Marinette's POV

"Why it was me, sweetcakes."

I turned around and saw those dark brown eyes staring back at me. "James?!?!"

"Hey, buttercup."

"W-What are you doing here..?" I asked still in shock.

"Oh, well I was just in the area and thought I'd swing by to see someone." He glanced in Chloe's direction. "You see...Chloe and I are cousins." He smirked.

My eyes widened looking from James to Chloe.  T-they-- you two? Are...WHAT?!?!

He averted his gaze towards Chloe, "You better have not told her anything."

"Oh, and what would you do?" Chloe sneered.  

His eyes turned darker in that instant, "You already know what I'll do, Chloe." He spat, his voice leaking with venom. 

Instantly, Chole paled from her cousin's words. "James...I think you should leave." She said.

He looked towards Chloe, "And why should I do that hun? I just got here. I think I should stick around for a little longer, after all, I am a guest aren't I?" He answered smugly.

"Well, technically you invited yourself in," I responded rolling my eyes.

"I'm family, sweetheart, so..."

Chloe scoffed, "Yeah, right." She muttered. 

He narrowed his gaze towards Chloe, "What was that?" 

"It's getting late so you should get home in time for dinner, I don't think your parents would be quite happy if you missed curfew." Chloe pointed towards the window as she spoke.

"Tch-!" He whipped his head towards the window, the sun was already beginning to set. He walked back towards the doorway, but left one final message for Chloe, "Don't say anything you'll regret...cousin." He left without a response.

Chloe sighed with relief as James left the room. "Marinette," She said her voice soaked with guilt. "I'm so so sorry you had to deal with him, it's my fault, I shouldn't have brought you here, I didn't-"

"It's not your fault, you don't need to apologize." I reasoned. 

"I know but-"

I cut her off, "No buts, we'll continue this discussion tomorrow. I have to be home for dinner too."  

"Alright, where should we meet up?"

"We could go to this new cafe that opened after school tomorrow," I suggested.

She smiled brightly, "Sure, that would be great."

"Ok, see you tomorrow Chloe, and thank you for inviting me over!"

"Y-yeah, see you tomorrow."

~At home~

It was now 8:00 pm and I was in pajamas pacing around my room. I can't believe Chloe and James are cousins! They don't even look alike, even though that's not the point. What did James not want Chloe to tell me? Is he threatening her? But why would he threaten his own cousin? What's going on in Chloe's family??

"MARINETTE!"

I jumped when someone yelled my name. I turned to see Tikki with a worried expression on her face. "Sorry Tikki, what were you saying?" 

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes. Are you thinking about the James and Chloe situation?" 

I nodded my head, "Yeah, it's just I don't know... I'm-"

"You're worried, about Chloe, and what James might be up to." She answered.

"You know me so well Tikki." I smiled.

"Well, maybe just take your mind off it, for now. Stress isn't good for you, and I'm sure Chloe has it under control. Plus its family, so it'd be best not to get involved. You should call Adrien and talk to him, seemed like he wanted to spend more time with you the other day." She giggled.

"Good idea Tikki!" I picked up my phone from the desk, dialing Adrien's number. It rang a few times until he picked up.

"Hello?" He greeted.

"Hi, kitten." 

"Hey, Princess! How are you?"

"Could be better. How about you?"

"I'm okay. Did something happen at Chloe's?" He asked concernedly.  

"Well...sorta, kinda...yes."

"What? What happened?"

"....Please promise not to freak out."

"I'm pretty sure I won't..." He answered.

I sighed, "Just promise."

He chuckled, "Ok, ok I promise." 

"Chloe and I were having a conversation and then James randomly showed up. Also, I found out that they're cousins which is crazy. James kept threatening her and I think he was at the same time trying to sort of- kind of- flirting with me or something? I don't know, but he's gross and Chloe just seemed really uncomfortable around him and I want to make sure she's okay and I don't know if she's gonna be ok, because it seems like whatever James is using against her is pretty powerful, and- and- "

"Woah, woah woah- Mari, Princess, slow down. Take a breather."

I inhaled deeply, "I-I'm sorry, it's just a lot to wrap my head around, but, I'll try to tell you the most important parts, basically, James and Chloe are related-- cousins, to be exact, and James seems to have something big planned." I managed to provide him most of my experience.

"Chloe and James are related huh... I guess when you think about it, you can see the similarities between them. Besides that, he didn't hurt you did he?" He questioned worriedly.

"No, he didn't kitten. I'm okay." I answered softly.

"Good, if he even glances in your direction, I'll kick his a-"

"Adrien, I'm okay don't worry. As much as I would love for you to beat him up, violence isn't the answer here." I spoke soothingly.

He sighed, "You're right, do you think I could maybe come over?"

I glanced at the clock, "It's 8:30, how would you get here without getting in trouble?"

"I have my ways, plus I have to tell you something."

"Okay, just be careful."

"I will Princess, see you soon. Also, during your rant session, did I hear something about him flirting with you? Or am I just hearing things, Princess? If he did I'll kill--"

"Oh, no! Just, uh--" I walked into my mannequin as I was pacing, "Au-GH gHWAKJKLMDFSAF jsFa"

"Mari, are you ok?" He questioned concernedly.

I rubbed my forehead in pain, "Yeah, I'm great...! See you soon!" I answered ending the call. Standing up, I put my phone back on my desk and picked up my mannequin off the floor standing it upright. I heard Tikki giggle from behind me.

"Nice going Marinette." She joked.

"Thanks, Tikki," I replied rolling my eyes. Suddenly, I heard a tapping from the trapdoor above my bed. Huh, that's weird... I walked up the steps to my bed and opened the trapdoor. A familiar figure then popped into my room, landing on my bed. I almost screeched at the sudden movement until I realized who the figure was. "Chat Noir, what are you doing here?" I asked baffled.

He looked up at me with his signature grin, "Well, hello Princess." He answered. He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it.  

Princess.....Princess....Princess. His voice sounds so familiar... 

Abruptly he pulled my hand so I was sitting right beside him. Something about his appearance seemed so recognizable. From his golden locks to his bright green eyes. Could he be? No, no way...

"You must be wondering why I'm here." He spoke suddenly.

"Yeah, I didn't know you made house visits." I teased.

"Only for you Purrincess ." He winked.

I lightly punched his arm, "So, why are you here?"

He sighed, before looking into my eyes, "I'm here to tell you a secret." 

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "A secret..? What secret...?"

".........Plagg, claws in." 

Without warning, a bright green light flashed all around the room. I quickly covered my eyes with my hands. The blinding light eventually died down, I didn't move my hands. Did he just...? 

"Marinette. Please open your eyes." He spoke.

I shook my head frantically, "Chat Noir, I can't know your identity. It would put the both us in danger!" I exclaimed.

"Well, it wouldn't be fair if only one of us knew the other's identity, would it now?" He teased.

"Wha-," Did I screw up? Oh no-"W-what are y-you talking about? D-do you mean-" I stuttered.

"Yeah...I do." He slowly removed my hands from my eyes. I instantly recognized those emerald green eyes staring back at me. I gasped, "A-Adrien?!"

He nervously scratched the back of his neck, "Yep...it's..me."

"H-How long, have you known?" I asked.

"...Since...Wednesday night." He answered directing his gaze towards his lap.

"May I ask, how you know?"

"Well, I got into a fight with my dad that night, and needed some fresh air. I realized that I was close to your house and saw you from a distance on your terrace. I saw your kwami on your shoulder and put two and two together. So yeah, I'm sorry for not telling you straight away and know that I didn't do it on purpose. I just didn't know how to tell you and thought I should do it sooner rather than later." He explained.

"Well...thank you, for telling me the truth... and I'm not mad at you. I'm just more shocked that, my boyfriend is also my partner in crime and best friend. I honestly thought you'd be disappointed to find out that I was Ladybug." I spoke.

He lifted his gaze from his lap staring directly into my eyes. "Me? Disappointed?!" He asked in disbelief.

"I mean...yeah, what would be people think if they found out I was Ladybug. The bakers' daughter of famous bakers Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of who I am. It's just...of what people might think of me. Their heroine of Paris just an ordinary girl." I responded.

"Marinette, I'm glad that you're Ladybug. And you're far from ordinary, you're extraordinary. Balancing your normal life with your superhero one is hard, I'd know. You always put people's needs before your own, which makes you selfless. I mean who cares what people think, the only opinions that matter are your own and from the people that love and care about you." He spoke taking my hands in his.

His eyes gleamed with happiness as gazed into them. "You're right, it's just my insecurities, I guess...they get the better of me sometimes," I mumbled.

He squeezed my hands softly, "And that's okay, but just know you're always amazing to me in my eyes."

"I'm glad that you're my Chat Noir," I whispered.

He smiled happily leaning his forehead against mine, "I'm glad that you're m'lady."

I giggled, "That's going take me awhile to get used to..."

"That's purrfectly fine, Purrincess." He purred out.

"Oh god, I forgot about your cat puns." I groaned.

He chuckled, "Aren't they cattastic. I got more if you want to hear-"

I leaned in silencing him with a kiss. His soft lips moved against mine softly, his arms encircling around my waist pulling me closer towards him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, as our lips continued to move in sync. I weaved my hands into his soft honey blond hair, caressing it softly. Eventually, we pulled away from the kiss catching our breaths. I give him one final peck on the lips, before resting my head against his chest breathing in his minty scent. He rested his head on top my head, tightening his grip on my waist.

"Ahem."

I glanced to my left to see a kwami with bright green eyes and cat ears. "You must be Adrien's kwami, I'm Marinette."

"Nice to meet you Marinette, though I know who you are. This idiot never stops talking about you. Marinette this, Marinette that." He teased. 

"Plagggg." Adrien groaned.

"What? Its true kid." He shrugged. 

I sat up seeing Adrien had a blush on his cheeks, "Aww you talk about me?"

"Of course I do." He smiled.

I kissed his cheek.

"Ugh, I can't handle this mushy stuff," Plagg whined.

"Oh shut up Plagg, it's cute." Tikki piped in. "Hi, I'm Tikki, Marinette's kwami."

"Oh, hey Tikki it's nice to meet you," Adrien responded.

She giggled, "You too, I'm glad you guys are together."

His eyes widened at her words, "You're so much nicer compared to Plagg. Why can't you be nice like that Plagg?" Adrien asked.

"Kid, I don't do nice." He answered, rolling his eyes.

I laughed at his response before it turned into a yawn. I glanced at my clock realizing it's 10:00 pm. "It's getting late and we have school tomorrow. " Adrien also looked at the clock realizing the time too.

"You're right, I should probably get goi-" He was cut off by rumbling of thunder and downpour of rain.

"Well...You could stay, I don't think the storm will stop anytime soon. I forgot that it was supposed to rain from tonight into tomorrow morning. I mean you could take the bed so you're more com-"

I was abruptly pulled down onto the bed with Adrien beside me. He pulled the covers over us before encircling his arms around me.

"Or...we could just share the bed." He smirked.

I blushed, "I-I uh yeah sure." I stammered.

He chuckled lightly, kissing the top of my head. I laid my head on his chest as it rose and fell, hearing the sound of his heartbeat. I cuddled into him enjoying his warmth. "Goodnight Princess." He whispered.

"Goodnight kitty," I whispered back, before falling asleep to the sound of Adrien's steady heartbeat.

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Author's Note  

Zee & Skittle: And another chapter done!

Skittle: In this chapter, I helped out with the writing a bit more than usual! I also wanna thank you guys for all the support you've been giving us! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR HELPING US HIT #1 FOR #MIRACULOUSLADYBUG! We love you guys and we hope you'll stick with us throughout the stories we write! Once again, thank you!!

Zee: I'd never thought we'd make it this far, at first this story was just for fun and out of boredom. But as ratings increased, we decided to continue the story for you guys! So thank you guys so, so, so much, for getting us where we are now!! We appreciate all the love and support each and every one of you guys give us! Thank you for staying with us!!

Zee & Skittle: 'Till the next chapter, PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!