Happy New Year guys! Cheers for the final chapter! Thank you all so so much for coming on this journey together, between my awful update speed and cheesy writing. I love you guys.

It started with gym class, which is not a sentence Adrien would've considered saying before.

Admittedly, it was partially his fault. He was pretty oblivious sometimes, having grown up without much interaction with kids his own age. If he had, he probably would have caught himself before throwing himself into such a ridiculous situation.

"Class, line up! Harnesses on, helmets on! Be prepared to go when I call your name!"

For gym, their class was combined with another class. It just so happened that the other class had the top rock-climbing student in the school, and by god, he was haughty about it.

Frankly, everyone found it annoying. He liked to show off when it came to the school climbing wall, but Adrien had not known this.

"Reverse alphabetical by last name, please."

They each took their turn, everybody sighing as the boy with the thirty second record on the ten meter wall tore up and bounded down, grinning as the coach read off a time of twenty nine seconds, a new record.

"Last but certainly not least," the coach said, with a hint of sarcasm. "Adrien Agreste, you're up."

With his gear safely buckled and the carabiner attached to his harness, he put one hand on the wall and waited for his cue. He had noticed the other boy's speed, but had mainly focused on the fact that Marinette barely got thirty two seconds, even being Ladybug.

His goal to go as fast as possible was mainly to beat her out of sheer competitiveness, not the other kid. He climbed the wall in his room regularly, after all. But he had never timed himself.

"Ready, set, go!"

Adrien literally shot up the wall, barely even pausing as he grabbed the next hold. He tapped the bell at the top as soon as he had finished, grappling back down with ease.

When his feet hit the ground and he detached himself from the belay, he was a bit unnerved to see the stares he was getting.

Marinette's eyes were wide with what seemed to be apprehension, and the other boy was practically fuming.

"Twenty six seconds," the coach read off, shocked. "It seems we have a new record, and a new record holder."

There were cheers, and Adrien appreciated them, but he was shaken by his Lady's worried expression. His worry was confirmed when the boy stormed off, straight out of the class.

"Adrien, that was incredible!" Nino called.

"Figures, you do have that wall in your room," Chloe smirked.

"Teach me," came Kim's obligatory whining.

Adrien managed some nervous laughter, happy and worried. Marinette hurried over to whisper in his ear, "You really were amazing, but I'm worried that he'll be akumatized."

Almost as if on cue, a loud laughter echoed into the gym, followed by shrieks of terror. "Man, Hawkmoth wastes no time!" Alya exclaimed, horrified. She turned to Adrien and Marinette. "I'll cover you guys, go transform!"

With a loud crash, the akuma burst in through the doors. "I'm am the Climbing Carnage!" he shouted. "Fear my climbing strength and speed!"

The students screamed as he shot a beam of light from his helmet which hit their coach, sending him skidding against the wall. He struggled, but it seemed he was stuck to it.

Climbing Carnage's narrowed onto Adrien, causing the boy's eyes to widen. "And I will make you pay, Adrien Agreste!"

He turned to make a dash for it, finding Marinette had escaped before the akuma had burst in. A beam directed at him caused him to divert his path, trying to avoid being hit by the well-aimed beams.

Ladybug hurried in from what seemed to be a closet. Adrien's eyes widened further as she narrowly avoided being hit by a beam.

"Ladybug! I will deal with you later. First I need to make Adrien Agreste pay!"

Ladybug raised an eyebrow, looking at Adrien. Adrien gave her a panicked look in response, and she suddenly grabbed him around the waist and swung out of the open window on the side.

Adrien yelped, mentally apologizing to her for probably making her deaf. He felt her shake slightly, realizing she was laughing.

"Marinette!" he exclaimed over the roaring wind they swung through. She only laughed harder, causing him to pout as he tightened his hold around her neck.

She touched down on a roof a good distance away, absolutely trembling with uncontrollable laughter. Adrien flushed, pout deepening.

"This is not funny." he declared.

Ladybug leaned in close, putting her hand on his cheek. "Looks like I'm your knight in shining armor, chaton." she teased, still laughing. "Oh, how the tables have turned."

He couldn't find it in himself to protest, having been distracted by his beautiful girlfriend's sparkling eyes. "You can use me as bait," Adrien changed the subject, glancing to see Climbing Carnage running towards them on the street. Living up to his name, he was crashing into cars and damaging storefronts.

"Detransformed? No way! That's dangerous," she refused immediately.

"It's easier though," Adrien urged. "He went after me first. Oh, and," He leaned towards her with mischievous eyes. "my knight in shining armor can protect me, no?"

Ladybug huffed, which made her look quiet adorable. They peered over the edge to see Climbing Carnage rushing up their building, climbing to the top as if flying. "Fine. Stay behind me, I want to finish this quickly."

Adrien knew better than to fight her on that, so he stood behind her and looked around for anything that might help fight him. He grabbed a hose, which he noticed was connected to pump. She took it, aiming the nozzle for the akuma.

Climbing Carnage jumped onto the roof, just in time to be blasted with water. Disoriented, he stumbled and fell face-down onto the roof, and Adrien quickly pulled the helmet off his head. Ladybug shouted, "Lucky charm!" And used the metal bat she got to smash the helmet.

After purifying the akuma, Ladybug looked carefully at the boy. Adrien hurried towards him as he sat up, confused.

"Hey," Adrien greeted awkwardly. "I'm really sorry about the record thing. I honestly wasn't intending to, I was really trying to beat Marinette." He heard a gasp of indignation behind him, and had to fight a smile off his face.

The boy nodded. "It's fine," he replied, frowning. "I'll just have to beat your record."

"Looking forward to it!" Adrien grinned. Ladybug put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm bringing him back to the school. Just for that, you can come back on your own," she whispered in his ear, a lilt of teasing lacing her voice. Adrien turned to her with wide eyes, only to see her grab the boy around his waist and swing away with him.

Adrien shouted after her, slightly amused but mainly exasperated. He sighed, calling for Plagg and transforming. He would get her back for that later.

Sure enough, when he reached the school, he startled her so much she shrieked and jumped what had to have been two feet. Even though she hit his chest for that one, they found themselves laughing together, holding each other.

Chat prowled the rooftops, an extra patrol. He was enjoying the night air, and though alone, he didn't really feel lonely. It was nice to have free time on a pretty spring night, with the summer steadily approaching.

He dashed into one of his favorite neighborhoods, jumping onto the roof of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He noticed Marinette's room was empty, but then saw her coming up the street. He felt a smile spread, the kind that touched his eyes. He watched the girl he loved hum, smiling herself.

His heart smiled along with them, and he hurried down towards her. Landing right next to her, he grinned. "Isn't it a bit late to be running with fabric? Alone?"

Marinette shrieked, dropping the rolls of fabric in her hand. "Chat! You scared me!" she exclaimed, flicking his arm.

He chuckled, grabbing a roll off the ground. "My apologies, princess. I didn't mean to. This time, anyway."

A tiny grin played at the corners of her lips. "Never mind that, give me a lift?"

"Your wish is my command, my Lady!" With that, he picked her up bridal style along with her fabric. He propelled himself up with his baton, jumping and landing on her balcony.

"Thanks, Adrien." she said, standing up. She leaned the fabric against the wall, then fixed her ruffled hair.

Though they didn't say anything, the sounds of the city spoke. The breeze whistled in their ears, and the stars twinkled overhead. As she set her fabric down, Chat could see every moment they had spent together in her eyes, reflecting their love and friendship, their battles and victories.

She stood back up and leaned against him, both facing the skyline of the city they loved and protected. They had gone through a lot together, hadn't they? He turned to look at her, and she back up at him.

"You know, I think it was a day like this we first became friends. When you told me how much you loved Adrien," he mentioned cheekily, leaning in towards her.

Her grin spread across her lips, and she put her arms around his neck, chuckling. "You know, I think it was a night like this where we first did this." She leaned up kissed him, their lips melting against each other, familiar and sweet.

They were together.

Best friends, partners, lovers.

No matter what life threw at them, they would be together. Be it akumas, secrets, their pasts and futures, even themselves. They would be able to push forward, because they would always have each other. And that was enough for them.

Two halves of a whole, and force to be reckoned with.

"Marinette, I heard Adrien land on our roof. Did you both want cookies-" Then there was a gasp and subsequent laughter.

Chat whined as Marinette jolted away from him, breaking their kiss. "Maman!" she yelped. He could hear Tom cackling below Sabine, who had set the plate of cookies down as she laughed.

"Sorry dear, go back to kissing your boyfriend!" she called, before hurrying back inside.

"Maman!" Marinette whined, and Chat could see her cheeks flush.

"I agree with your mom," he nudged, peppering kisses on her jaw. She cupped his cheeks with her hands, kissing him again, humming with amusement and embarrassment. He kissed her back fervently, his hands resting on her hips.

He would never forget that day he chose to befriend her as Chat. Though it was a sort of indirect friendship at first, a way to get close to her in more ways than one, it had been the best decision of his life. They were together now, and always would be.

Together.

Ahhh I can't believe I finally finished! I need to thank every single one of you reading, because you pushed me to continue and I love you all so much. Thank you to pringloo on tumblr for inspiring me to start this hehehe and thank you to all my new friends this fic has brought me ^_^ Aahdkfsjsdhakjas I LOVE YOU ALL!

~Phantom-chan