Marinette pulled gently away from his arms, her cheeks as pink as roses. She bashfully kept her eyes on the ground. Yes, she needed to apologize, but in the middle of the street wasn't the best place to do it, and they were starting to draw a crowd. "I should - I should go check on my parents."

"Yeah."

"I - I'll see you later?"

Adrien gave a small nod, "Of course."

With one last glance she went off, leaving him staring after her.

X X X

Marinette was more than relieved to find her parents both safe and sound, if not a little confused, at home. She held them tight and spent the rest of the day socializing with them. She kicked her Dad's butt at their favorite video game and she drooled over her Mother's cooking. Dad went to bed early knowing he had to be up early to start the next day's baking, her Mother sat up in her room as they shared some tea. "Marinette, this dress is beautiful. I dare-say, your best work. What is it for? Do you have some big date I need to know about?"

Marinette blushed, stumbling over her words, "No! It's nothing like that... it - it was just an idea I had... and then I found the perfect fabric and I just..."

Her mother chuckled gently, "I'm just teasing you, Marinette. But this color will look beautiful on you, with your complexion and your hair," Her Mother gently lifted her chin with her hand, "And those eyes. Red is definitely your color."

"Thanks Mom."

"You should try it on, I'd love to see you in it."

"Oh, I don't know..."

Marinette still had hard feelings against the garment, playing with the fabric as it hung on the dress form. "Oh, come on. Indulge me."

Sighing, she gave in. Her Mother didn't ask for much, so it was a small favor. She carefully removed it from the form, moving into her bathroom to change into it. "Ready?"

"Yes!"

Marinette came around the screen, stepping back out into the room, an embarrassed expression on her face. "Oh, Marinette! It's lovely! You look just like a princess. Come on now, give us a twirl."

"Mom..."

"Come on! In a dress like that, how can you do anything else?"

Marinette giggled and then gave a twirl, the fabric fanning out about her. Okay, so her Mom was right - that was pretty fun. She made her way over the the mirror and examined her reflection. Wow, she really did look good in the dress. The red fabric hugged her perfectly, the black and gold beading was exquisite. She really had done a great job, a pity it was made the way it had been. Her Mom came up beside her, hugging her arms, resting her head on her daughter's shoulder and observing the reflection.

"I'm so proud of you, Marinette. You're such a special young woman."

Marinette placed a hand over her mother's, "Thanks Mom."

She gave her daughter a quick peck on the cheek, "Alright, I should get to bed. It's been a long day. Goodnight, Marinette."

" 'Night Mom."

She watched her Mom leave the room and gently close the door behind her before turning back to her own reflection. Swinging the fabric slightly she took a small pleasure in it, slowly allowing herself to like the dress again.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound made her jump, turning to the window. She quickly moved to open up the latch and push the pane of glass out to let him in, "You scared me half to death!"

"Whoa, Bugaboo, I think I under-dressed."

"Wha- oh!" Her cheeks flushed again. How in all of two seconds had she completely forgotten what she was wearing. She wrapped her arms around her, trying in vain to cover as much of the gown as possible. "I - um - give me a second, I'll change."

"No, wait." He gently pushed his way into the room, putting his hands on his hips as he rounded her, looking her over. "Here."

Chat took her hand and gently led her towards him, lifting their arms up and giving her a twirl. He gently brought their arms down again, standing close to her, his smile falling somewhat as he looked down at her. "Wow."

"Is - is that a good 'wow'?"

He nodded, staring at her a moment more before clearing his throat and glancing away, letting her go, taking a step back. "You... should get changed, though."

"Oh?"

"I'll meet you up on the balcony."

He excited through the window again. She watched after him a moment before going about getting herself out of the dress. Her heart kept jumping, her hands shaking as she slipped into her usual outfit. What did she have to be so nervous about? Sure, she had about a million things to apologize for and she still hadn't come up with the words to do so. And it was only, Adrien, right? Unsurprisingly, that thought didn't make her feel any better. Though, she did take comfort on the fact that he had reassured her that Ladybug, Marinette, it made no difference, he cared for her just the same. She took a deep breath, climbing up into the loft to move up into the balcony. Marinette came through the hatch, closing it quietly behind her. There was no need in her parents discovering her alone with a boy, at night, to make it anymore awkward than it already was.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."

Adrien stood there as himself. She had spent some time with Chat up here, on several occasions, but this was the first time she had seen him as himself. It took a moment of getting used to before she went to stand beside him. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah. They don't remember anything that happened, so that's good, I guess. How are you? How is...?"

"I'll live. It still hurts, but luckily I heal pretty quick."

Marinette wasn't sure she believed him, "Please don't keep it from me anymore. I won't promise not to over react - I think we both know that I wouldn't be able to keep it - but maybe I would do better if I knew what was going on."

He looked her over and then nodded, "But that has to go both ways. No more secrets, no more running off alone. We're in this together - okay?"

She nodded in return, looking over at him guiltily, "I'm sor-"

Adrien held a hand up to stop her, "We're both sorry. There's no use beating ourselves up over it."

Marinette stared at him before smiling softly and nodding again. "Yeah - but still. I shouldn't have just shut you out. We're partners, you have a say in this too. I just - I've never felt the way I did when I saw... It just, it changed everything. I've never been so afraid in my life."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's done. There's nothing we can do now - except be honest from here on out."

"Deal."

Adrien smiled down at her with a small laugh, teasing, "Ladybug caring so much for Chat Noir, who would've ever thought?"

Marinette mirrored his smile, "Preposterous."

His hand rose, reaching out to her slowly, gingerly. The back of his knuckles gently caressing her cheek. She blushed again, speechless. Adrien drew back away, letting silence fall between them for a moment before inquiring, "Did you really never have any sort of feelings for Chat Noir?"

"Well, I don't know." She blinked, feeling put on the spot, "I mean, like you, I was probably a bit too focused on Adrien to really consider anyone else. But, if I didn't know you, I don't know. Maybe I would have felt differently."

"Hmmm. You know," He smiled, "I'm just as much Chat Noir as Adrien."

"I know."

"Are you okay with that?" His tone was teasing, but she was sure there was a serious question in there.

Marinette looked up at him before answer, "I mean, yeah. I'm still trying to work that one out, but yeah. It some ways it makes things easier, in others harder."

"I just can't believe my competition this entire time has been myself," he laughed, "I had no idea that you liked me like that."

"Are we really going to talk about this...?" Marinette half groaned, wanting to find that deep dark hole again.

"Why not? We did just agree to be honest, didn't we?"

"And there you go, using my own words against me." She sighed, "I can't believe you didn't know. I've acted so silly and awkward around you for so long... what did you think, I was just an awkward person?"

"A little." She made a face, "You also hated me when we first met. I don't know, I thought maybe it was some weird combination of feeling sorry about that, maybe being star struck, or maybe even that we are teenagers. The thought just didn't occur to me. I'm kind of mad it didn't, looking back now it's painfully obvious..."

"Gee, thanks."

"No, it's cute. It's not like I haven't done my fair share of embarrassing things - as both Adrien and Chat Noir."

"We both did. I seem to remember trying to chase both Chloé and Lila away from you... Not my proudest moments if I do say so myself..."

"Yeah, you do tend to be a bit irrational and stubborn."

"Hey, don't help me." She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.

He smiled at her, leaning back against the railing, "This is nice. I'm so happy I get to finally just talk to you. No akumas, no bad guys, just, hanging out."

"We've done that before."

"You know what I mean." He shot her a look, "As much as I like Plagg, it's not the same as having someone to really talk to and be open with. It's just nice to have someone who understands what I'm going through."

"Yeah. I will give you that."

"Doesn't help that I'm cute either." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Marinette rolled her eyes and gave him a gentle shove, "Is this how it's going to be now?"

"Probably. Complaints, m'lady?"

"Not exactly." She moved closer to him.

"Oh really?"

"Well," she smiled, a blush coming over her cheeks again - hopefully this flirting thing got easier, because this was getting ridiculous, "I guess you are kind of cute."

" 'Kind of'?" He raised his eyebrows again, feigning offense.

"Don't push your luck."

Adrien loved her so much. Their interaction felt as if they had known each other forever, but each moment was fresh and new. He moved off from the railing, stepping in closer to her. Marinette trembled slightly as he drew in close, looking up into his green eyes. The anticipation was killing her. He hung there a moment, dangerously, teasingly close. She whispered, "Are you actually going to kiss me this time...?"

"Maybe," he murmured.

He leaned down, her eyes falling closed once again, as they closed the gap between them. His lips brushed gently against hers, unsure at first, but she met him more than halfway, kissing him back. Marinette reached up to snake her arms up over his shoulders, Adrien's hands gently moved along her waist to come and rest upon her back. Though the kiss was brief, it was everything he had dreamt about and more. He had longed for this day, where he held his lady unmasked. The pulled gently away, resting their foreheads together as they both savored the moment. Marinette could feel just how warm her cheeks were, and could only imagine just how red they appeared, so was glad they were so close he couldn't see. They stood in silence, warm and safe in each other's arms. Everything was sure to be different from here on out. There would be new challenges, but they would face them together. Hawkmoth was still at large, but they were both filled with hope for the future and secure in the fact that whatever came next they would face it together. Hell or high water, they would be by the other's side.

Adrien pulled away only a little to place a kiss gently on Marinette's forehead, before inquiring, "How fast are you going to text Alya about this?"

"Pretty much as soon as you leave."

"Ha, I figured as much. I guess we should come up with an 'official story', huh?"

Marinette hadn't even thought about that, "Yeah - that's probably best."

"So much for no more secrets," he laughed.

"I guess some secrets just can't be helped."

"Guess so."

They both smiled at the other, taking a seat before making up the story of their epic first date night together. They talked late into the night about everything under the sun, Marinette eventually falling sleep on his shoulder. He carried her into her room and tucked her in, planting one last kiss on her forehead.

"Until tomorrow, m'lady."

X X X

Aaaaaand that's it for 'We Go On Pretending'! I have a sequel planned, but it may take me a little bit to get to it. I've been putting off some things in an effort to get this all out while I had it fresh in my mind, so I really need to start checking off my 'to-do' list XD BUT, look forward to "Love Is Not A Victory March", coming soon to a near you!

And to my friend leaving me all of the long reviews, thank you so much! I've enjoyed reading each and every one of them :) It definitely helped keep me motivated to write, so thank you! If you ever want to chat, please PM me! I'd love to hear more of your thoughts and chat 3

Until next time, xoxo