Marinette:

It would have been a lie if I had said I wasn't nervous about talking to Adrien, though I had gotten better about it in the past few days. As soon as the bell rang, I headed out to the courtyard, anxious to see and talk to the one and only Adrien Agreste. I went outside and sat down on the bench where I had a clear view of the school, hoping nobody could see me. They could, of course, but I was just trying to lure myself into a false sense of security. I tried to act confident, which wasn't easy knowing that I was dying inside.

Then, I saw Adrien. He was headed my way, so I did the polite thing and stood up to meet him. I was expecting him to greet me, or vice versa, but he didn't stop walking. He kept going until he was right in front of me, bodies practically touching. Before I even had enough time to process his close proximity, he closed the gap and pressed his lips to mine. I accidentally let a squeak escape my lips in shock, but I melted in his arms. How could I not?

For a few fleeting moments, I let him take all of my anxiety away. I didn't care who was watching. I didn't stop to think about what would happen after this. I just held on to the moment like it was a lifeline. Too soon, it ended. We both pulled away slowly from the kiss, resting our foreheads together so the tips of our noses touched. I barely heard Adrien's voice because I was so caught up in the moment, but I knew I couldn't be mistaken. Did he actually say that? I wondered.

He did. There was no mistake, no way of getting around it. Adrien Agreste just confessed to me. Well, he confessed to Ladybug. And Ladybug is me. So yes, he did just confess his love for me. I couldn't think straight, much less form a sentence. I was just collecting my thoughts when I was interrupted by...her.

"Adrien, how dare you?" Lila stormed up to the two of us, shouting loud enough so that everyone around could hear. That was her goal, I guess. Maybe she just liked to ruin people's lives?

"How dare I what?" Adrien's tone was challenging, and far more stern than I had ever heard. I tried to move away, to leave the situation and get far, far away from that brat and her crap, but Adrien slipped an arm around my waist, restraining me.

"How dare you kiss her? I thought you loved me, Adrien!" Lila began to cry, but everyone could tell it was fake. Couldn't they? We were gathering a crowd, and I wanted nothing more than to run away and hide somewhere, but it was obvious Adrien wasn't finished with either of us.

"Listen, Lila. I never said I loved you. Aren't you stretching the truth just a tiny bit?" Adrien tried to keep his composure, but I could tell he wanted to yell at her.

"Are you accusing me of lying? That's low, Adrien. The only person I know who would stoop that low is, let's see...Marinette! She's the only liar here, and she's trying to convince you to fall for her!" I felt Adrien's arm tighten on my waist. He couldn't stand it any longer. He did the one thing he made me promise I would never do. He snapped.

"Lila, I don't know about everyone else, but I've had just about enough of your crap. And you must be pretty desperate for attention if you're making up a boyfriend for yourself. You and I both know that you never knew Ladybug, and that you don't have tinnitus, arthritis, a sprained wrist, or any of the other conditions you've been telling everyone you have. Between you and me, Lila, the only thing you really have is a big ego and a big, fat case of insecurity. I have half a mind to make you feel twice as much pain as you've caused." There was a long, uncomfortable silence in the courtyard until Lila regained her devious smirk.

"But you wouldn't hurt me. You can't hit a girl. Your mother taught you that." Everyone's attention turned back to Adrien. He recoiled at the mention of his mother and seemed to be at a loss for words, so I found some for him.

"He may not be able to hit a girl, but that's because he's a gentleman. But…" I gave a pause for dramatic effect. "I'm a girl. So I guess...I can hit a girl." I wiggled free of Adrien's grasp and walked up to Lila. "You've just made yourself an enemy you're going to regret." I echoed her own words back at her, before slapping her on the cheek. There was no blood involved, because not even I would do that, but I did slap her pretty hard.

Once again, Lila was at a loss for words. A single tear fell from her cheek. A genuine one. I almost felt bad for her, but not quite. Then I decided a slap wasn't enough. As Lila turned to walk away, I pulled a Chloѐ on her. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Her walk away turned into a run.

I started to have second thoughts. Maybe...maybe I went too far. Maybe she won't stop, and she'll just try harder to make my life miserable. Maybe I'll get in trouble for what I did. Adrien stepped closer and rewarded me with a sweet kiss on the forehead and slipped his hand in mine. Maybe...it isn't so bad after all.

Adrien:

I probably shouldn't have said anything to Lila in the first place, but I just wasn't in the mood to listen to her lies. I snapped at her, and my words surprised everyone, including me. But Lila attacked right back.

"But you wouldn't hurt me. You can't hit a girl. Your mother taught you that." She just had to mention my mother. She knew Emilie Agreste had been missing, and she knew it had taken a toll on both me and my father, especially with the scandals surrounding her disappearance. But Lila had to hit me where it hurt. I couldn't find anything to say. What could I say? But I didn't have to say anything.

Marinette, sweet, perfect, wonderful Marinette came to my rescue. For once the roles were reversed. Usually the knight saved his princess, but this time, it was the princess who was ready to fight. "He may not be able to hit a girl, but that's because he's a gentleman. But...I'm a girl. So I guess...I can hit a girl." She pranced up to Lila and hit her on the cheek. Lila turned to walk away, but before she could get very far, Marinette added, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Lila's ego had just been deflated. And I don't mean let out slowly like a small leak in a tire, I mean like, stick a pin in a balloon like of deflated. I could tell Marinette was having second thoughts about her outburst though, so I kissed her on the forehead and took her hand, leading her across the street to her house.

When we got to Marinette's house, her dad was working in the bakery. He raised an eyebrow when we came in holding hands, but he greeted us and continued to serve customers. Marinette went into the back room and insisted I come too, so I did. While she got lunch for the both of us, I made small talk with her mom.

"See you in a bit, Maman." Marinette brought out a tray full of food and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek before heading upstairs, motioning for me to follow her. As soon as we got to her room and she put the food down, her expression turned serious. She closed and the trapdoor to her room and pointed to her bed. "Sit." I sat.

She sat down next to me and brought over the food. "How did you find out?"

"Lila." It was all I could say.

"She told you? Does that mean she knows too? Oh my gosh. What the hell did I do wrong?" She stood up and nervously pulled at her hair as she paced around her bedroom nervously.

"No, no. It's okay. She doesn't know, and she didn't tell me." Marinette pivoted on her foot to face me.

"Then how did you find out?" Here was the part I was dreading. Somewhere in these next few sentences, she would find out that I was Cat Noir, and I hadn't the faintest idea how she would react to that. Once again, I was at a loss for words.

I sighed and stood up. "Claws out." I mumbled. As the leather of my cat suit enveloped me, I saw Marinette's eyes widen in shock.

"You...you…" She pointed an accusatory finger at me. "So that's what it was!"

Now it was my turn to be confused. "What what was?"

"That's why you acted so weird on patrol the other night! I knew something was up. But you-you're Adrien Agreste?"

I chuckled nervously. "Guilty." She stared at me for a long minute before walking slowly back to where I was standing. To be honest, I was kind of afraid of what she might do now that she knew. Would she scold me for revealing my identity to her? Would she scold herself for not being more careful?

I didn't have to wonder for long, though. She inched ever closer to my spot by her bed, closing in on me as if she were about to attack. But she didn't. She kissed me.

"You're so stupid." She mumbled into my ear.

I was taken aback. "What?"

"You're so stupid." She repeated, taking a step backwards. "For doing that."

"What? What did I do?"

She grinned at me. "You made me fall in love with you."

Marinette:

If you had told me a week ago that I would fall for Cat Noir, I would have told you that you were insane. But, if you had told me that Adrien was Cat Noir...I still would have told you that you were insane. I mean, come on! They're so different from one another that I never would have guessed that my high school crush was in love with me.

The next day at school, I found out that Lila had transferred - for real, this time - and that she wasn't coming back to François Dupont. That was probably the best news of the century. I had friends again, once everyone figured out that Lila was a total fake. Everyone was apologizing to me so much, and Alya was practically on her knees, begging for her BFF's forgiveness. When Adrien walked in, everybody did the same apology routine for him.

But Lila was old news by the end of the day, once everyone found out that Adrien and I were a 'thing'. He wasn't very subtle about it either, though he would deny that. I mean, walking up to me and kissing me isn't the sneakiest way to tell people that we're dating. At least, for the time being, no one else knows that we're Paris' superheroes, but that's news for a later date.

At the end of the day, Chloѐ came up to me and made some comment about how i stole her 'Adrikins' from her and she was going to make me pay for it. I wasn't really listening, but I was so grateful to hear it from Chloѐ and not Lila that I hugged her. Yes. I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng hugged Chloѐ Bourgeois, my second biggest enemy.

I guess maybe I've changed a little. I'm willing to forgive and forget more, and I've opened up more. I haven't made any huge changes besides dating my crush, but it's a start.

Adrien:

So yes, I was dating Marinette. And yes, I was probably the happiest man on Earth. Marinette also seemed happier. I'm happy that Lila left. I'm not saying she was useless. In fact, she brought all of us closer together in some weird twisted way. I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Chloѐ's face when Marinette hugged her. It was priceless, and it made me feel truly happy for the first time in a while.

I gave Marinette a kiss on the cheek, something I had gotten accustomed to doing in the past couple of days.

"You missed."

I raised an eyebrow, and she kissed me. On the lips this time. She and I had both gotten more comfortable around each other recently, something that I was grateful for.

"I have to go, minou." She whispered to me. Before she could leave, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me.

"What do you think of me?" I asked. Marinette looked surprised, but she gave the best answer she could think of.

She planted a kiss on the tip of my nose and said, "I think you're pawsitively purrfect." I couldn't suppress my smile. She began to walk away, but after taking a few steps, she turned back and flashed me a Cheshire cat grin and winked at me. I watched her until she got inside her house before getting in the car with my bodyguard.

I sighed, at peace with myself and the world. My current situation made me think of something my mother said once, and it went something like, "The road of life has its ups and downs, but once you reach your lowest point, there's only one way left to go. Up." And me? I'm definitely going up.