First date nerves never hit Marinette. She'd been on a grand total of two dates (whoop-dee-doo!) and both just seemed to happen; no fear, no stress and no nervous tummy.

The first one was at the tender age of 14, which included her forgetting about the date, having to leave said date and calling the guy the wrong name – twice. She hadn't got the time to be nervous back then...well maybe a little when they'd almost kissed.

Her second first date, when she was 18 and lonely, was a date she hadn't even realised she was on. Alya and Nino had her tag along with their friend Liam from Scotland. Her English wasn't terrible, but she really struggled to understand what he was saying when he went into the slang and his own dialect. The fact he kept referring to her as 'braw', ended up with her running to the toilets and googling it midway through the 'date'. Apparently it meant pretty, although considering he avoided her at every possible social gathering since that day, his words hadn't done much for her confidence.

Thinking back, it was probably out of line that she repetitively brought up Adrien in conversation. She couldn't help it that she was still crushing on the guy four years later, and to make it worse, they were closer than ever, only increasing her feelings ten fold. It seemed when you were only texting and calling someone, not seeing them daily, your relationship could become more secure. Who knew?

But right now it wasn't about Adrien. It was about the fact she was pacing her living room floor in a blonde wig, with hazel contact lenses and a newly designed top and jeans waiting for her husband to come and collect her for their first official date. God, this was so backwards.

She was undeniably nervous to the point she felt sick. She needed to remember though, this was just a date with her husband. Her husband who she had a rather complicated history with and who she wanted to date. She had told him she wanted this, and for that reason she needed to get herself together.

Over the past two years she'd begun to crush hard on Chat Noir imagining their little rendezvous as dates, not that she'd tell him that; but still in her head she was being wined and dined by Chat Noir. She was living in a fantasy which now had become a reality, and she was freaking out!

Even though, in previous years, he'd still flirted with her and she'd still denied him, they had grown increasingly closer. Closer than ever. So being married to him wasn't actually that hard to imagine. The fact he was yet to spend a night in their marital home was helping too...and the fact they hadn't kissed yet. Well, they hadn't had a kiss they could both remember (Dark Cupid not counting).

She knew what had happened the night of their wedding; both kwamis happily gave them far too many graphic details, but nothing like that had happened since. Not that she would have denied him. She was more than willing to lip lock with her stunningly gorgeous husband.

The telltale buzz of a portal opening pulled Ladybug's attention to the kitchen where her 'Étalon Noir' stepped out the portal, hands ladened with an over the top bouquet of flowers; red roses, of course.

"Hey Bugaboo." Stepping forward, he presented her with the bouquet of bright red, thornless roses before kissing her on the cheek.

"What have I told you about that nickname?" she laughed, taking the bouquet from him and responding with a kiss of her own.

"That you love it and want me to use it all the time?" He smiled sarcastically at her, a look of innocence only the devil could get away with.

"How about it's the most annoying one you use, and I don't like it?" His face dropped, and she stepped forward kissing his opposite cheek. "But I like these." She indicated the flowers, "and I like you." This time she stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the nose before making her way to the kitchen and placing the roses in a vase of water.

Once again, they were beautiful and she couldn't help the desire to touch their silken petals with no gloves, feeling the smoothness under her thumb. She used her gloved hand to stroke over them, a small smile morphing her face as she thought about, once again, how kind he was. He was really making an effort with their marriage, the constant messages and phone calls; teleported check-ins, even if it was only for ten minutes. He also made it a regular thing to stay awake just to wish her good morning, just another one of his many, many charming ways.

She took a deep unsteady breath, she was even more nervous now. She wanted this to be perfect for him. She wanted to show the effort was coming from her too, that she was trying to make things work, and in that moment, she came to the most shocking realisation; she wanted it to work - badly. She wanted to be Mrs Noir.

Oh no.

Oh, no, no, no.

One thing about Ladybug and when she was nervous, she became pure, klutzy Marinette, and worst of all he was going to have no super suit to protect him.

Oh dear Lord, this was going to be horrendous.

•••••

Adrien had decided on a fun night out at a local arcade and even though he was fully disgusted in a black wig with blue contact lenses he was still worried someone might spot him. Although his return to Paris was imminent he wasn't ready to deal with the press yet. Luckily, Ladybug had spared no expense when it came to disguises, and apart from his nose and lips, there was nothing Adrien Agreste on view.

So here they were at the arcade and he was constantly fluctuating between excitement and apprehension, (and a slight bit of a nervous tummy, she didn't need to know that though.) He held her hand gently in his, every now and then looking down at her ringed finger knowing that that was hisring decorating it. He still couldn't believe he'd managed to marry Ladybug. It was a literal dream come true.

"Can we have a go at that?" She shook his hand, bringing his attention to a grabber machine on the opposite side of the arcade, one with cheap, tacky Ladybug and Chat Noir plushies. He'd purchased a rather substantial amount on a card for them to use, there was no expense spared here; he was going to give her the best first date ever.

"Sure."

They made their way over to the machine, Ladybug dragging him along like a child at a fair. He'd never seen her so happy and carefree, almost like she was acting how they should have been when they were 14. They'd missed out on so much, and he made a mental note to try and fill in some of the gaps, taking them to places she (along with him) had missed out on.

Pulling the prepaid card from his pocket, he tapped it against the machine and tried time and time again to win something. Unfortunately, grabber cranes were not one of his forte's, the plushies heads slipping through the metal claw's grasp as Adrien tried time and time again to bag his Lady a toy.

Crowds began to gather around to watch as Adrien pushed and pushed to win his Lady a cuddly. His pride was well and truly on the line now, he couldn't allow anyone else to step in and steal his prize, not when he'd managed to manoeuvre one around enough that it was sticking up above the others. The small backside of Chat 'plushy' Noir was teasing him with its slippery little body.

Here he went; 20th times a charm.

Man against the machine.

He pressed the button, stealing his nerve and began to move the claw. To the right. Back. And...drop.

Adrien was quite sure the world slowed down tremendously, as the claw lowered into the mountain of teddies, the metal jaws searching for its next victim. The teeth clenched together, all three of the prongs squeezing together Chat 'plushy' Noir's butt cheeks as it closed together and began to rise; the cat slowly moving up into the air trapped in fierce, metal teeth.

Whatever music was playing in the background was forgotten, the dodgy soundtrack of the machine being the only sounds he could hear as it began to zip its way back to its home, a swinging Chat 'plushy' Noir attempting to escape the evil clutches of the claw, to return to its family and friends. But low and behold, he had a new family now. A new home.

The claw opened, the Chat 'pushy' Noir falling into the doom of the black hole, hitting the lip of the plastic container as it made its exit, trying one more time to stay within its machine. It balanced, a slow rock backwards and forwards as it fought gravity and the dark vortex. Then it was too late. The pushy fell backwards. It's bottom giving it the final pull down, down, down and into their hands.

But that's when the first accident happened.

As Ladybug cheered, her arms swung up connecting with his face and ultimately his chin, slamming it up and into his top teeth. The sharp pain of teeth breaking the skin on his lip made him woozy, the metallic taste of blood following soon after as he licked his lip.

"Oh my God, Kitty. I'm so sorry."

Bending down, she grabbed the plushy, before standing back up and checking his lip. A fact he would make sure he remembered for their first anniversary. She walked him away from the machine as the crowds dispersed trying not to look at the guy with blood running down his chin.

"I just need some tissue, I'll be right back." Heading towards the restrooms Adrien cupped under his chin praying no blood had made its way onto his shirt.

•••••

Marinette sat on a bench, her knee bouncing up and down as she waited for Chat to return from the restrooms. The blood coming out of his lip had her worried; she wasn't a stranger to injuries, but he just wouldn't stop bleeding.

"Marinette?" She looked down at her bag where the kwamis were looking up at her. "Stop! It was an accident." Tikki said, her eyes wide and consoling.

"It was funny though," Plagg said before bursting out into laughter, Marinette shutting the bag before the small kwamis pulled any additional attention. She should have known something like this would happen...actually she had known. She knew she was going to go all Marinette on him. God, he's going to regret marrying her now. She was a disaster, a complete disaster.

"Hey M'Lady," Chat's voice sounded above her, drawing her attention to her fat lipped husband.

"I'm so sorry!" she said, jumping to her feet and pulling him into a hug.

"Not too rough please, I'm a little swollen."

She moved away and looked at his mouth, the blood now contained by the starts of a scab and a rather fat lip with two clear puncture wounds prominently on display.

"Oh my God, I've broken you."

Chat laughed, well attempted to laugh, "I'm not broken. I'm fine, honestly. Let's carry on."

He slung his arm over her shoulders, guiding her over towards the air hockey tables, her eyes catching the stray droplets of blood on the collar of his overly expensive shirt, she knew Hugo Boss when she saw it, the stray droplets on the collar. causing her to shirk within herself. She could cry.

"Are you sure you just don't want to just go home?"

"No chance. 'Tis but a scratch."

"Quoting Monty Python is not going to help with my guilt, Chaton."

He stopped, using his arm to halt her mid stride, turning her around to face him.

"Listen to me, I'm fine. I've had a lot worse. Now stop stressing and let me kick your ass at air hockey."

Sighing, she looked away to the side before turning back and looking into his blue eyes, her mind trailing off into wonders about the colours of his eyes, and whether they were actually the green she saw as Mister Bug, or something else? A tiny part of her hoping they were that wonderful green; that Adrien green. Damn! Now was not the time to think about him.

"Fine," she eventually exhaled, "if you're sure."

"As sure as I've ever been."

Taking out their 'credit' card to tap it to the side of the table, the air jets came to life and the puck dropped on her side. Taking a deep breath, she dropped it onto the table.

What could possibly go wrong?

•••••

Who knew so much could go wrong with air hockey?

Adrien sat on the bar stool waiting for Ladybug to come back from the restrooms nursing an ice water he was quite sure he couldn't drink. His lip stinging and the increasing swell made it almost impossible to use his straw, or sip from the glass, however, much to the disgust of the people around him, sticking his lower lip into the cold water was heavenly; the ice great for numbing the pain in his lower lip.

Anyway, what had started as a fun game of air hockey became rather competitive, rather quickly. He thanked the lord that they hadn't been in their supersuits because he was sure someone would have lost an eye, instead there would just be some bruising and a decent bill forwarded to their apartment.

The game came to a quick conclusion after Ladybug had launched the puck at a tremendous speed, smashing off his pusher (and finger) before cruising at a low altitude through the arcade and into a bandit machine, which in turn began spewing out its guts. He was sure he'd just have minor bruising from the impact, however, the amount of euros spilling out of the smashed machine (and into others pockets) would most likely hit his bank account quite hard.

So here he was, nursing a cold drink and using it to calm the swelling on both his finger and lip. He was battered. She'd called herself madly clumsy that first day, but this took the biscuit. Even Marinette wasn't this accident prone. His eyes were kept firmly on the door of the ladies room, waiting for his wife to come back. As much as he thought he knew his partner, she was still surprising him day after day. The pedestal he had placed her on for all those years, firmly being kicked from underneath her, yet her fall wasn't from grace, if anything all the quirks just added to her character. It made her feel real.

The door finally opened and he sat up right on his chair, his Lady shyly making her way back to where he was sitting.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, her nervous disposition obvious from the way her fingers were threading together.

"It's fine, see, I can bend it." Though painful, he could bend and straighten his finger. No harm done; he'd just ignore the giant purple bruise taking over his middle finger and oh boy, would h have some fun showing it to people.

"Yeah," she sighed, looking away from him and placing her straw in her mouth. God, he was jealous of its pride of place between his Lady's lips, he never knew he could be so jealous of an inanimate object. Reaching for his own drink, he put the glass gently against his lip, tilting it up so he could take a swig, only for Ladybug to move back and gwark at him. A sudden wet feeling hit his chest, as he looked down and noticed his shirt was soaked.

He must have numbed his lip too much with the ice, the water now dribbling out of his mouth like a tap and onto his clothing. Oh dear goodness! She was going to think he was a freak.

"I'll be right back."

Adrien couldn't believe how much was going wrong. His black cat's bad luck was most certainly getting its money's worth and he was quite sure Plagg was laughing it up with Tikki in Ladybug's bag.

He didn't think choosing an arcade for a first date could go wrong...how misinformed was he?

Finally drying off from the waterfall mishap, he stood facing the mirror in the restroom, looking over his black hair and blue contacts. He was so tempted to take a picture and send it to Marinette, the words '#brother' posted alongside it. But he promised these looks stayed between him and his Lady, and he wouldn't do anything to jeopardise their relationship.

"You've got this," he said to himself, checking himself over once more in the mirror. He'd dressed casual for this date, as had Ladybug, and he had to say she looked gorgeous. He was quite sure if she ever 'dressed up' he would have a heart attack.

Messing with his wig one last time, he made his way to the door, exiting and heading for Ladybug. This was their last 'event' of the day and he was confident it was going to redeem the date, that they both go away having fun and some great memories of their first date..

It was time to go bowling.

Walking out and back to their table, he seated himself in front of Ladybug and smiled, reaching for a fry and popping it in his mouth.

In slow motion, her face morphed from a smile, to a slow and deliberate look from the fry to his mouth, finally settling on a shocked expression and her words telling him to not eat it.

Who would have known she was so possessive of her food?

He always thought she'd be good at shar-

An unexpected burning started in his lower lip, increasing with intensity as he continued looking at his wife, the burning pain searing through his mouth as his eyes began to water. Oh no! He was crying now, fully blown tears trailing down his face as the pain increased.

Ladybug handed him his water, trying to help him drink a little before dabbling a napkin in her own glass of iced water and holding it to his lip.

The pain just wouldn't go away! If anything the water was just heating the damn thing up more. He was quite sure this must be what it's like to burn, the prolonged pain now taking over the whole of his mouth.

"T-they've got paprika on them."

Closing his eyes, he nodded in response. Yep, this first date was not at all what he'd expected.

•••••

Marinette couldn't believe how bad her luck actually was. Yes, she knew her clumsiness would be an issue but she hadn't quite expected it to be this bad.

So far the only thing going right was that she had a cute Chat Noir plushy and they were both still alive. However, that was child's play compared to the final activity he had planned, and the one he was most excited about.

She hadn't the heart to tell him last time she went bowling she'd released the ball backwards, almost taking out three of her friends and damaging the floor; the thought that she'd almost ruined Adrien's career still played heavily on her mind as the ball dropped mere millimetres from his foot.

Looking down into her bag, she turned her attention to Tikki for a confidence boost, instead she caught Plagg's smug grin as she sighed and took to her position.

"Ready, M'Lady?"

Plastering on a fake smile she looked at her partner, who had luckily calmed down the crying and red face, and attempted to look ready and raring to go. She could do this. She could bowl like a normal person and not kill her husband. The amount of issues so far on this date would put her down as a sure thing if it came to attempted murder.

"Yep, sure! Let's do this."

Standing up and threading her arm through his, they made their way to the check in desk and to get their smelly, clown shoes; if only they were steel capped for his protection, before searching for their lane. This was going to be one hell of a finale.

She stood staring at the frames left, only three to go and all bones were still connected, and no one was bleeding...she was almost there.

She sent the ball down the alley, watching as it swirled and once again fell into the gutter. She turned to face Chat, laughter escaping her lips as she shrugged and walked back to the ball collector ready for her next shot.

"Right, that's it."

She watched as he pushed himself to stand, using his knees to help him stand up. He picked up the ball for her before guiding her back to the edge of the alley. "It's time you learnt how to do it properly."

Helping the ball onto her fingers, he looped one arm around her waist and placed his hand on hers as a 'Tickle Me Elmo' started dancing around in her stomach. They'd been in positions like this multiple times, but being in costume versus feeling his bare hands actually on her was doing all sorts of crazy things to her insides.

Shuttering in a deep breath, she looked at the hand currently around her waist, the wedding band matching her own as their fingers threaded together. She turned her head, catching his eye and his beaten down smile. He was breathtaking. Even in his wig and contacts; and fat lip.

"You got it?" he asked, smiling at her and letting her go.

Had she got it? No chance. She wasn't even listening. Whatever he said was trumped by her stare and his perfectly proportioned face...and fat lip.

"So swing hard and let it go," he repeated, moving her arm in the correct motion one last time.

Marinette nodded in understanding, allowing him to step away from the 'danger zone', she turned to have one last look at him, his body framed by the fold of his arms. Wow, his biceps! Whilst not big they oozed with athleticism. He either played some kind of sport or worked out - a lot.

"Swing and let go," she repeated. "Swing and let go," she said again.

Swinging her arm back, she threw it forward only for the ball to stay placed on her fingers.

"It's stuck," she squealed, shaking her hand and trying to get the ball off. It wasn't moving and she began to panic. This would not be good. Going to the emergency room with her husband, her next of kin, who didn't know her name, having to give details and fill out forms all because of a bowling ball. Again, this would be a very crap identity reveal.

"Hey Kitty, it's me, your wife, Ladybug aka Marinette Dupain-Cheng, madly clumsy and a lawsuit waiting to happen. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Shaking her hand harder, the panic increased. Her fingers had obviously swelled from the heat of the arcade or maybe the heat from having her husband's arm wrapped around her, with his musky, manly smell. A smell which made her insides quiver.

She needed to get this ball off NOW!

"Let me -"

Swinging it back again, the sound of impact plus a rather profound curse left her husband's mouth. The bowling ball having come into impact with his family jewels.

Marinette turned slowly, once again to see the tears leaving Chat's eyes. For the third time that day she'd made him cry, and, to be honest, she wanted to join in too. At the moment, finding a pit and curling up inside away from the world, was sounding very appealing.

He held one finger up, and turned, stumbling away and clutching himself, heading straight towards the restrooms once again. The bowling ball dropped from her fingers and began to roll its way down the alleyway only to take out all of the pins.

Strike.

All of a sudden a scream sounded through the venue and she was quite sure it could have been heard all around Paris.

Thinking about her husband's predicament, a shocking realisation came to mind that rocked her to the core. What if they couldn't have kitten's anymore?

•••••

When Marinette woke up the next morning, her heart was heavy.

She'd completely ruined their first date, and they hadn't even had the romantic end of 'first date' kiss before he left. The one she'd secretly been hoping for, and she was almost positive she'd broken her Kitty.

She felt terrible, deciding to stay up late into the night to talk to him on the phone. He'd gone straight back to America to consult his personal physician (joys of being rich she guessed) and he'd been incredibly forgiving when he had explained to her it was only bruising and he'd be fine again in no time. Nothing was broken and everything would still work the way it should - apparently.

She sat up in bed and grabbed her phone, sending a quick message to Chat before checking over the news and seeing if there'd been any updates on possible commissions.

A notification popped up from her newsfeed, and she scrambled for her messaging app. Pulling up Adrien's name, and frantically typing him out a message.

Marinette: Oh my God, Adrien! What happened? Are you okay?

She flicked back to the news article, knowing full well her friend wouldn't be awake yet to respond, keeping her on her toes for a while as she worried for his well-being.

Basketball superstar, Adrien Agreste (21), to sit out preseason warm up games due to minor injuries.