Marinette-Ladybug

"Your Miraculous," Chat said, pointing at the disappearing dot on Ladybug's earring. Just as she heard his words she heard the miraculous' third beep chime in her ear.

"Well, then that's my cue to leave," She told Chat, mimicking his two finger salute. Then she grabbed her yo-yo and started to swing off when Chat grabbed her forearm. She turned back to look at the cat, "What are you doing Chat? I gotta go or else," but then she stopped. Chat wasn't looking at her, almost like he couldn't. He just looked down at his boots. A small pain grew in Ladybug's chest.

"Lady," he looked up at her, eyes softened, "Please… I Just…," Chat was interrupted by another beep from her miraculous. One dot left. Chat let her go but Ladybug couldn't let go of the pain in his voice.

"I'm sorry Chat-, "

"Go or else you won't have a choice," His voice a little harsher. Without time to respond, she slung her Yo-Yo and swung off. She hurried between buildings and leapt rooftops, barely making it home in time. Luckily she landed on her balcony just as the powers wore off. Tikki appeared for a second and then disappeared into Marinette's room to go get some snacks to refuel.

"Lady Please," Chat's words echoed in Marinette's ears and the pain in her chest grew larger. She knew how much he loved her but she couldn't tell him who she really was. Her breath hung on the chilly night air as she let her thoughts wonder. If Chat knew who she was and then was controlled by an akumatized villain again or worse akumatized himself, he wouldn't be able to control himself and would tell Hawkmoth. Everyone and everything she loved would be in danger. Her mom, her dad, Ayla, Adrien. Adrien, she thought, her chest tightening at the thought of him. It also wasn't fair to lead Chat on if she already was in love with someone else.

She was curious too of course but she knew he probably had people he wanted to keep safe as well. And she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't get akumatized herself. There were days she felt pretty down after seeing Chloe with Adrien.

Marinette crossed her arms, squeezing herself tightly. It was getting colder, her breath growing more and more visible in the air. Just as she was about to turn to go inside she felt someone's hands grab her upper arms from behind and pull her back.

"Aren't you cold Princess?" Chat's voice in her ear and chest against her back suddenly startled her. Then she realized why he was there. He must've followed Ladybug. Good thing her back was facing Chat or he would've seen the panic spread across her face. Had he seen me transform back? Her thoughts were racing, then she realized that his grip on her arms had loosened a bit and he had fallen quiet. Too quiet, which for Chat rarely happened.

"Chat, are you alright?" she said turning towards him. His arms fell to his side, his face toward the ground. Marinette had never seen him this sad before. She reached out to place a hand on his shoulder but hesitated for just a moment. But the hesitation was enough to catch his attention. He looked up with tears in his eyes. You almost couldn't see them with his mask on, but sure enough they were there.

At first Chat didn't say anything. Chat didn't really know her as Marinette all that well, so why would he? She let her hand rest on his shoulder as he stayed silent, looking down at her. The night air suddenly didn't seem so cold.

"I lost her." He finally spoke, his voice a bit dry from the tears he had swallowed. "Her transformation was wearing off. I asked her to stay. She took off so fast. I wasn't going to follow her but then suddenly I just was." He paused, his tears coming back ever so slightly. Marinette had never known that she had made him feel so bad. Chat swallowed hard and continued, "But I lost her about a block back. She was heading this way but her transformation would've worn off by now." His eyes fell again. Thank god he hadn't made the connection to Marinette. But Chat wasn't stupid, he could make the connection any moment.

"Chat, I'm sorry. " Marinette started but then Chat turned away real fast, interrupting her apologies for the second time that night.

"Doesn't she trust me?" he was angry now, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm not gonna tell anyone. We have worked together for over a year now and," He turned back toward Marinette, "It's like she doesn't trust me at all." He was yelling now. Marinette had shrunk back at his angered voice. she stumbled back onto the patio table behind her, using a hand to support herself. She had never seen him this angry before, this night was just full of firsts. There was that pain in her chest again. Had she really hurt this kitty that bad?

Chat realized that he had been yelling at Marinette and suddenly pulled. "Oh My Gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take my frustration out on you, I just…" the cat went silent.

"It's fine, sometimes we just need to vent." She replied softly. She knew exactly how he felt. "God knows I vented to Alya about Adrien enough times." Chat's eyes went wide. Had she just said that out loud? "Did I just say that out loud?" she felt her face grow warm. Good thing it was too dark out to see her cheeks redden.

"So that's the guy you like, Huh princess?" Chat teased easing back to his old flirtatious self. "Who is this Adrien guy anyway?" Marinette no longer felt a pain in her chest because it had been replaced with a lump in her throat.

….

Adrien –Chat

"Who is this Adrien guy anyway?" Chat feigned ignorance. I'm that Adrien guy, he thought. He, of course knew who Adrien was because it was him. And he had known Marinette liked him for a while. But he only had feelings for Ladybug and leading Marinette on would just be cruel. But as Chat, they were just good friends.

He noticed that Marinette had grown a bright shade of red that even the night couldn't hide. So he thought he would help her out a little.

"Wait, you don't mean Adrien like Adrien Agreste the famous model?" he 'guessed'. Marinette stayed silent and looked away. Okay, I guess I've got to make it easier. "Come on, I told you all about my crush on Ladybug just now. So it's only fair that you tell me about this boy of yours."

"You actually didn't tell me about your crush. You just yelled at me because she didn't trust you. And he isn't my boy" She retorted quietly. Wow, he had never seen her be so snappy around him, well except towards Chloe.

"You are right my princess." He said nonchalantly, "So let me clear things up." He leaned towards her, causing her to stumble back against the patio table more. "I am completely and totally in love with The Miraculous Ladybug. She is everything to me. She is the bravest, kindest, most beautiful thing to ever happen to me." Realizing he was so close he backed up a bit. But now that he was talking about ladybug he couldn't stop. "She is what I fight for and who I fight to protect. She makes me," he paused, the words he had never spoken before were about to just fall out of his mouth, "She makes me something worthwhile, she gives me purpose." The words stood on their own in the space between them. He had never told anyone that. He had never had anyone to tell that to.

They stood there quiet or a moment and then suddenly Marinette spoke.

"Yes." She paused for a moment but when Chat didn't say anything she continued, "Yes I do love Adrien Agreste. Yes the very same Adrien Agreste who is a model. We are classmates and I have always loved him. He is kind and everyone loves him. He is never cruel, even to people like Chloe Bourgeois, who is putting Hawkmoth out of a job." Chat snickered at that last comment. "He has never been cruel to me or called me weird even though all I do is make inaudible noises at him. He never lets on how sad he has been since he lost his mom or how much his dad forgets about him and bails all the time. He is so strong even though life has thrown so much at him. He makes me want to be strong." She finished.

Now it was Chat's turn to blush, but luckily his mask covered most of his face. He had no idea she knew so much about him. Especially the part about his dad always being a no show. He had only told Nino about that.

"Wow, it felt so nice to say all of that." She breathed a sigh of relief, finally breaking the silence. "I don't think I have ever said that to anyone. I mean Alya knows most of it but she has never heard the full spiel. I was always afraid she would think I was some crazy stalker or something. But after you so unashamedly declared your love for Ladybug to me, I knew I could too."

"Well at least you have Aliya. That's the first time I have told anyone. First time I'd been able too. I can't really tell any of my friends. I mean how bizarre would that sound. 'Hey buddy I got to tell you that I am crazy in love with Ladybug. Yeah the super hero. Well of course I know her. I know her better than anyone else because I'm also secretly her crime fighting partner Chat Noir' yes I am so sure that would go over so well." He mocked, making Marinette laugh. He was glad he could make her laugh after he had yelled at her.

"Well now you've got me." She said between laughs. This caused Chat to stop. He looked down at this girl from his class. She was now sitting on the table he had back her against. Could he really trust this girl to be his confidant? Wouldn't that be cruel if he was in fact the boy she was in love with?

"Do you really mean that?" He asked, to see what she would say.

"Yeah of course. Like I said, everyone needs someone to talk to. So you can talk to me about Ladybug when you need to vent. Just text me or call and I let you know when I'm free to talk." This girl was so great. She probably have a heart attack if she knew that she had just offered to be Adrien Agreste's Confidant.

"Okay, and you can talk to me about Adrien anytime you want as well. You know, to make it even." He could handle hearing Marinette talk good and bad about him if that meant he would actually have someone other than Plagg to talk about Ladybug to.

She smiled and nodded. Her freckles seemed to reflect the city lights like stars on her cheeks.

"Well princess, I better be off. Got things to do tomorrow. You better get to bed or else you'll be late for class in the morning." He said, thinking about how she was almost always late for class. No wonder she was always late if she stayed up like this every night.

"Your right Chat. I better go back to bed," then she turned and went down the stairs into her room.

Chat leapt off into the night. He still felt bad about how he had yelled at Marinette. He was just frustrated with the fact that he had used such a harsh tone with ladybug right before she left.

He knew exactly why she wouldn't tell him. She wanted to keep her family and friends safe. And that's why she insisted he didn't tell her, because she wanted to keep him safe. But she is the only thing he's got. Marinette wasn't wrong when she said how alone he was, even if she didn't know she was talking about him. He stopped for a moment beneath the Eiffel Tower, the lights had been turned off for the evening so it was dark. Chat hid well under the cover of the tower, letting his thoughts consume him.

He knew she trusted him. But Chat only had Ladybug. As Adrien he was just a pampered prince who could only do what he was told and be what everyone else wanted. But because of Ladybug, because of being Chat Noir, he was able to do something and be someone he could like, someone worth being. Not this fake prince that everyone saw as perfect and always happy. Well not everyone, Marinette saw through my facade Chat thought with a sigh. How had she noticed all those things about him but not noticed that he was Chat Noir. He chuckled at the idea of her finding out that her daily crush was also her late night confidant.

After pacing beneath the Tower for what seemed like hours but was actually only a few minutes, Chat finally made his way back home. He transformed back and walked through the front door. His dad wouldn't be home. He rarely ever was.

Adrien moved through the halls of his house until he found his room and then collapsed in his bed. For the first time in a while, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Getting to talk about ladybug with an actual human person. He still had to do it as Chat and not himself but in a way Chat was his self, his real self anyway. Then he rolled over kicking off his shoes.

"I wonder if Marinette will be late tomorrow?" he said and then drifted off to sleep.