Breaking Free

10) Phases

Marinette's POV
The following day at school, Marinette couldn't help but smile. Despite Chloe and Lila's attempts to get on her nerves, or the constant urges from Alya to "make her move" on Adrien, her mind never strayed from her boyfriend.

Boyfriend, she thought, as if testing the label. I have a boyfriend. The realization made her smile.

Her smile only widened, though, when she thought about Chat. Going over each memory they shared like a precious artifact that could never be replaced.

And then the secrecy. There was something about hiding it that was so thrilling, rebellious, even.

Just as friends, they decided to hide their relationship simply because it wasn't anyone's business.

However, if the public found out that the hero had a girlfriend who wasn't Ladybug, they would both be in for a world of hurt.

And who knows, if things go well, then maybe one day they would share their identities. The idea of one day going public with the boy behind the mask added to her hesitance to share her new relationship status.

But no matter the reason, it simply boiled down to their safety and secrets. Both of which would be in danger if the world knew the truth.

Not that the mask mattered to Marinette, though. She had spent enough time with the hero to understand that the costume was his escape from the real world, that it was the real side of him. Not the one propped up and molded by the people in his life, but the version of him that was a perfect blend of both of his identities.

The boy she fell in love with was the real Chat Noir, and no secret identity would ever change that.
- • - • - • - • - • - • -
After spending the rest of an uneventful afternoon day dreaming about her partner, Mari was happy to head home.

Of course even here, like all love-struck teenagers, she sat down and day dreamed some more.

"This better just be a phase, Marinette." Tikki scolded, though her excitement for her friend and master was incredibly obvious.

"I know Tikki, but... what should I wear tonight? Do you think he'll come over?"

"Introducing, the savior of Paris." The kwami muttered under her breath, watching Mari giggle and hold onto the stuffed cat lying on her bed, refusing to look away from the window just in case he came early.

"I wonder if Plagg has to deal with this."

Marinette ignored the comment, finally getting up and heading towards her desk.

The moment she sat down, she opened her computer and stared at her lock screen with a giddy grin.

She took down the Adrien memorabilia long ago, and had replaced her background with her favorite picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Over the last couple of months, she would always turn to it when she was having a rough time. Seeing the way Chat smiled at his lady, at her, always made Marinette's day.

After a brief groan from Tikki's general direction, Marinette finally logged into her computer, looking through updates on the Ladyblog.

"Ladynoir, secret romances, scandals, rendezvous, more Ladynoir... Alya needs some new content!" The bluenette complained.

All of the attention Ladybug was getting with Chat, and they weren't even dating!

Well, technically they were, but it wasn't like he (or anyone else for that matter) knew that.

She still couldn't help but sigh at the pictures.

"You know, a year ago you would never have believed you'd end up head over heals for him." Tikki commented.

"I still can't believe it. But I guess opinion and ideas change, luckily... fate doesn't. You told me from the start that wielders of the ladybug and black cat miraculous' were destined for each other, and I think you were right."

Tikki smiled, biting back the "I told you so" line that she was sure Plagg would've used. Instead, she rested herself on her holder's keyboard.

"I didn't need eons of Ladybug and Chat Noirs to figure that out, Marinette. I didn't need to know that the fates of the wielders were predetermined, either. From the moment you met him, I could tell that Master Fu made the right choice. I knew that you would realize just how much your partner meant to you. I knew that you would be the best Ladybug this world has ever seen. You haven't let me down."
- • - • - • - • - • - • -
Adrien's POV
"I told you so."

"Shut your cheese hole, Plagg." The blond grumbled, leaving the god of destruction in a laughing fit.

"I knew you would fall for that Marinette girl!"

"I know you knew, you remind me all the time."

"Because I was right. Face it kid, I know stuff."

Adrien rolled his eyes before remembering something else the kwami had once told him.

"But... weren't you the one who told me that Ladybug and Chat Noirs were always soulmates? You were obviously wrong about that." He smirked, happy to finally have something to hold over Plagg.

The cheese loving cat did his best to hold back a fit of laughter, letting his master think he had won. Instead, he mumbled a reply under his breath, too quiet for the love-struck teenager to hear.

"But that's because they are."

Adrien spent the rest of the evening doting about his princess, contemplating what he could and couldn't do around her as Adrien.

"I can't kiss her, I can't hug her... ooh! Unless it's a friendly hug. Yeah, that could work. Can I stand next to her? I can talk to her, right? Friends do that. But I can't let her know that I know she has a boyfriend, she would get suspicious..."

"I bet Tikki doesn't have to deal with this." Plagg groaned.

Adrien froze at the mention of Ladybug's kwami.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've met the girl under the mask, and if she ever got a guy, I don't think she would be acting like a cheese brained dork. She's level headed. She would be dealing with it like a normal person."

"Well sadly for you, Plagg, I'm not Ladybug and neither is Marinette. You're stuck with me and our cheesiness. And yes, the pun was intended. Isn't it grate?"

"I never thought that an oblivious teenager with horrible cheese puns would be the death of me." The kwami whined.

"I don't know... I think they're pretty gouda."

"Save it for your girlfriend."

Adrien lit up at the mention of Marinette, finally dropping the puns.

"It's almost 7! I have to go!" He cried, eager to see his princess.

"Of course you do," after all of the retorts and attempts to annoy each other, Adrien refused to let Plagg have the last word. "just let me finish my chee-"

Chat Noir smirked as the kwami was sucked up into his ring, leaving nothing more than a half eaten wheel of camembert tumbling towards the ground.

"You can eat later. It's my turn."