. But he still couldn't move. He still couldn't breathe. He was still in unending agony.

'Chat Noir?' came a gentle voice, so familiar that his head spun towards it so hard his neck hurt, because it sounded so much like-

'Are you okay?' Dragonbug stood where he thought Marinette would be, saying the words he thought Marinette would say.

'I failed her,' he cried. 'I failed her again.'

Dragonbug dropped down to her knees and hugged him tight.

'You haven't failed anyone,' she soothed.

'But I have!' he sobbed. 'I failed Marinette! I tried to keep her safe, but she became Lila's hostage again! She was dropped off the side of the Tower again! She died again! Because I couldn't save her! Just like in my nightmare!'

Dragonbug stiffened.

'I couldn't save her in my nightmare, Ladybug, and I couldn't save her now!' he moaned, before burying his face into her shoulder. 'I failed her, I failed her, I failed her.'

His voice refused to speak anymore as he was overcome with grief, simply holding onto his partner for dear life as he cried. He didn't protest as she helped him to his feet, nor when she wrapped an arm around him and used her yo-yo to get them airborne. He didn't care where they went, because nothing mattered to him except Marinette and how he failed her in the worst way possible.

Their feet eventually met ground again, but his legs couldn't hold him up, so they crumpled to the floor, still holding each other.

'Longg, Tikki, divide,' Dragonbug said softly, and he felt the transformation magic dance along his skin. 'Chaton, look at me.'

Reluctantly, he lifted his heavy head to see Ladybug looking at him with sympathy... and he also noticed where she had taken them.

'No, not here,' he blurted, panicked. 'Anywhere but here, Ladybug!'

'Chat-'

'This is Marinette's balcony!' he yelped. 'I can't- I just- she won't- please, Ladybug!'

'Chat,' she repeated firmly, holding his face in her hands and his blabbering ground to a halt. 'Look. At. Me.'

So he did, and wondered what she could possibly say that could make any sense of why she decided it was perfectly okay to be here, at Marinette's home on her balcony, when he had just failed to save her moments ago.

'Tikki, Spots Off.'

Her hands held his head firmly in place, making sure he couldn't look anywhere else except towards her. With a wave of red-pink glittery magic, her transformation fell, and Ladybug was replaced with...

'Marinette?' he whispered disbelievingly. 'Is it really- I mean, but I saw-'

'You saw Lila's- Volpina's illusion,' Marinette said. 'Remember what Alya and Nino said? That something about her illusions this time made people believe them instantly?'

He did, now that she mentioned it, but he still found it hard to believe that she was right here in front of him.

'I think she did manage to hit you with her illusion bomb on the Eiffel Tower,' she continued, 'but it looked like she could control it more, because she only had the one illusion she needed to focus on. I'm still not quite sure how her powers worked, if I'm honest, but they were probably the most complex power set we've encountered so far.'

He hummed in acknowledgement, but he wasn't sure how much of what she was saying he was actually taking in. He felt overwhelmed.

'Detransform, Kitty,' she said softly. 'It's okay.'

He must've muttered the phrase, because green magic sparked against his skin and swept across his vision for a moment, and Plagg appeared in front of him.

'How are you doing, kid?' he asked with the same gentle tone he had used that morning.

'I... I don't know,' Adrien answered; he felt confused. 'I don't know.'

'That's okay,' Marinette soothed. 'How about we all go downstairs and I get us something to eat and drink?'

'Yeah,' he muttered absently. She helped him to his feet, and they went through her skylight down into her room. Longg phased through the floor, and came back reporting that the family living space was all clear, so the five of them continued their descent.

As he sat himself down at the kitchen bench, Adrien watched as Marinette handed each of the kwamis their favourite foods, before she began pulling out an assortment of things from around the space. He watched as she flitted about, all but dancing about as she poured things, measured things, and stirred things. He let the gentle sounds of the kitchen soundscape wash over him as his mind painstakingly played catch-up on the last hour's worth of events. He was finally pulled from his musings when a large mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows was carefully slid into his view.

'Thanks,' he muttered, accepting the mug as she settled herself into the seat beside him.

'Hope you like it,' she replied. 'I always find a cup of hot chocolate makes even the toughest things a little easier to process.'

Adrien hummed noncommittally as he blew gently on the hot beverage before taking a sip. Chocolate danced on his tongue as the warmth of the drink melted into his body. It was like Marinette had somehow managed to make her hugs into a drink, and he wanted to both chug it desperately and slowly sip it so he could make it last for as long as humanly possible. He opted for chugging it… and regretted it immediately.

'Ow!' he yelped, putting his mug down as his tongue burned.

'Are you okay?' Marinette asked, concerned.

'Ith haht,' he said with his tongue sticking out, hoping the air might help soothe it. 'Burnd mah tong.'

'Ah,' she replied, relaxing back into her seat. 'Drank it too fast, huh?'

Adrien pouted, his tongue still sticking out, and Marinette giggled. Her giggles were totally worth the pain… but his tongue still stung.

She got up and got him a glass of water before sitting back onto her stool.

'You must think I've never had hot chocolate before, huh?' he asked after drinking a gulp of water.

'Even the most seasoned of hot chocolate drinkers burn their tongues,' she informed him with a faux poshness that made him chuckle, 'but honestly, given how strict your father and his assistant are about everything you do, I wasn't sure you've actually had any before.'

'I can see how you'd think that,' he admitted, 'but I have had it before, though never anything nearly as good as yours is.'

Marinette blushed, and he marvelled at how pretty she was when her cheeks took on that sweet pink hue. It was something he had always noticed, just one of the many details he admired about her and filed away in his "Marinette" box in his brain, but now it somehow meant more, maybe because...

'Wait! You're Ladybug!' he exclaimed. She looked at him a bit stunned.

'I- well, yeah. I did detransform in front of you,' she replied.

'Yeah, you did, but it only just hit me,' he said, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. 'I... yeah. Wow.'

'I-Is it, uh, a good thing that she's me?' Marinette asked cautiously, before shaking her head. 'No- I'm sorry - you've had a lot going on for you today- I shouldn't- y'know-'

'No!' he blurted, trying to stop her from shutting herself down. 'I mean, I am so happy it's you! Like, something in me always hoped she'd be you, because really, I mean, there's no one else that she can be other than you, you know? Like- oh! Remember Kwamibuster? I remember being utterly convinced that day that you two were the same person, and when Multimouse showed up I remember thinking that she was definitely you, who was definitely Ladybug, but then both you and Ladybug showed up together in the same place side by side, and while I was happy that Ladybug chose you, I was, well, devastated, I guess, when I found out she wasn't you, so... yeah, I'm happy she's you.'

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little self-conscious after that rambling tangent.

'I'm happy he's you, too, you know.'

Marinette was giving him the sweetest smile, and his heart simply melted.

Adrien didn't know if he could be any happier than he was in this moment. The love of his life turned out to be his best friend and exactly the person he hoped she'd be. Did that mean he was in love with Marinette too - from before the reveal? He supposed it did. After all, he wouldn't make the deal he did with Lila for just anyone…

'Hang on,' Adrien said, 'aren't you supposed to hate me? Adrien me, that is? Why are you looking after me?'

Marinette blinked, perplexed. 'What?'

'Well, I mean you did look at me kinda horrified when I told you about that deal I made with Lila,' he explained. 'Doesn't that mean you hate me right now?'

'What? No!' Marinette exclaimed. 'I wasn't horrified of you, I was horrified for you.'

Now it was his turn to perplexedly blink. 'Huh?'

'I wasn't horrified by what you did,' she elaborated, 'in fact, if our roles were switched, I'd probably do the same. I was actually horrified by the idea that you felt like you needed to make this deal that put you at Lila's mercy, to make your life a living misery just to get me back into school. That must've been hell for you.'

'But you were safe from Lila,' he countered, 'and so it was worth it to me.'

'But at what cost?' Marinette retorted. 'Why take on that burden, that… torture, when you didn't have to, didn't need to? You didn't fail me or anything, Adrien - if anything, it was our teachers' fault.'

Fail. It was as if that one word had the power to cripple him.

'But I did fail you,' he insisted. 'I told you to take the high road. I underestimated her. I didn't understand how dangerous she would be, and you got expelled because of it! That should never have happened! How is this not my failure?'

'You did not fail because you didn't know what a dangerous person she was!' she cried, arms flying through the air. 'How could you know? I knew lies and false promises were hurtful and I wanted her to stop before my friends got hurt, but I only know how dangerous she can be because she threatened me!'

'She what?' Adrien yelped. Marinette's eyes widened as her face paled.

'Uh-'

'She threatened you?' he repeated, and she nodded mutely. 'When? Why? Why didn't you tell me?'

His voice cracked on the last question, but he ignored it in favour of staring pleadingly at Marinette.

'I…' she stopped and sighed heavily. 'She threatened me just before she became akumatised as Chameleon. She's always had a thing against me because I knew she was a liar and consistently called her out on it. No one believed me, though, either telling me to calm down and not be so hard on her, or accusing me of trying to harm them while I was trying to protect them from her lies. I tried to prove it over and over again, but it only got worse. She then cornered me while I was alone in the bathroom and when I still wouldn't cave to her lies, she threatened to take away all my friends and make sure I could never get close to you ever again.'

Adrien reached out and took her hands in his.

'You know I wouldn't have let that happen, right? You're too important to me.'

That pretty blush appeared on her cheeks again. He couldn't help but hope that maybe it was a sign that she wasn't as immune to his affections as she made herself out to be. Maybe he could win her over from that boy she liked.

'Th-thanks, Adrien, you're important to me too,' she replied with a smile. The smile fell as she continued. 'Lila was really scary when she threatened me, and I knew that she had enough away with our classmates and friends to pull it off, and it really got to me… so much so that I almost got akumatised.'

Adrien's heart dropped to his stomach, and his stomach lodged itself in his throat. The thought of Ladybug- the thought of Marinette akumatised was absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking. He doubted if he'd be strong enough to fight her if that ever happened - he prayed to every deity that he'd never need to find out.

'No,' he whispered.

'Yeah,' she said dully. 'Not exactly one of my finest moments, but I did manage to ward it off with positive thinking - I know it sounds silly, but it worked.'

'That doesn't sound silly at all,' he said, utterly in awe, 'it's actually really amazing that you managed to do that! You're incredible.'

Her blush became stronger, and she pushed him back playfully with her finger on his nose.

'Just drink your hot chocolate before it goes cold,' she deflected. Dutifully, he picked up his mug, and after a tentative sip that confirmed that the beverage had cooled considerably from its earlier scalding heat, he gulped it down with glee.

Marinette made a cute little snort sound.

'You couldn't just let yourself savour it, huh?' she asked mirthfully.

'I am not wasting the first ever hot chocolate you made for me,' he stated in a matter-of-fact tone. 'The next one I'll take my time with it, Chat's honour.'

Marinette giggled.

'It looks like you're feeling better,' she commented. He hummed thoughtfully at her observation.

'Yeah, a little,' he replied, 'but only because of how wonderfully distracting you are.'

And there was her adorable blushy smile again.

'Seriously, though,' he said as the mirth faded away, 'I couldn't have gone through everything I did today without you, so thank you.'

'You're welcome,' she said, with a soft smile. 'Are you doing okay though? I mean, just because you're feeling better doesn't necessarily mean you're doing okay, you know?'

For a brief moment, he considered telling her that he was fine, not wanting to worry her, but that thought quickly disappeared. He wasn't okay, and he couldn't pretend, not to her.

'Not really,' he admitted. 'I will be, just not today.'

'I know you will be,' Marinette said, 'you're really strong like that. Resilient. But… honestly? Seeing you break down the way you did made me really concerned. You don't have to, but if you want to talk about it, I'm here.'

He was tired. He was hurting. All he wanted to do was get it off his chest and out of his mind, but he hesitated.

'It… isn't pretty,' he warned, 'and it involves you… in a way.'

'It's okay,' she reassured, holding his hands. 'You can tell me.'

So he did. He told her about the nightmare. He told her how she died and that it was Lila who killed her. And once he started talking, everything came flooding out of him. He told her about how he couldn't sleep, about his impromptu patrol and his visit to her balcony. He told her about his crippling anxiety and desperation to see her and reassure himself that she was still alive. He told her about how school was for him today, and the incidents with Lila. He talked about the akuma attack, and what he saw once he was affected, and how it felt being affected by Volpina's powers. He talked until he ran out of things to say.

'So… yeah,' he ended lamely. 'You were here for everything after that, obviously.'

There was a flash of movement and suddenly his arms were full of Marinette as she embraced him.

'Oh, Adrien,' she murmured, her breath dancing along the back of his neck and her voice sending a pleasant tingle down his spine. He held her closer. 'I'm so sorry you went through all that.'

'It's not your fault,' he mumbled back, nestling into the crook of her neck.

'I know, but still.' She paused for a moment before saying, 'Hey, you know what though?'

'What?'

'There's no way Lila would be able to kidnap me,' she announced smugly. 'For one thing, I'm Ladybug, and I'll always find a solution to a problem. Number two: I know you'll always have my back. And number three? I think from now on I'll wear the Mouse Miraculous as a backup. Can you imagine Lila's face when she's suddenly got a bunch of tiny me's scurrying their way to freedom?'

The mental image of a dozen mini Marinettes giggling as they ran away from a flabbergasted Lila became too much for him and he cracked up, half-hugging half-clinging to Marinette for support as his laughter took over his body, and she did the same as her giggles joined in.

'Oh, I didn't realise you two were home.'

Adrien jumped away from Marinette to see Sabine walking from the apartment entrance towards them and into the kitchen.

'Uh, yeah,' began Marinette. 'We got caught up with the akuma attack and Adrien was really shaken, so we came here to get some privacy as we worked through it.'

'Oh, you poor dear,' Sabine said sympathetically. 'And by the sounds of things, you weren't the only one shaken up by it. The school just called to say they were sending everyone home early because of how the attack affected everyone. Did you bring your school bags home with you?'

'Uh, no, we didn't,' Adrien answered, before looking over at Marinette. 'We should probably go get them.'

'Do you feel up to it?' Marinette asked as Plagg and Tikki snuck into their pockets and purse, unseen by Sabine.

'Yeah,' he said. 'Should be.'

'I'll let Ms Sancoeur know you'll be spending the rest of the day here with us, Adrien, dear,' Sabine said as they got up. 'That is, if you'd like to stay.'

'Very much so, thank you,' he replied, getting that same feeling in his heart as he did whenever Tom called him "son".

'Wonderful!' she said with a little clap of her hands. 'We'll have some lunch when you two return.'

Once he and Marinette were in the stairwell, Marinette turned to him.

'Seriously though, are you okay going to school? After everything today?'

'Yeah, I should be,' he said. 'I mean, all the students would've been told they can go home already, right?'

'Yeah?'

'So then they would've left already, right?'

'I guess so.'

'And depending on where you left Lila, she's probably going home too.'

Marinette paused in her descent with wide eyes.

'I don't know,' she admitted. 'Either she got sent back to school with the cure, or she was left at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I kinda just triggered the cure before racing down to find you.'

Adrien laughed at her bashful admission. 'So either she's on her way home, or she's still walking back to school from the Eiffel Tower. Either way, we won't run into her!'

Marinette chucked, and they continued down the stairs. 'Yeah, I like the sound of that.'

~/~

When they walked through the school entrance, they found Lila surrounded by their classmates in the school courtyard.

'…and when I came to, I was alone at the top of the Eiffel Tower,' Lila said to her enthralled audience.

'You mean Ladybug and Chat Noir left you up there?' Rose gasped in disbelief.

'I guess they did,' Lila replied with the fakest little sniffle. Adrien looked over at Marinette, who rolled her eyes at Lila's antics, and he stifled a chuckle.

'Actually, Chat Noir also got affected by your akuma's powers,' Alya jumped in. 'He was in a really bad way, and Ladybug had to fight you one-on-one, and basically cast the cure as she raced down to find her partner. She practically carried him away from the scene because he wasn't in a good state. I saw it on the live broadcast.'

Adrien stiffened. Did the broadcast also catch what his illusion was? Did Hawk Moth know what his illusion was? Would Hawk Moth target Marinette because of her closeness to Chat Noir? Was she in danger? Would anyone else be a threat to Marinette?

'Hey,' Marinette whispered as she took his hand in hers. 'I'm here. Everything's okay.'

He nodded shakily and drew a deep breath.

'Oh, poor Chat Noir, I hope he's okay,' said Lila, and Adrien had to wonder how no one else didn't hear how fake her voice sounded. 'But anyway, once I finally made it to the bottom of the tower, I bumped into a taxi driver who was so kind to bring me back to school free of charge, so that's how I got here. But I want to say how sorry I am for hurting you all while I was an akuma. I would never want to do that to you guys.'

A flurry of reassurances from their classmates were given to Lila, before she spotted the two of them by the entrance. She made a very dramatic show of looking away from them, which naturally made the others look their way.

He hated the way the mood tensed. He hated the way everyone's eyes shifted nervously, as if he was going to explode. He hated this situation. All he wanted to do was to go back to Marinette's and hang out with her while drinking her hot chocolate.

'Hi guys,' he said awkwardly as they reluctantly approached the group. Lila sniffled. 'What's up?'

'Hey Adrien, I know you were not feeling good this morning, but Lila's really hurt by the way you talked to her when she offered you her help,' Mylène told him kindly. 'I know you were still polite in spite of how you were feeling, but would you consider apologising to her for your tone or something? It might make her feel better.'

'Apologise?' Marinette echoed. 'There was nothing wrong with what he did this morning. Despite feeling awful, he spoke politely and calmly asserted his boundaries. Why should he apologise for that?'

Mylène was at loss for words, as was almost everyone else.

'B-but Lila got akumatised over it!' Rose exclaimed. 'She said you rejected her friendship!'

'I didn't do that,' Adrien countered, trying to keep calm. 'All I did was thank her for her offer to help, but that Marinette was looking after me very well, and her help was enough for me.'

'Yeah, but what I don't get is why you needed Marinette's help only,' Kim piped up, looking confused. 'Like, she's great and all, but why did you only wantherhelp and none from Lila?'

'Because only Marinette could help me,' Adrien answered, focusing hard on breathing slowly and deeply. He didn't want to get into this, not now.

'But I don't get it,' Kim continued. 'Lila was just offering to help you as your friend. I mean, if any of us offered to help, would you reject us too?'

'I didn't reject anyone,' Adrien reasserted. He was starting to get agitated. He just wanted to get his things and leave.

'But you didn't say that you wouldn't reject our help,' Sabrina said, suspicion in her tone.

'That's not what I meant,' Adrien defended. He didn't want to have to explain himself.

'Guys, maybe just back off a little bit-' Marinette tried, but no one was listening.

'Well, it sure sounded like it,' Alix accused. 'Why wouldn't you want our help?'

'Dudette, leave it be-' Nino attempted to say. Adrien just wanted to go.

'You know we're your friends, right?' Nathaniel asked. 'We want to help you when you need it.'

'Yeah-' Adrien began. He was getting tired of this.

'So why not let us help?' Juleka asked.

'That's not-' Alya sighed. He wanted this to stop.

'Yeah, why not just let us help you?' Ivan asked.

'Because you guys couldn't help with this!' Adrien cried out. 'I had a horrible nightmare about Marinette dying that was so gruesome and so realistic that I couldn't sleep, eat, or even breathe without knowing that Marinette was okay! I needed her by my side because I was scared that if I looked away or let her go that I would lose her for good! I was scared that my nightmare wasn't actually a nightmare but a real memory! Every time she wasn't around, I was terrified because all I could think about was that she might be dead! I needed her to remind me that she's alive - and I'm sorry to you all, but none of you could've done anything to help me, no matter how much I would've welcomed it, because you guys aren't Marinette!'

Tears were streaming down his face and he was breathing hard and fast, as if he had been running for his life. All his classmates had expressions ranging from shock, horror, pity, and regret. He suddenly felt embarrassed and overwhelmed and he couldn't handle it. He took Marinette's hand and made a beeline for the locker room. The room was eerily silent as they gathered their belongings, one locker at a time, before crossing back through the courtyard to the school entrance, ignoring his classmates as they called out to him. He didn't stop until they were back in the Dupain-Cheng living room. Once the front door of the apartment had closed behind him, his bags dropped out of his grasp as he started to shake. Marinette's arm wrapped around him and they sunk to the ground.

'Oh gosh!'

Adrien heard the sound of running before arms came and lifted him and Marinette up to standing. They walked (he stumbled) as a group before he and Marinette were gently coaxed to sit on the couch.

'What happened?'

'Are you alright, son?'

Adrien didn't know how to answer Tom and Sabine, let alone if he even had the energy to.

'Do you want me to tell them?' Marinette asked softly.

He nodded.

'Can I tell them everything?'

He nodded again. Soon, the sweet melody of Marinette's voice washed over him as he held onto her, trying to calm down. In that moment, he didn't care what she said, or how much she said, so long as she stayed with him.

The longer she talked, the looser his hold on her became, until he was essentially draping himself upon her. Eventually, she stopped talking, and he adjusted himself so he could look up at her parents.

'I'm so sorry you've had such an awful day,' Sabine said sympathetically. 'Is there anything we can do to help?'

He was touched, but he only had the energy to shrug unknowingly at her question.

'Does your dad know about any of this, son?'

Adrien winced. 'Father doesn't… he gets updates about me from Nathalie, so I don't know.'

He clocked the way Tom and Sabine shared an uneasy look at his answer, but he couldn't bring himself to care in the moment.

'Do you want me to contact Ms Sancoeur? Can I tell her what you've shared with me?' Sabine inquired.

Adrien felt like he had bitten into a lemon. 'I guess, if you want.'

Sabine's eyes softened. 'It's not about what we want, dear, it's about what you want.'

He blinked blankly at her, needing a few moments to process what she meant. 'Uhh, I don't know? I mean, she knows I wasn't doing well this morning, so maybe? Like, some of it? I don't know, I just don't want her to take me home right now. I don't want to go home.'

Adrien didn't think any of his blabbering made any sense, but somehow Sabine was nodding as if his words were crystal clear.

'Leave it to me, then,' she said confidently. 'Would you like to stay for dinner?'

'Would you like to stay forever?' Tom joked in a croaky old voice that sounded so much like the grandma from Mulan, that it made Adrien chuckle.

'Yes, and yes,' Adrien responded, getting a hearty laugh from Tom and a flustered squeak from Marinette. Sabine sent him a smile before pulling out her phone and walking off to the kitchen.

'Any special requests for dinner tonight, son?' Tom asked.

'Uh-'

Adrien was interrupted by a knock at the door. When Tom opened it, Alya and Nino walked through.

'Hey, Adrien,' Alya greeted. 'How are you doing?'

'Are you alright, bro?' Nino asked.

'Eh, 'm fine,' he mumbled.

'The others were totally out of line, dude,' Nino told him emphatically. 'You did nothing wrong at all today, and I can't believe they couldn't see that.'

'You should've seen him,' Alya said, pointing her thumb at Nino. 'After you guys left, Nino totally ripped into them for hassling you like that, and practically hammered it into all of their heads - especially Lila's - that "no means no" and that they should respect that.'

'It's honestly not that hard to get,' Nino grouched, folding his arms across his chest.

'So be prepared to get a lot of apologies tomorrow,' Alya informed with a grin.

Adrien smiled at them both. He was so grateful that he had such good friends who had his back. 'Thank you, that means a lot.'

'Of course, dude, you're my bro!' Nino said, holding his hand out for a fist bump, which Adrien happily returned.

'Hey kids! Are you staying for lunch? We're having baguettes,' Sabine asked, pocketing her phone.

'Oh, thanks!' Nino said, instantly brightening at the mere mention of a Dupain-Cheng meal; Adrien knew the feeling. 'You got any mustard?'

Alya groaned. 'Babe, you don't always need to slather your baguettes in mustard!'

As Alya and Nino went over to the kitchen to talk to Tom and Sabine about baguette fillings, Adrien turned to Marinette.

'Um, honestly, I kinda zoned out when you were talking to your parents,' he whispered. 'Did you tell them about us? You know, being superheroes?'

Marinette shook her head. 'I only told them that you got caught up in the attack and the illusion the akuma gave you made you relive your nightmare, and that you were extremely rattled by it.'

Adrien let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

'Thanks,' he said. 'Although, I have to say I'd rather your parents find out than my father and Nathalie. Your parents would actually look out for us, you know? My father would demand I give him my Miraculous immediately, I think.'

Marinette looked at him with the same uneasy expression that Tom and Sabine wore earlier. He didn't know what that meant, but he decided to leave it be for now.

'Lunch?' he asked, offering his hand to her.

'Lunch,' she agreed, taking his hand as they stood.

~/~

Alya and Nino stayed after lunch and hung out for a while, chatting about everything and nothing, and playing a bunch of rounds of UMS, before eventually leaving. Adrien was glad they came over - not only were they fun to hang out with, like always, but it kept him distracted from thinking about everything that happened today. By the time they left, he felt happier and more relaxed.

When Tom had checked in with him after lunch to see if he had made up his mind on what he wanted for dinner, Adrien still didn't have a clue. Instead, he asked Tom if Marinette had a favourite comfort dish, and if they could have that. Tom seemed to approve of Adrien's answer, as his smile reached both his moustache and his eyes, and he clapped his hand on his shoulder and told him that he was on it.

Now, he and Marinette were cuddled up on the couch watching Say Yes To The Dress: Atlanta, an American show about women shopping for their wedding dresses. When he had asked Marinette what she would do to destress, she said that she would sometimes watch this show and chat with her mum about the fashion trends, critique the choices and how they suited the brides-to-be, and gossip about the antics of the people coming onto the show. Adrien couldn't think of anything better to do or watch, so he decided to watch the show with her and see what it was all about, not particularly invested in the show's concept, but after watching a few episodes, he was getting into it.

'Why on earth is she so insistent on incorporating camo?' Adrien exclaimed, throwing an exasperated arm towards the TV, while the other remained wrapped around Marinette's shoulders. 'I get coloured wedding dresses, I get black wedding dresses, I get short wedding dresses, but camo? It's a wedding, not a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek!'

'Thank you!' Marinette cried, throwing her head back onto his arm to stare at the ceiling, before straightening up to watch the screen again. 'Sure, weddings are emotional, and wedding dresses are definitely just as emotional, but there's just some things you just don't do to traditional white wedding dresses. Like, if you want camo in your wedding dress, you'd need to like- oh! Let me get my sketch book!'

Marinette leapt up off the couch and made a dash for the staircase. Adrien paused the episode so that Marinette wouldn't miss anything. As he put the remote back down onto the coffee table, he saw Sabine entering the kitchen, filling the kettle to boil some water.

'Uh, Sabine?' he began, and she turned to look at him. 'Can I ask... what did you tell Nathalie?'

Sabine smiled at him. 'Ms Sancoeur had expressed her concern for your mental health when she came with you this morning, and was hoping that we could help somehow, since you had asked to come here specifically. So when I spoke to her, I confirmed her concerns that you were having struggles with your mental health today, but you were definitely showing signs of improvement around Marinette, and that it was of my personal opinion that you would benefit from staying here longer, and suggested you sleep over for the night, and see how you're going tomorrow. She agreed, and said she'd organise a bag with necessities you would need for staying overnight here, and have it dropped off by your driver. I didn't give her any specifics, but did tell her that you had a very realistic nightmare that had shaken you up, and that the akuma attack made you relive it in the worst way possible, so that way she'd understand how you were affected. I hope that was okay with you.'

'Wow, uh, thank you, Sabine,' he said, rather stunned at how easily Sabine convinced Nathalie of all people. 'Wait - what about my father?'

'Ms Sancoeur said she'd talk to him and be able to convince him this was in your best interests,' she said with a twinkle in her eyes, as if she knew some little secret or in-joke that he was oblivious to. 'But don't you worry, dear. If Mr Agreste wants to override her decision, he can talk to me.'

Adrien had to admit he was a little in awe of Sabine and her confidence that she could change his father's mind... but then again, Marinette had managed that impossible feat a few times before, so maybe she learnt from the master? Every time he interacted with the Dupain-Cheng family, he loved them more and more. Could he marry Marinette for her family?

'Sorry! I finally found it!' Marinette called out as she raced down the stairs, sketchbook and pencils in hand, and launched herself over the back of the couch to land next to him with a little thump. 'I forgot I had put it in my school bag today.'

Then again, he already wanted to marry Marinette anyway.

'All good,' he told her with a smile, before turning to her mother. 'Thank you, Sabine. I really appreciate everything you and your family have done for me.'

'Of course, dear,' she said. 'And know that you're welcome here anytime. We love having you over.'

He thanked her for the open invitation, and silently wondered if that applied to him coming over as Chat Noir.

Sabine finished making two teas, and went back down to continue working in the bakery. Once she had left the apartment, Adrien's full attention went back to Marinette, watching her sketch and listening to her talking through her process. He asked some questions every now and again about aspects of fashion design, and got excited whenever she incorporated a detail he suggested. Their watching of Say Yes To The Dress became a lot more interrupted by discussions and sketching, and Adrien barely noticed the time go by.

When Tom came upstairs with the Gorilla, Adrien was surprised to see it was dark outside.

'Hey,' Adrien greeted, standing up to take his overnight bag from his bodyguard, and Marinette joined him with her own greeting.

Hey, Gorilla waved with a grunt. His bodyguard didn't communicate using the typical French sign language, LSF, but had his own system that Adrien grew up with. Are you okay? Do you feel any better?

'I'm feeling better, thank you,' Adrien replied. 'Did you have a good day today?'

It was okay, Gorilla said. I was more worried about you, especially with that awful akuma attack.

'You didn't get caught up in it, right?' Adrien asked, concerned. Gorilla shook his head.

No, but my sister and her kids were. I've spent most of today with them, he said.

'I'm sorry to hear that,' Adrien said. 'Are they okay now?'

They're definitely feeling better now, he answered, though still a bit shaken.

'Well I hope they feel better soon,' Adrien told him.

'Will you be staying for dinner, Gerald?' Tom asked.

'Gerald?' Marinette whispered.

'Yeah, I've always known him as Gorilla, so I forget his name is actually Gerald,' Adrien admitted.

Gerald signed to him, and Adrien translated.

'He'll be having dinner with his sister's family, but he thanks you for the offer. He does wonder if you still have some sweets to sell in the bakery, though.'

'I'm sure we have something that we could give you,' Tom replied.

Adrien and Marinette said their goodbyes to Gerald, before Tom led the man back down to the bakery. They sat back down on the couch and Adrien opened up his bag and checked its contents.

'What have you got in there?' Marinette asked, taking a curious peek at the bag's opening.

'Hmm… pyjamas, change of clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, gel, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, my fencing gear for tomorrow afternoon…' he said, rummaging through the bag. He looked up at her. 'Is that everything people normally take for a sleepover? I've never had one before.'

'Um, yeah, that's definitely all you need for a sleepover,' she replied, frowning.

'Hey, what's wrong?' he asked, putting his hand on hers.

'I wish I knew earlier that this was going to be your first sleepover,' she said. 'I would've done something special, made it into a proper sleepover, you know? Look, next time we'll have Nino and Alya over too, and we'll have all the works of a proper sleepover, so you can get the full experience, okay?'

'That does sound great,' he agreed, 'but you know what? Having a lowkey sleepover with just us is just as wonderful to me.'

Marinette threw her arms around his shoulders, and he returned the hug, content to be in her arms.

They stayed there for a moment, before eventually drawing back and repositioning themselves so they could watch the television again.

'Hey Marinette?'

'Hmm?'

'What kind of wedding dress do you imagine yourself in?' he asked. The question had been burning inside of him since they started watching Say Yes To The Dress.

'Hmm, it depends on when we'd have the wedding, and in what venue,' she began, her eyes still on the TV, lost in thought. As the door opened and Tom returned to the kitchen, Adrien wondered if her use of "we" was an accident… or if maybe the reveal did really swing the odds in his favour after all.

'What venues are you thinking about?' he asked, trying to calm his excitement at the possibility of them getting married.

'Honestly, my mind changes from time to time, you know? Because I'll do a little internet searching and I'll find yet another place that I could imagine us getting married in,' she said, and out of the corner of Adrien's eye, he saw Tom throw a curious yet happy glance their way - he wondered what that was about. 'Like, my parents had a very quiet wedding, mainly because of family tensions, and while I don't have that with my family, I can still imagine my future wedding being a small, intimate affair. But, then I'll look up where people go to get married around Paris, and it makes me wonder, you know? Like I saw photos of Sainte-Chappelle that make me think that venue is gorgeous, but then there's more luxurious options like the Musée Rodin that have fancy gardens that make me want to frolic around in super flowy dress. Then, the other day, I found a photo of The Peninsula Paris, that has their own secret rooftop space to hold the ceremony on.'

She looked up to see if Tom was listening before whispering to Adrien, 'And right now, the idea of getting married on a rooftop is really appealing - like it's our own little homage to being superheroes, you know?'

Our. She had said "our own little homage to being superheroes" - plural! He was over the moon!

'So yeah,' she continued, bringing her voice back to normal speaking level, oblivious to Adrien's desperate struggle to suppress the urge to jump up and do a happy dance, 'with not knowing whether we want an indoor or outdoor wedding, or at what venue, or even if I want to make separate dresses for the ceremony and the reception, I don't really know what I want my wedding dress to look like. Why do you ask?'

'O-oh, ahem, well, you know, since we were watching a show all about wedding dresses, and since you're a fashion designer, I, uh, just wondered what you thought about yours - well, your future dress, that is,' Adrien blabbered, attempting to sound as normal as he could, though he suspected it his efforts were being undermined by how he could feel his cheeks turning red. 'So, uh... yeah.'

'Oh, okay. And uh, what do, umm, see for your future wedding?' she asked, her cheeks turning that pretty pink again.

I don't mind where I get married, so long as it's you I'm getting married to, is what he wanted to and almost said, only managing to bite his tongue just in time. The other boy was still in the picture, and Adrien needed to win her over first… and get her parents' approval second. He still wanted to answer honestly, though, so he took her hand in his and waited for her to look at him.

'Whenever I imagined my future wedding, I never thought about what I was wearing or what venue I was in; the only thing I ever focused on was who was coming down the aisle towards me, and there's only been one person I've imagined in that position, ever since she crashed into me the first time I met her,' he said with a wink, 'and stood under an umbrella together in the rain.'

'And now?' she whispered. 'Who do you imagine there now?'

He prayed to every deity that this was a good sign.

'She's still there,' he replied just as quietly, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. 'My lady and my princess. My partner and best friend.'

'Good,' she breathed, staring at him with her wide blue eyes, and his heart started to celebrate just as she leapt up to her feet and her arms did a speed run of Madonna's Vogue choreography. 'I mean! Fantastic! Wait! Wonderful! I mean! Ahhhhh… hey Papa? Do you need help with dinner because I can help with dinner!'

Tom chuckled.

'I'm good for the moment, sweetie,' he said fondly. 'How about you go freshen up in your mum's and my bathroom, so Adrien can use the one here, and maybe then you can give me a hand, okay?'

'Okay!' Marinette did an adorable little salute to her dad before rushing up the stairs to her room, the bright red of her cheeks reaching up towards her ears.

'You know, son,' Tom began as he chopped up an onion, 'your only other competition is Chat Noir, and he's very much head over tail for Ladybug.'

His only other competition was himself? But surely that can't be right - what about that other boy?

'Chat Noir?' he said instead.

'Yep! My baby girl was infatuated with him and we had him over for lunch, but I think I overwhelmed the poor guy,' he admitted with a wince. 'I was just too excited for my cupcake's first date.'

'That was… oh,' Adrien said dumbly.

'Yeah,' Tom said, moving on to chop up celery. 'She must have fallen for him hard and fast, because this past year or so, she's only ever otherwise shown interest in you.'

Him?!

'Me? Really?' Adrien's voice got a little squeaky, but he didn't care - this was infinitely more important.

'You mean you didn't hear how she responded when you asked her about her wedding dreams?' Tom asked sceptically.

'No, I did, I just wasn't sure if I imagined it or not,' he replied. 'Didn't want to get my hopes up if I was wrong.'

Tom laughed heartily. 'I think you're pretty safe to get your hopes up.'

'So there's no other boy?' Adrien asked hopefully.

'Other than that Luka boy she broke up with recently? No,' Tom answered. 'I do feel bad for the kid, though.'

'Why's that?' he asked.

'Because even though Luka tried his hardest, they both knew Marinette's heart wasn't in it,' the man replied. 'You can't force yourself to love someone, you know?'

'Yeah, I know,' Adrien agreed. 'Is she okay?'

'She's fine, though she feels bad that she couldn't be a better girlfriend to him. But from what I understand, Luka knew that her heart was already taken before he dated her, so he knew what he was getting into.' Tom sighed. 'I just wonder why she went into that relationship knowing she didn't love him.'

Adrien wondered that too. She loved the other boy, but for some reason Tom thought she liked Chat Noir, who Adrien knew from first-hand experience wasn't true. Tomalsosaid that Chat Noir was Adrien's only other competition, which he supposed meant Adrien was Chat Noir's competition, too...if he thought of himself as two separate people.

Hang on a second. Adrien was Chat Noir's competition. Could it really be? That maybe…he was the other boy all along?

Before he could ask anything to confirm his hopes, Marinette came barreling down the stairs with a bundle in her hands and rushed past him to the apartment's front door, almost crashing into Sabine, who was opening it from the other side.

'Hi Maman! Showering in yours! Got to go!' Marinette blurted in a rush, before running past her mum and down the stairs.

Sabine watched after her daughter for a moment, and once they heard a door close below them, she turned to face him, and chuckled at his stunned expression.

'Tom and I live in the apartment below this one,' she clarified. 'Tom had worked under the previous owners of the building in the bakery downstairs, and when we were newly married and looking for a place to live, the owners were planning on retiring and downsizing. They had lived in this apartment and had been renting out the apartment below to Tom when he moved out of home, so they were willing to sell the business and building to us to live in. We were very fortunate for the opportunity - it was honestly a stoke of luck. To make ends meet, we rented out the apartment below until Marinette was four, and then we moved into the downstairs apartment so that Marinette could have her own room and we could have our own space. That's why there isn't a way from inside the apartment to get to Tom's and my room.'

'Oh,' he replied eloquently. 'I see.'

Sabine chuckled again, before walking up to the painted wooden panels that decorated the wall by the stairs leading up to Marinette's room, and pulled it open, revealing a hidden bathroom.

'Oh! I didn't know that was there!' Adrien said.

'Well, now you know,' Sabine told him cheerfully. 'Did you want to freshen up before dinner, or after?'

'Sure. Probably now, thanks,' he answered, grabbing his overnight bag and walking into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

'Plagg!' he whispered excitedly. 'Plagg!'

The little god whizzed out of his pocket. 'What is it, kid?'

'Do you think I'm the boy that Marinette loves? You know - the boy?' he rushed out, still whispering - he didn't know how thin the walls were, and didn't want to risk her parents finding out about his kwami.

'Geez, she practically tells you that she imagines her wedding with you as her groom, and says "good" when you tell her that you want to marry her, and you're still wondering?' Plagg said, rolling his eyes. 'I'm letting you figure out this one.'

~/~

Dressed in their pyjamas, Adrien and Marinette joined Tom and Sabine for dinner, where Marinette was delighted to find that her favourite comfort dish, chicken gnocchi soup, was being served. Adrien had never had the dish before, but he could see why she loved it so much. If Marinette's hot chocolate tasted like what her hugs felt like, then Tom's soup made him feel the same way as when the gentle giant called him "son". Was this another Dupain-Cheng family talent? To make food such a personal and wonderful experience?

Having dinner with Marinette and her family was also a new and wonderful experience. He couldn't remember the last time he had a family meal where everyone sat so close together and conversed happily with everyone present. Tom and Sabine asked him lots of questions about himself and his interests (Marinette kept telling them to not bother him so much, and while he appreciated her concern, he was more than happy to answer their questions), and in turn, he asked them all questions of his own. It was amazing! He learned so much about them all: like how when Tom and Sabine were younger, they were both competing at the same chess competition, but didn't end up meeting until a year later when she came to France on a family holiday; or how Marinette learned to knit from Tom and learned self-defence from Sabine; or how Sabine would've become a professional gymnast if it weren't for a back injury that ended that particular dream. He would take dinner with the Dupain-Chengs over the silent meals in the dining hall at home any day of the week.

Once dinner was over and his belly was full, his exhaustion caught up with him, and he asked the family where he'd be sleeping for the night. Tom and Sabine looked at each other, before turning to him and Marinette.

'We can trust you two to be responsible, right?' Sabine asked.

'Uh, yeah? Why do you ask?' he replied, confused. What was so irresponsible about sleeping? It was just sleeping. But then he saw how bright red Marinette's cheeks were and heard the little tea-kettle whine she made, and noticed Tom suppressing his laughter, and it finally clicked. 'Oh, um, yeah, we can be responsible.'

'Good,' Sabine said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. 'I ask because Tom and I had a little chat, and we thought - considering everything that happened today - that you could sleep in Marinette's room. This way, if you have another nightmare, you'll be able to see that Marinette is still okay, and it might bring you some comfort.'

'And, it also makes us feel better knowing that if you did have a nightmare, that Marinette would be right there to help look after you and work through it,' Tom added. 'But of course, if you need us, don't be afraid to come see us or give us a call. We're here to help, son.'

'Thank you,' Adrien said, 'that's really generous of you.'

'It's no trouble at all, dear,' Sabine told him with a smile. 'Tom and I will be going to bed soon, but don't hesitate to ask any of us if you need anything.'

He thanked them again, before Marinette led him up to her room. The trapdoor had barely closed when all the kwamis came rushing towards them.

'Oh my goodness!'

'It's him!'

'Hi Chat Noir!'

'It's nice to finally meet you!'

'You're prettier than you are in the Guardian's pictures!'

'Can we see Plagg?'

'Why's your hair like bananas?'

'Guys!' Marinette called out, getting the gaggle of kwamis' attention. 'Don't overwhelm him!'

'Sorry, Chat Noir,' they chorused, making him chuckle. They were so cute!

'It's nice to finally meet you all,' he greeted. 'Hey, Sass! It's good to see you again.'

'It'sss good to sssee you too, Adrien,' Sass responded.

He spent some time getting to know each of the kwamis, with Tikki and Plagg joining in, but soon enough he was yawning more than he was talking.

'I think it's time for us to go to bed now,' Marinette said, which was met with resounding disappointment from the kwamis. 'Don't worry, you'll see him again in the morning.'

The kwamis grumbled, but relented, bidding them goodnight before reentering the Miracle Box to rest up for the night. Plagg joined Tikki in her little nook, and then it was just him and Marinette.

'Well, um, I guess I'll sleep on the chaise?' he said, organising his belongings by the foot of the chaise. 'Where do you keep the spare blankets and pillows?'

'Y-yeah, I guess,' she replied, before rummaging about and pulling out a blanket and a pillow. 'Here you go, and let me know if you need another blanket - I think I've got another one around here, somewhere.'

'Thanks,' he said as he accepted the items from her, and they busied themselves with getting ready for bed. Once they were all settled in, they bid each other and their kwamis goodnight, before Tikki switched off the light for them, and he gently drifted off to sleep.

~/~

He was back on that platform, with Volpina in front of him, victoriously holding up a bound and gagged Marinette, whose writhing did nothing to free her. His heart was in his throat.

No!

Volpina tsked at him patronisingly.

'Pathetic little kitty,' Volpina taunted, walking over to the furthest edge of the platform from him as he stood. 'Or should I say, Adrien?'

His stomach sank.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' he fibbed, doing his best to sound confident.

'Don't bother lying to a professional liar, Agreste,' Volpina chastised, 'because Iknowlies. And would you looky here? I've got your precious Ladybug!'

She held Marinette higher, as if she was a prized fish that she had just caught. Marinette whimpered.

'There's no way you could defeat Ladybug,' he retorted.

'Oh, but I have, see?' Volpina pulled back her hair to show off the Ladybug Miraculouses now adorning her earlobes, and when he looked back at Marinette, he was devastated to see her ears bare.

'You're making a grave mistake, Lila,' he warned, trying to keep the shock out of his voice. 'Just put her down and we can talk.'

'Put her down?' Volpina retorted with a snarky laugh. 'Sure, I'll put her down, like the filthy animal she is.'

Chat Noir barely registered her words when she threw Marinette over the edge of the platform. Without hesitation, Chat leapt after her and into a free-fall. She was falling, falling, falling. He was chasing, chasing, chasing. All he could think of was getting to her in time.

It felt like they were falling forever, and no matter how hard he tried to get to her, she was too far away.

Next thing he knew, they were on the ground. Her bindings were gone and he was by her side, but he was too late. Blood pooled under her head, her brilliant blue eyes dull and unseeing, and her limbs were horrifically askew. He failed. She was dead.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'

Adrien shot up, panting, his heart and eyes erratic as he took in his surroundings, before spotting a bin by a desk. He rushed over to it and promptly vomited.

'Adrien!'

He saw red and black blobs out of the corner of his vision, and heard some noises behind him as he threw up a second time.

'Adrien, are you okay?' came a voice, and a gentle hand on his back.

Marinette. He turned around to see her, and immediately met her gaze, her brilliant blue eyes filled with life and concern. She was alive.

He launched himself at her, hugging her tightly as he sobbed. She muttered soothing words he couldn't hear, and rubbed circles on his back as they held each other, slowly rocking side-to-side as he cried.

'Was it a nightmare?' she asked, and he nodded into her shoulder. 'The same one from last night?'

'Yeah, but it changed,' he said into her night shirt. 'She knew. Lila knew who we both were.'

'Good thing it's just a nightmare, then, hey?' she replied. 'It's just a nightmare.'

'It's just a nightmare,' he repeated. 'Just a nightmare.'

They stayed there for a little while longer before they separated.

'Ugh, I'm sorry,' he apologised with a wince. 'I've got vomit on your shirt.'

'It's okay, and it looks like I wasn't the only casualty,' she replied, and he looked down. His own pyjamas had been dirtied by his sick.

'Oh, ew,' he said, pulling at his shirt to see it better.

'Look, how about you go wash your face and brush your teeth, and I'll clean this up, okay?' Marinette suggested kindly.

'But this is my vomit! I should clean this up!' he protested, already grabbing at the plastic bag in the bin and tying it up securely. 'Where would be the best place to throw it out?'

'Double bagged in the kitchen bin,' Marinette answered. 'Papa's going to empty the kitchen bin in the morning, so that's the best place for now.'

She opened the trapdoor and led him down to the kitchen, showing him where the plastic bags were so he could double bag his vomit before throwing it away. She took another plastic bag to line her bin, and while she did that, he washed himself up. When he got back up to her room, she had changed into new pyjamas and was holding a bundle in her hands.

'Here,' she said, giving him the bundle.

'You had spare pyjamas?' he asked, marvelling at how soft the blue material was.

'Not… spare, exactly,' she admitted, toying with her hands. 'I kinda made them for you? As a present? You said the other week that you sometimes found yourself feeling too hot or too cold, which was affecting your sleep, so when I came across this fabric last Sunday, I thought it might help you, so I made them for you. I was going to give it to you next week for your third name's day, since it was close anyway and would give me an excuse to give them to you, and I made sure to make them a little bit bigger than what you are now because you're still going through growth spurts, and-'

'Marinette!' he interrupted with a smile. 'Thank you.'

Even in the moonlight, he could see her cheeks darken.

'You're welcome,' she replied. 'You can change into these, and I'll go put our pyjamas in the wash.'

'Okay.' He lifted his shirt over his head and reached for the one Marinette made him, when he heard a squeak. Looking up, Marinette had spun around so her back was to him, with her hands coveringher face.

'Oh, sorry,' he apologised.

'Four yine- I mean! You're fun! Fine!' she blabbered.

'I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable,' he said, putting the shirt over his head.

'I'm not uncomfortable,' she reassured, still burying her face in her hands, 'just surprised.'

'Oh, so my abs don't make you uncomfortable?' he asked casually with a cheeky smile as he changed pants.

'No, I- Chat!' she cried, and he laughed.

'So you do like my abs?' he teased lightheartedly, walking around her to gently coax her hands away from her face…only to find her eyes screwed shut. 'M'lady, I'm dressed.'

'Are you just saying that so I'll open my eyes but you'll actually be shirtless?' she asked sceptically.

'Do you want me to do that?' he asked cheekily. 'Because I can definitely do that if you want-'

'Adrieeeen!' she whined, and he laughed again. She was just too cute!

'I promise I'm dressed, Bugaboo,' he reassured, and she cautiously opened her eyes. Her cheeks darkened even further.

'Oh?' he asked. 'What's this? No admonishing me for calling you Bugaboo?'

'Pfft-! I- I was going to- I was paying attention to- I-' she spluttered, and he jumped for joy.

'Aha! I knew it!' he cheered as he bounced around. 'I knew you secretly liked me calling you Bugaboo! I- woah!'

He accidentally landed on his pyjama leg and fell over, crashing into the floor.

'Are you okay?' Marinette fussed.

'Just peachy,' he said, sitting up. 'Sounded worse than it actually was.'

'Looks like I made the legs a little too long,' she mused. 'Gimme a sec to put these things in the wash, and I'll hem that for you.'

She gathered the clothes and rushed downstairs, returning after a few minutes.

'Now that's done, can you come over here, and-'

BOOM! The whole building shook violently and their phones dinged.

They both groaned.

'Let's hope this battle's a quick one,' Marinette grouched.

~/~

An hour. It took them a whole hour to defeat the akuma, and most of that time was spent trying to find him. A poor little two-year-old boy had woken up in the middle of the night and was too energetic for his weary parents, and Hawk Moth (seriously, what was he doing up akumatising toddlers at 2am?) decided to transform the boy into his favourite toy demolition truck…but with the power of a full-scale demolition truck. Trying to find a toy that small was difficult in the first place, let alone trying to identify which toy was the akuma amongst a crowd of toys brought to life. Thankfully, once they figured it out, he was easy enough to defeat, and set everything right. The distraught young parents immediately rushed out to reclaim their son, profusely thanking the heroes, before they all trudged back to their respective homes exhausted.

'I'm glad the boy's okay, but man do I hate fighting night akumas,' Chat Noir complained as he dropped through Marinette's skylight, with Ladybug right behind him.

'Ugh, you said it,' she groaned. 'It's hard enough getting up in the morning anyway, but with night akumas? Nuh-uh. Spots Off.'

'Claws In.'

Dual flashes of magical light filled the room…that already had the lights on.

'Marinette? Adrien?'

They peered over the edge of Marinette's bed to see Sabine standing in the middle of the room with a can of air freshener.

'Maman!' Marinette yelped. 'What, uh-'

'You're Ladybug and Chat Noir,' Sabine stated, still looking stunned. 'How long have you been them?'

'The entire time,' Adrien admitted, and he felt Marinette cringe next to him.

'And how long have you both known each other's identities?' Sabine continued.

'Just since the akuma attack earlier today,' he replied. 'We had no idea before then.'

'Hmm. Hand me your phone, Adrien,' she said, holding out her hand expectantly.

'What?' Marinette cried as Adrien dutifully climbed down to ground level, took his phone off the charger, unlocked it and handed it to Sabine. 'Maman! What are you doing?'

Sabine held up a finger for silence, and his stomach twisted and cooked uncomfortably as she tapped about on his phone. After an agonising minute, she handed it back to him, and he saw she had put hers and Tom's contact details in his phone.

'We'll talk in the morning and the four of us will figure out some ground rules at breakfast, but for now, I want you to text myself or Tom whenever you come over - regardless if it's as Adrien or as Chat Noir. Okay?'

'Wait - so I'm not in trouble?' he asked, his mind reeling.

'Trouble? Why would you be in trouble?' Sabine asked, and he shrugged.

'Dunno. Maybe because I kept it a secret from you both when you welcomed me into your home and cared for me?' he asked weakly.

Sabine opened her arms for a hug, and he accepted it.

'You kids are fighting every single day to keep all of Paris and its citizens safe,' she said, and he could feel her arm moving before Marinette joined the hug. 'You two are putting your lives on the line, and every time you went to battle, I would see the news broadcast as wonder how their parents would be feeling seeing their children out there and not be able to do anything to help them, and it turns out they're my kids.'

It might have been an accidental, especially since it was past 3am, but her inclusion of him as one of her kids made him tear up and hold her tighter.

'Tom!' she called out. 'They're here! They're safe!'

'You found them?' came Tom's voice from downstairs, before hurried footsteps approached and another set of arms wrapped around them. 'Oh, thank god! Where were you two?'

'Fighting the akuma,' Sabine said.

'What were they doing fighting the akuma?' Tom asked. 'Were they helping Ladybug and Chat Noir?'

'Honey, they are Ladybug and Chat Noir,' Sabine replied.

'Oh my god!' Tom squealed, lifting the three of them off the ground. 'Our kids are superheroes!'

Adrien was relieved Tom and Sabine were taking the news well.

'This is the greatest!' Tom crowed. 'Our kids are superheroes and they're gonna get married and have kids and give me little cute superhero grandbabies, and-'

'Tom!'

'Papa!'

'What?'

The dual scolding made Adrien laugh. Tom's over-the-top enthusiasm aside, the man was right about one thing - Adrien was definitely going to marry into this family.

As they all got put back down gently on the floor, Sabine ushered Tom back out of the room while handing Marinette the can she had in her hand - scented disinfectant spray - so she could spray her bin.

'I was woken up by the akuma attack, and came to check on you guys, but you weren't here,' Sabine explained. 'I checked everywhere, but when I texted your phone and saw it on your charger, I figured you might've taken Adrien outside for a walk, since I saw the double bag in the kitchen bin, and feared you might've been caught up in the akuma attack. I wanted to go out looking for you both, but there was an alert to say we had to stay indoors.'

'I'll make sure to text you and Papa about anything akuma related, so you don't have to worry, okay?' Marinette offered.

'We both will,' Adrien added.

'Thank you, kids. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight, Maman.'

'Goodnight, Sabine.'

With that, Sabine left, and he and Marinette were alone again.

'You doing alright?' he asked her, wondering how she was taking her parents' discovery of their secret identities.

'I'm... I don't even know what I'm feeling,' Marinette admitted wearily. 'I just wanna sleep.'

'Fair enough,' he said, putting his phone back on charge. 'I'm tired too.'

'Then let's go,' she declared, taking his hand in hers and leading him to her loft bed.

'Uh, Marinette? Aren't I sleeping on the chaise?'

'After seeing what that nightmare did to you?' She scoffed. 'Nope. You're coming with me.'

'What if I get sick again?' he asked as they ascended.

'I put sick bags next to my pillow as an emergency stash while you were brushing your teeth,' she told him, sitting on her bed, and he nearly slipped on a rung of her ladder. 'Remind me to hem your pants in the morning.'

'Mhmm,' he agreed, and noticed that she had a second pillow next to hers.

'I brought that up earlier, too,' she told him, her eyes half open, fighting a losing battle with sleep.

'Thanks.'

'You're welcome, now sleep,' she ordered adorably, before flopping her head onto her pillow and groaning. 'Unngggg, I forgot to turn off the lights. Tikki?'

'Got it,' Tikki said, floating down and switching off the lights before returning to her little nook next to Plagg.

'Thnks, Tikki,' Marinette mumbled with her eyes closed, blindly grabbing at Adrien and pulling him down to lay beside her. 'Get down'ere.'

'I'm here,' he chuckled. 'Goodnight, Marinette.'

'G'nigh' 'drien,' she mumbled, already slipping into the land of dreams. 'Luv yah.'

'Love you, too, Princess.'

~/~

Adrien awoke to warm rays of sunlight gently filling Marinette's room with a golden glow and a sense of contentedness that touched his very soul. As he languidly returned to the land of the living, he realised why he felt so content.

Marinette was in his arms, sound asleep. She cuddled into him, with her arms and head on his chest, and her legs intwined with his. There was a little line of drool that escaped her mouth and her hair was all messy from having stayed in pigtails overnight, but to him, she looked absolutely perfect. He wanted this moment to last forever.

'Your Princess's parents are making breakfast downstairs, kid,' Plagg said, floating down to hover in front of him. 'You've got that family meeting to attend.'

'Yeah, but look at her, Plagg,' he said softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face. 'Isn't she beautiful?'

'She is one of the better looking humans I've met, I'll give you that,' Plagg agreed, 'but nothing will ever beat the beauty of Camembert.'

'Seriously?' Adrien replied, unimpressed.

'Fine, almost nothing, but don't tell Tikki I said that,' Plagg said, wagging his paw at him, mock threatening him. 'Now, I figured you wouldn't want to move, so I got the other kwamis to help me take a photo of you guys like this, so you can ogle that photo whenever you want, but you've got to get up now.'

'Aww, that was nice of you, Plagg,' Adrien said.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm amazing, I know,' Plagg said with a dismissive wave of his paw. 'Now come on! We haven't got all day!'

'Why are you in such a rush?' he asked, as Marinette stirred in his arms, cutely holding him closer in her sleepy state.

'It's not every day I get to meet the parents!' Plagg exclaimed. 'I haven't done this in centuries!'

'Whazz goin' on?' Marinette mumbled, nuzzling her face into his chest as she rubbed one of her eyes.

'Plagg wants us to wake up, Princess,' he told her.

'Noooo, Adrien's too comfy. Don't wanna move,' she protested, snuggling in closer.

'We can cuddle more later, but unfortunately Plagg's right, we've got to get up,' Adrien said, amused.

'Noooo, Adriennn, let's cuddle now,' she muttered, shifting so that her arms and legs wrapped around him, holding him closer to her.

'I want to cuddle now, too,' he chuckled - she was just too adorable for words, 'but your Maman and Papa are making breakfast. We have our family meeting, remember?'

'Hmm,' she hummed. 'You know, it'd be a real family meeting if we were married.'

'Then we should get married,' Adrien said, playing along with her sleepy antics. 'Should we get married today?'

'Ngggghh, cuddle today.'

'Okay, then. Cuddles today, get married tomorrow?'

'Okay,' she agreed. 'Marry t'morrow.'

Adrien chuckled softly at her snores as she immediately fell asleep again. He just stayed there, holding and admiring her, until Sabine came in and summoned them for breakfast.

'Is she still asleep?' Sabine asked.

'Yep,' Adrien replied. 'She doesn't want to wake up yet.'

Sabine chuckled, before going over to Marinette's basin. He heard the water running and stopping before Sabine appeared at the top of the ladder.

'How are you doing there, Adrien? She's clinging onto you like a koala.'

'I'm doing perfectly fine, thanks, Sabine,' he answered. 'But I don't have the heart to wake her.'

'Good thing I do,' Sabine replied. 'You might want to watch your face, dear.'

With no further warning, Sabine put her wet hands on Marinette's cheeks, and Marinette flailed as she was startled awake.

'Gah!' Marinette cried, before spotting her mum. 'Oh, Maman!'

'Good morning, dear,' Sabine greeted brightly. 'Breakfast is ready!'

'Ugh!' Marinette groaned, flopping back onto the bed, making Adrien laugh. 'But I was comfy!'

'I'm sure Adrien was too, dear, but we have our family meeting to discuss superhero ground rules,' she said with a chuckle, 'so don't fall back to sleep, because I'm expecting you both downstairs in five minutes, okay? You can still be in your pyjamas, but you have to be at breakfast, okay?'

'Fine,' Marinette moaned.

'We'll be there, Sabine,' Adrien promised.

Sabine nodded at Adrien and disappeared from sight.

'Come on, Marinette, let's get up,' he coaxed.

'I don't wanna have a family meeting,' Marinette grouched.

'Oi! I do!' Plagg protested, reappearing from wherever he went to hide. 'Are you kidding me? Do you know how rare it is for us kwamis to be able to meet the parents of our chosens?'

'But Plagg, should we be meeting them?' Tikki asked uncertainly. 'Is that too risky?'

'Too risky?' Plagg repeated. 'Tiks, you heard them when Adrien broke down in the living room, and when they discovered our kids' identities! How risky do you really think this is? They're fourteen fighting a powerful magical enemy on their own - don't you think they need whatever help they can get? Especially with Fu gone?'

'Yeah,' Tikki agreed hesitantly, 'but...'

'Sugarcube,' Plagg said, his voice softening as he held her paws in his, 'it's not going to be like Juliana, alright? These are good people.'

'I know they are, but I can't help but worry,' Tikki admitted quietly.

'It'll be different this time, I know it,' Plagg consoled. 'Trust me.'

'What happened with Juliana?' Marinette asked gently.

'Juliana was a ladybug of mine a long time ago,' Tikki began sombrely. 'She was a bright and creative soul, but she was also too trusting, and too blind and forgiving of people's faults, especially those closest to her. Unfortunately, her parents weren't good people, and on top of that, they were struggling financially. She had only been my bug for a few weeks, being trained by a Guardian under the guise of her getting work as a maid in a manor. The Guardian had impressed on her the need for secrecy, and she took the advice to heart, but she loved her parents dearly and thought it safe to tell them. They immediately attacked her and tried to grab the Miraculous off her, injuring her severely in the process, but she managed to escape and found sanctuary with the Guardian who had been training her. Juliana went on to become a very successful Ladybug, but she never truly recovered from that incident, and struggled to trust anyone other than her Guardian mentor ever again.'

'Oh no, I'm so sorry, Tikki,' Marinette said sympathetically, hugging her kwami to her cheek.

'That sounds awful, Tikki, I'm sorry,' Adrien said.

'It's stories like Juliana's that make all of us kwamis take the safety rules seriously, no matter how frustrating and painful they can be,' Plagg told them. 'But, we also have positive stories about when things turn out wonderfully, don't we Tiks?'

'We do,' she agreed.

'And you've lived with this family for months,' Plagg continued. 'How do you think this is going to go?'

Tikki was silent for a moment, before whispering, 'I have hope.'

'Then let's do this,' Plagg said confidently. 'And Sugarcube, this time you'll have me with you.'

Tikki flew over to Plagg and gave him a big hug. 'Thanks, Stinky Sock.'

'You kids coming, or do I have to come up there?' came Sabine's teasing voice from downstairs.

'We're coming, Maman!' Marinette called out, shuffling over to the ladder.

'Hey, m'lady?' Adrien asked. 'Can we do something?'

~/~

'Morning Maman. Hi Papa.'

'Good morning Tom, Sabine. What's for breakfast?'

Sabine stared at them wide-eyed as Tom roared with laughter from behind the kitchen bench.

'Good morning Ladybug and Chat Noir,' Tom greeted, amusement heavy in his voice as chuckles continued to escape him. 'On the menu for breakfast this morning, we have sunny-side up eggs, toast, avocado, bacon, yogurt, and a fruit salad, accompanied with your choice of water, coffee, tea, or freshly squeezed orange juice. What might our esteemed superheroes like for their beverage this morning?'

'Orange juice for me, please, Tom,' Chat Noir said as he and Ladybug joined Sabine at the table, going along with Tom's silly restaurant scenario.

'Coffee for me, please, Papa.'

'Right away, Monsieur Noir, Madame Bug,' Tom replied, throwing the tea towel onto his shoulder as he got them their drinks.

'This is so surreal,' Sabine murmured, her gaze switching between them. 'I mean, I know it's you both, but it's the first time I'm actually seeing it. I... this is weird.'

'Your beverages, monsieur, madame,' Tom said as he placed the drinks down in front of them, before putting the tea towel to the side and joining them at the table, ending his play-acting.

'We'll detransform in a second, but we want you to know we have some very special beings we want you to meet,' Ladybug told them.

'We might be the superheroes, but the ones that give us our powers are these little gods known as "kwamis,"' Chat added. 'Since you guys know about us, we think it's only fair you meet them too.'

'Spots Off.'

'Claws In.'

As their transformations fell, Adrien felt a little giddy at being able to do it in front of Marinette's parents, knowing their identities were safe with them.

'That is so cool,' Tom murmured in awe.

'Thank you,' Plagg said proudly, bringing the adults' attention to the new additions to the group.

'Maman, Papa, we'd like you to meet our kwamis: Plagg and Tikki.'

'Hi there,' Tikki greeted, shyer than her usual bubbly self.

'Oh, hello,' Sabine greeted. 'Why aren't you both adorable!'

Tikki giggled. 'Thank you!'

'Pfft, I'm not adorable! I'm cool, and suave, and-' Plagg paused in his protests when Adrien began scratching him underneath his chin. '-ooh, yeah, that's the stuff, just a little over to the left.'

'And these cute little creatures are tiny gods, you say?' Tom asked.

'Yup!' Marinette said. 'They are bound to our jewellery, our Miraculouses, and are the very beings that enable us to become superheroes.'

'Yeah, but we aren't really tiny,' Plagg chipped in, 'at least not in our true forms.'

'True forms?' Sabine repeated.

'Yeah, hopefully you'll never have to see those, though,' Plagg replied. 'Hey, since it's breakfast, you guys got any cheese?'

'Is that what you gods eat? Cheese?' Tom asked as he stood, heading towards the kitchen.

'Each of the kwamis eat something different,' Adrien informed them. 'Plagg here loves cheese, especially Camembert, whereas Tikki likes to eat sweet things like macaroons.'

'Well, that's handy with you living here,' Sabine noted.

'A lucky coincidence,' Marinette said. 'Then there's the other kwamis who will eat grapes, apples, and even gummy worms!'

'Other kwamis?' Sabine asked. 'Oh, for the other heroes?'

'That's right,' Adrien said. 'But instead of being with their holders, it's the Guardian of the Miraculous who's looking after them.'

'And who's this Guardian?' Tom asked. Adrien and Marinette looked at each other.

'Um, I am,' Marinette said.

'How long have you been a Guardian for?' Sabine inquired.

'Remember that akuma attack a few weeks back when no one could remember what happened?' Marinette asked, and they nodded. 'We had a major battle against Hawk Moth and Mayura, his accomplice, and they almost won. It was my mentor and former Guardian of the Miraculous who saved us by sacrificing himself. He handed over Guardianship to Ladybug, and in doing so lost all his memories in relation to the Miraculouses.'

'Oh dear,' Sabine exclaimed.

'Yeah, so if you've noticed me being a little stressed lately, that's why,' Marinette said with a shrug.

Sabine got up and rounded the table so she could give Marinette a hug.

'I'm so sorry, hon,' she murmured, and Marinette held her mother tighter.

'Me too,' she replied. Pulling out of the hug with misty eyes, she asked, 'Would you guys like to meet the other kwamis?'

'Would I ever?' Tom exclaimed happily. 'Let's meet them!'

Breakfast very quickly became a very chaotic affair, and Adrien was glad that Marinette kept a good stock of the kwamis favourite foods, otherwise he was certain he wouldn't have been able to eat any of his delicious breakfast. He looked over at Tikki, and saw her relaxed and happily eating a macaroon, and was glad that he wasn't the only one finding healing with the Dupain-Cheng family.

~/~

For the first time since enrolling, Adrien didn't want to go to school. He cherished his friends dearly, but yesterday was too much.

'I don't want to talk to them either,' Marinette admitted as she put her books into her bag. 'But we're going to have to talk to them at some point, and it'll only get harder if we put it off.'

'I know, but what am I supposed to say to them?' he replied, disconnecting his phone from the charger.

'You don't have to say anything to them, if anything, they should be the ones trying to figure out what to say to you,' she countered. 'It's not your fault they didn't respect your boundaries.'

What she told him made total sense, but his chest still ached uncomfortably.

'Look,' she said, taking his hands in hers, 'if it gets too much, we'll come back here during recess and lunch and hang out with Maman, Papa and the kwamis, okay?'

'Thanks, Marinette.'

'Anytime, Adrien,' she said, smiling at him. 'It's you and me against the world, Chaton.'

'As always, m'lady,' he responded, placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, making her cheeks flush furiously. He loved it when he could make her blush.

Picking up their school bags, they went downstairs and bid Tom and Sabine goodbye before heading towards the school. As they approached the steps leading up to the school entrance, they found Nino and Alya waiting for them.

'Oho? What's this?' Alya questioned with raised eyebrows. 'Marinette at school with time to spare? No frantic sprinting to get to class on time? Adrien, you need to stay over at Marinette's more often!'

The four laughed at Alya's teasing, though Marinette did send her an adorable little pout at being made fun of.

'Hey, bro, are you feeling any better?' Nino asked as they headed towards the locker room.

'Much better, thanks, Nino,' he answered, 'though, if I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure I'm ready to see our class.'

'That's totally fair, dude,' Nino said, opening his locker. As Adrien opened his own locker, he could hear the girls opening theirs from the other side. 'I don't know if I'd even be at school if I were in your shoes, you know?'

'Yeah, I wasn't sure about it, but Marinette's right,' he said as he arranged his stuff in his locker, 'we'd have to talk to them sooner or later, and it's better to just get it over and done with.'

Nino clapped a hand on Adrien's back. 'Sounds like a solid plan, my dude.'

'Yeah,' Adrien smiled. 'Marinette has the best plans.'

'Marinette?' Alya's head whipped around the corner. 'Our Marinette has the best plans?'

'Well, yeah,' Adrien said, thinking back on every single Ladybug and Marinette plan he'd ever seen. 'She got me back into school when my father grounded me, she convinced my father to let me go to New York with everyone, she helped me escape my fans after that perfume ad, she helped me get out of that stuffy Bourgeois party, she…'

She helped him with his first date with Kagami, a fact he'd kick himself about later.

'-the point is, her plans always work! Isn't it the same for you?'

'I… I, uh… I-' Alya stumbled, seemingly stunned, before turning to Marinette, who had just joined them. Marinette just cringe-smiled at her. Adrien didn't know why Marinette didn't take more pride in her plans - they were amazing!

'How about we go up to class, yeah?' Marinette said, and Adrien closed his locker to follow them to the classroom.

As they walked, he could see Alya and Marinette whispering in a dramatic fashion, though he couldn't hear what they were saying. He decided not to worry about it for the time being - he could always ask her back at home.

It was like déjà vu walking into the classroom. He hated the way the mood tensed. He hated the way everyone's eyes shifted nervously, as if he was going to explode. He hated this situation. All he wanted to do was to go back to Marinette's and hang out with her and her parents and the kwamis.

'Adrien?' Mylène began, standing up. 'I'm sorry for asking you to apologise to Lila. You were polite and you set your boundaries, and I should've respected that.'

'I'm sorry, Adrien,' Rose piped up. 'I was too focused on wanting my friends to get along that I didn't see how my actions were affecting you.

'I'm sorry too,' said Nathaniel, and soon everyone was joining in with their apologies, except for Chloé, who sat primly at her desk admiring her nails.

'How strongly did you tell them off?' Adrien heard Marinette whisper behind him.

'Uh, very?' replied Nino sheepishly. Adrien smiled.

'Guys! Guys! Um, thank you for that. It wasn't necessary, but I appreciate it,' he thanked.

'Definitely necessary,' Alya fake coughed behind him.

'Are you feeling better?' Juleka asked.

'Yeah, I'm feeling much better, thanks, Juleka,' he replied. 'Still not one-hundred percent, but I'm getting there.'

He shot Marinette a thankful smile.

'Is there anything we can do to help?' Ivan asked, wringing his hands.

'Um...nothing much really,' Adrien said, 'just maybe don't ask me about my nightmare or yesterday's akuma attack, I guess.'

Kim's mouth, which had been open as if to ask a question, shut with an audible click, and he pouted, making the class laugh. With that moment over, everyone happily made their way to their seats.

Just as Adrien sat down next to Nino, the door opened and Lila entered. As she did so, she sent a harsh glare at Adrien, before completely masking it with faux meekness for the class's benefit as she made her way to her seat, fooling everyone.

'Adrien, did she just glare at you?' Alya whispered.

Well, almost everyone.

'I saw that too!' Nino whispered. 'What was that about, dude?'

'She hates me and Marinette,' Adrien whispered back with a simple shrug. 'We know she's a liar, and yesterday's stunt didn't work out for her like she wanted.'

'Stunt?' Alya asked, but Miss Bustier entered the classroom before he could reply. With a quick glance at Marinette, they silently agreed to discuss this later.

~/~

'She what?'

The four friends sat together at the dining table in the Dupain-Cheng apartment for lunch with baguette sandwiches and Marinette's special hot chocolate. He had convinced Marinette that hot chocolates were necessary for this discussion, but he was sure that she knew he just wanted to have it again, though he was savouring it this time, as promised.

'I'm so gonna kill her!'

Adrien thought that Alya and Nino were taking the truth about Lila's machinations rather well.

'Not today, Alya,' he said kindly, amused by her passionate declaration. 'You've barely touched your lunch, both of you.'

'Dude, how can you be so calm about this?' Nino growled before ripping off a bite of his baguette.

'I'm not,' he admitted lightly, 'but time helps, and so does this amazing hot chocolate.'

Marinette blushed out of the corner of his eye, and he preened.

'That, and we also don't want to summon any akumas,' Marinette added, and their friends froze, before visibly attempting to relax...with varying degrees of success.

'So, what now?' Nino asked. Adrien and Marinette shared a look.

'Now...we're trying to come up with a plan,' Marinette stated. 'Now that Adrien and I have the full picture, and that you guys now see that she's not what she seems to be, we might be able to do something about it. But I guess it's going to be harder for you guys than it is for us.'

'What? Why?' asked Alya.

'Well, Lila's already threatened Adrien and me, since we know what a liar she is,' continued Marinette, 'but as far as she's aware, you two are still her "friends" - a.k.a. classmates she still has influence over. She doesn't suspect you guys know the truth, and we want to keep it that way for now.'

'Why's that?' Nino questioned.

'Because then we'd have the element of surprise, the upper hand,' Marinette said. 'Kinda like a spy.'

'A spy? I can get behind that!' Alya said with a grin.

'We'd need codenames and the works,' Nino said as Sabine came through the front door with groceries, 'especially if we're going to engage in espionage.'

'Who's getting engaged, dears?' Sabine asked, placing the groceries on the kitchen bench.

'Marinette and me,' Adrien replied easily, getting a squawk from Alya, a cute squeak from Marinette, and Nino choking on his baguette, 'that is if I can get yours and Tom's permission to marry her.'

'Permission granted,' Sabine replied, sneaking a conspiratorial wink at him while the others reacted to her words, 'but save the wedding until after graduation, please? We need more time to save up for all the fabric she'd want to make her wedding dress and your suit.'

'Done,' Adrien agreed. 'Thanks, Sabine.'

'Anytime, dear.'

'What was that?' Nino and Alya cried with eyes so wide that Adrien was afraid they'd pop out.

'Forward planning,' he replied, taking Marinette's hand underneath the table before leaning over and whispering, 'and if we're going to take this whole espionage thing seriously, we can't just go blabbing the plan to anyone. Besides, I'd been meaning to ask anyway, and I saw the opportunity, so I took it.'

'Saw the opportunity?' Alya repeated incredulously, before looking at Marinette. 'I thought you two weren't dating, girl!'

'I- I, uh... we-' Marinette looked over at him helplessly.

'We're not yet, because I was hoping to take her out for ice-cream and ask her out after school today,' Adrien explained, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

'But since when did you want to date Marinette?' Nino asked. 'No offence, dude, but every time you've shown interest in her, you've always said she was "just a friend," which honestly got super annoying, man.'

Adrien winced at the reminder of the frequently used phrase.

'I had been considering Marinette in a more romantic light - ever since the day at the wax museum,' he explained, and for some weird reason Marinette flinched at the mention of the museum, 'but I didn't act on it because I wasn't sure of what I was feeling. However, after my nightmare, and everything that came after it, it all finally clicked for me.'

'What do you mean?' Alya asked.

'Well, seeing Marinette die in my nightmare made me realise just how important to she is to me, and how much I cared about her, and when I was forced to relive it thanks to the akuma attack…' he drew a deep breath and stared at their joined hands, 'it made me realise that I couldn't live without her, that if she was gone... it...it made me realise that I actually loved her, truly, and I couldn't deny that anymore.'

Adrien looked up to see Marinette smiling warmly at him with misty eyes.

'And when we were sitting on the couch, discussing wedding dresses, all I could think of was what our wedding day would be like,' he said, gently wiping away the stray tear that had been running down Marinette's cheek, 'and all I could see was you, walking down the aisle towards me.'

Alya and Nino cooed.

'How is it that they're more couples goals than we are, and they're not even a couple yet?' asked Alya. Adrien's hand cupped Marinette's cheek and she leaned into his touch as their eyes met, and he simply melted.

'I don't even know, babe,' Nino answered, but Adrien paid them no mind, preferring to focus on his Princess. He knew that many heralded him as being the epitome of perfect, but the true epitome of perfection was gazing at him lovingly with her beautiful blue eyes.

'Oh my god, just ask her out already!' Alya exclaimed impatiently, startling the two of them. He heard Sabine chuckling from the kitchen.

'My- Marinette, would you make me the happiest man alive and be my girlfriend?' Adrien asked.

'I'd love to,' she replied, and he couldn't help the massive grin that took over his face, or how he glomped her with a massive hug. He wished he could stay in this moment forever.

'Did… did that sound a bit too much like a proposal to you, babe?'

'Shh! My ship is finally sailing!'

Adrien and Marinette chuckled as they broke from their hug. He loved their friends, but they weren't exactly known for their subtlety.

'As sweet as this is, I should remind you that your lunch break will be ending in a little bit,' Sabine said holding hers and Tom's lunches on her hands.

The four of them dug back into their baguette sandwiches as Sabine headed back down to the bakery.

~/~

His friends seriously didn't possess an ounce of subtlety.

On arrival, Alya ran around the school, gathering their classmates (with the noticeable lack of Lila) and herded them all into their classroom, the space unlocked despite it still being lunchtime.

'Guys guys guys guys!' Alya spat out excitedly. 'Guess what? ADRIENETTE HAS SAILED!'

Pandemonium broke out in the classroom, with cheers and celebration. Kim and Ivan even lifted Adrien and Marinette on their shoulders and danced around the room out of sheer joy. As soon as they were back on their feet, they were faced with a rapid-fire interrogation of how it all unfolded and what made Adrien realise he had feelings for her. (Did everyone see it before he knew it?) Rose even blabbed that Marinette had been crushing on him for so long, confirming for him finally who "the other boy" really was - him! (And somehow everyone knew that except him?)

He was so glad his friends were so happy and supportive of his new relationship with Marinette…and then money started exchanging hands.

'Uhh…guys?' he began. 'What's with all the money?'

'Oh, we were betting on when you two were gonna get together,' Alix told them casually as Kim gave her a 20 note with a pout. 'We were all rooting for you two, it was just a matter of when, where and how.'

'And what made you finally open your eyes!' Nathaniel added with a smirk, causing giggles around the room. Adrien was flabbergasted, and it seemed like Marinette was, too.

'Wha- when did this start?' Marinette asked.

'It started out just between us girls once we were getting involved with the confession plans,' Alya began, and Adrien filed that away to talk about later with Marinette. 'After a few weeks of fruitless plans, we made it a little game between us - we never stopped supporting and believing in you, but it was a little disheartening whenever a plan failed, and we didn't want to bring your mood down, even accidentally.'

'And so when the others caught on to what was going on between you two, they joined in on the bet,' Mylène continued. 'Now Max is handling the details and Markov sends updates to the mailing list!'

'There's a mailing list?' Marinette and Adrien chorused.

'Mailing list for what?'

Adrien stiffened, and Marinette's hold on his hand became firm.

'Oh, Lila!' Rose chirped. 'Adrien and Marinette are finally together!'

'That's…so wonderful!' Lila said with faux enthusiasm, and Adrien didn't miss her hesitation. 'Congrats, you guys!'

They barely managed to get out their polite thanks before Lila continued.

'And so soon after breaking up with Kagami and Luka! You two must've found love really fast!'

Adrien seethed at her implication.

'What do you mean?' asked Juleka.

'Oh, well, it's just that you both broke up with your exes on the same day, and the rumour is that both your exes were apparently frustrated with you guys running off all the time and making up lame excuses about last-minute cancellations, and not being present when you were with them,' Lila said with about as much innocence as Satan possessed. 'I'm not saying that you guys did anything wrong…but the timing is, well, interesting.'

All eyes turned to them and Adrien wondered if it would be frowned upon if he just…throttled Lila.

'So…why did you guys keep leaving them?' Juleka asked, looking in between them. As he looked over at Marinette and saw how panicked she was, Adrien knew he had to take the lead on this one.

'We, um, have this mutual friend,' he began, as an idea began to form, 'and they're not in a good place in their life. They're very vulnerable and don't have much support outside of the two of us. And things have been bad for them over the past few months, and so we go and try to help them, no matter how out-of-the-blue it is, because they're fighting a battle that they can lose at any given moment. Thing is, because they're so vulnerable, they can't trust many people, so we can't talk about it openly, because it's not our story to tell. Unfortunately, it's gotten worse recently, and we didn't know how to explain it to Luka and Kagami without betraying our friend's trust. Even now, saying this much, I feel like we've said too much, you know?'

As if by magic, suspicion turned to sympathy, and Adrien let out a covert sigh of relief. He didn't know if it was too much of a stretch calling Nooroo his friend, since he hadn't met the kwami, but it was the best he could come up with. Too bad Lila wasn't impressed.

'But why couldn't you just tell Kagami and Luka what you just told us?' she persisted. 'Unless...you couldn't tell them that, because maybe this "friend" doesn't actually exist?'

Nino tensed and Alya placed a hand on his arm to soothe him, though she looked just as agitated by Lila's insinuations.

'What is it about "our friend asked for secrecy for their own privacy and peace of mind" that you're not getting?' Marinette retorted. 'We couldn't tell Kagami and Luka, and we broke up because we couldn't tell them the truth, no matter how much we cared for them. We spoke to our friend about how we wanted to help them, but total secrecy was too much of a strain on our personal lives, and so they agreed that we could only talk in the vaguest of terminology - again, for their own safety. But this only happened after we broke up with our exes, because we knew it would be hard keeping such a thing secret, but we didn't know how much it'd affect our lives.'

Adrien was always impressed with how quickly Marinette and his Lady would be on the uptake, and today was no exception.

'And why would you think our friend wouldn't exist, anyway?' she continued, staring at Lila.

'Look,' Lila said, with her hands passively up in a "surrender" type position on either side of her head, 'all I'm saying is that it does look kinda sus, you know? I mean, not to us, obviously, but you guys meeting up in secret while you're dating other people, and now, only a few weeks after becoming exes with your previous partners, you're now dating each other?'

Lila sent them a look of faux concern that made their classmates uncertain.

'Are you trying to say that we cheated on Luka and Kagami?' Marinette said with a scowl, but Adrien couldn't help but laugh at the idea.

'Sorry, but that's ridiculous,' Adrien said. 'Before yesterday, I had absolutely no clue that Marinette thought of me in a romantic light! I thought that she only saw me as a friend, and nothing else!'

The class blinked dumbfoundedly in unison. 'What?'

'Yeah! I mean, if I knew that Marinette was interested in me, I never would've pursued Kagami,' Adrien said. 'But she always maintained that we were friends only, and so I didn't have any reason to believe otherwise! And how could I possibly cheat on Kagami, if: one, I would never cheat on my partner in the first place; and two, I had no idea that my crush on Marinette wasn't unrequited? I mean, she only told me she loved me yesterday.'

'I did?' Marinette gasped. 'When?'

'To be fair, it was the last thing you said to me before you fell asleep,' he reasoned. Marinette pouted adorably.

'I don't even remember that! The first time I say it successfully, and I don't remember? I need a do-over!' Marinette planted her face into her hands and groaned.

'Wait,' said Alix, 'you seriously didn't pick up any hint that Marinette was totally into you?'

'Uh, no?' Adrien responded, confused. 'Why? Did I miss something?'

Curiously, the whole class, bar Lila, started to laugh. Ivan clapped his back with a fond expression.

'Yeah, Lila, there's no way anyone would think that, not with this guy here,' Ivan said, chuckling. 'Besides, both of them are way too loyal and honourable to do something like that.'

'Hah, yeah, dude's totally oblivious,' chortled Kim, ruffling Adrien's hair. 'You can't fake that.'

'Wait, what-' Adrien began.

'Lila, to think that of Adrikins was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous,' Chloé defended snootily. 'Even Dupain-Cheng wouldn't stoop so low.'

The class dispersed (and he kept hearing his name and the word "oblivious" constantly being thrown around), and Lila glared lasers at him before retreating to behind her desk. He turned towards Marinette, who was still groaning into her hands, and wrapped her up in a hug.

'I wanted to remember saying that to you,' she grumbled into his chest, and he chuckled.

'To be fair,' he murmured into her ear, 'you remember our first kiss and I don't-' he smiled at her gasp '-so I'd say we're even, now.'

She groaned again.

'No, we need to fix this!' she asserted.

'How about on a date? Tonight?' he asked. She looked up at him and smiled.

'Sounds good, Kit- Adrien.'

~/~

'We really need to have some rules about our nicknames,' Marinette said as they sat down at a bench with their Sweetheart's ice-cream. 'We should avoid using our nicknames for our other selves when we're us, you know? We've both slipped a bunch of times today during school; thank goodness we caught ourselves most of the time, but it only takes one slip-up.'

Throughout the rest of the school day, they were constantly surrounded by their classmates, who were all eager to hang out with long-awaited new couple. This meant that they had a human barrier between them and Lila the entire day, which was great! On the other hand, it meant that it was only after school and fencing were over for the day that Adrien and Marinette could spend some time to together. Just before class had started up, he texted Sabine, Tom and Nathalie to ask them if it was okay if he took Marinette out for a date after school, and thankfully they all said yes.

'I agree,' he replied, scooping some ice cream onto his spoon, 'but that means I get to come up with more nicknames for you!'

'Heh, of course that's your take away,' she teased lightheartedly. 'I'm sure you already have a list of potential nicknames somewhere, huh?'

'There's a lot of candidates,' he informed her, and she giggled, 'but I'm sure I'll have some new ones in no time.'

'I'm sure.'

They sat there for a moment, contentedly sharing their ice cream when a thought occurred to him.

'Hey, Mari?'

'Not the most inventive, but it's a start,' she commented, and he grinned.

'What category does "Princess" fall under?'

She looked at him. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, Chat called Marinette that name first,' he pointed out, 'and while we were outdoors when I- he said it, it's not exactly a giveaway nickname.'

Marinette hummed in thought.

'I don't know,' she replied. 'It could be an "us" thing, but it just feels so…Chat, you know?'

'It does,' he agreed. 'Oh! I could use it as a little code word if I'm coming over to yours or something! As him!'

'And why would we need a code word for that?' she asked, taking another scoop of ice cream. 'You could just text me.'

'Babe-' they both cringed at that. 'Sorry, that one felt wrong. But seriously - how many akumas have gone into your home or your room already? And we've already had a few akumas that have taken on both of my likenesses.'

'Hmm, that's true,' she agreed. 'So your code word is "Princess," so mine will be "Prince," I think.'

A happy thrill went through him when he heard that nickname.

'Done!' he said, grinning happily, taking a big chunk out of the ice cream onto his spoon. 'So does this mean that Chat and Marinette, and Adrien and Ladybug will have nicknames?'

Marinette laughed at his enthusiasm. 'Down, boy. Let's just focus on us for now, yeah?'

He was fine with that. 'Okay. I actually have a question though.'

'Oh?' she raised her eyebrow as she took another scoop. 'What is it?'

'What were the confession plans Alya was talking about?' he asked, and Marinette choked on her ice cream. He gently patted her back and fished out his water bottle from his bag to offer to her.

'I'm okay,' she said, waving the bottle away. 'So you remember her saying that, huh?'

'Of course!' he replied. 'But why did you never go through with them? Your plans always work, so I'm sure I would've noticed if you did.'

Marinette whined. 'It's so embarrassing! Especially telling you about it! Not that it's bad or anything- I just-'

'It's okay,' he reassured. He looked at their ice cream, which had reduced down to just the cone. 'Do you want the cone?'

She shook her head. 'I'm good, thanks. You have it.'

'Cool,' he said. He stood up, slung his bags on, and held his free hand out yo Marinette. 'How about you tell me as we walk? I'll just eat the cone, and you can just talk at me, you know? Like our vent sessions on patrol. How about that?'

Hoisting her bags on her shoulder, she took his hand.

'Good idea.'

As they meandered around Paris, he quietly listened as she spoke, her hesitation disappearing the longer she talked. He heard plan after plan after plan, from the never-attempted plans to the chickened-out plans, to the botched plans, and even the foiled-by-fate plans; he heard them all. When he heard about the blue scarf debacle, he wondered what could've possibly happened for him to receive it as a present from his father (but didn't like the conclusions he came to), and how frustrating it must've been for her to see him parading around the scarf and praising the wrong person. It was one of the few times he interrupted her storytelling, because he wasn't going to go a second longer without thanking her for her amazing present.

'…and then there was the Musée Grévin,' she said as they walked through the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, wincing again at the mention of the wax museum.

'What's wrong with that day?' asked Adrien. 'You keep wincing and stuff whenever it's mentioned.'

'What didn't go wrong that day,' Marinette grumbled. 'Alya and Nino were constantly trying to set us up, but were all over the place, Manon got akumatised, I waxed poetic to what I thought was a wax figure, but it was actually you and made an absolute fool of myself-'

'What? You didn't make a fool of yourself!' Adrien protested, and she made a face. 'I mean, I was wondering what you were doing, but you didn't make a fool of yourself! I was thinking that I had never heard you speak this poetically before, and it was really cool. And then-'

'And then I kissed you,' she groaned, burying her head in her hands.

'Hey,' he said, gently prying her hands from her face, 'don't you knock our first Adrienette kiss.'

That got a chuckle out of her. 'Already taking on Alya's ship name for us, huh?'

'I'll have you know I am completely on board and have a lifetime's subscription to the Adrienette ship,' he informed her, and she giggled. 'I cherish that memory.'

'Seriously?' she asked him. 'But I failed miserably!'

'Well then you failed successfully,' he declared, 'because that kiss is why I started to realise that what I felt for you was more than friendship.'

Her cheeks flushed pink. 'That kiss?'

'That kiss,' he confirmed, and her cheeks glowed brighter.

'O-oh,' she breathed.

He took her hand in his and they continued walking.

'So what plan came after that one?'

~/~

Adrien dumped his bags on his bed, and immediately flopped down next to them. He had thoroughly enjoyed himself on his impromptu date with Marinette, walking around Paris hand-in-hand with her. They talked about so much more than her confession plans and their mishaps (although he enjoyed that conversation immensely), and with every new thing he found out about her, he fell a little more in love. It was only once they arrived back at her home that he realised they had completely forgotten about his bodyguard tailing them from a safe distance, as they both were startled when he appeared behind them. Once the couple was inside the bakery and said their hellos to Tom and Sabine, Gerald let them know he'd come back to pick Adrien up after dinner to take him home.

When the bakery was closed and the four of them were up in the Dupain-Cheng living room and the blinds were closed, Marinette decided to introduce her parents to the Miracle Box and the Miraculouses. As kwamis and humans alike were keen for something fun, the four of them took turns transforming with the Miraculouses, exploring and experimenting with their super suits as they chatted away with the excitable kwamis. Adrien empathised with the tiny gods - there was only so much isolation one could take before becoming desperate for social interaction.

Best of all, he got to see Multimouse make a reappearance in all her splendour, and Adrien told her parents the amazing story of the Miraculous Multimouse facing off the evil Kwamibuster. Marinette got a little flustered with all the attention, but Tom and Sabine goaded him on, enquiring about more of their adventures. Marinette never took the Mouse Miraculous off, keeping the promise she had made him yesterday after the akuma attack.

Dinner became a lively affair, with the four of them seated at the dining table, and the kwamis with their own little plates of their preferred foods lined up along the kitchen bench. There was chaos and joy and life all around him, and he loved every second of it.

There was a knock at the door. Plagg zipped out of sight.

'Come in,' he called, pulling himself up to standing.

'Hello, Adrien,' Nathalie greeted. 'How were you today?'

'Much better, thanks,' he replied.

'And I hope the Dupain-Chengs were suitable hosts to you?' she continued.

'The best,' he said with a grin. 'They were super helpful. And thank you for letting me stay with them yesterday and today.'

'You're welcome, Adrien,' Nathalie said, the corners of her lips curving up slightly into a near invisible smile. 'I'm glad they were able to help you.'

'Me too,' he agreed.

'I…I was rather concerned for you yesterday,' she admitted, walking over to him and they sat down on his bed. 'Do you feel like you could perhaps tell me what was bothering you? You had mentioned something about a nightmare?'

'Yeah,' he replied, before launching into a recount of the past two days, naturally foregoing the whole "superhero" elements of the story. All the while, Nathalie listened quietly but attentively, though she did pale considerably when he told of how Volpina's akuma attack affected him.

'It sounds like you went through a lot,' she commented, 'but I'm glad you're feeling much better now.'

'Thanks, Nathalie.'

'It's been a long day, so I'll leave you to get some rest,' she said, standing up. 'Goodnight, Adrien.'

'Goodnight, Nathalie.'

Once the door closed behind Nathalie, Adrien opened his bags and started unpacking.

'Well, that was…caring, I guess,' said Plagg as he floated down in front of him.

'Nathalie's not the most expressive person, but she does care,' Adrien said as he picked up his dirty clothes and put them into his laundry hamper. 'She was really concerned for me, I feel bad that I worried her that much.'

'At least she's worried about you, unlike a certain someone,' Plagg snarked.

'Plagg,' Adrien cautioned halfheartedly.

'What? Mr. I-Will-Imprison-My-Son-On-The-Slightest-Whim doesn't even bother to check in with you when you haven't stepped foot in this mausoleum in two days?' Plagg asked critically. 'Especially since you had a nightmare-induced panic attack? Yeah, no - he deserves to have all us clothes Cataclysmed, Adrien, you can't defend this one.'

'One: you're not supposed to use your powers without a holder, and you know that; and two: I don't want my father to walk around naked, so for my sanity, don't Cataclysm his clothes.'

'How about half his clothes?' Plagg offered.

Adrien paused. 'I'll think about it.'

'Good,' Plagg said happily.

They continued to chat and banter until the lights went off and Adrien's head hit the pillow. He slept contently until a buzzing noise woke him up. Blearily, he pawed at his phone until he grabbed it and looked at the screen.

Future Mother-In-Law

Adrien immediately answered the call.

'Sabine? Are you and Tom okay? Is Marinette okay?'

'We are, dear, but Marinette had a nightmare and she's really shaken. I know it might be too much to ask, but-'

'I'm on my way, Sabine. See you soon.' He hung up the phone and rushed over to Plagg.

'Plagg! Plagg! Wake up!'

'Whazzup, I'm sleeping...' Plagg mumbled.

'Sabine called - Marinette had a nightmare,' Adrien told him. Plagg opened his eyes.

'Let's go.'

Within minutes, Chat Noir landed on Marinette's balcony. He pulled his mobile out of his pocket and created a group chat between him, Tom and Sabine, and sent a text.

Adrien: here

'Hey, Princess?' he called out, knocking on her skylight. 'Can I come in?'

The skylight opened, and he was met with a teary, red-eyed Marinette.

'Chat Noir?'

'It's me, Princess,' he assured. 'Can I come in?'

'Y-yeah,' she stuttered, and as soon as he dropped through, her hands were on his shoulders and her eyes intensely examined his suit and his face.

'Your mum said you had a nightmare,' he explained. 'Are you alright?'

Finally, her eyes met his and looked for...something, he supposed. She must've found whatever she was looking for, because her eyes softened, before grabbing him in a massive hug and starting to sob.

'Hey, heyheyheyhey,' he soothed as he hugged her back, slowly lowering them so they could kneel on her bed before they could fall down. 'It's okay. I'm here.'

It broke his heart to see her this distraught. He began to gently rock her from side to side, and he rubbed gentle circles on her back, remembering how comforting the sensation was when she had done the same for him last night. He continued to whisper reassurances until Sabine came through the trapdoor.

'Thanks for coming, dear,' she said, placing two mugs on Marinette's desk.

'Anytime,' he replied. 'What happened?'

'I was making a tea for myself when I heard her screaming,' Sabine explained. 'I came up here and she was asleep and writhing about, and Tikki was trying to wake her up, but it wasn't working. I managed to wake her, but she was so frantic and babbling, and I couldn't make much out except for "Chat" something or other, so I called you as soon as I could.'

Chat looked back down at Marinette, who wasn't letting go of him anytime soon. He wondered what had freaked her out so much.

'Thank you for calling me,' he said.

'I've made some hot chocolate for you both,' she told him, gesturing at the mugs on the desk. 'Marinette's the master hot-chocolatier in this household, but hopefully this'll do.'

'I'm sure they will be wonderful,' he responded, 'after all, she had to learn how to make it from someone, right?'

Sabine smiled. 'You're too kind, dear. I'll just be downstairs, so let me know if you need anything.'

He thanked her again, and she disappeared down the trapdoor. Returning his attention to Marinette, he continued to hold her and rub her back, and eventually the sobs began to ease up.

'Hey,' he said softly as she lifted her head and rested her cheek against his shoulder, 'feel better?'

'A little,' she replied quietly.

'Do you want some of your mum's hot chocolate?' he asked.

'Yeah…but I'm comfy here,' she said, snuggling into him, and he felt his cheeks warm slightly.

'Okay then,' he said, 'but will they make the sheets dirty if I bring them up here?'

She hummed before saying, 'Let's have them down there.'

They gently unfurled from their position and made their way down to the floor. Once the hot chocolate had been obtained, they settled themselves on the chaise. They spent a few moments in silence, drinking their beverages (which, in Chat's humble opinion, were nearly as amazing as Marinette's), before he spoke.

'Do you wanna talk about it?' he asked, keeping his voice soft to not spook her.

Marinette paused, holding the mug against her lips.

'Yes…but also no,' she murmured. 'I don't know where to start, and I'm scared.'

Chat hugged her with his free arm. 'I'm always going to be with you, no matter what, and we can face the scary things together. It's us against the world, remember?'

A ghost of a smile graced her lips. 'Always, Kitty.'

'Would it be easier for you to talk to me as Chat Noir, or as Adrien for this story?' he asked.

'…I don't know,' admitted Marinette. 'Maybe Chat?'

'Okay then,' he replied. 'How about you start your story from the beginning?'

Marinette nodded and took a long sip of her hot chocolate.

'Remember how I was telling you about my confession plans earlier today?' she asked, and he nodded. 'There was one plan I didn't tell you about, and that was the beret plan.'

'Beret?' he repeated. 'Like the one I got from my Brazilian fans for my fifth name's day?'

'That very one,' she replied, 'only I made that beret.'

'You did? But why tell me it was from my fans?'

'I'll get to that,' she promised. 'I had tried to give you my present in person, but you weren't home. I tried asking when you'd be back, but I got turned away instead. Against my better judgment, I became Ladybug so I could leave your present in your room. I…got a little distracted while I was there, but I delivered it and left. I was really proud of myself! Unlike the scarf incident and the Valentine's Day card, I had actually signed it!'

Chat smiled at that.

'A few minutes after I left, Bunnyx appeared and told me I had to go with her to save the future - that something had gone terribly wrong and she needed my help,' Marinette continued. 'She pushed me through one of the portals in her Burrow and I ended up on the top of Montparnasse Tower. The moon was split in two, the Eiffel Tower was collapsed on its side, buildings were destroyed, the sea level had risen significantly, and everything was blue and white and silent.'

Chat gasped in horror. 'Your nightmare.'

Marinette nodded. She took another sip of her hot chocolate, prompting him to do the same.

'And on the other side of the roof…was you,' she said, her voice wavering. 'But your skin was deathly pale, your suit and hair were white, and your eyes were blue and cold. You were cold. Akumatised.'

A bone-deep chill swept through him. Him? Akumatised? He felt like he was going to be sick.

'No,' he croaked.

'Yeah,' she confirmed sadly. 'You were singing this little tune: "Little kitty on a roof, all alone without his lady~". It still haunts me to this day.'

That was his comfort song, adapted from the melody his mother sang to him as a child whenever he was scared or sad. Never in his wildest imagination did he ever think that his comfort song would terrorise his love.

'And I called out to you- well, him,' continued Marinette. 'God, the mood swings he would go through. From being overjoyed to see me, to angry attacks to get his hands on my Miraculous, to trying to reason and bargain with me for my Miraculous, to begging to me to save him. But all the while, he was so empty and cold; even in joy, he was empty and cold. Chat Blanc was and still is the most terrifying akuma I've ever encountered.'

Chat Blanc. He prayed to never take on that moniker ever again.

'It wasn't just his empty coldness that was terrifying,' she told him, 'but his powers, too. It was like some sort of unlimited or infinite destruction. He flicked Cataclysms like they were nothing. He made Mega-Cataclysms that would destroy buildings. He even summoned a Cataclysm so large that I couldn't honestly tell you how big it became, but the sheer power was overwhelming.'

Chat couldn't imagine what it'd be like to fight powers like that, let alone fighting his partner. He hoped he'd never have to find out. But how Chat Blanc used his powers…it was food for thought - maybe he'd discuss what he could do as Chat Noir with Plagg later.

'Worst of all, he knew my name,' she confessed, and he felt her body shudder. 'Hearing him call out my name…it was disorienting, unnerving; I felt vulnerable. He wasn't supposed to know who I was. He said we were in love, and that it was our love that did this to the world.'

No. No! Chat refused to believe that was true.

'I tried to de-evilise Chat Blanc, but trying to find his akuma took a while. He got the upper hand on me and sent me down into the water, and there were statues of people, and there was this blast mark on the ground, and two statues - one of Ladybug-'

Chat sharply inhaled.

'-and the other of Hawk Moth. When I touched the Ladybug statue, I realised she wasn't made of stone, but of ashes, and she disintegrated into nothingness.'

'Oh, god,' Chat whispered in horror. 'I'm so sorry.'

Marinette just sipped her drink.

'When I resurfaced, we argued for a second, before Chat Blanc screamed that I didn't love him anymore, so he was going to destroy everything,' she went on. 'And he really was, so I stopped him. I told him I'd give him my Miraculous - a lie, of course, but I had to stop him.'

Knowing it was a lie didn't stop his stomach from churning at the idea of her giving up her Miraculous.

Marinette shifted in her spot to face him more.

'You know how he responded to that? "I'm not Chat Noir, anymore, I'm Chat Blanc,"' she told him, flicking his bell on the word "Blanc". 'It was that moment that told me that somewhere underneath that akumatisation, the real you was still there, still fighting, and you told me where your akuma was. You helped me save you.'

She looked up at him and smiled, but all he wanted to do was cry.

'So, I cleansed the akuma, I went back through the Burrow and re-entered my timeline at the moment I signed the present before I left your room and erased my name with my Lucky Charm, before setting off the cure. Adrien you came into the room just before I left, so I lied and told you the beret came from Brazil. So yeah, Chat Blanc has been a reoccurring nightmare for me ever since,' she ended with a shrug.

Chat could only stare at her, mouth agape.

'Chat?' she asked, frowning and placing her mug on the ground beside the chaise. 'Are you okay?'

Chat mimicked her actions, placing the mug down safely, before wrapping her up in his arms in a big hug.

'That is the worst thing I could possibly imagine, and I am so sorry you went through that,' he said, heartfelt. 'But know that you are never alone, that I will always be with you, and I will always love you. I don't care what Chat Blanc said; our love could never destroy the world. We will make the world envious of our love, yes, but destroy it? Never.'

She looked up at him with eyes filled with vulnerable emotions. 'Never?'

'Never,' he promised. 'I'll even put it into my wedding vows, if you want?'

Marinette let out a little chuckle at that.

'But I promise you, whatever caused my akumatisation, it was never our love,' Chat told her, looking into her eyes. 'If I was akumatised, something else would've had to happen. Besides, that was the word of an akuma, what akumas say aren't exactly well-known for their reliability.'

'Heh, I suppose not,' she said, half-smiling, 'but I trust you, even when you're akumatised.'

A happy, tingly warmth flooded through him.

'Aww, you're making me blush, Princess,' he said, nuzzling the top of her head with his cheek, making her giggle.

'Glad it's not me, for a change,' she joked, and he pulled away with a pout.

'But I love your blushes!' he protested. 'They're so beautiful!'

Her cheeks took on that lovely sweet pink hue at the compliment.

'See!' Chat exclaimed. 'Gorgeous!'

She buried her head into his chest, making some sort of incoherent noise, and he smiled.

'You know you're just going to have to get used to me complimenting you, you know,' he informed her.

She made another noise.

Chat decided to keep the topics light, and they chatted until their hot chocolate had been drunk and Marinette started to get sleepier. He detransformed, and Plagg went in search of cheese and Tikki while Adrien and Marinette made their way to her bed. By the time they were under the covers, Marinette's eyes were slowly blinking as drowsiness took hold.

'Goodnight, Adrien,' she said with a sleepy smile.

'Goodnight, Marinette,' he responded. 'I love you.'

'Love you too,' she replied, and after a beat, her whole being lit up and she sat up. 'I said it! I said it!'

She tackled him with a hug as she laughed joyfully, and he hugged her back, joining in her celebration. After all this time, after all her failed (and not-so-failed) plans, she finally found the courage to (consciously) tell him that she loved him.

Not only was he immensely proud of her, he took his own joy in her affectionate words. She loved him! Unequivocally, she loved him! He could fly up to that wonderfully unbroken moon and shout from the top of his lungs that Marinette Dupain-Cheng loved him for the whole universe to hear! He didn't care about the laws of physics in space! He would make sure the whole universe knew of their love! He'd travel to the moon first thing in the morning, but now, he was beyond content tangled in bedsheets, holding Marinette in his arms.

Soon, their hug turned into a cuddle, with her head on his shoulder.

'Goodnight, Adrien,' she said again, looking up at him. 'I love you.'

'Goodnight, Marinette,' he replied. 'I love you too.'

She smiled up at him before snuggling into his chest, and after a few minutes, her breathing started to even out as she fell asleep. Adrien laid there for a moment longer, watching his beautiful love blissfully asleep, before closing his eyes and falling asleep himself. When he woke up in the morning, he could honestly say he had the most peaceful and wonderful sleep of his life.