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Chat Noir was head-over-heels in love with Ladybug. Of course he was. When he thought about it, he really couldn’t imagine things being any different. To him it was just a constant and even though Ladybug didn’t like him back, Chat Noir contented himself with the implicit, platonic love that Ladybug was able to give him and he gave that and more in return.
Life was good, great even. He was a hero, he was Ladybug’s right hand man, he made people happy and he got the unique opportunity to save Paris while he did so. Nino was always right there with him out of costume and he was comfortable and safe in the situation he found himself.
Still, there were some things that got old.
He was still young, but Chat Noir wasn’t so naïve as to think that things would stay the same forever. In some cases, the thought of change terrified him. Being by Ladybug’s side, Plagg’s near constant company, and Nino’s casual, perennial support. In other situations, well, Chat thought that maybe a change would do some good.
Which is why, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he declared his love for Ladybug every chance he got.
“Ah, My Prince comes to save the day once again!” He teased as Ladybug landed beside him in the face of the newest akuma.
“Well I can’t leave my loyal kitty to fight all by himself, can I?”
Chat reveled in their banter, and always felt just a little bit disappointed when their time together came to an end. Ladybug gave him a pat on the head and a quick scratch behind the ear before taking off, leaving him feeling warm and happy as he watched his partner’s back disappear over a building.
He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the ghost touch of where Ladybug had scratched him and just allowing himself for a moment to gush over his crush.
“E-excuse me, mister.”
Chat opened his eyes and turned to the source of the voice. A man, older than him. He smiled amiably at Chat and said, “I won’t take up too much of your time. I just wanted to thank you, for what you’re doing.”
Chat felt a familiar surge of pride fill his chest as he looked at the man. “Of course. I’m just doing my job, sir.”
Chat shook hands with the man, who said, “And my son really admires you. Now, whenever people tease him about liking other boys he just says ‘yeah, well Chat Noir likes boys too and he’s a hero!’ It means a lot for the kids to be able to see you.”
Things changed, Chat knew, and the change he could inspire in kids was among one he treasured the most, and the change that would lead to that part of him not being needed so publicly anymore would be one he’d welcome with open arms. Chat went through a lot when he met Ladybug. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t start crushing on him very quickly, and so when he did, it was unsettling. Their relationship was strained and awkward for a good while, but they both acknowledged that defeating akuma was more of a two-person job, and they were close friends, so they kept trying. He talked it out with his new (at the time) best friend, Nino (being careful, of course, to keep it vague so as to keep his identity a secret), and eventually came to the uncomfortable conclusion that yes, he did have a crush on Ladybug, and that yes, he was gay.
It took a while. After the revelation, Chat had less trouble with Ladybug since he wasn’t so confused, and eventually as he became more comfortable he even started flirting with his red-clad partner. The most surprising thing to him, even now, was that despite shutting him down, Ladybug often flirted back without a second thought.
The change Chat had seen in himself, accepting and becoming comfortable with himself, was one he had the pleasure of seeing and expediting in others, and that was something he would always adore.
His ring beeped, alerting him that it was time to leave, so he left the man with a few parting words and returned to his home, preparing for the next day.
Though he was young, Adrien Agreste wasn’t so naïve as to think that nothing really changed. He had been identifying as gay for over a year, and something that was somewhat of a constant for a while was finally starting to wear on him. He knew that things changed, and he also knew that sometimes he had to be the one to initiate that change.
At first, the thing that kept him from coming out was terror. He was afraid, simply put. He was afraid of his friends, he was afraid of his dad, and he was afraid of himself. (He was afraid of change). But later, after months of living with himself, he just stopped caring as much. He enjoyed flirting with everyone, even the girls, so he didn’t mind when they flirted with him too. He talked with Nino all the time about it, and he didn’t try to hide it, but he never publicly said it out loud either. Nino and Ladybug, the only two people he really loved, knew, and that was enough. He didn’t feel it was necessary.
Still, he thought that people would have guessed. “…and Ladybug just picked up Chat and chucked him at the akuma!” Alya said enthusiastically.
“I know! Did you see his arms in that picture where he’s lifting Chat? He’s so strong.” Adrien replied, turned sideways in his seat to talk face-to-face with Alya.
“Isn’t he? I swear he’s trying to make all the girls swoon.”
Adrien laughed, and said, “I don’t think the girls will be the only ones swooning.” When Marinette caught his eye with her shocked expression, he winked at her.
Her face was already as red as it was likely to get, but his gesture seemed to make her speak up. “O-okay but,” She sputtered. “What about Chat Noir? Ladybug’s smaller than him.”
“Well,” Adrien started, noting the snicker from Nino next to him. “I don’t think any of us were really arguing that Chat Noir isn’t stunning.” He smirked.
“Not as good looking as Ladybug though.” Alya said with a sidelong glance at her best friend, obviously teasing her about something.
Adrien, though he did feel the need to defend himself, wasn’t all that upset by Alya’s words. After all, he agreed with them. “I officially vote Ladybug and Chat Noir as the most attractive couple in Paris.”
“Seconded.” Alya said immediately. “Those two are the cutest.”
Marinette protested, exclaiming Alya’s name while the rest of them laughed before the teacher called a stop to their antics and started the class.
And, of course, the end of class meant Chloe. She, as always, was on him the moment they were dismissed. Adrien looked over to Nino, who offered a thumbs-up in return before Adrien took her shoulders and gently pushed her off of him. “Chloe,” He said, “Please don’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“It makes me uncomfortable.” Adrien noticed the look in Chloe’s eyes change. She looked less callous, certainly less cold. “I just want us to be perfectly clear, okay? I’m not interested in girls.”
He gulped at the look in her eyes, but at the same time, her eyebrows were furrowed, and raised. She was hurt. “What are you saying?”
“I’m gay, Chloe. I’m sorry but please don’t ask me out anymore. I’d still love to hang out but… you know, no dates.”
Chloe stared at him, her jaw slack, and took a step back. She looked down, at him, and then sideways. She took a breath, but then closed her mouth, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the room.
Everything was quiet.
“Well, I think she took that rather well, don’t you?” Nino said casually as ever.
Adrien looked at his best friend and shrugged. It was hard to tell how Chloe felt based on her actions because normally she’d just tell you. That she didn’t left Adrien feeling like he really, really hurt her. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
Turning more, he saw Marinette run a hand through her short hair, while Alya gave her a curious look. Both of them gave him an odd look, while Nino said,
“We should probably clear out of the classroom.”
“Uh, yeah. Let’s go.” Adrien agreed, following Nino to the door.
“Hey, Chat, can I ask you something?” Ladybug said nearly halfway through their patrol a few nights later.
“Of course.” Chat responded quickly, glancing over at his partner.
He had noticed that Ladybug had been a bit more subdued recently, but he didn’t seem particularly upset, so Chat didn’t bother him about it. He figured Ladybug just had a lot on his mind. “You like boys, right?”
“Um, yeah.” Chat tilted his head and furrowed his brow. “Why?” Chat wanted to do everything he could to help Ladybug, since he seemed distracted and maybe even a little bothered by whatever it was (and if it had to do with sexuality then Chat felt confident he could be a useful resource if nothing else), but he also couldn’t help but hope that maybe Ladybug was questioning his own sexuality. Maybe, pawibly, for a certain kitty?
He felt himself flush at the thought, but refused to give it solid purchase in his mind. “Would you ever consider dating someone who, uh…” Ladybug fiddled with his yo-yo and looked away, a rare show of nerves from the hero. “W-would you date someone who… isn’t a boy?”
Chat Noir stopped short at the question. “I’m… sorry? What?” It seemed like such a strange question to him at that point that he would have sworn he misheard. Sure, you never really stop coming out, but I haven’t heard the “would you ever date a girl” one in a long time.
“Would you ever consider dating someone who isn’t really a boy?”
“Uh, Ladybug,” Chat said carefully. “That’s kind of… nonsensical? It’s kind of by definition that I’m not interested in girls.” Why would he care anyway? I doubt he’d try to set me up with someone. Especially not given my extreme gayness and the obvious problem of not knowing each other’s identities.
Ladybug sighed and put his head in his hands. “Ugh, that’s not what I meant. Obviously I don’t mean… I just… D-do you know anyone who’s not a boy or a girl?”
Chat frowned. “You’re asking if I’d date a non-binary person?”
Ladybug perked up, lifting his head and looking at Chat with surprise and a smile. “Yeah! That’s what I’m asking.”
“Can I ask why?” Chat felt his ear twitch as he considered possibility upon possibility as to why Ladybug could possibly want to know that. We don’t even normally talk about relationships at all.
Chat narrowed his eyes slightly when he noticed Ladybug’s cheeks darken, but he kept his mouth shut as his partner responded to him. “Uh, sure. I’m mostly just curious. I happened across some other people in that situation and I can’t really ask the one involved. It’s not important.” He shook his head. “Just… forget I said anything.”
Ladybug turned away, but Chat noticed the way he held his hands close to his chest, and how tense he seemed, so he reached out and put a hand on Ladybug’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright. I don’t mind. But… I don’t know, probably not? The only thing is, at the moment, you’re the only one I’m interested in dating. And I’m… well I’m gay, I’m not really attracted to, you know, uh, how do I say this? The female sex? That sounds terrible, ignore that, I just-”
“I understand.”
“I want to be totally clear.” Chat said earnestly, seeing the way Ladybug’s face fell. “I’m just having a hard time articulating it.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I’m, obviously, more attracted to… the male… body, than the female one. So, I’m going to be totally honest, okay? It’d probably be easier to date a non-binary person who is biologically male.” Ladybug seemed let down by his answer, so he tried to elaborate in hopes that it would be better. “But it’s a hard question, you know? I don’t really have much experience with gender, so it’s hard to say under what circumstances I might or might not be willing to date someone who isn’t cis.”
“But most likely, you wouldn’t.”
“I’m only interested in you.” He affirmed, refusing to lie but also refusing to reiterate what noticeably struck a chord with Ladybug. “So as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t really matter. I never thought of it. It’d have to be something I consider carefully with them, if it did happen.” Chat Noir felt a tightening in his chest watching Ladybug grimace. “Is… are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He said dismissively, turning to face the city rather than Chat. “Thanks for being honest with me.”
“Always.”
They were quiet for a moment, and then Ladybug took off again. He paused on the next roof, and when Chat caught up to him he asked, “How about an asexual person?”
“Ladybug, what’s going on?” He couldn’t help but ask. “This is weird from you.”
“You’re right, sorry. I just… I have a lot on my mind.” He ran a hand through his short hair, mussing it up as he shook his head at the same time.
“I’m not uncomfortable answering those kinds of questions, I just want to know that you’re okay. You’ve been kind of off lately.”
He sighed, meeting Chat’s eyes for the first time for at least a few minutes. “I’ll be fine; I’m just feeling… inadequate.” Chat, of course, immediately started to reassure Ladybug that he could never be anything less than the best being in Paris, but he was cut off. “Can I tell you something, Chat? Promise we can still be friends?”
“Of course! I’d never give up your friendship.” Chat pouted at the thought that Ladybug even entertained the notion that he’d ever stop wanting to be his friend.
“W-well, I… I’m not… strictly speaking… a boy.”
Chat started to speak, but everything came out incoherent. After many failures, and a lot of flailing his arms around, he finally settled on, “What?”
“I was asking those questions because I was feeling like… like no one could ever really like me, since I’m non-binary.”
“Oh.” Oh. Oh my god. I messed up. I messed up big time. He was feeling like no one would like him and I told him I wouldn’t date him oh my god I’m going to die.
“‘Oh’? That’s it?” Ladybug turned to face him and changed tunes quickly. “Chat, are you okay?”
“No! No I’m not! You… you asked me because you felt bad about it and I only made it worse I should have-”
Ladybug shook his head. “What? Lied? You know that’s not what I want, Chat.”
“No, not lie, just… I should have been more careful about it. Oh my god I can’t believe I was so stupid, please, please, please forgive me I didn’t mean to do that!”
“Hey! Kitty!” Ladybug had to raise his voice to get Chat’s attention over his minor freak-out session “I’d rather you be honest than try to sugarcoat it. It’s fine, really.”
Chat’s mind was still reeling, but he saw Ladybug standing next to him looking, for the first time despite his physical size, small. He couldn’t allow that. He couldn’t allow Ladybug to leave there upset, certainly not by something he had said. So he blurted out the first honest thing that occurred to him that might help. “I’d still date you.”
Ladybug gave him a doubtful look. “But you said-”
“I said you’re the only one I’m interested in. That didn’t change.” Didn’t it? Why didn’t it? Shouldn’t it, if he’s not actually a boy? Chat’s vision traced the lines of Ladybug’s face, his eyes, his lips, along his mask, and the familiar fluttering in his stomach and warm joy in his chest never wavered. I feel like it should have, but it didn’t. I still love him… them? I should ask, but I’m not sure now is really the best time.
If Chat Noir wasn’t so confident in his night-vision, he would swear he was imagining how Ladybug’s eyes glistened. “It isn’t a… like a deal-breaker for you? That I’m not a boy?”
Chat looked down, as confused as Ladybug seemed. “Apparently not.” He said, shrugging.
“I-I am biologically female, you know.”
Chat couldn’t help but let his eyes drop immediately to Ladybug’s chest. Flat. Probably the magic crime-fighting suit. Or they’re just not big anyway, or they were removed, oh my god why am I thinking about Ladybug with boobs ugh. He quickly returned his gaze to his partner’s eyes. Still… Another shrug. “Doesn’t matter.” He said, surprised at himself for how genuine his words were. “I love you. And if you ever love me back, romantically, and we started dating… we could deal with it. I’d be willing to work with you, boy, girl, neither, or both I don’t care. I want to work with you.”
Luckily for him, Chat Noir was rather used to declaring his love for Ladybug. Even still, he couldn’t keep down the blush from his face. Why am I talking like it’s a possibility? He obviously has a crush on someone and it’s pretty obviously not me, so I should ju- Oh my god he’s hugging me.
Chat gently wrapped his arms around Ladybug, who had rushed forward, caught him in a vice-grip around his torso, and buried his head into his shoulder. “Chat, I-” He felt Ladybug’s body shake slightly. “I- thank you. Chat, thank you so, so much.”
“I’m only being honest.” He replied, rubbing Ladybug’s back lightly.
He felt like his insides were tilting too far on some scale, and were rotating slowly in his gut.
Hours later, Adrien Agreste laid on his bed, staring at the high ceiling, unable to sleep. He felt unbalanced, almost like he was on a boat, and his bed was swaying, but it was only his insides that moved with it.
He felt like a liar.
But I didn’t lie. Not once.
He still felt like he straight-up stabbed someone in the back. Not even anyone in particular, he just felt generally like he had betrayed someone.
Why? Adrien reflected on everything that happened that night, and could only focus on one thing. I still love Ladybug. They’re not a boy but I love them anyway. Does that mean… I’m not really gay?
He wasn’t so naïve as to think that his love for Ladybug was something that could be so easily changed, but he never thought that he would have to go through this torment of not knowing himself, of listening for a voice that couldn’t speak (because it was his own all along, and he refused to use it), of trying on and wearing in titles like shoes, endlessly searching for the one pair that fit, and only got more comfortable as he wore them, again.
And for the same person, too. The things we go through for love, huh? Adrien took a deep, shaky breath. I just don’t understand. Obviously it’s not like I don’t want to keep loving him, but the situation really feels like something about my feelings should have changed. Like, if there was ever a time for feelings to change, finding out they’re not the gender you thought they were would probably be that moment, right? So why do I still love him so much? Uncomfortably, he steadied his breathing. It doesn’t make sense.
Plagued by his thoughts, Adrien didn’t manage to get much sleep that night.
Pan, maybe? He thought as he showered the next morning. No, because I’m not attracted to anyone but boys. Again, gay is the only one that makes sense, but then Ladybug goes and ruins that too. Ugh. I wonder how masculine Ladybug presents himself in civilian life. He has short hair, but then, so does Marinette and she’s pretty darn girly. He dragged himself out of the shower and got ready for school. Not that it’s a bad thing, obviously, but again I’m just not attracted to girls. I wouldn’t tell him how to dress or act but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t prefer he expressed more male… god, what am I even thinking? I need to stop this right now. One thing that’s absolutely positive though, next time I see him I have to ask about his pronouns. I don’t want to keep thinking of him as… “him” if he doesn’t want me to. First and foremost is Ladybug. I have to be the best partner I can, relationship or no.
When he finished dressing and grabbed his phone to put in his bag, he noticed a couple messages on it.
Nino: Adrien don’t look at Alya’s message do urself a favor just don’t say you didn’t see it.
Uh… okay…
Alya: Adrien do u own a skirt?
Adrien felt like he was going to have a bad time. Quickly, he typed a response.
Adrien: no? why would I have a skirt
Alya: Would u b willing to wear 1?
Alya: I happen to have 1 that u would look gr8 in ;)
Adrien: why
Alya: We’re destroying the gender binary.
Alya: There’s a lot of us. I even got Kim 2 agree 2 wear a blouse.
Alya: Juleka and Rose r dressing up as steampunk bfs ‘,:)
Alya: I didn’t ask Chloe but Sabrina is wearing flannel just 4 me <3 *swoon* (jk)
Alya: I do understand it’s easier for us girls tho so if you don’t want to.
Alya: YO RESPOND I KNOW YOU’RE GETTING THESE
Adrien just stared at his phone wondering what was actually happening. That seems random. He thought, but it’s happening the day after Ladybug tells me he’s non-binary? Call me a skeptic but there’s some connection there. I don’t know where or how it is, but it’s there somewhere.
Alya: You srsly didn’t turn off the send read receipts? Lol
Adrien: what’s the occasion?
Alya: We’re supporting Mari. Did you see their Instagram????
Adrien: no, I didn’t look, what happened?
Alya: Look!!! And if you don’t give me an answer soon I’m bringing the skirt.
Alya: If I bring the skirt ur wearing the skirt mr.
Picking up his bag on the way out the door, he navigated through his phone to Instagram, and found Marinette on it. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng” he read off of her account, continuing to the biography. “Non-binary, they/them/their…” He found his throat got dry after only that, though he doubted he could have continued reading the short biography anyway when his eyes refused to leave the pronouns and the word “non-binary”.
Adrien: Mari’s nb?!
Alya: That’s what it says isn’t it???
Adrien: did u know?
Alya: Duh, they’re my best friend dummy. So, skirt or no?
Adrien: of course I’ll wear the skirt. :3
Alya: Knew I could count on u <3
Adrien: does it have pockets?
Alya: PFFFT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NICE ONE
Welp. Adrien thought, casually transferring his wallet and keys from his pockets to his bag.
As it turned out, due to the fact that he was sitting for the majority of the day (as you do in school), and that Alya had somehow gotten every other boy in the class to wear girl clothes too (and it appeared to Adrien that Alya had convinced some of the other classmates to exchange clothes as well, since there was no chance she provided all of the clothes for the boys), wearing a skirt for a day was not in the slightest the most embarrassing thing to happen to him. Even Nino admitted that it wasn’t too bad with everyone else all dressed up.
In fact, Adrien thought it was kind of fun. A bunch of the girls (and even Adrien) contributed to a make-up pool that Juleka used on anyone, boy or girl, who wanted. Alix went around flirting with all the boys. Rose actually brought snacks, which turned the entire class into a kind of party. The teacher, of course, was flabbergasted by the display, but allowed them to continue so long as they payed attention. Even Chloe stayed cordial and didn’t bother anyone (on purpose at least). And Marinette…
Marinette walked into the room just a little late, looking exhausted but content, and froze on the spot when they saw everyone milling about. Everyone else froze too, even Juleka, halfway through applying eyeliner on Kim.
“Surprise, Mari!” Alya yelled, leaping over Adrien’s desk to hug her best friend.
“Wh-what did you do?!” Marinette exclaimed, gaping at the scene. Everyone laughed.
“I broke the gender norms is what I did. But I can’t take all the credit. It was actually Juleka’s idea.”
When Marinette looked at Juleka, she waved them off. “Alya did everything.”
“You guys…”
“We wanted you to know we all support you.” Alya said, holding Marinette’s shoulders.
“And we wanted an excuse to party.” Alix said with a laugh.
“You’re all…” Marinette tried to say, being interrupted by their own laughs and cries, “so, so ridiculous.”
“Yeah but we’re ridiculous for you.”
Marinette cried a lot that day, but Adrien was happy knowing that they were tears of joy. The entire situation was a nice distraction from his own issues, and it reminded him of something important that he hadn’t thought about for a long time.
Does it really matter? He thought as he relaxed, watching the video the teacher chose for class (which was supposed to be shown the next day, but was moved up because of the spontaneous party). If I like Ladybug then I like Ladybug. Gay or not, that’s all that really matters. So I have some more research to do, but liking Ladybug doesn’t mean I’m not attracted to guys, and being attracted to men doesn’t mean I don’t like Ladybug. I’ll figure it out, and until I do, gay is as accurate as I have.
So I’m fine.
Looking around at his classmates, Adrien chuckled. And when his eyes settled on Marinette, his expression settled on a huge, goofy grin, mimicking their own.
Word about the party spread quickly. Their teacher made short work of anyone trying to put down the class, just as she made short work of any sort of outburst the next day. They slacked off the previous day, she had said, so they had to work doubly hard then. Whenever anyone would try to say anything mean about it, there’d nearly always be someone in the school willing to step in and defend them. It was all quite frankly just so overwhelmingly wonderful to Adrien.
Marinette practically clung to Alya all day, still overloaded from all the support they had been getting. Similarly, Adrien stuck close to Nino, lost in thought any time he wasn’t forced to focus on any particular subject.
“Alright, dude, what’s on your mind? You’ve been super spacey all day.” Nino said, stopping Adrien with a hand (which Adrien walked straight into because he wasn’t paying attention).
“Huh? Oh, sorry, I’m just thinking about stuff.”
“Mhmm. Stuff.”
“Okay, fine.” Adrien rolled his eyes, pulling Nino around the side of the school so that everyone could leave for lunch and they were out of the way and hidden. “I’m rethinking my sexuality.”
“Uh, what?” Nino looked at him incredulously. “You crushing on a girl now or something? What happened to Ladybug?”
“That’s not it! Yesterday just got me thinking about where non-binary people fit into the whole thing, you know? Like, would I date a non-binary person? Or a trans person? I only ever thought about cis people last time and I think it doesn’t really matter all that much to me?” Nino nodded and waited for Adrien to continue. “Okay, so I’m only attracted to guys. Like, physically. But I don’t know, I could totally see myself dating someone who isn’t necessarily a guy? I’m not sure what that means.”
“Oh,” Nino chuckled. “I know what that means.”
“You do?”
Nino smirked, “Adrien I’m ace, remember? But I still like…” He gestured for Adrien to finish his sentence.
“Alya?”
“Yeah. Dude, you might be the same. Just, you know, not ace. More like homosexual… pan? Demiromantic? I don’t know, that’s up to you.”
“What’s demiromantic?”
“Oh boy, here we go.” Nino said, smiling as he shook his head.
Adrien was smart to bring snacks that day, because, wow, sexuality is complicated. I knew about ace and aro but I didn’t know there was a whole other multitude of identities on the ace spectrum. Nino and he ended up having a very long discussion over everything Adrien had been feeling (with him being careful not to tell his friend that Ladybug was non-binary, since that wasn’t his secret to reveal).
Half an hour later, the two wrapped up their lecture with Nino saying, “…anyway so that’s why your situation is kind of screaming ‘demi’ to me but I mean these things are all fluid, so dude you take your time, think about it, and give me the scoop when you can.”
“Geez,” Adrien said, laying back to look at the sky. “Why does it have to be so complicated?”
Nino shrugged. “Dunno, but you’ll figure it out. Meanwhile, I’m hungry, we have like ten minutes so let’s get some snacks quick.”
“Got you covered.” Adrien said, digging through his bag and splitting his rations (the not-cheese kind) between them.
Chat Noir was head-over-heels in love with Ladybug. Of course he was. When he thought about it, he really couldn’t imagine things being any different. To him it was just a constant and even though Ladybug didn’t like him back, Chat Noir contented himself with the implicit, platonic love that Ladybug was able to give him and he gave that and more in return.
Life was good, but still, there were some things that got old.
And though he was still young, Chat Noir wasn’t so naïve as to think that everything would change. There were some things that would, could, and had to stay the same.
Which is why, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he was so surprised when Ladybug caught his arm and stopped on a lonely roof, somewhere lost in the twinkling of the city lights. Turning to them (“Them”. It was the first thing he asked when they met for patrol.), Chat Noir tilted his head as his ear twitched.
“I want to tell you who I am.”
“What?” He whispered, half certain that the gentle breeze had somehow distorted the words before they reached him.
“I think I’m ready for you to know my identity.”
“Ladybug… are you sure?” He asked, searching their face to try to find their purpose.
“Yes. Chat, you’re the best friend I could ask for, and… I think it’s time. You were right. We should be able to… we can trust each other with this. And if I know you, then it’ll only let us be better partners than we already are.” They smiled.
“Even better than we are now?” Chat grinned. “We need at least some challenge.”
Ladybug’s beautiful laughter would have been enough. Watching them become enveloped in a pink light, and reappear not as Ladybug, but as Marinette was too much.
He laughed, as it was the only thing he could think to do. “I knew that was sketchy.” He said, willing Plagg out of his ring and releasing his own transformation. “But I didn’t think it was you.”
Their eyes went wide seeing him. “A-Adrien?!”
“Hi.” He waved sheepishly.
They started stammering, “I-it was y-you a-all along? Y-you were the one always saying you l-loved m-me?”
“Do you want me to say it again?” He asked innocently, with a less innocent wink added on. He took their hand and brought it to his lips. “I love you, Marinette. And I’ll keep saying it.” Marinette covered their mouth with their free hand, but for once didn’t pull their hand from his grip. “As long as you want me to.”
“You know I only want you honest with me, Kitty.” Marinette said, red faced and nearly vibrating from a joy that Adrien shared.
“Always, then.”