[Narrator's POV]

Nino trudges into school the next morning with bags under his eyes, his fingers twitching anxiously. He didn't get any sleep last night. He had found out that Ladybug is Marinette and then he met his two new teammates, Rena Rouge and Queen Bee. He is sure that Rena hates him for some reason. Maybe two new teammates were chosen because he isn't doing a good enough job as a hero...

"Nino!" Alya greets spiritedly, throwing her arms around her boyfriend. Unlike Nino, she is bursting with energy and excitement after last night. "Good morning!"

Don't tell Alya. Don't tell Alya that her best friend is Ladybug. Don't even mention Ladybug. You don't know who Ladybug is. Don't tell Alya. Don't. Tell. Alya. Nino tells himself over and over.

"Goo—Good morning." Nino stammers.

"So, did you read my Ladyblog last night?" Alya asks.

Nino scratches the back of his head nervously. "Who—Who's Ladybug?"

"What?" Alya replies.

"It's Marinette!" Nino exclaims before clamping a hand over his mouth.

Alya turns around to see Marinette walking into school. "Oh, hey Marinette."

Nino exhales a breath of relief and clutches his shirt.

"Hey guys!" Marinette says with a wave.

"Hey Ladynette—I mean, Maribug—No! Ah," Nino panics.

"Nino did you leave your brain in bed this morning?" Alya laughs. She ignores her boyfriend's strange behaviour and gestures for Marinette to follow her. "Come on, Adrien's probably in the classroom already."

The three friends climb the stairs leading to the second floor of the school. There they find Adrien standing outside the classroom with Lila blocking his path. Marinette flares up and Alya is about to intervene when someone else comes striding along.

"Back off Lila," Chloe says in annoyance, stepping beside Adrien. "Adrien's taken, get over it."

"No, you get over it." Lila argues. "He's not even yours, Chloe! Stop pretending like he is."

"I don't remember specifying that Adrien is taken by me." Chloe scoffs. She steps up to Lila and crosses her arms. "Adrien is dating Marinette, so I repeat: Get over it!"

Both Marinette and Adrien smile proudly while Alya and Nino are absolutely gobsmacked. Marinette walks up and loops her arm around Adrien's. Lila scowls before storming off.

"She needs to learn to let go," Chloe says, turning to Marinette with a smirk. "Am I right?"

"Not a lot of people have the strength." Marinette replies with a wink.

Alya and Nino are still staring with wide eyes.

"Did Chloe just stand up for Adrien and Marinette's relationship?" Alya says to Nino, looking slightly disgusted at the mention of Chloe.

"Are Chloe and Marinette sharing an inside joke?" Nino responds. "Don't you have to be friends to partake in friendly banter?"

Chloe struts into class in her usual confident manner and takes her seat. Alya and Nino immediately interrogate Adrien and Marinette.

"What..." Alya's eyebrows are furrowed as if this is too much to comprehend. "What, what, what was that?!"

"What was what?" Questions Adrien.

"Chloe being c...coo..." Nino gags on the word. "No, I can't say it. Chloe is never cool."

"People can change you know." Marinette says. "She might not be quite there but she's trying."

Alya has to grip Nino's shoulder to stop herself from fainting. "Okay, Mari, I know you're like super nice but seriously? You're defending Chloe?"

Marinette smiles and leans her head on Adrien's shoulder. "Any friend of Adrien's is a friend of mine."

Nino recoils in repulse. "It's like you've merged into one entity."

Kim and Alex suddenly come charging towards the group, their eyes ablaze.

"Adri—" Kim starts.

Alex pushes in front of him. "Marinette! You were the first one to confess your feelings to Adrien, weren't you?"

Marinette blinks. "What?"

"Girls don't ask guys out!" Kim says.

"There's no way Mr. Oblivious here was the first to confess. It was definitely Marinette." Alex argues.

"Hey, I'm not oblivious." Adrien says defensively.

Alex, Kim, Alya, Nino and Marinette all stop to give Adrien a look.

Adrien turns to Marinette looking hurt. "Am I really? That bad?"

Marinette nods solemnly.

Adrien sighs and hangs his head. "I'm so sorry, Princess."

"See?" Alex says heatedly. "Adrien is totally the wimp in this relationship."

"Okay did you just come here to insult me?" Adrien replies.

"Look, my boy Adrien can have any lady he wants. He's not gonna wait around for one to ask him out." Kim says to Alex, ignoring Adrien's complaints.

"Women aren't like fruit to pick!" Alex snaps. She crosses her arms proudly. "We take what we want. Tell him, Marinette."

"I-I think it was a mutual thing." Marinette says.

"No, no, no," Kim replies. "We need to know who asked out who."

Of course, Cat Noir was always open about his feelings towards Ladybug, but their classmates are asking about Adrien and Marinette, in which case Marinette was the first to admit her feelings.

Adrien turns to Marinette unsurely. "I guess it was..."

"Me?" Marinette finishes.

Adrien nods in agreement.

Kim groans. "No!"

Alex laughs triumphantly.

"What? What are we missing?" Marinette asks cluelessly.

"Kim was being a doosh as usual so I offered a re-bet." Alex explains smugly. "If he won I would humiliate myself by giving him a kiss but since I won, he has to cross-dress tomorrow."

Marinette giggles. "Sorry Kim."

Adrien smiles and kisses Marinette on the cheek. "I'm so glad you fell for this oblivious idiot."

Alex pokes her tongue out at Kim before heading into class. Kim slumps over in defeat and follows after her.

With Adrien's head turned to Marinette, Alya notices something on his neck. A broad grin stretches across her face.

"Are you wearing makeup?" Alya hooks her finger in Adrien's shirt collar and pulls him closer to peer at his neck. "You totally are! What are you trying to hide Adrien? Did you happen to get a bruise on your neck from modelling?"

Adrien blushes and fixes up his collar. "A-Alya!"

"Looks like the perfect little prince is secretly a bad boy." Alya elbows Marinette playfully. "Mari you little minx! Didn't know you had it in you."

"Man that is one massive hickey." Nino laughs. "Who would've thought that little Marinette is such a beast."

Marinette's face burns a bright red. "I-I-I, u-uhhhm..." She stammers, her eyes swirling.

"So this is what you were really up to yesterday when you skipped class to go to Marinette's place." Alya teases.

Nino's mind flashes back to when Marinette and Adrien had abruptly excused themselves after they all heard the police sirens. Of course, he had transformed into Carapace to stop the robbers and saw Ladybug there. It all makes sense now, why Marinette is always late and/or missing. But wait...Adrien left too yesterday morning. In fact, he was the one that brought up the textbook excuse.

Nino surveys his best friend. Everyone knows that Adrien had a thing for Ladybug. Could that be why he's dating Marinette? Does he know?

.

*Time skip to after school

.

It was a late night working on designs. Tiki is currently passed out on a piece of spare fabric. Marinette smiles down at her sleeping kwami and swivels her desk chair to turn off her lamp when she sees a pair of bright green eyes peering in through her window. She hops up from her seat and crosses her room to let the stray cat inside.

"Evening, purrincess." Cat Noir says as he slips inside.

Marinette closes the window and turns to Cat Noir with a hand on her hip. "Any particular reason you've come to visit, Chatton?"

Cat Noir suddenly slams a hand on the wall beside Marinette. His body looms over her until her back is pinned against the wall yet still he continues to lean in closer.

Marinette blushes as she looks up at him. "Chat...?"

"Well, you were so kind as to cover my skin with your markings." Cat Noir purrs. "I just wanted to return the favour."

Cat Noir takes Marinette's lips into a passionate kiss, wasting no time. He grips her hips and presses their bodies together against the wall as he kisses her hungrily. Marinette runs her hands up his rugged body before wrapping them around his neck. She tugs on a fistfull of his hair, making him sigh in pleasure. Cat Noir licks Marinette's bottom lip and takes it in between his teeth, biting her lip gently as he pulls away. He immediately dives down to attach his lips to her neck. Marinette rests her head back against the wall as he sucks and bites the tender spot in the crook of her neck. One of his hands snakes up her shirt, feeling all over her smooth skin. Marinette gasps in pleasant surprise as Cat Noir gropes her. He runs his tongue from the base of her soft neck to her ear as he grinds up against her, sending a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

"Ch-Chat..." Marinette breathes.

A sudden crashing from outside has the two jolting apart. Marinette is still breathing heavily, her face red and flushed. She leans a hand on the wall, her knees weak. Cat Noir smirks. He grabs her chin and presses his lips against hers shortly.

"Get some rest, Princess. Your knight in shining leather will take care of this one. I'm sure it's nothing." Cat Noir says as he climbs up onto Marinette's windowsill. "Oh and have fun trying to cover up that hickey with your concealer. Consider this a pay back."

Cat Noir gives Marinette a sly wink before leaping out her window. He lands in the street below to see a car crash a few blocks down. An oil truck had sped out of control and now has another car crushed up against a building. The truck driver is standing aside next to a woman with flaming red hair who is shaking uncontrollably. Cat Noir sprints towards the scene only to see Queen Bee delving into the wreckage.

"Careful Chl—ah, Queen!" Cat Noir shouts out. "That truck could blow!"

Queen Bee completely ignores Cat Noir as she frantically crawls inside the compressing car. She hauls out a boy and lifts him into her arms bridal style, quickly carrying him away from the crash.

"Cataclysm!" Cat Noir hollers as he scrapes his claws across the truck.

The truck dissolves away before it has a chance to explode. Cat Noir lets out a breath of relief and turns to Queen Bee. He pauses in surprise when he notices the familiar orange fringe of Nathaniel.

"Wh-Who are you?" Nathaniel asks weakly.

Queen Bee looks down at Nathaniel as if she is unable to comprehend his question. "I'm Queen Bee of course," She announces proudly. "The new gorgeous superhero!"

"Thankyou so much for saving my son!" Nathaniel's mother says as she rushes over.

"Yes, thankyou. Y-You can put me down now." Nathaniel blushes slightly as Queen Bee sets him down gently. He tucks his hair aside nervously. "That was...really nice of you to risk your own safety to get me out."

Queen Bee recoils. "Nice? I'm not nice." She scoffs. "I'm a superhero, that's just my job."

Nathaniel smiles. "Well, you're very good at it."

"I know, duh." Queen Bee replies complacently.

Cat Noir rests a hand on his forehead.

"Right..." Nathaniel says awkwardly.

He gives Queen Bee a timid wave before turning to leave. Nathaniel's mother wraps her arms around his shoulders comfortingly as they head home. The trucker apologises at least six times before waving goodbye as well.

"You almost said my name just now when you called out to me, didn't you?" Queen Bee says as she gives Cat Noir's bell a flick. "Don't go revealing my secret identity, clumsy kitty."

Cat Noir grabs his bell to stop it from jingling. "Speaking of names, please call me Cat Noir or Chat at the most. Kitty is...Ladybug's special pet name for me."

"Oh?" Queen Bee smirks in amusement. "So you guys are finally a thing now? Well don't worry. I'm only playing, Cat Noir."

"Good, because there's only one bug for me." Cat Noir says with a dreamy smile as he thinks of his Lady.

"So, am I right in assuming you know my secret identity considering that you're the one who gave me my miraculous? Does that mean I know you who you are?" Queen Bee waves her hand as if to dismiss her question. "Oh, who am I kidding? Everybody knows me! Who wouldn't chose me to be a superhero?"

Cat Noir sighs. "Chloe."

Queen Bee perks up at the mention of her name. Cat Noir looks at her seriously as he continues.

"I didn't choose you because you're famous or beautiful or whatever you think it is that makes you great. I didn't choose you because you're Chloe Bourgeois, the daughter of the mayor. I didn't choose you for the shallow person you pretend to be." He says. "I chose you because I know you're deeper than that. You're more than that, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to show it. I wanted to challenge you to reach your potential. I know you can learn to be humble and compassionate and selfless...I know you can learn to behave as the person you really are."

Queen Bee stares at Cat Noir silently, absorbing the shock of all he has said. Finally, she plays it off coolly with a smirk.

"Humble? Isn't that a bit of a stretch?" She says, crossing her arms. "You can only ask so much of me."

A smile cracks the serious expression of Cat Noir. "Alright, sue me for thinking so highly of you."

Just who on earth is this boy? Who would say such things about her? She hardly has any friends, let alone someone who apparently knows her so well. Queen Bee steals a glance at Cat Noir, his lustrous blonde hair and his gorgeous green eyes, filled with such genuine care. The image feels unfamiliar due to his disguise but his presence feels so homely and intimate. Queen Bee definitely knows this person, even if she can't recognise him.

Cat Noir's miraculous beeps urgently. "Woops! Gotta flee, cya around Humble Bumble!"

"See you around, Clumsy Cat!"