Wow. I can't believe we're already here. This series has been a crazy ride and I'm so glad I got to share it all with you! Now, I present to you the last installment of Colorado Peculiar's Adrienette April 2021.                                                                                                                                                                   -Colorado

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The day, like most, was normal.

After waking up to an angry alarm and skipping breakfast, she skidded into Mme. Bustier's classroom as soon as the bell rang.

See? Perfectly normal!

"Sorry that I'm late!" She said, taking her seat.

"Please do try to get better sleep, Marinette, but I'm glad that you have joined us." Mme. Bustier said.

"Another late night?" Alya asked. At the mention of yesterday, Marinette let out a small squeak and fiddled with her hands, memories bombarding her without permission.

"L-like no other."

"You seriously need to fix your sleeping schedule." Alya shook her head.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Marinette muttered, turning her attention to the front of the room.

After a few minutes of note taking, a small white piece of paper appeared in her line of vision. She gulped, her eyes finding the back of the note takers head. It would be no good to ignore it.

Marinette really didn't understand why she was so nervous. Her and Adrien used to pass notes all the time in class! Why was this any different?

'You know damn well why this is different.' She thought. Shaking the unwelcome thoughts from her head, Marinette grabbed the note.

Today was a normal day. It truly was.

Hey bugaboo, if you aren't doing anything for lunch I was thinking we could go and hang out?

Okay. So maybe today wasn't normal like Marinette desperately wanted it to be.

Of course it wasn't! Her and Chat Noir identities had been exposed! Not to the public, of course, but an untimely de-transformation had left both of them facing each other maskless. They had talked it out last night, but if everything was really resolved, why was she feeling this way?

Yet another question she knew the answer too.

Yeah sure. Where?

She passed the note back to Adrien.

Bakery? It's the one place we won't be bugged, plus we can play video games!

Marinette snorted, that really was her kitty alright.

You just want pastries.

Adrien glanced at Mme. Bustier as she turned towards the board, before whirling around to face Marinette and pouting. Marinette raised her eyebrows and gestures to the teacher, giving him a wink.

'I'm hurt.' He mouthed. Marinette faked her pout.

'You'll live.'

Snickering, Adrien turned back around. Marinette grinned, feeling better already. She didn't have to ignore what had happened between the two of them to feel normal. Whatever they were last afternoon had been replaced with a bond unlike any other.

That didn't mean it was some terrible monster. It was different, yes, and differences can be scary sometimes. But as long as she was with Adrien, how bad could it possibly be?

Maybe things between them wouldn't be normal. Maybe not for a long time, but they would find their new pattern. Marinette would stake her sleep on it. And Marinette adored sleeping.

Bakery sounds good, chaton

After receiving the note, Adrien turned back around and wink at her.

Yeah, this wouldn't be so bad.

"Go ahead and help yourself." Marinette gestured to the counter as her and Adrien entered the bakery.

"You're the best." He grinned, getting out the pastries he wanted.

"I'm well aware." Marinette teased.

"Is that the sound of children I hear?" Sabine asked, entering the bakery.

"Hello, Maman. I hope you don't mind that I brought Adrien over."

"Not at all! It's always a pleasure to see you, Adrien."

"Thank you, Mme. Sabine."

"Of course! Now, why don't you two go up to Marinette's room? I'll be up with lunch in a bit."

"Okay, Maman. Thank you!" Marinette called.

Being back in her room with Adrien was strange. It was a familiar scene, with her eating on the chaise and him eating on the chair, but it was still so different. She knew who he was now and so did he.

She also knew that Chat Noir had been in love with Ladybug while she was in love with Adrien. Of course, she had moved on to Chat Noir, but it turns out that was him too. So here she was pining for the one day that she's always loved.

But did he like her, too?

Did he still hold feelings for Ladybug? Or did Kagami come and wipe that slate clean? Had she missed out on the chance to be with the best boy she's ever known?

She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again." Adrien hummed as he bit into a croissant. "Your pastries are the best."

"Thank you." Marinette said, taking a sip of the soup Sabine had brought up for them.

"You're welcome. Although, I'm sure you've heard it plenty of times by now."

"I don't mind hearing it more."

"Good, because as I'm around, you'll hear it everyday, m'lady."

Oh God, she didn't know if she could take this. The face of Adrien Agreste with the voice of Chat Noir? It was way too much for her poor heart.

"Um, guh, uh. I, you, fank, tank, THANK YOU!" She sputtered.

"Not a problem, Mariberry. It's been a while since you've stumbled your words around me."

"W-what? Oh, I guess so." She looked down, shrugging.

"If you don't mind me asking why?" Adrien furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'll tell you some other time." She waved her hand back. "It's really not all that important."

"Okay, if you say so."

They continued to eat their lunch in a comfortable silence. Or maybe it was uncomfortable, Marinette couldn't tell. She was too busy thinking about the bullet she just dodged.

Would it really be the worst thing in the world if Adrien knew about her feelings? What's the worst that could happen?

"So, I just wanted to apologize again for last night." Adrien said quietly. "I really didn't mean to-."

"Adrien, I already told you, it wasn't your fault."

"But it was! If I had been watching where I was going-."

"We would've been left in the dark about our identities." Marinette stood up and clasped their hands together. "I said it last night, but I'll remind you right now. I am so happy that you're my partner, minou, and I'm so relieved that you know. Us growing closer will never, ever be a bad thing."

"Thanks bugaboo. Means a lot that you'd say that."

"I mean every word."

The two locked eyes, and Marinette was just then noticing how close he had gotten to her. Way too close.

"Gah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" She floundered back and dropped his hands.

"I don't mind. It's not like we haven't been in compromising positions before." He shrugged.

"Y-yeah." Marinette flushed.

"So you can hold my hand anytime you like." He winked.

"A-and you can hold mine." Marinette sighed, not fully registering what she had said until she noticed Adrien's widened eyes.

"Wha-?"

"Hey Adrien! Look at this!" As if sensing the worst possible moment to interrupt, Plagg flew over to them.

When had he slipped out of Adrien's pocket?

And why was he holding her diary?

"Plagg! Put that down!"

"You mean you don't want to know what it says?" He sang.

"No! That's a complete invasion of privacy!"

"But what if it's about you? Then would you read what it says?" Adrien stopped in his tracks.

"You wrote about me?" He asked.

"Well, I-."

"Plagg!" Tikki flew up to join him. "I know what you're doing, and this is not the way!"

"Oh come on, Tikki! Do you really think that they're going to put two and two together any time soon? This has gone on for long enough."

"So then expose Adrien, not Marinette!"

"Hey!" Adrien yelled.

"But that's not fun." Plagg pouted. "This is much more to my taste, 'Dear Diary'" he began to read, but was stopped when Tikki flew into him.

"Fine then! I guess I'm just going to have to go and get something against Adrien!"

"Be my guest. I'll even give you a piece of advice. Look in the trophies."

"Plagg, no!" Adrien cried, his face red.

"Thank you, stinky sock."

"Hurry back, sugar cube. I'd hate for you to miss something important."

Tikki squeaked and phased out of the window.

"Now that the voice of reason is gone, I can finally share this riveting tale with you!" Plagg cackled.

"Plagg. No." Adrien growled.

"'Dear Diary,'"

"Alright, that's it."

Multiple things happened all at once.

Adrien lunged for Plagg who dropped the diary in front of his feet. Tikki had returned, much faster than expected and dropped a pile of papers on Marinette. Marinette read the first line of the paper at the same time Adrien read the first of her diary.

Their gasps echoed in unison and laughter from two devious kwamis arose.

"Look at their faces." Plagg howled. "What? Those papers surprise you?"

"They were so easy to find, too." Tikki giggled. "Hiding right in his locker below a rose."

"You didn't want to go to our house?"

"You said to hurry back, and I figured he had some incriminating evidence in his locker." Tikki winked. "Turns out I was right."

"And that timing was just extraordinary." Plagg continued to cackle.

"Why thank you. I'm quite proud."

"You two! Out! Right now! Marinette and I need to talk and we need to talk alone."

"Aw, but Adrien! You aren't going to kick us out, right?"

"Just go up to the balcony." Adrien waved.

"Fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted." Plagg huffed and grabbed Tikki.

"Marinette? You okay?" Adrien asked softly.

"Physically, mentally, or emotionally?"

"Emotionally. I think we should talk about this." Adrien held out the diary. "I didn't mean to read it, really! But my eyes caught my name and... what's that?" Adrien pointed to the papers on Marinette's lap.

"W-well, it's um,"

"Wait, that's my handwriting!" Adrien grabbed the paper and began to read, color draining from his face with every word. "She didn't." 

"I'm afraid she did." Marinette whispered.

"Oh. Well, this is a good thing, right?" Adrien asked. "Or have your feelings changed that much since figuring out my identity?"

"What? No, of course not! In the beginning, I was in love with Adrien, but-."

"Wait! You were in love with me as Adrien?" He squeaked, a blush rising rapidly.

"Wasn't that what the diary was talking about?" Marinette flailed.

"No! It was talking about how you liked Chat Noir!"

"Well, why didn't you say that?"

"I thought you knew! It's your diary!"

"W-well, you're the one who told me you latched onto your name!"

"Chat Noir is my name, Marinette!"

Their voices had risen in both volume and pitch as they continued to try and piece together what the hell just happened.

"Oh, well I didn't know that!"

"Okay, let's think about this rationally." Adrien sighed. "You like me, right? Like, you have a crush on me?" 

Marinette nodded.

"And, well, as you can gather from this love note, I have those feelings for you."

"Still?" She asked.

"Yes. Even more now. You're Marinette Ladybug Dupain-Cheng, I'm so in love with you, it scares me a little bit. I've never felt this way about anyone and I'm still really new to romance in general. I can't promise you that I'm going to be perfect 100% of the time, but I really do want to try something with you. You're amazing, and good, and your clumsiness is so endearing."

"I'm pretty sure it's only you who thinks that." Marinette said, her blush rising.

"My point still stands. I'm madly in love with you, Marinette. Knowing that you feel the same way about me, it's an indescribable feeling. I'm on cloud nine right now. I honestly never thought someone like you would feel that way about me, but apparently you do! And if I were to waste this opportunity by doing nothing, I would never forgive myself. So what do you say? Will you make me the happiest cat alive and go out with me?"

"You know it's not a marriage proposal, right?" Marinette giggled. 

"Just please answer the question." Adrien whined.

"Alright, alright. Yes. I'd love to go out with you." Marinette said.

"Yes! She said yes!" Adrien surged forward and wrapped her in a hug, Marinette laughing all the while.

"Of course I was going to say yes." Marinette laughed.

"You didn't the first few times." He pointed out. Marinette flinched.

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"To be fair, I did the same to you. Good thing we got that figured out, right?" Adrien winked.

"Yeah." She slipped her hand into his.

"You want to go tell Plagg and Tikki that we finally got together?"

"They're going to be insufferable." Marinette groaned.

"Yeah, most likely." Adrien grinned.

"Come on, you dork." Marinette tugged on his hand and led him up to the balcony.

"Oh yeah? Well, she used to scribble hearts all over his modeling photos!" Tikki was saying as Marinette and Adrien arrived.

"Pfft, that's nothing! Adrien had a ton of LadyNoir fanart stored in his phone, and you should see his AO3 bookmarks."

"Plagg!" Adrien cried, his cheek heating up.

"Marinette has sketchbooks filled with future date ideas. And another one about her and Adrien's future wedding."

"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed.

"Yeah, well-."

"What in the world are you two doing?" Adrien shrieked.

"We're trying to see who has the bigger crush on who." Tikki said.

"What?" Marinette held her hands up to her face, trying to hide her burning cheeks.

"I'm totally winning." Plagg boasted.

"Yeah, right!"

"Adrien has LadyNoir dolls and makes them kiss!"

"Marinette kisses her Adrien posters before she falls asleep!"

"Adrien does the same!"

"I-." Adrien tried to cut in.

"Well guess what? Marinette has a ton of Chat Noir themed clothing!"

"Oh, sugarcube." Plagg laughed. "That's child's play! Adrien has an entire closet filled with Ladybug merchandise."

"Marinette has written fanfiction!"

"Well, so has Adrien!"

"Marinette has doodles of 'Marinette Agreste' all over her papers!"

"Adrien has accidentally signed schoolwork as 'Adrien Dupain-Cheng!'"

"Marinette cuddles with her Chat Noir doll!"

"Tikki!"

"I had to convince Adrien to not buy a Ladybug body pillow!"

"Marinette doodles Chat Noir, like, 24/7!"

"Adrien sleeps with Marinette's lucky charm!"

"Marinette still has his umbrella and takes it out whenever she's feeling down!"

"A week ago, Adrien changed his contact for Marinette from 'Mari' to 'Princess' with a red heart!"

"Marinette used to have Adrien's contact as 'Love of My Life' until Chat Noir came along and then she changed Chat Noir's contact on her bug phone to 'My Soulmate!'"

"You do?" Adrien whispered.

"That is not important right now!" Marinette floundered, her cheeks a bright, bright, red.

"Adrien used to have these terrible hour long monologues about how much he loved Ladybug, and now I hear them about Marinette!"

"I have to hear that every day from Marinette! She has their children's names planned out!"

"Adrien has every detail of his proposal already mapped out!"

"Really?" Marinette whispered.

"What was that you said? Oh yeah, that's not important right now!"

"Well, Marinette has all of Adrien's ads memorized!"

"Adrien has an audio file saved of Ladybug's voicemails to listen to when he gets lonely!"

"So does Marinette, but with Chat Noir!"

"Oh yeah? Well-."

"Enough!" Marinette scolded the two of them. "You two need to go inside, right now!"

"But Marinette!" Tikki protested.

"Yeah, what she said!" Plagg pouted.

"We come up here to tell you two that we're finally together and you have just embarrassed us further, so you two will go inside and leave me and Adrien alone." Marinette huffed.

"Mari..." Adrien started to say. "It really is okay."

"What?" She turned to look at him. "You still want to date me? Even after hearing about all of the crazy stuff I did?"

"DId you not hear? I did just as much crazy stuff. If anything, I'm flattered."

"But Adrien, I was totally obsessed!"

"So was I. And it wasn't healthy, I think we both know that, but now we have each other. We can remind each other gently whenever we slip back into unhealthy habits. We don't have to go to such extremes to feel loved anymore because we are loved. I love you, Marinette. I'll remind you everyday."

"Oh Adrien." Marinette felt her heart flutter. "That's so sweet of you. I love you too, I hope you know that."

"I do now. That's all that matters."

"And maybe you should thank the two being that helped you." Plagg huffed.

"I thought Marinette revoked your balcony privileges." Adrien raised an eyebrow.

"I guess we do technically have them to thank." Marinette sighed.

"Without us, you two might've gone pinning forever." Plagg groaned. "It's not good for my sanity to have to put up with Adrien's love sick rants all the time."

"Hey! I have to deal with your sighs about cheese and stinky socks." Adrien protested. "I don't understand how you can stand the stuff."

"Not a cheese person?" Marinette giggled.

"Not at all." He stuck out his tongue.

"Not even cheesecake? You know, I happen to be fond of the stuff."

"Oh? I didn't know that."

"Yep! It's the perfect amount of sweet and tangy." She licked her lips. "I could totally go for a cheesecake right now."

Adrien checked his watch.

"We still have some time before school starts back up, if you want to go and get some?"

"Are you," Marinette let out a gasp, "asking me on a date?"

"Well, you did say you wanted to go out with me." Adrien winked. "Don't you think we should take advantage of our situation?"

"It would be a crime if we didn't." Marinette beamed.

"So, is that a yes?"

"Yep! But let's not count this as a first date, I want it to be even more special."

"Deal. This can be a pre-date."

"Sounds great." Marinette said softly.

"Come on, sooner we get there the more time we have." Adrien grabbed her hand.

"Okay, okay! Come on Tikki, Plagg, we're getting cheesecake!"

The two cheered and headed for their respective chosens pockets.

Marinette looked back up at Adrien as he led her to the shop, their fingers intertwined.

The day, like some, started as normal, but it ended as one of the best days of her life. 

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This was a fun ride! Full of fluff and some angst, and I can't believe it's over. Not having a huge writing project is going to be weird. What was your favorite one-shot? Let me know! Vote and comment if you liked it!                                                                                                  -Colorado