"Clue? What clue are you referring to?"

Ladybug slid out of their embrace with a mischievous smirk. The previous worries she'd held were all but gone; shrinking into a whisper which disappeared with one last, relieved sigh. No. Instead, the knowledge that Chat Noir went to her school began to seep into her mind like a warm drink on a cold day. At first his presence felt like an apparition, a trick of the light, wishful thinking getting the better of her. But, as he stalked towards her, an expression of mock disapproval painted on his handsome features, Ladybug surrendered to the utter giddiness she felt. Her mile-a-minute mind stilled, for once the ifs and how's were silenced. She let herself breathe in the reality of him.

"Ladybug," Chat's voice was a low, deep, completely unthreatening warning. He leaned his torso towards hers in a half-bow that was unfairly seductive. Finding it difficult to hold herself upright, Ladybug let out a nervous chuckle. Damn it. It wasn't fair. A week ago, she wouldn't have given a gesture like that a second thought (ok maybe a second thought, maybe even a third thought, but DEFINITELY not a fourth thought!) A week ago, she would have rolled her eyes at his silly attempts at flirting.

But this wasn't a week ago, and his attempt was entirely successful… if her now boneless legs were anything to go by.

"Yeees?" she drawled, her mouth covered by her fingers, as she tried to hide the effect he was having on her. Instead she fixed her attentions on the broken, front-loading kiln in the dusty corner. Attempting to calm her racing heart, she focused on memorising every rusted feature. The last thing she needed was his boasts ruining the moment. Yet, as the seconds ticked by, she began to find the heat of the windowless room evermore stifling.

"You promised you'd give me another clue," he whispered, ending his bow and crossing the remaining space between them. From her peripheral vision, she noticed shy fingers moving toward her hair, but his hand stilled before it came into contact with her. This caught her attention and she lifted her eyes up to his. In them she saw a question, a wait for permission. Ladybug would have found this funny if it weren't so incredibly sweet. After all, they'd kissed last night, she'd just thrown herself at him (literally), and he'd just kissed her nose. It seemed, now that the more extreme emotions and adrenaline had passed, he was almost shy in his advances.

The thought surprised yet pleased her. She'd always thought Chat would be a more aggressive suitor, and was glad she was mistaken in that assumption. The feeling in her stomach was comparable to every akuma she'd ever cleansed fluttering inside her simultaneously. She softened, moving forward ever-so-slightly. Chat took the hint, and rested his hand against her, twirling her hair around his finger. His thumb brushed alongside her cheek faintly. Sighing in content, Ladybug closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Had she kept her eyes upon him even a second longer, she would have seen how much he loved her. She would have seen him melt at her reaction, his head dipping lazily to one side as he regarded her.

"Did I?" She mused faintly.

"My Lady," he whined, but it was gentle whine. More pleading than pouty. She grinned and opened her eyes once more, poking her tongue out at him. This proved to be somewhat of a mistake, however, as Chat's attention was immediately drawn to it. When he looked back up to her, his pupils had widened, his lips parted in hunger she realised only she could satisfy. She was about to do as much, her eyelids half shut, when Tikki's reminder about patience screamed at her from the deepest corners of her memory. Not now, not now, I have SOME self-control.

Ladybug had to dig her nails into her palms to prevent herself reaching out and pulling him towards her, to continue what they started last night. They didn't have much time before next class, and if she was going to kiss him again she was going to take her damn time learning every inch of him. That plus she really couldn't afford to be late to any more classes. She could just hear her excuse now:

"Sorry I'm late Monsieur Pellon, I was busy making out with Chat Noir in our art cupboard."

Yeah. Maybe not.

"Hmm, and whose fault is it that we only have a few minutes before we need to leave?" she teased, arching her eyebrow. He wasn't pouting before, but he certainly was now. Right on cue, the warning bell rang, alerting the students of the need to make their way to afternoon classes, "I'll tell you the clue on patrol tonight instead ok?"

He sighed, giving a resigned half shrug, but smiling at the idea of their meeting that evening. Sunsets were much more romantic than art cupboards after all. That, and the knowledge that she was definitely going to give him another clue, made his heart turn over happily in his chest. Tiny pinpricks of electricity flittered through his veins. He wrapped an arm around her waist, stalling when he heard her gasp. This was so new and, though a part of him relished in finally winning Ladybug's affections, another part of him was desperately worried that he was going to screw it up somehow.

His doubts were dashed when she shuffled towards him, pressing her body into his and shyly tilting her chin up. God he loved her- this powerful, adorable, dazzling woman- and wanted nothing more than to kiss her again.

But they were out of time.

"At least I was able to see you today," he conceded. Their eyes met, both of them thinking the exact same thing. Perhaps they had already seen each other.

Quite suddenly, a look crossed Ladybug's face which garnered Chat's curiosity. She seemed both nervous and excited, like a particularly dangerous idea had crossed her mind and she didn't know whether or not to act on it.

"Hey," she whispered, "You know I trust you right?"

Of course he knew that, but her saying it still had the same effect as a swift blow to the back of his head. Chat blinked at her, half-dazed, half love-struck. He nodded dumbly.

"Close your eyes."

Still not catching on, he did as Ladybug requested, finding it endlessly endearing when he felt a rush of air tickling his face. She'd obviously waved her hand in front of his eyes to check that they were closed. Chat was about to ask her what she had planned, when she spoke once more. Her voice was small, her closeness heightened now that he had one less sense to rely on. The feel of her in his arms, warmth passing between them, the smell of flowers in her hair, the sound of her light breathing. It was too much and not enough.

"Don't open them, promise?"

Chat froze. Realisation of what she was about to do hit him like a bullet.

He kept his promise.

Even as he felt the rush of energy, saw the bright pink glow of her transformation from behind his closed eyelids, he still refused to open his eyes. Every ounce of his will was concentrated on not doing the thing he so desperately wanted to do; to gaze upon her, to see who she really was underneath the mask, to confirm or dash his suspicions.

As Tikki floated wordlessly to Marinette's discarded purse, Marinette surveyed her partner. Outside of her mask Chat looked the same, yet completely different. Hers, yet not hers. Ladybug's, not Marinette's.

She hoped they'd fix that someday soon. She wanted to be his, she wanted all the sides of him as much as he wanted all the sides of her.

As if to reaffirm that promise, Marinette lifted herself up, placing a hand on his shoulder to balance herself, gently brushing her lips against his own. She heard him inhale sharply, felt his eyes squeezing tighter, and her resolve almost gave out. Pulling away, she swallowed the words which threatened to escape her lips "open your eyes Chat, it's me."

It wasn't the time for that.

However, she couldn't fight the alternative words resting on her tongue.

"I'm a final year student," she confessed, trailing her hand up to one of his cat ears to give it a loving scratch. She heard him groan unintentionally (if the sudden burst of colour on his cheeks was of any indication). Having to fight to ignore the coil-like sensation in her stomach, which made her whole body shudder in response to his groan, was harder than fighting any akuma. "See you tonight, mon minou."

The feeling of calling him such an endearing pet name, outside her transformation, was enough to make them both euphoric. Unable to help herself, she swooped in for one last kiss (this time on his cheek). Grabbing her bag, she ran for the door, sprinting to her next class.

Back inside the art closet, a de-transformed Adrien stared at the closed door, fingers at his lips. His eyes were wide as he turned her clue over in his mind. He barely heard Plagg's teasing comments, it was as though there were layers of sound-proof glass between them. The final bell rang, but Adrien ignored the fact that he was now late to class. There were far more important things to consider.

She's in the same year as me. She just kissed me outside of her mask. TWICE.

"See you tonight, my lady," he whispered.

An involuntary squeal erupted from the back of his throat. Plagg rolled his eyes in disgust.

---

Maybe some of her Ladybug-luck had lingered, because Marinette managed to stumble into class just as the final bell rang. Her legs still felt detached from her body after her encounter with Chat. It was a miracle she hadn't fallen down earlier.

Monsieur Pellon sat at his desk, drinking coffee from a comically large mug. If he'd noticed Marinette's squeak as she face-planted onto the paint stained floor, he certainly didn't give any indication. The rest of the class were used to her falling or tripping by now, so they remained unfazed. Scrambling to her feet, she hurried over to her table and collapsed into the hard plastic stool. A puff of air burst from her lips and she buried her face in her hands.

"You ok Marinette?"

Peeking out from behind her fingers, she spotted Nathanael smiling sympathetically at her from his spot by her side. Lowering her hands, she nodded faintly, and set to work unpacking her sketch book and pencils.

Monsieur Pellon stood up from his desk, ancient bones creaking as he did so. He shot them all a wry grin, scratching his wiry, silver hair. Marinette was always reminded of an owl whenever he looked at them with his round, yellowish eyes.

"Well I should think you're all ready to hear what your final project titles are," He wheezed, a beam spreading across his face as he rubbed his wrinkled hands together. That was the funny thing about Monsieur Pellon. Although he was old (having come back from retirement after his wife died) he never seemed to lose enthusiasm for his subject, and always found something good in his students' work. In short, he was the type of teacher who earned the respect of his pupils by being honest, fair in his constructive criticisms, and by being a generally caring person. Marinette adored him and, trying to actually be a good student for a change, wiggled towards the edge of her seat as he revealed the short list of potential titles to choose from.

She could freak out about Chat Noir later. She probably wouldn't stop freaking out about Chat Noir later.

"This lesson is free for you to experiment with the different titles," Monsieur Pellon explained, "If you need any advice I'm here to give it, but really at this point I'd suggest trusting your instincts. You've all done well for surviving this far!" The class chuckled, "So go on! Chop, chop!"

As Marinette set about making spider diagrams in her sketch book, brain storming ideas for the various titles until something stuck, she noticed Nathanael hadn't moved.

"Nath?" She prodded his arm and he jerked backwards with a start.

"Wha- umm- oh sorry," he stammered, causing her to frown. He hadn't acted like this for years. Nath's confidence had only grown as they'd gotten older. Yet, even in her blissfully brain-addled state, she could tell something was wrong. He kept glancing at his phone.

Suddenly, something in Marinette's mind clicked. She wanted to kick herself.

"You don't find out today do you?" She asked quietly, biting her lip in suspense. For the past year, Nathanael had gone on and on about a foundation year at a prestigious art college in London, and how much he wanted to go there. It would mean that he and his boyfriend Louis (a first year history student at ENS Paris) would have to go long-distance but neither of them seemed to fret too much over it. London was only a couple of hours on the train and, as Nath had explained one day, it could be very cheap if you knew how to look for the right deals.

The thing causing him the most anxiety was the final stage interview. A couple of months ago, he'd had go to the university itself, dragging his massive portfolio across the channel to present it in front of a dreaded committee. Marinette shuddered at the very idea. He was due to find out if he'd gotten a place soon but, in all the extra-excitement of her life since Sunday, she'd completely forgotten about it.

"Any day now," Nathanael uttered, swiping a finger across his phone with a jittery huff, "My mum's on standby waiting to see if I get an acceptance letter through the post. She said she'd call me if we get anything."

He rested his chin on the table, staring at his phone with a gaze that burned almost as red as his hair. Marinette giggled.

"You know a watched phone never rings."

"That's not the saying Mari, and you know it," he complained, burying his head onto the table completely.

"Oh come on, you know you got in. Just relax and do your art stuff, Evillustrator."

The nickname had its intended effect. He shot up, ram-rod straight.

"Mari… that's not funny," but he was smiling nonetheless.

Marinette grinned and tapped his nose with her pencil, grateful they'd been able to get over the awkwardness of last summer. Louis has helped a great deal in that regard.

"Although I guess my old powers could have come in handy at the interview," he mused, finally setting to work. Marinette had to bite down on her lips to prevent herself from laughing outright. She didn't want to disturb her fellow artists after all. However, the image of Chat and herself travelling to London on the Eurostar, to fight a re-akumatised Nathanael, tickled her. That would certainly be an adventure.

Her mind, of course, couldn't leave well enough alone. It had to extrapolate further, and so- for the next few minutes- Marinette's mind tortured her with several fantasies. A de-masked Chat Noir, leading her around London. He'd drag her to all the famous landmarks by day, and revisit them with her in the dead of night. Masks on, they'd find a secluded spot amongst the arches of Westminster Abbey, or maybe the London Eye, or sneak inside Tower Bridge…

It was just as her thoughts lingered on a particularly racy image of her and Chat atop Big Ben; cold night air whipping their faces, tongues tied, bodies tangled, did she hear her phone buzz.

A firework might as well have exploded right in front of their faces, Marinette thought, at least judging by Nathanael's reaction. He immediately abandoned his pencil, swan dived across the desk towards his phone, and almost dropped it several times. About three seconds after this spectacular display, he turned to Marinette, who waved her phone at him with an apologetic chuckle. He groaned.

"I'm not really sure I can survive the week," he mumbled, getting back to work, although Marinette noticed his lines were a lot shakier now. Making a mental note to bring him something from the bakery for their next lesson, Marinette busied herself with checking her messages. A notification had popped up from the group chat she had with Alya, Nino and Adrien, and she smiled as she opened the message.

Nino: AAAAH GUYS! Free house for the evening! Parents are going to meet-the-teacher evening at bros school and then a date after that! Bro is at his buddies house. Your all coming around after school.

Soon after, a message pinged up on her screen from Alya, and Marinette added her own response.

Alya: *You're ;) and hell yeah that sounds like fun! Count me in babe! But bad news guys, still was able to find sweet fa in the library. Study sesh was a total bust, shoulda gone to Starbucks or something :(

Marinette: I'm in! Sounds like a fun time. Can't stay all night though- gotta get this new art project started T_T Also I need to change my shirt before we go.

(Of course she wasn't doing any homework tonight, as it was patrol, but making out with Chat Noir counted as art right?)

Her phone buzzed again. Nathanael looked as though he was about to have a coronary, so she decided to be merciful and put her phone on silent mode.

Alya: Oh yeah how was meeting the teacher?

The memory of wrapping her arms around Chat Noir, bodies lightly pressed together, the gasp from his lips as she'd kissed him sans mask, forced her heartbeat to double its pace.

Marinette: It went fine.

She was pretty sure she was going to hell. Yup. Definitely going to hell.

Finally, a message from Adrien popped up on the screen. Marinette had assigned a little heart next to his name and she beamed at his message, peering over her sketch book at her phone.

Adrien: I'm in! I have a few hours to kill before my piano lesson. I'm still so sorry about your shirt Marinette! Do you want me to get it dry cleaned for you? He'd attached at least three crying emoji's to his message, each one causing Marinette's stomach to try and escape through her oesophagus.

Marinette: It's ok! Nothing that a quick qwash can't fix.
Marinette: *wash

Why do I STILL stumble over words, even in text form? Marinette sighed.

Nino: Dude what did you do to her shirt?!

Adrien: I bought the girls iced coffee to say thanks for their study session, and I accidentally spilled them both on Marinette outside the library.

Nino: BWAHAHAHA! Oh man! I love you bro but you have been seriously bugging today. Anyway guys, will meet you at the front of school at final bell. HUGS!

Alya: 3 Quiet now, I'm sleeping. XXX

Nino: Aren't you in English?

Alya: You try staying awake during your third read-through of Macbeth. I dare you. Unless you can keep me awake? ;)

Marinette: Save it for your PMs you animals! :O

Marinette scoffed at Nino's odd choice of words. Bugging. It was definitely one which he'd picked up from spending so much time around Alya. Still she couldn't help but feel lighter at the prospect of sharing some down time with her favourite people in the world…

Excluding Chat of course.

Well…

She shook her head; however, the comparisons were stronger than they'd ever been. Adrien and Chat. Marinette highlighted one of the art titles as she finally decided which one to pursue, ideas springing forth almost as rapidly as her thoughts about the two (or one?) blonde boy in her life. She could scarcely make sense of it. She knew Chat Noir went to her school now. That narrowed down who Chat could be by a significant margin, but it still wasn't enough to determine his identity exactly.

But what if the two were one and the same? Marinette chewed her pencil, staring at the clock above as it ticked by slowly. The sounds of low chatter and granite pencils against rough sketch paper surrounded her, calmed her even as she dared to truly consider the possibility for the first time. What if Adrien Agreste really was her partner? What if he really was Chat Noir?

Did she want him to be?

Not once, in the entire time she'd known him, had Adrien ever shown the slightest interest in her as more than friends. Could that have been because he had feelings for Ladybug? Marinette knew Adrien had once had a little crush on her superhero alter-ego, but she'd always thought it was a simple celebrity crush and nothing else. Hence why she'd never completely freaked out over it. Lots of boys crushed over Ladybug, and Chat had a large group of fans that had only grown in years since his growth spurt. Adrien became adorably reserved whenever Nino would tease him about it so Marinette had never considered it further. She was also quite sure Adrien had never had a girlfriend (Alya or Nino would have found out and told her surely?) But still what if his crush on Ladybug was more than a crush? What if it was because he was Chat? Maybe she'd have felt more secure about the idea, if she'd know Adrien was even remotely attracted to her in some way.

'Don't you see? Chat Noir likes both sides of you! Otherwise he wouldn't have almost kissed you last night!' Tikki's voice reminded her. Despite her doubts, a faint smile began to blossom on her lips. Her heart glowed almost as warmly as it did when Chat's arms enveloped her.

Truth be told, she didn't quite know how to feel. Terrified, amazed, dubious, awe-struck by her own daring thoughts, the list went on and on. Regardless, she definitely knew one thing; if she kept mulling such crazy ideas over, without making another list, she was going to get a migraine. Resigning herself to forgetting her inner conflict, at least for now, Marinette set her phone down- determined to get a head start on her project, now she'd chosen a title...

That was until her phone lit up once again. She peered over curiously, she'd assumed the group chat had been put to rest for the time being.

Marinette stopped chewing her pencil. It dangled limply from her lips, eventually clattering to the table top. Nathanael glanced curiously at her. She didn't notice.

It wasn't their group chat.

It was a direct message.

From Adrien.