Part IV. Chances.

Adrien was in pain. And not the poetic kind of pain either, 'woe is me' and all that; but more like 'his ribcage hurts to move' kind of pain. The fight against Wreckage had left some consequences that he had had to deal with right after getting home. Natalie had freaked out over his appearance, immediately calling a plastic surgeon to come visit him. After all, a model with a scarred face was probably one out of a job. No matter who his father was.

The good thing about the doctor's visit, was that the man also managed to check on his ribs, determining that the pain the blond boy felt was mostly because the muscles in his torso had been slightly bruised, all fault at being one of the victims in the latest akuma's attack. All in all, it would heal on its own; he'd just be sore for a couple more days. After giving Adrien a cream for his cut, and setting up a follow up, the doctor was on his way.

The cut wasn't even all that deep, really. Whatever make up the slapped on him for a photoshoot would definitely cover it. It was the whole 'can't move without wincing' bit that bothered him.

The blond boy laid back on his bed carefully, wincing at the pain it caused to move. Once the coast was clear, Plagg finally came out of his hiding place. "Waah. I thought he'd never leave" The Kwami plopped softly on top of Adrien's bed. "I'm staaaarving" the tiny cat complained, and Adrien simply pointed towards his nightstand, where he had a small container with some 'back up' cheese. "No Camembert, but It'll do" he said, before picking a small piece of Edam and gnawing on it.

Adrien rolled his eyes, "I'm good here, by the way" he deadpanned, watching as Plagg ate the cheese.

"I know" Plagg said, pausing his meal for a second "And I'm not complaining because I know you're all beat up and stuff" If not, he'd be demanding better quality cheese.

"Can you bring the remote over here?" Adrien asked, "I think I'll watch Tv for a while"

"Sure thing loverboy" The kwami said, cackling at the annoyed look on his face. "Did you see the look on her face before she transformed?" Plagg laughed "You could see the gears turning in her head!"

The blond yawned "I don't know." Somehow, Plagg wasn't exactly who he'd like to have this chat with; but he was all Adrien had so far. He could to Nino, sure; but solely about Marinette. There was no delving into the secret world of Ladybug and Chat Noir. And right now, his problems were right in the middle of those worlds. There was no separating them for this. "Do you think it worked?" he asked the kwami

"I don't know" Plagg shrugged, bringing the remote and dropping it by Adrien's hand. "That thing is heavy" The black cat kwami tilted his head at Adrien "I don't think you'll last much watching TV. Whatever the doc gave you is probably going to knock you out in like… minutes"

"I'm just bored" Lies. He just didn't want to think about whether Marinette would finally realize what was going on. He hoped she would, but with his life he had already given up with expecting much of people. The blond boy yawned. Huh. Maybe he was more tired than he wanted to acknowlodge. Maybe he should just give in to sleep. His eyelids were heavy, and he finally decided to give in to the exhaustion that was dragging him into a deep sleep.

Adrien wasn't at school.

"I think Natalie told him to stay home" Nino mentioned. "He's kind of sick, so they told him to stay home for now."

Sick? Hurt was more like it. Marinette could remember the hit he took; and she had to do her best not to wince as she remembered the tumble his body took as it hit the shelves the day before. Still, she wanted to play it cool. "Oh. He did have that one cut on his face" she said, attempting to add to the conversation, but not particularly feeling interested in it, now that it was certain that she wouldn't get to talk to the blond today.

Maybe she'd have to catch him later tonight.

He wasn't out at patrol either. Which was something she figured out might happen, if he'd been resting up, then going out at night was probably not the best idea for him. Still, she had the small hope that she would have been able to talk to him tonight. She could try and contact him… she had ways to do so, as superheroes and even the mundane cellphone.

But how would she even begin? 'Hi, so I'm totally sure you're both the boy and superhero I happen to have a crush, and I just figured this out yesterday'. Because she was a stupid idiot who had missed the most basic signs in the world.

Marinette sighed, hugging her knees up to her chest as she looked at the peaceful city before her. Perhaps it was time to head on back home. The girl stood up, glancing in the general direction of Adrien's house. It was far too late for her to chance a visit, and even if she did, what would she say?

Maybe she'd have a best chance tomorrow.

Adrien didn't show up the next day; or the day after. And Nino had no idea where he was, as they boy didn't answer his phone. They were currently on her last class of the day, and there had been no sign of Adrien. Apparently Nino had tried to call him, but the phone had been off the couple of times he had tried to reach the blond.

Marinette was taking all of this as a terrible, terrible omen.

Class was finally over for the day, and as the students were gathering his things to go home, Nino's phone vibrated on top of his desk, making a loud rattling sound. The boy picked it up "Huh" he said "That explains it" the boy began typing a response

That caught Marinette's attention, though it was Alya who spoke up first "What does?" She asked, eyeing curiously the cellphone that the boy was looking at.

"Adrien" he said "he just texted. He's in Milan for a photoshoot. He said that he'd forgotten his charger, and just got a new one for his phone."

"wooow" Alya said "Very fancy" It was a rather odd to have a classmate that was so normal, yet held a job so…glamorous. "Did he say when he'd be back?" Bless Alya and her innate ability to help Marinette without her actually saying so.

"No idea," he answered, tapping on his cellphone, before turning back to his classmate "juuust asked." The phone buzzed again "Sunday, it seems"

Sunday. Sunday? That was almost four more days away! Hadn't she already been standing; she would have plopped on her desk dramatically. As it was, she could only look as her two friends carried the conversation between themselves.

Nino bid his goodbyes and Alya turned to Marinette "Are you okay?" she asked, the two of them had barely had the chance to talk alone with Marinette about the Arcade, since they had tagged along with Nino now that Adrien hadn't been in class.

"I'm fine!" the other girl replied. "Just tired after school"

Alya looked at her quizzically "We never really talked about that day, you know" she pressed, as the two friends made their way out of the school. Alya had seen Adrien give her a kiss, granted, on her face, but a kiss nonetheless, and Marinette had yet to freak out about it. Now, that wasn't normal "Have you heard from that other guy?" she questioned.

Was Marinette really over Adrien Agreste? This was… surprising.

"Oh, nothing really happened" Marinette said. She still wasn't ready to deal with everything that had happened that day. Amazing reveal included. "And I haven't heard from that him either" she said, dejection flashing over her face.

Chat had done no effort to reach her; not after that day. And while knowing now, that his silence had more to do with the fact that he was far away working, than him hating her, was somewhat relieving, but it brought another problem. She wouldn't see him until Sunday.

"I just…" she said, "I need to think some things through first" she told Alya and for once, her friend simply nodded. It was evident that the girl was conflicted; and she really needed some space.

Back at her home, above the family's pastry shop, Marinette planned. Now, she could contact him as she had contacted Chat, so many times before. But she had already decided that it needed to be a conversation had face to face. She wouldn't chance it via phone, or text. So now, she needed to get all her research done to make a plan.

Her room looked bare. She had already removed every trace of her fangirl crush from her room, leaving instead some pictures they had taken with Alya on a sunny day months ago. She was just trying to reconcile the image of Adrien with Chat Noir.

Adrien… it seemed that she barely knew him. Sure, she still thought he was kind, a good friend, charming… but it seemed that there was a side of him that she would have never guessed. He was also playful, loyal, self-sacrificing to a fault and a bit of a flirt, but it seemed that it was only directed at her.

Well, she guessed she could understand. Marinette was just so boring, compared to Ladybug. Her superhero identity was strong, confident and able of doing so much more than Marinette. She couldn't even imagine the thought of Adrien knowing and actually liking her.

Hence her confusion.

"You could just talk to him" Tikki said. "maybe you just need to tell him all that's bothering you right now"

"He gets back home on Sunday" Marinette said "I could just… go meet him. I don't want to do this at school" She said, before turning on her computer and beginning her planning.

"That could work" Tikki said, sure that Marinette would just call him up and arrange a meeting, like a normal person.

Marinette was not a normal person.

Marinette had managed to make a plan. There had been research, and looking up flight arrival times and everything she needed. She was almost certain that Adrien was already home. Tonight, this Sunday night, she would go and talk to him. This was her plan.

After patrol, of course, Tikki had so gently reminded her. Despite everything, Ladybug had a mission she needed to keep up with. Paris needed to be safe, before she went and solved her love life's issues. But after a couple of hours, in which she had somehow ended up close to Adrien's house, she figured that it was time to put her plan into action.

Her plan had a big, BIG issue.

She had no clue which window was Adrien's room. None. The superhero fidgeted, as she looked at the big mansion… There were four outcomes possible, in different order of success

Successful: She found Adrien's room and was able to talk to him.

Not so successful: She found the window to an empty room.

Bad: Getting in the room of someone who lived and worked in the house.

Terrible: She entered Gabriel Agreste's room by mistake.

Marinette shuddered; that was definitely an option she didn't want to chance. "Maybe this was not the best idea" She muttered, standing on the roof, looking at the house. There were a couple of windows with the lights on, but she was still too unsure of whether she should try them.

Tikki frowned, though Marinette couldn't see her right now "I don't know, to tell the truth" said the little kwami. On one side, it would be great for both heroes to talk about this; on the other, maybe barging in his house was not the best idea. But, he had pretty much put every clue out there for her to find, so maybe it was what he wanted. It really bothered Tikki when she had no good advice to give. "Do you want to?"

Blue eyes turned towards the large house and a decision was made "Yes." Sure, she could have called him on the phone, but this wasn't a phone-kind-of-chat. "He hasn't been in school after that day; And Nino said he'd be back today. And this isn't a conversation I want to have at school" Just the mere thought of discussing their secret identities while their classmates (or even worse,Chloe), lurked around was… terrifying.

Granted, she could wait until tomorrow morning. But… she didn't want to. Besides, what if he didn't come back? What if after last time, his father decided that he was to be homeschooled again! She wanted to talk to him, maybe even smack him a little for not telling her that he knew. But first… talk.

Granted, she was being a bit dramatic about this, but she had waited days already. And she was pretty sure that Tikki needed a break from her drama.

The girl landed on the top of the main gate with a soft thud and crouched. She didn't want to be seen stalking the place (which she totally was). "There are too many rooms in this place" she complained, frowning up at the house.

Okay. Maybe this wasn't her brightest moment. Give it to her to make everything in her life related to Adrien so awkward.

It was then, that her luck (for once, when it came to her love life), decided to give her a hand. A window opened up and the quite distinct voice of one Adrien Agreste was heard loudly complaining "How long did you keep that cheese there?! It's moldy and gross!"

"It's not gross, it's ripe!" another voice replied. "Don't throw it away!"

"I know that voice" Tikki said, laughing. That managed to bring a smile to the young hero's face as she looked around, plotting her way in. Maybe swinging from there… she could definitely make it in without causing that much of a ruckus.

Meanwhile, inside the house, the argument continued. "The whole room stinks!" Adrien said, "I'll have to leave the window open so that I can breathe" The boy pushed the window open as much as he could. "I'll get you your cheese Plagg; just don't… hoard it in the room. You'll forget again and then it's like a stink bomb went off in my room" he had to sleep here, it was an assault on his senses. Just his luck that his kwami would like only the stinkiest kinds of cheese.

"I don't know why you're complaining, the smell is an improvement" Plagg said, refusing to give an inch in this subject.

"Well, we'll see who's complaining tomorrow, when we're surrounded by mosquitoes" he said putting his pajama shirt on, "Or there are flies all over your precious cheese.

This was enough to alert Plagg, who most certainly did not share his cheese. So he flew over to the window, trying to calculate just how much of a possibility bugs were, and just how much of a threat they presented to his favorite snack. It was then when he saw the red blur flying across the window, and then perched over the top, right where only Plagg could see it. Well, lovesick Adrien was probably going to loooove this.

Ladybug right outside Adrien's room? Oh, this was priceless.

The Kwami hovered besides the window, "Adrien?" Plagg said, almost shivering with excitement. He took a glance at Ladybug, who was seemingly angling herself to drop through the window. Oooh, he had to time this perfectly. Chances like this did not appear every day.

"Hmm?" Adrien replied, checking his phone and reaching for the charger on his nightstand. His back to his Kwami as he finished everything he needed to before bed.

Behind him, Ladybug landed with a soft thud on the floor, just as the Kwami added, glee evident in his voice. "Wrong bug" Tikki would have face palmed if she had been able. The best they could do was Marinette eyeing Plagg with a very unimpressed look on her face as the Kwami broke in a fit of giggles.

"What are you…?" Adrien's words died right in his mouth as he saw the masked Ladybug standing in his bedroom. His eyes widened as his cellphone dropped to the ground.

Nailed it! Score one for Plagg.

"Um… hi!" the girl said, waving her hand nervously as she balanced on the heels of her feet. He was getting ready for bed. This had not been the best moment. But she was here and she had already reached the end of whatever she had planned for this. Yup. Her plan pretty much amounted to '1.- find Adrien. 2.- Talk'.

Crap.

"uh… hi" A very flustered Adrien said, quickly picking up his phone and placing it carelessly on his night table. "You're… here"

"Yup" she said, her hands clasped together in nervousness "I… I thought we could talk?" she said, wincing at how… awkward this whole thing was. The fact that Adrien was seemingly stunned into silence did not help matters. "If you want to, that is" she said, 'maybe this was a terrible idea.'

"No no" Adrien quickly stepped up, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought of a plan. They couldn't be loud, or else Natalie would go nosing around. But she would have no issue with him watching TV, especially with his Father away on business. So that was a good cover. Adrien turned it on, leaving whatever channel was on, on an appropriate volume. "So that no one can hear us talking" he said.

Ladybug sat down on the border of his bed, her hands demurely folded together in her lap. Adrien did the same, the teenagers sitting at a considerable distance.

Now, how to begin this conversation… "Um…" she began "so, you know then?" she asked him, focusing her blue eyes shyly glancing at him. Adrien nodded, not quite able to speak just yet. It was a rather conflicting image to see Ladybug speaking in a tone that had always been so… Marinette. The tone normally associated with Ladybug was filled with confidence, her blue eyes sparking with icy fire.

The girl seemed to ponder for a second, before adding, "How long have you known?"

Now he had to speak "For sure? About a week" he said, "I've had my doubts for a while now though."

Oh. That wasn't something she had been expecting; and her face told that. She thought she had been so careful. "Really?" she tilted her head, a small look of confusion appearing on her face.

That was what prompted Adrien to speak up "It was all little things, really. But… I knew Ladybug, so it all begun to add up"

Well. That made sense, she figured. If she hadn't been so stubborn, she would have probably figured it out so much earlier. "You're faster than I am" she conceded, rubbing her arm nervously before she adjusted her position on her bed. Her back was going to kill her tomorrow unless she got more comfortable. Out of habit, she sat cross-legged on his bed, facing the blond, who followed her movement.

"Do You know?" Adrien asked, giving her a cautious look. All signs pointed to yes, she had connected the dots, but she was still under her transformation. That led him to think that she did know, but still didn't want to remove her mask in front of him. And if that was the case, well; that would be a large blow to his feelings. The girl nodded in reply and Adrien pressed on, "Who am I" he pressed..

"You're Chat" she answered, leaving out the 'my' part for now. This conversation was awkward as it was. She was sure of it, but… it felt so weird to call Adrian, bare faced Adrien, Chat Noir. But it was the truth, and that was the reason she'd come here in the first place. "Who am I?" she asked back, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Marinette" he simply said, his voice shy, but filled with certainty of a knowledge that he held dear. The girl let out a breath that she wasn't aware she had been holding. "Can I see you?" he asked, his voice filled with anticipation.

Could he? Yes. That had been the original plan. First, making sure that whatever she had figured out, was actually correct. And it all ended with Marinette leaving her transformation and everything being all fine and dandy.

But life had a tendency of being slightly more difficult than the fairy tales that lived in her imagination.

So, at his question, she had one of her own "Are yousure?" Was he? Because that was the last step in destroying the barrier between brave, interesting Ladybug and boring, awkward and plain Marinette. So he needed to be sure, because if he wasn't and she did it… then, she wasn't sure she could handle it.

Adrien's response was all she needed to hear. "I've been just waiting for you to catch up, my lady"

Marinette let out a shaky laugh, she was still really nervous about this. "Are you sure Marinette?" she could hear Tikki's voice, who, being so close to her, knew just how difficult this was for the teenager. Marinette nodded, saying nothing for a second, biting her lower lip as she thought.

"It's ok Tikki. I'm sure" she said, and she closed her eyes as the flash of light uncovered the plain Marinette. She was wearing jeans and a regular shirt, but today she was wearing the necklace on her neck. She felt she didn't have to hide it anymore; especially if she ended up showing Adrien, who she really was.

She kept her eyes closed for a second, waiting for any type of sign that she should flee the scene, before he felt shy fingers link with hers. Blue eyes glanced at Adrien, before giving him a small shy smile.

Tikki flew out, hovering around Marinette with worry in her eyes, before seeing the two shyly holding hands. Ah, that was good. They would figure it out. She just knew it. They just needed a bit of privacy, and that was something Tikki could actually help with. "Hi!" She told Adrien, "I'm Tikki, and we…" she looked at Plagg "…We'll be over there" she told the pair, before grabbing hold of Plagg and dragging him away, complains dutifully ignored.

The two teenagers looked at their Kwamis as they flew off before turning their attention back to each other, their fingers still linked together. "Is he always like that?" Marinette asked, trying to break the silence.

"He's being good today" he said, before chuckling at the look on Marinette's face "he has a bit of a one track mind." He smiled at the chuckle that left Marinette, gaining the courage to ask. "Can I ask you something?" The blond waited for the girl to give the go ahead and continued "Why tonight?"

"I couldn't wait anymore" Marinette confessed "I thought I would see you at school the next day, but you weren't, and then Nino said you left to Milan" The girl fidgeted, her fingers still linked with Adrien's "I just wanted to talk to you alone."

Adrien nodded, "I didn't hear from you after the arcade… I thought I had made everything clear and that you'd talk if you wanted… so I tried to give you your space." Sure it had been just a couple of days, but after his phone had died, it had been a full on tragedy; and he had spent all free time hunting a new charger and reconfiguring his phone. Sure, he had texted back and forward with Nino, but despite Adrien's best efforts to get some information out of his friend, Nino didn't seem to get the hint.

She had the good grace to blush. "It took me a little longer than the arcade, actually. Although If I had known you'd be gone this many days, I might have shown up earlier" she confessed.

Green eyes glanced at the necklace, hanging from her neck. "Why did you run away that day?" He asked, and her eyes followed his gaze, and she knew fully well that he meant that day at the roof.

Well, Honesty was the best policy. "Because I liked two boys and I didn't know that they were both the same person" she explained, chuckling at how silly that sounded. "It felt like disloyal to give in when I still liked the other" she confessed. The small smile on Adrien's face told her that he at least understood. "Why didn't you ask me out in school?"

"I couldn't. I tried." Adrien sighed. "I'm just better at certain things when I'm… not me" That's why he kept on flirting with her while being Chat Noir. It was easier to be as charming as he wanted when no one knew who he was. When no one expected anything from him. The Adrien Persona was fine and all, but discovering Chat was an outlet to everything that was imposed to him. "You were more at ease when I was Chat too"

"It was easier because I refused to like Chat" she said, "At first. When we didn't really know each other, you know?" Marinette sighed "And I had a crush on the new boy at school, so I really didn't have the time to pay attention to a flirty partner" She caught the look on his face and continued "But then I saw the Real Chat." The girl inched closer, lacing their fingers together as she paused, looking for the right words to say. "and he was great. He made me laugh, he cheered me up when I needed it, We could talk, and even though the flirting put me off for a while, I trust him with my life." Present tense. Not past. She would still trust him with everything she had "He was what I didn't know I needed." And the idea of losing either side of the boy she liked was scarier than she could verbalize. "And then, I started liking him too. And I didn't know what to do" She exhaled loudly, before continuing. "Ladybug is all I wish I could be" Graceful, strong, in charge. "I thought you'd be dissapointed with the reality behind the mask."

That coudn't have been further from the truth. "I saw you from afar" he said, "talking with our friends, joking around. And I really wanted to be in that part of your life, but something always happened." Whether it was her own shyness, Chloe meddling, or a random Akuma that destroyed the moment. Adrien and Marinette never got a break. "But Chat did get to see you like that… though I didn't always know it was you; but when I started to figure it out, I could see you… you know. You are Ladybug, even if you can't see it." He caught Marinette's confused look "When you don't notice me, I can see it." the boy chuckled lightly "Nino kept getting on my case about it"

"I… I can see you too, you know." Marinette begun "I was just… so set on separating the two of you that I never even wanted to think that things could be like this." Now it just seemed so obvious.

Through shuffling and moving without really noticing, both teens were sitting on his bed, cross-legged; right in front of each other, knees touching lightly. Her left hand was laced with his right, thumbs tracing imaginary circles on the other's skin. Through the awkward and nervous racking conversation, it was a relief to see that the other one hadn't pulled away.

The two fell into a small silence, though it wasn't as awkward as before. It was as if everything they'd both wanted was just so close, but neither knew just how to cross on to the other side. Where did this leave them? Adrien removed his hand from Marinette's, causing the girl to look at him expectantly. There was just something he needed to do.

"I can't believe it was you all this time" she breathed out.

Adrien decided to go for it. There was something on the backburner, something that had been circling his head ever since he gave her that necklace. The kiss that wasn't. Luckily, now there were no Kwamis to interrupt, or transformations that they had to look after. It was just them, and that made it even more nerve-racking than before. Sometimes he did need Chat to be able to muster the courage to move.

He had thought about kissing her during the arcade non-date; but it just… didn't feel right there. Too many people. It wasn't special enough.

"Marinette, uh" he said, looking carefully in her face for any sign that she wanted to flee the scene; he couldn't really find any so he began leaning forward, which considering their position; it was less than comfortable. The girl's blue eyes glanced at him, her breath hitching in her throat as she seemed to realize what was happening. And as it seemed to happen so often during their heroes battles, she met him halfway, pressing her lips against his. The pressure was shy, barely more than a peck, which he returned immediately with one of his own, traded back and forward as they both relaxed into each other. His free hand began to slowly make its way up her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin as it did so, and found its resting place on the side of her face.

This was not a kiss to break a spell, or to prove a point. They were both in their right mind and making their own decisions. They both wanted this, wanted each other. And even if the kiss she'd given him to break the dark cupid's hold on Chat a while ago had been technically longer… she wouldn't trade this one for anything in the world.

They broke apart, with a blush and a smile on their faces. Adrien was the first to break the silence "I've been wanting to do that for a long time"

She laughed, licking her lips nervously "Actually…" Marinette began, ready to remember him about the Cupid's arrow incident. (Which he was aware of, but despite many pleas for an encore… he had been denied).

"I don't remember that, so it doesn't count" he interrupted, and kissed her again, tugging the girl a little closer to him, which she completely allowed, crawling over to sit by his side. His ribs smarted for a second and he did his best to not react to the pain; while the bedrest had been merely a precaution; it didn't mean that he wasn't sore. Marinette, however, hadn't missed the wince.

"Wait" she said, pulling away to look at him. "You're still hurt" She said, blue eyes glancing at his side "is.. Is it broken?"

He shook his head "Just sore. I might have bruised something; but the doctor said it was nothing to worry about" he tried to tug her close again.

Teenage boys, really.

The girl swatted at his hand "You're going to hurt yourself more!" and she would not have that. Adrien's face tuned uncertain and if Marinette had been paying a ltitle bit more attention, and Marinette rolled her eyes, "I'm not leaving just yet, silly cat, let's just get you more comfortable" She wouldn't want him to be in pain because of her!

Also. She would very much like that kissing thing to continue for at least a while longer.

The nickname seemed to be enough for him to relax and allow Marinette to help him settle. The girl made quick work of grabbing some pillows and helped him settle back down. Marinette kicked off his shoes and settled besides him, both of them looking at the ceiling as their hands found each other almost as if they had a mind of its own.

"What happens now?"

Adrien's question had been in the back of Marinette's for a while "I… don't know" she said, biting her lower lip nervously. "We could try?" she said, looking at him expectantly.

"Try?"

"Well, we need to figure out how this works… in every side of what we do". There was so much they didn't know about each other just yet. The intricacies of how their personalities and secret identities melded in the middle, making them just who they were.

Things couldn't be easy, for the city's famous superheroes. There were aspects to every decision that they took together that had to be properly thought through. Being together added another layer of complications to their already complicated dynamic. For instance, if Hawkmoth knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir were together… that would make it so much easy to target them.

The blond rolled on his side, so he could look better at Marinette, and the girl mirrored his movements as well. He let go of her hand, to reach for the tips of one of her pony tails. She did have a point, there was another side of being a superhero, and that was that he needed to think more aspects to any decision. It wasn't just them. But then again, he was pretty sure of this "We can" he finally said, "try, that is. I just want to say" he added, an unexpected seriousness overtaking his handsome features. "I'm all in. I want this."

Marinette let out a breathless laugh, a bashful grin taking over her face, before she leaned over, and kissed him softly. Because that was something that she could do now. So she would. "I want this too" she told him, "We just need to take it slow" because really, if they showed up at school and started kissing in front of everyone, and being as gross as she could guess they were being, people would ask questions. And there was probably not a good answer either of them could give right now.

Adrien nodded, but grinned at her, his hand on the side of her face, pulling her closer for another kiss. "I kind of want to keep doing this" he spoke against her lips, eliciting a laugh from Marinette, who in answer booped his nose with her finger. He laughed too, feeling lighter than he had in a while "I can ask you out now" he pointed out. "Without the audience this time" Because as much as Nino and Alya were good friends and had good intentions, they needed to work on their matchmaking skills.

It was true, he could actually ask her out now. And considering everything, maybe she wouldn't spontaneously combust when he did it. "You can" she said, "I will even answer you this time" Well, hopefully. Maybe she'd be reduced to a blushing mess next time she saw him, remembering how they were pretty much kissing in his room.

Marinette began running her fingers through his blond hair, something she'd thought about doing for ages and she found that it was a good idea, It was just as soft as she'd pictured. The look on Adrien's face was pure bliss, his eyes closing as he relaxed fully into her touch.

"I never could understand how you didn't swoon over chat" Adrien complained, making her laugh.

"Weeeeell… ". To tell the truth, it kind of worked. Just not in the way Adrien thought it did. It was more endearing now, than swoon worthy. His best bet was a light combination of both; which was not something she would share, or else she'd be putty in his hands. "That's why I was so mad at you before"

"Mad?" Adrien's eyes opened at this, curiously eyeing Marinette who was nervously

"Well, jealous" she said, feeling her cheeks heat up as she rambled on the story "At the arcade. When you had already transformed and were all… flirty with me… Marinette me, not Ladybug" She felt silly now, considering everything "And I was so mad that you would flirt with me, when you'd just given this to Ladybug" she said, touching the pendant hanging from her neck.

"But I knew"

"I didn't… Well. I didn't know then… By then, all I knew was that you probably knew who I was" She had really freaked out about that. "But there were things to be done, and then you got hurt…" Time was never on their side when wearing their transformations. It was like a game of cat and mouse with trying to get the right moment.

"What gave me up?"

Marinette tapped the small cut under his bottom lip, and he took the chance to plant a kiss on her fingertips. "You had the same cut, and you got hit on the same side." she said "I was worrying about it at home, and Tikki asked me who I was worrying about. It all began clicking then." For now, she'd leave out the freaking out incident in her room.

"Does she like cheese? Cause I feel like I need to give her all the cheese I have."

The girl laughed, a sound that he was still getting used to hearing so close, and to something he'd said.. "More into cookies, really." She resumed petting his hair, and Adrien relaxed again, and it was then that Marinette noticed just how tired he looked. With everything that had happened, she'd almost forgotten that he had just gotten in today. "How was Milan?"

The blond yawned, though he did the best thing to hide it, he just was so starved for physical affection that he just wanted to stay awake as long as humanly possible to enjoy it.. "Pretty. I don't get much time to sightsee, with the shoots and everything, really" he said, "Father stayed though, some contract things that needed to get done" At least he'd gotten to spend some time with his father; even if it had been merely on the plane.

His eyes closed, and Marinette was sure that he was going to start purring any second now. The mere thought of it was enough to bring a smile on her face. "You're tired" she pointed out, her voice barely above a whisper. Maybe she should go.

"Don't go yet" he said, sleepy voice tugging at her heartstrings. He was going to be the death of her, she just knew it. Marinette eyed the clock underneath the Television set. It was barely past midnight. Sure, it was late, but she could spare a couple more minutes. She'd gotten in later during some patrolling. Besides, Tikki was here. ANd if anything, Tikki was responsible. She would likely come to her telling her that they needed to go soon. The kwami was quite concerned with her charge's well being.

Also, it wasn't as if she really wanted to go, in the first place.

"Alright" she said, settling back down, blushing as Adrien's arm settled on her waist, pulling her close. They were officially cuddling. She resumed her ministrations on his hair, slightly amused at how fluffed up it was becoming. He was going to look so silly when he got up. "You're definitely going to fall asleep on me though" she whispered to him.

"…'m not" he mumbled, he was going to stay awake out of sheer stubbornness. "where're we going on the date?" he asked, doing his best to stay awake.

"I don't know" Marinette replied. "You haven't asked me out yet" her voice was serious but her blue eyes betrayed the amusement. A good reply if she did say so herself. At least Alya would have been so proud of Marinette.

The earned her a chuckle, low and sleepy as Adrien barely opened her eyes to look at her. "Tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow" she mirrored.

It didn't take Adrien long to finally fall asleep, and that should have been the cue for Marinette to disentangle herself from his arms and go home. But the fact remained that she wanted to stay just a little longer. Her fingers continued petting his hair, massaging his scalp softly, the action soothing to both her and him.

This… had not been the conclusion she had expected, though it certainly beat whatever her brain had conjured up for the best possible scenario. But there was a certain elation that happened when things solved themselves out just perfectly; maybe her ladybug luck did transfer to her civilian life.

Marinette yawned and closed her eyes, there had been far too many emotions today, and even if they'd been resolved, it had taken a toll. She was exhausted. Besides, she felt so safe right now, no one could blame her for dozing off… just a little. Her fingers began moving slower and slower, before simply threading themselves in his hair as Marinette too fell asleep.

The kwamis returned to the room once they didn't hear any more noise, only to find their charges fast asleep, cuddled up against each other.

"They're going to be really gross, aren't they?" Plagg asked her fellow kwami "I can just see it. All kissy face and stuff like that"

Tikki shushed him, before adding "I think they're cute" she said hovering around the bedroom to find something to cover them with. They were on top of Adrien's bed and unless they got covered with something, they were going to catch a cold for sure. "Help me" she said, grabbing the ends of a light throw blanket and signaling for Plagg to get the other corner. "They're going to get sick."

"I'm going to be sick." the feline said, rolling his eyes.

"Stooop" Tikki said "They're happy. You know they work so much better when they're happy."

"Sure. You don't have to deal with rom-com brain over here" he said, as both kwamis placed the blanket over the two, as softly as they could. "He was gross before, I can only guess how he'll be now." Plagg eyed them, "He owes me so much cheese for this"

Blue eyes opened wide, not recognizing her surroundings at first. The bed wasn't hers, and the darkness was unfamiliar. Right. She'd fallen asleep at Adrien's room. And judging by the clock on the entertainment system underneath the TV, it was four minutes till five am.

Crap.

Her dad would be waking up soon enough; and while she was sure that they didn't check her room for her, it was not the time to begin testing her own luck. She was pretty sure last night had sucked the well dry.

Adrien Agreste was fast asleep however, his face nestled against Marinette's neck; his even breath blowing against her collarbone and his hand resting comfortably on her hip, protectively draped over her. It was an odd feeling, but not completely unpleasant, to tell the truth. That thought was however, archived and would have to be explored when she was not in a boy's room at almost five am.

She felt Tikki settle on her, as close to her face as she could, avoiding any part of Adrien's body. "We need to go!" She whispered to Marinette, "your dad will wake up soon!"

"I know…" the girl said, before looking at the blanket that covered them, blue eyes widening, "Where did this…" Oh no, what if someone had entered the room and saw them?

"We got it" she said, glancing to where Plagg snored softly. "I didn't want you to get sick" Marinette nodded, and Tikki added "but we need to go"

"Right." Marinette began to work on disentangling from Adrien, carefully removing his hand from her hip and placing it near his face. Then, she began to slowly roll away from the bed, doing the best not to move it too much. Soon enough, the girl was standing beside it, and looking for her shoes. She had kicked them away carelessly, and the darkness in the room did not help her in the slightest.

What would Alya say if she saw her right now. The redhead might just have a heart attack if she even mentioned the words 'So, I left Adrien's room at 5 am and I almost couldn't find my shoes!'.

Adrien, who by the way, was yet to stir. He was a really heavy sleeper. Wow. Marinette was about to ask Tikki to transform when she realized that she couldn't just leave like this. But she didn't want to wake him up either.

Ah. Dilemmas.

"Tikki" she whispered "help me find pen and paper" she begged her kwami, who began assisting wordlessly, locating them faster than Marinette could, her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness. "Here!" she said, "But hurry!" Plagg wasn't the only one who had to deal with a romantic-comedy brained charge.

Marinette nodded, supporting the paper and quickly jotting down a small message. She then carefully placed it on Adrien's bed, right where she'd been.

it was really late and I didn't want to wake you. my parents would have murdered me if they saw I wasn't in my room.

xo

-m

"Let's go Tikki" With that, the duo transformed and they were on the mission of: getting home before dawn.

Adrien woke up the same way he woke up every day. Alarm clock. The blond looked around the room, he was alone. He was about to discard everything that had happened as one of his (rather recurrent) dreams when his hand touched the piece of paper that was on the bed.

Ah. That… made sense.

"We're not going to do this, are we?" Plagg whined "Your face looks goofy right now" and your hair looks like you stuck your fingers in a light socket."

He ignored the kwami for now, a dreamy smile appearing on his face. She had snuck in to visit him. And… he finally got to kiss her. All the bits of last night were fresh in his mind, and if he looked goofy? He didn't care. He had a very good reason to look that way. "Yeah… "Adrien said, stretching as he got up of his bed "I don't mind" The boy then ran his hands through his hair as he headed towards the bathroom. Heh. His hair was so fluffy.

Plagg watched as Adrien went into the next room, ready for his morning shower. Humans were so weird.

Alya was thoroughly confused. The Marinette who arrived today at school was nothing like the girl who had left school past Friday. The girl that had met up with her at the schools entrance was… happy. More like the Marinette before her 'I-like-two-boys' drama. Had she made adecision?

"Having a good morning?" She asked, looking at her friend with a questioning look on her face. But she didn't get to ask anything else, as they were joined by their friend, "Hey Nino!"

"Ah, yes" Marinette said, "I just woke up in a good mood." Hee. "Hi Nino!"

"Hey!" The boy greeted his two classmates "How was your weekend?" The two friends were began talking, but Marinette was far too nervous to join the conversation as casually as she probably should have.

Soon enough, Marinette could see out of the corner of her eye the big white car that the Agreste family used to drive Adrien back and forth. This was it. Nino noticed as well, turning towards his friend as the blond got out of the car and walked towards them.

"Adriaaan!" Nino greeted his friend cheerily "How was work?"

"Oh, it was the same" Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck "At least the change of scenery was nice. So, how was your weekend?" he asked, turning mirthful green eyes at Marinette.

"It was great!" she said, smiling up at him "Your trip back was ok, then?"

Adrien nodded, "Getting home was the best part" he said, before adding. Soon enough, the bell rang and the group headed towards class.

Later, Marinette was alone at her locker, making sure Tikki had her midmorning snack when she found a book that she had definitely not checked out from the library. It was about basic Japanese, so it was pretty obvious it belonged in the languages area. There was a sticky note on top of the cover, which read:

Meet me at the library? 11.30

-a.

She looked at the time on her cellphone, and with enough time to spare, she headed over the library. Finding a moment for Adrien to finally ask her out, had been trickier than they thought. Not that Marinette thought that he would have backed out of the whole thing, it had been quite obvious during the day, that Adrien had been trying to get her alone; but as it usually happened, people had a knack for interrupting.

Marinette pushed open the library's door and looked around to see if she found Adrien as she walked towards the section on foreign languages. Sure enough, there he was, busying himself with a book she was pretty sure she had seen him read before.

"Hi" she said, keeping her voice as library appropriated as possible as she held the book she had most definitely not checked out.

"Hey" Adrien said, putting the book back on its place before reaching for the one on the girl's hand. "I was looking for that" he said, placing it back where it belonged.

"Good thing I found it" she said, and couldn't help but grin. despite that she knew what this was about, she was nervous, and by the looks of it all, so was he.

The blond rubbed the back of his neck, a bashful smile taking over his handsome face "It was the best idea I had to get you alone" he said, shifting his weight from one feet to the other.

Alright then, time for the question. "I had a question to ask you today" He began, before being interrupted by a grinning Marinette.

"Yes, that was the agreement." She gave him her best innocent look, but the smile on her face was hard to control. Last week's Marinette would have been a puddle on the ground by now. This was definitely an improvement.

Adrien laughed, "If my lady would let me finish… " he grinned, "Do you want to go out with me?"

Marinette bit her lower lip and answered. "Yes"

Despite everything, and the fact that her answer was something he had expected, it was always nice to hear. The boy got a little closer, so that their conversation wouldn't be heard by any passing students. "So, I thought of somewhere we could go after school if you want" he said, and at the surprise in her eyes he shook his head. "It's a surprise, so I'm not telling"

"Not fair!" she whispered, thought she knew that she was going to let him have that one. Part of the excitement was seeing what he had planned out.

They were so close, smiling at each other. They should probably start moving soon, lest someone found them. Also, if Plagg had been allowed outside, he would have added that they were indeed being gross.

Adrien stepped back, looking around to see just where the library's occupants were at this moment. Marinette was just about to ask what was wrong, when a grinning Adrien leaned over and kissed her "I just wanted to do that again" he said, flashing her the most unapologeticsmile she had ever seen in her life. Sure, they were going to take it slow and all that, but… as far as he was concerned, he was fully committed to Marinette.

Granted, they had to work out some details on how to act around people. There were good reasons why they needed to be so guarded. But they would have dates to figure that out, for now, he would be happy to sneak as many kisses as he possibly could.

"Oh" she said, blushing slightly; but it just warmed her heart to see him so… happy. "That's okay by me" she said, stepping on her tiptoes to plant another peck on his lips. "Let's go to class kitty" she said, tugging lightly on his arm "before someone catches us."

There would be time to share this with their friends. For now, they would keep another little secret. At least this time they weren't alone in it.