"It's simple, just three small words that will go right... here..." Plagg pointed across Adrien's forehead. "'World's. Biggest. Idiot'."

Adrien sighed.

"Classy little shit, aren't you?" Alya asked, eyeing the black cat kwami.

The three were in the library, Adrien effectively having skipped fencing practice because Alya caught onto him.

The bad thing is, instead of trying to fight it and make it seem that Alya was letting her obsessive Ladybug fanatic leak, he accidentally let it out. And there was no backing out of after he let it slip.

"Sorry, I just..." Adrien sighed, grabbing Plagg and sticking him into his bag, a wheel of Camembert following to keep him quiet.

"Camembert?" Alya rose an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "He likes cheese."

"Explains why under all that cologne you wear, there's the faintest smell of that horrible cheese." Alya rested her elbows on the table, bringing her fingertips to her temples. "I just... Can't believe it. It all makes a whole lot more sense now. Your sudden disappearances when there's an akuma attack. I mean, besides the magic making you appear different to the eye, it all adds up." Alya put her hands to her lips, thinking. "It's just... There's something different. Your hair."

"Oh, that." Adrien brought his hands up to his hair, running a hand through it and allowed some on his face, the look lacking the fake ears and black mask.

"Wow." Alya sat back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest. "Unbelievable. You're Chat Noir. And that... Thing makes you change into Chat Noir?"

Adrien nodded and Plagg floated onto the table again. "I'm not a thing! I'm a-"

Adrien cut him short and stuffed him back in his bag, looking at Alya. "Sorry, he's just a little upset I can't keep a secret."

"A little!" Came Plagg's muffled cry and he opened the bag. "You couldn't tell Ladybug that you're Chat Noir yet you can tell her after she barely caught on. You're hopeless."

"Plagg."

The kwami huffed, retreating into Adrien's schoolbag. Adrien looked over at Alya, who was looking at Adrien's bag thoughtfully.

"Ladybug doesn't know who you are?" She asked, not peeling her eyes away from Adrien's schoolbag.

"She doesn't."

"Do you know who she is?" Adrien remained silent, to the point that Alya had to look at him to make sure he heard her question.

"I do, but... She doesn't know I know." Adrien replied quietly.

Alya nodded slowly. "Are... Are you two connected by red strings?" Adrien nodded. "So can't she just write all over her arm and look around for the one with her same writing, couldn't she? I mean, you're both in Paris, it can't be too hard for her to find you."

"It's not as easy as you think, Alya." Adrien sighed.

"Why is that?"

Plagg reappeared this time, moving along lethargically to lay between Alya and Adrien.

"You see, we have the children keep their identities hidden. If they don't know who each other are, they won't get hurt, their families and friends won't get hurt either." Plagg explained.

"We?" Alya asked.

"Ladybug has a kwami that turns her into Ladybug." Adrien explained.

"I'm assuming she's much nicer that this one." Alya muttered, looking at the small black cat with an inflated tummy yawning on the table. "So how did you find out if she doesn't know?"

Adrien remained quiet. He had to think his words carefully, without letting Alya know that Marinette was Ladybug.

"London."

"That's right, Ladybug and Chat Noir were there too. Did she tell you why she was in London?" She asked.

"She told me a family vacation."

Alya nodded, impressed. "Who knew we were so close to Ladybug this whole time. What if we were on the same train?" Alya began to recount the moments on the train, Adrien letting out a silent sigh as he was able to distract her for the moment.

Alya continued thinking for the moment, until she focused back on the topic at hand. "Okay, forget about Ladybug at the moment. You're visiting Marinette as Chat and you're dating her as Adrien. Do you know what type of internal turmoil she may be going through?"

"You don't think I know that?" Adrien sighed, laying his head on the table. "I'm having my own inner turmoil too. Not to mention outer." He glanced over at the cat sunbathing in the middle of the table.

"Why don't you just tell her? I'll help you out-"

"No." Adrien rose his voice the slightest bit, startling not only the cat but Alya as well. "It's not that easy and I'm trying to do this on my own."

"Good luck trying to convince him otherwise." Plagg drawled from middle.

"But Alya, I'm begging you." Adrien reached around Plagg and asked for Alya's hands. Alya put her hands in Adrien's, looking up at him confusingly as he gave her hands a gentle squeeze. "I beg of you. Please... Do not tell anyone. Not Marinette, not the Ladyblog, not even Nino. No one."

"No one?"

Adrien shook his head. "No one."

It was Ladybug's turn to patrol for the night and whenever she stood towards the top of the Eiffel Tower, she wasn't surprised by the footsteps that joined her shortly after.

"Good evening Bugaboo." An arm slithered around her waist and pulled her close, a kiss being pressed to her temple.

"Hello mon minou."

Chat Noir blushed by the new address, stammering for words.

She was pleased by his stunned silence, looking up at him with a smirk. "What? You are my kitty right?" She flicked the bell at his collar, the chime echoing around them.

"Of course." He smiled, pressing another kiss into her temple.

The night was a calm and quieter one compared to their past couple of days, a soft rain covering the sleepy Parisian city. Although their suits made it nearly impossible to get wet besides their hair, they were quick to find shelter in Notre Dame, nestling close together and watching the umbrellas bloom down below.

"You were on patrol last night Chat and now you're joining me for mine? You aren't pushing yourself too hard, are you?"

Chat was resting up against the wall and had pulled Ladybug between his legs, hugging her waist and leaning her back against him. Chat smiled and nestled himself into Ladybug's neck, taking in her grapefruit scent he loved.

"Of course not. I just couldn't miss seeing my Bugaboo."

Ladybug let out a small sigh and brought her hand to his head, ruffling his hair lovingly, eliciting a purr from him.

"Oh really? Rumor has it you visited a girl last night." She pinched his cheek gently. "Seeing someone behind my back are you?" Her tone was teasing and playful, in hopes that Chat would notice. Ladybug was sure that Chat would probably evade the subject, but she wanted to see how he would reply.

"Purr-haps." He replied softly. "Are you jealous, my lady?" He asked.

"Me? Jealous?" Ladybug scoffed. "In your dream, silly kitty."

Chat remained silent, purring gently on her shoulder. "Bugaboo?"

"Yes mon minou?"

"What would you say if I wanted to show you who I am?" He asked.

Ladybug stammered for words. "You know that we can't. Our kwamis won't allow us-"

"Marinette, why don't you listen to what he has to say?" Tikki spoke from the back of Ladybug's head.

She gave a small sigh and Ladybug leaned her cheek against Chat's. "Why?" She asked quietly.

"Just in case one of us gets in trouble. What's the point of keeping such a meaningless secret when we are already so close? What would I do if you were to get hurt out of Ladybug? How would I be sure that you're alright? I can't lose you Ladybug. I love you and will follow you to the ends of the Earth and the thought of even the possibility of losing you..." Chat's voice trailed off and he gently tightened his grip on Ladybug's waist. "I can't risk anything... I can't lose you." He whispered desperately.

Ladybug's heart churned at his words. She had seen this side of Chat before and it pained her to see him like this again.

"Chat..." Her voice was weak and soft. She sat up, turning to sit on her knees before him. Ladybug looked into Chat's alluring green eyes that stardom at her lovingly. "I understand why... Why you want to know who I am. Whenever we were at London, whenever you got injured, there's nothing more that I wanted than to follow you home and take care of you. I could feel your pain and I... I was worried."

"I felt the same way when you took the hit from the Kirigami." Chat brought his hand up to her head, his fingers gently grazing the area where a now fading bruise was hidden. 

"I'm just... I'm just so afraid that you're not going to like me or that I'm not worth of someone being your partner or, or..."

Chat noticed her eyes started appearing watery and he felt his stomach churning.

"M... Ladybug, I don't care who you are. I will love you until the day I die." Chat took her hands into his and gave them a gentle squeeze. "You may not know this, but even outside of the mask, I love you. I don't care who you are outside of the mask, or how different you are, you are my partner and I love you and will follow you to the ends of the Earth."

Ladybug's shoulders shook in front of Chat. Her hands had fallen from Chat's cheeks and were shielding her face from him as she silently cried.

"C-Chat... I'm so sorry." Marinette didn't realize how much of a sweetheart this boy was. And to think that up to a couple months ago, she turned him away because she loved someone else.

But she did love someone else and now she was dating that person. This boy was going to love her to the ends of the Earth, even though she was going off with someone else. It broke her heart that she was breaking such a pure heart like Chat's.

"Bugaboo." He cooed, bringing her into his lap and placed many little kisses across her forehead and temples, to soothe her fear and tears. "It's going to be okay, I promise."

"He's right, you know."

Marinette and Tikki were back home from patrol, Marinette lying face down in her bed.

"You two should know who each other are, outside of transformation. Just in case something happens. Everything will be okay." Tikki sat beside the pillow that Marinette was face down in, twisting a couple strands of her hair into a small braid.

"Tikki? Do you know who Chat Noir really is?" Marinette asked, her voice muffled through the pillow.

Tikki momentarily froze, before letting out a sigh. Her silence made Marinette turn, looking at the small kwami who avoided her gaze.

"Tikki?"

"I do."

Marinette felt as if she was stabbed to her lungs. She quickly sat up and scooped Tikki up in her hands, looking down at her.

"Then you can tell me, right? You can tell me who he is and then whenever I meet him next time, I can already know who he is. Or whether I want to see him again." Marinette was rambling, nervous and feeling slightly betrayed that her kwami didn't tell her of such a vital piece of information like this.

"I can't."

Marinette's heart sunk. "Why not?" She almost cried.

"Chat Noir has stated that he wants to tell you on his own who he is. I am not going to betray his word and tell you who he is. Also, even if I did tell you who Chat Noir is, you cannot just choose that you don't want to see him again."

Marinette cowered slightly in her bed as Tikki scolded her.

"As Ladybug, it is your moral duty to aid Chat Noir, no matter who he is."

"You're right... I'm sorry." She put Tikki down on the pillow and laid down, facing her ceiling. "It's just... I'm so scared, I'm so nervous."

"I know." Tikki replied quietly.

Marinette's fingers went up to her collarbone, touching the small, bruised love mark the black cat left her last night.

"I love Adrien, but... I've come to fall in love with Chat Noir as well. I'm terrified."

"Things will work out Marinette." Tikki reassured her. "Not only do I promise, but Chat Noir promises too. Confide in our word - things will get better once you two know who you are."