We're one week in! Time is going by so fast! Another fluffier one today, although with a half-reveal this time. Enjoy! -Colorado

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It was funny, in a way, or at least would be funny in five years. Now, as Ladybug stood gobsmacked at her partner, it was less funny and more terrifying.

"What? What did I say?" Chat Noir, none the wiser to the life-altering shock Ladybug was going through, had the audacity to look worried.

"Um, you didn't say anything." Her voice came out two octaves higher than normal and she loathed it. It was just Chat! Why was she being so weird around him? There was absolutely no reason to!

But she glanced back at the string of pink and green beads nearly falling out of his pocket, and flushed again. There were 20,000 different explanations to why Chat Noir had Adrien's. It had to be one of those! But the miraculous glamor had already worn off. She saw Adrien in those eyes, hair, smile, that was him, through and through.

So really, you can't blame Ladybug for ending the patrol early and rushing home. She needed to scream into her pillow and Chadrien was being far too understanding for her head to handle.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, floating up to her.

"Adrien is Chat Noir," she tried saying the words aloud, hoping it would make them sound less foreign. It didn't quite work. All it did was make Tikki's eyes grow wide.

"A-Are you sure?" It would've been missed by anyone but her, but Marinette could hear the tremble in Tikki's voice.

"I'm sure Tikki, I-," she stopped herself, biting on her lip, "I saw the lucky charm I gave him as Marinette in his pocket. And then the glamor wore off. It's him."

"Oh."

"That's all you have to say?" Marinette practically screeched. "Tikki! I thought we weren't supposed to know our identities under any circumstances! And it's Adrien! How am I supposed to keep a level head in battle when-." She fell silent, her face turning bright red.

"Marinette? Are you alright?"

"Adrien Agreste is in love with me," she whispered, her eyes shining. "Well, Ladybug me, but still! He's in love with me." A smile came over her lips that nearly hurt.

"I suppose he is Marinette, but it can't possibly be a good idea for you two to date as Ladybug and Chat Noir." All her warning got was a death glare in return.

"Alright, so I won't date him as Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Not until Hawkmoth is defeated."

"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before." Marinette huffed, crossing her arms. It wasn't fair! How come Chat Noir got to fall in love with her all willy-nilly and Alya and Nino could know each other's identities, but how dare Ladybug want to have something a bit more than friendship with her partner?

Not for the first time Marinette loathed the rules with every fiber of her being.

"I mean, do you even want to date him? Sure, Adrien is Chat Noir, but Chat Noir is also Adrien." Tikki's rational voice shot through her like a bullet train. "You've never been interested in Chat Noir like that, have you?"

"I mean..." she remembered Oblivio, and how they had kissed without knowing, she remembered the night on the rooftop as he handed her a rose and kissed her cheek, she remembered all the times that he had told her what she needed to hear, he was magic like that. Every time she wished that she had met Chat Noir first. But she also remembered Adrien when he cat punned, or the look on his face when he snuck out. Every time Marinette craved to know Adrien more. "I wouldn't entirely say that."

"But Marinette-!" Tikki's protest fell on deaf ears as Marinette climbed into bed. 

"Look, Tikki, I know I can't date him until Hawkmoth is defeated. However, that doesn't mean I can't make my interest very clear." A grin grew over her face. For the first time in forever, Marinette found herself actually looking forward to the next akuma attack.

Chat Noir was in for a big surprise.

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Her opportunity came two days later, when Hawkmoth decided to akumatize a young girl, upset that she'd been scammed out of Jagged Stone concert tickets. Now, Scammer, as she called herself, was running around amok. Ladybug couldn't wait.

She arrived first on the scene, noticing Scammer and her get up. With a dress made out of different Jagged mobilia, and a face that lacked eyes, just black holes and tear tracks. Ladybug decided this would be relatively easy. Good, she needed to make sure the akuma could be defeated even if Chat Noir was a bit... preoccupied.

She heard him land behind her and quickly attempted to wipe the grin off of her face. 

"Hello My Lady," Chat Noir walked over to her and picked up her hand, placing a kiss on it. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" She giggled, oh how Adrien bled into Chat Noir and how Chat Noir bled into Adrien. She never noticed it before,

"Hello mon chaton, it seems as though we have a young girl who would very much like to go to Jagged Stone's concert." She pointed to where Scammer was. Chat Noir raised his eyebrows.

"I see that, any analysis on her powers?"

"I know she doesn't make people disappear. Based on the name it could be a truth akuma." She turned back to the scene, watching as Scammer hit an unsuspecting civilian. The civilian instantly fell to their knees, and suddenly yelled something out the heroes couldn't hear.

"Yikes, so we definitely don't want to be hit." Chat Noir nodded. "Got it."

"We should avoid getting hit for all akumas, Chat." Ladybug lectured, but a smile was growing on her face. He was such a dork, she was honored to see this side of him.

"Yeah, but this one hitting us would be extra bad since it's a truth akuma! Unless you want to know who the handsome devil is behind the mask." He wiggled his eyebrows, and Ladybug let out a laugh. Here was a golden opportunity laid out in front of her, she'd be a fool not to take it. Grinning, her plan was set into motion.

"You're a handsome devil with or without the mask," impulsively, she kissed his cheek before launching off towards Scammer.

"Wait? What? Ladybug!" She heard Chat Noir's protests from the rooftop, a laugh escaping her as Scammer turned around.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir! I was wondering when you two were going to show up. Give me your miraculous or else I'll expose the time you scammed someone to the entire world!" She threatened. 

God, Ladybug hated truth akumas, they weren't dangerous to civilians, so they often stuck around to watch the battle. But they were even more dangerous to her and Chat Noir, there was no telling if they got struck what would come out of their mouths. Ladybug didn't trust her cure enough to guarantee no one would remember their identities.

"Looks like you're going to be scammed out of our jewels as well." Chat Noir taunted, standing on the other side of Scammer.

"Fine, we'll do this the hard way." She shrugged and launched herself at Chat Noir.

He ducked out of the way, avoiding her many blasts to stand behind Ladybug's yo-yo shield.

"Get back here!" Scammer roared, launching herself towards them again.

"Nah, I don't think I will." Chat Noir stuck his tongue out at her, as both he and Ladybug jumped apart.

"You know, Scammer, Hawkmoth is sort of the biggest scam of all." Ladybug called out, which got her distracted enough to stop the assault on Chat Noir. She nodded over to him, signaling that he should begin to look for the akumatized object.

"Just what are you talking about?"

"He gives you all these cool powers, right? And in return all you have to do is grab our miraculouses, but no one has ever managed to get these jewels from us. Because Chat Noir and I are perfect partners," she was all too satisfied at the way Chat Noir's face turned bright red. "You may think you're getting vengeance, but all you're doing is giving into what Hawkmoth wants."

The tell-tale purple mask showed up in front of Scammer's face, and Ladybug took the opportunity to leap over to where Chat Noir was perched on the rooftops.

"Did you mean it?" He whispered, eyes wide.

"Mean what?"

"Us being perfect partners."

"Of course, mon chaton, no one else gets me like you do." Her voice was a bit too sincere for it to come off as a joke, but Ladybug really didn't care.

"Careful Bug, it almost sounds like you're falling for me." It should have been one of Chat Noir's regular lines, but she noticed the tremble in his voice, the nerves on his face, his eyes searching for the truth.

"Perhaps I am, kitty-cat, what are you going to do about it?" She purred, right before launching back into the air.

"Bugaboo!" Chat Noir wailed, coming up to join her as Scammer ended whatever her debate was with Hawkmoth.

"Hawkmoth says that you two are the true scammers of Paris! If you simply gave up your miraculouses then Hawkmoth wouldn't have to akumatized people anymore! But because you continue to be superheroes for purely selfish reasons, Hawkmoth has to use people like me! So now I'm going to take it by force!" She ran towards them, hopping on cars as Ladybug grabbed Chat Noir by the waist and pulled them to safety.

"Any idea where the akumatized item is?" She asked, but didn't let go of him.

"Um, guh, I-."

"What? Cat got your tongue?" She smirked.

"You're going to kill me," he hissed.

"That's the idea!" She knew she was in for a lecture when she de-transformed, but she didn't care. Flirting with Chat Noir was way too entertaining.

"She's got a small Jagged Stone pin on her dress, on the line of her skirt." He pointed to where it was, and Ladybug leaned in perhaps a bit too close to see what he was pointing at. "I think that's it."

"Good work, mon chaton," she kissed his cheek again before her eyes glanced around the surrounding area, trying to formulate a plan. 

One popped into her head just as Chat Noir shook off the feeling of her lips. Good, she could kill two birds with one stone this way.

"She hates being scammed, so what if we make her angry enough that she acts out of pure emotion? By making her believe we've been scamming people this whole time?"

"Your mind never ceases to amaze me, My Lady, but how exactly will that allow us to get close enough to her to grab the pin?"

"Let's see..." She called for her Lucky Charm and a back scratcher fell into her hand. She glances around the scene, knowing exactly what she needed to do. "Okay, follow me lead. We have to get her close enough so I can use this to get the pin off of her. Once that happens, you and I will split up. I'll keep her distracted while you cataclysm the pin, got it?"

"Got it!" He gave her a dorky salute that made her heart melt. She could've sworn she's seen Adrien do the exact same gesture. They really were the same, weren't they?

"Alright then, let's see if you can keep up, kitty-cat." She grabbed his hand, interlocking their fingers together.

"Wait, what?" Were the last words she heard before she launched her yo-yo in the air and dropped down in front of Scammer.

"Hey Scammer! You might think that us keeping our miraculouses is a scam, but do you want to know what's even worse?" Ladybug glanced down at Chat Noir as the words left her lips. He looked up at her, nodding, his eyes full of trust. It was precious.

"What?" Scammer narrowed her eyes, hopping down to the street.

"Us lying to all of Paris." Ladybug said casually, showing Scammer their interwoven hands. Her eyes grew wide at the sight. 

"But, I thought you two were just friends! That's what you've claimed in every single interview that I've seen? Now you're telling me it's not true?"

"Nope!" Ladybug felt Chat Noir stiffen beside her, before relaxing. It wasn't like this plan was anything new, they had used it a handful of times. However, this time it was less of a perfectly calculated plan and more of a lucky coincidence. "The two of us are very much in love, I can't imagine life without him." Her heart skipped a beat, she technically just confessed to Adrien! Not that he knew it was a confession, or that she knew he was Adrien, but still!

"We've been trying so hard to keep it a secret." Chat Noir began, picking up her hand and placing a kiss on it. "We didn't know who to trust, so we just decided to not trust anyone. We've been lying..." Chat Noir started.

"To all of Paris!" Ladybug finished, kissing Chat Noir just one last time.

The little charade worked as Scammer launched towards them.

"Now!" Ladybug called, she revealed her lucky charm, grabbing the pin off of her dress and it went scattering across the pavement.

Chat Noir dived for the pin as Scammer kept her attention on Ladybug, shooting out blast after blast. Using her trusty yo-yo, Ladybug created a shield, dodging out of the way of her blasts. She would only have to hold off for a few more minutes as-.

"Cataclysm!" Her trusty partner called, touching the pin. Scammer turned back into a normal civilian, Ladybug running over to Chat Noir to capture the akuma.

Chat Noir met her eyes as they passed, nodding as he went to comfort the civilian. He was just amazing like that. Of course, only now it occurred to Ladybug that Adrien was in front of the cameras so much as Adrien Agreste; maybe it was a welcome break as Chat Noir. Sure enough, the paparazzi had begun to arrive.

"Ladybug over here! Is it true that you and Chat Noir are in love?"

"Ladybug! What's your plan for bringing Hawkmoth to justice?"

"Ladybug! What do you think the role of police is in this post-superhero society?"

She ignored them, the constant flashing lights, and walked over to where Chat Noir was talking to the young girl.

"It's not your fault, Hawkmoth takes advantage of people's emotions constantly. I would be mad if I spent my savings on fake tickets, too. In fact, do you have the name of the site? Maybe you can sue." He was saying. The young girl wiped her tears, giving the cat hero a small smile.

"Yeah, I'll have to see, thank you Chat Noir, Ladybug, I'm still sorry for all the trouble I caused."

"It's no trouble at all, we are happy to save you each and every time." Ladybug told her, patting her back.  She led her over to where a local police officer was standing.

"Hey, do you have a minute to hang out?" Chat Noir asked, his eyes looking so hopeful it nearly broke her heart to say no. But her earrings beeped and Ladybug couldn't abandon duty enough to reveal her identity to him. Not until she talked to Tikki about the whole situation, and truly processed it.

"Give me two seconds, and then I will." She compromised. She wasn't going to reveal her identity, but she could hang around.

She went over to a chimney and detransformed. Tikki was obviously not impressed with her actions, but one strawberry macaron later she seemed perfectly fine to turn Marinette back into Ladybug.

"Hey," she said, sitting down next to Chat Noir.

"Hey Bugaboo, are you feeling okay?" He asked, his eyes filled with worry.

"Um, yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were just acting so weird today, I wanted to make sure." He shrugged, not fully looking at her.

Her heart melted, of course he would think that she didn't mean her flirting was just acting that way because of another factor. He was so caring, maybe a little too much. No one should be led on like that, least of all her precious partner.

"No, nothing is wrong. Everything is fantastic, especially now that I'm with you." She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You really mean that?" He whispered.

"Of course I do kitty, I meant everything I said today." She really hoped he would forget about her declaring that they were in love with each other.

"Even the stuff you said to the akuma?"

Goddammit, she never got a break.

"You really do mean the world to me, Chat Noir." She decided on a half-truth instead. She could deal with half-truths.

"And all of the kisses on the cheek? I mean you never act like this."

"I know, but I figured that you would enjoy it." She tried to play it off as casual, but she knew Chat Noir wasn't going to let it go.

"I did, but I'd only enjoy it if you actually meant it."

She nodded against his shoulder, noticing how his body seemed to relax after that.

"Oh okay, cool."

 "I would never lead you on, Chat Noir, ever." She met his eyes, noticing the understanding in his eyes.

"I figured it was time to give you a taste of your medicine and flirt during an akuma," she teased. "Although you weren't flirting back much today."

"Oh hardy har, I was too shocked to focus on flirting back. But be prepared for next time bugaboo, I'm going to knock your socks off." He vowed into the night.

"Sure mon chaton, I can't wait." She laughed, leaning up to kiss his cheek again only to notice him puckering his lips. "Alright, don't get so far ahead of yourself." She pushed him back with her finger.

"Just... what changed?"

So many different answers flew through her mind all at once. 'I know your identity' 'I'm in love with you' 'I finally came to terms with my feelings for Chat Noir after realizing your Adrien.' But she couldn't say any of those things, he'd think she's crazy! So instead, she just smiled.

"You're a smart kitty, you'll figure it out." She kissed his cheek one last time, standing up.

With a wink and a grin, she flew off into the Parisian landscape, leaving a love-sick Chat Noir behind. 

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A bit later upload today, sorry about that! I hope you guys enjoy, I kinda adore how this one turned out, although it could've had more flirting, but perhaps that's just me. -Colorado