Finally Found

E I G H T

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During lunchtime that very same day, Adrien managed to slip away from his friends' prying eyes and sneak into each and every classroom at Francois DuPont.

With his phone in hand, he found all the attendance sheets in their designated classes and snapped a quick photo of them before hurrying out.

He had just finished coming out of the last classroom when the bell rang, signalling to the students that they had ten minutes to get to their final classes of the day.

He closed the door of the class he'd just been in and turned to walk away, only to bump into a very clumsy, very breathless blue haired girl who was rambling apologies as the two of them sat on the ground in a tangle.

"Adrien! I'm so sorry, that was totally my fault. I can't believe I'm still such a klutz." Marinette muttered out, only to realise that Adrien had just walked out of an empty classroom.

"What were you doing in there all by yourself anyways?" She asked the blonde boy.

Adrien scrambled to make up an excuse in his head, he only managed to come up with, "I got lost..."

Marinette wanted nothing more than to believe him, but Adrien had been at this school for a couple years now, and she knew that there was just no way that he'd have been lost.

"Are you sure?" She quizzed.

"Yeah..." Adrien scratched the back of his neck. He knew that she knew he was lying, and Marinette knew that he knew that she knew he was lying.

"Do you want to tell me what's really going on?" She spoke again, this time in a more firm manner.

Adrien sighed in defeat. He could never lie to such a good friend.

He debated with himself whether or not he should tell her the truth though. Since if he told her, he knew she would surely tell Alya, and then Alya would tell Nino and then the whole 'finding out Ladybugs identity alone' idea would crumble.

But looking at the bright blue eyed girl in front of him, he himself knew that if he asked for her to keep a secret, that she would.

"Alright. I'll tell you... but you have to keep it a secret. Please Marinette?" Adrien said in a low, hushed voice.

Marinette nodded in response, her curiosity peaking. "Of course I'll keep it a secret."

And that was all Adrien needed to hear. He continued to tell her everything.

Well, almost everything.

"Yesterday when Kali got akumatized I overheard Ladybug say to Chat Noir that she and Kali went to the same school. This school. So I've been doing some digging, going around to all the classes and photographing all the attendance records. Then after that, I'm going to start going through the list until I find her."

Marinette's eyes widened and she was lost for words.

Adrien knew where Ladybug schooled.

She cursed her mouth for blabbering out such an important detail about her private life. First Chat found out, and now Adrien knew.

This was bad.

A disaster.

What could she possibly say to Adrien right now, who was looking at her curiously and waiting for a response.

"Uhh..." she rushed to find the right words. "You're still searching for Ladybug on your own? What brought this on?"

Adrien let out a breath, thinking about his next sentences carefully.

"There's just... something about her." He muttered. "If I'm going to be honest though, there's something I have to admit."

Marinette leaned in, ever so slightly since Adrien had lowered his voice even more so than before.

"Go on..." Said Marinette.

"Well, I've actually had a crush on Ladybug ever since she first started being Paris' hero. She's just so amazing at everything she does and she's like a breath of fresh air. Whenever I'm around her, my heart just explodes and I feel like she's just everything I've ever wanted."

Adrien had let his heart do the talking and spilled everything. He felt complete relief. It was the first time he'd ever shared his feelings with anyone besides Ladybug.

Marinette however, felt the complete opposite.

Oh my God oh my God holy pepperoni is this real what is happening ADRIEN has a crush on ladybug omg what he has on crush on me can someone please see if I'm still breathing I'm literally going to faint SOS SOS SOS emergency someone please I'm not breathing Adrien has a crush on ME what the fork do I do now?

"Marinette?" Adrien eyed off the blue haired girl stood in front of him. She hadn't said anything in response so he wondered if she was alright.

"I-uh- Um yes? Ladybug! Yes. You have a crush on Ladybug..." Marinette blurted. "And you want to find out her identity..."

"Exactly. That way I can finally be with her. I just hope she will accept me." Adrien felt slightly down at his own words.

What if Ladybug doesn't want to be with me once I find her? She doesn't even love me as Chat Noir, so what makes me think that she'd love me as Adrien? He thought to himself and sighed out loud.

"Adrien, if finding Ladybug really means that much to you, then I'd be glad to help you find her." Marinette spoke up, causing a bright smile to appear across Adrien's face.

"Thank you, Marinette. That really means a lot to me."

The two of them heard the final warning bell and decided it was time to make their way to their last class of the day.

Adrien started walking with a pep in his step whilst Marinette held an uneasy, guilty feeling in her stomach.

I can't help him find me. I have to throw him off my path somehow, she thought quietly to herself.

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