This is the last of the 'prepare' chapters, we're into full on shenanigans and chaos from this point forward.

Those asking about why they aren't revealing, where would the fun be if they did? 😉

•••••

Adrien had had a hell of a couple of days. Not only had he broken the heart of one of America's sweethearts, but the story had gotten out that he'd done so because of an old flame. Now, even though that wasn't exactly false, after all Ladybug had always been a flame in the background, his reputation had gone from golden boy to playboy in the matter of days, a name which he was not fond nor proud of.

When the time had come for him to transform and head back to Paris, he'd never been more grateful. It seemed Paris had gone from home to an alien planet, and now was starting to make its loop back to home again. And why, might you ask? It was quite simple really, he was looking at it, or should he say her. The little whippersnapper who was his wife, the wonderful, beautiful Ladybug; who was loaded up with two massive bags, the one in his own hands measly by comparison.

Sneaking up behind her, he took the opportunity for one of his epic scares. One step, two step, three step...he took a deep breath ready to announce himself when she beat him to it, wrapping her yo-yo around his body, securing his arms by his side.

"Don't...even...think about it." She tugged on the wire, bringing him in towards her, dropping him firmly onto her lap, making her legs fly up and a large gush of air to leave her mouth. "Geez, you've put on some weight."

"Muscle, my Bugaboo! Solid muscle! You should see under the suit." He wiggled his eyebrows at her as she retracted her yo-yo and pushed him to the side.

"I believe I already have and it wasn't memorable."

Chat gasped, placing a hand on his heart. "Meow-ch. That hurt, really, really hurt."

"You're my husband now, I don't need to be nice," she laughed.

"Actually, M'Lady, I believe you're meant to be nicer. After all, I am your sugar daddy."

She burst out laughing, the sound of a thousand angels playing a game of tag. Oh, be still his beating heart!

"How do you know I'm not rolling it in myself, I could be your sugar momma." She moved sideways, bouncing her shoulder into his, him taking the action to fall dramatically off the ledge before appearing back in front of her, balancing on the tip of his baton.

"I bet you're an actor, a Shakespearen dramatic one." She placed a hand to her head. "One may smile, and smile, and be a villain."

"Hamlet, nice. Personally, I prefer Romeo and Juliet. Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow."

"You're so cheesy," she laughed, moving forward and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "Hello, husband."

"Good evening, wife. So, are we making small talk or getting straight into the juicy stuff?" He sprung back onto the rooftop, regaining his seat next to Ladybug as he watched her dig around in one of the many bags, finally pulling out a Chat Noir notebook. How cute!

"You know, I never thought I would feel this way about you." Ladybug said, pulling the pen from the binding and tapping it against her lower lip.

"Do you wanna just wait whilst I celebrate?" he replied back dryly, a puffed breath leaving his lips as he glared out into the distance. "Geez, Bug, a little more enthusiasm please."

She rested her head against his shoulder, a sly smile encompassing her lips. "You know what I mean. I had... no, do... I do have feelings for you."

"Okay, not to be the one all pessimistic, but... are you under an akuma or something?"

"What?" she giggled, taking her hand and threading her fingers through this. "I do like you kitty, like like you and I was hoping, if it's okay with you of course, if we could start off by dating?"

"I think I'm going to cry," he sniffed, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes only to be struck once more by Ladybug's hand to his chest. He reached round pulling her slight body tightly into his. "I'd be honoured to date you." he said with a wide smile.

"Good, so we're officially dating. Like 'exclusive'. Just me and you." she rambled. "Now moving onto the next order of business. I've compiled a list," she said. Chat shuffling a little to get a better view over her shoulder.

"Of course you did." he said without malice.

"And I thought we could go through each point and just check we're on the same page."

"Literally," Chat said smiling, tapping a claw to the paper and bringing a small unusual chuckle from Ladybug's mouth.

"Literally," she repeated. "So my list? Shall we just work down and see how we go?"

"Sure," he agreed, he was glad she'd come up with something because at the moment all he could think about was the fact she wanted to date him, yeah he knew they were married, he wasn't stupid. But she actively wanted to be with him.

"Okay - 1. What is our married name?"

Unexpected, he thought. "I - um - well? Mr and Mrs Noir?"

"Good," she said, ticking her notebook, "my thoughts exactly."

Yes! He'd gotten one question right. Now for the second.

"2. Where are we going to live?"

Oh, oh! He could answer this one too, he'd spent the whole day sorting it out. "My mother has an apartment in the city centre-"

"I'm not living with your mother, Kitty."

"That's good because neither am I. I don't fancy living in a cemetery just yet."

She gasped, taking both her gloves hands to her mouth and trying hard to suppress the mortification. "Chaton, I am so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it, it's in the past. I only breakdown over it a couple of times a year. Christmas, birthdays, New Years, general occasions where she should be there. I probably had a cry at our wedding."

"Was it that bad marrying me?" Ladybug laughed, snuggling in closer towards him.

"Oh yes, the worst day of my life. I hate you, like the whole thought of this disgusts me."

"You're the worst," she laughed, his own smile stretching the length of his face. "So this apartment?"

"Right, so, no one apart from myself, my father and his assistant know about it. It was kind of my mothers hideaway, where, when things got too much, she and my father would escape. It's one of the only things of hers I've kept. It just makes me feel closer to her." Chat explained.

"That sounds really sweet. I'd be honoured to live there with you, Chaton."

"Thank you, it's a really special place."

"Let me guess, you were conceived there?" Ladybug laughed, writing something down on her notepad; only he wasn't laughing with her. He'd never thought about that, but if he was...ewww! "Chat? Are you okay?"

He coughed, trying to pull his thoughts back to something that didn't involve his parents... you know. "I never thought..."

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

"No, no, it's okay. I just...can we move onto the next thing please?" He peered over her shoulder, eyebrows scrunched as he looked at the next item for discussion.

She slammed her hands over the book and gave him a curious grin. "Before we get onto the next subject I just want to ask if your stance on our identities has changed at all?"

He sighed, both heels of his hands pressing into his eyes. "I - I - can't bug! I'm so sorry, but if...you know...I just..."

She stretched out, placing a hand on his. "It's okay, I understand. You put up with my demands for eight years, Minou, it's fine. But can You at least tell me... you do plan on sharing it with me one day right?"

"I trust you with my life, Bugaboo, but this is something I need to figure out alone." He saw her head drop, and he knew he'd inadvertently stuck his foot in it. "But," he attempted to save himself, "when the time comes it'll be the happiest day of my life."

Her sorrowful frown turned into one of calm and content. He felt so awful for the whole identity fiasco but until it was sorted with his father he just couldn't risk it. He looked back to her notepad, prizing her hand off the page so he could read what was underneath.

Disguises.

"Disguises? Why do we need those?"

Moving to the side, Ladybug grabbed a bag and positioned it in between them, a mastermind smile taking over her lips.

"We can't be transformed all the time, so I came up with two different ideas. Idea one; we swap out kwamis, giving Tikki and Plagg time to rest as we are wearing someone else."

"Interesting," Chat agreed, that thought had crossed his mind too. It would be nice to spend time as the four of them, Tikki and Plagg would probably appreciate the idea too. "And idea two?"

"This is where this comes into play." Opening the bag, she pulled out a package, handing it over to him. A wig, a set of contact lenses, sunglasses and a hat. "Are we cosplaying, or something?"

"This is going to sound really weird, and I hope it's not going to freak you out, but sometimes I would like to be able to feel you."

"Oh, M'Lady, are you trying to get me into bed?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, her own eyes rolling as she crossed her arms and looked away.

"If you're going to be like that, I don't know why I bothered." She took the items back off him, beginning to shove them back into the bag.

"Hold up," his hands grabbed a hold of hers, "I was only joking. I would like to be able to feel you too."

"Well, good." She shoved the bag back onto his lap and he pulled the items out once more. The wig was raven black, not too dissimilar to her own hair colour, and the contacts (from what the packaging said) a light blue. An interesting, and almost familiar, combination.

"Do you have your own?"

"I do." She pulled out a long blonde wig, placing it over her head and he couldn't help but grin. The blonde clashed against her features, making her look like an anime character more than a superhero. "What do you think?"

"I actually really like it. So, when we're wearing these? Do we have to have names too?" He said, spinning the wig around on his finger, only for it to fly off and begin to make its way down onto the road below. "Be right back." Chat jumped over the ledge, flying towards the ground and catching the wig before it became roadkill. He arrived back on the ledge giving his wife an apologetic smile.

"No, we'll just go by our nicknames. It's not like people are going to see us. It's just a chance to relax together and not have superlatex covering us all over."

"Talking of latex?" Chat started, a slight cough and a rub to the back of his neck indicated the unease he felt from what he was about to ask. "Are we sharing a bed?"

"Yes, we're married and that's what married couples do. I need to know if my Minou is a snorer or not." Stretching out she pinched his cheek and gave it a little shake.

"Kissing included?" he asked, puckering his lips and directing them in her direction.

"Kissing included...." She placed her index finger on his lips and pushed him back. "At some point."

Her finger remained there as he tried to speak.

"Which brings me to my first point." He grabbed her wrist moving her hand down and out the way, his own fingers slotting into hers, entwining them together and running his thumb along hers. "We must have a date night, once a month. No matter what's happening during our civilian lives, we make sure we go out together; either as heroes or in our cool new cosplay."

Using her free hand she smacked him on the bicep, laughter leaving her lips. "It's not cosplay, Chaton."

"Whatever you say Lucy Heartfilia."

"Chat, it's not cosplay!" she laughed once more.

"You saying it doesn't make it any less real."

"Whatever," she laughed again, his stomach growing all warm and cosy from the sunshine sound of her laugh.

"I'm still in a tight contract, as I will try and transport back to see you as much as I can, but I can't promise I'll be around all the time."

Ladybug nodded in response. "That's okay, it'll make it easier for us to date that way. Not living in each other's pockets 24/7."

"Yet," he added on.

"Yet," she agreed. "Next, I told Alya we'd give an exclusive interview to 'The Ladyblog' and her magazine 'Vixen's Voice' after all she's been dying for this to happen since we were 13."

"I like Alya, and I trust her so that's fine by me. What do we tell her though? That we got drunk, ate Thai food and sang some bad karaoke?"

"I don't think the citizens of Paris would be too happy with us being so irresponsible. So how about we've been dating secretly for two years, then you swept me off my feet and asked me to marry you?"

"And of course you said yes, because, well, look at me." He dropped her a wink, only for Ladybug to burst out laughing.

"Too true, Kitty cat. Oh, and we need to play it up. Act like we're...you know."

"I do?" he enquired.

"Yep, you know." She dropped him a wink, causing him to raise one eyebrow.

"I don't...can you please tell me?" He placed his hands together and begged.

"We act like we're in l-o-v-e."

Chat started to laugh. "I don't need to act, Bugaboo, I've been in love with you for eight year; and I'm sure, from what you've told me tonight, you won't be far behind." He sided up next to her, bumping her shoulder to his.

Giggling, Ladybug ticked the checkbox before moving onto the next. Chat reading it out loud from his position next to her.

"No wearing wedding rings outside of 'home'." He rubbed his thumb on his chin and pursed his lips in thought, a face which nothing good could usually come from. "What if I wore it on my shoe? or I don't know, on a chain or something. I could say it's a family heirloom. I don't want to sound like an absolute fanboy but I would like to keep it on me at all times. It's," he paused, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck again, "it's kind of important to me."

Ladybug almost melted from her partner's sweet disposition, her lips pursing and her eyes firmly set into the far distance. Crossing her legs and messing with her finger, where her ring sat.

"That's not a terrible idea." An innocent smile taking over her face. "I actually really like it."

"I'm a genius that's why, and I'm not just saying that, I am literally a genius."

"We'll see," she quirked an eyebrow in his direction, only adding to the disbelief on his face.

"I'm telling the truth!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sure you are, precious kitty." She patted him on the head, and instead of his usual happy purr, a vicious growl left his lips.

"Temper, temper, kitty cat."

"I'll prove it to you, you'll see." He stood up and looked out over Paris, pointing into thin air and shouting out. "You'll all see!"

"Shut up you damn cat-man!" A voice sounded from a nearby apartment, Chat cringing at the upset resident.

"Sorry, Mr. Ramier," He shouted back; the muttered sound of 'damn kids' followed in addition to the window being slammed shut. "Ooopsss!" Chat dropped back into his seat beside Ladybug, both in a fit of immature giggles.

"Come on, Kitty, let's get out of here before someone calls animal control." She stood up, offering her hand out to him which he gladly took. "You have our home to show me."

Our home.

His heart fluttered. Home with Ladybug. Could life be anymore perfect?

•••••

Marinette walked into the café she'd arranged to meet Alya, a smile on her face and spring in her step. Chat Noir's apartment was beautiful. It was classically decorated and looked as though maybe they'd hired interior designers or someone with good fashion sense to come in and decorate. It was cohesive and wonderful...just like her new husband - something she refused to let him know just yet.

When they'd arrived at the apartment, and he'd given her a quick tour of the rooms, he sat her down and presented what was in his bag. A brand new mobile phone with the best security money could buy - apparently. They'd agreed to only contact each other via this phone, opting to stay away from messaging apps or anything similar.

Chat was still caught up in the whole Monarch battle situation; he didn't want to take any risks. She wasn't sure what was disturbing him, but everytime she asked, his answers were always vague. She just hoped that one day he'd open up and allow them to be with each other completely. They couldn't live the rest of their married life hidden behind two masks.

She'd begun to move out of her own apartment and into their marital home instantaneously, and even though he wasn't there as often as, perhaps, she would have liked, life so far was good. The last of her boxes were going in that weekend and allowing her to finally stay the night. Two weeks into her marriage and it was all still blissful.

"Finally, Dupain-Cheng!" Alya announced, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. "Two weeks I've been waiting to see you. I go to your apartment and you're not there, you won't answer my calls only texts, what the hell is going on?"

Marinette sat calmly down at the table, placing her well decorated left hand over her right. She knows she said no wearing the rings, but she just had to do this to see Alya's face, a smile plastered on her own.

"I've moved in with my husband and my name is no longer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, it's Marinette Noir."