It is absolutely insane for her to return to such a place, yet there she stands in front of the Agreste mansion, clad in her usual old outfit, with an envelope clasped in a pair of shaky hands. It has been years since her crush on Adrien has blossomed into something more than trivial puppy love, and even then, the same sentiments linger. Her heart aches for his attention, and regardless of what she does, he never seems to notice her.

Well, today, on the first day of her fourth and final year of high school, she has decided that enough is enough. In her hands is a letter that explains the vigor of her all the emotions she has bottled up inside her all this time. She had even made sure to sign it, complete with a heart embellishment next to her signature. Surely, after all this time, she has mustered enough courage to at least give him the letter. It is as simple as placing the envelope in the mail bin, and she would be off on her merry way.

Hesitantly, she rings the doorbell, awaiting an answer from the secretary. Unfortunately, after minutes of waiting, there was still no answer, prompting her to ring the doorbell a second time, thereafter scolding herself for being a nuisance. Maybe this is fate's way of saying this is a bad idea after all…

Finally, after a few more minutes of nervous waiting, she hears the gate doors open. Confused, she looks at the figure coming out of the mansion and audibly gasps. She recognizes those blond tufts and bright green eyes anywhere.

She feels something lodged in her throat, the pit of her stomach catering to a plethora of butterflies by now. The envelope in her hand accidentally falls out from all her shaking, and she hastily picks it up. When she tries to stand back up, her gaze wanders over to a hand placed right under her face. Without thinking, she grabs at it, and it lifts her up, and she suddenly finds herself trapped in an ocean of emeralds.

"Marinette," came a smooth voice, snapping her back into reality. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, A-Adrien…!" Her voice comes out like a squeak. She clasps her hands on her lips, hearing the blond's sweet giggle resonate in the air. Just hearing him laugh at her makes her blush even more than she already was, but nevertheless, she tries to calm herself down as best as she could, taking in deep breaths and mentally telling herself that everything is okay. "Adrien, this is for you," she half-yelled, pushing the envelope into his chest.

With a heartwarming smile, Adrien tells her thanks and gently pries the note out of her iron hands. He giggles again, making Marinette completely explode.

"Should I read it right now?"

"N-no!" the dark-haired girl replies too briskly as she tries to calm herself down again. "I mean, yes, b-but then I'll have to leave." She looks to the side. "Forever."

"Forever?" Another chuckle. "You're one funny girl, Marinette."

He begins to open the letter, and when he does, Marinette is already in position to bolt out of there. Noticing her nervous demeanor, Adrien gives her one of his famous smiles and motions for her to come closer. Marinette, against her better judgment, does exactly as he says and stands next to him, her face nearing fever-like temperatures.

"Mon cher Adrien," he begins softly, almost a whisper.

The dark-haired girl, flustered, starts mentally screaming. Why in the world is he reading this out loud, she thinks to herself as she starts biting on the tip of her thumbnail.

He doesn't read the rest of the letter out loud, which makes Marinette even more nervous. The entire time, Adrien has a small smile on his face, every now and then his eyes shifting towards hers in an attempt to make eye contact. She always immediately looks away, though, not able to tell whether he is enjoying this out of ill intent or out of genuine curiosity. Considering it is Adrien, after all—sweet, loving, thoughtful Adrien—she opts and hopes for the latter.

Finally, after what seems like a grueling century, he closes the letter and tucks it back into the envelope. He then looks at the short girl and locks eyes with her intensely, his lips a simple firm line. Panic begins to dominate Marinette's mind, a plethora of possible reactions attacking her head all at once. The one that seems to stick to her mind is complete and utter rejection, followed swiftly with tantalizing laughter and torment. Even if this is sweet, sweet Adrien, she doesn't exactly know everything about him, and it's not completely out of the question that he would react with torturous ridicule.

Except, when she finally manages to gather her courage again and reciprocates Adrien, staring straight into those beautiful green eyes, she finds nothing but genuine compassion, and it makes her heart do flips.

"Ma chére Marinette," he begins slowly, mirroring her letter. She gulps, her mind in a battle of wanting to hear his reaction and not wanting to. "Thank you for telling me your feelings."

Oh, here we go, Marinette thinks, bracing herself for the worst.

"It… well, simply put… it saves me the trouble from telling you myself."

Marinette blinks, then blinks, then blinks again. She sees now that Adrien has broken his gaze on her and is now fixated on the ground, a tinge of pink painted on his cheeks. The same color graces her own face as she finds herself eyeing the ground too, her lips quivering in both happiness and nervousness. If she understands correctly… Adrien, the boy of her dreams, actually reciprocates her feelings?

Simultaneously, they look up from the ground and look straight into each other's eyes again, causing the pink in their cheeks to slowly turn into a rosy red color. They both open their mouths as if to say something, then close them again out of respect for one another. Upon the realization of their awkwardness, they both laugh softly, reveling in each other's nervousness around the other.

Adrien is the first to stop laughing, brushing his hand against Marinette's cheeks. The girl could have sworn her head burst at that very moment. "Marinette," he begins softly as she melts into his hands. "Sorry about… this. I'm not used to any of this, but I'd just like to say that I… well, I mirror every single one of the feelings you wrote in your letter…"

"I… I do too," she says awkwardly, mentally slapping herself after she had realized what she just said.

Adrien chuckles, then continues on with a serious, straight face. "Marinette, will you go out with me?"

Marinette's heart stops. Her lips start quivering. She knows exactly how to respond, but something is lodged in her throat again, and she can't seem to function correctly anymore. She feels as if she can faint at any moment now. Fortunately, Tikki, who is hiding in her purse as per usual, nudges her from inside the bag, bringing her back to reality. In front of her, Adrien is looking intently, a bit of nervousness in his eyes from Marinette's answer even though it should be obvious.

With a sigh to calm her nerves, Marinette is miraculously able to take Adrien's hands in her and say, "yes, yes I do," before planting a quick peck on his cheek.

Adrien blushes furiously. Marinette couldn't have even believed she was able to do any of this, but somehow, she felt a little bit of Ladybug confidence inside her at that moment. The confidence, however, had ceased, and she in turn turned bright red—even brighter than any of the moments before—before looking away and mumbling something about being late to class.

The blond boy nods in agreement as he mentions about taking his limousine to school together, and with little hesitation, Marinette agrees. Both of them enter the limousine and drive off to school together, not looking at each other all the way to school, but their tell-tale grins plastered on their faces show exactly how ecstatic they both are now that their feelings are finally recognized by the other.

During class, Alya constantly shoots her best friend suspicious looks. Marinette consistently waves them off, whispering to her that she'll tell the brunette after class, but impatient Alya seems to want to know now. Meanwhile, Marinette is fixated on the back of her new boyfriend's—boyfriend, she sighs dreamily—head, watching the way his blond tufts wisps this way and that with every subtle motion he makes. Even though watching Adrien is a usual pastime for Marinette, the fact they they're together now makes watching her feel a lot more different, because she knows he isn't a distant dream anymore.

She notices Nino out of the corner of her eye pestering Adrien in a similar fashion as Alya is pestering her and giggles to herself at how amusing it is to watch her boyfriend—wow, she is starting to get used to saying this so often now!—flick Nino's notes away, completing shutting down any attempts at getting information out of him during class. After all, if either of them knew now, there would be a lot of surprised yelling, which isn't really an ideal situation for anyone considering how strict their teacher is. All of them would probably end up in detention if that was the case!

Soon, Alya, Nino, and everyone else will know, though, and they will live their happily ever after, and Marinette finds so much joy in the fact that it was all thanks to her newfound courage this morning that all of this is happening. She should be as confident as her superhero persona all the time if the results are always going to be as joyous as being Adrien's girlfriend.

With a wistful sigh, she continues to stare at the blond's head, giving a sheepish smile when he suddenly turns around and waves at her, a perfect little smile gracing his lips that's as lopsided and shy as hers.

"Girl, shut up!" Alya's mouth is wide agape as she continually rocks her best friend back and forth in disbelief. Marinette smiles sheepishly, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "I'm so proud of you! After all this time… you finally managed to tell him? And the kicker here is, he likes you back? That's just way too good to be true!"

"I know," Marinette says. "I can't believe it either. I still feel like this is a dream, but then I pinch myself and realize it isn't. It's absolutely amazing…" She sighs dreamily, looking around for Adrien. When she spots him, she realizes he's been looking at her the entire time, causing the tips of her ears to heat up. He waves happily towards her, Nino smirking knowingly at the two before the boys start making their way towards Alya and Marinette.

Alya is waving frantically at the boys, gushing at how it's perfect that they're finally together. Nino is waving back, gushing all the same. All the while, both Marinette and Adrien are completely flushed, unable to look at each other despite desperately wanting to.

"So you've heard the grand news?" Nino asks with a cheeky grin. "These two lovebirds are finally together. Who would've thought?"

"Tell us," Alya begins, a sly smirk on her face. "Have you guys done anything yet?"

With that, the couple simultaneously get even ruddier, their eyes wide open in shock. "N-no, we haven't even been dating for that long!" Marinette blurts out, waving her hands in front of her face to cover up the heat in her cheeks. "We're taking it slow! I guess…!"

"Y-yeah," came Adrien's expeditious agreement, nodding his head furiously. Meanwhile, Nino and Alya are beside themselves with loud guffaws, snorting and using each other as support or else they would fall over from laughter.

Marinette continues to stare at the two chortling idiots when she feels soft fingers brush against the palm of her hand. She looks to her side and sees Adrien sending her a look that is either signaling "let's get out of here while we can" or "I need to go use the restroom". The dark-haired girl isn't sure which one Adrien is trying to imply, but she nods her head in agreement anyway, and in a split second, she founds her wrist being wrapped by a strong yet gentle hand, pulling her away from the scene.

Once the pair is finally away from the laughing duo, Adrien, in-between short breaths, starts chuckling himself. "Those two sure find amusement in our being together."

"Th-they sure are," Marinette stutters as she mentally slaps herself. Even though she's finally dating him, her dream boy, she still finds it difficult to speak. Her knees are shaking just being around his presence. Talking to him is a great struggle, and she can hear Tiki giggling from inside her purse, bemused at the dark-haired girl's inability to even talk properly to her new boyfriend.

But hey, they haven't been together for long. It's only normal to feel nervous around him during the honeymoon period of dating.

As if noticing her discomfort, Adrien tries to remedy it by placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. The action only proves to make the dark-haired girl even more uncomfortable, making Adrien retract with an apologetic look on his face. "Uh, sorry, Marinette. I… I'm not good at this whole dating thing, you know…"

"N-neither am I!" she blurts out all of a sudden, her eyes wide. "I've never really dated anyone before…"

"Same here," he says, seeming to feel a bit more comfortable with the information in mind. Marinette, too, feels slightly more at ease now that she knows he is as inexperienced with dating as she is. They can learn and mess up together, she thinks to herself, giving her many thanks to fate for Adrien being as new to this whole dating thing as she is.

Adrien looks at her with a smile, whipping out his smartphone from his bag. "By the way, I don't think I have your number. Let's exchange."

Nervously, Marinette laughs, mortified by the fact that she realizes she actually does have his number. She quickly takes her phone and pretends to type in his phone number as he slowly says each number out loud. She then sheepishly replies with her own number, and afterward, Adrien only grins at her as she feels her phone vibrate. She turns her phone on and almost faints at the message.

Hey there, my dear lady ;)

Tonight, patrol is silent.

Usually, Chat Noir makes silly attempts at flirtation towards her to lighten up the mood, yet there is none of that tonight. There is some hidden tension between the two, and even though Marinette is ecstatic about the recent happenings with her dream boy and everything, Ladybug herself feels a tinge of sadness. She can't quite understand why she would miss the constant flirting from Chat Noir, because she always tries to deny him anyway. It must be because over the years, she found herself being used to it.

Yeah, that's it.

Ladybug makes sure not to look for too long, but she begins to examine Chat Noir. He is as he's always been, clad in his dark suit, blond tufts wildly hanging out, bright green eyes narrowed in concentration. She notices the way his chest heaves in and out slowly, calmly, whereas his posture and body language seems tense. She raises an eyebrow at this revelation, her mouth opening to speak. Chat Noir, however, opens his mouth at the same time, and they both ask the same thing they're both thinking of: "Are you okay?"

Ladybug looks away just as Chat Noir begins to look at her. He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, his mouth a thin line. "I'm… fine. I've just been thinking a lot lately. What about you?"

"I'm fine. Just curious why you're not acting like your usual self… and stuff."

With that, one of Chat Noir's eyebrows lift in amusement, a small smirk replacing his worried frown. "Miss my affection, my Lady?"

Flustered, she looks away, nodding her head in disagreement. "No, it's not that. It just bugs me out when you're so silent. It's not you. Besides…" She pauses for a second before adding, "I… I have a boyfriend now."

Ladybug expects a sad reaction from Chat Noir. She expects him to cry to her, pestering her with questions of who this boy is and what he has that the great Chat Noir doesn't. Except, none of that happens. What came out of his mouth catches the girl off-guard, almost causing her to stumble off of the building if it weren't for her quick reflexes. "I have someone now too."

She sucks in a breath. "Oh, you flirty kitty finally settled down?" she teases, though she feels a pang of regret and sadness stinging in her chest. "Who's this desperate girl?"

Chat Noir laughs at her, waving her off. "She's a wonderful, beautiful girl who asked me first, and I just-so-happened to reciprocate her feelings. By the way," he says, his voice getting quieter. "I want to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Is it okay if I reveal my identity to her?"

The very question shocks her, her face scrunching up in disapproval. "Well, it's ultimately your decision, but I don't think it's a wise idea. At least, not yet. Wait for a while. If you've recently just started going out with her, then that means you haven't built any trust yet. Just wait until you feel she's trustworthy enough."

"I think she is trustworthy," he argues, defiant.

She simply sighs. "You don't know her at all. Everyone has different sides to them that no one else knows about but themselves. You should know that better than anyone else."

"But keeping such a secret for so long…" His voice is really low, almost vulnerable.

Ladybug sighs again. "It's just not the right time. You have to be patient about all this. Next thing you know, she'll betray you and blurt out all your secrets."

He is hesitant in responding, but when he does, he just smiles at her. The smile piques her interest because the way his lips curve look so familiar… Like she had seen it all day… But she decides to let the thought drift into the recesses of her mind to think about later. "You're right," he says confidently. "I'll wait to gain her trust. You give good advice, my Lady."

She sighs one last time before standing up, signaling her prompt leave. "And you're a good listener, kitty. See ya later."

She hears her partner breathe out a goodbye, but she doesn't look back. She clenches her chest and tries to take in deep breaths, though even then, the pain won't stop. When she is safe back at home, lying down in her bed, she blames the sudden heartache on the fact that she hasn't heard Adrien's voice in a while.

She decides to text him tonight to remedy her broken heart.