Opening Notes: This is my second story in this fandom! Another one-shot. Real quick thank you to arb2010styles, Miracullerauslly, and HilariousChocolate for leaving comments on my last piece of work! I honestly appreciate the feed back~ It was so motivating And additionally, thank you to anyone that faved it! Now, on with the story!

Sunday evening. It was raining. Thunder cracked in the distance while drops of water pounded the windows. All the while, Adrien was at his desk, ignoring anything that wasn't the notebook in front of him. To his left, his waste bin was filled to the brim with crumpled scraps of paper that had once been apart of the aforementioned notebook.

Dropping his pen, the young man worked both hands through his hair. While tousling his blonde locks, his elbows hit the surface below so that he might rest his head in his palms while gazing listlessly at the empty space on the paper, beneath him. "Nothing sounds right. Nothing sounds...good enough." Pushing himself back up, Adrien pressed his back to his chair and wheeled away from his desk, spinning to have a look out his window. "How am I going to do this?"

Just then, as if it were a sign ascending from the very heavens themselves, his phone went off. It was Alya. She was asking about chemistry homework, but Adrien's mind was so far from school work he could barely get out a proper reply while the gears in his head turned to a totally different process of thought.

Tuesday night. The storms cloaking Paris had seemingly passed. It was now pleasantly warm while the sun was setting. The darling heroine, Ladybug, was out coasting along the skyline. Effortlessly bounding from one rooftop to the next. What was that Cat even thinking? Using the Ladyblog to request a meetup? He couldn't just wait for the next Akuma attack? Needless to say, she was not happy. She was, infact, rather miffed with the irresponsible use of her best friend's blog. This could have gone wrong in any number of ways. It still had the chance to do so. And yet, she was on her way. Unsure if it was Ladybug's desire to see things conclude in a quite manner, or Marinette's inability to say no.

With a soft clap, her feet finally hit the landing of the designated location. Quickly, she re-holstered her Yo-Yo before scanning the area. Everything seemed empty, prompting her to almost call out. However before she did, she managed to glance down just long enough to see a trail of rose petals. You have GOT to be kidding me. While she wasn't exactly disgusted, she certainly didn't find his constant, teasing, romantic gestures to be appropriate. In fact after some time, they had begun to hurt her feelings just a little bit. She didn't like being taken as a joke.

The trail, if followed, was set to reveal a quaint set up. Table for two, twinkle lights strung all about, soft music playing over a compact stereo. All the food on the table, Chat had prepared by himself. Usually, food was provided for him. So as a result, the quality wasn't exactly five star, but it was all made with love. Effort was exerted. This was all for the woman of his dreams. He needed her to know. Tonight.

Up and down. Chat would take a seat, facing the direction from which Ladybug would appear. He'd cross his legs and put on that debonair smile. And every single time, anxiety would wash over him so he'd stand to pace some more before sitting back down and trying again.

It just so happened that Ladybug rounded the corner while he was in the middle of one of his pacing session. Before he noticed her, she heard him mumble, something to the affect of, "If you can save Paris, time and again, you can tell her."

"Tell her what?" Stepping into the light, Ladybug leaned forward, placing her hands on the back of what she presumed to be her chair. Meanwhile, Chat was basically jumping out of his suit. "When did you get here? I mean, hello M'lady, fancy seeing you here." In a matter of microseconds he went from being genuinely distressed, back to his usual flirtatious self. "Chat, can we please skip to the point? Why did you ask me here? You do realize that using a civilian to contact me is incredibly irresponsible, right?" Things were not off to a good start. "Look, I know that wasn't my best move, but I have something really important to tell you. Would you have a seat?" As if trying to guide her, to took a seat of his own. His tone was calm, and lacking his usual playboy facade. This wasn't like anything Ladybug had seen in him before, but she still remained unconvinced. In fact, the whole idea of sitting to eat with him now only fueled her hurt. She wasn't even sure why it bothered her so much. What did she even care. He was only her partner, and she had always known him to be a perfectly harmless flirt.

Regardless of it all, she had no intention of going through with this. "I'm going home. Goodnight Chat Noir." She turned to walk away. Her back now to Chat, all she had to go off of was the sound of his voice. "Ladybug! Will you please just...just once, stop to listen to me? Just once..." There was a barely concealed ache, laced into his words. One that gave Ladybug pause. "Look, I know you think I'm just some obnoxious flirt. I know you don't really see me as anything other than your sidekick. But, being your partner has been...it's the best thing that has ever happened to me." Standing from his chair once again, he moved closer, placing a hand on the table, as if it were going to have to hold him up, or keep him grounded. It was hard to tell which, at this point. "You're so amazing, and I wish I possessed the right words, or even the ability to elaborate on that. But the thing is, right now, even as I'm saying this little bit I feel like my heart might just give out." Moving a little closer yet, he was able to drop his voice to just above a whisper. "Even if you have nothing to say to me in return, I just want you to know one thing. I don't, for one second, take you for granted. In fact, if I get to spend the rest of my life, even just being your friend, I would happily consider that a life well spent." Finally he closed the space between them, wrapping his arms around her from behind, so that he could whisper sweetly into her ear. "Ladybug, what I'm trying to say is, I love you."

Nature took that moment to chime in. A spark of lightening streaked the sky. Or was that realization hitting Ladybug? It clicked. She now understood why she was always so upset with his teasing nature. She loved him too. And when she heard him say those three words to her, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

Swiftly, and in one fluid motion, she turned in his arms, burying her face into his chest. Just in time for the rain to come pouring down. The stereo was no doubt going to be ruined. and the food wasn't exactly protected either. But neither dared to move. Chat just wanted to hold his Princess. He had wished for this moment for so long. Placing a kiss atop her head, he started to rub her back while they stood seemingly frozen in time while rain fell from overhead.

It took a long moment, but finally Ladybug looked up, her big blue eyes just as stunning as ever. Chat just stood there, looking at her longingly, prepared to hear what she had to say. No matter what, he knew he would be smitten with her, forever.

"Ditto."

Laughter. That was his response. Somehow he had not in a million years expected that to be her reply. And maybe it was the way she said it. So shy and unguarded. It felt just as good as if she had told him 'I love you too'.

Almost immediately, Ladybug joined him in his laughter. They were quite a pair, and they were incredibly aware of it in that moment. With even a little bit of luck, they would continue to be quite the pair for as long as they were both sharing this singular plane of existence.