To Felix and Beyond // Miraculous Ladybug

21 - Debating Ideas

"You want to tell Alya?" Adrien exploded.

Marinette nodded. "I do."

"Why? She runs the blog that previously tried to find out our identities. I mean, she's an amazing friend, but she is a reporter," Adrien sighed. "She would flip out."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "If you would let me finish, you technically don't even have to tell her."

"I still don't understand why you want to put yourself in that position," Adrien sat down next to his partner.

"You still didn't let me finish," Marinette shrugged. "Think about it. How long have we been fighting Hawkmoth? Over a year. He's getting stronger, and we've had trouble beating him. He's interrupted our lives and everyone in Paris, he's even expanded! Who knows what could happen if he were able to get all of France, or even out to other countries? I don't want to give up the Miraculous', so we have to defeat him."

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "And Alya comes in where?"

Marinette thought for a second. "She knows a lot about computers. She could help us track him down. She would be a big help in finding his lair," Marinette explained. "We would be able to take him down."

Adrien put his hand on Marinette's shoulder that was covered by the ladybug suit. "We can do this without telling her. Bug, it's too dangerous. For both her and us, we can't put Alya in danger."

Marinette didn't say anything. "Okay. We'll try without telling her. But if it gets to the point...we also can't tell Felix. He'll kill us."

"Noted," Adrien nodded. "Now, what was this with Chloe?"

A groan escaped Marinette's lips. "I don't even know. It was so confusing. But I didn't have a choice...there were people around and I couldn't detransform in the middle of a fight zone, so I got inside the limo," Marinette began to recite what happened earlier in the day. "Then...when I asked her to look away, she did. It was weird that she listened, especially since she's shown how much she likes Ladybug. I would have thought she would have watched me detransform," Marinette sighed.

Adrien chuckled. "She would have flipped out seeing you. Her scream would have made the Akuma fly out of the villain in an instant," He commented. "Speaking of identities..." Adrien started.

Marinette nodded. "I know it didn't happen the way either of imagined, but I'm kind of glad it was Felix who revealed it. I'm very close to him, and he's an amazing friend, and I'm glad he was looking out for me. It gave me time to process before seeing you on Skype the following day...I didn't know what to think," Marinette started to ramble and realized she should stop talking.

Adrien nodded. "Wait, were you upset that it's me?" He asked, his smile fading.

"Upset? No, I was just surprised. I mean, I was so happy to hear that the guy I've known for over a year and grown to become friends with is my partner! I was so happy to hear that the guy who has been flirting with me and trying to kiss me for months is the guy I have a crush on! I was anything but upset," Marinette concluded.

Adrien's jaw dropped, and the sides of his mouth peeked up. "Hold on, back it up. Crush? That's the crush you're talking about all the time? My competition was myself?" Adrien asked.

Marinette put her hand over her mouth. "D-did I say that? You weren't supposed to know that..." Marinette sighed and looked down at her feet. "But I guess it makes us even. You're always flirting."

Adrien gave a toothy smile. "I was really confused when Felix and you started talking the following day. Then Plagg flew up, and I knew we were doomed, someone knew my identity! Then to find our you're Ladybug, I was so released. But, I did make father and Nathalie infuriated because I could not stay focused and I was very excited about finding out. I wanted to come home immediately and kiss you," Adrien confessed. I still kinda do, he thought.

"Oh my god!" Marinette shouted, almost falling off the roof. She stood up quickly and paced around, repeating the same three words every second.

"What? What's wrong?" Chat Noir shot up and stood across from Ladybug.

"We kissed!" Ladybug yelled back, almost screaming. "We kissed!"

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't remember any kiss? I mean...I know we almost kissed for Nino's film, but Chloe barged in before we had the chance to," Adrien offered, only having Marinette shake her head. "Are you sure it wasn't Fe? Father still gets us confused so I wouldn't blame y-"

"No, we kissed...as superheroes!" She yelled, her hands on her cheeks. "I can't believe this!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Was this another Copycat thing? Because I remember who he was and I will kick his-"

Marinette stopped him. "It was during Dark Cupid. You were under Kim's curse to hate everyone you love...and you almost used Cataclysm on me. So, I stopped you...by kissing you. And it broke the curse," Marinette slowly brought her fingers to her lips.

"Oh come on...and I don't remember it? That's so unfair!" Adrien stomped and crossed his arms.

Marinette giggled. "Sorry, Noir," She said. "Maybe some other day. Right now, we have to focus on Paris."

And it broke both their hearts. To find out the person they loved was right there the whole time...and they can't do anything about it. If Hawkmoth knew they were together, he would do something about it. They had to keep everyone safe.

---

"I'm here to see Felix," Bridgette said when she rang the doorbell the following day. It was midday Saturday; she was hoping Felix would be home.

"No. Go away," A low voice answered. Of course, Felix would have been the one to answer.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Come on, Felix, I have something serious to talk to you about. I know you saw my urgent texts!" Bridgette held her phone up.

Felix sighed. "Fine."

The gate opened, and Bridgette walked in amused. His house was insanely big; she was definitely going to get lost. The door to the mansion opened up into a grand staircase with a picture of Felix, Adrien, and their father. There were doors also coming off of the entrance, but she had no idea where to go.

"No ones home but me," Felix called. "They're at a photoshoot," He explained. "What did you need to talk about?"

Bridgette walked up the stairs to get closer to him. "The other day when Marinette and Adrien missed lunch...Something's fishy," Bridgette said. "We both know I know about Marinette, and we both know you know about Marinette. So, we know where she was. But, you covered for both Adrien and Marinette," She expressed. "Adrien is Chat Noir, right?"

Felix cringed. He knew his mistake would come back to bite him in the butt. Bridgette wasn't dumb; she wouldn't let that slide. "Uh, what are my chances of you believing me if I said no?"