It seemed they had chosen the perfect moment to slip away from the party. The dance floor had just opened up and allowed them to exit through the crowds without notice.

Just as they were reaching the main hotel lobby, the skies opened up with a sudden and intense downpour, drenching the gardens and catching them by surprise. Adrien gallantly tried to shield Marinette from the rain with his jacket, but it proved futile against the deluge. They were both thoroughly soaked by the time they made it into the building.

The sound of rain drumming against the windows echoed through the grand foyer, blending with the soft hum of voices and the gentle melody of a piano playing in the background. The air was filled with a fresh, earthy scent, carried in by the rain. Droplets dripped from their clothes, creating small puddles around their feet. But all Adrien could think about was the woman standing beside him.

Despite being wet and slightly dishevelled, there was an undeniable need between them. Marinette's laughter mingled with the ambient sounds, a musical counterpoint to the storm outside was nothing more than an aphrodisiac.

Adrien grinned, brushing a stray strand of wet hair from her face, unable to resist the urge to draw her closer. His hand cupping around her face and lips searching out hers for another kiss. Only for the sound of the arriving elevator to break them apart.

They stepped into the elevator, Marinette reaching forward to press the floor button before pausing and turning back to him with the cutest, confused look on her face. "Um, what was our floor number again?"

"Sex," Adrien replied as he studied her face, but as her expression changed to one of intense puzzlement, his eyes widened in realisation. "I mean...'sex'! I mean..." His face flushed, mirroring Marinette's own startled look.

"What?" she squeaked, clearly taken aback.

Adrien felt the heat rising in his cheeks. "I meant to say 'six'!" he exclaimed, realising how loudly he had blurted out the mistaken word. Thankfully, the elevator was empty except for them, sparing him from further embarrassment.

As the elevator doors closed, he mentally cringed at his slip of the tongue. He imagined an imaginary audience in his head, sarcastically slow-clapping at his blunder. If only he could disappear into thin air right now to escape the awkwardness.

"We're on floor six," he repeated, hoping the fourth time would, indeed, be the charm.

He had always prided himself on being a cool, calm, and collected guy, but ever since spending time with Marinette, he felt like a total disaster. From spilling popcorn to fumbling with drinks and even managing to make a mess with cake, he couldn't help but feel like he had continuously embarrassed himself in front of her. Yet, despite it all, here she was, standing just a millimetre away from him, after earlier this night kissing him as if her life depended on it.

At that moment, he couldn't help but feel like the luckiest man alive. Despite all his mishaps, Marinette was still here, wanting to get to know him better. Was she an angel or simply desperate?

They stood silently side by side in the elevator, and Adrien was almost certain the enclosed space was going to self-combust from the tension coursing between them. He longed to reach out and grab her hand, but he hesitated, fearing that the elevator might short circuit and plummet to the ground if he dared to make a move.

Then, it happened—her hand skimmed against his, the tiny brush of her little finger sending an electric jolt through him that nearly knocked him off balance.

He had never wanted something so badly in all his life, not even the Furby he had begged for one Christmas. He had worked tirelessly around the house to ensure he made it onto the "good list" that year. Alas, the Furby never materialised, but he did receive a Mont Blanc pen and a 'Design Your Own Will Kit'—a bizarre combination for a ten-year-old.

Fortunately, no one else interrupted their journey by entering the elevator. It was still early, and most of the hotel was booked out for Félix and Kagami's wedding, even if not all the rooms were occupied. Privacy was clearly a priority for Kagami's mother and his own father.

As the elevator ascended, Adrien reflected on the peculiar circumstances that had brought him to this moment with Marinette. He smiled nervously at her, his heart pounding with excitement and gratitude for her presence despite his numerous blunders. Maybe, just maybe, he realised, he didn't need to be so perfect after all.

Finally, the elevator doors opened on their floor, and they made their way down to their room, her own small hand slotting effortlessly into his.

Adrien reached into his jacket pocket with his free hand, shaking with anticipation as he fumbled to find the room key. His body practically hummed with excitement, causing his palms to sweat profusely and the key card to slip through his fingers repeatedly.

He attempted to retrieve the card again and again, each time met with frustration until finally, with a sudden jolt, Plagg's tiny hand thrust the card back into his grasp.

Relieved, Adrien approached the door and tapped the key card against the sensor. The lock clicked, and he held the door open for Marinette to enter first.

She stepped inside and he couldn't help but notice how different this moment felt compared to their arrival the previous night. Then, they had been laughing and joking, at ease in each other's company. Now, every glance, every touch was charged with a new kind of tension—one that both excited and unnerved him.

He delicately closed the door behind them, ensuring it was securely locked, before shedding his jacket and tossing it onto the nearest chair. With purpose, he strode to the wardrobe, retrieving two fluffy towelling robes.

"Let's dry off, and then we can talk," he suggested, turning to face Marinette.

In the dim light of the room, her eyes sparkled as she met his gaze. Without breaking eye contact, she ran her fingers through her wet hair releasing it to cascade down her back like a waterfall of midnight silk.

Adrien's fingers deftly worked the cufflinks on his sleeve, discarding them onto the dresser beside his glasses. His fingers then expertly unfastened the buttons on his waistcoat, flinging it to lay, messily, onto his jacket. Just as he moved to remove his tie, he felt smaller hands gently grasp his wrist, halting his actions.

"May I?" she asked, her voice betraying the intensity of her desire as she looked into his eyes. Never before had he felt so exposed, so vulnerable.

"Please," he responded in a husky, almost needy tone, his eyes locked with hers.

He held his breath as her fingers worked on his tie, skillfully untying the knot and letting the fabric fall flat against his chest. His hands twitched at his sides, aching to reach out and touch her, but he restrained himself, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

He felt a surge of anticipation as her hands trailed down his chest, leaving a burning trail in their wake. She tugged on one end of the tie, and Adrien watched as the purple material slid effortlessly out of his collar.

Then, without missing a beat, Marinette turned around, her hair cascading down her back, and made a request that sent a shiver down Adrien's spine.

"Could you undo my zip, please?"

Adrien studied the length of the zip. How had she even gotten into this thing without a little help? It sat in the middle of her back and ran all the way down to... He gulped as he stared at the end — way down on her lower (much, much lower) back.

She looked over her shoulder, her lips swollen from the time they'd spent locked with his, and her eyes sparkled with something alluring. How could he ever say no?

He stepped forward, sliding a hand across her upper back and underneath her hair, moving it across one shoulder. He took a hold of the zip, and looked over her shoulder. She was standing in front of a mirror, both of them looking into it, meeting each other's eyes in a knowing gaze. Once he touched her, he knew there was no going back. Her tongue darted out and wet her bottom lip, her lids lowering slightly, and her whole face shining with something wonderful.

He began to pull the zip down, the wet material of the dress leaving her body as it released its hold. His knuckles lightly brushed against her skin as the zip reached the base of her spine. He saw her shiver from the contact and was glad it wasn't just him being affected by such a harmless act.

She let out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a gasp, and his eyes darted straight to the mirror again to see her face. Her eyes burned back into his, eagerly.

His fingers remained on the zip, fumbling with it, unsure where to go next. That was, until she backed her body into his, lining it perfectly and causing undeniable responses he'd been working so hard to control. He was too far gone though, and before he knew it, his hands slipped under the material and around her waist, pulling her back a little more before they moved to settle on her hips, embedded between the material and skin.

Keeping his eyes on hers through the mirror, Adrien leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the curve of her neck, watching as her eyes closed. Her head dropped to the side, exposing more of herself to him and allowing him to continue the gentle caress of his lips. Small, soft and slow kisses, each pulling such delicious sounds from her. He moved up her neck to behind her ear, fuelling the fire within his heart.

Taking the opportunity, he spun her around and locked his lips onto hers, feeling a zap shoot through his lips and down his spine as his fingers tangled through her hair with no care for the extensions.

One hand moved up her bare back, slotting through the material and forcing it down onto the floor, discarding it in a pile as her fingers took care of the buttons on his shirt.

*****

The following morning, Adrien stirred from his sleep, the weight of the body wrapped around him confirming that last night had indeed happened—it wasn't just a dream. With great effort, he managed to pry one eye open, gazing down at the nest of backcombed and hair sprayed hair sprawled across his chest. Marinette was gently snoring, a soft sound that he found oddly endearing.

A hint of pride warmed him as he recalled the events of the previous night, knowing he had contributed to Marinette looking so delightfully dishevelled. Her tousled hair and the peaceful expression on her face made his heart swell with affection. Each kiss from her last night had only solidified that he was hopelessly in love.

Careful not to disturb her, he reached out and lightly brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. He marvelled at the intimacy of the moment and silently vowed to cherish every precious memory of their time together.

He closed his eyes again, relishing the warmth of her presence against him. A satisfied sigh escaped his lips as he moved his hand up her arm and into her hair, his fingers softly caressing her scalp, imprinting every sensation into his memory. Never before had he felt this content, this in love. Not even with Ladybug—well, from what he could remember. There was always a special love there, something unique and beautiful, but this was so much more.

"Ummmm!" Marinette nuzzled closer, her hand gliding up his body to rest over his heart, claiming it as her own with every breath she took. Her lips brushed against his ribcage as her eyes fluttered open, revealing soft ocean blue, slightly misted from sleep and a hangover.

She draped a leg over his, snaking her body in closer. "Good morning, Hot Stuff," she murmured, showering him with small, wonderful kisses wherever she could reach on his skin.

"Good morning, Sweet Thang."

"Good morning, Lovers!"

Lovers? Adrien's mind raced. He was certain he had brought only Marinette back to their room last night—no one else had joined them, right? Had he drunk more than he realised?

"Not now, Kitty!" Marinette sighed.

Then her lips stilled on his pec, his own eyes blowing to the size of the moon.

Kitty?!

They both shot up to a seated position on the bed, Adrien instinctively wrapping an arm protectively around Marinette's shoulders as she yanked the covers up to her neck with surprising force—so much so that Adrien's toes were now exposed at the foot of the bed.

"You know, you two really make a wonderful couple. I'm so glad I could help get this together," Chat Noir announced, rising from the chair in the corner and strolling toward the bed. "You don't need to cover up, M'Lady. You forget I've seen it all before."

Adrien blinked, a mix of confusion and disbelief clouding his features as he glanced from his alter ego to Marinette and back again. How much did he drink last night? Had Félix slipped him something extra for an additional kick?

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise, her cheeks flushing crimson under Chat Noir's teasing gaze. Adrien's mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation, Chat Noir's nonchalant demeanour only adding to the surrealism of the moment.

"Chat Noir," Adrien managed to say, his voice tight with restrained incredulity. "What...what are you doing here?"

Chat Noir chuckled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Ah, just checking in on my favourite lovebirds, of course! Looks like my matchmaking skills are impeccable."

Adrien exchanged a bewildered glance with Marinette, who appeared equally taken aback by Chat Noir's unexpected appearance and commentary.

"Did you — did you watch... Oh, my God! I can't even finish that sentence! I feel so violated!" Marinette shrieked, pulling the blanket around her tighter.

Adrien looked at Marinette again. What?!

"You going to speak, pretty boy, or do I need to start whispering sweet nothings in your ear again?" Chat Noir smirked as he came to settle on the edge of the bed, Marinette cowering into Adrien a little closer, and moving away from him. Well, this was just getting confusing.

"Can you see him too?" Adrien whispered, his eyes never leaving his alter.

"Yup," Marinette said quietly. "You can see him?"

"Yeah! I thought I was going mad for a minute there!"

"That's how I felt when I saw him the first time too."

Crawling forward, Adrien stretched out to reach for Chat Noir, lifting a hand and poking him on the cheek, only for his other self to slap his hand away.

What the hell?

Adrien looked between the ring on his finger and the one on Chat Noir's – on his!

"Looks like I haven't been missing glutes day!" Chat Noir chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows at Adrien. A pillow struck Adrien in the face; one he swiftly used to cover his modesty.

Marinette shuffled forward and grabbed his shirt from the previous night, slipping over her naked form, and he thought he'd never seen anything more sexy.

Now is not the time to be thinking about that!

He tilted his head to the side to watch her, noticing Chat Noir was doing the same, before quickly straightening himself back up and stretching to find boxers – and maybe the calling card for his therapist.

"Adrien, you can definitely see someone else in this room, right? Like someone dressed as a giant cat, sitting on the bed."

"Yep, I can see... Yep!" Adrien was nodding in an over-dramatic and slightly insane way. "How – how are you here? Wait! Wait, wait, wait, WAIT! M'Lady? You called her M'Lady!"

"Woah! You're fast, aren't you." Chat Noir laughed, before standing up and heading to the tea set on the chest of drawers. "Of course I called her M'Lady! What else would I – oh!" Chat Noir turned to look at Marinette, twisting his lips. "Oooops, sorry!"

"Y-y-you're Ladybug? Like the Ladybug?" Adrien turned to Marinette, before spotting his suitcase and yanking out a pair of boxers — red and black polka dotted boxers, how convenient!

He hopped from one foot to another as he attempted to get them on, unable to look away from her, and ending up toppling onto the bed. This could be the most amazing day of his life...if what he was saying was true.

"Nice going, Big Mouth!" she said to Chat Noir before turning back to him. "I don't think it's important to talk about me right now."

"Oh, on the contrary," Adrien said. "If this is the truth, which I really, really want it to be, our whole lives could actually get a lot simpler." He scrambled on his knees to get closer to her, only to find she had shuffled herself backwards.

"What are you talking about? This, this cat has watched us...you know?"

"I'm not a pervert, Marinette! Geez, give me some credit." Chat Noir rolled his eyes again, and Adrien believed him, because he knew him.

"Well..." Adrien coughed, gaining the attention of the room. "I hope I lived up to his standards!" He pointed to Chat Noir, the hero laughing and holding a fist out for Adrien to bump.

"How – how do you know about that?" Marinette asked, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"Because he was there, Bugaboo! It seems we didn't need to visit all those funerals after all."

Adrien watched Marinette's mouth open and close. He never thought he would see her — Ladybug — speechless...yet, here they were. She slowly moved forward, her pointer fingers out as she poked them both in the stomach.

"Unbelievable!" she whispered. "So you're –" She looked from Chat Noir to Adrien, pointing between the two of them.

"Yep!" They reply in unison.

"And you're –" She repeated the action, Chat Noir crossing his arms and wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Silence hung between them, before Marinette burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

"You know what," she said, finally catching her breath. "I'm going to go and have a shower and wake myself up, because this is obviously a dream. There is no way a model and a superhero are the same person, and even more so that I'm dating them. I'm dating Adrien Agreste, who is supposedly Chat Noir..." She continued to ramble on as she walked to the bathroom, muttering words about models and heroes in utter disbelief.

"Well, that didn't go as expected." Both Adrien and Chat Noir spoke at the same time again.

Adrien looked at him curiously. This was...bizarre. His hand unconsciously reached for his ring, the hero in front of him mirroring the action as they both began to spin the black bands around their finger in perfect unison.

Plagg came to join. "Yikes! One of you was bad enough, but now we all get a double whammy!"

He was suddenly joined by a red entity. Tikki. "This is just weird!"

"You're telling me," Adrien said, stretching up to tap Chat Noir's face. He patted it a couple of times before putting a little more effort in and slapping Chat Noir on the cheek–an action which had them both wincing.

"Ouch!" They declared in unison, cupping their right cheek.

"Maybe we should try transforming?" Adrien asked Plagg.

The kwami shrugged in response. "I've gotta say, kid, in all my years, I've never seen this."

They all turned to look at Tikki. "Don't look at me! If he hasn't seen it, neither have I!"

"Let's just try it, ok? Who knows? Maybe now you can see me, we can reform," Chat Noir said, his face full of hope.

"No harm done, right?" Adrien agreed, standing tall in front of himself and straightening his ring.

Here goes nothing...

Both called the transformation. Then both called the de-transformation. They called it one at a time. They called one word each. They called it with their eyes closed, open, and squinting. It was useless.

"Well, I'm out of ideas," Plagg exclaimed, looking at Tikki, who nodded in agreement.

Sighing, Adrien sat down on the bed, his back to the bathroom, and ran a hand through his hair. One leg began to bounce up and down. They needed to sort this out. Adrien wanted his hero side back. He wasn't himself without it.

Maybe they should find Su-Han? Wouldn't the guardian know about the Miraculous enough to help? Or maybe they could...

Two small hands appeared on his chest from behind, lips meeting his neck and the smell of Marinette's shampoo assaulting his senses. He closed his eyes, a groan escaping his lips and causing him to tilt his head to the side, her lips dropping small open mouth kisses down the side of his neck.

"Hey, Sweet Thang," he said, his voice deep with lust. His hands came up to cup over hers, holding it in position on his chest, just over his heart.

"Hey, Hot stuff," she replied, taking her kisses under his jaw. "I just had the weirdest dream about..."

A giggle sounded from the other side of the room. Marinette screamed so loud, Adrien was quite sure those in the room next door were going to send up a member of staff to see what was happening. Not only would they be thrown out for their evening of endless ruckus, but now she sounded like he was killing her.

Chat Noir giggled again, rubbing down on his neck. "That tickles, M'Lady."

She scrambled backwards, trying hard to keep her towel covering her modesty.

"Yeah." Adrien sighed, turning on the bed to face her. "This unfortunately isn't a dream."

She climbed onto the bed and sat up against the headboard, her body trembling and eyes open wide as she looked from one to the other. A small whimper left her mouth as Adrien crawled onto one side of her and Chat Noir walked round to sit on the other.

"So the guy I just spent the night with is the guy who's been living in my apartment with me for the past month as a strange spirit."

Chat Noir went to touch her before second-guessing himself and pulling his hand back. "That's the general consensus...yes."

"This is unbelievable! How has this happened? Was it the Akuma? And how can you see each other now? No one could see you before, only me." She kept her attention firmly on Chat Noir.

"Since we spoke by the river, I found I could separate from you for a little longer."

Adrien watched the two of them exchange a look, unspoken words between them he wasn't privy to, and he was jealous, utterly jealous.

"And?" Adrien said. He didn't want to be left out of the conversation. Not when he was actually included in this weird voodoo shit.

"I admitted I was in love with you...with both of you."

Adrien and Chat Noir shared a glance. This time it was them who were having the silent conversation. The maths added up. Marinette loving both of them was the first piece of the puzzle.

Tikki and Plagg came to join them on the bed, hovering around them all.

"So, how do you think we form back to one?" Adrien asked.

He, Chat Noir and the kwamis looked at each other for a moment before turning to Marinette.

"You must have an idea," Chat Noir said. "That's what you do!"

She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. "The only thing I can think is that you've appeared because I now love you both, and you both love me, which means to form back into one person..."

"We have to learn to love 'our' self." They responded once again in tandem.

Chat Noir and Adrien looked at each other, a clear divide between the two of them.

"At least there hasn't been an akuma attack recently," Marinette said with a laugh, moving herself from the bed and heading to the wardrobe.

"Well, that's one more thing I need to speak to you all about." All eyes turned to Chat Noir as he took a deep breath. "I know who has the butterfly Miraculous–and neither of you are going to like it."