ah prpr, my true love. there's something so magical about them being so close, but still pinning away for each other. it can be pure chaos and i love it! Be sure to vote and comment!                                                                                                           -Colorado

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"Ladybug! Oh I'm so glad I caught up to you." Ladybug turned to see an exhausted Adrien Agreste working his way through the masses.

Ladybug wondered why the hell he was still there. He had taken a direct hit from the akuma earlier, nearly scaring Ladybug to death. He was obviously tired from the way his eyes drooped. But he was still here. Ladybug wanted to strangle him, hadn't she told him to go home?

"Hello, Adrien, what can I help you with?" Despite her inward screaming, she still greeted him with a smile.

"I ran into Chat Noir on the way here." He said in between harsh breaths. "He told me that he had something important to share with you. Something about meeting up at your spot? At your regular patrol time?" He winked with a smirk so subtle that only she would see it.

"Oh uh, s-sure. If you see him again, tell him that I will meet him there." She nodded.

"Great! Now uh," Adrien glanced around him. Most of the paparazzi had left by now, clearing out after Ladybug had asked a few questions. "Can you take me home? It's a bit too far to walk." He asked bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure thing, Adrien." Ladybug gave him a wide grin, shooting straight through his heart.

 "After all, I can't have Paris' local pretty boy out on the streets."

"Pretty boy?" Adrien grinned as she wrapped an arm around his face.

"Don't let it go to your head, Agreste. You're a literal model, one of the most famous in all of Paris, in fact." Ladybug rolled her eyes as she pulled him flush against her.

She really hoped that he couldn't hear how fast her heart rate was. Stupid crush giving her that stupid smile that made her feel like falling and flying all at once.

"Yeah, but I don't care about the world's opinion." Adrien leaned up to whisper in her ear. "I only care about yours, my lady."

Ladybug sucked in a harsh breath, her face instantly turning red. A flirtatious Adrien Agreste was a dangerous one. If he wasn't careful, he would send her straight into cardiac arrest. She really didn't feel like taking a trip to the emergency room, so she shook it off. He was probably just joking anyways, that seems to be how it goes between the two of them.

"Oh, you're so full of it." She shot back, sticking her tongue out. "I guess for now you'll just have to listen to the world."

"You wound me." She heard the silent 'bugaboo.'

Ladybug scoffed, rolled her eyes, and began her journey to the Agreste mansion.

"Is there really something so urgent that you need to talk to me about?" She asked, dropping him off in his room. "Or was that you just trying to get me to hang out with you more, chaton."

Adrien let out a mock gasp, placing his hand on his heart.

"My lady, how you wound me. I am a noble cat with no ulterior motives whatsoever. Just the thought of you suggesting it sends me into a fit of great sorrow." He whined, dramatically falling back on his couch.

"Uh-huh, sure. So you really do have something important to tell me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I do have a bit of news for you, but I figured you were too busy to hear it right now." Adrien shrugged.

"I'm not that busy." Ladybug waved him off, taking a seat next to him on the couch. The doubtful look Adrien gave her would've stung more if she didn't know he was absolutely correct. "Okay, maybe commissions have been piling up. Add that to the work at the bakery and homework, I have nearly no time to spend with people. Hawkmoth sending out akuma's really doesn't help either, because now I am currently an hour behind on a commission from Kitty Section that needs to be done by tomorrow morning and-."

"Marinette." Adrien interrupted her, fixing her with a stern glare. Caring, but stern. "You're going to overwork yourself again."

"Pfft, what are you talking about? I'll be fine." Ladybug nervously laughed, but Adrien only sighed.

"Come here." He positioned himself so he was facing her on the couch, and pulled her so her back was up against his chest. "You are very tense, right now, bugaboo. You really should take more breaks." He said softly, beginning to massage her shoulders.

"I know." She muttered. "I'll be fine in a couple of weeks, we're towards the end of it now."

"Regardless of whether or not you're towards the end of it, you need a distraction from all the constant work you're doing."

"And I suppose you have just the thing?" Ladybug wanted to be annoyed at him, but she knew that he was right. Besides, it was really hard to be mad at someone who is giving you a free massage.

"Yes, actually. Do you remember that news I had for you earlier?" Adrien grinned as Ladybug turned backs towards him.

"Yes? What about it? Is it intel on Hawkmoth? Mayura? One of the past guardians?" She asked him, rapid firing. Adrenaline hummed through her system as she wracked her brain for any possible scenario.

"No, no, nothing like that. It's supposed to be a distraction, remember?" Adrien reminded her gently.

"Yeah okay." Ladybug sighed. "So, what's up? What is this mystical news you've been hovering over my head?"

"Well, this." Adrien reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "I found this balled up in Mme. Bustier's classroom the other day, it seems to be from an admirer of some sort." He passed the pink paper along to her, Ladybug eagerly opened it up, scanning the words.

"Considering the writer professes how oblivious they used to be in their feelings and now they want nothing more than a romantic relationship, I'd say that's a pretty safe bet." Ladybug hummed.

"Well, I was thinking that we could find whoever wrote the letter and then find out who it was for. Then we could try and set them up!" Adrien explained nervously, a light blush on his cheeks.

Was he afraid that Ladybug was going to shut him down? That she was going to say no to him? That she was just going to keep overworking herself?

She couldn't lie, she was pretty tempted to reject the offer. But she was always weak to Adrien's puppy dog eyes, especially when she was the target.

"Alright, we can do it." Ladybug agreed, letting out a sigh.

"Yes! Oh I promise you, you won't regret this!" Adrien cheered, scooping her up into a hug. "This could be just the thing that you were waiting for, right?"

"I suppose so." Ladybug gave him a wry grin, patting him on the head.

"And I thought it was productive enough that your brain won't go 'hmm, I really should be doing something else right now,' like it always does whenever this happens. You work yourself to the bone to let us have our fun, now it's your turn. Taking breaks is a healthy thing, alright?" Adrien rubbed her back softly, gazing at her with a look that made Ladybug want to turn to goo.

"I know, but Adrien, I literally could not take breaks because of everything I had signed myself up for." Ladybug ran her hands through her hair.

"I think that you really need to learn how to say no." Adrien fixed her with a pointed gaze, his eyes partly accusing her.

"I know, I know, but it can be so hard sometimes! They're all counting on me to do things for them, and if I can't do them, then who can?" Ladybug rambled.

"Well, then, that's their problem to figure out on their own time. You shouldn't place that burden on yourself Ladybug. Selflessness can be a weakness just as much as it can be a strength." Adrien lectured, but he never stopped smiling at her.

"I know, it can just be so hard sometimes."

"I know it can, Ladybug, believe me. It's something I used to have a problem with all the time, too. We'll work on it and grow together, alright? We're partners after all." He shot her that boyish grin that she adored. Ladybug felt all the stress on her heart lift just by looking at him. He really did know exactly what to tell her, didn't he?

Soulmates, one way or another. A sudden rush of appreciation for the boy shot through her.

"Yeah, okay." She nodded, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "Now, onto the topic at hand. Operation: Mystery Letter!" She decided, smacking a fist to her hand like a judge banging a gavel.

"Are you sure that you're free to stay?" Adrien lifted an eyebrow. "I would hate for you to miss a deadline because of me."

Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo, glancing at the time. She had been ahead on the Kitty Section designs, but because of the akuma atack she was now behind. Although, she could always finish them in the morning and then work through her homework tomorrow afternoon. It was the weekend, so no school would get in her way.

"I'm free to stay for probably about an hour, is that enough time?"

"It's a start at least." Adrien nodded, giving her a confident grin.

"So, let's compile all we know about our mystery sender so far." Adrien took the letter back from Ladybug, careful not to tear it.

"Trash cans are emptied daily after school gets out, and I found this at the end of first this morning." Adrien reported.

"So that means this letter could only come from someone in our class!" Ladybug gasped.

"Exactly, it should be easy to figure out from there, right? However, I couldn't recognize this person's handwriting."

"Well, who can we eliminate." Ladybug tapped her finger to her chin, going through her classmate's faces. "Alya and Nino, Mylene and Ivan, Rose and Juleka, and Nathaniel are all in committed relationships. The letter would imply that the sender hasn't gotten into a relationship with the intended recipient. Are there any other clues?"

"'To the one that was metaphorically in front of me, I'm not exactly sure how to start off this letter. You're amazing, that much I can say. So amazing that I'm shocked that I didn't realize my feelings for you sooner. Our classmates would always tease us about what a perfect couple we would be, but I never listened. Now I'm wishing I had. They tell me that you have moved on, and sometimes I can see it on your face who you truly love. Still, I can't help but wish it were me serenading you. You have rejected me so many times before, and now that we're close, I'm so scared of screwing it up. You're not with the man you love yet though, and it's giving me hope. Dangerous, dangerous hope. I love you, and I wished I had realized it sooner. Sincerely, the one was literally in front of you.'" Adrien read the letter out to her. Ladybug closed her eyes, focusing on the words.

"Okay, so we know one more thing about the recipient, they are single and like men. Which means that everyone in relationships is off the roster for both sender and intended receiver." Ladybug muttered.

"Chloe could still be the sender though..." Ladybug hummed, picturing the layout of the class in her head.

"I don't think so. The way they signed the letter makes me think that they sit in front of the intended receiver. They made sure to point out the literal versus metaphorical." Adrien realized, pointing to the way they had signed their name.

"Which means Lila is also off the list, thank goodness." Ladybug sighed. "I can be cordial to her, but outright being friendly is too much for even me to handle." She shuddered.

"Along with Sabrina, she sits in front of Alix." Adrien recalled, beginning to play with his hands.

"Okay so who does that leave us with? Max and Kim are out because they sit in front of Rose and Juleka and behind Alix and Mylene." Ladybug's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she picked off classmates one by one.

"Yep." Ladybug missed Adrien's gulp, and him shaking his head. He was attempting to regain composure, but he was afraid it was an impossible task.

"Lila and Nath are out." Ladybug switched over to the side of the room they sat on, as options began to look more and more limited.

"Yep." Adrien bit at his fingernails.

"Ivan, Alya, and Nino are out." Ladybug whispered quietly, and Adrien wished he could see the look on her face. Was she happy? Mad? Sad? Upset? Overjoyed? But she kept her eyes trained on the floor/

"Right again." Adrien hated how his voice wobbled.

"No, that can't be right." Ladybug laughed, turning her face back up at him. "The only two people left in the class are us." She grinned, as if the thought amused her.

"Yeah." Adrien muttered, suddenly averting his gaze. "The only two left are us." His cheeks turned bright pink.

"Adrien, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Ladybug gasped, her voice wobbling.

Adrien squeezed his eyes shut, gathered all of his composure, and nodded.

"The letter was meant for you." He confirmed. "It was from me."

Adrien heard the gasp. Ladybug picked up her hand from his leg, was she going to slap him? Oh he had really screwed things up this time. Why couldn't he just be happy with the friendship that they shared? Why did he have to go and mess it up by confessing his feelings all of a sudden? He had so much more to lose now, what had he been thinking? Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, id-.

Ladybug's hand rested on his cheek, turning his face towards her. He risked a peek of cracking his eyes open, only to see Ladybug's eyes glistening with tears.

"Ladybug? Are you okay? I'm so, so, sorry, I didn't mean to-."

"You idiot!" She laughed, throwing her arms around him.

Adrien paused. This didn't feel like a rejection.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ladybug laughed again, burying her face into his shoulder. "All this time we've both been so stupid. All this time, all of the failed confessions and lucrative day dreams, they all could've worked! They could've been real!" Ladybug pulled back from him, wiping her tears away.

"Failed confessions?" Adrien breathed out, feeling as though his heart had been sucker punched.

There was no way, there was absolutely no way that Ladybug felt the same way about him. That would be far too good to be true. He was probably just imagining things again!

But the way she blushed while nodding made him think otherwise.

"Ask anyone in the class, they all know I have a ridiculous crush on you." She admitted quietly, glancing up at him before looking back down at the couch.

"You have a crush... on me?" Adrien wheezed, his heart going into overtime. If she kept this up, he would be dead before he ever even kissed her!

"We didn't get off to the best start, in fact I hated you at first." Ladybug began to explain, grabbing his hands.

"Gee thanks, exactly what I wanted to hear." Adrien teased, but the smile on his face was too wide to leave any impact.

"Shh, let me tell the story." She placed a finger to his lips and Adrien was in Heaven. "So we didn't get off to the best start like, at all. But then it was raining and I had to walk home. You had done the smart thing and had brought an umbrella. Even though I had been nothing but cruel to you, refusing to hear your side of things, you offered it to me anyway. You apologized to me, and gave me your umbrella, sacrificing your clothes. Now that I know you, I'm sure you got in trouble for coming home soaked. Yet in that moment, you didn't care. You were so kind to a complete stranger, and then when the umbrella collapsed on me, you laughed. That laugh is what did me in. I've been in love with you ever since." Ladybug explained, her eyes glassy as she remembered that day oh so long ago.

Adrien remembered it too, he could see it all so clearly in his head. Nino telling him to patch things up with Marinette, the smile she had given to him after the umbrella closed, the way his dad had scolded when he got home, but he didn't care.

He had made a friend. Who cared if she felt so different from when Nino offered his friendship to him? Well, present Adrien sure as hell did, but past Adrien was too amazed by the feeling of companionship to think about it deeper.

"You started stuttering around me the day after." Adrien realized, his eyes widening.

"It was an... unfortunate side effect." Ladybug chuckled bashfully.

"You've been in love with me for that long?" Adrien breathed, hardly hearing anything over his heart rate.

"I have been." Ladybug nodded.

"I have been too. The moment you stood up to Hawkmoth and told him off, our very second day, that's when I knew I was in love. When I found out you were Marinette, well let's just say that figuring out the cute girl who sat behind me in class was also the girl that I was madly in love with, I had never been happier."

"I felt the same way when I figured out you were Chat Noir." Ladybug admitted. "For so long I had been pushing Chat away for fear of what could happen if we fell in love. When I learned you were you, I realized it had been futile. I had fallen for my partner somewhere along the way and I cared about him just as much as I cared about Adrien Agreste." She squeezed his hands, cuddling back into him.

"So if I'm in love with you, which I am, and you're in love with me..."

"Which I am."

"Does that mean we can actually be together? And like, go on dates? And you could be my girlfriend?" Adrien Agreste, a wild grin on his face.

Ladybug's eyes widened.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that." She said shaikly.

"So is that yes?"

"Yes!" Ladybug flew into his arms, and Adrien caught her.

He always did. Whenever she would fall, he would be there to catch her. She hoped he knew the same went for him. They could figure out the details of their newfound relationship later, but for right now, Ladybug was going to enjoy being in the presence of her partner.

In all definitions of the word. 

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If this is riddled with grammatical and spelling mistakes, I apologize. I have been sick all day (I don't think it's covid but we'll see), so the writing might be up to par. Also if you notice me using the exact same plot device twice in a row, shhh no you didn't. Vote and comment if you've enjoyed! Side note: it normally takes me around two hours to write one of these. This one took an hour and fifteen minutes. While being under the weather. I am simultaneously both proud and scared.                                                                                                                                            -Colorado