"Wait, wait, wait, REWIND!" Alya yelled, her arms flailing. "How – when – you two are dating now?!"
Marinette blushed at how loud her best friend was, nodding to her question. They'd come back from lunch, and Adrien thought he could be smooth. He thought there was no way anyone would notice him stealing a kiss. He was thoroughly convinced no one would see him tickle Marinette or hear her laughing.
He was wrong.
"I-it's not a big deal, Alya," Marinette tried once they'd gotten into their classroom.
"Not a big deal?" Alya repeated, plopping down in her seat. "You're the one who just a few months ago couldn't even talk to the boy without freezing up and now you're dating him!"
"Who's dating?" Nino asked as he and Adrien came in.
"Little Miss here and Adrien, apparently," Alya answered, crossing her arms. She couldn't understand how Marinette wasn't freaking out! If she knew anything about her best friend, she knew that Marinette loved Adrien – possibly more than she loved herself.
"Alya," Marinette called through giggles. She pat the girl's arm, knowing that she couldn't quite explain why it wasn't such a big deal. How was she supposed to explain that since discovering just how much of a gigantic dork Adrien was that her crush had mostly dwindled away, leaving only familiar love. She couldn't exactly tell Alya that there was reason to freak out over Chat Noir?
"Well, as long as that cat's out of the bag..." Adrien quickly made his way over to Marinette, eagerly placing a kiss to the top of her head and then across her cheeks and nose.
"Stop it, silly kitty!" Marinette giggled, pushing his face away. "We're in class, you dork."
"Always with the excuses..." Adrien smirked before plopping down in his own seat.
For the rest of the day, the two had to explain basically every detail of their getting together to the entire class. Not that Adrien minded.
Adrien laid across Marinette's lap as she read the poems assigned to them for homework. She played with his hair as she read, and the two enjoyed the calmness. That is, until Marinette sat the book aside and let out a sigh.
"What's that for, My Lady?" Adrien asked, peering up at the girl.
She bit her lip and took her hand out of his hair to join it with its partner. "I...I think I'm going to tell Alya about Ladybug..." she said quietly.
That sure got Adrien upright. "You're gonna what?" he breathed out. So far he'd relished in the fact that he was the only one that knew; it was something he used to remind himself that his relationship with Marinette was special. It wasn't like any other relationship either of them had, and he loved that. "Why?"
"Just...so she understands...She was so upset today because I wasn't basically exploding because of you," Marinette explained. "The only way to explain that is Ladybug."
"What does Tikki think?" Adrien asked, looking over at the kwami sat on Marinette's desk beside Plagg. Part of him hoped that Tikki would say it was a bad idea.
"I trust Marinette's judgement," Tikki said. "She wouldn't tell if she didn't trust Alya..."
"You could tell Nino, too," Marinette suggested, not quite understanding the sad look that fell over Adrien's face. "I'm sure he would be really excited to know he was best friends with Chat Noir."
Adrien smiled gently and nodded. "Yeah, probably," he said.
"What's the matter?" Marinette asked, cupping a hand around Adrien's chin.
"It'll sound silly," Adrien said, trying to wave off the issue. "Don't worry about it, Princess." The look Marinette gave him suggested she didn't believe him, so he sighed and shifted on the chaise. "I guess I just thought...I thought we weren't gonna tell anybody else. It would just be between us, Ladybug and Chat, I mean..."
Marinette smiled softly, "Why does that matter so much, kitten?" she asked quietly.
"Just because it means it's not as secret. It's not just our thing," Adrien explained. He took Marinette's hand and laced their fingers together. "Just...it's OK, don't worry about it."
"You do know that just because more people know it doesn't mean that Ladybug and Chat are less real, right?" Marinette asked. "We won't be any less us just because Alya and Nino know. It definitely won't mean I love you any less."
Adrien smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Mari..."
"I know you wanna kiss me, just go ahead..."
Adrien didn't need anything more. He leaned forward quickly and caught the girl's lips. She laughed and pressed back, ignoring Plagg's gagging in the background.
"So, should we tell them together?" Adrien asked once he pulled away.
Marinette nodded, "That'd be nice."
