"Yes Marinette"

Aftermath

A/N: Guys there are 5K reads on this story that is inSANE! Here's the special bonus chapter, as promised. Hope you enjoy!

"You need to tell her."
"I can't, she'll kill me!"
Adrien raised his eyebrows. He was sitting in the park with Marinette and Nino, waiting for Alya to arrive. They were going to let her in on the pairs' secret identities.
"You told Nino!", Adrien pointed out.
"Yeah, he does have a point there, Mari."
The girl sighed and buried her head in her hands.
"That was different. You guys don't know what this could mean for Alya. She's been waiting for a story like this her entire life! She gets Ladybug and Chat Noir's secret identities, and confirms that they're dating?! She couldn't keep it a secret! With a scoop like that, she'd be given an internship at the biggest news channel in Paris! I love Alya, I really do, but I don't know if she'd be able to resist sharing this story..."
The boys shared a concerned glance. They really had to get Marinette on board with this. Lives were stake. They hadn't told her that Alya was coming to meet them; she was missing out on a big news story for this, and was promised a huge surprise. It never boded well to disappoint Alya.
Nino walked a few feet away from the bench they were sitting on and beckoned Adrien to follow him. With one last glance at Marinette, he joined his friend and sighed.
"This is never gonna work!"
"It has to! I'm making Alya miss a huge story down at the bank, something about the Mayor not paying his taxes! If we can't convince Mari to talk..."
"She just doesn't feel comfortable with it..."
Nino grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him.
"You have to make her do it! Please! She's your girlfriend, she values your opinion more than mine! Just go talk to her, I'll wait over here."
"Bu- Nino!"
"Go, and hurry!"
Adrien groaned and walked back over to Marinette. He knew she wouldn't change her mind. He just didn't know why she was lying about why she wouldn't. She was scared, again. Scared of what people would think. He had to change that. He sat down beside her and started to talk.
"Mari, listen... Why are you lying to me?"
No response.
"Alya is your best friend. I think you know that as much as she'd want to tell the world our secret, she wouldn't, for you."
No response.
"What are you really afraid of? Please, just tell me. I can help you. You trust me right?"
Marinette looked down at the path and muttered something.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you..."
"I said that she'll be disappointed in her Ladybug, alright?"
Adrien frowned. She was still worried that people would be disappointed in her true identity. Even her best friend.
"Mari, she won't be disapp-"
"Yes, she will", Marinette cut in, "Just like you were, just like Nino still is!"
Adrien glanced over to his best friend, who was playing a game on his phone, and very obviously loosing.
"Why do you think he's disappointed in you?"
The girl turned and looked at him, her blue eyes wide and scared.
"I can see it when he looks at me. He's confused, he doesn't know what to make of me. He just can't believe that clumsy, stupid Marinette could be the brilliant, heroic Ladybug... Oh yes, he knows I'm Ladybug," she added, seeing Adrien's expression, "but he doesn't believe it."
Adrien was quite confused, but he tried to make sense of what his girlfriend was saying.
"So... so it's like when you asked me did I like my Ladybug? It's the same problem?"
Marinette looked back at the ground and nodded, confirming the boy's suspicions.
"Well, that can easily be fixed."
Her head turned sharply at those words.
"Wh-how?"
He smiled at her in a knowing way.
"Simple, my dear Watson. The cure is to have Alya tell you that she's not disappointed in you. That'll clear your anxiety right up. And look, speak of the devil, here she comes now!", he said looking down the path. Marinette followed his gaze to see her best friend running down to the park gates towards them, and she freaked out.
"What the- ADRIEN?! Did you guys plan this?"
Adrien risked a glance at Nino who gave him a shaky thumbs up.
"Uhh, yes, but it's not what you think! We haven't told her yet. You can tell her yourself."
"No, I CAN'T!"
The two boys looked at each other in panic; Alya was almost there. Adrien quickly wrapped his arms around the shaking girl on the bench and whispered to her,
"I believe in you. Even if you think no one else does. Please Marinette. Alya deserves the truth. And you deserve not to be afraid. You can do this, ok?"
He hugged her tightly, waiting for her reaction, each second agony. Nino kept glancing worriedly from Alya to him. Finally Marinette whispered,
"Ok."
She stood up slowly and took Adrien's hand.
"But what if she is disappointed?", she muttered, almost inaudiblely.
He looked down and smiled at her, the girl that he loved with all of his heart, the one he was proud to call his Ladybug, and replied,
"I promise, no one could be disappointed in you M'Lady."
She returned his smile with a small one of her own and said,
"I'll only do it if you go first."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
By that point Alya was about five feet away, and Nino ran up to meet her. He gave her a bone-crushing hug and whispered something in her ear that caused her to blush. She then distangled herself from her boyfriend and ran up to Adrien and Marinette, a reporters look in her eye.
"So guys, what's this news that's so big that it's more important than the fact that the Mayor is gonna have to file bankruptcy? Oops, you guys weren't meant to know what yet, it'll be in tomorrow's paper. Make sure to buy a copy, I'm in it! But enough about that, what's the big news?", she said, taking out her pen and notepad.
The pair shared a worried glance. Then Adrien gently stepped forward and took the pen out of Alya's hand, handing it to Marinette, who broke it in two.
"What th- GUYS? What on earth was that?", Alya demanded, while taking out another pen from her pocket. Adrien sighed and Nino giggled, until a sharp look from Marinette warned him to stop.
"If we tell you this, you must give us your word that it will be completely off record. Nothing online, nothing on tv, nothing on the radio, nowhere. If you won't do that, we can't tell you. Right Mari?"
The girl nodded stiffly and avoided making eye contact with her friend. Alya looked like she was about to protest, but saw Marinette's expression and nodded.
"This better be the best damn story ever...", the girl muttered, tucking her pen and notebook back into her bag.
"Follow us", Nino said simply, and exited the park, his three friends in tow. They followed him down an alleyway, round a corner, and over a fence or two, until they got completely lost. Finally they reached a place he seemed suitable, and he sat down with Alya, leaving Marinette and Adrien to talk.
"So as you know, Ladybug and Chat Noir have been saving Paris for almost a year now," Adrien began, still holding Marinette's hand. He squeezed it in a comforting way and she continued,
"Well, what would you say if we told you we had figured out their identities?"
Alya sat forward, her interest piqued, and said,
"So that's why I couldn't report this! Go on, go on, are they coming, when are they going to show up?"
The pair glanced at each other again and took a deep breath. Adrien stepped forward.
"You know me as Adrien Agreste, but there's another side of me I'd like you to officially meet."
Alya's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, the boy shouted,
"Plagg, transform me!"
The kwami flew out of his pocket and into his ring, bathing the street in a neon green light. When it settled down, Adrien was gone, and standing in his place was Chat Noir, looking as smug as ever. Alya jumped out of her seat and screamed, running over to Adrien and hugging him tight. Marinette shot her a pointed glance and she quickly let go, but she was still ecstatic.
"I KNEW it!! Well, I guessed it, but still!! Oh my god this is incredible!! You're Chat Noir!! You're amazing! Marinette, Nino, how long have you known?"
"Since this morning", said Nino.
"Since last week", answered Marinette.
Alya turned to her best friend, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her.
"How on EARTH did you keep it a secret for that long?", she asked, her eyes bright with excitement.
The other girl shrugged and tried to keep her cool as Alya jumped up and down on the spot. She glanced at Chat, who gave her a thumbs up and mouthed, "Your turn, Princess."
She gave him a small nod and composed herself.
"Alya?"
Her friend stopped jumping.
"Yeah?"
Marinette gulped and said,
"Want to know Ladybug's identity n-now?"
"Yes of course I do!! Are you going to call her Adrien, I mean, Chat Noir? I know that you and Ladybug have some special cell phone system in your weapons! It's so damn cool!", Alya exclaimed. Chat shrugged and looked at Marinette, motioning for her to continue. She went to her friend and took her hands in hers.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone. Promise me, Alya."
Alya raised an eyebrow in confusion and said,
"I already said I wasn't gonna post it anywhere, it's chill, I promise."
Marinette smiled softly and let go of her friends hands. She took a step back and breathed in deeply. Then she glanced at Chat again, who nodded almost imperceptibly. She was ready.
"Tikki, transform me!"
Her kwami zoomed out of her bag, did a loop-da-loop and nose dived into the earring, determined to out-shine Plagg. At the last second, the girls locked eyes with each other, and Marinette smiled. The street was bathed in a bright pink light, and the world seemed to freeze for a second. Alya had closed her eyes to shield herself from the blinding light and when she opened them again, she saw Ladybug standing there, with Chat's arm around her shoulders. The girl stood there in shock, her mouth hanging open, her eyes as round as coins. Ladybug walked over to her hesitantly and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly.
Alya had thousands of questions but knew it was not the time to ask any of them, so she stood there, wrapping her arms around Ladybug, and she was happy.