Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a very happy new year.

This is a fic I wrote for the ML Secret Santa exchange. It's for ame-leah over on tumblr.

I hope you enjoy!

The Last Place You Look

Marinette really regretted her inability to say no to people.

It wasn't that she disliked looking after Manon. Marinette thought the girl was adorable. Really. She was just very, very hyperactive and after babysitting her for three hours, Marinette was about to lose her mind.

So, yes, she was slightly regretting saying yes when Madame Chamack asked her to look after her daughter.

Manon tore through their kitchen, banging pots and pans together – when did she even find those?! – and Marinette groaned.

Tikki popped up onto Marinette's shoulder. "It's alright, Marinette!" The kwami encouraged, much like the last time Marinette had babysat Manon. "You can do it!"

"I know, Tikki, but –"

Wait a minute … like the last time…

She turned to where Manon was in the kitchen, a giant silver bowl on her head, a pan in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. The girl had disregarded a pot and now had the wooden spoon aloft, poised and ready to bust out in a drum solo.

"Manon!" The secret superheroine of Paris cried before her charge could make an awful racket. "What do you say about going to the park?!"

The park was a brilliant idea. The park was filled with things to amuse Manon. The park was –

Oh god, we need to go home right now! Marinette thought as she caught sight of a very familiar blonde model, who was currently in the middle of a photo shoot.

There was no possible way she could deal with Manon and Adrien at the same time! She couldn't focus on babysitting and trying not to spontaneously combust in her crush's presence all at once!

But wait!

What if she just casually went over there with Manon? She could be all, 'Hi Adrien, fancy seeing you here! I'm just here babysitting.' Then after his photoshoot, she'd invite him out for ice cream with her and Manon, he'd see how great she was with kids, they'd fall madly in love, date, get married, have three kids of their own, get a dog, some hamsters, maybe a cat –

"Hey, look! It's the model boy!" Manon cried, pointing to where Adrien was getting his photo taken by a man passionately exclaiming about spaghetti.

Her cry completely shattered Marinette's fantasy and caused her to blink her way back to reality. "Well, uh, yes, but he's probably very busy –"

Completely disregarding what she said, Manon tore her hand out of Marinette's own, ran up to Adrien and threw herself on him in a hug. "Hi, Adrien! 'Rien! Do you remember me?!"

(Marinette had to remind herself that it wasn't good to be envious of little children, who could just throw themselves on stupidly pretty, ridiculously nice, smart models like it was no big deal.)

"Manon!" She called out, running over to them. "You can't just interrupt the photo shoot!" She turned to the photographer – Vincent was his name right? – "Sorry, Monsieur, she just ran away from me. I'll get her out of the way –"

"It is the little angel!" Vincent cried exuberantly.

"Hello, Manon," Adrien greeted, as Manon climbed off of him. "Of course I remember you. We had the best photo shoot ever, didn't we?"

Manon smiled at him, pleased to be reconigsed, and Adrien turned his attention to her babysitter. "Hi, Marinette. Babysitting again?"

She prayed that her cheeks weren't going red. "Hi, Adrien! Uh, yes, but I'm sorry she interrupted you. I j-just wanted to get her out of the mouse – I mean house! – and then she saw you and ran over and I'm sorry –"

"Nonsense!" Vincent interrupted, looking delighted. "You are Mademoiselle Marinette, yes? Her babysitter? Wonderful. She is just what we need! Tell me, little one, what do you think of when you think of spaghetti?"

Marinette saw a moment of amused exasperation flicker onto Adrien's features. He had often told her, Alya and Nino about the passionate Italian photographer, and they had experienced him to some degree when he did their class photo, but she had to wonder how exactly often her crush had to deal with impassioned speeches about pasta.

"Spaghetti?" Manon asked.

"Yes! What do you think of when your Mama makes it for you?"

Manon looked thoughtful, "Maman makes the best spaghetti in the world! I always think about how much I love her cause she makes it so yummy."

Marinette smiled at her response, but it disappeared when she saw a flash of pain in Adrien's eyes.

"That's sounds great, Manon," he told her. "My Mother used to make yummy spaghetti too."

Marinette's heart ached for Adrien. He had opened up to her, Alya and Nino more about his Mother and how she had disappeared, and although he was adept at hiding the hurt of losing her, it did show up every now and again. However, Adrien said he was good at coping with it and he proved as much when the pain disappeared from his features and he went back to smiling at Manon.

She just wanted to give him a comforting hug, but knowing her she'd probably trip as she went to do it and accidentally give Adrien a black eye. Or succeed at giving him the hug and then faint because of doing so. It was best not to risk it.

"That's it!" Vincent exclaimed, drawing Marinette out of her thoughts. "That's what this shoot needs!" He turned to Manon, "A daughter," he turned to Adrien, "a father," and then he turned to her, "and a mother."

"What?!" She squeaked in surprised; Adrien looked equally shocked.

"Yeah!" Manon shouted in agreement. "Marinette, let's take some photos!"

I take back any negative thing I've ever said about babysitting Manon ever, Marinette thought.

She now had the chance to model with Adrien? As a couple?! Could she actually handle that, without making a fool of herself? What if they had to kiss?! She knew they almost kissed when their class was filming their movie, but they didn't actually end up doing it. She'd been a mess over just that! An almost-kiss! How was she supposed to handle an actual kiss?!

What if I'm a bad kisser? She mentally worried. What if I'm the worst kisser in France and Adrien never wants to do it again?! What if it gets out that he hated kissing me and then everyone laughs at me about it and I have to move to a country where no one knows who I am? What if we don't kiss?! This could be my only chance to kiss him and we might not even do it!

"Marinette?" Adrien's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

He was looking at her expectantly, but Marinette was surprised to find he had a slight blush on his cheeks. "Are you alright?" He asked. "You don't have to be in the photoshoot if you don't want to."

If she didn't want to? Of course she wanted to!

"Oh no!" She said, "I want to! It's just – uh – I'm nervous, I guess? I'm not a model."

Adrien sent her a comforting smile, "You'll be great. Please do the photo shoot with me? It'll be fun."

Argh, how could she refuse him when he was looking at her with that gorgeous smile and the puppy dog eyes? How could she even function properly when he was looking at her like that?

"Please, Marinette!" Manon pleaded.

Great, now she was dealing with two lots of puppy dog eyes. She could never refuse puppy dog eyes!

"Okay," she agreed.

Vincent cheered and ushered her to Adrien; Manon stood excitedly in front of them.

"Now look like you just all ate a nice, big plate of spaghetti!" The photographer said as he held up his camera.

Wait, what? They were doing the shoot straight away? Marinette was just in her normal clothes! She hadn't brushed her hair, she wasn't wearing makeup – she wasn't even close to being remotely prepared!

"It's alright, Marinette," Adrien's soft voice calmed her mental freak out. "You look really pretty. You'll be great at this."

Okay. Okay, wow. Clearly Adrien calmed her down just so he could make her pulse shoot through the roof!

He thought she was really pretty?!

She tried to take a subtle deep breath to calm herself; she wasn't entirely sure she succeeded.

"No, no, no," Vincent shook his head at them. "There needs to be more love! Think of your beloved! Think of the spaghetti!"

Marinette wasn't sure if her heart could handle more love. It felt like it was about to burst out of her chest.

She fought down her nervousness and looked at Adrien. Think of your beloved. That shouldn't be too hard, considering he was right there.

Adrien looked enamoured. He was looking at her with such love in his expression that Marinette felt her cheeks go hot in response. There was something familiar about his expression, but she didn't know where from. Surely she would have recognised if Adrien had looked at her like he was in love with her? It made her wish he really was in love with her; that Adrien wasn't just acting for a photo.

And darn it, why did that expression seem so familiar?!

Familiarity aside, she didn't have to try too hard to seem in love with him.

"Brilliant!" Vincent praised. "Manon, look up at them like you love them. Good, good! Now, Monsieur Adrien, Mademoiselle Marinette – kiss!"

"What?!" The two of them chorused, identical blushes burning their cheeks.

"We need the love," he replied, undeterred at their hesitance. "You've got to show the love!"

Adrien turned to her and took a deep breath, "Marinette, are you okay with this? It's alright if you're not."

Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod.

Marinette was sure her heart was pounding so loud he could hear it.

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm totally f-fine. Are you fine? Cause it's okay if you're not. But I am! Fine, that is. Totally fine. Good to go."

Adrien scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks still pink. "I was just checking. I'm fine too. More than fine. Great, actually."

More than fine?! Great?! What did that mean?!

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Manon chanted from her position in front of them; that did not help Marinette's blush or raging heartbeat.

"Okay," she said, "ready when you are."

Vincent readied his camera, Manon looked up at them excitedly, and they both leaned in, their eyes closing as they reached for each other.

Screams pierced the air and Marinette and Adrien sprang apart.

"Akuma," they breathed out, looking in the direction of the cries.

Marinette turned to Manon, then to Adrien, to Vincent and then back to the where the shouting was coming from.

What was she supposed to do?!

She couldn't just leave Manon, she was supposed to be babysitting her. But Paris needed her and Chat Noir wouldn't be able to deal with the akuma on his own.

Marinette looked at Adrien and made a split second decision. She all but pushed Manon into Adrien's arms, "You look after Manon, I'll go get help! 'Kaythanksbye!"

She took off, running through the park and towards the sounds of mayhem and destruction.

"Marinette, no! Wait! I can't – Marinette, wait!" Adrien called out after her.

For once, she didn't pay him any attention.

Marinette found a secluded alleyway and opened her purse, "Tikki! Transformez moi!"

It was just Adrien's luck that an akuma would attack right before he was about to kiss Marinette.

When he realised he was crushing on the shy designer, he'd really been thrown for a loop. Especially because his feelings for Ladybug hadn't lessened at all. It was like he loved the two of them at once, if that was even possible.

Plagg was no help on the matter. When he'd finally admitted his crush on Marinette, the kwami had been delighted, claiming he'd called it since Adrien's first day of school. (He'd also remained annoyingly smug about it since then).

Marinette had really opened up around him lately. She was still prone to nervousness and stuttered (he still didn't know why she did that), but she had become one of his closest friends. She made him happy, and Adrien had fallen for her. Hard.

Which confused him, because he still loved Ladybug but his feelings for his classmate were steadily growing, and he really didn't know what to do about it. His (admittedly poor) plan was to kiss Marinette. Maybe if he did that, he'd work out how he really felt about her. Did her love her more than Ladybug? Could he move on from Ladybug? They were questions he couldn't answer and he was becoming more confused and frustrated by them as time wore on.

However, planning to kiss Marinette and actually doing it were two different things. Adrien was awkward and shy and had no idea how to even approach that idea, let alone go through with it. So when Vincent dropped the opportunity in his lap, Adrien jumped at the chance.

Of course, that was when the akuma attacked and Marinette left Manon with him, before she went haring off into danger.

"Marinette, no! Wait! I can't – Marinette, wait!" He shouted after her, but she either couldn't hear him or simply ignored him.

(He suspected it was the latter).

"It'll be okay," Manon piped up. "Ladybug is Marinette's best friend! Marinette's just gone to get her!"

He blinked at the little girl. Why would she think that his Lady was Marinette's best friend? Marinette's best friend was Alya and Ladybug definitely wasn't her. The blogger had been akumatised and defeated by him and his spotted partner, after all.

More screams filled the air and Adrien decided that this really wasn't the time to dwell on the fanciful ideas of children.

He turned to Vincent and gently pushed Manon in his direction, "Please look after her! I need to go after Marinette! I'llbebackthanksbye!" Before the photographer could protest, Adrien went running off in search of a place to transform, all the while keeping an eye out for his Princess.

He reached an alleyway when his Lady came running out of it.

"Ladybug!" He called in surprise. Had she transformed in the alley? Ah well, that wasn't his most current, pressing issue. He'd think about it later.

She stopped at the sight of him, "A-Adrien! What're you doing here? I thought you were with –" She stopped and shook her head, "It's not safe, you need to leave!"

"Ladybug, please! My friend Marinette ran off and I don't know where she went. You know her, don't you? Have you seen her? I don't want anything to happen to her!"

The spotted superheroine looked surprised and then touched at his concern (although Adrien didn't understand why). "Uh, she's fine – Chat Noir's protecting her."

Adrien went still.

What?

She'd just lied to him. Ladybug hated liars and she'd just lied to him.

Why?

He clearly wasn't protecting Marinette, so why did Ladybug say he was?

The questioned seemed to echo in his brain. Whywhywhy?

"Oh, uh, thank goodness!" He managed to reply as a crash sounded in the distance. "I'll … let you get to that."

She nodded, "Right, and you get to safety!"

"I will," he promised.

She sent him a small smile and took out her yoyo. Within seconds, she was shooting through the Parisian sky and towards the akuma.

"Ohh, you were close there, kid," Plagg said, sounding amused as he floated out of Adrien's pocket.

He looked at the kwami in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing," Plagg replied and then refused to say anymore.

Adrien sighed, "You know, one day you could actually be helpful instead of infuriatingly cryptic."

"I could, but that is not this day. Now, doesn't your Bug need you?"

Adrien looked in the direction his partner had taken off in. "I will … be joining you momentarily, my Lady," he amended his previous promise of getting to safety and darted further into the secluded alleyway. "Plagg! Transformez moi!"

"Bien joué!"

"Gotta bug out, Chaton," Ladybug said as her earrings beeped.

Part of Chat wanted to ask her to stay. To question her on why she lied and what she knew about Marinette, but he didn't. He let her leave with a bow and an, "Until next time, My Lady."

He needed to check on Marinette, after all.

After detransforming, Adrien rushed back to the park to find Vincent frantically running about.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"The little angel has disappeared!" the photographer cried, looking panicked. "One minute she was there, the next she was gone!"

Adrien felt dread pool in his stomach, "What?!"

He started searching around the park as Marinette appeared out of nowhere, instantly looking for her charge. "Where's Manon?"

"She's gone!" Adrien replied, trying to fight down his panic.

"What?!" Marinette instantly spun around in a circle, desperate to find the young girl.

"It's okay, Marinette," Adrien tried to sooth her, despite not feeling all that calm himself. "We'll find her."

"R-right, I'll got look this way," she said, pointing to the opposite end of the park. "You go the other way."

"Got it," he nodded, feeling a strange spark of familiarity at taking her orders.

They ran off in different directions. As soon as he was alone and out of sight, Adrien called out to his kwami, "Plagg! Transformez moi!"

Marinette transformed as soon as she could get away from Adrien and his eccentric photographer.

"Manon!" She cried as she ran over the rooftops of Paris, desperately searching for the little girl. "Where are you?!"

Beeps from her yoyo told her that Chat Noir was calling her. She answered with a distressed, "Chat Noir! I need your help!"

"My Lady, I need your help – wait, what? What's wrong?"

"I can't find Manon! She's disappeared!"

Chat blinked at her through the video call, "Wait a minute, that's who I was calling you about. How do you know about Manon?"

His words drew Ladybug up short and she stopped running over rooftops to stare at him through her yoyo, "Wait, how do you know about Manon?"

There was a short pause before he answered, "Adrien told me."

"But I was just with Adrien," she murmured, frowning in confusion. She'd left the model mere moments ago and her partner wasn't there, so how could Chat have found out about Manon in such a short amount of time? And how did Chat even know Adrien?

"W-What was that?"

Ah, she hadn't actually meant him to hear that. "Nothing, never mind. It's not important."

"My Lady, did you just say that you were with Adrien?"

"What? No! Pfft, whatever gave you that idea? Like I could handle talking to a handsome model like him!"

"What?"

"I've gotta keep looking for Manon. Call me if you find anything!"

"Buginette –"

She hung up on Chat and let out a sigh, "Sorry, Chaton."

Ladybug needed to find Manon. She didn't have time to dwell on how Adrien had contacted Chat Noir about the missing child so quickly – she must have missed her partner turning up by minutes – or why Chat was so interested in her being with Adrien.

Well, she figured she knew why he was interested in her being with Adrien. She always figured that Chat Noir had a little crush on her, and if she was being totally honest, she had one on him too. But just a small one! Honest. Her heart belonged to Adrien. She wasn't going to be swayed by Chat's stupid puns, or his stupidly pretty face, or his stupid tendency to take hits for her. Or how he always knew what to say to make her feel better, or always knew what she was going to do in the middle of battle, or how he would look at her with that stupid, loving expression on his face that would make her heat skip a beat and –

Ladybug let out a loud groan, "Stupid cat! Stupid me! Stupid everything!"

(She really had to resist the urge to kick petulantly at the ground).

She was dwelling on him! She wasn't supposed to be dwelling on him, she was supposed to be finding Manon!

Ladybug took a deep breath and shook her head in a somewhat vain attempt to clear it.

I'm coming, Manon! The superheroine thought determinedly. Please be safe!

His Lady hung up on him and Chat Noir stared at his baton in surprise. He was perched on a rooftop and was a little impressed he hadn't fallen of it in pure shock.

The pieces of a puzzle he didn't even know he was making finally came together.

Marinette ran off as soon as the akuma attacked and Ladybug appeared immediately after.

Ladybug is Marinette's best friend! Marinette's just gone to get her! Manon's voice echoed in his mind.

Ladybug had lied and said that Marinette was with Chat Noir, when Adrien knew for certain that that wasn't true.

Marinette reappeared soon after the akuma was defeated, only to run off in search of Manon.

Ladybug wanted to get his help with finding her, but she knew about it ridiculously quickly after he and Marinette found out Manon was missing.

When he'd lied and said that Adrien had told him about it, she had said she'd been with Adrien. (She'd muttered it and he was sure she didn't mean for him to hear it, but he had.)

Ladybug hadn't been with him, but Marinette had.

Chat looked up from his baton and stared out at Paris. Not that he was really looking at the view; his mind was a thousand miles away.

Or perhaps more correctly, his brain was stuck on a girl who'd managed to capture his heart twice over.

An ecstatic smile began to tug at his mouth. "Marinette," he breathed out in awe.

He shook his head. This wasn't the time for this, he had to find Manon. His excitement about his realisation put sufficiently on pause, Chat continued the search for the missing girl with a renewed vigour.

Marinette had to remind herself that Nadja Chamack loved her daughter and would be very put out if she strangled the child for running off.

The bakery. Manon had slipped away from Vincent and ran back to the bakery. Where she'd been given treats, could play with Marinette's Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls and was one hundred percent, totally fine.

The bakery! Why hadn't that been the first place she'd looked?! Of course she was in the bakery and of course that was the last place she looked, after not finding Manon anywhere and going home to get her parents help.

It had been embarrassing letting Vincent and Adrien know that Manon was fine and where exactly she had found her. Neither of them seemed bothered by it, but Marinette was still mortified. The photographer had simply shrugged it off, rescheduled Adrien's photoshoot and left, while the model himself – for reasons unknown to Marinette – decided to hang around after the drama was taken care of.

Her embarrassment was increased by having to tell Chat Noir that the missing girl they'd both been desperate to find wasn't really missing at all. Her partner had waved it off, happy with the fact that Manon had been safe, but it didn't stop the blush that appeared on Ladybug's cheeks when she told him.

A blush that was still present on Marinette's face when she invited Adrien to play Ultimate Mecha Strike in her room. They'd nearly made it to the trapdoor of her room when she realised what her room looked like. Or more correctly, exactly whose face she had plastered all over her walls.

"Ahh, you know what? My room's really messy, so I'm just quickly going to clean it. You wait here!" She told Adrien, trying not to let her panic show.

"Really? I can help clean –"

"No! You're a guest, I couldn't make you do that. You stay right there. Don't move. Okay. Good. Yes."

He looked bemused, but didn't press the issue, "Okay?"

She rushed into her room and her and Tikki frantically began to clear any evidence of Marinette's crush away. The pictures came down, his schedule was rolled up, her desktop background was changed and she even remembered to hide the framed photo she had of him.

Marinette let Adrien into her room and he looked around appreciatively, "Wow, you cleaned up fast. This place is spotless."

She tried not to fidget awkwardly and only partially succeeded, "Y-Yeah, I guess." Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she gestured to the computer. "Would you like to play UMS?"

He shook his head, "Not yet. First, there's something I want to talk to you about."

A small frown marred her features as she wondered what it was that could put such a serious expression on Adrien's face. "Is everything alright?"

He nodded, "It's fine. More than fine, really. Everything's great. Amazing even. Like, wow, this is an incredible day."

Adrien was uncharacteristically babbling and Marinette felt her concern for him grow. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Pawsitive."

She blinked at him. Did he – did he just make a cat pun?

A smile was tugging at Adrien's mouth. His serious expression was giving way to a look of pure unadulterated joy, and Marinette had no idea what had happened to make him so happy.

He took a step towards her and put his hands on her shoulders; Marinette froze and her breath hitched.

(She was never washing her shoulders again).

"You really scared me today," he said.

Marinette couldn't understand what was going on. His words were worried but his expression was delighted.

"You ran off and I tried to follow you, but you disappeared," he went on, "And then Ladybug was there."

"I – I'm sorry I made you worry. I didn't mean to. I had to get help."

"She said Chat Noir protected you."

"Uh, yes, he did! He was very brave."

Marinette didn't know what to make of Adrien's expression. It looked like a strange combination of knowing, ecstatic and adoring and oh god, what did it mean?!

"Then Manon disappeared, you ran off and Ladybug appeared again," Adrien continued, causing panic to well up in her.

(And not her normal being-in-the-same-vicinity-as-Adrien panic, but an oh-god-my-secret-identity-is-in-jeopardy panic).

Because what else could this be about? Why else would he bring up her running off and Ladybug's timely appearances?

"A-Adrien," she tried to speak. To convince him that whatever conclusion he'd jumped to, whatever, whoever he thought she was, was wrong.

"I also thought it was funny that Manon thought Ladybug was your best friend."

"Well, you know kids –"

"But what I thought was really strange was that Ladybug lied to me," Adrien said, looking far too pleased about her superheroine self not telling him the truth.

"W-What?" Marinette stuttered out. How did he know that?

"Chat Noir was supposed to be protecting you. But, Marinette, I couldn't have been keeping you safe if I didn't know where you were."

Everything seemed to stand still.

What? What did he mean? Because if he meant what she thought he did, then that meant –

That meant –

Adrien is Chat Noir.

Was she still breathing? She didn't think she was still breathing.

"Ch-Chat?" Marinette whispered.

This couldn't be real. There was no possible way that the two boys she'd fallen for were the same person. She may have been Ladybug, but there was no way she was that lucky.

Adrien beamed at her, "Hello, my Lady."

Tears pooled in her eyes, "Chat Noir?"

The smile dropped from his face, "Buginette, are you crying? Are you sad it was me? I'm sorry for telling you, but I figured you out and I couldn't not tell you and oh god, please don't cry! Do you want me to go? I can go. I will go – you're upset – um, we're still partners though, right? I'll see you on patrol tonight, right? You're still crying. Please don't cry. I love you, Marinette, please don't cry. Oh god, you're not saying anything. Are you in shock? Did I put you in shock? Are – "

Marinette cut off his concerned babble with a hug. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. "They're happy tears, you stupid cat."

Adrien stiffened at the contact, but immediately softened into her embrace. "Marinette," he murmured, tightening his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder. "I'm so glad it's you."

She wasn't sure how long they stood like that for. All that mattered was Adrien. The feel of his arms around her, the smell of his cologne, the sound of his breathing. When she finally pulled away from him, standing so she was still in his arms but looking at him face to face, she could barely contain her smile. "Chaton, my Chaton. Of course it's you."

"That's what I thought about you. I don't know how I didn't see you sooner."

"Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"You said you loved me."

Adrien flushed deeply and Marinette could basically see him mentally go back over what he'd babbled to her. "That was – the was not how I planned on saying it!"

She felt herself go scarlet, but she raised an eyebrow, willing herself to use her Ladybug confidence. She could be confident, instead of swooning and falling to pieces at what he'd just said. "You planned it?"

"I've tried repeatedly! I've made numerous plans."

"He really has," a new voice deadpanned.

Marinette blinked at surprise at the little, cat-like kwami that floated out of Adrien's pocket.

"Princess, this is Plagg," Adrien introduced.

"Nice to meet you," she replied.

"You too, Bug. This idiot talks about you all the time."

"Plagg!" Adrien hissed at him.

Said embodiment of bad luck and destruction ignored him, "Where's Tikki?"

A red blur tackled him in mid-air and her kwami's familiar voice called out a delighted, "Plagg!"

Marinette gestured to Tikki, "This is my kwami, Tikki."

"Hello, Adrien!" The Ladybug-esque little creature chirped.

"Hi, Tikki. Nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure, but Plagg and I will give you a moment to yourselves," she said, floating away with her bad luck counterpart.

With their kwamis elsewhere, they faced each other once more.

"I always mean it," he said.

"Huh?"

"I always mean that I love you. I always mean it when I take a hit for you in a fight, I always mean it when I flirt, I always mean it when I let you fall asleep on my shoulder after patrols. I always mean it when I help you with physics at school, and I mean it when I tell you about my Father's upcoming designs. I always mean it when I say that you're amazing, but sometimes I don't think you believe me."

Happy tears welled in her eyes again and she beamed at him, "I love you too."

Shock flittered onto his features, "But you never –"

"I've been in love with you since your first day of school and you gave me your umbrella. But of course because I like you so much, I could barely talk to you. Then of course I had to fall for you as Chat Noir, with your stupid puns, your utter dedication to saving Paris and our easy, wonderful friendship. I love you, Adrien. All of you. I'm so glad you're my Chaton."

Silence reigned in her room. Adrien stared at her, open mouthed, as he processed what she said. He'd been silent for so long that Marinette was about to ask if he was okay when he pulled her even closer to him and captured her lips in a kiss.

Marinette responded enthusiastically, one hand clutching at his white over shirt and the other in his hair. Adrien had his hands on her waist and his lips were oh so incredibly soft. Her heart was beating wildly and she never wanted to move from his arms.

"Urgh, this is going to be our life now. No amount of camembert is worth the swooning the kid is going to do when he gets home."

"Plagg! We're supposed to be giving them privacy!"

Marinette and Adrien separated to stare at their kwamis. Tikki looked apologetic, but Plagg seemed entirely unimpressed.

"Do you mind, Plagg?" Adrien raised an eyebrow at him.

"Kid, I'm hungry."

Her partner let out a long-suffering sigh and began searching his pockets for something to feed his kwami. Coming up empty, he turned to her, "You wouldn't happen to have any cheese here, would you?"

Still feeling somewhat dazed after Adrien's kiss, she nodded and headed towards her trapdoor. She'd just reached it when Plagg floated over to whisper in her ear, "I'll deny I ever said this, but I'm glad he's got you, Bug. You make him happy; both sides of you. The kid adores you. He's always happier when you're around."

Marinette smiled, "Thank you."

Adrien looked over at them suspiciously, "What are you doing, Plagg?"

"Just making sure that she knows to get camembert. I'm a kwami with standards."

Adrien rolled his eyes, but his smile was entirely fond. "Okay, sure, whatever, you cheese glutton."

Marinette felt like she was floating as she went downstairs and hunted for cookies, cheese and snacks for her and Adrien. Her parents must have noticed something odd about her behaviour, because they shared a look and her Maman asked, "Marinette, dear, are you alright?"

She beamed at them, "I'm fine! More than fine. Amazing, really. I'm really, really great. I'm just getting some food for Adrien and I."

(Distracted and over the moon as she was, she didn't notice Tom begrudgingly hand Sabine money).

Snacks in hand, Marinette smiled cheerfully at her parents once more and went back upstairs to her bedroom. She pushed open the trapdoor and tried not to swoon when Adrien's face lit up at the sight of her.

They had plenty of time to define what their relationship now was, to work out what they were to each other – best friends, crime fighting partners and maybe, hopefully, more – but all Marinette really wanted to do was spend time in the arms of her Chaton.

He must have felt the same, because he took her into his arms and buried his face in her hair as soon as she had put the food she carried down (Plagg pounced on the cheese and Tikki eagerly grabbed a cookie).

"I'm so happy I found you," Adrien murmured.

"Thank you for figuring me out. I'm sorry I hid from you for so long."

His expression made her heart pound. It was so full of love and affection that she felt like she could barely breathe. "Marinette, I would search the world over to find you."

He would have said more, but she didn't give him the chance to speak. Marinette pulled him in for kiss and Adrien became too distracted to talk.

Unsurprisingly, neither of them seemed to mind.

A/N:

There we go! I hope you guys liked it. I apologise if there's any mistakes in it. I've read over it heaps of times but I always seem to miss them.

I'm really starting to think that my whole experience in writing ML fanfiction can be summed up in the question, 'How many different ways can I make these nerds reveal their identities?'

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you thought in the reviews!

Much love,

Leisey.