WELL HERE WE ARE. THE FINAL CHAPTER.

You guys are so amazing, and I'm so happy that you've followed my story for this long, and left me such wonderful comments. Writing this makes me feel more confident in writing and knowing that this fic is about the size of an average novel… well I feel like if I worked hard I could actually write a publish-able book. :)

So THANK YOU for your support and I'm glad you've like this story so much. I can't believe it's as popular as it is. Aaahhh that's just really really cool guys. :) I may write some extra chapters because I love this little Stray Chat universe that I've built. :)

I hope you like the ending! I had fun writing it!

(Also, a big thank you to dreamwips / zizzani who is amazing and beta read most of these chapters to make them even better! 3 ILY!)

"Marinette, I found more of your shrine of me."

"It was not a shrine! And anyways, I had a collection of modeling photos and inspiration not- not-" Marinette tried to spit words back at him, but the complacent smirk on his face made her choose to snatch the photos out of his hands and push them into her purse.

She was mad at him, but not really mad. She wasn't mad that he hadn't told her who he was, because thinking that would only make her feel guilty due to her own actions. But wow was she mad that Adrien Agreste was actually a dork and had been in love with her for a ridiculous amount of time without her even knowing it.

She could barely stand to look at him when he made the expressions she was so used to seeing on Chat. This was unnatural.

And yet he'd never seemed so perfect.

Adrien finished putting some suits into the closet where he'd found the remaining traces of her middle school obsession, and then turned back towards her with an unsure smile. Marinette tapped the side of her leg distractedly and rocked on her heels before saying with a shrug,

"We could repaint it if you'd like. What's your favorite color?… Green?"

Adrien smiled, shaking his head before looking up at the soft pink walls with small black flowers hand painted around the windows.

"I don't want to repaint. It reminds me of you wherever I look." he reached his arms out a little and she leaned into a hug, squishing her blushing cheek against his shoulder as she looked up at all the personality she'd coated her room with throughout the years.

"But it's your room now, not mine…." she said, frowning a little as they stood wrapped up together.

"But it was your room first!" he protested.

"That doesn't matter!"

"Fine then, it's our room." he said, trying to keep a steady voice and hold back a snicker in his tone. She pushed him away, glaring at him.

"Why do I tolerate you?" she said, and he just grinned and laughed.

"I don't know." he sighed, looking truly helpless as he shook his head. She hugged him again, pulling him closer as she tucked her head beneath his chin and prayed it wasn't too much contact.

Things had been weird to say the least. After the night on the Eiffel tower that had lasted long past midnight as they laughed over their past and nervously discussed the future; they'd returned home and gone straight to sleep with what night hours they had left.

And as they'd moved on throughout the week, moving Adrien's things out of the bedroom and into what took up two cardboard boxes, they'd tried to mend the awkwardness. It was definitely better, but still there.

Marinette blinked, feeling her eyelashes brush against his skin as she rested her head on his shoulder, and she pursed her lips tightly. They stood there for a moment, happy to be there holding each other in the quiet of her old bedroom.

"Are you sure about this?" Marinette said so quietly, her voice sounded odd in her ears.

"Of course I am. We were both sure about this until you started to get cold feet." Adrien laughed, having had this conversation with her over and over again the past few days.

"I know… I just feel bad. I know you wanted to stay… and I want you to stay too." she choked, her voice shaking as she finished.

"Mari…." he sighed, shaking his head. He pushed her away, holding onto her shoulders so he could look at her face, and he said with a smile,

"Of course I want to stay. Sharing an apartment with you was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. You could never know how much it meant to me, and how much it helped. But," he moved his hands to her face, using his thumb to wipe away a tear that was forming at the corner of her eye. "You were right. We need to start over. It wasn't really our fault we jumped head first into this mess…"

"Well it kind of was, we were both too chicken to tell each other who we were." Marinette laughed, trying to smile.

"That's true. But in any case, you were right the other night. I need to move out, just like I had to move out of my house. If we're going to do this, we have to start over. Adrien and Marinette-"

"Chat and Ladybug." she finished, smiling a little as she cupped her own hand over his.

"Yeah." he said softly, completely content as he looked at her with an expression that made Marinette's heart beat a little faster.

"I guess it really is for the best. Now you don't have to walk ten minutes every morning to buy croissants for breakfast. Or maybe that isn't so good… I think all that walking was the only thing keeping you thin." Marinette teased him, poking his stomach with her finger and making him jump away a little, laughing and also yelping a little.

"How much do you think I eat?!" he cried, grinning still.

"More than you think you do," she said, folding her arms and giving her head a toss. She walked over to the window, looking out at the view, and Adrien soon joined, leaning on the sill beside her. "Besides all that though, this will be good… My parents have been a little overworked ever since I left… you working here will really help them a lot. And if you do get accepted to UPMC it's only a 10 minute walk…" Marinette trailed off when she saw the grin hiding behind his pursed lips.

"Adrien… oh my gosh…" she turned towards him, shocked.

"I got the letter this morning… I got in!" he said, biting his lip as he tried his best to hold in his excitement. The Pierre and Marie Curie University was one of the first schools that Adrien had applied to. He'd been unsure about getting in, but she'd assured him that he was good enough to do it. And if he wasn't accepted, then she was sure whatever school took him would be a wonderful fit. She'd known he could do it, even when he was just Chat to her, she could tell he could make it in.

Marinette latched onto him, hugging him very tightly as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so proud of you! So so SO proud! I knew you could do it!" she cried, bouncing on the balls of her feet and making him laugh more. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing his face down to hers as he rested his forehead against hers. Her heart thrummed. They were getting closer and closer. Only a little bit more and that uneasiness between them would be completely melted away.

"Thank you. I'm going to tell my father tomorrow… that among other things."

"That's good. He does want to talk to you." she hummed back quietly, her nose being tickled by his steady breathing up against her face.

"It sounded like it…. Well me too. I think it will go well. At least I hope it will."

"It'll be fine." she murmured, rubbing his arm comfortingly.

"Mmm." his eyes were closed now,

"Do you want to go for a rooftop run?" she then asked, and he smiled, nodding.

"That sounds wonderful…" he said softly, and she leaned forward a little closer, her nose against his as-

"Oh! Excuse me." Marinette looked over to see her mother quickly leaving the scene, the trap door closing fast.

"It's alright!" Adrien laughed, blushing as he stopped the woman from leaving.

"Y-Yeah!" Marinette joined in, even if it wasn't alright.

"Well I just came up to ask if you needed any help, but it looks like you've moved in just fine…"

"Yep! We just finished taking down all the pictures of me on the walls!" Adrien said happily, following her mother down the stairs.

"ADRIEN!" Marinette snapped, blushing again as she closed the door behind her, stomping down the stairs in frustration.

Her mother was only laughing, knowing even more about Marinette's obsession than Adrien did.

"Well if you two are done we have a delivery that needs to be taken down a few blocks. Are you up for it?" Sabine said, motioning towards Tom who was scribbling down addresses on a paper.

"This is my new job isn't it? Of course I'm up for it!" Adrien said happily, nodding. Then he nudged Marinette with his elbow saying, "We could go for our walk afterwards."

She grinned back, nodding.

"Marinette, is Adrien ever going to be around here to help or are you going to occupy all of his time?" her mother sighed, making Marinette turn a pink color.

"She still has work to go to, I won't let her spend all her time with me." Adrien laughed, a little pink too, but enjoying the teasing a lot more than Marinette was.

"It's just a good thing you didn't move in with her after you left home, otherwise you two would distract each other so much you wouldn't be able to get any work done." Tom said, finishing writing addresses on the paper before handing it to Adrien who had successfully turned pinker.

"That would just be an all around bad idea, I don't think Marinette could feed him properly anyways, he's already a big eater." Sabine said, taking Adrien's face in her hands and patting his cheeks.

He laughed nervously, glancing over to Marinette who'd began picking at the edge of her skirt, face red but also a little reserved as she thought about the secret between them.

It still hurt to lie to her parents, after all these years of superheroing and making excuses, Marinette was worn out from it all. But when she thought about how worried they might have been if they knew, it made her feel a little better about keeping secrets.

They'd already made their story for their friends to know, and it wouldn't help if their parents knew a different one. Adrien had ran away from home and not told anyone, trying his best to live alone until Marinette had found out and insisted that he stay with her parents.

That was the story that everyone was going to know, the story Gabriel Agreste was going to hear as well. Marinette knew it was going to be difficult to convince the man that they hadn't been living together, but Adrien said Gabriel kept enough to himself that it wouldn't make much of a difference anyways.

So for now they had to pretend like they hadn't been becoming more close than anyone had originally imagined, the only thought that anyone would probably have about them was how Adrien and Marinette had finally managed to become a couple so quickly.

Marinette was glad they didn't have to hide that fact, otherwise she didn't know if she could hold back all the secrets in her head. Because at the moment, she felt a little sad that things had to be this way.

Sabine noticed her downcast expression and pulled her hands away from Adrien's face, saying a little innocently,

"Well… It's not all such a bad idea. You know, I still have all those photos, do you want to go make wedding invitations-"

Marinette gave a strangled yell and Adrien grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the shop quickly as he grabbed large bags of pastry boxes from Tom.

"Come on Marinette, let's go get these out in time!"

Marinette gave one last horrified glance to her parents, who were laughing behind their fingers, and the door shut with the bell tinkling behind them.

Adrien threaded his fingers between hers and pulled her a little closer as they began their walk down the street in awkward silence.

"Do you want me to carry some of those?" she asked weakly as she saw how much he was carrying in his other hand.

"No… I don't think you're in the right state to not be clumsy." he said lightly, and she frowned at him.

Marinette then waited a few more moments before she squeezed his hand a little and said quietly,

"I'm sorry… they're embarrassing." Adrien laughed and shook his head.

"No, they're wonderful! And anyways… maybe… you know… what they were talking about…" Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat and blurted out immediately,

"Adrien Agreste, we have been dating for only a couple of weeks, don't you dare start talking like that."

"Yes, but we have been working together for more than 5 years."

"S-So-" Adrien interrupted Marinette's spluttering by pausing in his walk and turning towards her, hand still holding hers and he laughed,

"Marinette, I just want you to know that you're important to me. And you know me better than anyone else does."

"…Y-yeah… You're important to me too." she swallowed and then added quietly, "I love you."

He pulled her into a hug, boxes of pastries bumping into her side as he enveloped her, pressing his face into her hair.

"I love you too."

Marinette felt a little giddy after that, though her heart was at peace, and the next hour of them delivering pastries was filled with laughing and smiles. She didn't know what was going to happen here on. She didn't know what would happen to them, what they would do in their lives, or how long they'd even keep superhero-ing around the city. But she did know they'd be okay.

If they'd survived the past years of chasing each other around like they had been, then they'd make it through whatever else life could throw at them. Because now they knew each other. The uncertain shyness that had shrouded their relationship had been thrown away and now they were whole, just like fate had always meant them to be.

"This is the last box Adrien! It's strange to me how popular our bakery can be around this richer area." Marinette said as she looked up at the fancy building before her.

"Sometimes homemade pastries made with kindness are better than what you can get at a 5 star restaurant…" Adrien said softly, sounding a little distracted and making Marinette look up at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh… My house- or- the… We're close to the Agreste mansion." he said, barely motioning with his elbow in the direction of his old home. Marinate nodded, watching him carefully. He seemed anxious about it.

"You were going to go see him tomorrow, weren't you?" she asked, and he nodded distractedly. Then he took the box of pastries and left her for a moment, delivering it to the household inside.

When he came back out he smiled at her like he'd forgotten about the conversation they hadn't finished, and he hooked her arm saying brightly,

"Ready for our walk?"

"Yes I am! Let's go this way first." she said, pulling him in the direction of the Agreste mansion.

"Wait- Marinette! Not today, I- I promise I'll do it tomorrow, it'll be alright-"

"Nope! I really think you should do it right now."

"But I didn't schedule with him! He won't want to see me-"

"Adrien Agreste!" Marinette stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "He is your father! And if he doesn't MAKE time for you then I'm going to reschedule him myself! Of course he wants to see you, you both need to fix this right now! I don't want to go on a walk with you if your mind is half occupied with a conversation you're going to have the next day!"

"….Fine." he sighed, screwing up his face painfully.

"It'll be alright." Marinette said, patting his arm and leading him down the street.

She then tried to lighten his mood a little by talking about how Plagg had gotten into her knitting yarn and had successfully tangled himself up till he had called for help. Plagg followed this by sticking his head out of her purse where he'd been taking a nap with Tikki and blatantly denied the entire story. Adrien, instead of siding with his Kwami, proceeded to tell Marinette about the time the cat had gotten his head stuck inside of Chloe's bracelet and caused the outbreak of civil war in their classroom and the akumatization of Sabrina's father. Plagg had sunk sullenly back into purse after this as Tikki began giggling uncontrollably.

Then they went quiet again as they reached the gate of the Agreste home. Adrien reached up and touched the doorbell, and waited until he heard Nathalie's voice.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Nathalie? It's Adrien."

"Adri-" her voice cut out and the gate immediately began to swing open. Adrien looked over to Marinette with a slightly scared expression and shrugged saying,

"I guess that means we can go inside…"

They didn't get very far before Nathalie came out, trying to go down the stairs as quickly and dignified as she could before she reached them.

"Hello Nathalie." Adrien said, smiling as he reached out and pulled the woman into a hug. She was obviously surprised by this, but then smiled as well, hugging him back softly for a moment before pulling away.

"Adrien, it's so nice to see you. How are you doing?"

"Really good. I moved into the room above Marinette's family bakery. I'm working there now." he motioned towards Marinette, who smiled shyly.

She felt like she was being introduced to who was like a mother to him. And even though she'd worked with Nathalie for awhile now, it still felt a little intimidating.

"That's nice… did you come to talk to your father?"

Adrien visibly gulped a little, but he nodded firmly anyways.

"If he has time…"

"Oh Adrien, I run his schedule, I'll make time." she said, shaking her head and leading the way back up the front steps. Marinette gave him a 'told you so' smile, and he shrugged, still looking a bit terrified.

They followed Nathalie all the way up the stairs, reaching the landing and turning off into a hallway that Marinette was sure led to Mr. Agreste's office.

Nathalie pushed open the doors and was met instantly by Mr. Agreste saying coldly,

"Nathalie, I told you, I have to work on these designs and I must not be disturbed-" he stopped turning in his chair when his eyes landed on Adrien.

"Adrien?" Mr. Agreste stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing in a surprised and concerned way.

"…I came to talk to you." Adrien said quietly, not looking away from his father's gaze.

Mr. Agreste glanced at Marinette for a moment, who realized, now that Nathalie had backed out of the room, that she was third wheeling this conversation in a very awkward way.

But Adrien, sensing her discomfort, tightened his grip around her fingers and pulled her a tiny bit closer.

It's fine and you need to stay. We're going to face problems together now.

Mr. Agreste seemed to read that too, because he set his pen down on the table and sat a little straighter in his chair, looking back at them like Marinette was not an accessory but an important part of the conversation.

However Marinette was going to let Adrien mend this without her voice.

"I wanted to fix things. Marinette told me what you said… and if you trust me than I'm going to tell you the truth." Adrien finished his sentence a little wavering, and Marinette shot him a very quick and panicked glance. What exactly do you mean by truth?!

"You're the only one who knows this… we don't want to tell anyone because like you, we try to avoid attention. I did go to Marinette for help when I left home, and she did take me in because she is by far the closest friend that I have." Adrien said cooly, and Marinette gulped a little as she thought on his words.

What did that mean to Adrien, now that he knew she was Ladybug? It meant his Lady had taken in her partner, and comforted him as best as she could. It meant she'd let him in while risking her own identity's safety. If it meant so much to him as Marinette doing it, she couldn't imagine what it felt like to know it was Ladybug doing it for Chat. She could hear the raw gratefulness in his voice as he said the words, and it burned in her heart till she felt her knees would give out beneath her.

"But you're obviously not just friends, are you?" Mr. Agreste sighed, pointing out the obvious as Adrien's thumb hooked around her fingers a little more tightly. Marinette laughed nervously, still a little dazed at that thought, and Adrien turned a little pink as well.

"No sir… But neither of us were really planning for that to happen. It's only been…a few weeks."

It feels like years already, even if we didn't know it.

"But that's why I've decided to move out. I'm living above the Dupain-Cheng's bakery now… they're letting me stay for free as long as I help them with running the bakery. I…" Adrien took another breath and he said confidently, a smile spreading across his face, "I also got accepted at the Pierre and Marie Curie University. I'm going to be starting school next year."

The smallest look of surprise flashed across Mr. Agreste's eyes but then a smile turned up the corners of his mouth slightly.

"Of course you did… congratulations."

"Thank you."

They all stood there for a moment, and it was quiet, but not entirely uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry Adrien… for what I've done."

"I forgive you." Adrien said almost immediately after his father had said this incredibly quietly. He let go of Marinette and approached his father, holding out his hand.

They shook firmly, eyes locked as Adrien continued to smile. Then he leaned forward a little more and hugged his father, the action so intimate that Marinette had to look down for a moment in slight embarrassment for having seen it.

"Your mother always told me you were going to do things your own way, no matter what direction I steered you in. I may not agree with certain things, but the knowledge that you are happy overrules any of those thoughts. Thank you for coming back for me, Adrien."

"Thank you for letting me see you, Dad." Adrien choked a little, and Marinette looked up when she could see his feet come towards her again.

"Goodbye Mr. Agreste." she said softly, nodding towards him as Adrien began walking towards the door.

"Goodbye Marinette. And thank you for everything you've done for my son." Mr. Agreste nodded back, and she smiled.

"You're welcome."

I wouldn't have been able to turn that stray away no matter how hard I tried.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief as the gates of his old home closed behind him, and he felt Marinette squeeze his arm.

"Do you feel better?" she asked, grinning up at him. She's so short.

"I do." he laughed, smiling back down at her.

He did feel better. Things weren't completely fixed, Adrien knew that the hole left from his mother's absence and the damage that had occurred afterwards, was not something that could be fixed by one conversation and a heartfelt moment.

But it did feel incredibly better.

"Ready for our walk?" Marinette asked, nudging him a little bit and making a sly smile spread across his face.

"Nothing would sound more fun, My Lady." he returned, and laughed as she pulled him down the nearest alleyway she could find.

Transforming side by side was one of the strangest feelings Adrien had ever experienced. Energy buzzed between them, crackling and sparking, and complimenting colors of green and red bombarded his eyes. He smiled at her as the mask he knew so well formed around her blue eyes, and he marveled at how he'd never seen them as the same person before.

Once she was fully transformed and he again battled the overwhelming amazement of knowing her identity, he reached out a hand to her which she took gently, and he kissed it. He wanted to really kiss her in that moment, but there was a twinge of uneasiness still clinging onto their relationship which had so recently shattered and then formed back together again. He didn't dare try for a kiss too soon. But this was enough, he decided, as he pulled away from her then and circled an arm around her waist, extending them up into the air with his staff before their feet touched down onto the rooftops below them.

"I'll race you to the Louvre." she said, winking at him as she gave herself a head start and bounded away.

"Cheater." he replied, jumping after her through the air.

They chased each other the entire way, barely paying attention to the Parisians beneath them who pointed their fingers at the racing duo. It was the loudest they had ever laughed and yelped, and just hearing them made the civilians smile up at them.

When his boots landed on the gravel, a few feet and moments away from Ladybug's landing, he straightened up to see her grinning at him.

"So you beat me, I can take the hit, you won," he sighed, and before he thought about what he was saying, feeling so comfortable with their old bantering groove, "How about a kiss as a prize?" he was smiling cheekily, leaning in, and she leaned right into him.

They stayed there for half a moment, eyes closed as their lips met and whatever doubt was left vanished, until they had pulled away. And right as they did, it was like a bomb had went off.

Oh right. We're in public.

Parisians were losing their minds, cameras out and flashing, cheering and yelling, and Adrien had never seen Ladybug with that red of a face before. But then again, he wasn't much better. Marinette's face broke from it's stunned expression however, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek, pulling his arm down so she could reach him better. He was probably even redder now, thank goodness his mask covered most of his face.

"Alright, time to go." she then said, motioning her head towards the crowd clamoring towards them with questions and cameras. So with a hearty farewell, Adrien waved to the crowd and ran off with his Lady right by his side.

Plagg and Tikki quickly vacated the scene as the couple de-transformed, safe from eyes on their stone hideaway between the gargoyles of Notre Dame. They'd spent hours playing tag across Paris, while simultaneously hiding from crowds of onlookers who were trying to find proof of the news that the Ladybug and Chat Noir they loved so much were indeed a couple now.

Marinette usually would have shook her head at the idea of playing around Paris and using their suits for anything but a fight, but tonight she really didn't care. They'd sat on the tops of tour boats and gone down the Seine, raced each other up the side of the Eiffel Tower, and sat thoughtfully in front of the White Chapel while looking down at the moving city before them. Her day had been full and fun, and she couldn't think of anyone better to spend it with than Adrien Agreste, her very own Chat Noir.

No middle school dream of a perfect date, or passing fantasy she'd had in the night could top the absolute joy coursing through her as she sped along rooftops beside him. This was the only thing she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Stay right by his side, whether on rooftops or the ground.

As they made contact with the old Cathedral she fell into him, wrapping her arms around him and burying herself beneath his chin. There they stood for awhile, almost dancing as they swayed, and watched the lights of the city grow brighter and the sky grow dimmer. Soon they had fallen to their knees, holding each other's hands to keep warm as the cool breeze passed through them, and Marinette leaned forward once again today and met his lips with hers. She could barely even see him in the light, just his gold hair shimmering like a halo around his head from what light they were receiving, but to her, just that alone looked beautiful.

She pulled her hands from his and carefully laced her fingers through his halo of hair, pulling his lips into hers as she tasted all that she expected him to taste like. From the sugar of croissants they had shared, to the faint trace of salt from his sweat, and everything in between. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his lap, and as close as he could get without hurting her, which she appreciated. When she was running side by side him she felt like they were the same size. But when she was this close to him she realized how small she really was.

She broke away from his lips for a moment, arching her neck back as he seamlessly moved with her, carefully kissing the skin beneath her chin and causing herself to shake a little at the touch. She in turn pressed her fingers gently into his scalp, gripping his hair enough to let it slide through her fingers so she could feel how soft it really was.

She finally bent her head back down, pressing her nose into his hair as she clung to him, and his fingers left gentle patterns into her back, up and down and side to side. She felt him relax back into the wall they were sitting up against, and she in turn went back to his lips, slow and steady, but getting deeper and deeper, and the muscles in her mouth were starting to ache from working so much.

Marinette was starting to wonder when was a good time to breath when her phone rang. She broke away from him, waiting a moment to see his heavy eyes open a little and look up at her, and then gave him another kiss before pulling a few inches away.

"Who knew the service up here is great?" she mumbled in a broken and strange voice, not used to speaking as she looked down at her phone that she'd just pulled out.

"Why on earth do you have a cellphone, you have better manners than that…" Adrien muttered back, lifting up his head a little so that his voice ghosted the rim of her ear. She had to push him down a little to keep herself from melting over him, and she tried her best to clear her throat.

"I know, I'm sorry. But I promised on pain of death that I'd keep my cellphone with me tonight. Alya made me. She said something big was going to happen tonight." Marinette said, and Adrien snorted a little.

"What? Did she really deduce that Nino was going to propose then-"

"Maaariiiineeette!" Alya's voice interrupted Adrien, put onto speakerphone, and the two smiled at the excitement in it.

"Yeah Alya?" Marinette could not hide the exhaustion in her voice, and she leaned against Adrien, her head falling down against his shoulder as he wrapped around her back and legs like she was a child about to fall asleep.

"Guess who proposed, just like I thought he would tonight!"

"You're supposed to be surprised Alya…" Nino's faint voice was heard in the background, and Adrien let out a small snort.

"Oh my goodness! That's amazing Alya! I'm so happy for you!" Marinette cooed, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible. But that was hard to do when your voice felt weird talking and Adrien Agreste was getting incredibly close to your ear with his lips.

"Thank you! Oh I'm so excited Marinette! We're going to be married in Paris but we'll have a second reception in Germany so all our co-workers can come, and then we'll go on our honeymoon to Morocco! You should come to Germany for the second reception, bring Adrien too! I could really use extra friends to help out, and you could definitely use a get away trip to finally get with Adrien!" Alya cried, and Adrien started laughing loud enough for anyone to have heard him on the other line. Marinette quickly punched his shoulder, telling him to shut up.

"Wait, is Adrien there?! Wait- Marinette-"

"Yes, Adrien's right hERE-" Marinette yelped a little as his teeth closed around her ear lightly for a split second, until he started laughing again and she punched his shoulder harder crying, "ADRIEN! Can you NOT do that right now?!"

"Right now? So what about later-"

"Kitty, I will throw you off this building if you don't-"

Alya interrupted them by a disbelieving cry of,

"Oh my- oh my gosh- you're making out. I can't believe this. I cannot freaking believe this-" Nino's yell of shock was heard loud and clear on the other end as well and Marinette felt like she was going to self destruct.

"We're not making out Alya!" she hissed, and Adrien unhelpfully added loudly,

"We were, and then your phone call interrupted us."

"OH MY-" Alya dissolved into what sounded like furious but happy scolding about how Marinette needed to tell her when things like this happened. And Nino as well was trying to start his own interrogation with Adrien about how everything had taken this sudden but wonderful turn.

"HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?" Alya's yell overpowered Nino's questioning, and Marinette had to pull the phone out of Adrien's hands as she answered quickly,

"Not long! Not long at all! Only like a few weeks but-"

"A FEW WEEKS?!"

"Come on Alya! Don't be upset! You were just telling us about your engagement, you should be more excited about that! Let's not talk about-"

"I'VE WAITED FOR AROUND HALF A DECADE FOR MY FRIENDS TO STOP BEING IDIOTS AND START DATING, AND WHEN THAT FINALLY HAPPENS, THE ONE PERSON WHO WOULD NEVER STOP TALKING ABOUT THEIR CRUSH FOR THOSE 5 YEARS HASN'T SAID A WORD TO ME FOR WEEKS, HOW CAN I NOT TALK ABOUT THIS?!"

"It was more complicated then that and- and- w- we-"

"Don't worry Alya, it's been an incredibly exhausting and confusing ordeal, It's only technically starting now." Adrien sighed, leaning into the phone and making Alya 'humph' in a content but grumpy way. Nino's voice followed this saying brightly,

"Don't worry about it guys, we're happy for you! Alya is just bummed because she missed Ladybug and Chat Noir-"

"THEY KISSED, THEY KISSED IN PUBLIC! AND I'M HERE IN GERMANY! NOW I HAVE TO USE SECOND HAND SHAKY FOOTAGE FOR THE LADYBLOG, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!"

All Marinette and Adrien could do was laugh, they giggled, shaking as they held onto each other and listened to Alya rant on the phone.

"First Ladybug and Chat Noir, and now you two, why is this all happening while I'm gone?!"

They didn't answer her, they just held each other a little tighter and Adrien gave her a kiss on the cheek. This was definitely where they were going to stay forever.

Side by side, together.