17. Chapter 17

Unfortunately, even the best planning in the world couldn't stop Adrien's schoolwork from taking over his life as they neared the end of the second semester. Professors added on extra homework and pushed on through their lessons, wanting to make sure that they had covered absolutely everything that was in the curriculum so that the students would be prepared for their exams. On top of that, the pressure was on for Adrien to get all of his assorted projects completed. He didn't want to slack on them at all, which meant that instead of riding the bus or the tube with Marinette to explore sections of the city they hadn't been to yet, he was taking the bus over to the school library.

It wasn't quite as exciting.

"At least we have another year to explore together," Adrien said as he and Marinette headed to bed one Friday night. Marinette's university-aged neighbor was once again throwing a late-night rager, like they did nearly every Friday despite the flurry of noise complaints that they got every time, and so she had come over again. "I know I want to go back to the museums again, and there's a zoo that Aaron just mentioned to me the other day that sounded interesting. I haven't been to one of those in ages."

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? I think Nino and Alya go to the zoo in Paris, like, six times a year at least."

"Yeah, well, that's because they got together there," Adrien pointed out. "And because Alya's dad works there. Most people don't go that often."

Marinette's lips twitched up into a smile. "Uh-huh. And I take it that your not going there that often has nothing to do with any irrational fears about loose panthers and giraffes?"

Adrien just spluttered at that. "How- what- no, why would you think-?"

"I overheard Nino mentioning it to Alya once when you turned down a trip to the zoo with us," Marinette admitted. Adrien made a face at that. He had told Nino that in confidence, darn it. "So why the change of heart for this particular zoo?"

"It's different," Adrien said, shrugging. "It has some species that the Paris one doesn't. The setup is different, too. And I've grown out of any irrational fears I may or may not have had about giraffes and panthers," he added, making Marinette giggle. "And you can tell Nino that, too."

"Uh-huh. If you say so."

Adrien stuck out his tongue out at Marinette and decided to change the subject. While Marinette had mentioned that she was going to be sticking around for another year, they hadn't really talked much more about it. "Did it take Madam Rosalie long to decide to extend your internship?"

Marinette shook her head, thankfully not questioning the change in subject. "Not at all. I think she knew that I had been considering it before. She did ask that I put in a request earlier if I want to extend it again next year, just so she knows for sure how many interns to hire."

Adrien perked up. Was that even something Marinette was considering? It would be great to have Marinette next door for the entire time that he was in London. Once he got to his final year of university, he probably wouldn't have the time to go back to Paris to visit his friends and from what he had heard, he might even get so busy that he would forget to socialize. Having Marinette right next door would mean that he would get to see her, at least, and she could probably pull him out of study mode every once in a while so that he wouldn't forget to have fun.

"I'm not thinking that far out yet, though," Marinette added before Adrien could get too excited. "I just- it's hard to tell where I'll be in a year, if I happen to hear about or see any job openings at fashion companies in Paris."

"Right, I wouldn't want you to miss a chance to get a permanent job in Paris," Adrien said quickly. "Do you think you would ever go for a spot at my dad's company?"

Marinette had to pause and think about that. "I- I don't know. Maybe? I mean, he definitely focuses more of an elegant style than what I'm doing right now at Madam Rosalie's, but I think I would enjoy working with that kind of style, too. At least for a bit." Marinette paused and yawned, then continued. "And, I mean, I haven't exactly heard the best things about, y'know, not being yelled at for small mistakes and whatnot there. I got lucky with my internship with Madam Rosalie. She has high standards, of course, but she understands mistakes. She's open to critique. And she's a really good teacher, too. If we don't understand something or why something doesn't work, then she stops and explains it."

"And my father doesn't do that," Adrien finished. "...actually, I don't think he even interacts with his employees most of the time. He goes in sometimes to double-check that things are running smoothly and to check up on people's progress, but most of the time he's just working from his office at home. It probably helps keep the employee turnover down if they don't actually have to see him."

Marinette giggled.

"So you would just work there until something better comes up?" Adrien asked as they slid into his bed. He paused for a moment, feeling like he might be forgetting something, then shook the feeling off and refocused on what Marinette had said. From what he had heard, that was a fairly common strategy among a large portion of Gabriel's designers. There were a couple that had been there since Adrien was a child, but others stayed from anywhere from a few months to four or five years before leaving. The turnover didn't particularly bother his father.

As long as the work got done and people didn't question Gabriel's authority, he really didn't care about the turnover. The designers that he liked the most, the ones that really made Gabriel shine- they ended up sticking around, probably because they got preferential treatment.

Well. As preferential as Mr. Agreste got, at least. It usually involved pay raises and less yelling at them.

Marinette shrugged. "I guess. There's a couple smaller design houses based in Paris that would probably be a better fit for my design style and that would have a way better working environment, but it's impossible to tell until I've actually worked there for a bit or talked to people who have worked there. They might be smaller than Gabriel, but I don't mind that, really. You get to know everyone then."

"If there was one thing you could change about Rosalie Fashions, what is it?" Adrien asked, curious about what Marinette was looking for. Marinette rarely complained about her work, and when she did, it was mostly about a design not turning out quite right or something else going wrong by chance, not the working conditions themselves.

Marinette just took a few seconds to think about it. "Location, I think," she finally said. "If it was based in Paris instead of London, it would be perfect. I'm enjoying being here, of course, and having to set up my own apartment was an important experience, and I'm glad I get to spend time with you, of course- "

"Obviously," Adrien chipped in, grinning when Marinette kicked him under the blankets.

"But I couldn't do it long-term," Marinette finished. "I couldn't live that far away from my family and friends permanently. It's easier with phone calls and video chatting, of course, but I got used to seeing people in person a few times a week, and being able to just go over and visit my parents whenever, you know? I can't really envision leaving Paris permanently."

Adrien could understand that, at least partially. While he wasn't close to his father at all, he was close to his friends. He had a whole network of people to talk to in Paris if he was having trouble with something, while in London he only had a handful of people that he knew, and even fewer people that really understood him and who he would be comfortable sharing his problems with.

On top of that, Chat Noir was most at home in Paris, where he could run and shout with Ladybug in full view of the city instead of staying hidden all the time.

"I'll definitely be returning to Paris as well once I graduate," Adrien said, realizing with a jolt that he hadn't responded to Marinette. "I get what you mean, with not wanting to be away long-term. It's fine now, but sometimes I find myself going 'Oh, I'll just pop over to see Nino tonight' or 'maybe our group should get together this weekend' or something, and I realize how much I miss Paris."

They both fell silent for a moment. Being homesick wasn't something they had really talked about much before, probably because it wasn't really a big problem. Sure, there were times that Adrien wished that he could call Nino up to hang out somewhere and then he was let down when he remembered that it wasn't possible, but then he would remember that he had a study group with Paul to look forward to, or a video chat with his friends on Sunday evening and this time Juleka and Max would be able to join in with Nino and Alya. It was different, but not necessarily bad different.

"I'm glad I came to London, though," Marinette said, breaking the silence. "It's nice to see what else is out there and to see how much I can do on my own without my parents to run to for help. Not that they haven't helped," she added, shrugging. "When I first arrived, there was some problem with my credit card and I had forgotten my checkbook back in Paris. My dad paid my first apartment bill and called up the credit card company to get things figured out and my mom sent my checkbook. I would have been in real trouble if they hadn't helped."

Adrien hadn't heard about that particular incident before. Knowing that Marinette, who always had seemed so on top of things, sometimes slipped up at well... well, it helped to know that she wasn't above mistakes sometimes.

"It's nice to be able to ask for help," Adrien agreed. While he probably wouldn't go to his father, he knew that Nathalie would help him out if he ever asked. In fact, she would probably have his problem resolved within a minute of receiving his message.

Her efficiency was a little terrifying sometimes.

Actually, come to think of it, the efficiency of all of his father's household staff was a little terrifying. That was probably a requirement for employment.

"I'm always happier when I don't need to ask for help, though," Marinette finished, settling fully into bed. "It feels like more of an accomplishment if I can solve problems on my own instead of calling people up, but sometimes it would just take too long for me to figure things out on my own." She yawned, then shuffled a bit more to get comfortable before closing her eyes. "But anyway. Good night, Adrien."

"G'night, Marinette," Adrien replied through a yawn of his own, turning over and flipping off his lamp light. He stayed awake for a few minutes more, listening as Marinette's breathing evened out as she fell asleep. He could hear the faint sounds of music from Marinette's neighbor coming through the walls still, but Adrien couldn't find it in himself to be irritated about it at all. After all, it brought Marinette over to sleep next to him, and for whatever reason, Adrien had always been strangely comfortable around Marinette. But right now, he was feeling jittery, itchy, like he had forgotten something.

It was probably nothing. And even if he did forget something, there was no reason it couldn't wait until morning.

Marinette woke up earlier than she would have liked Saturday morning, but she didn't immediately get up. She was comfortably warm under Adrien's sheets and still a bit sleepy yet. She was sure she would fall back asleep for a few hours if she just stayed where she was.

It was Saturday; there was no hurry. She had a couple fabric pattern designs that she wanted to clean up, but they could wait until the afternoon. Right now, sleep called to her.

"ADRIEN! Adrien, it's an emergency, we're out of Camembert!"

...unfortunately, the universe had other ideas.

Marinette groaned and buried her face in Adrien's pillow to try to block out the loud voice, positive that she was dreaming. Surely the voice would go away, obviously it was just a dream, because why else would it be so weird-

"We ran out of my Camembert yesterday, and you didn't leave out anything for me to eat last night. It's an emergency, we need to go grocery shopping now-"

"What the hell-" Marinette started as she woke up completely and realized that the voice wasn't a dream, fully intending to chew out whatever weird friend Adrien had that had somehow gotten into his flat, because clearly that was what was going on. Really, it was ridiculous that someone would barge in, complaining about Camembert cheese, of all things. And how had someone gotten close to Adrien so fast that they had already somehow gotten access to a key to his door without Marinette knowing about it? She had been positive that she knew all of Adrien's friends.

Marinette pushed herself up, ready to snap at whatever idiot had made their way into the apartment. But when she turned towards the source of the voice, she came face to face with a small, floating, catlike sprite.

What.

"Whoops," the black thing said.

Marinette furrowed her brow as her brain tried to catch up with the scene in front of her. The sight of the black thing rang a bell for some reason, like she had heard about it before.

Small floating black cat...small floating black cat...small floating-

"CHAT NOIR?"

Next to Marinette, Adrien jumped, finally startled awake. He flipped over with a groan, nearly landing on Marinette, and squinted up at Plagg. His expression became somewhat alarmed as he looked between his kwami and his startled friend.

"Uhhh..."

"You're Chat Noir," Marinette breathed again, staring at her friend. How had she missed that? She spent practically all of her free time with him, and looking at him now, with his messy bedhead, the resemblance to Chat Noir was really strong. Looking back, she should have made the connection- he was missing or late when she was, he had the odd tendency to show up near akuma attacks after they were finished, she had never seen him and Chat Noir at the same time- ugh! Oh, she definitely should have guessed, just from the times Chat Noir had inexplicably vanished when Adrien had to make an appearance. She had thought it was strange at the time, but she hadn't ever entertained the notion that Adrien might be Chat Noir, even once she got to know Adrien and his ridiculous sense of humor.

She had once grumbled to Tikki about how the boys in her life all had an awful sense of humor- and loved puns far too much- but she hadn't made the connection. Tikki had giggled about that for forever, which made sense now. She probably knew, the little imp.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag," the black kwami said, floating closer. "Hi, I'm Plagg. I need cheese, and we're out. Do you have any Camembert in your fridge?"

"Er, no," Marinette responded, glancing back at Adrien. His eyes were wide as he mouthed something at his kwami. She was guessing that it was something along the lines of 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?', but she couldn't tell for sure. For all she knew, he could be cheering the kwami on.

"Pity." Losing interest, the kwami floated over to Adrien. "We need to go to the grocery store now. I'm starving. And this idiot forgot to give me any cheese last night. I'm going to wither away and die."

"You- you can't-" Adrien had regained some of his voice but clearly was still at a complete and utter loss for words. "You can't just do that! What-? You said no one can know-"

"She's fine," Plagg said with barely a glance at Marinette. "Besides, you were the one who brought her in here last night without warning me and then forgot to feed me. Now can we get my cheese?"

Marinette was suddenly very, very glad that she hadn't gotten Plagg. Tikki was much nicer.

"She- what-"

"Breathe, Adrien," Marinette suggested, reaching over to rub his shoulder. The shock of the reveal had worn out for the most part, and now she needed to focus on her panicking partner. "It's okay-"

"It's not!" Adrien exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "No one's supposed to know who we are, even now that Hawkmoth's been defeated! Plagg can't just come waltzing in here and expose me to a civilian-"

"Not exactly a civilian, but okay," Marinette said helpfully, figuring that if she knew Chat Noir's identity it would probably be fine if he knew hers, especially since she now knew that he was one of her closest friends, but Adrien didn't seem to hear her.

"You can't tell Alya," Adrien suddenly blurted, swinging around to face Marinette. "I mean, I love Alya and all and I want to think that she wouldn't publish anything, but she's just been a huge fan for so long and then there's the Ladyblog, and I don't want her trying to score interviews on demand because that would be just exhausting, and-"

Marinette tuned him out as she scanned the room, looking for any signs of Tikki. A flash of red caught her eye, and she spotted a big blue eye staring back at her. She beckoned, and Tikki flitted up just out of Adrien's sight. Marinette raised an eyebrow, mouthing "Can I?"

Tikki paused for a moment, exchanged a glance with Plagg, and then nodded furiously. Marinette scooped the kwami out of the air and brought her up to sit in her lap while Adrien jumped out of bed and paced up and down the room, running his hands through his bed-mussed hair. His hair was really sticking up all over the place now, and he wasn't paying attention to her at all as he freaked out.

"-and at least Hawkmoth is gone so I don't have to worry about him and I won't have to make up lame excuses whenever I want to go out and run into Ladybug- I mean! Not that Ladybug is necessarily in London, I meant once we go back to Paris to visit people then I can run into Ladybug- not that she's necessarily there right now either-"

"Can we take bets on how long it'll take him to catch on?" Plagg asked as he perched on Marinette's knee and watched his Chosen with interest. "I'm guessing it'll take him at least five minutes."

"That would be rude, Plagg!"

"It's funny!"

"-and maybe someone finding out was inevitable but I didn't think that it would happen today and I kind of thought that Ladybug and I would probably reveal our identities to each other first- I mean, you're good too, of course, but- EEEEK!"

"Like I said, not exactly a civilian," Marinette said dryly as Adrien continued to gawk at Tikki as she sat in Marinette's lap. "Are you done freaking out now?"

"B-but that's a kwami!"

"My name is Tikki," Tikki piped up, waving up at Adrien. "It's nice to meet you properly!"

"You're Ladybug's kwami!"

"I've had her since collège," Marinette said helpfully. "She likes cookies. Especially chocolate chip ones."

"You're Ladybug!"

"Are we done pointing out facts now?" Plagg asked dryly from his perch on Marinette's knee. "If so, great. If not, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Tikki pointed out. "And there's some Gouda in the fridge, I saw it yesterday. Unless you've eaten it already-"

"I wanted Camembert." Plagg flew into the air and straight into Adrien's face. "Can we go grocery shopping now?"

"Maybe we should give him some time to adjust," Tikki said after a moment. She flew up and grabbed Plagg by the tail. "C'mon, let's give them some space."

"But what about my Camembeeeeert?"

Plagg's whining faded away as Tikki forcibly dragged Plagg out of the room and down the hallway. Adrien's eyes tracked his kwami until he vanished from sight, and then his eyes snapped immediately back to Marinette. They were the approximate size of saucers as he gaped at her. Marinette waited, waited some more, then finally decided that she would have to say something if she wanted to jolt Adrien back into responsiveness.

"Um...hi?"

Adrien only blinked.

"Adrien? Chat Noir?" Marinette waved a hand in front of his face. "Kitty?"

That seemed to knock him out of his daze. Adrien blinked, shook himself, then breathed, "You're Ladybug."

"Er. Yes?" Marinette tried for a smile. "Uh...surprise?"

"I had no clue," Adrien breathed, shaking his head. He finally seemed to be snapping out of his startled daze. "Just- wow."

"I already knew that Chat Noir had to be someone in this building," Marinette admitted, figuring that she might as well admit it now that everything else was out in the open. "Because you had said that you saw me- well, me as Ladybug- go past your living room window once, and I had literally just headed out and the only windows I had gone past were the ones on this building."

It took Adrien a moment to remember what she was talking about, and then it clicked. "Oh! Right, last fall! I wondered what on earth I could have possibly said to make you make that face. I thought I had said something horribly offensive."

"No, I was just startled." Marinette let out a short laugh. "Imagine what my expression would have looked like if I had only passed your windows that evening! I probably would have fallen off of the roof in surprise."

"I guess I can't even fault you for the funky expression back then when I froze up for an entire minute," Adrien said, shaking his head with a short laugh. "I can only imagine what my face looked like when I saw Tikki and put things together."

Marinette giggled. "It was pretty funny. But I'm sure I was just as bad when I woke up with your kwami right there."

Adrien froze, and then his lower lip jutted out in a pout as he let out a whine. "Aww! I didn't even get to enjoy your expression! That's no fair!"

Marinette could only giggle.

"I was too busy freaking out over you discovering me to appreciate your face," Adrien grumbled, flopping back down onto the bed next to Marinette. Then he sent a sly look her way. "I mean, not that I don't always appreciate your face. It's a fine face, after all. Absolutely gorgeous."

"Aaaand he's back," Marinette teased, reaching over to boop Adrien's nose. He automatically wrinkled it at her. "Flirty kitty."

Adrien shrugged, utterly unabashed. "Honest kitty."

Before Marinette could think of a response (and before Adrien noticed the color rising fast in her cheeks because how was she supposed to stay calm and collected when her kitty- who was Adrien- was saying she was gorgeous), Plagg popped back into the room. "Are you done being sappy? Can we get my cheese now?"

She had never seen Adrien whip around so quickly. Color rose fast in his cheeks. "P-Plagg! I- I'm not being sappy- I mean, did you really have to come in right now? You couldn't wait a few more minutes?"

"I haven't been fed since yesterday afternoon," Plagg complained again. "I'll waste away if you spend all day making gooey eyes at Lady Luck instead of feeding me."

"It's not exactly like I find out my partner's secret identity every day," Adrien argued, deciding to recline further on the bed instead of giving in to Plagg's demands. "Give me some time to get used to the idea, why don't you?"

Plagg scoffed, folding his little arms. "Uh-huh. You say that like you don't spend every waking minute that you can glued to her side."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Adrien demanded, perplexed. "Sure, we hang out, but what does that have to do with me finding out that she's Ladybug?"

"Yeah, Plagg," Tikki piped up, reappearing in the doorway and looking smug. "What does that have to do with how much time they spend with each other?"

Plagg scowled. "It means that they shouldn't be that surprised! C'mon, hurry up, I want my cheese!"

"I like how Tikki is waiting patiently and not harassing Marinette and I," Adrien shot back. Tikki smirked and preened at the praise.

That only served to make Plagg scowl more. "Yeah, she's fine because her Chosen didn't forget to feed her last night! Marinette left out cookies for Tikki to eat, and where did you leave my cheese? Locked away in the fridge, that's where, and I wasn't about to phase through the door to eat in a cold, dark, smelly fridge then, and I'm not about to do it now, either, just so you can cuddle with Ladybug when you do it all the time anyway!"

Marinette was trying really really hard not to laugh now. Adrien looked so ticked off, and Plagg clearly didn't care.

"Maybe if you just got him some normal cheese he would agree to back off for a couple hours," Marinette suggested when the stare-off between Adrien and Plagg didn't seem like it would end any time soon. "And then you can go shopping for, uh, Camembert later on."

"I like her," Plagg decided. "For now, at least. So whaddya got for me to eat?"

Adrien only sighed.

A/N: ...okay, so how many people thought that I was going to have them start dating before the reveal? :D

As always, reviews are much appreciated! :)