*The halls of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir were as chaotic as ever.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng rushed through the school entrance, nearly dropping her sketchbook.

"Marinette!" called Alya Césaire. "You were staring at Adrien's Instagram again, weren't you?"

"I was NOT!" Marinette squeaked.

Alya smirked. "That's exactly what someone who was would say."

Across the courtyard stood Adrien Agreste, talking with Nino Lahiffe. The moment Marinette saw him, her brain completely stopped working.

"Hi Adr—"

She tripped over absolutely nothing.

Adrien immediately helped her up.

"Are you okay, Marinette?"

Marinette's face turned bright red.

Meanwhile, somewhere high above Paris, a different story was unfolding.

As Ladybug, Marinette was confident, brave, and focused. She could lead an entire battle without hesitation.

And standing beside her was Cat Noir.

Cat Noir grinned. "You know, Bugaboo, one day you're going to admit I'm your favorite partner."

Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams, kitty."

But secretly she trusted him more than anyone.

Cat Noir always made jokes, but whenever things got dangerous, he would protect her without a second thought.

What Ladybug didn't know was that Cat Noir was Adrien.

And what Cat Noir didn't know was that Ladybug was Marinette.

Because of that, their feelings became one giant mess.

Adrien was hopelessly in love with Ladybug.

Marinette was hopelessly in love with Adrien.

Cat Noir flirted with Ladybug.

Ladybug rejected Cat Noir.

Adrien barely noticed Marinette's crush.

Marinette couldn't tell Adrien how she felt.

It was a disaster.

Then came Luka.

Luka Couffaine was different from everyone else. Calm. Patient. Easy to talk to.

Unlike Adrien, he never made Marinette nervous.

When she rambled, Luka listened.

When she panicked, Luka understood.

Alya quickly noticed.

"Marinette, I think Luka likes you."

Marinette blinked.

"What? No way."

But Luka did like her.

A lot.

For the first time, Marinette met someone who saw her exactly as she was.

Still, every time Adrien smiled at her, all her feelings came rushing back.

At the same time, Adrien felt increasingly lonely.

His father was strict.

His schedule was exhausting.

As Cat Noir, Ladybug was the one person he could always count on.

Even when she rejected his flirting, he never stopped admiring her.

Because beneath the jokes, Cat Noir genuinely loved Ladybug.

One evening after defeating another akuma, Ladybug and Cat Noir sat on a rooftop overlooking Paris.

"You know," Cat Noir said quietly, "you're really important to me."

Ladybug looked away.

She wasn't ready to talk about feelings.

Not while she was still trying to understand her own.

Adrien.

Cat Noir.

Luka.

Ladybug.

Marinette.

All connected by secrets none of them knew.

And as the lights of Paris sparkled below them, to help Marinette figure everything out*