Chapter Text
“Plagg!” Adrien exclaimed as soon as he was safely in his room with the door shut.
Plagg zipped out from his pocket and floated in front of him.
“Marinette is Ladybug!”
Saying it aloud was as shocking as thinking it. His brain was unleashing a barrage of memories: Marinette had been at ease smiling, laughing with him; Marinette had gotten upset with him; Ladybug was upset with him; he did something that made Marinette upset, and Ladybug was upset about the same thing.
There was no other explanation.
“The magic made me forget the dream because I found out her identity!” Adrien announced the solution to the puzzle.
Adrien paced across his room, his excited energy needing an outlet.
“Hold your cheese, Adrien. You don’t know that’s true. It was a dream, you could have made it all up in your head. Wishful thinking and all that.”
“Wishful thinking?” Adrien looked at Plagg.
“Yeah, you’ve always had a thing for the bakery girl. It makes sense you want her to be Ladybug.”
“I don’t have a thing for Marientte,” Adrien spoke but as soon as his words hit his ears he knew it was as false as a lie could be. His cheeks warmed.
“Sure, and I don’t love camembert,” Plagg said sarcastically.
“Well even if I did, it doesn’t matter anymore because she’s Ladybug! Of course I liked her.”
Plagg squinted his eyes at the comment. He flew forward and flicked Adrien on the ear.
“You liked her before you thought that!”
“I… guess,” he said slowly. Did he like Marinette?
Marinette was one of his best friends. She was very thoughtful, kind, selfless, and cute. As confused as she made him feel with her nervousness, he still found her endearing. She wasn’t nearly as bold nor confident as Ladybug, but she had her own charming traits that he had come to appreciate over time. He liked to visit her as Chat Noir sometimes, too, because she was fantastic at giving him advice and being straightforward. She truly cared about people and it was rare and special.
“Okay… what if she’s not Ladybug?” Adrien contemplated aloud and looked at Plagg for support.
“I don’t know,” Plagg said, deadpanned. Adrien snorted at his response.
“I’m pretty sure she’s Ladybug,” Adrien declared with confidence.
“If she is?” Plagg said, indulging in the conversation.
“Then I love her,” Adrien answered without hesitation.
“And if she’s not?” Plagg challenged with a hint of warning in his voice.
“Then I lo-” Adrien stopped himself from saying the words that immediately came to him because… because it didn’t make sense! He couldn’t love Marinette and Ladybug at the same time, could he?
“What if she’s not?” Plagg asked again.
“She has to be,” Adrien deflected, shaking his head at Plagg’s question. “She has to be.”
If Ladybug was Marinette he would love her more for it. If Ladybug wasn’t Marinette he would be extremely disappointed. It made him uncomfortable to think about because he didn’t want to feel disappointed when he learned Ladybug’s identity. He would never want to hurt his lady or compare her to someone else. But if she wasn’t Marinette… his heart dropped.
“She has to be Ladybug,” Adrien said again, more determined than before to prove himself right. “I’m going to find out.”
“How?” Plagg asked, his tone turning to one of mild worry.
“This is one of those ask for forgiveness not permission kind of situations…”
“Don’t do anything stu-!”
“Plagg, claws out!”
One of their biggest unspoken rules was to respect the other’s privacy. It was inherent - obvious. It was something Chat held dear to his heart and honored. There had been many instances where Chat Noir and Ladybug could have learned one another’s identities by turning their head or opening their eyes. They hadn’t, instead opting to preserve their civilian secrets.
Until today.
He was breaking the number one rule. But was it really breaking the rule and her trust if he was just looking for validation rather than answers?
It wasn’t like he was following Ladybug home. Instead, he was sitting outside of Marinette’s house waiting for Ladybug to appear on her rooftop. He wasn’t cheating to get the answers, he was checking his work. The difference meant something to him. He hoped that it would mean something to Ladybug, too, whenever he would have to come clean and tell her what he knew.
It didn’t take long at all. In fact, Chat was surprised by how quickly he was proven right; he had expected some kind of dramatic stake-out that would take hours. He imagined he’d wake up in the dead of night after a lengthy wait made him fall alseep.
Instead, it was about ten minutes after he arrived that Ladybug was popping out from Marinette’s balcony window and yo-yoing through the sky for her nightly patrol.
Despite being almost-certain, it was still a shocking thing to be 100% certain of his partner’s identity.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug.
Adrien fell onto his back, arms spread open, and stared up at the sky. It was cloudy and cold, there were no stars, sun, or moon to see. It was gloomy for his life-altering moment and he hoped that it didn’t bode bad luck for his future.
He didn’t stay long after that. He had a lot to consider, speeches to prepare, and plans to make. He wasn’t going to take this lightly - especially since he (and Plagg) had been the ones to mess up.
Ensuring he wouldn’t run into Ladybug, he checked his tracker a few times on the way home. For the first time ever he didn’t want to see Ladybug. He needed time to process what he’d learned. Luckily he made it home without a hitch.
“I told you so!” Adrien fell backwards onto his bed, in a similar position from when he was awestruck on the rooftop. All he could think about was the blue of Marinette’s eyes and how he’d been so blind to not notice they were the same eyes of the person he loved. How could he not have known?!
“She’s going to hate that it’s me. She can’t even look at me half the time!” he lamented and rolled over so his face was smushed into the pillow.
“Look on the bright side, Adrien. You only know for sure that she’s not in love with half of you. You still have half a shot!” Plagg landed on Adrien’s back, and he could feel the little pokes from the kwami’s feet. He could also smell the disgusting cheese he was eating.
“Get the camembert off of my back, Plagg,” Adrien warned. The smell was taking over all of his senses, distracting him from his pity party.
“Marinette acts so different than Ladybug,” Adrien said, muffled through the pillow. He was running out of air and would have to roll over soon and face reality.
“You act differently as Chat Noir.”
“Not that different.” Adrien finally rolled over and sighed. “I need to try harder to make her comfortable around me as Adrien. Maybe if we spend more time together it will come naturally.”
Adrien reached for his phone.
Adrien: Hi Marinette! I had a really fun time at the parade with you. I was hoping you’d like a ‘second chance’ to attempt a redo at a cafe. I owe you a macchiato for all the times you’ve saved my life.
Adrien sent the text and decided to scroll through their previous messages.
Good luck today at your tournament, Adrien!
Congrats for scoring an A on your physics test!
What do you think of this design? I had you in mind, since that last photoshoot of yours was tulip themed.
He starred the messages that made him smile the most, so they would easily be able to access them later on to reread. Seeing the few times he left her ‘on read’ was the only part of reviewing their text thread that made him cringe. Despite those few incidents, most of his messages were followed by some kind of delightful message from Marinette within minutes.
She was really sweet, and it made Adrien’s heart melt. It also confused him, because she was sweet in a way that Ladybug wasn’t to Chat Noir. Chat, who she referred to as her best friend on fourteen (but who was counting?) occasions. Perhaps it was because Ladybug insisted upon keeping their civilian lives separated. Ladybug couldn’t text him ‘good luck at your tournament’, because she wasn’t allowed to know about a tournament at all.
It made him more determined. He was going to become better friends with Marinette, and maybe she would start opening up fully to him, too.
Marinette was avoiding him. It was the only conclusion he was able to reach after two entire days of texting her, trying to make plans with her, and even stopping by her family bakery for a surprise visit. It was the bakery visit that really solidified his assumption.
Tom and Sabine had welcomed him and told him Marinette was upstairs. Sabine went to collect Marinette, which ended in an awkward rejection with an excuse about being buried in designs and scraps of fabric. Adrien wasn’t so oblivious to social cues that he didn’t see the dodge for what it was (especially after the ten unanswered texts).
After the failed visit he walked home with a bag full of sweets but a sour taste in his mouth.
Adrien was determined to talk to Marinette as himself, not as Chat Noir, so visiting her via his favorite balcony was out of the question.
He recalled the last time he’d seen her and how her smile fell when he accidentally said ‘Ladybug’ aloud. She must have heard him or guessed what he said, because she’d all but disappeared ever since. Knowing Ladybug as well as he did (and, frankly, he considered himself a Ladybug expert), he expected her to face the exposure of her identity head on. Instead, she was holed up in her loft.
As if fate was on his side, an akuma alert went off the day after his bakery visit. Adrien would never admit it aloud, but akuma alerts were some of his favorite moments of the week: he got to leave the house, he got to prove himself as a hero, and he got to spend time with Ladybug. This akuma battle would mark his first time seeing Marinette since the parade. He couldn’t stop the grin from talking over his face while he transformed.
Whenever he was soaring through the sky as Chat Noir, Adrien felt like he was home; as if it was meant to be. Meeting Plagg and becoming a Miraculous holder made him truly believe in fate. Learning that Marinette was Ladybug further solidified that belief.
He spotted Ladybug immediately and his heart skipped a beat. There was Ladybug– Marinette –in all of her glory: swinging through the air, the sun silhouetting her like a cinematic masterpiece.
Adrien’s shoulder hit a brick wall and he flailed to regain his bearings. Leave it to Ladybug to make him fly into walls due to her beauty. Luckily she didn’t seem to notice his blunder. He focused on his destination (Ladybug, always Ladybug), and tried not to be too excited when he was finally in front of her. He failed miserably, of course.
“Hi!” Great, he sounded like his twelve-year-old self who’d been wrapped up in Ladybug’s yo-yo, meeting her for the first time. Although he sort of was seeing Ladybug for the first time again, since he now knew her entire identity and not just half of it.
“You good, Chaton?” Ladybug gave him an odd look and Chat nodded. She furrowed her brow and gave him a once-over.
“Nothing to say?” she pressed, gesturing to the destruction in front of them.
Adrien finally took a moment to look away from Ladybug and surveyed the damage the akuma had already left in its wake. The city was covered in what appeared to be orange wax.
“Looks like a sticky situation?” Chat said half-heartedly before his gaze went right back to Marinettibug’s face. He cared much more about her than the akuma right now…
LEFT!
Plagg’s voice echoed in his head and he jumped in surprise. “Plagg?!”
“Plagg?” Ladybug echoed his words, confused, but Chat had already started to move. Plagg’s warning had come just in time.
Chat dove forward and wrapped his arms around Ladybug’s waist, tackling her to the ground. He tried to protect her but it was almost impossible to control where their bodies went due to how forcefully he had shoved them. Luckily their suits protected them from the brunt of the fall.
When they stilled Ladybug was dead weight on him, her entire body front-to-front with him. Chat patted the sides of her arms, somewhat panicked, but calmed quickly when he was able to confirm she was conscious. She turned her head on his chest and rolled to the side and onto her back, separating the two of them.
“You’re bleeding!” Chat didn’t bother to survey his own injuries before he was scrambling up and leaning towards Ladybug. Her ear was bleeding, the trickle of blood stark against her fair skin. She groaned and held her head.
“I’m okay,” she said weakly. She attempted to stand and fell to the side.
Chat lunged forward to catch her and hissed when he bore weight on his ankle. He almost fell over, which caused both of them to stumble. “Sorry!”
She managed to stay upright and squinted at his face. “My head’s not right.”
Chat could think of a wide variety of jokes at her statement, none of which were appropriate for their current situation when Ladybug was literally bleeding in his arms.
“Look.” Ladybug pointed to the spot they had been standing. A five meter wide area was completely filled with an orange substance, at least two meters high.
“I don’t think that’s wax, I think it’s amber.” Chat observed it now that they were closer to the substance.
“To fossilize us, you think?” Ladybug sighed, as if the threat of being fossilized was just the sign of another boring Wednesday.
“Collecting kittens and insects is Shadow Moth’s pastime, after all.”
Chat tested his ankle and noted that it was already starting to heal. Ladybug seemed a lot more focused, too, but the trail of blood was still moving down her neck. Chat hated it. Rarely did he or Ladybug get injured badly enough to break skin, and this time it had been his fault for tackling her so hard. It definitely didn’t help that he was imagining a cute and clumsy Marinette splattered with blood..
“Are you sure you can fight?” He frowned and grabbed Ladybug’s hand – Marinette’s hand.
“I’ll be ok. Let’s do this, Kitty.” Ladybug’s signature look of determination overtook her face: her eyes narrowed, her jaw tightened, and she basically glowed with power. He felt a little star struck as Ladybug’s features merged with Marinette’s, and it was suddenly his classmate and friend charging forward to save Paris.
His feet moved on auto-pilot, following Ladybug into the battle. (He would follow her anywhere.) While he trailed behind her, the two images he had in his mind of two amazing women became one and it clicked. How lucky he was to find the person he could work together so seamlessly with; how lucky to have found his soulmate. The oneness of it all pushed him forward with unending strength and confidence, all thanks to Marinette.
He felt his breath hitch when a striking realization of what that truly meant hit him: Ladybug would fight to her last breath to save her city. That meant Marinette would too. His blood boiled at the mere thought of anything happening to Marinette. That’s what she would do, isn’t it? She would throw herself in front of danger in order to save someone, suit or not, and fight until the battle was won.
Some kind of primal urge overcame him and he surged forward, attacking the akuma in perfect sync with Ladybug. As Ladybug she had Chat Noir to protect her. But as Marinette, who did she have?
A tiny, reassuring voice in his head answered: Me
He’d always been there, hadn’t he? Since the day their Miraculous had fallen into their possession and since the day they had met. She’d been there on his first day of school, and he’d given her his umbrella to protect her from the rain.
The fates had placed them together in every facet of their lives and he’d been too blind to see it. He’d been so focused on the half of her that was fueled by the magic of Miraculous, that he’d ignored the half fueled by his soul that attracted him to Marinette in all of the smaller, mundane ways. If he hadn’t received his Miraculous, Marinette still would have been there.
Chat used his Cataclysm on the akuma victim’s test tube and Ladybug was there to finish the job.
“Miraculous Ladybug!” Ladybug threw her Lucky Charm, a pickaxe, into the air, and turned towards her partner.
Chat Noir could only stare at her as his entire life fell apart and put itself back together again. His mind was repairing the fractured illusion he made up in his mind and then rebuilding it into something magnificent. He felt his eyes start to water as the emotion bubbled up in him. He thought he’d been in love with Ladybug before, but nothing– nothing– compared to this.
“Great job, pound it!” Ladybug turned towards him, arm outstretched.
“I love you.”
Chat’s voice wasn’t sad, or pining, or hopeful: it just was. This was a fact and it wasn’t something to deny or validate. He was pretty sure he’d never felt anything more real in his life.
Ladybug’s arm fell slowly and her mouth opened a tiny bit in surprise.
“Chat…?”
He smiled at her–a little smile, just the slightest upturn of his lips.
“You don’t have to return my feelings. I just do.”
His smile remained as did her surprise.
“I’ll see you later, Ladybug.” He vaulted away, leaving a confused Ladybug in his wake.
It was ironic that a gift meant to be a dream come true had resulted in such a gloomy ordeal. In a dream world Marinette had loved him after finding out his identity. But he lived in reality, and Adrien knew that reality had a way of punching him to the ground in many facets of his life. This would just be another hit. The unanswered texts and calls were evidence enough.
Now he was faced with a problem of his own design: he knew Ladybug's identity and she had no idea. They worked based on their inherent trust for one another. For that reason, Chat knew he had to come clean about knowing her identity.
When Chat arrived at the Eiffel tower for their patrol Ladybug was already there. She was sitting down with her knees up, hugging them to her chest, and staring out at the city. Ladybug looked over her shoulder and smiled fondly before turning away. Her shoulders were bowed forward and she was resting her chin on her knees. Chat took his place beside her but kept a reasonable gap. He observed her from the side, appreciating her features.
"You know you're my best friend, right?" Ladybug didn't look at him, just spoke to him while keeping her eyes forward and arms to herself.
"Yeah, Bug," he said honestly. It was the highest of compliments that she could give him, and he loved to hear it.
"I do love you, too, you know?" She finally tilted her head towards him and looked him in the eye.
He couldn't prevent the thump in his chest at the words even if he tried. Just hearing it sent his body into overdrive, despite knowing that when she said love she didn't mean the same thing as when he said the word.
"Yeah, Bug," he repeated himself when he realized she was waiting for a response. His voice was a little hoarse but it couldn't be helped.
"I love you so much, and you're always here for me,” she said quietly.
It was kind of magical how her words echoed back his own thoughts from earlier. His admission of loving her had bloomed from his realization that she was always there for him, too, in every single corner of his life. She didn't know all of the facts yet, but that somewhere in her soul she recognized it, even if she herself wasn't aware yet, was reassuring. Chat wanted to believe they were bound to one another so deeply that maybe labels didn't matter and they would always be together somehow.
Maybe he was correct, or maybe his mind was merely racing to soften the inevitable blow…
"I wish it was that simple but I’m in love with someone else."
It didn't hurt quite as badly as he thought it would. He already knew Marinette was hopelessly in love with some other boy, and he knew it wasn't him. He had his own relationship with her as Adrien, and he appreciated it as it was.
"I’m happy for you." He knew how amazing it felt to truly be in love now, and it was easy to want her to have that, too.
"Something happened."
She buried her head into her arms that were crossed over her knees. The worry in her voice made Chat turn his entire attention to her. Her fists were closed tightly and she was refusing to look him in the eye.
"I’m so sorry, Chat. I don't know how it happened but..." Her voice was muffled slightly from her position. "I think he figured out that I'm Ladybug!"
Chat blinked.
Huh.
Because as far as he knew…
Adrien found out she was Ladybug.
He must have made some kind of noise because Ladybug unraveled herself and started spewing out an explanation.
"I don't know how it happened! I didn't tell him.. It must have happened at the parade because he said–well I think he said– Ladybug instead of goodbye. And he's been persistent: texting, calling, and trying to see me! I've been doing everything I can to avoid him because I needed to talk to you first. I was supposed to tell you first, but now I think it’s too late."
As she further described her situation and it became more familiar, his heart quickened.
"I don't want to hurt you, I'm sorry, but… Chat, I want to tell him. I want him to know all of me so badly and find out what he thinks. Maybe... maybe he could finally love me, too, if he finds out that I’m more than just boring me, but also Ladybug. Right? Because who would turn down a superhero?"
Marinette’s face was damp from tears that had fallen and smeared.
Chat's expression turned from shocked to angry in moments. His brows narrowed and he felt disturbed by what she said. Only loving her because she was Ladybug? How could she think so little of herself? In reality it was learning she was Marinette that had been the catalyst for realizing his love was the all-consuming, never-recovering-from-this kind of love.
"Don't ever think that someone could only love you because you’re Ladybug," he said sharply. “It’s because you're Marinette - it's because you're both. Without one, the other wouldn’t exist."
"Yo-you know?" Her body jerked and she scooted away from him slightly. She looked on the verge of running away.
Chat withdrew the box he had been carrying around with him since he purchased it. He held it out to Ladybug and her eyes went wide with recognition. Her gaze flickered from his face to the box as she started to connect the dots. She didn’t seem inclined to reach for the gift, so Chat withdrew the top and presented the rose charm to her.
“To add to your other lucky charm, although you already promised you’d never forget me.”
He couldn’t stop the unbridled hope that was consuming every part of his body and he knew it was plain as day on his face. His hair was standing on end, his fingers were twitching, and his limbs were shaking.
Ladybug was in a similar state of shock and literally scrambled away from him, using her hands to crawl backwards. Her wide eyes never left him.
"Adrien?!" she squeaked.
"Yes,” he confirmed without a pause. “You... you said you're in love?" He crawled forward, following her lead hesitantly.
He still had the charm in his hand and was hoping she would accept it. Ladybug didn't move away as he got closer, but somehow her eyes got wider. Her chest was heaving and her hands were clamped together over her heart.
"I... you?" Her body relaxed a little as he got even closer to closing the gap she made. He nodded enthusiastically which made her close her eyes for a long blink and shudder.
"I think I see it." She scanned his face and Chat suit. She stared for a little longer at his claws and his Miraculous ring.
"Is this good?" Chat had approached her as close as he dared and sat back on his hunches.
"It'snotgood," she spoke so quickly that he immediately recognized it as one of Marinette's mix-ups. "I mean it's not bad! It's good, it's so good. It’s good-good!"
Marinette finally sat up normally and leaned forward, her arms waving in front of her while she tried to correct the order of her words. When she calmed herself she reached out for the box that was still in his hand. He allowed her to take it from him and she looked down at the rose charm.
"You love me?" Marinette asked quietly, as if she was scared he would actually say no. As if that was possible in any world.
"I definitely love you," he said with the utmost certainty.
Her thumb lightly pressed over the rose charm and she looked up at him carefully. He held his breath when she finally moved towards him instead of away. As if in slow motion, her arms encircled his waist and she hugged him. He returned her hug with more ferocity. Now that she was in his arms he wasn’t planning on letting her go. He pulled her as close to him as he could and felt when she started to cry, sobbing a little.
"I don't have to choose," she cried, speaking into his chest. "I didn't want to choose."
Chat, who hadn't even realized he'd been an option to her, felt pride swell in his chest. (No matter that he was competing against himself.) She was considering him all along, before she knew he was Adrien.
"How did you figure it out?" Marinette suddenly pulled away and held his upper arms in her grip.
"Actually, it was Plagg."
He must have said some kind of magic words because Ladybug’s earrings started beeping and, without further warning, they were bathed in pink light. Chat watched as the suit and mask dissolved, leaving a pink-faced Marinette in Ladybug's place. He smiled down at her, feeling extremely happy to finally see Marinette after days of non-stop imagining her face in his mind. Nothing could compare to the real thing.
"Plagg get out here right now!" Ladybug's kwami demanded and Adrien recoiled at the little sparks flying off of her.
"Tikki!" Marinette objected.
In his head, Adrien could feel Plagg's reluctance, almost as if he was trying to find the furthest corner of Adrien's consciousness and hide in it.
"He feels nervous," Adrien offered with an awkward smile. Tikki was not amused. Instead, she directed her ire to Adrien.
"Adrien Agreste, release Plagg from your Miraculous immediately." Tikki's voice echoed in a godly sort of way and Adrien swore he heard thunder in the distance.
"Sorry Plagg, claws in!"
When his suit was off he experienced something entirely new: the feeling of Marinette’s skin touching him without a barrier. His hands were still clinging to her arms and now he really never wanted to let go. He moved his hands down her arms and grasped her hands in his. She watched his movement, then her eyes followed the path of his arms up to his shoulders, to his chin, and finally she was looking at him, Adrien, without anything shielding the truth.
"It's really you," she said.
He didn’t speak and instead allowed her time to adjust to the shock. He had days to come to terms with the truth, and there he was witnessing Marinette learn in real-time. Her hands squeezed and loosened a few times, as if testing that he was still there and not a dream
"It was an honest-to-goodness magical mistake!" Plagg zoomed between their faces, breaking their intense eye contact. Tikki was chasing the little black kwami around, scolding him all the while.
"-ot supposed to meddle in their human affairs-"
Plagg blew a raspberry and stopped to face Tikki head on.
"Remember with Lorenzo and Rosario?! You didn't care about the rules that time! In fact, I'm pretty sure you made her knock on his hut!"
Adrien watched, amused.
"That was different," Tikki objected but gave no further explanation.
"Yeah because it was your kitten being beat down at the time. This time it was mine!" Plagg stuck his nose into the air and turned to Adrien.
"My reward cheese, please?"
Adrien obliged slowly, watching Tikki for any signs that she was going to protest and take it out on him or Plagg’s cheese. Luckily she seemed disarmed by Plagg’s argument.
"What do you mean?" Marinette was frowning at Plagg, apparently unhappy with the story he was spinning.
"Sometimes one of you is pining over the other, keeping all your feelings mushed up like poorly sealed cheese. This time it was Adrien."
Plagg munched on his camembert and Tikki seemed to accept her defeat. She was a self-righteous little kwami, Adrien thought to himself. She flew into Marinette’s pocket and came out with a cookie.
“So it was me? The boy you love?” Adrien tugged at Marinette’s hand and brought her attention back to them. Chat or not, his favorite thing was his lady’s attention, after all.
“You are,” she sighed in disbelief. “All this time…” She shook her head and Adrien imagined he had the same feelings about the situation.
“What do you think?” Adrien asked nervously. Sure, maybe she was in love with Adrien, but she also wasn’t in love with Chat for just as long. Once again he found himself ahead of her, having had time to process the dualities of their personas and merging them together as one.
“I think I need time,” she said honestly and Adrien nodded, completely understanding.
“Okay, we can leave.” He released her hands and turned to address Plagg.
“Not right now!” Marinette was quick to snatch his hands back into hers and pulled him close again haphazardly.
Adrien found himself laughing at her antics and caught her blushing.
“I mean… I just got you…” Marinette said in a small voice and then looked down shyly, even more red than before.
Adrien used his finger and thumb to gently lift her chin up so he could speak his heart to her while looking into her beautiful blue eyes.
“And I promise that you can keep me.”
“I promise, too,” Marinette said immediately, reassuring him just as she always did.
They stared into one another’s eyes, lost in the intimacy of it until-
“Well kiss already!” Tikki urged from the sidelines.
Adrien grinned and looked to his lady for direction, as he always did.
“What do you think, m’lady?”
“I think we need to make up for lost time,” Marinette said boldly. Her hand moved to the front of his shirt and she tugged him forward so they were nearly chest-to-chest.
“And how do you suppose we should do that?” Adrien asked, egging her on to see just how confident Marinette could be.
“Like this.”
She stood on her tip-toes and he leaned forward. Their lips met, and Adrien learned that all of those metaphors about fireworks and stars exploding were one-hundred percent true.
“You” kiss “are” kiss “amazing.” She smiled against his lips and his heart soared.
“Whatever Plagg did, I’m happy for it,” Marinette said with a twinkle in her eye.
Adrien smiled back and cupped her cheeks in his hands. He pulled away from her the slightest amount, imprinting in his memory the moment his dream came true.
The End.