"I am so embarrassed!" Alya squealed, burying her face in her hands once more. Nino laughed and Marinette smiled sheepishly as she saw the blush spreading down the redhead's neck. "Three- three years! So I basically stalked you for three years, trying to find out who you were, and only when you go and get shot do I find out! How can I call myself a reporter after this?"

"Alya, no-one knew." Mari reminded her, again. She fidgeted on her hospital bed, uncomfortably guilty and exasperated. "Literally nobody. You can't blame yourself for not figuring it out, only Chat did, and that was only recently. It was just him."

"And Chloe." Nino chimed in. He then withered under the glares that the two girls gave him. "I, uh, I don't know why I said that. Not helpful. Bad Nino…" he mimed slapping himself on the wrist as a reprimand and Alya scowled deeply at him, then turned back to Marinette.

"He's right, though. Chloe Bourgeios found out before I did. How- that's- in what universe is that okay?!"

"Alya, it wasn't exactly like I revealed myself on purpose!" Marinette rolled her eyes. "And, in case you don't remember, she worked me half to death just so she'd have an incentive to keep it a secret. Believe me, she is not the person I'd have liked to have found out first."

It had been a tiring day for Marinette. As soon as Chat had left, she'd pressed the 'Summon A Nurse' button and a sweet, redheaded nurse had come in with a confusingly big smile on her face. Mari had (as predicted) spent the next few hours under rigorous scrutiny, being tested for all sorts of side-effects and lingering damage. Thankfully, her head was fine, her blood was clean and she seemed to be all well. Other than the gaping hole in her side, that is. But the doctors had seemed fairly confident she'd make a full recovery now she was awake and fully functional. And now the tests were over, cue: hysterical parents.

Tom and Sabine had practically sprinted into the ward following the phone call from the hospital alerting them to the fact Mari was awake. The remainder of the morning had been spent assuring them 'yes, she felt fine', 'yes, she knew how worried they must have been' and 'no, she would never put herself in danger like that again'. The last part had been a tremendous lie, but she really hadn't felt like now was the time to reveal her secret identity to them. More than enough people already knew- for now at any rate. So she'd just sat back and allowed herself to be blanketed in her parents' all-too-loving cocoon.

They'd left about half an hour after school had ended, knowing full well that Alya was going to be taking up a lot of Mari's attention very soon. In fact, no sooner had the door swung shut behind them than it burst open again and Marinette was suddenly smothered with an armful of sobbing redhead. Nino had leapt into the hug too, albeit at a slightly more restrained and placated pace, though with no less love and relief. Eventually, Mari had managed to pry them off her enough to breathe, and give them a sheepish grin. This had sparked the whole 'HOLY CRAP I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE LADYBUG' conversation, and Alya hadn't spoken in anything less than a muted yell since.

"Okay, okay, fine. I know you didn't tell her on purpose, but still!" Alya complained now, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"Still what? Alya, what do you want me to say?" Marinette groaned, a reluctant smile on her face at how scarlet her friend was and the way Nino was just sitting there laughing.

"I- don't know! I- you- La- but- you're Ladybug!"

"Have we not already established that?"

"Shut up Nino!" Alya slapped him on the shoulder and, ignoring his Ouch!, turned back to Marinette. "You're basically my hero! You're Paris' hero! That- that's so cool!"

Marinette laughed, and Alya huffed out a chuckle too.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I've been obsessed with you forever, and now I find out that I sit next to you every day? It's so awesome!" Alya froze suddenly, a terrifying glint in her eyes. "Imagine the hits on the Ladyblog!"

Marinette sat up suddenly, horrified.

"Alya-"

"-I can get all sorts of interviews-"

"-you can't- you need- please-"

"God, Marinette, chill! I'm not going to reveal you, duh."

Mari froze and was very conscious of Nino's excessive eye-rolls in the background.

"Y- you're not?"

"Of course not! I was all for exposing you before, but now I know that I'm one of the people Hawkmoth would go after once he knew your identity? Not a chance."

Incredulously, Nino and Mari stared at her. She sat there straight-faced for a moment before dissolving into snorts and giggles.

"Your face! Oh, Mari, of course I'm not going to reveal you. You're my best friend and I am so going to support you in this. Nino is too, right? We're not gonna reveal you." She elbowed him and he fumbled for a moment.

"Sure, yeah. I mean, no. We're not going to tell anyone- not about you or Adrien."

"Oh. Good. Thanks, guys." Marinette's cheeks went a light dusty rose, but she smiled gratefully at them. There was a pause, and then with a squeal, Alya leapt up to embrace the girl in the bed, and Nino piled on too.

"This is sooo cool!"

"Yep. I agree." Marinette's voice was oddly choked and Nino pulled back to look at her, seeing her wince and frowning.

"Alright, Mari?"

"Uh-huh. Except for the fact that Alya's kind of elbowing me in my little bullet wound thing right now."

"Jeez!" Alya leapt back immediately, her hands flying to her mouth in horror. "I'm so sorry- I didn't mean- are you okay?"

"Fine, fine." Mari grimaced, reaching out to grab Alya's hand and comforting her. "It's alright, don't worry."

"I- you- aaarrgggh…" Alya slumped down in her chair guiltily, but Nino perched on the edge of the bed.

"Does it hurt badly, Mari?" He asked concernedly, and Marinette gave a strained smile.

"It's not exactly fun, but hey! Who needs a spleen anyway?"

Nino laughed.

"I don't listen in Biology so I don't know what you're gonna be missing out on. All I know is getting shot tends to hurt."

"Oh, it's a blast." Mari said dryly and Nino snorted, then covered his mouth with a hand.

"You're so upbeat." He mused and Alya tilted her head questioningly, too. "very upbeat considering you've just woken up in hospital with a bullet wound. Then spent the next few hours getting prodded by nurses and smothered by parents. What's your secret?"

Mari smiled coyly.

"How's Adrien?" She asked innocently and felt her eardrums nearly burst at Alya's squeal.

"He did come! You woke up while he was here?"

"Maybe…"

"Oh dude!" Nino laughed, and Marinette blushed. "I knew it! He wouldn't tell us anything at school. Literally, zip, all day. I had a feeling you'd woken up and… chatted, but he managed to avoid us during break and lunch and we couldn't exactly talk about this during lessons. He was smiling, though, so I figured something good had happened."

"It was sooo irritating." Alya groaned. "The last we knew, you were still unconscious and we were all showing solidarity in our grieving, then he shows up all grinning and smug. It was infuriating, plus he didn't tell us anything other than the fact he'd been grounded and couldn't come see you."

"Not as Adrien." Nino quoted and Mari smothered a giggle.

"I can picture the imaginings you two came up with after that."

"Yep. So you're going to tell us everything, right now. And not just whatever may or may not have transpired between you and Chat Noir last night, but everything." Alya plopped down on the edge of Marinette's bed.

"Really? How much exactly is everything?"

"From the beginning." Nino suggested and Alya nodded her agreement.

"The beginning?" Marinette sighed. "That's a lot of 'everything'. Okay, well it all started one day when I was late for school…"