Adrien couldn't focus the rest of the day. He felt so stupid. His lady, the love of his life, was the shy school girl who sat behind him and couldn't even formulate a proper sentence in front of him. He wasn't angry it was Marinette, he was actually very happy that it turned out to be somebody he knew. Plus, he had always thought Marinette looked kind of cute.

"Adrien, can you tell me what I just said?" The teacher asked, giving him a quizzical look.

"Um... I'm sorry ma'am. Could you repeat the question?" His cheeks began to color and the tips of his ears were turning red. Usually he was always paying attention in class and always knew the answer. But not today. He had no answers to explain why he had never realized the love of his life hiding behind a mask.

The teacher shook her head in disappointment and called on somebody else who was actually paying attention. Adrien sighed as he rested his head on his fist. It was going to be a long day.

                                *

The school bell rang, and Adrien debated approaching Marinette outside the school building. He decided it probably wouldn't be best to just ask if she was Ladybug, so he would work his way up to it. Adrien spotted Marinette by the steps outside the school chatting up a storm with Alya (ahaha "spotted" "chatting" I'm to good hahaha.... Not funny..okay). Adrien took a deep breath and walked up to the girls.

"Hey Alya! Hey Marinette!" He said, smiling. So far so good.

"Hey Adrien!" Alya greeted. She nudged her friend who was blushing like mad. "H-hey Adrien." She stammered.

Marinette mentally face palmed after she greeted Adrien. She couldn't even manage to say hi without stuttering. There was no way he would ask her to the dance.

"Hey, can I borrow Marinette for a few?" Adrien asked. Marinette turned ghostly white and her knees buckled. Adrien wanted to see her. Alone?

"Go ahead. I'll catch up with you later, Mari!" Alya winked and bounced down the steps.

"Soo..." Adrien began, unsure of how to start the conversation. "Did you see that akuma attack today? Pretty crazy right?" He wanted to slap himself. Real smooth Adrien. By the end of the conversation, maybe your identity will be blown. He heard chuckling coming from inside his sweatshirt. Plagg was laughing his head off at Adrien's attempt to start a conversation. Adrien roughly adjusted his jacket, making sure to hit Plagg in the process. A slight groan was heard and Adrien smirked. You're so dead when we get home, Plagg.

"Umm yeah. I guess it was pretty crazy." She replied. Her eyes widened. She actually said a full sentence. Marinette wanted to scream with joy, but remembered that Adrien was there, so she kept her cool.

"Did you see Ladybug? Weren't yo- I mean she! Wasn't she amazing?" He sighed. Hopefully she didn't notice his stumble.

"Yeah she's pretty great, but not as amazing as you-" Marinette suddenly realized what she said and her face dropped. Her usually pale complexion was looking a bit redder than normal. "I mean, she wouldn't have been able to accomplish the task without the help of Chat Noir." She added, hoping to cover up her mistake.

Adrien was silently screaming. Ladybug just complimented Chat Noir. It was something he never expected to happen. And here it did. He grinned from ear to ear.

"Wow, really? I thought most people only saw him as a side kick..." He said.

"Oh he's much more than that. Ladybug and him, they're a team. They are equally import in helping protect Paris..." Marinette began to ramble on about how import the duo was together, but Adrien was too busy just staring at her. Knowing that she was Ladybug, only made Adrien more attracted to her. The way her gorgeous blue hair gently rustled in the wind. Her  faint splash of light freckles along the bridge of her nose. And her bluebell eyes- where to begin? Adrien thought back to the poem he was writing to Ladybug and realized that all the attributes that he listed matched Marinette exactly.

"Um.. Adrien? Are you alright?" Marinette asked, waving her hand in front of his face. Marinette was almost beet red when she realized Adrien was staring at her.

"Huh?" He said, snapping out of his train of thought.

"I was just saying that I really should be getting home. It's a bit ch- chilly out here." Marinette said, teeth beginning to chatter. In all the excitement of trying to get to school on time, Marinette forgot to grab her jacket.

"Here you can have mine." Adrien said, taking the sweatshirt off. He was still wearing his usual black shirt underneath, which don't look very warm.

"Oh no, I-I-I couldn't take that from you. Then you would be cold." Marinette protested. She couldn't tell if her stutter came back or if she was just that cold.

"Please, M'lady, I insist." Adrien said. There was a long silence before Adrien realized what he just said. He slowly met Marinette's horrified face and locked his jade eyes with her ocean blue orbs.

"You- you're - he's - Chat? And- I - Lady- " she stammered. Marinette was in complete shock. The boy of her dreams, the definition of perfection (seriously if you look it up in the dictionary Adrien's face will be there) was her silly, flirtatious, pun making partner. Chat Noir was Adrien Agrseste.

"I-I need to go." Marinette stated. She fled down the stairs and ran to her parents bakery. She heard Adrien call out her name, pleading for her to stop, but she didn't listen. She let the icy wind sting her cheeks as she ran through the streets of Paris to warm bakery. Marinette burst through the doors, greeted by a warm wave of heat and croissants before pushing her trap door open and flopping on her bed.

Back at the school, Adrien slipped the hoodie back on. He blew it. Not only Ladybug's cover but Chat Noir's as well. He began to scold himself and replay the scene that just happened a few minutes ago over and over in his head, thinking of thousands of other outcomes for the scenario. A car horn interrupted his thought process as Nathile stepped out of the limo and called for Adrien to get in. Adrien looked up at the sky, which was turning gray, and ran into the limo. He was quiet the entire ride until he got back to the mansion.

Adrien flopped onto his own bed and Plagg flew out from under his shirt.

"Well it looks like lover boy finally figured out who his masked sweetheart is. And managed to tell her who he is as well." Plagg taunted.

"Oh, shut it, Plagg. Go eat your Camembert." Adrien said, voice muffled by the pillow he was shoving his face into.

                                *

Marinette didn't show up to school the next day. She told Alya and her parents she was coming down with something, but in actuality, she just wanted to avoid Adrien. She really didn't want it have to confront him about their identities.

"Come on, Marinette. It's going to have to happen at some point. Why hide from it now." Tikki said. Marinette had told her kwami everything last night. Marinette wasn't upset that Adrien was Chat. Well, she kind of was. She had been working side by side with her crush this entire time. And she had not even realized it. Now thinking about it, their voices were so similar, the hair color and body build both the same. She groaned into her pillow and wished that yesterday didn't happen.

Mmmmm Marinette is having issues dealing with this whole "reveal" thing. Don't worry it will all be resolved soon enough. And the tomato child will come along as well. Just wait😁😏😁 Stay Miraculous!