"I can't believe this! It's completely unfair I know he ditched but this is just harsh!" Nino was on his feet, pacing at the front of the classroom of his second class, Marinette and Alya standing by their desks in a similar state. His phone was clutched in his hand, still open to a short and simple message from Adrien he had finally gotten in response after asking why he hadn't shown up to school. All three of Adrien's loyal friends were angry at the news, but no one felt horrible like Marinette did.

The girl sank into her desk, wishing she had just stayed home. She was still slightly ill but that was the farthest thing from her mind, instead only able to focus on the empty seat in front of her. Nino and Alya had both sent messages to check on him and been lucky to even get one word responses, but it meant he at least had his phone... was he just ignoring them then? Was he upset? Did he want to be alone? Would he just ignore her too if she was brave enough to write him?

She had to try though, to let him know she was thinking of him. It was her fault... it was all her fault. He had reached out to her despite knowing he would get in trouble, he had come to check on her. She could do the same for him, she would do the same for him.

She waited for a little while, letting Nino and Alya settle down and get distracted with the lesson as class began before slowly pulling out her phone and tucking it into the folds of her jacket on her lap. Using the material as cover she texted, "How are you?"

While she waited for whatever sort of response she would get her mind spiraled down into a distracted daze. The rain was as present as always, thunder chorusing behind it and she wondered when the storm would finally let up. The weather reports said it would last to Friday at least if not the weekend and it was only Wednesday... she wondered again how Adrien was doing. All attempts to distract herself with idle thoughts about the weather fading into nothing. Was he angry with her? Did he resent her for playing a role in his current situation?

Only a minute passed before her phone buzzed in her lap, making her heart leap. That was fast. She had been expecting something more towards the end of class. When she peaked down at her phone the message was considerably more than the others had gotten as well.

Marinette waited until she was relatively in the clear before reading it.

"Hey! I'm good, just sort of confused? So the book starts with Harry Dresden already being a pretty established wizard but does he ever like flashback to who taught him? Or does it just go from him having an office in Chicago? I really like the talking skull as well."

She blinked at the message in confusion. Talking skull?

Oh the books she lent him, the Dresden Files. After a moment's thought she had to silence a laugh quickly with her free hand, making Alya look over curiously.

Was the only reason he was barely responding to the others because he was caught up reading those books? Geeze...

She said as much in her response. "Nino and Alya have been worried. Maybe you should tell them you're just reading? Also yeah you meet his mentor later on."

She went back to waiting and smiled to herself when she saw first Nino and then Alya receive text messages. After they read them they both groaned and looked over at her with exasperated expressions before returning to their work. What a doof.

'How's class?' she received after a few minutes had gone by.

M- 'Fine, though I'm not really paying attention. Mostly just boring. How's house arrest?'

A- 'Pretty normal. He never takes away any of my stuff so I still have my computer and all of my games. I wish I could be at school though.'

Marinette stared down at the message, that heavy awful feeling worming its way back into her.

M- 'Hey... I'm really sorry you got in trouble because of me. Is there anything I can do to make it better? I feel terrible...'

The response was almost immediate.

A- 'Don't feel bad, I knew what was gonna happen and I'd do it again. Don't sweat it, okay?'

She didn't respond at first, still battling herself. It was her fault though, he had only left to go see her and because of that he wasn't even allowed out of the house to go to school. He didn't seem to be too upset about it but... the way he had looked when he was leaving...

He had been so closed off, completely different from the laughing boy in the bookstore. She had watched as he was forced back into the proper obedient son his father made him be, it was awful. It wasn't fair.

Her phone buzzed again once ten minutes of brooding and note taking had passed.

A- 'You're sweating it I can tell. Stop it.'

M- 'I feel bad...'

A- 'Well don't! Everything is fine : ) Once I get back to school though you have to show me your Cat Noir winter designs, I'm really curious. Then I can give you Wind Waker and laugh when you get stuck.'

Marinette smiled, deciding to at least try and distract him.

M- 'I haven't even played it yet! You have no faith.'

A- 'Something tells me you aren't the best at video games, call it intuition hehe.'

M- 'Rude!'

God texting him was so much easier, but it still made her all jumpy and happy.

Alya looked over again at the quiet giggle coming from Marinette, smiling when she saw her and Adrien were still texting. It couldn't hurt to push things a little.

Alya slipped out her phone and sent a message to Adrien herself.

---

Adrien was laying on his bed, still in pajamas with a book splayed face down on the covers to keep his place. Plagg was sitting on the foot of his bed with his cheese, snacking on it happily and occasionally sneaking crumbs into the sheets to stink up Adrien's room a little.

Adrien's phone went off in his hand sooner than he had expected, and was surprised to see another message from Alya.

'You texting Marinette? She's smiling to herself a bunch so I figured it was you.'

Adrien's face flushed red, but he couldn't help the building laugh from spilling out, warming his core and making him bounce a little on the mattress, jostling Plagg while he tried to shovel even more cheese into his mouth.

He was making her smile in class? The thought made him happy.

"Whats got you all bouncy?" Plagg spoke up, flying over to try and read Adrien's phone upside down before being shooed away.

"Nothing," Adrien replied a bit too quickly, still smiling to himself as he hid the screen from the peering cat.

"It's that cutey from class again huh? Let me say hi!"

Adrien blushed at how he referred to Marinette but still scoffed at the suggestion, sitting up on the mattress.

"Oh yeah, that will make sense. 'Oh Marinette by the way my kwami friend Plagg says hi. Don't worry about what a kwami is though just know he says hi.'"

Plagg twirled through the air, snickering at something. "Yeah say that! It would be funny!"

"No Plagg," Adrien sighed, taking his blanket and tossing it high enough to trap the cat on its way down. He groaned when he saw the cheese crumbs go flying.

"Stop stinking up my room!"

"It already smells gross cause of you. I'm making it better!" came Plagg's muffled reply as he wiggled to freedom from the blanket prison.

Adrien looked ready to say something before his phone went off again, and he forgot about arguing with Plagg in favor of reading the message.

Plagg sighed theatrically, shaking his head and earning a glare from his charge.

"What?" Adrien finally asked, his eyes still darting to his phone as most of his attention remained with Marinette.

Plagg floated back towards his pile of cheese, just sighing again and snickering to himself, which only annoyed the boy.

"What?" he asked again, finishing his reply and sending it so he could focus on glaring at his kwami.

"I don't understand why you keep spending time on these crushes," Plagg finally answered, pretending to only be focused on food, "Why not just have some cheese?"

"I- y- what!?" Adrien stammered, suddenly indignant as his face grew uncomfortably warm, "I do NOT have a crush on- I don't!" he insisted when Plagg just laughed.

"Oh come on! I've only seen that look in your eyes when you're thinking about Ladybug, except now it's impossible to pick out if you're thinking about one or the other. It's just like before, see the girl a few times and suddenly they are all you think about! Talk about a type, geeze!" Plagg cackled at his own joke. Falling for the same girl twice really was one heck of a type.

Adrien grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the stupid laughing cat, fuming when it was dodged almost effortlessly.

"I love Ladybug! Ladybug okay?"

"Okay," Plagg allowed, already exhausted with his role of matchmaker but he knew this dunderhead was going to get nowhere fast without someone throwing him in the right direction. "What do you love about Ladybug?"

Adrien just gawked at the cat, completely unprepared for something like that coming from Plagg. He listened sure, but he never really engaged with the whole romance thing.

"I- everything! She's perfect!"

Plagg grinned again, able to see that he had his boy on the edge of a tangent, which is what he was going for even if it would be horrifically boring to sit through.

"What about her though. She just looks like a lady in spots to me."

Adrien's irritation flared once again, standing up from his bed to pace his room in sudden energy.

"A lady with spots!? Seriously!? She's so much more than that! She's beautiful, and graceful and smart and funny. She's inventive and brave! She's strong too, she cares! She cares about the people of Paris, she fights to keep them safe! She isn't just another girl Plagg she's Ladybug!"

"So Marinette's just another girl then?" Plagg countered, well aware of the thin ice he was treading.

Adrien stopped dead, whirling to face the kwami in anger and disbelief.

"What!? No! Of course not I didn't say that!"

Plagg shrugged his tiny shoulders, floating on his back and kicking through the air in feigned disinterest, playing Adrien like a fiddle.

"You're right, it's hard to notice normal girls like Marinette with Ladybug around. It's not like she's a superhero or anything, how could she even compete?"

Silence.

Adrien was furious, tired of people trying to say Marinette wasn't special or something. He got angry thinking about how nervous she had been to answer him when they were sitting in her room. She had thought so highly of him and so little of herself that she had trouble even speaking to him, nervous that he would find her plain and common like she thought she was. How many people had made her feel unimportant before for that to happen? How many stupid comments like Plagg's before you thought you didn't amount to much just being yourself?

"SHUT UP Plagg!" Adrien suddenly shouted, so amped that he forgot for a moment that Plagg's existence was a secret, lowering his voice to continue but still spitting the words.

"Marinette is amazing! She's funny and sweet and gives a crap about me! She cares about the people around her and even though there must have been tons of people like YOU trying to make her feel like she didn't matter she STILL CARES. She STILL does her best to make people smile and she is just as ready to help protect people as Ladybug is! She's one of the only people around who think that Adrien is enough, that I'm good enough by myself and I'm not going to let you or Chloe or anyone else try and make her seem like she isn't good enough too!"

To Adrien's confusion Plagg seemed pleased with his outburst, only understanding when Plagg flew right up in his face and said in a sing song tone, "Seems like the type of girl you would like to meee!"

Plagg soaked in every aspect of Adrien's expression as his brain all but shut down, freezing with wide eyes and a flushed face as he realized that he had just been played. Hard.

"I- I- uh." Adrien tried a few times to start a sentence, but his mouth would just open and close while his mental functions tried to spark back to life.

Plagg loved it. God his boy really could be walked right into a brick wall, it was hilarious.

"I- I-" I like her his heart supplied while his brain slowly came back online.

And the second he saw it there was no going back, like he noticed there was a cliff only when he was halfway down. He liked her, he liked all sorts of different things about her. How long had he spent obsessing over his list? His list of things she liked and didn't. He wanted to know, all of it. Every tiny detail, it interested him, it mattered to him. He had a list for Ladybug too but it was so short...

He paid so much attention during their too short interactions through the rainy days, every passing moment driving him further along a path he had refused to even look at because it wasn't an option. Liking Marinette wasn't an option because he already loved Ladybug, but his heart had kept on going anyways. As soon as he had seen her for the first time she was impossible not to notice, and there wasn't a mask in the way. He could ask what her favorite color was and know he had a good chance at getting the answer. He could ask her about what sorts of books she liked and why, what sorts of things she agreed with and didn't. He could know her.

Plagg's smile dropped a little from his face as he watched the torment and conflict start to bubble up, knowing he had caused it. It would have happened eventually... he would have run into that wall without his help, but seeing it really sink in wasn't as fun as he thought it might be.

Plagg knew that going through it meant that his boy had a shot at being with someone who made him happy, so he had thrown him in, knowing it was for his own good. But watching didn't feel good.

Adrien walked slowly back to his bed and sank down onto it, suddenly very still.

Was... was he betraying his lady?

He loved her, he knew he did. There was nothing fake or halfhearted about how he felt, she had captured his affections the very first time he laid eyes on her and tightened her hold with every spoken word. He loved Ladybug... and he wanted with everything in him to say that it was as deep and unshakeable as any love could ever be... but he didn't know her. He wanted too, he desperately wanted too, but he couldn't. She wouldn't let him.

Had she ever had pets? Did she have a favorite subject in school? What things upset her, what made her afraid?

She was one of his best friends, his partner, his lady. It wasn't as if they were strangers, he understood her as she was as deeply and complexly as she understood him, but he knew there was that distance.

She didn't know he didn't have a real home, she didn't know he was lonely. She couldn't without knowing Adrien, and if she was suffering as equally in her own life he would never know. Those stupid flimsy masks created worlds between them, and as long as they were there he might never have the chance to remember the little things.

What gnawed at him was that sometimes he could swear she would look at him with something like... he didn't have a word for it exactly.

It was as if the word maybe had a feeling to it, an appearance, something you could see in the eyes of another person. He was a maybe, an almost. Did she care about him too? Did she have those feelings but smother them for some reason he would never know? Was there some damn reason on the other side of her mask that kept her from ever looking at him like he looked at her?

And why now were all of those intense, overwhelming emotions not enough to keep him from looking at Marinette?

He felt so confused... so heavy but so... ugh.

He buried his head in his hands. It didn't make sense, it was all too much, because even when he had all this crushing doubt and sadness he still felt happy.

He liked that he made Marinette smile in class, he liked that he could make her blush. He liked that he could be Cat Noir without having to have a mask, and still be dorky and overenthusiastic and have her just smile at him. That soothing gentle smile, or maybe her happy joyful one. It the two days of knowing her he had seen all the tiny nuances of her expressive face, forming a whole other list for her types of smiles.

She reminded him of Ladybug in many ways, sometimes the resemblance was almost startling, in the way she moved or cocked her hips, but there was still more. There were all the little things he could never have of Ladybug that he could see in Marinette.

She didn't like too much honey in her tea, she used places to draw inspiration for her designs, and she could be both unmovably calm and overeager within the span of seconds.

Two days.

Was that really all it took?

He couldn't call it more than like, more than the very edges of a fledgling crush, but he could see that cliff now and it was very steep. It wouldn't take much. It would be incredibly easy, she was just that sort of girl. It would take no effort at all to care about her like that, the only thing they needed was time.

The one thing he could say now for certain was that he was already an extremely loyal friend to her, wanting to protect and support her at every turn. He was driven to anger easily when others said something he took offense to on her behalf, and he knew that protectiveness had confused barely understood motivations behind it.

It was too soon to know, he just knew he missed her. He wanted to be at school to see his friends and Marinette, her name already in a new distinct category all her own. Thinking back to it now how soon had he lumped her and his lady together into one group, calling them his lucky charms?

That guilt sprung up again, the sense of betrayal but...

Why should he feel guilty? He knew his love for Ladybug was real, but when she put up such a wall there was only so far he could go before he hit it.

It wasn't anything yet it was just...

His mind faltered and slowed down to a crawl, filling the sudden void with the white noise of the rain.

He had hated that storm not even a few hours ago, but now he saw it for what it was doing for him. Without it, would he and Marinette have ever even spoken?

His phone buzzed again in his hand and he realized that there were now two messages from Marinette waiting to be read having stacked up during his breakdown, the second being much more timid than the first.

He knew he could only get so far before his mind would revert back to the calming numbness he had adopted throughout his life, flipping on like a safety measure whenever things were too big or overwhelming. So instead he just allowed a small smile, tapping away quickly to keep her company through her boring lessons that day.

It was... confusing, and complicated. He just tried to look at things like Plagg might in his ever simplistic approach to things.

Texting Marinette makes me happy, so I'll do that.

So he did.

It was easier than trying to peg things down when it was really too early to tell.

"Hey Plagg..." he started, his voice unsure as he scanned the room for his friend. He found him a fair distance away sitting on the couch, sticking bits of cheese in a stack of his clean clothes.

"Sorry for getting mad," Adrien finished lamely, not sure what to say, knowing the cat had tricked him into thinking about the situation.

"I forgive you, because I'm nice like that," Plagg laughed, proving once again that he thought of things simply. That however did not make him simple, and Adrien had a new respect for that.

Even if he was annoying.

"Stop sticking CHEESE in my STUFF!"

The rain let loose once again, doing everything in its power to wash away the world and the pounding was a constant beat mixing in with the ticking of the clock and the tapping of student's feet. It was extremely loud to Marinette, who was just waiting for the final bell to ring like everyone else. Then she would be free to run home and... well probably do the same thing she had been doing all throughout the day. Text Adrien.

For only having his number for a day they had really made some progress filling up the chat log and Marinette had absorbed next to nothing from her lessons. She was honestly going to get behind at this rate, but she had actually gotten the bullet points from Adrien himself. Once his in-house tutors had showed up to power through a few hours of course material he had sent photos of his forced notes to her since he knew she wasn't doing much note taking on her own.

She repressed a sigh, knowing that she wanted to see him but wouldn't be able to until Friday...

Maybe she could do something? Make him laugh? Draw him a picture? No, no no that's lame she shouldn't... ugh.

He was all she could think about, which wasn't too different for her but her thoughts and daydreams were more colored and fleshed out then they had ever been before. From just their few interactions she had a much more complete image of his personality in her mind, and now her imaginings were almost too real.

If they were to kiss... in the rain. He might rub at his neck and chuckle nervously, shifting his weight and drawing close to her.

'F-for the umbrella,' he might stammer, looking adorably unsure of himself until she made the move maybe and- oooooh uggh she couldn't. It was too real, too... possible.

Just thinking that sent her heart into overdrive for the twentieth time that class period alone. It didn't help that she got a text from him just then as well.

A- 'School just about out?'

She swallowed, stupidly focusing on being calm and natural before even starting to type.

M- 'Almost, yeah. Seems like it's taking forever.'

Was that lame? There wasn't a lot of conversation in that...

A- 'What are you going to do after school? Homework? I wish we could hang out'

Marinette blushed hard, suppressing an ecstatic squeal. With a deep breathe she replied.

M- 'I wish we could hang out too. As for homework I don't have a lot for once, I have that paper for history but I know all of it so that won't take long. I'll probably work on Ladybug's winter stuff.'

She smiled at that, thinking herself clever. He thought those designs were cool, he would probably think her working on it was cool too, plus her response was totally smooth and not desperate at all.

A- 'Wait like the actual outfit!? Is it almost done!? What about Cat's? Send pics!'

The bell finally rung and the students started to funnel out, Alya gathering up her things and waiting patiently for her friend to get her head out of her phone and get going.

M- 'Hehe it's not ready yet but close, I'm still sketching out Cat's design. I'll probably have to ask him what he thinks before I work on it. Text you when I'm home, bell just rang.'

"Marinette!" Alya finally scolded, laughing at how she shot up from her seat and shoved everything in her bag.

"I'm going I'm going!" she exclaimed in a rush, unable to contain her giggles.

"How's Addrrrien?" Alya cooed, grabbing her girl by the arm and pulling her along.

"Fine," came the shy reply, but the red on her cheeks and the laugh that she couldn't quite contain gave her away.

"I am so happy for you Mari, and seriously proud."

Marinette blushed, smiling huge into her hands and skipping along the hallway. "Isn't it great!?"

The two girls laughed, waving at Nino from afar before separating for the walks home.

Marinette danced through the rain all the way home, just happy that he wished he could see her and dreaming again of her kiss in the rain. Maybe he would engage.

She missed him... she wanted to see him. But there was no way, not when he was grounded.

She slowed, and eventually came to a stop, letting the rain pour off of her jacket and umbrella.

Well. Marinette couldn't see him.

Wasn't he a fan of Ladybug? When he was trapped in that house no one could get in to see him... but Ladybug didn't need doors, just a window. It would make him smile, wouldn't it? To know that even superheroes cared about him? Or was it just weird and creepy and a pathetic excuse to see him? Would she even be able to keep her cool?

After thinking about it for a moment, the rain massaging her back, she probably could. She could act like she was just Ladybug and not Marinette, it wouldn't be too hard. If she had the ability to make him happy shouldn't she take it?

She smiled, laughing to herself.

It was also a pretty good excuse to see him.

She ran for home, timing things out in her head and giggling at her plan.

---

It had been about an hour and a half since school got out and Marinette had last texted him, but Adrien knew she had probably just gotten distracted with something. Still though, he wished she would answer him. He had all of his stuff but being stuck in a room all day was getting pretty lonely, even with Plagg around. He was sitting at his desk, scrolling through the Ladyblog when he heard the muffled vibration of his phone on his bed.

He bolted faster than he would like to admit to his bed, snatching up the phone and falling on his back onto the covers, reading the message.

The first line really confused him.

M- 'I'm really sorry I couldn't stop her!'

What? He opened the whole message, gasping at its contents.

M- 'I was working on Ladybug's stuff and I called her to confirm some measurements, but I just needed to take them myself so she came over. While we were working she saw the Cat Noir hood and asked if it worked and I said it did because my friend Adrien tested it for me, then I just kind of started babbling and well uh... I told her you got grounded after doing something nice for me. And she didn't like that and um, she said she wanted to go check on you to see how you were doing and uh... I think she's on her way there.'

"WHAT!?" Adrien shouted out loud, his head whipping around to assess why Ladybug showing up right then would be bad. He was still in pajamas, the Ladyblog was open on his computer, PLAGG was there and everything smelt stupidly of cheese.

Adrien dropped his phone, rolling off of the bed and sprinting to his closet to find clothes that didn't have cheese stink on them. Ladybug was coming to his HOUSE, but more than that he was completely unprepared. Why was she coming over!? How did she even know where he lived? Well the bubbler party he had to guess but, THESE SMELL LIKE CHEESE TOO.

"Ladybug is coming!" Adrien shouted to Plagg, who was starting to doze off on top of his basketball hoop.

"What?" came the confused answer, but Adrien was struggling into his only non- cheese pants available and said, "Just hide!"

Adrien flailed into suitable clothes and threw all of Plagg's cheese into the bathroom just when there was a tap on his window.

He turned with unease and excitement and there she was, smiling happily at him through his window on the second floor like it was nothing. Ladybug. To visit Adrien, not even Cat Noir, hanging by a yo-yo string looking rather smug for some reason, even as she was getting soaked.

Adrien could only stand and stare at her in shock, before he saw her shiver ever so slightly and flew into action, vaulting his couch and throwing open one of the windows so she could crawl inside.

"Ladybu- It's raining! Its cold I- hang on!"

He ran away, surprising her by running to his bathroom and returning with a big fluffy towel, much like she had done for Cat Noir when he visited. Was that just a staple for visiting superheroes? It made her smile.

"Hello Adrien," she replied easily, glad to see that thus far she was retaining a kind of calm in front of him, even if she was now standing in his room. Which was gigantic.

She toweled off and looked around, taking in the rock climbing wall and basketball hoop.

"Wow," she finally commented, "Your room is pretty cool."

"I- uh yeah its..." he rubbed at his neck awkwardly, knowing it was over the top by normal peoples standards, but mostly just unsure of what to do. He had no idea how to talk to his lady without his mask. "W- to what do I owe the p-pleasure," he stuttered out, kicking himself internally at how broken and weird it sounded.

She toweled off, smiling at him in an attempt to calm him but not knowing she was just making him more nervous. The fact that she pulled out her ponytails and her hair fell down so she could dry it was absolutely not helping.

"Well Marinette, your classmate," she started, verbally distancing herself, "is doing me and Cat Noir a favor and designing us some stuff. When I was in a meeting with her she mentioned that you had gotten in trouble for doing something nice and I wanted to come by and check how you were doing, if that's alright."

To his shock she suddenly seemed a little unsure of herself, something he had almost never seen from Ladybug.

"Sorry if it's weird to just drop by your house but uh..." she trailed off and he jumped in.

"N-no its fine! It's awesome! Thank you, I- I'm just surprised is all I- I uh didn't know you made housecalls." He laughed nervously, trying desperately to regain some Cat Noir humor and stop staring at how she looked with her hair down. She should do that more often, like all the time actually.

Ladybug smiled at him, rubbing at her hair a bit more before starting to pull it back into her usual ponytails, missing Adrien's look of disappointment.

"Well I don't do it normally, but I'm a fighter of injustice and what Marinette told me sounded a lot like just that. I can't really just punch your dad though soo... I figured dropping by would at least help. Besides," she smirked at him, inclining her head towards his giant computer monitors that were impossible to miss with a slight blush, "anything for a fan."

Adrien went bright red and looked like he had swallowed his tongue, remembering just then that he hadn't actually closed out of the Ladyblog on his desktop, and that more likely than not there was an article about her and her picture displayed on screen. Ladybug herself looked a little flustered, but ultimately flattered.

"Uuuh- I- I" he was mortified, but suddenly her hand was on his shoulder and she was smiling kindly.

"It's okay Adrien I'm just teasing you," she laughed easily, knowing that what she had done might have been a little rude and genuinely trying to make him feel better about it. She couldn't even imagine how she would have felt if her Adrien schedule had come down while he was visiting, though hers would be much harder to play off.

She walked over in the direction of the computer, trying to make it a more casual piece of conversation to put him at ease.

"Oh good," she joked, reading through a few of the lines, "she actually took those bits I gave her seriously. That should lead her in the wrong direction for a while."

The article was about rooting out her real identity, and a comprehensive list of all of Alya's hints and clues about who she might be. A few of them were uncomfortably close, so she had taken it upon herself to leave some false clues a week or so back.

"What do you mean?" Adrien managed to ask, grateful that she wasn't weirded out or making fun of him. He was still having a hard time even really seeing her there, standing in his room.

"She is a pretty avid reporter," Ladybug gestured at the screen, wrapping the towel around her shoulders for warmth even if it was a tad damp. "To keep her at a distance I leave her false clues every so often to keep her guessing."

Adrien frowned at that, upset to know that the list was compromised. He had been using it himself to try and figure it out, but now he couldn't be sure which facts were real.

"Does anyone know your real identity?" he asked, his curiosity already betrayed thanks to the article so he figured go big or go home. Except he was home so...

Ladybug laughed, turning to him with a raised eyebrow and a smile, thankfully not annoyed at the question. She resisted the urge to say 'You do.'

"Nope," she said simply, "nobody."

"Not even Cat Noir?" he followed up, already knowing the answer but gauging her reaction.

Her smile fell a little but she still seemed amused, shaking her head.

"Not even him."

"May I ask why? Sorry if that seems prying but uh... he's your partner, I just thought that was sort of strange."

Ladybug looked at him curiously, wondering where that was coming from, but was forced to think on the answer.

She had two reasons mostly. One was that it was dangerous, and the second was that she didn't want him to be disappointed with just plain, boring...

He wouldn't be though. He liked Marinette, would he really be upset? Or just excited?

"It's dangerous for people to know," she answered at last, "It would be easy for an akuma to hold my family and friends hostage if it ever got out. The best way to minimize that risk is to keep it a secret. Plus Cat could be used to try and find me if it was revealed that he knew even if no one else did. It's just safer."

"Yeah," Adrien agreed, shifting nervously from foot to foot. "But like... that's got to be hard. No one knowing. I mean... out of everyone don't you think Cat Noir would be the most capable of protecting himself? H-he could be used against you anyways since he's your friend as Ladybug. What added risk is there?"

Now Ladybug was getting suspicious, her eyebrow quirking even higher.

"Why?" she asked, tilting her head in a familiar way that confused him.

"I- no reason. It's just something I've thought about ya know..." he covered lamely, worried he was treading too close to the edge of his double life. He didn't think around her, he was lucky he hadn't slipped and called her 'my lady' yet.

"I- uh- anyways it's so awesome of you to check on me. I appreciate it," he changed the subject, but he could tell she was still thinking about it.

She eyed him warily before slowly responding. "Uh... yeah. Of course, what's happened definitely isn't fair. If I could break you out of here without risking you getting in worse trouble I would."

He laughed, shoveling his unease under the rug and just trying to enjoy the image of her standing so casually in his house like it happened all the time.

"You don't have to worry about me, I'll be alright. It's dumb but... well he leaves me alone when I'm in here at least."

He saw it then, the distraction left her eyes and they were suddenly filled with such genuine concern it made his breath catch.

Why... why would she care?

Cause that's just how she is, his mind supplied, and he marveled once again at his lady. She cared... so much for people, even random citizen Adrien Agreste.

"Are you sure you're alright? Living in this house has got to be hard sometimes."

He swallowed, looking at the ground. He was pretending in his mind that she knew it was her partner she was speaking too, and hearing her say something like that to him was... it felt good.

"I'm pretty tough m- miss," he added the title partially in an effort to be polite, and partially to disguise the start of the 'M' sound from almost saying 'my lady'.

She smiled, laughing quietly and putting her hands on her hips. "I'm sure you are, but just know you've got friends who have your back. I hope you will consider me one of them."

She loved the way his head shot up, his eyes bright and his cheeks slightly flushed.

"I- Of course!"

He gasped and froze when she suddenly hugged him, holding him for a moment and saying, "You are very brave Adrien. It takes a lot to deal with these sorts of things and still be standing at the end of it. You should be proud of yourself... I know all of your friends are."

Adrien was still, before Ladybug felt him hug her back, a little tightly, and a little curled in on himself. She didn't pull away, letting him hide his face. Perhaps it was too familiar... a little too close but...

She understood what Ladybug meant to some people. The people of Paris thought she was brave and strong, but she wanted Adrien to know she thought the same of him. Maybe it would mean more coming from a superhero...

"Thank you..." he said quietly, making no move to pull back. He relaxed, and just stood there, wondering how this had happened.

He wanted... more than ever, to tell her who he was.

'It's me,' he chanted in his mind, 'it's me, it's me, my lady it's me.'

She was the one who finally broke the contact, looking away so he could wipe at his eyes in relative privacy. They stayed close together though, a little too close to qualify as personal space.

There was silence, and Adrien saw her look towards the window, probably wondering if she should leave, but he didn't want to be alone. The sound of the rain filled his room, and he wanted someone to stay there with him.

"I- if you'd like... you can stay. For a little, if you aren't busy I mean."

Ladybug looked up at him, noticing how tall he was when they were stood so close together. His eyes were hopeful, eager, and a little sad, and she knew she couldn't leave him alone again. Even if Marinette couldn't be there, she would be if she could.

"The city seems pretty quiet," she replied after a short pause, looking up at him underneath her lashes to see him blush a little, "staying sounds nice. Thank you."

Adrien, his face a little red and more than a little distracted took a step back to let himself breath, trying to ignore Ladybug's self-satisfied smile in favor or retaining some composure. Marinette was on the moon, finding the confidence behind her mask to be a little more daring than she could be without it, and pleased with the reaction she got. She had seen how he looked at her when she first arrived, and she realized now that it wasn't just a hallucination.

It made her feel good.

She walked away towards the bathroom while pulling the damp towel in her hands, her goal to put it away but was surprised to see him cut her off, stammering something about 'Oh I'll get that!' before darting out ahead of her.

Adrien left Ladybug in the main room, his pride demanding that if he could not go back in time and keep her from seeing the blog than he damn well wouldn't let her see the random pile of cheese in the sink.