Date Credit: @Olive_Wolf9,@annmariyamartin, and @miraculous_nerd399

Marinette's POV

"The two love birds just can't seem to have a normal conversation, can they~?" Plagg teases, flying out of cover.

I stay silent.

Plagg flies towards me lazily. "Oh come on, kid! I'm sure that everything will be fine in the end. You'll finally admit that you have feelings for Mister Bug and then-"

A tear falls down my cheek. "I don't, Plagg. I do not. I don't have feelings for Mister Bug, or Chat Noir, or whatever he goes by."

Plagg freezes in mid air with his eyes wide open. "But..."

"I can't fall in love with Mister Bug!" I cry, squeezing my pillow to my chest. "My heart belongs to Adrien!"

Expecting Plagg to make a charming comeback or a snarky response, I'm shocked when I find his silence is all that greets me.

I shut my eyes tight. "If Adrien wasn't here... maybe things would be different..."

I look down at my phone resting in my hands. It's a text from Mister Bug, informing me that he won't be able to meet me tonight, and that he's terribly sorry. I don't mind. It's not like I would be able to see him and look into his eyes after tonight.

"I'm... I'm going to go to bed now..." I mumble, looking out my window.

"Are... are you in denial?"

I inhale sharply, and slightly exhale, blinking back tears.

"You know that I'll always be here for you, right?"

I look up and at the tiny black kwami, surprised at his sensitive side.

"I know that you're not my true owner or whatever, but I'll still be here if you ever need to talk," Plagg quietly comforts. "I may be selfish at times, and I may stink like cheese, but I will always be here for you, kid. Whether your Lady Noir or Ladybug."

I simply smile in return.

Plagg flies up to me and gives me a slight smirk. "I've been around for a long time, you know. Once you've been alive for more that 5,000 years, you start to learn a thing or two."

I grin. "Thanks Plagg. I... I really needed that."

"Anytime kitten, anytime," He quietly replies, but then quickly changes his mood. "B-But don't go around thinking I'll continue saying that sappy stuff!"

I giggle. "I won't. Now turn out the lights, I'm tired!"

Adrien's POV

I sit silently in class as the morning sun beams through the classroom windows. I tap my pencil on my desk as the teacher babbles on with some geography lesson. This stuff has always come easy to me thanks to Father's strict lessons, but easy doesn't mean entertaining.

My ears pick up quiet deep breathing behind me. I look over my shoulder and find a smile crawling on my face when I realize that Marinette has fallen asleep on her desk again. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who finds this lesson boring.

She noticed how I styled my hair differently this morning before class started. She pointed out how instead of brushing it up like I usually do, I brushed it slightly downward. Not as messy as Chat Noir's hair style, so nobody recognized me, but still, not my usual hair cut. The reason I did this was because of the earrings.

In fact, when I de-transformed yesterday after seeing Marinette, I found out that the nasty root-like dark magic had grown even more. The dark black lines grew about an inch longer, with some lines even reaching the edge of my cheek on my face. Obviously my classmates would freak out if they find out, so I brushed my hair differently to hide my ears and the edges of my cheeks.

My theory is confirmed, then. The more I transform, the more the dark magic will grow on me.

"Adrien!" Alya calls out, snapping me awake from my trance. "It's lunch time! Are you gonna spend all day in the classroom or are you gonna come with us?"

I quickly apologize and frantically pack up my papers and stuff them into my shoulder bag, careful of Tikki resting at the bottom. I sling my bag over my shoulder and run out of the classroom, joining Alya and Marinette as we walk to the cafeteria.

"I hope Nino is okay," I say, concerned. "He's sick with a stomach bug at home."

Alya scoffs. "He made me stay up all night last night sending me memes from iFunny. Ugh, who even uses iFunny in 2020?! My boyfriend is way too far behind. We need to get him an Instagram or something."

Marinette laughs. "I just feel bad, he's missing lasagna day, his favorite meal from the cafeteria!"

"Ugh, and I do not know why," Alya gags. "The food here is nasty."

"I can only imagine..." I mutter as we walk into the lunch room, looking at student's plates. The lasagna looks like moldy cardboard dyed red.

Alya playfully shoves me. "Get you and your five-star meals made from 'the best chefs in the world' outta here!"

I roll my eyes and chuckle. It's true. My father might not care that much about me, but at least he hires chefs to make my lunch for school.

We sit down at our normal lunch table, and Alya starts on her latest Mister Bug theory. I just roll my eyes. If she can't recognize that the blond sitting right across from her just coincidentally wore earrings the day Mister Bug showed up, then she's never gonna catch on.

"He told me that Lady Noir and him were having technical difficulties, which is why they switched miraculouses! What if the miraculouses are actually technology from outer space! You know, like first one's tech from She-Ra!" Alya squeals.

Marinette groans and slaps her forehead, muttering something like 'that stupid bug...', but when I ask her what she said, she just brushes it off and rubs the back of her head.

"Anyways!" Alya interrupts, winking at Marinette. "Since Nino's stuck at home, would y'all like to go get ice cream? Andre is back in town, you know!"

"I've always wanted to go!" I shout childishly, with stars in my eyes, turning to look at Marinette. "Please tell me you're going, right Marinette?"

Marinette turns bright red and her eyes grow huge.

"Y-Yeah sure! I would love to mow - I mean, go! It'll be so much fun! Just you and me-"

"- and Alya!" I interrupt, looking at Alya with a bright face.

Alya freezes, but then slowly nods and rubs the back of her head, looking away with her eyes closed. "Uhh y-yeah! I'll be there!"

Marinette's face drops, but then Alya whispers something in her ear. Curious, I try and listen in, but my familiar cat-like senses seem to have disappeared along with the cat miraculous.

"Oh y-yeah, can't wait to go!" Marinette squeaks after Alya is finished whispering to her.

"Great! What time?" I ask.

Alya thinks with her hand on her chin, but then nods confidently. "How about 5?"

I nod back. "Works for me. How about you, Marinette?"

She just giggles.

"Do you think they'll already be there, Tikki?" I ask the tiny red kwami, hiding so no one would see her.

"With what I know about Marinette, I want to guess she almost definitely will be late," Tikki giggles, "But Alya will probably already be there!"

I'm walking to the lovelock bridge with the afternoon breeze running through my hair. I left my white jacket at home, only wearing my skin-tight black shirt I usually do, so I can feel the warm air on my arms. I plan to meet Alya and Marientte there to get ice cream, but I'm surprised when I only see Marinette on the bridge.

She's leaning against the guardrail, looking out into the river. She has a gentle smile resting on her face. Her hair is down, and blowing in the warm breeze. The sky is orange and the sun is setting with pink clouds to accompany it. With the river waves crashing against the bridge and sprinkling sparkling water elegantly throughout the air, the scene feels like a movie.

Tikki hides as I walk up to the bluenette.

"Hey," I greet, walking up to her and resting my arms on the bridge guardrails next to her.

"Hey!" She greets back, still staring straight ahead at the water reflecting the orange sky.

"Where's Alya?" I ask, facing Marinette.

She looks away and shyly brushes a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "Uh, she's running late. Let's go get ice cream while we wait."

I frown. "No let's wait, I'm sure she'll be he-"

I freeze, reading her text message that just popped up on her lock screen on her phone. I know, I know... I shouldn't be reading texts, but I couldn't help it! The light from the screen turning on caught my eye, and before I realized it, I read her text.

Alya: hey girlllllll, how's the date going with adrien??? ;) i hope my plan to set y'all up worked out!

I feel a smile creep up on my lips. Alya set this up, huh? I smile. I'm so glad she knows how much I value Marinette's friendship.

"-Actually," I continue, "Let's go with your idea. I'm hungry. Let's go get that ice cream!"

Marinette smiles, and we walk to André. He's stout and small, brown hair with a mustache to match. He's standing behind his ice cream cart, with a warm, jolly smile resting on his face.

"Welcome, welcome!" He greets. "Would you like some wonderful ice cream?"

Marinette giggles. "Yes please, André!"

"Alright, one for Marinette. Now, which flavors for these two? Hm... strawberry and lemon! Red and yellow are the perfect combination, with chocolate chips on top, like spots!"

Marinette's face seems to go red. She stutters, but then quickly nods her head and accepts the ice cream. I wonder why? Maybe she just doesn't like lemon.

"I would like one too, sir!" I quickly add.

"For you... black berry and mint chocolate!"

I freeze.

Black berry...

Like Lady Noir's black suit. And the mint - just like her green eyes! Could this mean that Lady Noir and I are-

"Adrien?" André asks, holding the ice cream in his hands and interrupting my thoughts.

"O-Oh, yeah! Thank you, sir!" I quickly stutter, accepting the ice cream.

Marinette and I stroll over to some benches and sit down to eat our ice cream. My ice cream tastes delicious. I mean, who knew that black berry and mint chocolate chip would go good together? And the thought of my lady makes it taste all the better...

"Ew..." Marinette mutters under her breath. "It's soo sticky... it's everywhere on my hands..."

I look over and can't help but laugh. Marinette's ice cream melted all over her hands, leaving a sticky mess behind.

She carefully stands up. "I'm gonna go... uh... get a napkin."

I'm about to agree, but then a mischievous cat-like idea pops into my head. Even if I don't have Plagg as my kwami anymore, I still can't help but act like him at times. "Wait, I uh, think I have one right here!"

"Lucky charm!" I quickly whisper before she turns around.

And just like that, a bright pink light flashes and a red and black polka-dot napkin falls into my hands. A huge grin grows on my face from ear to ear. I did it!

I have this under control, Tikki was wrong!

"It's Ladybug themed!" I happily chirp.

She freezes, but then giggles and accepts the napkin. I can't help but notice how different she is today. She isn't stuttering at all.

The earrings feel funny on my ears, but I just brush it off.

After a while, she tosses the napkin and we start to talk. We talk about everything, from school, to homework, to even Alya and Nino. Eventually the topic somehow changes to Paris's superheroes, and I can't help but smile when I listen to Marinette's admiration for the team.

She sighs. "I feel like Paris doesn't give enough credit. Whether he's Mister Bug or Chat Noir, I feel like the spotlight always shines on Ladybug or Lady Noir."

I nod. I actually don't mind the spotlight being on Lady Noir, in fact, I prefer that. In my civilian life, the spotlight is always on me twenty-four seven. It's nice to have a break from that every now and then when I transform.

"Who's your favorite?" I ask.

She grins. "Duh, Mister Bug!"

Wow, that went straight for the heart.

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. My L- I mean, Lady Noir is definitely the best. She's super smart, always knows the best things to say, and she's super clever and loyal."

She smirks. "Sounds like you know her well."

I roll my eyes. If only you knew.

I can't help but wish that Lady Noir picked her as a hero more often. When she was Multi Mouse, she was super powerful and quick thinking! I don't understand why Ladybug never used her again.

I frown, and I start to think. How come at every serious battle, it's the whole team but her? Hell, even Chloé is there. Does Lady Noir dislike her that much?

Once I start thinking, I can't stop. I find it odd that Marinette seems to be wrapped up in every akuma attack. She always seems to be at the scene right as the akuma gets there. Even with Jackhammer, she was in a janitors closet. Why would a normal person be in a janitors closet?

Marinette knows all of the akumas and heroes in real life, too. In fact, Marinette and Lady Noir share a lot of similarities.

I look up at Marinette, and gears start to turn.

The hair black as night...

Her pretty blue-bell eyes...

No. It can't be. Lady Noir, no, Ladybug couldn't have been under my nose the whole time. Ladybug couldn't have been in my class this whole time. Ladybug couldn't have been my first friend. I couldn't have seen the love of my life almost every day and had no idea.

My eyes rest on her ice cream, and I feel my heart beat pound in my ears. Her strawberry and lemon ice cream with chocolate chips... represents me. The strawberry resembles my red suit, the lemon resembles my blond hair, and the chocolate chips are a dead give away for my ladybug spots...

My hands start to shake.

I look at her hand and feel my soul drop. She's wearing a ring.

My ring. The cat miraculous. The cat miraculous is resting on her ring finger, with small dark magic roots growing out of it that you couldn't see unless you were really paying attention.

My muscles get stiff. My heart starts to pound. Small tears start to form in the edges of my eyes. My breaths get deeper. I have a heavy feeling in my stomach. My world starts to spin. A tiny smile creeps up on my lips. I want to scream. I want to laugh. I want to cry. I want to kiss her.

I grab her shoulders and look deep into her eyes. "Marinette, are you-"

CRASH!

Both Marinette and I whip our heads behind us. Sure enough, even if I have the ladybug miraculous glued to my ears, I can't escape my bad luck.

"My name is Mother Nature!" Cries the akuma, floating above the river. "And I want to punish everyone for littering our planet!"

Marinette turns back to me, with urgency in her eyes. "I've got to go! I'll be back soon, 'kay?"

I don't even say anything as I watch her run off into an alley way. I wait a second or two, and then watch as Lady Noir shoots out and flies above the buildings of Paris towards the akuma.

My lady is Marinette.

So,,, how are y'all feeling,,,,

Adrien thinks he can use his lucky charm in real life. He thinks he has it under control. Ha! Funny.

Anyways, chapter question: how should adrien act around marinette now?

Don't forget to press the star at the bottom!! And send screenshots of typos to my insta (chats_lady) !!!