Chapter 3: Excitement for Tomorrow

Marinette would have assumed that, upon kissing her crush, Adrien Agreste, a.k.a., her partner, Chat Noir, and finding herself wrapped in his warm embrace, she would have fainted from the shock to her heart...but then again, if anything, the kiss alone should have done her in. Now that she was here, however, she was content to stay here, all night long...doing what, exactly, she couldn't have told you, but it would most definitely have involved her aforementioned partner/crush.

She was just starting to consider her options...

Was she brave enough to lead him to her lounger, where they would be more comfortable? Or up to her bed, even?! Where they could snuggle...just snuggle! Well, and kiss some more, maybe…

...Until she tried and and failed to stifle a yawn.

Darn it! No! You CANNOT get sleepy now!

Adrien was smacked in the face with the realization the passage of time did not, in fact, suspend itself for romantic moments.

"Oh no, I completely forgot how late it was!" he exclaimed, grimacing apologetically. "What time even is it?" His head whipped left and right and all around the room cluelessly, wondering if there was a clock in her room.

"I dunno…" Marinette murmured vaguely, glancing briefly at her computer monitor with no real interest in it; the screen was black, obviously in sleep mode. Who cares? She thought. Why would I want to go to sleep when I could keep kissing the love of my life?

"Well, as much as I don't want to, I should leave and let you get to bed." He smiled awkwardly. "We both have school in the morning, and...well, yeah."

"Oh god, school!" Marinette exclaimed, her eyes suddenly bugging out. "What are we going to do about school? I mean," she continued in response to Adrien's questioning look. "We're...um," she pressed her lips together and looked nervously bashful. "We're...now that we clearly feel...the same way about each other, then...technically, we're...together?" she hedged, looking at him out of the corner of one eye. "So, then...we're the only ones who know our secret identities, but no one else is going to know we're a thing at all...unless we tell people we're dating…? I assume we're dating now, right…?"

"Um, yes!" Adrien replied emphatically, nodding rapidly at her. "Totally, completely, and absolutely! But…" he furrowed his brow thoughtfully, reminding himself that he had his father's company's image to keep in mind. "I actually might have to talk to my father's assistant about my updated relationship status before we risk letting it go public." He grimaced apologetically. "I would have no problem declaring it to the whole world, but, unfortunately, it could be a PR issue if we don't have a plan for it."

"Yeah, you're right…" Marinette agreed, frowning thoughtfully. "I would definitely rather keep dealing with the press as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and not get stalked by the paparazzi just because we're dating. Oh, god!" she blurted suddenly, "Am I going to be attacked by fangirls?!"

Adrien winced. Dealing with overexcited fans was never fun for him, but most of time, they could be satisfied with an autograph (as much as he hated signing autographs), and he then could go on his merry way. In addition, he was usually accompanied by his bodyguard, who was intimidating enough to ward off anybody who might otherwise get all up in his face. Marinette, one other hand, was a whole other story: people who might swarm her out of interest in her relationship with him wouldn't be seeking autographs; they would either bombard her with questions (many times more aggravating than just squealing about how handsome he was) or (much worse) blow their jealousy and resentment at her. Worst case scenario, she could be attacked by some truly crazy "fans" of his!

"We'll probably be dating in secret for a while, until we have a plan for the whole thing," he said. "But my bodyguard is almost always with me when I'm not at home or at school, and nothing's ever gone out-of-control with him around. We will definitely make it work out, I promise." He brought a hand up to her face to brush her bangs across her forehead affectionately. "We're already an inseparable team! There's nothing that could take me away from you."

Marinette beamed at him and shyly wrapped her arms around his neck. Adrien was just barely able to resist the urge to scoop her up and start kissing her again.

"I know," she said. "If there's anything I've always believed in, it's your loyalty. We've always had each other's' backs, and we'll take down any crazy fangirls dumb enough to think they can steal you from me, or drive me off!" She inclined her head and raised her eyebrows coyly, her gaze piercing straight through him. "If I'm your lady, then you're my kitty...so nobody else can have you...right?"

Adrien just about hiccuped around his own heart, which felt like it had slammed itself against his rib cage. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he hadn't been blushing, but now, he was pretty sure he was glowing bubblegum pink. He nodded dumbly, inwardly swooning.

Oh, hell, yes...I am all yours, my lady… he gushed. Your kitty…!

Marinette giggled at the look on his face, and Adrien grinned giddily.

Marinette thought, How did I miss what an adorable dork this boy is? Actually, I probably always knew-Chat Noir was always a character-I just never acknowledged how lovable he was because I had my heart set on Adrien. Which, of course, meant I was ignoring him half the time.

"So...now that we've established that we're...a...couple…?" Marinette hedged shyly.

Adrien pressed his lips together in a poorly-concealed giddy smile and only slightly muffled a squeaky giggle. Marinette grinned at him.

"...we'll just have to avoid public displays of affection as long as we're keeping our relationship a secret. But since that's gonna make going out on traditional dates kinda difficult…" She bit her lip and hesitated, blushing self-consciously. "...we might have to...arrange some secret visits. So we can spend some more time together…?"

Is she suggesting what I think she is? Adrien wondered excitedly.

"So...correct me if I'm wrong, my lady," he said. "But, are you suggesting we schedule secret nighttime rendezvouses?!"

Marinette blushed harder and squeaked.

"If...that's what you wanna call them, yeah…" she murmured, looking up at him.

Adrien fought the sudden urge to do a fist pump.

"Mm-kay!" he squeaked. "Cool! Yeah, I'm-I'm down with that! Cool!"

Marinette snorted with amusement. She opened her mouth to reply, but yawned again.

"Oh my god, why am I still here?" Adrien said, shaking his head at himself. "I don't know how much sleep we're going to get at this rate, but I should still go and let you get to bed." He meant to stand up as he said this, but his legs didn't respond. He just kept smiling at her, not wanting to leave at all.

"I guess so…" Marinette mused. She stared back at him, and finally said, "Just so you know...the only reason I'm not kissing you again is because I'd just end up keeping us both awake for another hour, probably."

"Same," Adrien replied. "So, I guess I should just get going before we give into temptation?"

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Marinette took a breath and then stood up, pulling him up with her by the hands. "Come on."

"I might as well transform before I get outside," he remarked. "No need to light up your balcony in the dark!"

"Oh, yeah, good point."

"Plagg! Transform me!"

Marinette's hands came up in surprise as he was engulfed in light. When Chat Noir reappeared where Adrien Agreste had been a second earlier, Marinette reached up and ruffled his hair.

"Why does your hairstyle change when you transform?" she asked. "Mine doesn't."

"Good question," he said, chuckling. "But I'm sure it helps keep me from being recognized. And while wearing the suit, I think it suits me!" He grinned and chuckled at his own pun. Marinette couldn't keep from giggling; this was 100% pure Chat Noir, right here.

"Now I'm gonna try photoshopping your two different hairstyles onto both of you! For my own amusement, of course!" Marinette laughed.

"Now, I've gotta see that!" Chat Noir laughed back.

He climbed up the steps to Marinette's bed with Marinette right behind him. He pushed the trap door open as she scooted back against her pillows and tucked herself under her bed-covers.

Before climbing out, he turned to look at Marinette.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning at school!" he said, smiling warmly. Oh, god, I want to kiss her again so bad…

"Yeah! See you," she whispered. Oh, I know this is where we're supposed to kiss goodnight! But if we do, I'm gonna want to keep him here...maybe he could sleep here with me?! No, no, get a grip Marinette; you'll be WAY too excited to fall asleep with him so close! Save that for another night, maybe.

"Goodnight, Marinette...my Lady," he reached toward her and pulled her hand to his lips. "Sweet dreams."

Never mind, scratch that, kiss me now, please,
she thought.

What she said instead was, "Good night, Adrien...my kitty."

And with that, Chat Noir finally managed to turn and hoist himself up onto her balcony. Once his tail has slipped out of sight and she couldn't hear his footfalls, she stretched up and closed the trapdoor, securing the latch.

As she slid herself down under the covers and adjusted her pillow, Tikki flew out of wherever she had been hiding and settled down beside her.

"Tikki! You could have introduced yourself."

"I will, but I didn't want to interrupt your private moment," Tikki said simply, smiling.

"You aren't mad that Chat Noir found out who I am, are you?" Marinette asked.

"No, I'm not mad!" Tikki replied, gesturing reassuringly with her tiny little paws. "You didn't do anything wrong; Chat Noir just happened to be there to catch you changing back, and there wasn't really any way we could have known he was there if he was being just as careful as we were."

"That's kind of what I thought, but I'm glad you agree. And if anybody had to find out, Chat Noir was by far the best person to do it, right?"

"Definitely," Tikki said with a nod. "You two can help look out for each other now that you both know each other's identities. I'm not worried."

Marinette used a finger to pet Tikki on the head.

"I'm lucky to have you looking out for me, too, Tikki," she said. Struck by a sudden thought, she asked, "Did you ever think that Chat Noir and I would fall in love and end up together?"

Tikki giggled.

"Actually, I suspected you would from the beginning; every kwami can sense the auras of other kwami, especially when the powers of the miraculouses are activated, so I when you fell in love with Adrien, I had a really good feeling about you two...and now I know I was right."

"Seriously? And you kept it all a secret so I wouldn't know his secret identity?" Marinette smirked teasingly at Tikki with one eyebrow raised. "That seems like overkill!"

"It's always better to be safe than sorry. I've lived a very, very long time, so I've learned how important secrecy is for protecting Ladybug and Chat Noir. But it's true that they usually discover each other's secret identities eventually. It's just safer this way."

"I think I get it," Marinette said thoughtfully. She yawned again.

"You'd better get some sleep while you can!" Tikki chirped. "You're going to be exhausted tomorrow as it is."

"Yeah, I know…" Marinette settled down into a comfortable position and pulled the covers over her shoulders. "Goodnight, Tikki."

"Goodnight!"

Marinette smiled as she closed her eyes, visions of Adrien and Chat Noir swimming behind her eyelids.

I can't wait to see you tomorrow, kitten. We have a lot of wasted time to catch up on!

Settled under the covers of his own bed, Adrien stared sleepily at the ceiling, visions of Marinette and Ladybug swimming through his head.

I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from kissing you as soon as I see you tomorrow, Bugiboo. You are everything I've ever dreamed of, and now I finally have your love…

He rolled over and closed his eyes, unable to keep the smile off his face. It was still there as he fell asleep, dreaming of the next morning when he would hold his lady in his arms again...or tomorrow night, if she insisted he be patient.

THE END

...unless you all would like an epilogue?