Marinette was having the best day ever! She'd been on a real date with Adrien Agreste. He'd brought her flowers, taken her for a wonderful walk along the Seine, and then they were cosied up on her bed. Her legs were tangled with his as they watched Stranger Things; Adrien offering himself as a human shield every time she got too scared to look at the screen.

Threading his fingers into her hair, he couldn't help the slight teasing accompanying the gentle, reassuring kisses placed upon the top of her head before he moved downwards — cheek, nose... softly on the corner of her lips.

Marinette sighed in hopeless bliss at Adrien's affections and ministrations, dreaming of the attentive ways he would make her feel if he was her boyfriend.

Then suddenly she didn't need to dream anymore. He kissed her. He properly kissed her. He kissed her like she'd seen a thousand times in Hallmark movies. Every movement was an unwritten declaration of love and understanding. Of togetherness.

The position grew uncomfortable and they moved. Adrien poised himself over her as he kissed her time and time again; the bed bouncing with the change in pressure of him against her. Then the bed movement increased, almost sending her flying off the bed. But what's more, was he smacking her ass? He didn't know Buttercup could be so bold!

"Marinette," he said, his lips parting from hers to whisper her name.

She looped an arm around his neck, pulling his now deliciously topless body against hers. A chill suddenly hit her stomach, causing her to quickly look down. Was she wearing her gym gear?

"Marinette," he said again, this time with a little more volume.

She cursed him for breaking their kiss again, moving her hands into his soft halo of hair to pull him closer. Her lips fought vigorously against his, wanting him to maul her and make her feel delectable.

It was getting warm.

Too warm.

She opened her eyes from the intensity of the kiss and realised they were in the sauna at the gym. She never knew she had it in her. This time it was Adrien who pulled her back to him, their heated make-out suddenly feeling a little drier than a couple of minutes ago. It must have been the heat from the sauna.

"Marinette!" That time when she heard her name, it was followed by a hearty slap to her rear and her body bucking out of her bed and landing in a heap on the floor.

She groaned, placing a hand to her head as she looked up into her best friend's eyes; the amused smirk started bubbling the annoyance inside her, something that emitted in the form of a growl.

"Woah! Chill, Marinette, it's just me."

"Well, just me, get out of my room!" Marinette twisted and turned to face her bed, pulling herself to stand and taking a moment to try and regain some sort of composure in her legs.

She hated waking up at the best of times, but to be woken up while in a lust-filled Adrien dream, well... Alya should just be lucky she had only growled at her and not thrown her out the window.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" Alya asked her friend, holding her hands up in surrender. It was a good move and a possible fake out; Marinette knew a quick duck and sweep of the leg that could take her out if the need arose. "Or should I say who?" And there it was. "Would it have anything to do with Adrien Agreste?"

Marinette stormed over to her nightstand, grabbed the hoodie lying on top, and flung it over her head. Her voice slightly muffled as she spoke. "No! You!"

Alya cackled in that witch-like way that grated on her nerves; Marinette stormed past her and out of the room. If she was going to deal with Alya in this mood, she needed caffeine.

She walked to the kitchen, taking the time to wipe the sleep from her eyes and straighten up her hoodie, worried she would stumble in on an uncomfortable Nino, once again. The dude flustered when Alya had her legs out, let alone someone who wasn't his girlfriend.

Seeing the coast was clear, she headed to the coffee machine and switched it on.

"I spoke to Nino this morning. Nino, whoooooo just so happened to speak to Adrien last night?"

Marinette closed her eyes and placed her hands on top of their granite worktop. "I thought I told you not to sing his name like that?"

"Oh, come on, Marinette, you came back as lovesick as a Disney Princess. Seriously, I thought birds and squirrels were going to come chasing after you as you danced your way to bed."

A small voice came to join the conversation. "Or maybe, a ladybug, mouse, tiger, ox, goat, turtle—"

"Fine!" Marinette huffed, grabbing a spoon out of the top drawer, and slamming it closed with one hip. "I was happy." She pointed her spoon at Tikki. "And you, little madam, stay out of it."

Tikki giggled and headed to the biscuit tin before disappearing inside. With a sigh, Marinette made it to the small note board in the kitchen and added 'cookies' to the list, looking back over towards where her little confidant had just escaped too.

"It sounds like you weren't the only one." Alya took the spoon from Marinette's hand and made her way back to the coffee maker, taking two mugs and pouring the coffee.

"What does that mean?" Marinette asked, only to be answered by the rise and fall of Alya's shoulders.

"Nino wouldn't tell me too much."

As they finished up their drinks, Marinette turned back to the fridge to replace the milk only to stop and smile. Seated interrupted on a shelf sat a tupperware box of butternut squash and red pepper soup. It had been in there for weeks, desperately needing to be discarded; however, right at this moment she'd never seen a greater sight.

"So what was so important that you woke me up?" Marinette closed the fridge and made her way back to Alya, wanting to know what had caused her 'favourite' roommate to wake her up so ridiculously early. Anyone with the slightest common sense knew you didn't wake Marinette up on her day off before noon.

"Drink first; my incredible news second."

"Oh my goodness! You're pregnant!" Marinette screeched.

Alya placed her hands over her eyes, her eyebrows frowning at her friend's ridiculously loud outburst. "Hell, no! It's about the Blog."

Of course it is!

Marinette handed a mug over to Alya before taking her own and leading them out into the sitting area of their apartment. It consisted of two sofas, a tv, and a dining table with one leg shorter than the others and four mismatched chairs — the current issue of 'Style Queen' balancing out the table's uneven legs.

Alya's laptop sat on the sofa, her backup for her desktop in her room. Marinette was quite sure Apple's stocks were only so high because of her technology addicted roommate. Settling down and placing their drinks on the floor, Alya pulled up her latest email from Nadja Chamack.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: A Super Guide to Super Dating

"A super guide to super dating?" Marinette said a hint of amusement in her voice. She reached down to grab her mug and placed it to her lips. Alya pursed her lips as she studied her friend's face.

"What?" Marinette questioned. Her nervous laugh circulated around the room as she took another sip of her drink in an attempt to get Alya to stop looking at her.

"Do you not like it?" Alya questioned, only for Marinette to shrug nonchalantly in response.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just meant to be something small. Something personal."

"Come on, Marinette. This is a great opportunity to get your message out to a bigger audience."

Marinette bit into her lower lip. Whilst what Alya was saying was completely true, something about all this was suddenly not sitting too well. She didn't know what it was, but anything Nadja had to offer would not be something she was interested in.

From: [email protected]

Subject: A Super Guide to Super Dating

To:[email protected]

Dear Mademoiselle Césaire,

First, we would like to thank you for your continued work on the Ladyblog. With Monarch no longer active, it's good to know someone is still keeping up to date with our heroes and allowing us Parisians to continue feeling safe and cared for.

We would like to offer you a deal with TVi news for information on contacting Ladybug and Chat Noir. We would like to bring them both onto the show for a live interview regarding the 'Super' Guide to 'Super' Dating Blog.

We would be willing to negotiate an offer that would suit our needs, your needs and, of course, those of our heroes.

Kind regards,

Nadja Chamack.

Marinette sat in silence, mulling it over as Alya practically bounced beside her.

She thought of the list on her phone. Adrien's commentary about her overly wanting to please attitude. There was only one possible answer. "No!"

"Marinette, come on. Look how famous we are getting. This is massive and such great publicity." Alya was practically begging her; but it made no difference, she didn't want this type of fame, the whole point of what she was doing was to seem normal. This was far from normal. Was Adrien right? Was she being fake all this time?

"Alya, I said no! I'll talk to Chat Noir and see if he wants to take part, but for me there's not a chance." She took her mug, draining the liquid inside and wiping her mouth with enough force to take the top layer of skin off. She'd said 'no' and all she wanted to do was tell Adrien.

"Fine," Alya huffed, settling back into the chair. "I suppose I'll just have to think of something else to get me into the professional world of journalism."

"No! Stop! You're not guilt-tripping me into this. I've already said I would date a possible 'Chat Noir' and — as much as I want to back out of this — a deal is a deal. However, I'm not going to let you sway me into something else. This is getting out of hand as it is." Marinette stood from where she was sitting and made her way back into the kitchen, placing the mug into the sink and turning on the faucet. She couldn't look at Alya. One glance and she was sure she would cave.

Alya followed after, positioning her mug beside Marinette's.

"I'm sorry," Alya said, "I was just joking. I really am grateful for you doing this on the blog. I know it's out of your comfort zone."

"It's okay. I just... something happened last night; Adrien said something to me and made me realise that I should probably look closer at what I'm doing. Maybe I'm being a bit of a people pleaser."

"Really?" Alya leaned one hip against the counter as she studied Marinette, her arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "Buttercup said that."

"Yeah, well, he told me to send my soup back because it was cold and I said it was fine. I didn't mind it that way, really. Then he pretty much demanded I do it and that I need to not worry about upsetting the waitress; who, FYI, was totally hitting on Adrien."

"All this came from cold soup?" snickered Alya.

"It wasn't so much to soup but the principle of getting what I wanted without worrying about others."

Moving from the kitchen, Marinette made her way towards the sofa again, settling down and picking up her phone. She began to scan through her social media accounts, looking at Fei and Luka's recent vacation pictures before stopping and squealing, her eyes widening in excitement.

"Alya!" she shouted, "Alya! Come quick!"

Her friend skidded into the room, almost sending herself over the sofa like a trainee for Ninja Warrior. "What? Is there a new supervillain?"

Marinette thrust the object into Alya's face, causing Alya to squeal and take the phone from her; two fingers pinching the screen and zooming in. "Oh my goodness! Marinette... they're... they're..."

"They're engaged!"

Marinette was delighted for her friend and honorary cousin, the two beaming with happiness as they stood displaying the ring on a Safari in Africa; elephants roaming freely in the background. Her heart grew thinking about the two — the two she'd set up.

She grabbed the phone from Alya's hands and typed a little reply on the post before pulling up her messages and finding her group chat with the newly engaged couple. She was thrilled for them, and if she could help find them their happily ever after, then there had to be hope out there that she could find hers too.

"Back to the soup. So Buttercup attempted to get you to stand up for yourself? Did you?"

Marinette shook her head. "Adrien did it for me." She continued to scroll through social media coming to a halt when she fell on a picture of herself with Adrien. She was following his hashtag and it seemed his fans were still as sneaky as they were back in their younger days.

"Anyone would think you two were on a date. I'm surprised the girls haven't bombarded WhatsApp with questions and messages of congratulations."

"They have more sense than that. They know if I'd managed to do anything slightly momentous like confess to Adrien they would be the first to know." She looked at the picture again and felt her stomach flip. They looked good together. Really good — and happy.

Their colours perfectly complimented each other as they sat opposite in a deep and almost intimate conversation.

"Well, I'm glad your date left you and you managed to have a date/not date with Adrien."

"So am I," she said wistfully, examining the picture once more.

An alarm began to blare out of her phone; a quick look at the wall clock told her it was time for patrol. A funny drop in her stomach had her standing and heading to the kitchen for a glass of water.

Why had the sudden thought of seeing Chat Noir — her partner and best friend — suddenly sent her into a spiral?

••••••

Ladybug landed on the rooftop, for once beating her partner in anti crime to their meeting point. She began to pace backwards and forwards, playing with her yo-yo 'walking the dog' and making 'cat's cradles'. She found this therapeutic. Using yo-yo skills she only dreamed of back in her youth; she would have been so popular if she could have crack these out in her early teens.

"You told me you didn't play with it."

She never heard him land but his deep, masculine voice made it very clear Paris' number one hero was here.

She continued spinning the yo-yo in a multitude of ways before looking over to him, raising her eyebrows. "You're just jealous because you can't play with your big stick."

A gasp sounded from his mouth as her yo-yo flew from her hands and into the air, the mortification from the innuendo she'd just said blending her cheeks into her mask.

They both looked up., the sun blinding them and stopping any chance of noting the direction of the yo-yo.

Until it began to make its descent...

Perfectly in line with Chat's mane of wild hair ...

Dropping his chin to his chest, he covered his head with his arms and cowarded from the impending impact. Ladybug stretched out at the last second to grab the object and save Chat's pretty blond hair from becoming a rather impressive nest for a rather unattractive lump.

"What the hell was that?" Chat questioned, a slight raise in his voice making him sound like a pubescent school boy.

"I'm sorry, I just... you said... and then I... I tried to joke too, only now I realise it wasn't funny."

"Well, next time you want to attack me, give me the heads up. You always seem to get me when I'm least expecting it." He rubbed a hand through his hair, before slowing down and looking up through heavy lidded eyes. "And, FYI, I do play with my –"

Sending her yo-yo out, she wrapped it around him tightly, before tugging and spinning him around as he was let loose. Once the yo-yo was untwined, Chat Noir continued to spin a couple more times before collapsing onto the rooftop.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" She pointed at him, his hands coming up to enhance his shrug. She sat down beside him and crossed her legs, dropping him a quick peck on the cheek before talking.

"Where's today's blog Bugaboo? I'm on tender hooks about what's happening in your love life."

"I only woke up an hour ago, give me a chance. Anyway, more importantly, Nadja Chamack has contacted The Ladyblog. They want an interview." She picked up a small stone beside her and began to push it around her hand.

"Why? How do they want to embarrass you this time?"

Ladybug shook her head. "Not just me, Kitty, you too." She continued to explain how much they liked the blog and how they wanted an interview to go more in depth with both the heroes.

The cat rolled his eyes before resting back on his hands, supporting himself from behind and crossing one ankle over the other. The movement brought attention to his legs; his long, lean, muscular legs. Stop it!

"Pfft! Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather eat Plagg's ripe old cheese. What did you say?"

"The same... well... more or less." Ladybug giggled, moving to the edge of the rooftop and setting herself down, before tapping the space next to her for her partner. Chat scooted over to her lazily, seating himself beside her and dropping her a top class super smile.

"Can you believe she's called the blog 'A Super Guide to Super Dating'." Ladybug positioned her hands as though she was broadcasting the name in Broadway lights.

"And is it?" he questioned, his eyes intently glaring in her direction.

"It's super something alright," she huffed as she picked invisible lint from the thigh and threw it from the roof. Her face must have morphed into one in need of consoling because at that moment Chat Noir placed one hand on her shoulder and started to rub.

"That bad, huh?"

"I wish I could say it was bad. I could fix 'bad'. It's worse than that. It's pathetic and embarrassing, and abysmal."

Chat laughed. "Come on, Bugaboo. Something good must have happened?"

Without malice, she looked at him with one eyebrow raised questioning his understanding of the situation. He knew exactly what would have happened on the date. He knew her well enough to know if she went out anywhere problems tended to follow.

"Bug?"

She sighed. "Remember I said I was madly clumsy?" He nodded in response. "Well it seems the clumsiness has a new partner: mortifying bad luck."

A snort came from the boy beside her, and she couldn't help but give him an evil glare.

"Sorry," he coughed.

Throwing herself back onto the rooftop, she placed her hands on her eyes and rubbed them roughly, finally removing them to a sparkle of black dots in front of her.

"Do you think we're just not meant to date? That holding the Miraculous means we're bound to be single forever. It just seems impossible with the secrets we have to keep and constantly having to run out on dates?" Ladybug mused.

She knew she sounded defeated, and she knew that wasn't normal for her, her resilience a major attribute to her hero demeanour; but, even riding the high from her date/not date with Adrien, the question still hung whether a relationship would be possible, or even plausible?

Chat Noir lay back beside her, his hands resting on his unfairly toned stomach. The guy must work out for hours. "I've told you numerous times, M'Lady, it'd be easier if you just dated me."

He turned his head towards her and wiggled his eyebrows. She laughed, welcoming her partner's light relief in the middle of another of her breakdowns. This guy deserved a medal for putting up with her.

"In all seriousness though, I need to ask you Bug — just one last time. Could this ever happen? Us I mean?" He really was the sweetest man she'd ever met.

A smile graced her lips and she stretched out and placed a hand on top of his. "You're wonderful, Kitty, you really truly are, but there will always be another villain, another threat. I can't see the option for us to know each other more than this."

As she spoke the words it seemed like the door had finally closed. That this was the final time he would ever bring up the subject. Not wanting the end to finally reach their unfortunate 'never to happen' love story, Ladybug pushed on in the silence.

"Enough about me and my disaster of a love life though, how's the search going for you? Any luck with that girl?"

Ladybug was almost blinded by her partner's smile. She'd never seen him reach this point of unabridged happiness. "We may have been on a date last night."

She attempted to keep the smile there, looking into her partner's glowing eyes as her stomach churned.

"And how was the date?" She asked, praying he'd say awful even if his face was telling her everything but.

He turned his head, looking back up to the sky. The lowering sun shining through his hair made it look like a halo framing his Godly face. He was a beautiful specimen of a man. One who could break hearts everywhere and anywhere, and whoever this girl was that had stolen his heart was lucky to have gained herself such a catch. Ladybug prayed that the girl realised exactly what she had and treated him properly.

"It was good... she was flirting... I was flirting. She's just..." he sighed before rubbing his own eyes in a similar fashion to what she had done mere moments ago.

Something was bugging him — the pun somewhere between a coincidence and fact.

"Tell me, Kitty."

Silence hung in between them. A thickness similar to the wall of their secret identities. He wasn't telling her something, of that she was sure. She placed her own hands on her stomach, making a mental note to increase her ab work out that evening at the gym.

As she considered her regime for the evening, Chat's voice quietly broke through the late afternoon sunlight.

"I suppose..."

The words hammered against her chest. A drill battering at her resolve as she attempted to keep quiet and allow him to speak.

"I really, really like this girl. I have done so for years, and there might be a chance that I'm in love with her. Last night was wonderful; we seemed to bond in a way we never have before, moving from just friends to something else, and I'm quite sure the attraction is mutual too. But..."

He stopped talking, his hands moving from his eyes up into his hair, resting behind his head as he lazed against the rooftop. A cat stretching out in the sun.

"But," she whispered, encouraging him to continue, wondering if he was facing the same dilemmas as she was.

"I needed clarification from... you."

Ladybug sat up and stared down at him. Was he actually being serious?

"Why? What does it have to do with me?"

"It's... complicated. I can't seem to control my feelings," he groaned, sitting up beside his partner and taking a deep breath. "She's such a good friend, and she means so much to me. I don't think I could stand only giving her a part of my heart."

Ladybug creased her eyebrows, studying the torn face of her partner. "Why can't you give her the whole of your heart? How do you know what will happen between you if you don't at least try?" Ladybug asked, reaching out and grabbing one of his hands, delicately.

His gaze was intense, his green eyes showing a flurry of emotions ranging from hurt to comfort, to aggravation... to love.

"I went to kiss her last night. I was so close. But I just couldn't do it. I couldn't do it because I realised that if I kissed her it would change everything. That's why I needed to ask you one last time if we had a chance, because when I got home I realised I was relieved I didn't kiss her. I want to be able to offer her everything when I do that. And I couldn't last night knowing part of my heart was still holding out for you."