Marinette settled herself in the café nursing a mint tea as she waited for Alya's arrival. She'd had a blissful week with Chat, both booking the time off work and just hanging around the apartment and doing their usual patrols around Paris. It had been wonderful, and domesticated and they were closer than ever. After Halloween their relationship had progressed significantly; and here they were one month later, heading out of the honeymoon phase and into real life, and it was better than she ever could have imagined.

She now, more than ever, wanted them to reveal their identities. She wanted to be with him like a normal couple, sharing not only their superhero lives but also their civilian ones. The more time she spent with him, the more she wanted him. He was caring and attentive and she was almost one hundred percent sure he was cancelling things in his civilian life to be there with her whenever he could. Day and night he was wonderful, their extra curricular activities just a bonus to the deep bond they shared. But she wanted to know him; the man behind the mask.

She'd asked him again, but without Hawkmoth's final judgement he refused, so wigs and suits were for the time being. He'd waited for her so it was only fair she did the same. But one thing was for sure, and that was that there was no way she was getting a divorce. This was it! He was 'it' for her, so much so that her heart no longer jumped when she read Adrien's name on her phone, but full on bungeed off a cliff at any signal of Chat Noir. She was deeply and utterly in love.

"Now there's a smile I like to see," Alya walked towards Marinette and took the seat opposite her friend, the grin only adding to the magnitude of her own.

"Good morning, Alya."

"Good morning, friend who looks like she's spent the week in bed. What's with the sunglasses? We're indoors and it's November."

Marinette rolled her eyes (not that Alya could see) before grabbing her phone, switching to selfie mode on the camera and checking her hair. So her face was glowing a little, who wouldn't have a glow if they were married to someone like Chat Noir?

"I'm only teasing Marinette," laughed Alya, "but I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before."

"I don't think I've ever been this happy before." She smiled, her thoughts running off to her happily ever after. Who would have thought at 21 years old she'd be living out her own fairytale ending?

"Girls." A newcomer's voice turned their attention, both Alya and Marinette looking towards the doorway and the voice of Luka Couffaine.

"Hey Luc," they both called out, signalling for their friend to come and join them. Marinette went to lift her hand up to wave, only then realising something was on her left hand which shouldn't have been there. Quickly, placing her left hand under the table she attempted to pull the ring off, panic coming with every additional step Luka took.

Her face remained smiling at him, however her hushed voice was purely to Alya. "It won't come off," she whispered, trying to talk in the style of a ventriloquist.

"What won't?" Alya whispered back through the side of her mouth.

"My ring!" she sternly whispered back.

Alya reached under the table to grab Marinette's hand, grabbing a hold of her ring in one hand and her finger in the other, battling to try and get it off her finger.

"Luka, how are you?" Luka bent down offering Marinette and Alya kisses on the cheek, Alya still trying to get the ring off her finger. It was like a bad slapstick comedy, any minute now they'd go into a full sketch of 'pull my finger'.

"Good thanks, how about yourselves?" He slid into the seat to the right of Marinette, Alya moving herself to the left.

"Sorry," she began to explain, "the sun was in my eyes."

Luka smiled and nodded, Marinette knowing full well he didn't believe a word that was just said.

"We're good, just about to go and start our Christmas shopping. Isn't that right, Alya?" Marinette turned to her friend who had once again found Marinette's hand and began to pull on the ring.

"Oh, yes! Need to get our men something, I mean, my man, because Marinette doesn't have a man, do you Marinette?"

"Nope, no man for me. I'm young, free and single. What about you Luka? Are you single because, like, I am, and you know us single people need to stick together." A sharp tug at Marinette's finger brought her around to what she'd just said, "I mean, like being wingmen to each other." Another sharp tug. "Not that I'm after a boyfriend, because I don't want a husband - I mean boyfriend - because I haven't got time for one or anything. I have a cat! Yes - a new handsome black cat, who eats all my food and gives me lots of cuddles and likes to lick me!" Her eyes shot open and she looked to Alya, who, in return, gawked back. What had Marinette just admitted to?

"Oh, okay." They both looked at Luka, cringing smiles on their faces as Alya gave Marinette's finger one last tug. The force not only yanked the ring off Marinette's finger, but sent Alya flying off her chair onto the floor, the ring into the air and Marinette diving for it across the table, her sunglasses falling off in the motion.

"Thank God!" She pulled the ring into her chest before pulling it into a quick kiss and unlocking the chain around her neck.

As Marinette was concentrating on her ring she missed the loud gasp leaving Alya's lips and an obscene curse leaving Luka's followed by both parties announcing 'they were going to skin the cat.'

Now Marinette didn't know what to do first? Put the sunglasses back on, help Alya off the floor, or question Luka's meaning. Looking between her friends though she decided sunglasses would probably be the best option; if they stopped looking at her eye maybe they'd listen to her explanation. She sighed, reattaching the necklace around her neck and placing her ring back on her finger, followed by her sunglasses.

Alya slowly clambered back onto her seat as Luka leaned back in his arms crossed over his body and face in a stern line.

"Marinette, if he is hurting you please tell us." Alya stretched over and took Marinette's ringed finger in her hand once more.

"I can keep you safe, Marinette. You know there will always be room on 'The Liberty' for you." He stretched forward, taking her other hand in his, stretching her over the table and between two friends.

"There's nothing to tell," she laughed. "And Luka, I think we need to have a conversation." Did he know? If so for how long?

"How about we go back to your apartment, Marinette? That way if we need to save you we can." Alya said, standing up and directing Marinette, and Luka, to follow.

She looked between the two of them knowing she had no option. If she wanted to make it through this then she would have to tell them, plus she needed to know what Luka knew. Suddenly his responses during their live interview made a lot of sense; and Halloween, the laughter and comments...dear Lord! He wasn't subtle at all.

"Fine."

Leading them out of the café, they walked the short distance to her home and guided them both in. Chat Noir was away working for the next few days so she knew he wouldn't walk in on anything, plus he'd started calling to make sure she was in suitable attire for when he turned up.

Stepping in first, Marinette double checked everything was tidy and where it should be. They'd been a little lazy during their free week, meaning dishes weren't done and blankets and cushions (not feather ones) were thrown everywhere from their forts and pillow fights. A quick glance around and she was happy, it wasn't as clean as she would usually make it for guests but it was fine for an impromptu visit.

"Take a seat and I'll get us some drinks."

She walked into the kitchen, both Alya and Luka following her and perching on the bar stools around the breakfast bar, each admiring the many, many bouquets of red roses scattered around the room.

"Is he trying to make up for something? Like I don't know? The massive black eye you have?" Alya shrieked, folding her arms around her body.

Marinette took her sunglasses off and placed them on the counter, looking between her two friends and knowing how bad it looked. She sighed, finishing their drinks before perching herself opposite.

Her eye was swollen, restricting her view quite a lot. She knew it looked nasty but the doctor in the emergency room told her the swelling should go down in a couple of days, she just needed to ice it. No damage had been done, apart from tearing down Chat's defences. He cried more about it than she had.

"Luka, don't think you're getting away with this scot free, we will be discussing what you know later, but Chat hasn't done anything. Well, he did hit me, but it wasn't on purpose."

"I'm going to kill him!" Luka said, reaching around in his pocket and pulling out his phone.

"What? Do you have him on speed dial or something?" Alya laughed, only to stop and stare at Luka. She gasped, causing Marinette to jump in her seat. "You know who he is? Don't you?"

"Luka?" Marinette asked, her voice slightly shaking. There's no way he would know both.

He placed his phone down on the table before looking down at his drink. "Yes," he mumbled, his voice barely audible and more like Juleka's than his own. "I know who you both are?"

"You're damn lucky Hawkmoth is behind bars!" Marinette said, her eyes hardened at her friend. This would need to be hashed out another day, but right now she needed to protect her partner, especially if Luka knows who he was. Chat already felt guilty enough as it was.

"So, are you going to tell us or not?" Alya asked, turning her attention back onto Marinette.

"It all started last Saturday night..."

•••••

Ladybug walked into the bedroom and looked at her husband currently playing on his phone as he relaxed against the pillows.

"Move," Ladybug yawned, she was exhausted from a day of commissions and helping at the bakery. Over the past week, exhaustion from attempting to keep on top of things was finally catching up, sending her into sluggish mode when all she could think about was climbing into her husband's arms and being purred to sleep. Yes, she did realise how weird that sounded.

"I thought we agreed I slept on the right side of the bed?"

"No, I never agreed. You said you wanted to and I chose to ignore you." She walked into the ensuite, calling off her transformation and placing on her wig. It was amazing how something so strange had suddenly become such a natural part of her routine. After tucking in her hair and brushing her teeth, she finished her bedtime routine and slung on one of Chat Noir's tee's before heading to the bed, her husband still laying on her side.

"I'm not going to ask you again, Chat. Move!"

"Geez, someone's a little grumpy tonight."

"I'm tired and I don't want to argue about it. I just want my side of the bed," she stated, crossing her arms under her chest and looking to the side. She knew she was being stubborn and she knew it would annoy him, but she wanted her side of the bed.

"Fine," he huffed, moving over and pulling the covers back to let her in.

"Thank you, Chaton." She dropped a kiss on his mouth before climbing over him and settling under the sheets. He was so weak when it came to her, and she couldn't help but love the fact she got her own way, the smugness evident thanks to the smile on her face.

However, the smugness dropped once they'd reached day four.

•••••

What was the saying? Happy wife, happy life? Well obviously that was true because Adrien was having the best night's sleep since taking the other side of the bed. She'd gotten exactly what she wanted and he was sleeping very well, life was good.

He was getting used to sleeping in his wig, knowing full well that the week was going to be hard flitting between the disguises and their supersuits, but he wouldn't change it for anything. Right now he was in the bathroom sorting himself out ready for bed. He was returning to the States tomorrow, and having spent this week curled up with the woman of his dreams he was now certain returning to Paris was the best idea; and he only needed to wait five more long, excruciating weeks.

Placing his wig on and tucking the stray strands of blond poking out, he headed back into the bedroom only to notice his Lady wasn't on her usual side of the bed.

"Care to explain?" he said, crossing his arms over his chest exactly as she had only four nights previous. Ladybug had decided to lay on his side of the bed, and right now he was quite sure she was pretending to sleep. Her head was buried in his pillow, and she was looking away from him.

He looked at her before tilting his head to the side, oh yes, she was definitely faking it, the slight shaking of her body a telltale sign of laughter. He turned off the main lights, and walked to the bed. Now, what would be a fun wake up call? Grabbing a hold of the bedsheets, he whipped them off her and threw them onto the floor.

"Chat! Why did you do that? It's cold."

"You're on my side of the bed."

He watched as she rolled onto her back, pushing herself up on her hands and crossing her ankles over, legs stretched out to show their long leaness. Oh, man! She was playing hard ball. She was wearing her short, skimpy Chat Noir pyjamas... all black and fitted to her body. He was a weak man - a weak, weak man!

"I just thought it would be nice to change? After all, you wanted to sleep on the right, didn't you? I'm being nice."

He looked her over, her long, toned legs being on display was not helping anything at the moment, especially not his heart rate. Legs up to her armpits was definitely a phrase he would use when it came to his Bug. One of the many pleasantries he got to observe thanks to being married to her. She could pass for a model, he was quite certain of it. He looked at her again and noticed she hadn't put her contacts in.

"Blue?" he said, her eyes frowning in confusion.

"Blue?" she asked.

"Yes, your eyes. They're blue. They're beautiful." His voice was wistful, and dreamy, and he couldn't hold back from moving towards her. The eyes she possessed were everything he'd ever dreamed about - if not more.

As if just realising what she'd done, she stretched over to her bedside table and grabbed her sunglasses, throwing them on to hide the true colour of her eyes.

"No, of course not!" she stuttered.

He shuffled closer to her, placing a hand tentatively on her forearm. "You don't need to hide them anymore," he used her own hand to help lower her glasses. "I've seen them now, and I want to see them every day for the rest of my life. They really are remarkable."

As the sunglasses were removed from her eyes, she closed them tightly, her forehead creasing from the tight clench of her lids.

"Bug," he said, only for no response. "Bugaboo, please. Open your eyes." Slowly she followed his instructions, opening them up and staring into his soul. They were bright and vibrant, everything you'd expect from someone who can save the world with an elastic band.

"I love you," he said, moving forward and kissing her on the lips. "Now, tell me," he started, moving back, his lips disconnecting from the luscious pink ones in front of him. "What's the real reason you want to sleep on the left? Is it because how amazing my pillow smells now?"

She laughed, and the sound made him giddy. One of the most precious things in the world was his wife laughing with him, though not so much when it was at him.

"It's the city lights, they're too bright and keep waking me up. When we were in our old room we weren't as close as this to the Eiffel Tower, but now I'm finding I wake up every thirty minutes when they do the light display."

Chat laughed, once against slinging an arm over his wife's shoulders and pressing a kiss into the side of her head as he stretched and turned off his bedside lamp.

"That's fine, LB. No need to be nervous about telling me. We'll see how it goes tonight and I'll arrange for someone to come and fit us blackout curtains or blinds tomorrow. It's not a big deal."

She smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug before moving her lips to his neck.

What a great way to fall asleep!

•••••

The bleeping from their alarm clock just wouldn't shut up. Over the past couple of days they noticed at random hours it would beep once or twice, only to stop when the snooze button was pressed... and by pressed he meant a good old whack, a normal strength press of the button was just nowhere near good enough, it had to be a hearty smack.

Chat had taken the thing to pieces checking it backwards, forwards; inside and out, and every night before bed they would check there were no alarms set, but of course it still continued to happen.

His Lady told him he couldn't blame without proof, however he would bet good money it was Plagg, Fluff or Xuppu. The kwamis had become extra mischievous now they spent more time together; practical jokes not going a miss. So Chat Noir one hundred percent called it a practical joke.

The city lights hadn't woken him at all, but to be honest extra exercise before bed always helped him sleep well, and having his Lady so close. It was a wonderful sleep...all until the alarm.

The beeping was getting louder and louder, rouselling Adrien from his deep sleep in the need to turn off the obnoxious sound. Gearing himself up, in his sleep induced state, he guided his hand to where the alarm stood, perfectly positioned on his side of the bed. His Lady never woke up from the alarm so there was no point in her having it on hers. Moving his hand down at the intense power needed to turn the damn thing off, he slammed the button as normal, only this time his hand connected with flesh not plastic.

A groan, followed by cursing was now mixed in with the beeping that continued radiating from the apartment; only to be joined by the laughter of Plagg and Xuppu, and the worried voice of Tikki. Fluff had obviously gone into hiding.

"Why did you hit me?" Ladybug yelled, Chat jumping towards the lamp and switching it on before turning back to her, examining a very red, crazily effective swelling eye.

"I didn't mean to... the alarm went off and we've changed sides. I forgot!" He looked to Tikki, "can you go grab a bag of peas from the freezer please?"

He was panicking, panicking a lot! What if he'd just accidently blinded Ladybug? He was quite sure he could go down for that, and the thought of sharing a prison cell with his father was not at all pleasant.

Looking over at her face it was quite obvious cold peas were not going to be enough. "You need to go to the emergency room, Bug."

Tikki flew back into the room, the rest of the kwamis on her tail as she handed the peas over to Ladybug. He winced alongside her as she placed them on her eye.

"I'll go tomorrow," she said, looking at him through one good eye. He felt awful.

"Please," he positioned his hands in front of his body, holding them out towards his wife, "let me take you now. I'll drop you off as Chat Noir and then wait outside. Please, M'Lady."

"I'll be fine."

"I won't be though, and I refuse to leave until you've been checked out. I don't care if I get fired or sued for breaking my contract."

"Are you guilting me into going into the hospital?"

"If it works, then yes."

She attempted to roll her eyes, instead wincing at the pain of the movement. "You know my weak spot. Well played, Kitty Cat."

She climbed out of bed and started taking off her pyjamas, pulling on some sweats ready to go to the emergency room. Adrien couldn't help but stare. There was no shyness between them at all anymore, and he couldn't help but think how his 14 year old self would have crashed and burned from seeing such an exquisite display; but now this was normal. He could glance without the fear of her punching him in the nose.

"When you're done drooling, do you fancy transforming?" He looked into her glorious bluebell (bluebell, a little Inside voice took out its clipboard, making a note for later use) eyes without a single ounce of shame. Yes, there was a mega big chance he was drooling.

"Claws out." He stepped towards her, scooping her in his arms and pressing a kiss delicately on her lips.

"My hero." She laughed, allowing him to carry her out the building and into the night, directly heading to the hospital.

•••••

"And so I came out to him, wearing an eyepatch and prescribed some extra strong painkillers."

"Did you take them?" Alya asked.

She buried her head in her hands. "I did, but that's a whole other story," she groaned. "Now... Mr Couffaine, you better start talking or else the Eiffel Tower is going to have a new decoration hanging off it this evening; and wouldn't that be fun, just in time for Christmas too."