As always, I don't own Miraculous or the image

"So... um... hi," a newly detransformed Marinette squeaked, a panting pink sprite laying in her outstretched hands.

Chat Noir stood there, completely at a loss for words. The love of his life had just revealed herself, albeit accidentally, to be the girl who sat behind him every day at school. Outwardly, he was stunned. He knew he was staring, mouth slightly agape but he couldn't stop himself. Internally, his mind was going a mile a minute.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug

She has been sat behind me for 2 years and I didn't notice.

How didn't I notice?

It's so obvious!

I've been fighting a crush on her because of my crush on... her!

She is literally exactly the same person

Is there an element of magic keeping our identities secret?

My Lady is my Princess

I'm so happy!

Chat's heart swelled in his chest and a stupid grin was starting to form on his face.

What if she isn't happy about who I am?

The smile started to falter.

Marinette stood in front of him quietly, processing a similar terrified monologue in her own head while trying to read the reactions off of his face. She was having a hard time trying to pin down any single emotion that he was feeling and his complete silence wasn't helping. They had been stood there staring at each other for two minutes.

A beep punctuated the air, startling them both. A look of resolution crossed Chat's face and he looked her square in the eye.

"Time for you to go, Chaton," Marinette managed to articulate, her mind still whirling. But one thing that hadn't changed was that their identities were still important. Yes, he now knew hers and that was a problem, but his could still be kept under wraps.

"Wait, what?" Chat Noir snapped out of his stupor. "No!" he argued. "I know who you are, it's only fair you know me as well. Besides, I've wanted to tell you since the beginning. It's only your rule that stopped me and now th-"

"And that rule is still there," she insisted, not backing down. "Look, we can talk about this some other time, but right now, you need to leave."

Chat still looked like he wanted to argue.

"Besides, I need a lift down from this rooftop before you detransform." Marinette hadn't brought any cookies with her, otherwise she'd have no problem getting down by herself. Finally Chat submitted, wrapping an arm around her waist and lowering his baton to the ground, retracting it so that they were both securely on terra firma. Marinette loosened her arms from around his neck and he reluctantly let go of her waist. Before he could say anything else, Marinette had turned tail and fled in the opposite direction. For now, as he always did, he would follow her wishes.

But this wasn't over.

Adrien was going to visit her at home. He needed to have a proper conversation with her and convince her that an identity reveal really needed to be a two way street. He would make her see sense. The benefits far outweighed the drawbacks. In fact, there were no drawbacks. Adrien was convinced that it was just the shock of the moment that had prompted her decision. They had had no time to process and her first instinct was preservation. She was always looking out for them, trying to keep everyone safe.

She was amazing.

Now that she had had time to think, she would definitely agree with him. It only made sense for them both to know each other.

"I said no, Chat."

Marinette wasn't giving any ground. It didn't make any sense.

"But, if we both know who each other is, it will make akuma fighting that much more efficient," Chat argued, his words falling on deaf ears. This was not the first time he had offered these arguments that night and they just kept going round in circles. At one point he decided that he was just going to drop his transformation and be done with it, even if it pained him to directly go against her wishes, but she had seen the move coming a mile away and had covered her eyes. It was petty and childish but she hadn't been left with another option. He considered telling her his name just to see if she would 'la la la' over his words. Chat decided against it though. They really were getting nowhere.

"We could call or text each other as civilians, cover each other's absences, we would have a lot of options open to us," he pressed, despite sensing that it wasn't going to work this time, much as it hadn't worked the last three times he had tried.

"Look," she said firmly, daring to finally lower her hands and give him a stern look. "It's bad enough that if you get caught by one of Hawk Moth's akumas that you could give me up," she held a hand up to silence his protest, "but if I knew your identity and he got me, I couldn't live with myself if I was the one to reveal who you are to him."

Chat understood her point, although that was his decision to make at this point, surely? Then Marinette gave the one argument that would stop him in his tracks.

"Besides, what if I don't like you behind the mask?"

It hurt Marinette to utter those words, because she knew they could never be true. Her kitten was the sweetest, bravest, most selfless person she knew, and as much as they may be different behind the masks, there was no way that could change. It was his very soul. Regardless, it was an insecurity she had herself and she knew Chat wasn't as cock sure as he made himself out to be.

For Chat, it was as if she had physically struck him. And not just because his Lady would suggest anything that cruel. It was because it could well be true. Despite his small crush on the designer, the two of them had never been close. She avoided him like the plague and could barely manage to say hello to him. Maybe she really didn't like him. Chat's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Please, Chat, let's just leave it for tonight." Mari begged, grabbing his wrist and moving him from her chaise lounge towards her stairway, ready to see him out through her balcony. "It's better this way, I promise. We have a good thing going here. You're my best friend."

Chat dejectedly followed her lead, allowing himself one last look around her room, taking in every detail that was her before he was subjected to the cold indifference of his own house. He refused to call it a home.

And that was when he saw it. The picture of him. Well, of Adrien Agreste. That hadn't been there when he had been over for the gaming tournament practice, or for the number of other times their small group had studied at Marinette's. He didn't change course as she guided him away but he took note of the picture. Scratch that. Pictures. What was all that about? Some of them had little hearts decorating the edge.

Did she have a crush on him?

No.

Did she?

The possibility put his head in a spin and suddenly, he couldn't get out of there fast enough. He needed to process this. He needed to plan. On her balcony, he turned to face his partner. His heart was racing at his new found knowledge. She liked him. He liked her. He could barely contain his glee. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he gently stroked down her arm to reach for her hand, noticing that despite the warm night, she shivered faintly. The action caused his brain to malfunction slightly. Was there any possible way that she might like Chat Noir as well?

He tried to dismiss the idea. He was the wielder of destruction and bad luck after all. Hope still lifted his heart though, tightening his chest as he lifted her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. Her cheeks tinged pink slightly but she didn't push him away.

Interesting.

But then perhaps she was just feeling sorry for him and allowing him to perform his rituals without rejection. He definitely had a lot to think about.

He released her hand and held his up to give her a two-fingered salute.

"See you soon, Princess," he murmured so she only just caught his words, and with that, he was gone.

Marinette was late for school. This in and of itself was no big revelation. What was unusual was when she reached her seat, Adrien wasn't there yet. He hadn't mentioned having any photo shoots or other obligations that he had to attend and due to his heavily scheduled life, the boy was almost never late for school. So where was he?

She took a seat next to Alya and listened in on the conversation her bench mate was having with Nino in front of her. Marinette was unsurprised to discover that their current topic of conversation was yesterday's akuma attack.

Adrien rushed into his seat in the middle of a heated debate about the romantic status of the two heroes, and he hoped his flushed cheeks were taken to be from his hurried entrance, and not due to his embarrassment. Marinette glanced over at his arrival and smiled shyly at him, which did nothing to temper the level of heat in his face.

Adrien had spent the morning before school mentally listing the pros and cons of revealing himself to Marinette.

Pros: They could communicate as civilians, a closer friendship would mean a closer partnership, it was one less secret, they could fall in love and live happily ever after.

If nothing else, Adrien was a hopeless romantic and the more he thought about it, the more sure he was that Marinette liked him. He would scope out the situation when he got to school.

Cons: Marinette may genuinely dislike him, the photos may just be her love of fashion, and his father's brand specifically. The loss of trust at his reveal could destroy whatever partnership they had, she would hate both sides of him and they'd never get married, have three children and a hamster.

Adrien was a little torn. He decided to play it by ear.

Now, here he was, in front of Ladybug, in front of Marinette, and he was at a complete loss for words. He knew he was staring, he couldn't seem to stop. And she was staring back. She was blushing. Taking a deep breath, he allowed his Chat Noir confidence to overtake him, banishing his fears. This was the right thing to do. Complete honesty and trust. He opened his mouth.

"Mr Agreste, will you please take a seat," Mme. Mendeleiev stood at the front of the class glowering. "You are already late, anything you have to say to Mlle. Dupain-Cheng can wait until your break."

She turned back to the board to continue her lesson and Adrien felt Nino tug on his arm. He gave in a sunk onto the bench next to his best friend.

Adrien had to be subtle about this. He had to do enough so Marinette would know it was him, but he didn't want to reveal his identity to everyone else.

Now that he had a vague plan (about as much as Chat Noir ever plans) he was keen to get it underway.

"Hey, Marinette," he started quietly, when the teacher was facing the other way. "I was running a little late today, and I spotted that you had a spare pun-cil. I was wondering if I could borrow it?"

Other than an odd look from the bluenette, he got no response to his, quite frankly, stellar punning. It was to be expected though. He knew it would take more than that to make her realise his identity. She fumbled when handing him a pencil and ducked her head back to her own work, ignoring the pointed looks from Alya.

Adrien turned back to his own work, pencil in hand and brow furrowed. Then he smiled. If he was going to do this, why not have a little fun with it?

He turned to Nino, speaking loudly enough that he hoped Marinette would be able to hear, but not so loud as to incur the wrath of their teacher.

"Hey, Nino, did you hear about that cat that ate a whole ball of wool?"

Nino gave him a quizzical look.

"What are you talking about, bro?"

"She had mittens!"

Nino stared blankly at his best friend, raised an eyebrow and deliberately turned back to his work. Adrien didn't hear any noise behind him either. He'd just have to do better. He worked quietly for a few minutes before speaking up again.

"Why don't cats play poker in the jungle?"

"Dude, no."

"Too many Cheetahs!" Adrien guffawed at his own joke and heard a small groan come from behind him. His smile grew wider.

This time he was going to take a bit of a risk. Mme. Mendeleiev had excused herself from the class and Adrien saw his opportunity. He turned in his seat to look at the blue-eyed beauty, briefly distracting himself from his task. He mentally shook himself and put a hand on her desk, causing her to look at him.

"Hey, Marinette,"

She hummed in response.

"I don't mean to bug you, but I didn't quite cat-ch the last part. Can I paw-row your notes to copy?"

Marinette stared at him wordlessly. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously then narrowed. The way her eyes seemed to flicker across his face, taking in his eyes, his nose, his hair and his mouth - he made sure to give her his best Chat smirk - he was sure she was coming to the right conclusion. Her eyes widened once more and she shook her head. The movement was so slight, if he hadn't been observing her as closely as she was him, he would have missed it. She was trying to deny what the evidence was showing her. She pushed her notes towards him without a word and turned back to her work, a blush covering her cheeks. Mme. Mendeleiev walked back through the door and Adrien picked up the paper and turned back to face the front.

In a last ditch attempt, because it was almost lunch time and his every nerve was taut with anticipation, he decided to go for broke. He had to make sure that Marinette knew who he was. She was starting to get there, Adrien was sure, but he had to be certain. He quietly tore off a piece of notepaper and picking up her pencil, quickly jotted down a note.

Hey, can I talk to you after class, Princess? It's impurrtant

He waited until the teacher was facing the board again and stretched languidly, almost cat like, smirking at the notion. He stretched his arms out, elbows bent, with his hands behind his head in an approximation of a yawn and surreptitiously dropped the piece of paper on the desk behind him, not daring to look and make sure it reached its destination.

He heard a muffled squeak behind him and the slight rustle of paper. Her loud gasp of surprised indignation put a cheshire grin on his face. He could hear Alya whispering to Marinette and he wished his hearing was good enough to know what they were saying but regardless, Adrien was confident that Marinette had finally got the message. Especially when he felt a kick in the back of his chair.

When the lunch bell rang, Adrien turned to Marinette and gave her his most Chat like grin.

Marinette grabbed Adrien by the hand and dragged him out of the classroom, leaving Nino and Alya gaping behind them. Alya raised a quizzical eyebrow at the boy in front of her and he just shrugged his shoulders, equally mystified by their friend's suddenly bold behaviour.

Outside the classroom door, Marinette didn't pause, still dragging the silent blonde behind her until they reached an empty classroom. She dragged him through the door and turned to place a chair under the handle, ensuring their privacy. Still facing the door, she took a deep breath to steady herself and collect her thoughts. In all this time, Adrien didn't say a word.

Slowly she turned to face him and he had the grace to look sheepish.

"So, um... hi," he started, parroting her words back to her from her own reveal, but she just continued to glower. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave him a look, encouraging him to explain himself. Her expression was pure Ladybug.

"Okay, so I get why you might be mad at me, but I can explain," Adrien began, offering her a hopeful smile. "I realise that there were a lot of reasons to keep our identities secret, and they're all still true. For other people. The benefits of us knowing far outweigh the negatives. Please tell me you see that."

Marinette continued to give him a hard look. Adrien sighed but persevered.

"It was stupid and selfish of me to give myself away like that, but I couldn't stand being the only one knowing. I needed you to know who I am. I needed you to see both sides of me. Is that really so terrible?" This time Marinette was the one to look guilty.

"Can I just ask," the blonde boy started to step towards her, cautiously at first then gaining some Chat Noir swagger. "Now that you know who I am behind the mask, do you really not like me?" His attempt at flirtation barely covered his genuine insecurity.

It was the reminder of her last cruel argument to him the night before which finally broke her stern composure. She looked away shamefaced, then back up at him. Marinette took the final step to bring them together and threw her arms around his neck, drawing him into a hug.

Adrien hadn't realised just how much tension he had been holding until her embrace allowed him to relax.

"God, Kitty, do you really feel that way?" she breathed into his neck, sending tingles down his spine. "It's my fault I know. I... I was lying. I said the only thing I could think of that would make you back off. I was just projecting my own insecurities onto you. I knew that I would love whoever was under the mask, because even if we act differently sometimes, who we are, that doesn't change." Marinette drew back to look into his emerald eyes. "You're wonderfully kind-hearted, generous, brave and sometimes a little insecure. You're my best friend. This," and she gestured to the boy in front of her, "might take some getting used to, but we'll get there Chaton."

She looked at him shyly again. "Do you think you could get used to a clumsy, stuttering idiot being your partner?"

Adrien looked away, his cheeks flushing a deep pink while he gathered every ounce of Chat Noir confidence he had. He looked back, falling deep into the cerulean pools that were her eyes. He was drowning and he couldn't find it in him to mind.

"I think I love my clumsy, stuttering, idiot partner," he replied with a teasing grin, then yelped as a sharp elbow jabbed him in the ribs.

"Way to ruin the moment, Chat Noir," she groused, but she couldn't control the grin that was working its way onto her face.

Adrien clasped her hand and pulled her, stumbling slightly, against his chest. He released her hand and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing his lips to her forehead and breathing in the strawberry scent of her shampoo. He looked down and rested his forehead on hers, looking into her eyes with such sincerity it took her breath away.

"I love you, Marinette. I've been fighting my feelings for you because I am in love with Ladybug but I need you to know that now I know, I've fallen in love with you all over again. You are the better half of me. If you tell me that you feel even a fraction for me, that I do for you, I will never leave your side." Adrien drew back and brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. "I love you."

Marinette was completely overwhelmed by Adrien's confession and she could feel her eyes brimming with emotion. She swallowed thickly and gave him a wobbly smile.

"I love you too, Adrien, Chat Noir, I love you."

The hand that rested on her cheek moved around to cup the back of her head and Adrien drew Marinette in to press his lips against hers in a sweet kiss. Their lips fit together perfectly and Marinette tilted her head slightly for a better angle, sighing at the feeling of rightness that came from kissing the man she loved. All too quickly the kiss ended and the two headed back to class hand in hand. Neither one of them could contain the ecstatic grins on their faces for the rest of the day.

Thank you for reading this one shot. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm currently writing my multi-chapter called 'The Physics Professor' which I'm updating every Saturday, and because I just can't seem to help myself, I'm in the process of writing a companion piece to 'Model Behaviour' and have a few more ideas in the works.

Please review, tell me what you thought was good, how you think I can improve, but please no negative comments without explanation. I really would like to get better at this, with your help.

Thank you again for reading and every favourite, follow and review absolutely make my day.