A/N: Sleep deprived I may be, but alive I am yes.

I've made no attempts to break free from the thing people call the, 'Miraculous Ladybug' fandom, so I find myself scrolling through the tag on tumblr. Alot. I just happened to come across an idea for an identity reveal post. I liked it and didn't really think about it until tomorrow when my mind started to create a whole story around it. So I wrote this all in one night and am posting it the next day before I pass out. Fun!

If you want to see the original post that inspired this all, go here:

post/154423435019/i-need-an-identity-reveal-that-goes-like-this

Dual Identity Dilemmas

(Inspired by checkyesbraixen)

All in all, Adrien could say this today was the highlight of his week. Nothing would change his mind on this matter. That's what he thought until he found himself dangling above the road and encased in a silk cocoon suspended from a nearby streetlamp. Usually he'd leave his super-powered partner, Ladybug, to assist him out of these kinds of situations. If she hadn't been dealing with much of the same. She was currently attempting to struggle out of her own personal cocoon hanging on the streetlight across from him.

"My lady, I think you're better off not struggling. This silk is pretty strong."

"You can give up if you want Chat, but I know for sure I can...break...this...SILK!"

Continually putting more effort in trying to at least wiggle an arm free from the cocoon, all Chat could see from his point of view was Ladybug's head swinging back and forth with effort.

"I don't know, LB. I think we got too wrapped up in trying to catch the akuma. Because in the end we walked right into his web." Chat's puns were half-heartedly delivered with a huff. He didn't even mean to pun, but he ended up doing so anyways.

"Ughh! I don't have time for your puns, Chat! We need to get going chasing that akuma!"

To be honest, Adrien usually agreed, but today's akuma couldn't have come at a worse time for him. He was so close! Today started out like any other school day, breakfast, get in the car, Gorilla drives him over, and he would walk to homeroom with Nino and go through his classes. Adrien had big plans however between today and tomorrow, he planned to turn these normal days into memorable ones. This was it, it was the day he finalized his plan to ask Marinette out!

A month or two back, he didn't think he would actually go through with something like this. But something needed to change. He had been patrolling and fighting the occasional akuma with none other than Ladybug herself for so long without any progress in winning her heart. They remained good friends, if not better with the passage of time. And the foundation of their partnership was solid. Romantically? Nope. Zip. Nada. Try again. Sayonara.

Every single move and line he tried was met with friendly teasing or her dodging it entirely. Especially the most heartfelt ones he could manage, nothing. Not an ounce of compassion. Which furthered his decision to stop chasing her. Did he still hold a deep love for Ladybug...Yes. He would say so. But slowly the flirting went down until the lowest pick up lines, ones could never bring himself to say to such a high class woman like Ladybug, were locked deep away. The flirting went away altogether after that, and their patrols were nothing but witty banter, encouraging words after a long day, and the occasional serious strategy and planning that came after recent akuma attacks.

Instead, he turned his sights elsewhere. In the process of letting go of Ladybug and easing the throttle on, what he calls 'irresistible', charm, he decided to also change things up in the life of Adrien as well. Nothing major, instead he wanted to try putting himself out there and learning more about his classmates. Specifically the two girls that sat behind him and Nino in class. Even though Alya and Marinette were often included in his and the DJ's plans when offered, or vice versa, he noticed he didn't quite know everything there was to the LadyBlogger supreme and the shy aspiring designer. He called them friends, sure, but only Nino could really claim the title of being one of his friends. He knew everything about the guy!

His favorite food? Potatos.

His favorite movie? A fan of over the top, 80's action movies. The Terminator.

His favorite color? At first he said blue, but since a certain incident where he had been stuck with someone else during an akuma attack, it changed. He denied it was ever blue and continually says he meant orange. Adrien could wager a wild guess on who inspired that change…

Alya and Marinette, however, were just a bundle of mystery. So he decided that needed to change. He told Nino about wanting to actually get closer and learn more about his two classmates. Nino heard 'More Alya time' and he was all the more willing to agree. From that point on, Nino and Adrien made a note to include the girls in more of their activities. From simple lunch breaks to planned weekend adventures.

Alya was pumped about Adrien and Nino inviting the two to hang out whenever they wanted. Marinette...Marinette was a special case. When she realized hanging out with the DJ and his best bud meant time around Adrien, her thoughts went through the roof. Hanging out with Nino meant quality time with Adrien. Quality time with Adrien meant more time spent around Adrien. Quality time meant Adrien. Quality. Adrien. Time. ADRIEN! Millions upon millions of Alya certified pep talks later and Marinette gave in. Extremely happy and also EXTREMELY NERVOUS.

The first few times they hung out as a group, Adrien learned more about Alya he'd never known before. Not to mean he knew everything about her, but she was more than willing to talk about her interests. Especially her top fascination, Ladybug. Marinette wasn't that easy to crack. The first hangouts involved a lot of stuttering, a lot of clumsiness, and, ohhhh man, let's not get started on verbal slip-ups. With time, the nervousness went away. Marinette became a lot more approachable from Adrien's perspective. The girl was still easily flustered, but at least she wasn't intimidated by him anymore! Which is why, as they sat in a cafe they randomly chose after being dismissed for a lunch break, when Alya asked Marinette about her recent design project and Adrien watched the overjoyed girl ramble on and on about the particulars of her recent endeavor, smile wide and bluebell eyes bright with excitement, Adrien felt his heart squeeze while his stomach dropped. With just a look, he fell.

Oh...no…

After the initial shock of the once sheepish designer running up and stealing his heart and not even having the common decency to leave an I.O.U, he was actually partial to giving Marinette a shot. If anything, he knew her. Sure, he knew Ladybug as a great partner and a friend. But he knew Marinette. She had no mask to hide behind. Just deep aqua pools he found himself lost it from time to time. Marinette was beautiful, Marinette was amazing, Marinette was...reachable. So when he found the dimmed flame that once burnt bright for Ladybug put in the corner next to the blazing torch that was the sweet, enthusiastic designer herself, he didn't think twice about it.

In fact, things were going well between them. Too well. He ended up wanting less group time, and to find a way to end up with more Marinette time. Just him and her. No one else. He had a whole elaborate first date planned after a week of constant brainstorming. Nothing too lavish or extravagant, maybe he comes in early the next day and convinces Alya to take Nino somewhere for lunch that day. Marinette arrives and is none the wiser. Lunch time rolls around. Alya makes up some kind of excuse and drags Nino along with her. Adrien makes out like it was unexpected that their blogger friend just happened to have business leaving him and Marinette alone to make plans. He suggests a sandwich place that just opened up a few blocks away. They walk there, sit down, have a chat or two, crack jokes(maybe a few puns?), they both laugh and Adrien says he enjoys spending time with just her like this. Maybe she'd like to do it again sometime? She says yes to another date. They go out. Fall in love. Become high school sweethearts. Marry early. Buy a house with Adrien's copious amount of modeling money. Live together. Have three beautiful children-

Adrien stopped his train of thought right there. Maybe he could work on phase one before jumping ahead.

Of course, this plan was thrown completely out of the window the day he overheard something never meant for his ears. About to leave, he forgot a textbook he would have needed for his history homework that night. Rushing back into the locker area where he stashed it, he failed to notice Marinette and Alya on the other side of his locker in his rush. As soon as the book was deposited in his bag, he stopped halfway out the door when he heard 'Adrien', 'Crush', and 'Date' in the same sentence.

He halted right in the doorway, keeping one ear angled toward the source. That was Alya and Marinette talking. But what were they talking about?

"I don't know. Maybe it's too forward." Wait, Marinette, what's too forward?

"You guys have been getting closer recently. I thought that's what you wanted. That's progress, girl!" Alya was right, they have been getting closer. Wait, progress?

"Yeah, progress. But, I don't know if I can just come right up to him after-school and ask him on a date tomorrow."

What.

"C'mon. You've had a crush on -Boat Model Boy for months. You're approaching the year mark, bottling this stuff up isn't good. Besides, I've seen the way you two look at each other when we go out. You, I'm used to it. But, Adrien, oh Mari if only you saw the effect you have on that boy."

"Alya!" That was it. Stick a fork in him, he was done. He couldn't comprehend anything right now. He couldn't even feel his body anymore. The world was spinning. Wait, the world was actually spinning?

"RAAGHHHHHHHH"

Nope...nope. Just vibrations from a rampaging akuma…

-AKUMA?!

Which brought him back to now. This akuma was horribly timed. Hawkmoth decided to turn a concerned spider enthusiast angry about the mistreatment of his favorite animal into his villain of the week this time. A giant eight foot man with the legs and body of a spider, instead of a spider's head, it was his human body from the belt up with several eyes and arms and a mouth which grew sharp menacing pincers. He was part spider, part man. A spider-man, if you will. Not only did he have the qualities of a spider, but his spider body was able to produce and spin web. The silk wraps they were currently trapped in happened to come from when he turned around and shot the silk out of his-

On second thought, better not to think about it.

After they were wrapped tightly and hung off the nearest streetlights he could find, the akuma scampered off, screaming 'THE SPIDERS WILL BE SAVED!'. Ladybug and Chat saw the purple mask of Hawkmoth appear several times as he ran off. Probably screaming at him to take their miraculous while they were defenseless and all their limbs were pinned. The man ignored Hawkmoth's influence, shouting more nonsense involving spiders down the roads of Paris. Hawkmoth had a rogue akuma on his hand again.

Ladybug continued exhausting herself trying to get out of her cocoon trap while Chat took this time to think. Marinette had a crush on him this whole time. THIS WHOLE TIME! Everything made so much sense. The stuttering, tripping, the embarrassment. He thought she was intimidated by him this entire time, that or still wary from their bad first impression with the seat gum, but really she was just infatuated with him. How goddamn dense could he be?

That accidental confession completely turned the day on it's head. Adrien should feel nothing but happiness. The girl he started to pine over felt the same way, and for supposedly a long time. He had his golden ticket, an opportunity. Which is why his heart decided now would be the best time to be an ass and bring up his past love for Ladybug. The almost extinguished flame flared out of nowhere and put his heart in a vice. He had gotten so close to Marinette, but the closer he got, the more he felt as if he was betraying Ladybug.

It didn't make sense! He was just about to get over Ladybug and possibly be happy with Marinette. He was almost there. And still his brain screamed that he was just using Marinette to fill the void that he failed countless times to have Ladybug fill.

But you loved Ladybug first!

And Marinette just happens to be the second person I've felt like this for.

She's not your partner. You don't work together nearly as well as the Heroine of Paris!

Not true. Marinette has proven herself capable all the time. Plus, we didn't make a bad team on that last group project with Alya and Nino.

You just have to try a little bit hard. LB can still be won over.

I don't have to 'work' to please Marinette, she likes me for me.

Ladybug!

Marinette!

Honestly Adrien was so tired he stopped paying attention to his mental argument and was about to just fall asleep in the cocoon. They'd be there for a while anyway. Adrien was about ready to slip off, until he heard a sharp beeping sound.

Beeps...beeps...HE'S STILL TRANSFORMED!

Now fully alert, he himself began to wriggle around inside his silk prison. The thick webbing muffling the loud beeps so only he heard it. He couldn't let Ladybug see him like this.

"No. No. No! No! NO! NO!-"

Ladybug stopped wiggling herself when she heard her partner's sudden exclamations. When a blinding green flash went off, she started to regret ever having looked over at the panicking cat.

"NNNNNNnnnooooooooooo~" He trailed off when he realized he already de-transformed. He stopped struggling too. What was the point of trying as Adrien if Chat couldn't manage to break out.

"Well, this day couldn't get any worse." After he said that, he was proven wrong when a small shape bulged out from the cocoon. The lump struggling furiously next to the area that encased his hand he wore the miraculous on.

"Nevermind, I stand corrected."

Adrien almost forgot he had a witness right across from him. Said witness who was his partner that deeply valued their secret identities. Meanwhile, said witness stared at the blonde model boy that replaced the previously dorky, playful kitty she knew. Ladybug's eyes were wide as she stared, mouth held in a surprisingly straight neutral line.

"Heh. Ummm…Hi, m-my lady? How's it hangin?" The words sounded foreign coming out of his mouth without the mask. Adrien was fairly sure the stuttering didn't help either. Ladybug's face didn't move. She didn't twitch, she wasn't doing much of anything really.

Before Adrien got the time to ask her if she was alright, she opened up her mouth and screamed. Really, really loud. Adrien flinched and looked just as surprised as his spotted partner as she continued to scream on for about thirty seconds. How has she not run out of air yet?

When she trailed off, Adrien assumed she ran out of breath or her throat was beginning to hurt. Either way, they stayed silent like that for a while until he tried to speak up again.

"Look, Ladybug. I know you're probably scared or disappointed or mad right now, but I promise I really didn't mean for things to go like this. This is just a really bad day and this just sort of happened. I don't care if you don't want me as your partner anymore afterwards, I wouldn't want me either. But at the very least, can you promise you'll put up with me until we purify this akuma. We can talk about everything then."

Ladybug continued to stare at him with the same face, seeming to not hear anything he just said. His speech was then accompanied with the warning beeps of Ladybug's own miraculous. Adrien just noticed she only had one spot left.

"Ladybug! Your miraculous!" Too late.

With a bright red flash this time, it was time for Adrien to be shocked as he stared back at a face that held bright blue eyes and was dusted with light freckles.

"Marinette!"

Adrien stared back at the girl with wider eyes than she managed and mouth agape. His mind broke. He was lying before. Now he's done. Stick two forks in him. Put him in a coffin. Nino can handle the funeral playlist. Let him die.

Marinette recovered slightly, nervously chuckling and trying to hide further into the mess of silk.

"Uh. Hi, Chaton…"

A red blur flew soundlessly between the couple toward the still moving lump inside of Adrien's cocoon. Reaching her tiny mitts into the mass, the kwami tried to pry the sticky tensile material apart around the shape. Her efforts paying off as she saw a black furry head pop into existence.

"Psst, Plagg. Wiggle free and help me get these two out of here. We need to go chase the akuma."

The kwami's big green eyes opened and narrowed at his savior.

"Easy for you to say! Do you know how much work that is! I need a wheel, no, TWO wheels of camembert before I can think abou-"

"JUST DO IT!" The shrill voice demanded before flittering back to her own chosen to try unraveling the thread she remained trapped in.

"Yeah...yeah. I'm going." Plagg struggled his way out, pulling several wispy strands of silk with him. Shaking it all off, he went to work pulling the sticky material apart to cut with his sharp fangs.

Meanwhile, the kids were doing just fine. Adrien is pretty much dead on arrival, but it's all fine.

"YOU WERE LADYBUG THE WHOLE TIME?!"

Lies. Nothing is fine.

Marinette had to recoil back at Adrien's yelling. She knew this would happen. Adrien didn't want her. He wanted Ladybug. She could never compare.

"Well. I mean…"

She trailed off and with a sigh she willed herself to continue. Just like a band-aid, rip it off fast and the pain will go away quicker, right? Except that this band-aid really sucked.

"Yes. Adrien. I'm Ladybug. I'm...I'm really sorry I disappointed you."

Marinette closed her eyes and braced for whatever Adrien had left to throw at her. She could take rejection well. It was only the boy of her dreams that happened to be her incredibly flirty partner she rejected at every twist and turn. There is absolutely nothing at stake here.

Though the silence that ensued confused Marinette.

"Ohhh no."

Adrien's whine made Marinette crack one eye open to her partner across the street. He wasn't angry, quite the opposite, he looked like he was cursing himself instead.

"Oh no. Oh crap. Crap. Crap!"

"A-Adrien?"

"God...dammit."

Marinette wasn't sure how to respond to this. He didn't sound angry at all, just confused and patronizing.

"Shit...SHIT!"

"Umm. Adrien?"

"FUCK!"

Oh my god, she never heard Adrien say anything more than hell. If she wasn't so confused, she would have been laughing at the stream of vulgarity that completely betrayed the good boy image Adrien gave off.

"Adrien, is something wr-"

"I'VE BEEN COCKBLOCKING MYSELF!"

The statement echoed off the walls of the street. The bold declaration stopped everything that was happening. Marinette froze along with her kwami's as they had held handfuls of spider webbing. Marinette finally broke the silence.

"What?"

Plagg too took this time to remove himself off a thread he was chomping down on.

"I agree, what?"

Adrien took a deep breath in. And then the boy started to ramble. God damn, did he ramble.

"When I got the Chat Noir miraculous I promised myself that I would love the girl behind the Ladybug mask, which was you, but I didn't know at the time, so I ended up falling head over heels for you and trying to flirt with you in an attempt to woo you because the only role models I've had since I was a kid were on TV and in anime, so I tried to emulate them but instead you kept pushing me away, so I started to give up on wanting to make out with you, because I really wanted to super make-out with Ladybug and it was pretty much my dream, but I knew it was never going to happen!"

Marinette had a hard time processing any of this. Though she was pretty sure she clearly heard 'make-out with Ladybug.'

"What"

"Kid. No. Stop. Kid, no! Shut up! For the love of camembert and all that is kwami, STOP TALKING!"

"While I was trying to give up on Ladybug I decided that I needed to make a change in my life as Adrien, not Chat, so I decided to become better friends with you and Alya, because you were always so shy around me, but clearly that was for a different reason besides being afraid of me, so we started to hang out more and you made me feel that same passion I used to feel for Ladybug, and I started noticing how cute you were and how kind and sweet and how you were determined and stood up for yourself, so I started thinking that was really hot and I started to imagine making-out with you instead of Ladybug, and it was going to be really gross but extremely hot."

"Um...I don't…"

"But then I came into school today and I was psyching myself up for tomorrow when I would try to ask you out, but at the end of the day when I went to go get my history book from my locker, I overheard you and Alya talking about how you wanted to ask me out on a date, and at first I was really excited but I also heard how you've had a crush on me for-like-ever and how I haven't been paying attention to you until now, so I started to feel really bad, but then my heart thought because I wanted a relationship with you that I was cheating on Ladybug, even though we weren't a thing, and I've been thinking about this ever since we started fighting this akuma and now we got hung here in these stupid cocoons and accidently revealed our identities and now I'm mad that I didn't realize the most important girls in my life were the same beautiful person, and now I don't really have to feel bad about imagining wanting to have sloppy makeouts with you or Ladybug because you're the same person and I'm kicking myself for not noticing until now."

Adrien ended his rant with heavy breaths, trying to keep the oxygen in his brain caught up with the verbal maelstrom he spat out. Marinette's brain cut out long before he even finished. Unable to handle that her crush had secretly been her partner this entire time. That and 'sloppy makeouts' being said several times left her speechless to begin with. Adrien recovered from his previous rant and started thrashing in the partially undone tangles of silk Plagg still had to eat through.

"I'm really mad, and I hate myself for not...realizing...THIS SOONER!"

With a yell he managed to fall forward, tearing off part of the cocoon with him and falling to the street. He recovered quickly from the fall, striding over toward Marinette's cocoon where he lightly shooed away the stunned kwami who complied without resistance. Grasping the webbing he pulled apart enough of the strands to let Marinette fall slowly into his then waiting arms. Setting her feet gently back on the ground he turned toward his confused kwami and raised his ring hand.

"Plagg! Claws out!"

"No. No. Wait, kid. That's not a good i-WAGGGGHHHH"

Plagg was barely given time to argue before being sucked back into his ring and reactivating his miraculous. In a flash of green and black, Chat Noir stood where Adrien just was. Looking to his partner-in-crime fighting, Marinette stood there, not moving or making any sounds.

"Mari. This is the part where you shout out your kwamis name and become a badass. We got an akuma running around. I kind of need you right now." He placed a typical Adrien hand on her shoulder, which she barely registered in the corners of her mind.

"Sp...Spots, on?" Tikki zipped silently into the stunned girls earrings as Marinette's form was replaced with the famed heroine of Paris.

"Right. First, I'm going to find that akuma and claw their eyes out. Then, we'll snatch his akumatized item, break it, and send the butterfly back on it's way to Hawkmoth. After that, you can watch me kick my own ass for several hours for failing to realize my future girlfriend has two different identities and I managed to fall in love with her. Twice."

Without even one pun uttered, Chat stormed down the street with one claw tightly gripping his signature staff, leaving Ladybug to recover from the atom bomb dropped directly on her brain. She didn't let him get too far down the street before her thoughts kicked her back to reality, telling her to control her rampaging kitten.

"Kick your own ass? Chat? Chat! Chat, wait up!"

A/N: Poor Adrien. He wasn't that hard on himself, after they purified the akuma he only kicked his own ass for a few hours with plenty of Ladybug telling him to stop over-reacting. I swear, these two dorks will be the death of me.

If you're following my crossover, Chasing Daylight, don't worry. More of it is in the works. It's just really slow going. Once I finally beat the game of life, I'll be able to devote more time to it. Just bear with me. Until then, R&R.