Finally we've got something a bit different today! Nothing like a bit of fluff, a bit of angst, a bit of humor, a little bit of everything. My favorite! Vote and comment if you've enjoyed!                                                                                                                 -Colorado 

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Ladybug never liked arguing. While she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, she was always afraid that it would come back to bite her later. She always hated being at odds with someone that she cared about, whether it was a friend, classmate, or family member. So arguing with someone who she was particularly close to was never fun.

Especially when it was with Adrien.

"You can't just do that!" Ladybug scolded him. "You don't have a super suit like I do!"

"I can't just stand by and watch you get hurt!" Adrien snapped back. "You didn't see the hit, I did. If you had gotten hit then-."

"Oh great! Now you sound exactly like Chat Noir! I can take a hit, you know."

"Well, maybe Chat Noir is right, you ever thought about that?"

"I can take a hit. Why can't either of you get that through your head?"

"Because we care about you!"

"I care about you two, too! But I still let him take hits, and I still let you stand up for yourself when needed. This suit is built for me to take hits, ok? I can get thrown around in it. Your jeans and converse, on the other hand, absolutely cannot."  Ladybug gestured to his outfit.

"It was one hit Ladybug, and I didn't even get hurt. I just pushed you out of the way."

"Still, I don't need you to get involved. You don't need to protect me or save me, it's my job to do that for you."

"I don't get why this is such a big deal." Adrien crossed his arms.

"Because, well, because you-."

What was Ladybug supposed to say? Because she was in love with him? Yeah, right. She was sure that would go perfectly.

"Adrien Agreste! Where are you?" The akuma, unfortunately still around, shrieked.

"Come on, we've gotta go." Ladybug grabbed Adrien by the waist and rushed off.

It had started as normal, as all things do. Adrien was doing another photo shoot and Marinette decided to stop by and watch. She knew how he appreciated having someone he knew there. It had been going perfectly and she was just about to work up enough courage to ask him to get ice cream after, when another model stormed in. Apparently, he had just recently been fired and he blamed Adrien for it.

What Adrien had done to make this guy blame him, Ladybug wasn't sure. By the time she had transformed and got the two of them out of there, the akuma had been hot on her heels. It would be hard to ask questions without giving anything away. She had found the perfect hiding spot for Adrien, setting him down and making sure he stayed there.

Then the akuma snuck up behind her and Adrien compromised his position by leaping out to push her away.

So was it any wonder that she was a little ticked at the boy?

He wasn't a superhero! He didn't have a fancy suit to protect him or a weapon. If he had gotten hurt, Ladybug wasn't sure what she had done with herself. It's bad enough whenever Chat Noir sacrifices himself for her, if she watched Adrien do it...

Yeah, it would not have been pretty.

She wasn't sure what possessed him in that moment to put himself in danger. If the akuma went and swatted her, sure it wouldn't have felt good, but she'd be able to get back on her feet. She knew he wasn't stupid, so why the hell did he go and make that sacrifice? 

"LB? Are you okay?" Adrien asked tentatively.

"I just don't get why you did that. Why did you risk yourself harm? We both know I would've been fine." She said quietly, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Why do you think it's such a big deal that I pushed you out of the way?" He responded.

Ladybug glanced over at him, her mind screaming at her to say the words she always wanted to say. Her mouth, however, remained dutifully shut.

"Still no Chat Noir..." She sighed, looking out for any sign of her partner. Sure, sometimes they couldn't get to the site of the akuma right away. However, most times he was more punctual than she was.

"He's probably just busy. Maybe he doesn't even know about the attack yet." Adrien tried to comfort her, to no avail.

"Yeah, probably." She shot him a weak smile, but they both knew it was fake.

Something was buzzing in the air between them. Their argument was nowhere near resolved and it left her feeling uncomfortable. How could she pretend that everything was normal when it so clearly wasn't?

The akumas shrieks of rage reminded her that it wasn't the time to talk. Not right now.

"We need to find you a place to hide." Ladybug told him.

"Yeah. I think any alleyway would work."

"I don't want to take that chance. I would much rather lose the akuma and then hide you." Ladybug glanced back to see him still chasing after them. "And that obviously hasn't happened yet, so, you're gonna have to deal with me for awhile."

The akuma was calling himself Angel and looked like what your picture perfect angel would look like. Fancy white robes, gorgeous white wings, even a halo above his head glowing golden! However his face was one straight out of a nightmare. One eye was surrounded by rings of other eyes, looking almost like an atom diagram. If you know, the nucleus was a huge eye and the rings around it were also covered. When he spoke, no mouth was opened, but sounds still came out.

Ladybug was not looking forward to her dreams tonight!

"Adrien, you took everything from me!" Angel yelled, unfortunately keeping up with them. "How could you? My money, my fame, everything! All gone because of you." He continued to yell. "I was the perfect model, but no one would understand my artistic vision."

"I don't think harassment qualifies as 'artistic vision.'" Adrien muttered under his breath. Ladybug snorted. 

"Is that why he got fired?"

"Yep. He always complained about his photographer and never listened. But I think what really pushed him over the line is when he wouldn't stop making comments about one of our female models. I was the one who reported him, so now I guess he blames me."

"You did the right thing. He's just gross." She wrinkled her nose. "I'm sorry that he took it out on you though, you don't deserve it."

"Thanks, Ladybug. You wanna try telling him that, though?" Adrien gestured behind the two of them.

"Nah, I'm good." Ladybug landed in a nearby alleyway, making sure that Angel was looking in another direction. "Now this time," she whispered, "stay here."

Adrien nodded, putting a hand over his heart.

"Promise." 

Ladybug nodded and went back out to a main street. Yo-yo ready for action and the hairs on the back of her neck tingling, she wished that Angel would just show his face already. However, he unfortunately remained invisible. She threw her yo-yo intending to go and search for him and-.

"Ladybug, watch out!" She could barely register Adrien's yell.

Everything happened too fast from there. She felt herself being pushed, she saw a brief flash of light and then it was just her and Angel.

Adrien was gone.

"Yes! I did it! I finally got him! Adrien Agreste is mine, all mine!" Angel cheered.

Ladybug gulped down the lump in her throat, but she let her tears run down her mask. She got up slowly, oh-so-slowly as she felt her sadness turn into red hot anger.

"You're going to regret that." She said in a low voice.

Angel's terrified face was the last thing she saw before her yo-yo made contact.

Less than five minutes later, Ladybug watched as the akuma flew away. Her lucky charm (pepper spray to use in his many eyes) disappeared as a swarm of ladybugs flew over the city. She went over to the model and tried to settle the issue as soon as possible.

She had a bone to pick with the other one.

After the model had stormed off, she whirled around. Adrien was standing with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor, kicking a stray pebble. He looked so cute that Ladybug almost wanted to not deal with it, but with one look off her emotions came running back. He was not getting out of a lecture this time.

"Adrien... Agreste..." She whispered as she walked up to him. 

"Hey, Ladybug..." He gave her a grin, shooting her finger guns.

"Don't 'hey, Ladybug' me! You know exactly what you did. You promised me that you would stay there and out of danger. One minute later, what did you do? Put yourself in the exact line of danger! And this time, Angel actually got to you! Do you know how much that scared me? How bad that could've been for you?"

"And if I hadn't jumped in the way?" Adrien pointed out. "He would've definitely caught you! What if you had gone missing instead of me? It's game over at that point!"

"I was already on my way out. You have no way of knowing whether or not it would've hit me! Instead, you did the impulsive thing and put yourself in harm's way. And you can't do that Adrien! You're not a superhero, you don't have a special suit, you're just a regular civilian."

"Oh, well I'm sorry that I didn't want Hawkmoth to win!"

"You can't just sacrifice yourself Adrien! You are not strong enough!" Ladybug yelled, smacking his chest with every word.

"I've done it before and I'll do it again if it means you keep winning!" Adrien caught her fist, yelling right back at her.

Silence.

Silence so loud that Ladybug could feel her heartbeat. In that moment, with her fist in his hands, his frustrated face looking at her, she no longer saw Adrien Agreste. No, instead she saw her partner. His eyes gradually widened as he realized his mistake, dropping her fist.

"What do you mean you've done it before?" She whispered.

"You know exactly what I mean, Ladybug." He shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. She hadn't realized until now that she was crying, too. 

"Do I?" She rasped. "Because until you tell me explicitly that you're saying what I think you are, I'm not going to believe you."

"Would it be the worst thing in the world if I was?" His voice cracked.

"Was what?"

"You know who I am. Don't you, Ladybug?"

She pursed her lips and looked away from him. She attempted to blink the tears away, but they kept rolling down her face without permission.

"You know, this isn't exactly how I daydreamed you would figure it out." Adrien let out a harsh chuckle, his voice still shot from tears.

Ladybug let out a broken laugh, turning back towards him. She opened up her arms. Adrien, always knowing what she's thinking, rushed ahead and into them.

"I can't believe you'd be that stupid." She sobbed into his chest.

"I'm sorry, Ladybug. I just can't bear to see you hurt." He said softly, stroking her hair.

"You could've at least transformed first." 

"I was going to, but I thought it was too risky. If you had looked over and seen me it wouldn't have been a pleasant surprise."

"Well, it's a bit of a moot point now, isn't it?" Ladybug wasn't sure if she was laughing or crying. Probably both, most likely both.

"I guess so." Adrien placed his cheek on the top of her head. "But you get why I did it now, right?"

"Yeah, I do. Still doesn't mean it wasn't irresponsible. What if I had needed you?"

"I'm sorry." He said, actually sounding genuine. "But that was a risk that I had to take. You had done it without me before, you could do it without me again."

"Fine." She scoffed. "There's clearly no arguing with you."

"I know you don't like it, but it's the truth. You're the one with the cure, so you're the one who's gotta be around to reset everything.

"I know." She grumbled. "It's still unfair, though."

"It's, unfortunately, how life works sometimes." 

"Can you at least try to not sacrifice yourself for me so much? I get that sometimes it's necessary, but I kinda like having you around." Ladybug attempted to smile.

"I can try, but I make no promises. If it comes down to me or you, I'm always going to choose me. You're just going to have to deal with it."

Ladybug wanted to argue more, but she didn't really feel like it. Her emotions had been turned upside down within the span of a few minutes, she needed time to digest them. And she knew there was no point in arguing with Adrien, who was also Chat Noir.

Great.

If she hadn't just witnessed the love of her life disappear in front of her, she would be having a meltdown. However, she decided to put "Adrien is Chat Noir" on a list for later, preferably when she would have Tikki to bring her back to reality. For now, she was going to rest in her partner's arms, savoring the moment. 

"It still doesn't explain why you were so worked up, though. To you, Adrien is just another civilian, not your partner. It's not like how I am with you." Apparently, Adrien was trying to get her through her list much quicker.

She had forgotten a very important detail. Chat Noir was, and always had been, in love with her. Ladybug had previously not reciprocated those feelings due to something that starts with Adrien and ends with Agreste. But Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste, which means not only that he was the other boy but she was the other girl as well.

Whoo! What fun! Sorting through your feelings as you realize someone who you thought you were in love with turns out to be someone who you thought you would never be in love with! Score one for overthinking!

"Ladybug? You ok?"

"Fine." She squeaked.

"Your face looks... really red."

"That's just from crying." She lied.

"Nu-uh, no way. I've seen you cry before, and your face doesn't turn red. Which means that right there is blush."

"What? No! That'd be crazy. It's just from crying, I'm telling you. You're just reading too much into things."

"Am I? Am I really?" He narrowed his eyes, the Cheshire grin on his face growing wider by the minute. "It would certainly explain why you had such a strong reaction to Adrien sacrificing himself for you. The reaction is similar to what mine would be if you sacrificed yourself. Have anything to say about that Ladybug? Hmm?"

"Oh, wipe that smug grin off of your face." She grumbled, not looking at him.

"Wait. That's not denial. That's not a rejection! You're telling me that this whole damn time, it was Adrien Agreste? That I was the freaking other boy?" 

"Maybe...?" She gave him a nervous grin. "Ugh okay fiiiine, yes, you were the other boy."

"No way. No freaking way. You mean all this time you were rejecting me for my other self?" Adrien gaped at her, wide eyed and blushing like a mess.

"Yep."

"God. But wait, you never liked Chat Noir." He furrowed his brows. "So what does that mean for...?"

"For my feelings? I don't know, man! I mean, it's not like I'd be opposed to dating Chat Noir. It just seemed like there were so many reasons not to. But the more I think about it, the more it just makes sense. The more it would feel wrong with anyone else, so I don't think it's going to change much at all."

"So you mean this whole time you were in love with me?"

"Yep, pretty much."

"I can't believe you were rejecting me for me!" Adrien laughed.

"I mean, you were kinda doing the same to me." Ladybug realized, speaking out loud before she could stop herself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adrien asked slowly. "How could I have been rejecting you if I didn't know you?"

"Uh..."

"Which means you must be someone I know in real life!"

"Shit."

"Hey! It's okay, I still don't know who. Although I do have my suspicions M-."

"Don't tell me!" Ladybug put her hands over his mouth. "I don't want to make it too easy on you."

"Too easy on me to do what?" Adrien smirked, leaning closer to Ladybug.

"I'll make a deal with you, Agreste." Ladybug began to say, placing her hands on her hips and sounding much more confident than she was feeling.

"Okay... I'm listening."

"If you figure out my identity, you can take me out on a date."

"Really?" Adrien perked up like an excited kitten. "You really mean it?"

"Yes, I mean it."

"You know what Ladybug, not only will I take you up on that, but I'll make you another offer."

"Oh?"

"If I figure your identity out and ask you out sometime this week, I will ask you to be my official girlfriend."

"Just asking me? Not guaranteeing a yes?" Ladybug grinned up at him.

"My, my, how forward." Adrien leaned down, brushing noses with her. "But no, I want you to choose to be my girlfriend of your own accord."

"Aw, how sweet. You're going to make me blush."

"So, what do you say?" Adrien took one of the arms that had previously been wrapped around her, and held it out for her to shake.

"I happily accept your offer. I hope that you'll be able to fulfill them. Both of them. I've wanted to be Adrien Agreste's girlfriend for a long, long, time."

"Oh just you wait." He winked at her. "I never make a promise I can't keep."

"Unless it's peacefully hiding in an alleyway." Ladybug pointed out.

"Unless it's peacefully hiding in an alleyway." Adrien agreed. "Hey, I've got an idea."

"What's your idea, Agreste?" 

"We should really make sure our agreements are set in stone." He nodded.

"And how do we do that?"

"We seal it, with a kiss." He wiggled his eyebrows and leaned forwards, puckering up.

Ladybug giggled, placing two fingers on his lips. He opened his eyes up in momentary shock.

"A kiss, you say?" She moved to his side to place a quick peck on his cheek. "There. You'll have to take me on that date before you get the other one." She winked.

"Deal." He leaned forward to give her a peck on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Ladybug tried to not show her shock. They had plans to hang out as Marinette and Adrien tomorrow. Did he already know?

"I'll see you tomorrow." With a kiss and one last wink, Ladybug swung off into the distance.

Adrien smiled as she left, his suspicion growing more likely by the second. God, he couldn't wait for tomorrow. 

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Man my writer's block was not fun. I had planned for this to be an upload BEFORE 11pm but ya know. Beggars can't be choosers I guess. However, I still really liked how this turned out, even with my writers block issues. Hope you guys liked it too! Make sure to vote and comment!                                                                                                                            -Colorado