Author's Note:

WARNING: Reading this will change the way you watch Miraculous:Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Head-Canon paradigm shift ahead.

I do not own any of these characters.

Adrien smiled and walked away. Marinette held the umbrella tightly as she peered out from beneath it. She stammered out a "Uh-Huh... S-See ya... t-tom-tomo... oh!" Tikki popped out and Marinette exclaimed, "Why am I stammering?"

"I think I might have an idea," Tikki smiled. Marinette blushed and giggled a little while she watched Adrien drive away. She picked up her backpack and walked home.

After entering her room and putting her stuff away, she turned to the little kwami. "Tikki?"

"Yes, Marinette?"

"Adrien's Cat Noir, isn't he?"

"What makes you think that?"

"His voice and laugh sound the same... and Adrien just proved to me this afternoon that he's just as kind and thoughtful of others as Cat Noir is."

"You know it's dangerous to know each other's identities, right? Hawk Moth could use it against you."

"I know, Tikki. I think we might need to get ahead of this before we get too serious."

"I agree."

Adrien was watching Plagg swallow a piece of camembert twice his size when he heard a tap on his window. Plagg zoomed away and Adrien looked up to see Ladybug waving at him. He quickly ran over and let her in.

"L-Ladybug? What brings you here?"

"We need to talk."

"A-About what, M-Ladybug?"

"Exactly that. You were about to call me by my civilian name, right?"

Adrien hung his head. "Sorry, but I couldn't help but notice after seeing you after school and having heard how you stood up to Chloe."

"It's okay. I noticed you too, Cat Noir."

Adrien's head popped back up. "This is bad. How are we going to protect our identities if we both figured it out after one day?"

"That's what we need to talk about."

Plagg came floating up beside Adrien. "Since you both already know, can you detransform so I can spend some time with Tikki?"

"Oh, right... sorry. Tikki, spots off." In a pink flash, Marinette was standing where Ladybug used to be.

Adrien put his hands on his cheeks to hide his blush. "Wow! I don't think I could ever get used to that!"

Marinette blushed. "My cat-sanova!"

Adrien nearly melted into a puddle. "Bugaboo, will you go out with me?"

"As much as I'd love too… and believe me I would... that's the very problem we need to address."

"How so?"

"Well, if Hawk Moth figures out our identities, he can target or friends and family. But, if he figures out we're an item, then he can target one of us to get to the other. We need to figure out how to keep him from figuring it out."

"We can just meet in private." Adrien waggled his eyebrows, earning a giggle from Marinette.

"But, what are we going to do in public?"

"Pretend we don't like each other?"

"That's not very realistic... especially since we work so well together and are in the same class at school."

"Well, we like each other... but how about we fawn over different sides?"

Marinette sat up and thought for a few minutes. "That... could... actually work. Cat Noir could be lovesick for Ladybug and Marinette could be lovesick for Adrien. It'd be like a... love square... or something like that."

"We have to also pretend like we don't know each other's identities."

"Or better yet, how about you want to share as Cat Noir, and I want to keep them a secret as Ladybug... and Adrien and Marinette have no clue. Our civilian selves will completely deny any resemblance."

"Okay... Ladybug has another boy she loves and Adrien is oblivious to Marinette's crush. So, Cat Noir is always trying to win Ladybug's heart, only to be continually rejected... and Marinette is too nervous or scared to approach Adrien."

"I like that... I like that a lot. Anytime we're in public or around other people... we've got to keep up these personas. We never know when Hawk Moth might be able to see us."

"I guess your right. If he can sense people's emotions anywhere in the city... he must have some type of psychic connection and we don't know his limits."

"Sounds like we've got a plan."

"More like a pact."

"A pact... that's sounds so much more official."

"But... uh... I'm going to go crazy if we don't get to spend some time together."

Marinette placed her hand on Adrien's cheek. "Me too."

"How about we meet once a week... at least. Here in my room?"

Marinette looked at Adrien's wall of windows. "No offense, but... it's not exactly... secluded."

"You're place?"

"Fridays at midnight?"

"It's a date!"

Marinette leaned over and kissed Adrien on the cheek. "Yes... it is."

After getting the kwamis to commit to the pact also, Marinette transformed and went home.

The first Friday night was after Stormy Weather. Cat Noir landed on the balcony and tapped lightly. Marinette opened the hatch and practically pulled him into her room. He detransformed as soon as he hit her bed. Plagg flew off to spend some quality time with Tikki.

"You were perfect this week. The way you looked at me when we rolled together on the ground screamed Get Off Of Me!"

"And the way you kept holding my hand after we got to the roof, it was purrfect."

"I love it when you pun, Bugaboo!"

"Well, I don't get to when we're fighting the akuma. I have to be all serious business. You get to goof off and flirt."

"Only with you, My Lady."

"My Kitty!" Marinette held Adrien's face with her hand.

"I saw you at the park with Alya before the akuma. You're doing a great job of looking like a crazed stalker."

"Thank you. I try."

"Did you get the calendar?"

Marinette dragged Adrien down to the main level of her room and pulled down the blank calendar. "See?"

"Perfect! Okay, stalker girl... time to fill out the calendar." He handed her a pen as she giggled. He read off his schedule for her to fill it the calendar so that it'd be in her handwriting.

Marinette took a step back after they were done and looked over the calendar. "Alya's gonna freak out when she sees this."

"Yep... total stalker vibe." The teens fist bumped. "So… My birthday is next week. Get me anything?"

"Of course. You'll just have to wait and see. But... uh... you do realize I have to forget to sign it, right?"

"I know. I'll be looking for an unsigned present."

The next Friday was filled with cuddling and talking about the previous week. "I didn't get an unsigned present. What gives?"

"Oh... it was the blue scarf."

"The one Nathalie said came from my father."

"The very one. It gave me the perfect excuse to give Alya as to why I didn't go up and take credit for it."

"I can't believe Nathalie actually did that!"

"She was probably just scared for her job or something."

"Yeah, I guess."

Friday after Friday they'd cuddle and talk about the week before and what events were coming up and how best to play them out so that their identities... and the pact... stayed safe. On various occasions, they'd just play games or watch a movie. Adrien would often bring pictures of himself to add to Marinette's collection. Over the months, Marinette had to resort to sticking them under her bed or in her chaise because he brought so many.

On one Friday, Marinette had to confess to Adrien about stealing his phone because she couldn't possibly have let Alya believe that she successfully sent a flirty voice mail to him.

The Friday after Timebreaker, Marinette would not let Adrien go to save her life. After explaining why there were two Ladybugs and why she refused to let him go, he just held her all the tighter.

Another Friday, and she was teasing him mercilessly about how he sounded when affected by Princess Fragrance. She kept sing-songing "Cataclysm!" and giggling to Adrien's dismay. "At least we got to share a dance this week."

"Yeah... and I'm so glad Alya came over and fixed us. I didn't want to make anyone suspicious by dancing that way initially."

"It was so nice... until Chloe blew a gasket."

Thankfully, the following Friday was even more lighthearted as Adrien teased Marinette about being 5,000 years old... and losing her history book. Marinette fought back by teasing Adrien about his feather allergy and how she was, albeit slightly, concerned that Hawk Moth might think it was more than a coincidence that Adrien and Cat Noir had the same allergy.

They continued recapping. "Oh... Great role playing with Lady Wi-Fi. I loved the asking about revealing our identities. It was so hard to say no."

Adrien tucked a strand of Marinette's hair behind her ear. "Just trying to stay in character. But, the way you redirected with your special mission while having Cat Noir look out for Marinette might be a little suspicious to Hawk Moth also."

"I guess we just can't completely get around having the occasional coincidence. Huh?"

"I guess not."

Another Friday and Marinette was apologizing for not only swiping the miraculous book from Lila... although she was really saving it from the trash bin Lila had dumped it in... but also for accusing his father for being Hawk Moth.

The following Friday, Marinette was complaining that Chloe just couldn't take a cue. "I mean really, Adrien! I told her to stay quiet and she actually whispered Go Ladybug loudly enough to get Rogercop's attention."

"Yeah, Chloe never was one to take directions... just like when we were shooting the monster movie. Did you hear her completely ignore what was on the script?"

"I know, right? At least she helped with our pact by stopping the kiss... although I really, really wanted to kiss you right then."

Adrien leaned down and kissed Marinette softly. "Better?"

Marinette hummed happily. "Yeah…"

Another Friday and Marinette was rolling in laughter at Cat Noir getting transformed by Reflekta. "That was the most absurd power Hawk Moth has to have given someone to date. I mean honestly, what were you supposed to do, go Oh Well! I look like you now. I guess you get my Miraculous!"

"Yeah, that was about as much fun as being tied to my own baton over the edge of the hotel roof. Ha, Ha, Ha!"

"I'm sorry. That one was definitely on me for not listening. It's just... Chloe still gets under my skin and I just want to get away from her. I really need to separate my civilian self better when it comes to her."

Another Friday and they were talking about the game competition and how Marinette and Max trounced the other competitors. "I'd still have rather done it with you."

"I know... but after getting Max akumatized by not leaving him on top for when you came along... I figured it was the least I could do. But seriously... did you really have to turn down all those treats?"

"Sorry... I finally had a good excuse to spend some extra time with you and got a little miffed about the interruptions. My parents can be a little... over-supportive sometimes."

"At least the spinach quiche was great. Better than getting controlled by Puppeteer at least."

"That... was WAY too close. I mean... I was literally half a second away from being controlled also."

"It's okay Bugaboo. I had faith you'd win in the end."

"What a Valentine's Day!" Adrien exclaimed the following week. "I don't even remember half of it!"

"That's because you were controlled by Dark Cupid... But at least I had a very good reason to kiss you in public..." Marinette giggled. "But seriously... Your Cat Noir was showing after Dark Blade... you really shouldn't pun like that."

"It was just you and Chloe... who already knows I like to pun some. Besides, I just couldn't resist... knight-mare!" Adrien cracked up at the memory of the pun and Marinette just rolled her eyes.

"You're lucky I love you."

"I love you too... even if you have a phone stealing addiction."

Marinette let out a huff at being called out for stealing Alya's phone to try to recreate that video. "At least I made it up to her..."

"You sure did. And I'm sure she appreciated it." Adrien rewarded Marinette with a soft kiss for putting up with his teasing.

One Friday Adrien had rather interesting news for Marinette... "Nino has a crush on you."

"Oh my gosh! What did you tell him?"

"I told him I had his back. What else could I have told him. It's not like our relationship is public knowledge."

"But... He'd be perfect with Alya instead."

"I know, right?"

"We've just got to get them alone long enough for them to realize it."

"I'll see if I can get him ask you out... and we can turn it into a foursome with Alya."

"Oh yeah... Alya won't be able to resist trying to get me set up with you instead."

"I just hope his crush doesn't blind him to Alya."

"Me too."

A week later and they were fist bumping over their not-so-direct way of getting Nino and Alya together. It might actually have been a bust if it hadn't been for the akuma giving them a great excuse to lock them up together. The conversation turned serious though as they recalled how close Adrien's father came to trying to fly himself off the top of the television station. Marinette held Adrien close and comforted him for a while before they ate a few snacks to break the mood.

"It was great meeting your mom's uncle. He was really nice." Adrien tilted his head to the side and gave Marinette a kiss on the cheek as they laid on her floor, head-to-head.

"He was very appreciative of your help also. And... I was very appreciative you stayed with us so that Cat Noir was there to help when he got akumatized."

"I know right. Plus this week seemed to be full of Jagged Stone... with his paparazzi getting akumatized, him getting akumatized, and him getting controlled by your uncle."

"It was great meeting him... and I got to help him with the glasses he wanted, and the CD case design. I hope he checks in with us next time he's in town."

"Isn't he coming over tomorrow to do the live show with your father?"

"Yeah... then he's off on tour again. Hopefully... everything will go smoothly."

A week later and she was chastising him for nearly giving her a heart attack by telling her in public he already knew who she was. However, she complemented him on the save by saying she was the girl of his dreams. Marinette was also still a little miffed at the whole Prime Queen ordeal. Thankfully, it only took Adrien transforming and purring for her again to put the whole thing behind them. Marinette giggled eventually and let out a small... "Kissou!"

"Chloe's going to really blow a gasket if she comes to your birthday party next week and sees the present I made for you."

"You... made a present... for me?"

"Don't sound so surprised Princess. Your are my friend... after all." Marinette giggled and play-slapped him on the arm.

"Your present to me can be to stop sacrificing yourself for me. I almost cried when you fell off the pyramid after Max was akumatized again."

"I'll never stop trusting you to save us."

The followed Friday, Marinette properly thanked him for the birthday present... and for saving her grandmother. "What a week...Hawk Moth is really stretching the age spectrum."

"Yeah, right? A giant baby and gobs of little goblins... By the way... How did you get another miraculous to have Alya help us out?"

"Was it that obvious it was Alya?"

"Yes. But... How?"

Marinette looked a little sad. "I'm sorry. It's not my place to tell you."

"Oh..." was all Adrien replied with.

Another Friday, and Adrien cuddled up next to Marinette and held her close. "I thought for sure Dark Owl had forced us into revealing our identities. Do you think Hawk Moth thinks we know each other's identities?"

"We'll just need to make a big show about not knowing each other's identities again. But... I personally was surprised he was able to akumatize Markov."

"Maybe Markov really does have emotions?"

"Maybe..."

"Speaking of maybes... I think my father might suspect I'm Cat Noir. He's the one who insisted I star in the music video and has me signed up to do the voice of Cat Noir in the upcoming animated movie."

Marinette hummed a little. "We'll just have to keep and eye out for possible openings to trick him by having Cat Noir and Adrien in the same place."

On another Friday, she thanked him for taking her to the rooftop dinner he had set up... twice. But, apologized for having to stay in character both times since it was technically in public. "I so, so, so wanted to break character."

"Me too, Bugaboo."

"By the way... How's your ankle?"

"Better... That Kagami girl has some mad fencing skills."

"Perhaps we can use her sometime."

"Perhaps... Like with Alya... But, you still haven't told me how you got a miraculous for her."

Marinette frowned. "I'm sorry. I'll have to check to see if it's okay to tell you."

"You know how much I hate having this secret between us."

"I know. I hate it too. But it's really not my place to tell you."

The following Friday and Adrien was feeling much better. "Master Fu came over as a substitute Chinese instructor."

"I'm glad that's out in the open now. I'm sorry it took so long."

"It's okay. Master Fu explained that his identity was even more important to protect since he's protecting all the other miraculouses."

"Speaking of protecting our identities... and our relationship... I think we could use Luka on my side if needed to throw off suspicions. I've already set up the scenario with Alya."

"As long as we don't hurt him..."

"I don't want to hurt them either... Luka or Kagami... but we might need cover sometime."

A different Friday was difficult. Marinette didn't think she could be jealous of Kagami skating with Adrien since it was her idea to help throw off suspicions that they were secretly in a relationship. Truth be told... Adrien was jealous of Luka also.

"Besides all of the ice skating stuff... it was nice to see Nino finally get a miraculous instead of Alya."

"Alya was... indisposed... just like you." Marinette giggled a little.

"Ha... Ha..."

On another Friday, she cried in Adrien's arms over watching him be turned into glitter and recounting how scared she was to have to go into battle knowing Cat Noir wouldn't show up. She also apologized for having to throw off suspicions by towing the line about him losing his miraculous.

"That was literally a nightmare week, with Sandboy and Reverser hitting us where it hurts."

"It's okay Kitty. We made it through. Hopefully Hawk Moth will tone it down for a few weeks."

"Hopefully he'll let us enjoy Heroes Day next week..."

Another Friday, she had recounted how Luka professed his love for her... twice. Once while akumatized and one after he was back to normal... with the same words. They discussed how best to let him down without drawing attention to themselves... and more importantly... without hurting Luka.

"Hawk Moth was up to his overly... or utterly... ridiculous villains when he actually turned your grandfather into bread."

"Yeah... really strong bread. Did you see how far he was chunking stuff? Oh my gosh... After all this time... Chloe just now realized I have a crush on you."

"Really?"

"Yeah... She figured it out at the premiere... She almost went over to tell you."

"I can only imagine how dense I'd have had to play that one..."

"I'm sure you could've risen to the challenge... just like at the wax museum."

"Ugh... I HATED having to do that. Alya is still glaring at me."

A few Fridays later and she was miffed that he hadn't given her a fist bump in lieu of taking Kagami home as Cat Noir. He simply explained that he felt bad for her since she had genuinely developed feelings for him. After all, it was their fault she was hoping for a relationship with him.

"I know you're going to London with her this coming weekend... perhaps we can make a show of me giving you a love letter or something..."

"Wouldn't that mess with the pact?"

"I'll just accidentally switch it with something else..."

Adrien chuckled... "If they only knew how much we were messing with all of them."

"Speaking of messing with people... What was the deal with Lila coming back? She actually thought she could threaten me in the restroom when no one else was around. I was so genuinely pissed off between that and everyone else in class just going along with her lies... I actually had to ward off that akuma."

"It's okay, My Lady. I'll always be on your side... even if I'm having to pretend to be neutral."

"I think she's still upset about how I outed her before she turned into Volpina... because I don't think she was emotional enough for Hawk Moth to be able to target her."

"What... you think she wanted to get akumatized?"

"Perhaps..."

The following week, Marinette was beet red. "I really didn't mean to give you Master Fu's prescription."

As Marinette buried her face in her hands, Adrien laughed... "No... No... It was perfect. You should've seen the looks Kagami gave me as we traipsed all over London looking for my good friend's prescription."

Marinette giggled. "Hopefully she'll get the hint and move on."

"Hopefully... just like Chloe."

"She still thinks I'll eventually give her the Bee Miraculous again."

"She just wants to belong... But, it's just too dangerous... for her and her family."

A few Fridays after that and she recounted how she and Kagami got paired up for the competition and actually became closer. She said she'd finally realized how few friends Kagami had and how hard she was trying to become Marinette's friend even though she was sure Marinette was her rival for Adrien.

"That's nice... I'm sure it was a nice counter-balance to your father getting akumatized."

"I hated having to throw my parents off like that... I didn't think it'd go so far as to get Papa akumatized."

"I didn't enjoy getting pummeled either. You're father's a strong man... even without being akumatized."

"Don't worry, Chaton. He'll love you again once we're able to make our relationship public. Oh... by the way... don't forget we're supposed to help plant trees tomorrow."

"I'm not sure if I can since father is going on that business trip."

It was the Friday after Oblivio that Marinette was practically beside herself. "He knows! I'm sure he knows now!"

"It's okay, Bugaboo. Even if he does... there's nothing we can do about it now."

"But we forgot. We forgot about each other... and the pact."

"But the kiss proves we'd find our way back to each other, even if we did lose our memories."

"Yes, but it's also proof enough for Hawk Moth to try to take advantage of our feelings for each other."

"We'll just have to do something spectacular to convince him otherwise. Just like when we tricked my father into thinking Adrien and Cat Noir were two different people. I mean, after the whole Clara Nightingale thing... it was pretty obvious he was thinking I was Cat Noir... and we handled that successfully."

Adrien pulled Marinette into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. "That was a scary day also. If Gorizilla hadn't dropped me... I don't know what I would've done. It still gives me nightmares all these months later."

"It's okay... It all worked out like I knew it would. It was my bodyguard after all."

"Still... it's getting so dangerous. I'm worried for Chloe. I'm sure she still has a target on her back because Hawk Moth knows her identity. Mayura resurfaced after all this time... making it even more difficult."

"Rena Rouge and Carapace are doing good though... both inside and outside the masks."

"Yeah... but Hawk Moth doesn't know who they are. He knows they have feelings for each other after Heroes Day, but without knowing when we will and will not call on them, he can't plan on how to use one to get to the other. He knows we're always going to be there."

Adrien gave Marinette a gentle kiss. "I'll protect you... no matter what."

"So..." Adrien began a few weeks later. "Are we trying to make LadyNoir official? Because... if you keep punning like you did during Stormy Weather, it's going to be hard to keep denying it."

"Like I said when we were fighting Timetagger... perhaps today's the day we grow up." Marinette giggled and batted her eyelashes at Adrien.

He leaned down and kissed her softly, whispering in her ear while still in their state of bliss, "I'd take nothing less than growing old with you, Bugaboo."