The sky bled pink and orange from the setting sun while Ladybug and Chat Noir lounged high on a rooftop. Chat Noir was drifting off into a light doze, his cheek pressed against his partner's shoulder.

Ladybug smiled at him, fond and melancholy. "You're my rock," whispered.

"And you're mine," Chat said, voice slightly muffled, the response easy and automatic even on the edge of sleep. Marinette's heart twinged, almost in pain, and she glanced away.

His devotion to her was nothing new. She'd known about his feelings for her as Chat, and she'd known how close he'd felt to her as Adrien. But she hadn't been prepared for them to be the same person, and she hadn't been prepared for the disadvantage of finding out after he did.

Chat snored softly. Ladybug brushed a hand over his hair with a feather-light touch.

He wasn't pressuring her, but Adrien had to be wondering why she hadn't so much as acknowledged what he'd said weeks ago.

A guy doesn't look a girl he doesn't love like this.

She loved him, of course. He was her partner, her friend, her confidante. There was no one she trusted more.

But–though it didn't always seem like a good idea–she thought she might also love him like she wanted to thread her fingers through his hair and pull his lips down onto hers and feel his arms twist around her waist and to feel everything else dissolve–

She had fantasized about being his girlfriend, but there had been distance then. It was different now.

Now Adrien was perhaps the most important person in her world–a thought that brought on a wave of affection for her partner, but also a little bit of fear.

She bit her lip, looking at Chat slumped against her. She reflected on how badly injured a person could get falling from this height. Yet Chat Noir slept in her arms, fully vulnerable, fully trusting in her.

She held him tighter and closed her eyes.

She supposed neither of them had anything to fear from heights. Ladybugs could fly, and cats landed on their feet.

Even so, they would never let each other fall.

"Good morning," Marinette said cheerfully, passing Adrien's desk.

Adrien grinned. "Morning, Mari."

There was a thump on the desk next to him as Nino dropped his bag onto it. Nino sat down and nodded at Marinette, who was chattering away to Alya. "You guys made up, huh?"

"Yeah, we did."

Nino grinned. "About time," he said. "So can you tell me what happened between you two?"

"Sorry, man," Adrien said. "Maybe someday."

Nino shook his head. "You're always saying stuff like that these days," he said. "It's cool and all, but you've got me wondering what kind of crazy crap I'm gonna hear when 'someday' comes."

Adrien grinned. "It'll be worth the wait, I promise."

"Good," Nino said.

Alya tapped Adrien on the shoulder. "Can I look at your physics notes? I can't read some of my own handwriting."

"Sure, Alya." Adrien started to rummage through his bag. "Hmm. I know I put them in here this morning."

"Don't worry, I can look off Mari's," Alya said.

Marinette shook her head. "No, I was gone one of the days. I don't have all the notes."

"They're here, don't worry." Adrien pulled on his hoodie uncomfortably. "It's kind of warm in here, isn't it?"

Nino frowned. "Yeah, a little."

"Hang on a second," Adrien said, standing to pull his sweatshirt over his head.

Marinette suddenly erupted in a violent coughing fit. Adrien turned around in concern. Alya thumped her on the back, hiding laughter behind her hand.

Adrien dropped his sweatshirt and rested a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Marinette croaked. "Yeah, I'm great."

"She just…choked," Alya said, still grinning.

Adrien shrugged and dove back into his bag. "Oh, here they are," he said, and passed his notebook back to Alya. Marinette blushed and stared straight ahead very hard. Alya grinned at him.

Adrien turned back to the front, but he could still hear Alya's whisper–"You saw them, right? Model abs!" Nor could he help but overhear Marinette's mortified "Alya!"

Nino snickered.

"What?" Adrien grumbled.

"Dude," Nino said. "Even your ears are blushing."

Adrien shook his head and tried to pay attention as class started.

Marinette could feel his confusion. Her speech sped up with anxiety when the tension was detectable. There were times he was unable to meet her eyes, and would have to talk to her with his stare firmly fixed on a diagram in their physics textbook.

But when she'd start to ramble Adrien would take her hand quickly, squeeze it, and release it, and a little bit of the stress would leave her. He no doubt assumed that she had no feelings for him. And he held no grudge. Marinette loved him for that. Among other things.

She had a city to protect, schoolwork to do, relationships to maintain. It felt like too much.

Her confusion and embarrassment and panic and longing sloshed back and forth in her head like water in a bucket. She had too much to do and too many things to think about and too many decisions to make. This one would just have to wait. She had limited space in her head.

If she let herself fall into the hole that was thinking about all of it, the air got too hard to breathe. Every time she saw him the pressure increased, even despite his unspoken reassurances…

Marinette squeezed his hand back quickly and let it go, before she could start thinking about it too hard, and turned a page in the textbook.

Adrien's mind was always full of her.

It was sometimes easier, or more difficult, on patrol. It was just the two of them, Ladybug humming as she leapt from roof to roof, Chat following her lead. They sometimes talked, but these days found that more than often they didn't need to. Her hair shone in the moonlight, and her absentminded humming was beautiful. They patrolled in comfortable silence, aside from the simple tunes she would softly sing.

But when the silence went on too long, Adrien's thoughts would build up again, piling on each other, until he could hear nothing but the roar in his ears and see nothing but her. Her, with her yo-yo flying, with her face set in determination, fearless and formidable. Her, tender and kind, knitting presents for her friends and never forgetting to bring Plagg cheese. Her, her, her, limitless and beautiful and compassionate and awe-inspiring.
He could feel her presence. He could tell exactly where she was, as though she were the source of all the warmth in the room. She took up every thought. She filled every space.

She hadn't said anything.

Marinette had had ample opportunity. Between class and patrol alone they'd spent plenty of time together. If she'd wanted to bring it up, she could have.

But she didn't. And that was fine.

Adrien knew why. She didn't return his feelings. She wanted to preserve their friendship, and he did too. He couldn't bear to lose her.

But every cell in his body was pulled in her direction–he sometimes felt flattened to the ground from the weight of all he felt for her–he couldn't breathe beneath it–

"I should go home," Chat Noir said, breaking the quiet.

Ladybug looked at him in surprise. "Really? It's still early."

"I'm just…behind on studying." If I stay out here a moment longer I might tell you I love you again and mess everything up for real.

"Okay. Text me when you're home safe."

"I will. You, too."

He landed in his room, closed the window, and cracked open a textbook, but the effort was futile. His eyes slid over the same paragraph over and over. He couldn't concentrate.

He didn't often study without Marinette.

"There you are," Chat Noir said, dropping onto the rooftop. Ladybug turned away, trying to compose herself quickly before he saw her expression. "Everything okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Ladybug said. Her tone was harsher than she'd intended and Chat raised his eyebrows at the bite in her voice. She swallowed and tried for an airier tone. "I'm just here to…think."

"You just weren't answering your phone. I couldn't find you anywhere, and you seemed upset at school today."

"I'm fine."

Chat Noir sighed and sat next to her. "Something's up, bug. No point in hiding it."

"It's my problem."

"Can I help?"

"It's Lila," she growled.

"Lila Rossi?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"Never mind."

"Marinette…"

"She was all over you!" Ladybug blurted. "She was disrespectful, inconsiderate, pushy. She was like Chloé!"

"It's not you she's being inconsiderate to."

"Chloé tried to kiss you on Thursday."

"Marinette, what is going on, really?"

She only huffed in response.

"Mari, look at me," Chat Noir said. She reluctantly made eye contact with him. "I need to hear you say it."

"I just want people to treat my friends better than that."

"I'm sure you do," Chat Noir said. "But that's not why you're isolating yourself from the world, hiding on top of a building in the middle of the night."

"Yes, it is," Ladybug insisted.

"Then why are you being cold to me, too?"

"I am not!"

"You are. Mari, if you're not going to bring up the thing I said -"

"No, that has nothing to do with it!" Ladybug buried her face in her hands, suddenly embarrassed.

"You're scared to talk about it."

"Scared?" Ladybug raised her head, frowning. "No!"

"You think if you say something we'll end up fighting, or we'll have more misunderstandings, and we won't be friends anymore."

"I - Chat, would you -"

"I know," Chat Noir said, "because it's exactly what I used to feel, every day of my life, every time I looked at you."

"I…" Ladybug fumbled for something to say, but found herself oddly without words.

"I'm going to take a quick trip around my patrol route, and then I'm going home." He hesitated and paused as if to say something else. Then he hopped off the roof.

Ladybug let her face flop onto her folded arms and let out a muffled, frustrated scream.

Adrien could do nothing but pace in his room, massaging his forehead, feeling a massive headache building.

He would almost welcome an akuma right now, he thought. Anything for an opportunity to see her, to take her hand and beg her for forgiveness.

He had been frustrated, sure. But nothing was worth this.

They had to be better than this. They had been a team for so long.

His phone chimed with a notification, and he dove on it, but it was only Nathalie with a reminder for tomorrow. He sighed and stuck the phone in his pocket, then pulled it out and typed two words.

Adrien - January 12th, 8:31 pm
Home safe.

A few moments later a reply popped up.

Mari - January 12th, 8:32 pm
me too

He started at Marinette's message until the light of his phone screen appeared blurry. Adrien blinked repeatedly and rubbed his eyes.

They were such idiots. He was an idiot.

The snow outside was falling thickly and he was in his pajamas, but he didn't care. He threw on a coat and ran out of the house, leaving Plagg snoozing in his sock drawer.

Marinette lay on the chaise, tear streaks on her cheeks, staring blankly at the wall opposite her. There was a gentle knock on the trap door. Someone called her name softly, and Marinette stilled. Not trusting her voice, not wanting to show her face, she curled into a tighter ball.

Then Adrien's arms encircled her, his smell surrounded her. She hesitated for a moment, then exhaled and hugged him tightly. Cold had settled into the material of his clothes. The snowflakes that dusted his jacket started to melt away.

Marinette focused on her breathing, taking in measured breaths and taking care not to let them come out as sobs. But when she realized it wasn't melted snow but Adrien's warm tears which fell onto her shoulder, she broke down, clutching him tightly. The wall between them shattered like wafer-thin glass.

Why did she keep resisting this? Marinette laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes, holding him despite everything. She would deal with her worries again in the morning. For now, she would indulge.

She fought her exhaustion, but still found herself drifting off. Adrien gently laid her down on the chaise, draping her blanket from her bed over her.

Marinette wasn't sure whether she was already dreaming when Adrien left, so when she woke she wasn't sure whether he had really kissed her forehead and whispered something tender to her before he slipped out of her room.

Adrien stepped out of the car and scanned the students outside the school doors. Right away he found Marinette, looking at him, her backpack hanging from her hands in front of her.

As he approached she dropped her bag and launched herself at him. Adrien let his own bag fall to the ground to hug her back.

"This wasn't what I planned," Marinette said, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "I had this whole apology speech."

"This is okay by me," Adrien said.

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too."

"I was horrible."

"I was horrible."

Marinette let out a shaky breath. "I hated that."

"Me too," Adrien said. "So, we'll never argue again?"

"It's a deal," Marinette said, stepping back and hurriedly wiping her eyes. "Both forgiven?"

"Always," Adrien said, picking up both their bags. "Let's go to class."

"Ladybug and Chat Noir are probably best friends in real life," Alya said happily. "Look how they smiled at each other here." She held up her tablet for the group to see, showing footage of the last akuma battle.

"I always figured they were married or something," Nino said absently. He kept playing on his phone, oblivious to Adrien and Marinette flushing red. "Did you see how Ladybug looked at him toward the end?"

Alya shrugged. "Could be platonic."

"I'm all for friendship," Nino said, leaning forward and pausing the video, "but just look at her."

Adrien looked at the screen and his stomach swooped. Chat Noir was dashing away in the photograph, a few moments after their fist bump. Ladybug stood with her hands on her hips, watching him leave fondly.

"Well, she cares about him," Marinette said.

Adrien's heart pulled. He let his hand fall beneath the table and briefly brush hers.

Neither he nor Marinette contributed much for the rest of the conversation.

Someone knocked on his bedroom door with determined force. Three loud, even raps. It seemed so formal Adrien was surprised to find Marinette when he opened the door.

"Mari! Aren't we doing homework later tonight? Or–"

Marinette shot to her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his.

Adrien's eyes widened in surprise, his hands settling lightly on her shoulders.

His head was fuzzy. Marinette's lips were soft and tasted like chapstick. Adrien's hands settled on her waist. He felt his knees weaken and pulled her closer for support.

He was kissing Marinette. Adrien felt light-headed from disbelief and bliss. He had wondered what this would be like for so long. It was just right.

Marinette broke the kiss and rested her forehead on his, drinking in his face, laughing a little at his dumbstruck expression. Her cheeks were red, and she was smiling.

Adrien let out a shaky laugh. His heart soared. He'd never seen her look so happy. Was she really smiling like that for him?

"I didn't think you were gonna…" he said.

"I was scared," she said. "I didn't want to…"

"I know," Adrien said, and kissed her again.

Marinette pulled away a little and brushed a lock of hair out of his face. "I love you."

Adrien couldn't respond. It was so hard to think straight when her face was so close and her hand was on his cheek and her eyes were square on his and everything about her expression radiated everything he felt when he looked at her or thought about her or heard her voice -

Adrien hugged her, thinking there had never been a luckier black cat in the entire world.

The fic is (finally) complete!

Thanks for reading and for all your kind comments (and for your patience)! It means the world to me 3

You can find me on tumblr as peggiecarter, if you want! :)