Later upload today, sorry about that! I was out all afternoon prepping for my weekend plans and wasn't able to get home until late. Anyways, back to complete fluff on this one! I hope you guys enjoy! -Colorado

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Ladybug was pacing the rooftop again. She had been doing this for five consecutive days, and Chat Noir was starting to get a little worried. He figured that after the events of yesterday that perhaps she'd stop with the pacing, but no dice. He landed next to her, loud enough so she'd know he's there but not too loud to startle her.

"Hello Chat Noir," she smiled, her pacing coming to a halt.

"Hello My Lady." He picked up her hand and placed a light kiss on it. All normal, even if things were far from normal right now.

"How are you doing tonight?" She muttered, not bothering to pull her hand away from him. The difference was subtle, but made his heart beat faster nonetheless.

"I'm doing amazing now that I'm with you," he said earnestly. The blush on her face was the best reward he could've gotten.

"You're such a flirt," she giggled.

"I only flirt with you, bugaboo," he reminded her, a grin growing on his face at how easy it was to fluster her.

"You really do, don't you?" Her voice was quieter than normal, her eyes not quite meeting his.

"Yep. Because I'm madly in love with you, and no one else. But I'm pretty sure you knew that." He winked, and Ladybug turned bright red.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," she shrugged, walking over to him and getting in his face. Despite her red face, the grin on her face told Chat Noir he should be worried. "But either way, I know it now. And I also know that you were right."

"About what?" Chat Noir gulped.

"I find you absolutely irresistible under the mask" she purred, kissed Chat Noir's nose, and ran off.

"Ma-! Ladybug!" Chat practically shrieked as he went running after her. Her laughter led him straight to her, as always. Or perhaps that was his heart again, it always seemed to have an affinity for finding her.

She was hiding behind a chimney, her hand muffling her giggles. She must've forgotten about his night-vision.

"Oh, I wonder where she is," he muttered to himself, pretending to look around. He waited until she relaxed her shoulders and then!

He pounced.

"Gotcha!" He yelled, tackling her to the ground in bouts of laughter.

"Adrien! Let me go!" She folded her arms and tried to pout, but he could tell she was still smiling.

"Never, Marinette." A cheshire grin was plastered across his face, and he probably looked like a lovesick fool. Did he care? Absolutely not.

God how he loved the sound of her saying his name. His real name. And God how he loved saying hers. It had only been five short days since they'd figured out their identities. And it had been some of the best days of his life. Knowing the love of his life was also the classmate he was hardcore crushing on? Total score. Becoming her best friend in and out of the mask? Amazing, incredible!

But the real cherry on top had come last night. Marinette had called him in a half-panicked state ranting about one of her designs. Then, she had let it slip that she was nervous about the boy she was in love with seeing her in the dress. The five minutes Adrien had spent absolutely broken-hearted trying to cheer her up was quickly replaced with euphoria as Marinette claimed he was the boy. So of course Adrien had quickly transformed and scrambled over to her house to kiss her, obviously. What else was he supposed to do?

"You really are beautiful, you know that?" Chat Noir got off of Ladybug, but still kept his arms around her. He had waited years for this, he was going to soak up every moment of this patrol.

"Not as beautiful as you," she retorted.

"Let me compliment you." Chat Noir gave her his best pout, but she only laughed.

"You can't seriously think that's going to work on me, do you kitty?" She pushed him away by his nose. 

"Meh, it was worth a shot." He shrugged, his pout quickly giving away to a grin.

He couldn't believe the two of them were here, finally. All of his dreams had come true. Here was Ladybug, his beloved partner for the past two years, laughing in his arms. She wasn't just his superhero partner anymore though, and she was absolutely not "just a friend," she was his partner in every which way. Maybe that's why he technically hadn't referred to her as his girlfriend yet, what they had seemed much deeper than just a high school relationship. Maybe he was just a lovestruck fool, but he truly believed that he was going to marry Marinette Ladybug Dupain-Cheng. There was no one else out there for him.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Ladybug spoke up, settling herself into his arms.

"How much I love you." He placed a quick kiss to her forehead and got a squeak out of her in return. As comfortable as she always was around Chat Noir, it seemed as though Adrien still got her flustered every once and a while. Good.

"And how much we should really be patrolling right now." Ladybug sighed, always the rule-follower.

"Paris can wait, for now I want to spend some precious quality time with my partner. Especially since she wouldn't bless me with her presence today," he teased, leaning his head on hers.

"I told you last night that we'd see each other right now! Besides, I was tied up in commissions and you were tied up in photoshoots," she reminded him.

"I know, you should still crash one of my photoshoots sometime, though. I highly doubt they'd say no to Ladybug."

"God, the paparazzi would have a field day with that," Ladybug rolled her eyes, "'Ladybug and Adrien Agreste, Paris' New Favorite Couple?'" She put on her worst Nadia Chamack impression.

"They technically wouldn't be wrong," Chat Noir oh-so-helpfully pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not Ladybug and Adrien who are dating, now is it? What would Chat Noir think?" She teased, turning in his arms so she was facing him.

"I have it on good authority that Chat Noir is smitten on this civilian named Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Heard of her? Some would say she's even better than Ladybug herself." He purred, giving her a kitten kiss.

"Oh really? What a coincidence, I have it on good authority that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is smitten with Chat Noir. Some may call it a celebrity crush, but I think she's honest to God in love with him."

How could he not kiss her after a declaration like that? So when their lips met and he began to purr for real, he shoved down any embarrassment he felt and enjoyed his partners embrace.

"I really do love you," he whispered after they broke apart.

"I love you too, mon chaton." She wrapped her arms around his neck, placing her forehead on his. 

"I still can't believe that you're my partner," he murmured.

"I really like that word."

"What word?"

"Partner." She looked at him, almost bashfully. "I know you're my boyfriend and I'm your girlfriend. I of course adore that, but I think 'partners' just suits us better. It means a lot more than just normal. Means that our bond is something different, something precious. Something that runs through our very veins." She interlocked their hands together, running a finger across his knuckles.

Chat Noir could only stare. How did she manage to piece together his mindset so perfectly? How did she echo his thoughts like that?

"Are you a telepath by any chance?" He asked, only half-joking. She was so amazing, he'd believe if she magic just beyond her miraculous.

"No?" she laughed and Chat Noir wanted to live off of the sound. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I feel the exact same way. About the word partner," he clarified.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You mean the absolute world to me, Marinette. I feel like the two of us were always destined to meet, maybe even destined to fall in love. The love I have for you runs so deep I honestly don't know what I'd do without it. It's like, one of my key personality traits at this point," she laughed again, "which might be a bad thing but you know what? I don't care, not if it means being with you." He placed a kiss on her cheek.

"So we're in agreement then, not just boyfriend-girlfriend, but partners." She nodded her head, looking perfectly satisfied with their conclusion.

"Yep! And I intend on staying partners with you for the rest of my life," he shot her a wink, hoping it would come off as semi-casual. He wasn't sure if it worked or not, because Ladybug had fallen silent. "Bu-?"

He was cut off by her lips on his.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She pulled away as soon as she made contact. "You were just saying all of these sweet things that made me really flustered and I really wanted to kiss you and then I remembered that I'm your girlfriend so I actually could! So then I did but then I realized that you probably weren't expecting that and maybe I came on too strong and freaked you out and-." Her rambling came to a halt when Chat Noir began to laugh.

"Bug, I just told you that I want us to get married and you're worried about coming on too strong?" The way she was looking at him would fill his dreams for days, weeks, months, years! She was looking at him as if he had just granted her all of her wishes. As if she couldn't believe in reality. Well, the feeling was certainly mutual.

"You really want us to get married?" she whispered, her voice like glass.

"Absolutely... is that okay?" Suddenly he was worried that maybe he had come on too strong. Maybe she just had a crush on him and decided to give it a shot, maybe he had been reading her wrong, maybe she'd change her mind about this and lock him out of her life forever and-.

"I've been daydreaming about becoming Marinette Agreste since I first met you." Ladybug admitted, the words coming out faster than Chat Noir could process them.

"Really? I purrsonally think Adrien Dupain-Cheng sounds much better." It was almost funny, watching her face go through a myriad of emotions from anger, to embarrassment, to love, to finally settle on a deadpan.

"Only you could ruin such a sweet thing with a cat pun." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh you love my sense of humor and you know it." He grabbed her sides, beginning to tickle her.

"Chat! Stop!" She said through bouts of laughter. "I swear I'm going to string you from the Eiffel Tower!"

He stopped. He knew all too well that when Ladybug makes a threat, she goes through with it.

"Thank you, kitty." She gave him a peck on the cheek and he absolutely melted.

How one girl could have so much power over him, he'd never know. But he was glad that it was Marinette. He trusted her with his heart completely. She'd never break it on purpose, just as he would never break hers. They trusted each other with their lives, with their darkest secret, and now with their hearts.

"Anything for my partner," he sighed. He could get used to this.

"You're such a dork," she giggled. "Good thing I like dorks."

"I think I'm more of a nerd than a dork, personally. Especially when it comes to Ladybug, I'm practically an expert." He placed a hand on his chest, bragging.

"I bet you know her better than she knows herself," she admitted, voice soft.

"Maybe, but she knows me better than I know myself, so it works." He joked, but his eyes were simply shining with love.

He loved this. He loved her. He loved getting to tell her he loved her whenever he wanted. He loved how quickly they could go from joking to confessions back to joking. It was everything he ever dreamed of and more.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you," Chat Noir broke their comfortable silence, "I've noticed that you start to pace before I show up to patrol. Why?"

"Oh!" Ladybug stiffened in his embrace before clearing her throat. "Well uh, it helps me not be so nervous. You know how I can get when I'm around you. And while as Marinette that's not a huge problem, Ladybug needs to have her head in the game, akuma or not," she explained, her cheeks pink.

"Well I think you've been doing an excellent job. You haven't even stuttered around me tonight."

"As weird as it sounds, it sort of helps when you're Chat Noir. I've never been as nervous around you because I never truly feared rejection from you like I did from Adrien."

"Well turns out, you never needed to fear rejection from either of us. I love you fully as both Marinette and Ladybug. And especially this new hybrid I've been getting to know." He kissed her forehead affectionately.

"And if I could go back in time and change all the times I told you I was in love with someone else, I would." She shook her head.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, bugaboo. The rejections from Ladybug let me see Marinette in a new light. And besides, we're here now, right? That's what's important."

"You always know just what to say." Ladybug turned to face him, putting one hand up in his hair and scratching behind his ear. A small purr escaped him.

"Hey! Weaponing my purrs, how cruel, Princess." He pouted knowing he'd only get a laugh in return. But he loved her laugh, really it was a win in his book.

"You know you love me, my sweet chaton." She hid her laughter behind her gloved hand.

"I do, I really, really, do." He picked up her hand and placed another kiss on it. "Like I said earlier, you're my everything, My Lady." He stared at her, knowing his expression was one of complete affection. In his defense, he was lovestruck! How could he not be when it came to her?

"You're going to turn me into a pile of goo," she whined, her face matching her suit. "And then who'd be able to save Paris, huh?"

"Oh if you turned into a pile of goo, I would simply put you back together. There's no separating us now, My Lady, not now that you're my partner." He shrugged, proudly grinning at his own genius plan.

"I don't think that's how it works." She gave him an exasperated look that he loved so much.

"Sure it is! I will always be here to save you, just as you will always be here to save me." He gave her hand another kiss, because how could he not at this point?

"Of course, Adrien, I don't know what I'd do without you." She said in a low voice, so genuine that Chat Noir swore his heart skipped a beat. Plus the fact she said his name? Oh she was trying to kill him; she was going to kill him if she wasn't careful!

"I don't know what I'd do without you, either, Marinette." He whispered, leaning in for a kiss. She happily met him halfway.

"I can't wait for school tomorrow," she sighed as they pulled apart. "We get to break the news to our classmates!"

"Yeah, I wonder how they're going to react." He was only half paying attention. His brain was still fogged from Ladybug kissing him.

"Oh, I doubt any of them will be that surprised. They all knew that I've liked you since we met. They've helped me out with so many plans, I don't think I'd be able to even talk to you without them." Ladybug laughed, the smile on her face reflecting many happy memories.

"Then I owe them all only the best 'thank yous' because a life without you is simply one I don't want to live." His voice was casual, but he knew his eyes reflected just how serious he was.

"I honestly can't imagine a life without you either, it just seems empty. Like I would have a perfect Adrien Chat Noir Agreste sized hole in my heart." Ladybug touched her chest.

"I couldn't agree more, My Lady." He took the hand she was holding up, placing it on his own heart. "My heart beats for you, no one else," he murmured.

"Partners, now and always." She said, meeting his eyes with steely determination.

"Of course. Platonically, romantically, save-the-world-togetherly," she laughed again, yes! "you and I are partners."

"I could get used to you calling me that." She looped her arms around him again. 

"Good, you should. Because that's your new title." He breathed on her lips. "My beloved partner, Marinette Ladybug Dupain Cheng."

"And my beloved partner." She leaned up to meet him, so close he could feel her exhaling. "Adrien Chat Noir Agreste."

The two of them met in sweet bliss. If Chat Noir could tell her how much he loved her with just one simple kiss he would, but he was afraid he would never be able to fully explain how much he loved her.

"You're right," he breathed when she broke contact, "I could really get used to you calling me that."

"Well good, because I'm gonna keep doing it." She booped his nose, matching grins on their faces.

"You better, I don't know what I'd do if I don't. Probably just fall down and die." Chat Noir sniffed, placing a hand on his forehead. "And then you'd have to kiss me better, and what a travesty that would be!"

"Oh be quiet, I literally kissed you to free you from a spell years ago." She folded her arms, rolling her eyes.

"But alas! I couldn't remember the sweet kiss my darling Princess gifted me with, if only there was some magical solution for me to remember the taste of her lips, but I'm afraid this pain can never be heal-mnph!" He was cut off by Ladybug quickly kissing him.

"There. A kiss you can remember. Now, come on you silly kitty, my partner and I really need to start patrolling." She got out of his arms, much to his dismay.

"Alright, alright, I'm never one to deny my partner what she wants." He stood up, offering his hand to her. She happily took it.

Partners. In every sense of the word. 

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Was this incredibly cheesy? Yes. But maybe we all need a bit more cheese in our lives. -Colorado