When Adrien had had his big idea for Halloween, he thought it would be fun... a great opportunity to dress wild and act even wilder. He never expected to be mistaken for his evil alter ego by his evil partner then have to attempt to actually be him. He just knew Plagg was laughing his ass off as Adrien attempted to use his staff (i.e. a gift wrap paper tube) to swat away ghouls and goblins.

"Any other bright ideas?" Paris was destroyed. Everywhere was smashed or covered in Ectoplasm, not to mention the Louvre being taken over by a coven of witches who were more enthusiastic than the three witches from Macbeth, or Hercules.

Worst of all, his partner had spent the whole time trying to escape him... like that was going to happen. There was no way he was leaving her alone, she'd probably join in and blow up the Eiffel Tower or something.

"How about you just go and leave this to me? You're getting in my way Flea Bag."

He was getting tired of the nickname, it seemed she couldn't think of anything else to call him, and to be honest he was struggling himself. He'd over used cockroach, and in an attempt to mix it up went for bed bug and termite...termite getting a bit of a wooden reaction.

"Like I'd let you leave my sight for a minute, Evil Bug!" Okay, so the nicknames were progressively getting worse, what was he going to call her next? A Shady Lady?

"Listen! Just go back to the collège and use the tables to create a giant bonfire, we can toast him like a marshmallow then."

They stood and watched as 'Stay Puft' continued to scale the Eiffel Tower like some cheap imitation of King Kong. It seemed Glaciator had had a sticky, sugar upgrade for Halloween this year.

"Like he'd willingly go and cook himself," Adrien retorted.

"We'd lure him there, you Stray!"

Ahh, he thought, her vocabulary is improving.

"I don't trust you!" he hissed again, he really was starting to sound like a suspicious cat.

"Stop being such an idiot and just do what I'm saying?"

"Idiot!" He repeatedly exasperated. "You can talk, Mosquito! The only ideas you've come up with so far are walking the dog and creating a cat's cradle with your yo-yo."

"Says you, who tried to get the demon dog to play a game of catch."

Adrien rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Yes, but now our statue is missing a head."

"Well that's just the way..." He stopped and stared at her. " Our statue? I think you'll find it's their statue, Cockroach."

"That's what I said." She turned away from him and looked up at Stay Puft, who was currently swatting helicopters and failing, as they became stuck in his arm.

"No, it wasn't. You said our statue, which means..." he gasped, "you're Ladybug."

"What? me? No? Why would I want to be Miss Goody-two shoes." Her denial was too strong which meant he was right...which also meant if he could get her to transform then they could win this battle and he would be one step closer to finding out her identity. After all, she was at his collège, so there was quite the possibility she was in his class.

"The jig is up, Ladybug, just transform so we can get this over with and head back to the party."

She looked between him and the surroundings, finally giving up and uttering her transformation defeatedly.

"Lucky charm." A newly transformed Ladybug called for her superpower, catching the object in her hands and looking around. Her sights set on the Eiffel Tower and then... him .

Oh, merde!

"Why do you always need me?" he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.

He could tell her eyes are on him, studying him. A trickle of sweat popping onto his forehead, before causing a thin line over his makeup and down his face. Oh no!

He placed a hand 'cooly' over his cheek, hiding where his tanned unaffected skin had been revealed.

"Cataclysm this now," Ladybug said, handing the lucky charm over to him.

What was he going to do? The only thing he could. "No!"

Yeah, he knew it was immature but it wasn't like he could pretend to cataclysm something. The staff hadn't been too bad, he'd faked it well thanks to his fencing skills, but he was quite sure he couldn't fake blowing stuff up.

"That's because you can't," she gloated. He turned to look at her, a smug expression taking over her face.

"I could if I wanted to, but I don't."

"That's because you can't. Your skills are not what they could be, Chaton, so transform. We need to get this done."

If he revealed this now, she would have a clue to his identity too, something that was both exciting and terrifying. Avoidance would be key. "Whatever, watermelon."

She turned to face him, her expression angry. "Why are you acting insane?"

"Why do you look like a Watermelon?"

Her mouth opened and closed, unsure what to say to him. Maybe, if he kept onto her, she'd think he was actually insane and leave him alone, allowing him to transform and act as though his whole pathetic display of heroism hadn't happened.

"Insane," she said again, this time moving her head in closer. So it seemed she wasn't going to leave.

"Watermelon."

"Insane."

A low aggressive growl was heard from behind them, both freezing in their head-to-head, to look at what had caused that noise. It seemed the dogs had finished their game of fetch.

With an audible gulp, Chat Noir finally muttered his transformation. "Claws out."

*****

Holding out her fist to Chat Noir, they both tentatively bumped them against each other, eyes remaining away from their partner and in the opposite direction. Well, this had most certainly been a night to remember. Not only had both been too stubborn to transform, they were also on the edge of finding out who the other actually were, and now it was just damn awkward.

"Are you going back to the party?" she asked, diverting her eyes to the floor and rolling a stone backwards and forwards under her foot.

Chat Noir shrugged, dropping his transformation and returning to his Claw Noir costume. "I'm not sure I have a choice."

"How do we do this?" She dropped her own transformation, turning her normal suit into the altered costume of Shadybug. Alya was right, this wasn't a good idea.

"Keep our distance from each other and hope for the best? You look good by the way, like really, really good."

She smiled nervously. "You too!"

Side by side, they made their way through the streets and back to the collège. Chat Noir allowed her to go up first, keeping the distance between them.

"Oh, and Kitty? Have a good night." She felt the blush take over her cheeks, the lingering effects of embarrassment and apprehension as she headed into the atrium. He went here . Her Kitty went to her collège. If she wanted to, she could find out who he was today, she could...

Her heart sank. If he went here, there was a major chance he'd know about her obsession with Adrien, which could only mean one thing... he'd think she was weird, or he knew about how much she loved the other boy — finally putting a name and face to the unknown entity. Or even worse, he'd try to help set her up. Oh, goodness, he might even be friends with Adrien.

Making her way towards Alya, Nino and Luka, each looking amazing in their demon and Vampire costumes, she couldn't help the magnetic force wanting her to turn back to the entry and see her partner arrive at the top of the staircase.

"What have I missed?" she said, trying and failing to keep her eyes from the entrance.

"Woah, dudette! Have you seen Adrien? You two would look great together!" Nino stepped forward, grabbing her hand and giving her a spin. She'd look great with Adrien? Why?

"A-adrien? What? No, why?" She stumbled over her words as her thoughts began to knock on the door to her brain.

"You'll see. Listen, I need to go find my dude, catch you both later?"

Unable to respond to him, Marinette watched Nino turn and jog off in the opposite direction, her eyes searching out the door once again.

Knock, knock, knock — let us in! Her thoughts were there again, but it just didn't make sense. She looked between Alya and Luka curiously, both looking very uncomfortable, and slightly nervous.

"Why would I look great with Adrien? What has he come dressed as?" The door suddenly opened and her brain allowed the thought in, along with a block of ice falling into the pit of her stomach. A clear version of Adrien with purple eyes and green hair encroaching her consciousness.

Before she could freak out, the lights dimmed and her attention was drawn to where Miss Bustier was standing on the stage, clipboard in hands.

"Thank you for all coming this evening, I know we had a bit of an unfortunate occurrence with the Akuma, but that's not going to stop us from having some fun."

The sound of hoots and applause broke out around the atrium, Marinette's eyes searching for her partner, or Nino.

Where are you, Chaton?

"Without further waiting, the winners of this year's contest are..." The dramatic pause was just enough to find him in the crowd, his own eyes glaring back into hers as Nino pointed her out.

"Evil Ladybug and evil Chat Noir."

Eyes remaining on each other, they both headed through the crowds and towards the stage. It was amazing how, even through a thick sea of people, she could keep connected to him. A magnetised pull never to lose its strength. As they reached the bottom of the staircase, Claw Noir, no — Chat Noir, nope — Adrien frigging Agreste, presented his hand out to her.

Unable to move, her partner smiled and stepped forward, ever the calm to her storm, and grabbed her hand from where she'd unknowingly clutched it tightly at her chest.

"Together?" he said, bringing it to his lips and pressing a delicate kiss to the back, a move so normal for them she felt her heart ricochet against her ribs.

Together, they moved up the staircase, her hand gripping his in an intense need for support, his own accepting it without fail. Chloé and Sabrina stepped forward, placing a crown, complete with skeleton, on each of their heads before stepping away.

"Your King and Queen of Screams; Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

The crowd erupted into wild applause and chants of their names. Adrien silently took her hand in his, leading them down onto the dance floor, a spotlight on them becoming a veil to the faces of everyone else in the room. It was just them. Their moment. Their reveal. Their awkward as hell situation.

Holding her in a close ballroom hold, Adrien took the lead and began to sway them in time with the music, dancing respectably and carefully, obviously alert to the stiffness in her body.

She looked up at him, awed by not only the way he was taking this in his stride, but also for the due care and attention he was giving her. She needed to do something, to say something.

"We need to talk," whispered Marinette, her mouth barely moving to cover the conversation, she just prayed there were no lip readers around the room.

"Yep, that's one way of saying it," laughed Adrien. She looked up and noticed the harsh lines of Claw Noir softening to that of her friend and her Kitty — her Kitty. "After party at yours, Princess?"

Marinette smiled, the ice in her stomach melting and forming the most wonderful warming sensation. She loosened their hold and moved her arms to wrap around his neck.

"I'm quite sure I'm your Queen now, My King."

Adrien's eyes blinked away the shock from her words, before looking at her as though she was the most devilish woman he'd ever met, one who took the opportunity to stretch onto her tiptoes and press a small kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Adrien's lopsided smile gave way to the most sinful one as he moved forward and claimed her as his own. A claim she would gladly own for the rest of her life — once the green dye was out of Adrien's hair and they were sure his father wasn't going to kill him.