Marinette had a feeling Adrien was starting to catch on.

She caught him looking at her more often than just any friend would, and every time she caught his eyes, he would never look away in embarrassment like most would when caught in the act of staring. Instead, Adrien continued to stare at her head on, as if silently challenging her with only the blazing look in his eye. She thought it to be rather confusing at first, because she had no idea what his looks meant—so she offered him a similar look, because Marinette was never one to lose a challenge.

When she did that, Adrien's expression seemed to change into one of absolute confidence to one of definite nervousness and eventually... jealously as the day went on.

She noticed the jealousy as clear as crystal. The moment Adrien discovered Luka was there, his entire demeaner changed. He had his gaze set on Luka, hard and calculated. She could also feel his eyes on her most of the time. He wasn't as friendly with Luka as most of his friends knew him to be, and the question that left Adrien's lips regarding if they were dating had Marinette choking and struggling to breathe. Thankfully, Luka was able to answer calmly on her behalf, but that didn't stop Marinette from wondering why that mattered to Adrien so much.

The rest of the day played out in similar awkwardness. Truthfully, Marinette hadn't exactly wanted Luka to stay for their movie night, but when Nino insisted and Luka happily agreed to the invite, there wasn't much she could do or say to object without hurting Luka's feelings. So, she forced herself to smile for the entire duration of the movie. She could tell Adrien wasn't too thrilled with the idea either—if his obvious pouting was anything to go by. But even despite not feeling comfortable with the notion of spending so much time beside Luka, she found a genuine smile pulling at her lips when Marinette happened to glance over at Adrien sometime during the movie... finding her daughter's head leaned against him, slowly falling asleep against his bicep.  He seemed to sense her watching him, because just as quickly, his head lifted and their eyes met. As soon as they did, he smiled softly at her.

The sight warmed Marinette's heart. And it made her realize that deep down... no matter how much she wished she could ignore it, she still had feelings for Adrien and wanted to be a family with him.

Because of this realization, Marinette decided that the first step she needed to make was letting go of all the grudges she held against Chat Noir... even if she wasn't quite ready to give up on the game she had created.

So, she met him once more on the Eiffel Tower late one night.

When Ladybug landed, Chat Noir was already there, pacing back and forth in a nervous manner with his hands clasped behind his back. Once he heard her soft landing and careful footsteps of approach, his head whipped up to find her eyes, and his own held grief in his irises.

The look in his eyes broke her in more ways than she would've liked to admit.

"Ladybug... I—"

She didn't give him a chance to finish whatever he'd been trying to say. Instead, she rushed towards him, pulling him into a tight hug that would've been clearly unexpected for him. Chat Noir let out a surprised grunt, as if the air had been monetarily knocked out of him, but then she felt his arms move to wrap around her, and when his chin came to rest atop of her head, she heard him let out a shuddered, relieved sigh.

She buried her face further into his chest. "Chat Noir, I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" He let out a confused chuckle that sounded more hurt than it did amused. "I'm the one who should be sorry... I'm the one who left you all alone—"

"Chat, you weren't obligated to stay by my side for the rest of my life."

He didn't answer her, but the choked sob that he couldn't keep in was a sign that he still felt guilty. And she had been the one to make him feel guilty for it.

"I'm sorry for making you feel guilty." She whispered so softly she was afraid he hadn't heard it. She was relieved to say the least when she felt his arms tighten around her, a sign that he indeed had. "It was selfish of me to expect us to always be superheroes that never left each other's side. It was foolish of me not think that there might be other things you wanted to do with your life. You had every right to leave and fulfill whatever dreams you had."

She felt him shake his head. "Sure I did, but LB, it wasn't right for me either to just leave and abandon everything I knew. It was selfish of me to leave you alone and keep my miraculous. I'm so sorry that I did that to you."

"I was selfish too for expecting you to stay." Was her whispered response, no matter how much his words meant truth. "So for that, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." He mumbled once more.

They fell into a comfortable silence, the both of them simply relishing the feeling of being reunited and in each other's arms once more. Ladybug found that she missed being in his arms more than she thought she did—even though he was currently holding her as Ladybug and not as Marinette. She forced herself to pull away from him as that thought arose, and she could tell that he was reluctant to let her go. But he respected her wishes nonetheless, granting her the distance she so suddenly desired.

Ladybug folded her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious and vulnerable in front of her old partner. It gave her the chance to really look at him, to fully grasp the similarities that she hadn't realized before he shared with Adrien. It made so much sense now that she knew who he was—just how alike the two of them were. Now that she knew, all the things that made Chat Noir himself also made Adrien himself—which had always been conspicuous.

Somehow, she had just been too blind to notice.

"How was your time away?" She wanted things between them to be normal again, and so, the only way to do that was to pick off where they had left off. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Chat Noir's pained grimace didn't lift. He simply stared at her, almost lifelessly. "I thought I did." He admitted solemnly. "But then I realized I wasn't ever truly happy."

She still wasn't sure what he meant by that. A part of her hoped that it was because of her, that he had missed her, but she supposed she would never know for sure until she was willing to ask. Ladybug simply nodded to that, unsure of how to respond.

"What about you?" Chat asked when silence fell in between them for too long. "How have things been here?"

"The same, I guess." She replied with a shrug.

"And Hawkmoth?"

She found her gaze moving out to the city, admiring the lights that helped illuminate the darkness that overcame the night.

"He still akumatizes people, if that's what you're asking." She said idly.

Chat Noir hummed. She couldn't tell from that sound he made what that news meant to him. "Are you any closer to finding out who he might be?"

Ladybug silently shook her head. She wished she was... but in truth, she had no idea who Hawkmoth was, and just like her, he had been a master at keeping his identity a secret. It was frustrating to say the least, having to fight a man who never showed himself, and made other people fight the fight for him as his victims. It was selfish and cruel... not to mention just downright evil.

"What about me?"

Her gaze turned to her former partner's in shock, her eyes widening by the second. That question she wasn't prepared for, nor had she ever expected. "What?"

Chat Noir's expression didn't waver. He remained absolutely impassive as he repeated himself more elaborately. "Do you have any idea who I might be underneath the mask?"

Adrien. Her mind instantly screamed the name. His name began repeating like a mantra in her head, threatening to spill out through stuttering lips if she dared to open her mouth... but a part of her hesitated to tell him the truth—that she knew who he was. Perhaps it was because she was simply afraid... afraid that he would leave her again... and this time knowing exactly what he was leaving behind. The other half of her mind worried for Emma—worried that Adrien would leave and shatter his little girl's heart. All these worries and insecurities gnawed at Marinette's soul, which left her feeling even more like she wanted to keep her walls up despite how much she desperately wished to tear them down for him.

"No." And that was the conclusion she came to. That she would lie. Because Marinette couldn't find it in herself to tell him the truth. She forced herself to put on a façade for him that was solely neutral, hoping that it looked believable enough to pass off as the truth. "What makes you think I would know?"

She knew her response was meant to come off as one of confusion—oblivious even, but Marinette was always known to be a terrible liar. She watched as his facial expression twisted into one she couldn't quite decipher, no matter how hard she tried. But she had a pretty good feeling that both Adrien and Chat Noir were catching on to the reality that she really did know and was pretending to be oblivious to the situation. Either way, both of them seemed to have guesses on who the other was.

It was just a matter of time on which of them was willing to cross that line.

He shrugged his shoulders, his lack of verbal response only further confirming her suspicions.

He must either already know who she is, or he knows that she knows who he is.

With that in mind, she also realized he too was beating around the bush.

That had her feeling a lot more confident.

"Do you have any ideas of who I might be under the mask?" She threw the question right back at him, deciding to play along and match his not-so-subtle tact.

She had to give him credit—Adrien didn't show if he was genuinely shocked by her question or not. He played it off rather well, his expression remaining neutral despite the light chuckle he let out when he shook his head. "No, I don't. But its always been my dream to know."

Ladybug forced herself to smile in response to that.

"Keep on dreaming, kitty." She decided to tease.

She was relieved when her using one of the old nicknames she used to call him had him breaking out into a grin, showing his pearly whites and bringing out his dimples—a smile she had missed seeing on him so much. It was the same as she remembered it, so charming, carefree and handsome. It was one of the many qualities she loved so much about him.

How had she never noticed that Adrien and Chat had the same smile?

Either way, just seeing him smile like that again brought out a smile of her own.

His smile only seemed to widen at that. "I missed seeing your smile."

Ladybug looked away from him bashfully, knowing perfectly well that her cheeks were flushing red. "I missed seeing you smile too." She admitted, because she couldn't possibly keep that to herself. It was good to share something happy between them once again.

His smile softened as it turned more fond. "I really missed you."

She looked up from underneath her lashes to catch his gaze, matching his fondness in not only her smile, but in the very deep blue of her irises. "I missed you too, chaton."

_______________________________

Hope you enjoyed the little ladynoir snippet of chapter 10 ;) A shorter chapter than the last one I'd say, but don't fret.

Tune in for chapter 11 (can't say when that'll be) where after his failed attempt at trying to get Ladybug to reveal herself to him, Adrien decides he's waited long enough in reconnecting with Marinette as Chat Noir. Determined to confirm if his lady is indeed his princess, he takes the next leap in questioning her about their daughter.

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