They spent another few minutes with each other, in silence, on the roof. Ladybug didn't know how to feel. She felt numb with the mountain of emotions threatening to fall down upon her. Deciding that she needed to focus on getting home, she pushed down her feelings and thoughts, into a corner of her mind. She would deal with them when she got home.

It was Chat who said goodnight first. He turned to look at her again and sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I don't know what we have to do to fix this, but I know we can," he told her. "But it's going to take a while. And we have to patient with each other." The breath caught in her throat and she nodded silently, not trusting herself to talk. He clenched his jaw and shook his head. "We'll-we'll just give each other space for now. Work on akumas and then-then we should talk about what has happened," he said softly. "Goodnight, Ladybug."

She watched as he took off across the rooftops, heading a little to the left of where his house was. Then again, just because she knew didn't mean that anyone else needed to.

Ladybug turned and ran towards her own home. She vaguely made sure that she swung around a few unnecessary blocks before she landed on her balcony. If she was honest, she couldn't even remember where she had gone, but she relied on Tikki and muscle memory to get home. She fell through the balcony door and dropped her transformation almost the instant she landed.

An exhausted sigh fell from her lips and she closed her eyes, letting the doors close behind her. Then she opened her eyes. Her stomach rolled.

Her walls were littered with Adrien's smiling face, hearts, and more.

A sob fell out of her mouth and she rushed forward. Not caring about the noise she made, she started ripping the pictures off the wall. Tears blurred her vision, but she knew where the pictures hung. Her drawers slammed open as she searched frantially for a bag. Once she found one, she started stuffing the photos into it, rubbing uselessly at her tears.

Tikki watched the carnage, buzzing sadly. "Marinette," she called, flying closer to the distraught girl. "Marinette, calm down." The girl only continued her destruction. Magazine ads were balled up and shoved into a bag, tape and torn corners left pinned up on her wall. She struggled with the calendar, sobbing. When it finally came off, it joined the photos.

Then the girl tore after her sketchbooks, flipping through pages and tearing out designs she had "made for him" while day dreaming. "Marinette!" Tikki cried, alarmed at her continuous destruction. "Marinette! Stop! Don't get rid of your designs!" The kwami flew over to her and pulled on the girl's hands to stop her.

"I have to!" she sobbed, "I have to get rid of everything! Don't you understand? Don't you see that I have done the same thing to him!" Then the teen fell to the ground and covered her face, sobbing loudly, out of control. The kwami buzzed softly overhead, slowly sinking down to perch onto her head, patting her gently. "I made him feel like-like I didn't trust him. I made him feel terrible for putting me on a pedestal when, in reality, it w-was al-always all m-my f-fault-t."

Tikki frowned deeply. "Oh, Marinette, it's not your fault. It's okay-"

"You don't understand!" Marinette wailed, choking on her sobs as she cried harder. "You-you don't under-derstand w-what I've d-done!" She slapped her hands over her mouth to try to reign in her sobbing, working to control her breaths through her nose. Her body shook with the force of her anguish. Every time she breathed in, her lungs seized and she coughed, choking on the snot and wet discharge she had accumulated from crying.

She was so exhausted. Marinette couldn't move, her limbs heavy and useless. She couldn't breathe, her lungs spasming with each breath she took, sobs still falling from her mouth. Her eyes couldn't produce anymore tears. After revealing herself, what had happened with Adrien, and now, she didn't think she would be able to cry for another year.

The last thing she was able to whimper to Tikki before falling asleep curled on the floor was "this is all my fault."

"This is all my fault, Plagg," Adrien said sadly, reaching up to remove the Ladybug posters the hung above his computer. "If I hadn't worshipped her when she was Ladybug, she would have felt like she was able to come to Chat about having a hard time coping with being a superhero and she would have never revealed herself to Adrien, Nino, and Alya first."

"If you say so, kid," the kwami said, curled up on the pillow. "Far as I see it, you're both a bunch of cheese-heads."

Adrien rolled his eyes and sighed. "You just don't get it, Plagg," he told him, voice quiet. "I promised myself I would never do that to anyone. And I did it to the person that I cherish the most. I betrayed the trust she put in me to care about her and not her image." He rolled up the posters and leaned the against the wall, planning on tossing them into the trash outside on his way out to the car tomorrow morning. With a few clicks of a button, the wallpaper on his computer was replaced with whimsical fanart of one of his favorite animes.

The boy sat in silence for a while until his kwami rose from the pillow and flew over to him. Adrien had his head in his hands, elbows propped up on the edge of his desk. His mind was racing because he didn't know how to fix this. He didn't even know if he could. Chat Noir was destruction, after all, bad luck incarnate.

"Do you think this is broken beyond repair?" he asked his kwami, voice tight and wet as he held back tears at the thought.

Plagg dropped into his collar and gave him a short nuzzle on the neck. "Kid," he started quietly, "nothing is broken or destroyed. You two have some problems to work through, but you're not the only Chat Noir and Ladybug to ever make mistakes or have issues." He nudged the teen gently, knowing that, despite the effort, his words gave little solace to his distraught charge. The kwami flew away from Adrien and laid down on the pillow again.

For a few moments, he watched Adrien as he rubbed at his face, most likely trying to dry the tears before he had to acknowledge they existed. The bug girl really messed up, he decided, but the blame fell upon his boy too, for not recognizing the damage he was doing. That didn't mean either of them should be as hurt and destroyed as they were by what happened, however. After silence dominated the room for a couple minutes, the kwami said something he had learned throughout the millennia he existed: "Sometimes, bad luck and bad things have to happen and exist for good luck and good things to be born and thrive."

When Adrien looked up towards his kwami, he realized that he was already asleep. A soft smile touched his lips, the first, he thought, since learning Marinette was Ladybug, and it warmed him from the inside a little. "What a lazy cat," he whispered to himself affectionately.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. His eye was drawn to the first drawer of his desk and, after a moment of staring, he opened it. Reaching in, he pulled out the good luck charm Marinette had given him. Despite her odd behavior and him thinking that, maybe, she didn't truly like him even after apologizing for the gum incident, he liked to think of her as his first friend. Not his best friend-a spot that slid between Ladybug and Nino fluidly depending on who he was and what he needed, but the first.

For a moment, he wondered what it would be like if he had fallen for Marinette first, if he hadn't met Ladybug yet or just hadn't been blinded by his affection for her. He entertained the idea of a world where telling Adrien before Chat was acceptable, wondered what his reaction would have been. Which was silly, he thought, because he was the bad luck cat. Not even all of Ladybug's luck would have made him lucky enough to garner Marinette's affections, her superhero identity aside.

He also wondered how he would face her in the morning. Ladybug sat behind him at school and, even if they hadn't created the rift that now existed in between them, he would have had a hard time coping with that idea. She was someone he cared about deeply and, despite his hurt, he still loved her. Part of him felt wrong because of it, another felt wrong being upset with her, and he felt torn between the two sides.

How can one still love someone who hurt them? And how can one stay upset at someone they loved?

Adrien suddenly pushed away from his desk and stood, dropping the charm on the surface of the desk and shutting the drawer. "One day at a time," he told himself, turning off the computer monitor. He exchanged his day clothes for his sleepwear and, as he climbed into bed and turned off the lights, he repeated the phrase to himself. "One day at a time."

Marinette didn't sleep in that morning. She had slept fitfully on the floor and woken up hours before sunrise. After finding Tikki sleeping near her on some cloths that had spilled out of her sewing basket, she resumed cleaning her room and her journals of Adrien. Her eyes felt heavy, lined with dried, crusty tears; her tongue dry and thick in her mouth. Despite this, her face was stoic.

She didn't pause, not even sparing a second glance at designs she had spent hours over. She combed through her computer, deleting pictures in mass and changing her wallpaper. By the time Tikki stirred awake, Marinette had a completely full garbage bag propped by her door and she was silently peeling the tape and torn edges from off of her wall. She wanted all evidence of this to be gone.

"Marinette," the kwami called gently, flying over to her. "Marinette, are you okay?" The girl felt her eyes begin to well up with tears again and she briefly wondered how she even had the ability to still produce tears after everything she had cried yesterday. Without saying a word, fearing she'd choke on a sob, the girl just shook her head.

Tikki buzzed closer and nuzzled her cheek. "It's going to be okay, Marinette," she told the girl. "You two are Ladybug and Chat Noir, two halves of a whole. Everything will work out in the end." The kwami looked sadly at the tear marks in her sketch journals. Marinette was a creator and seeing her destroy anything was jarring, but especially when it was her own work.

The kwami looked back to her charge and deflated when she realized her words did little to console the girl. This was really a mess, she thought, and she blamed herself for a part since she had helped convince Marinette to tell her friends; Tikki was always the softer-hearted of the kwami pair when it came to the plight of her charges. Plagg had more of a "they will learn along the way; it's a journey for them" point of view and she always felt the need to intervene and help when things got tough for them.

But too big of doses of good luck can go into the wrong places, despite all of her good intentions. She should know better by now, she thought, that too much of her good luck gave room for Plagg's chaos to slip in. Despite her miraculous powers, she, too, was able to make mistakes. With a soft sigh, Tikki flew closer to Marinette and gave her a gentle nuzzle, holding in her luck so it didn't seep into the girl. Hoping to give some sort of solace, she whispered her thoughts to the teen, "Too much good luck gives way to chaos, but, in the end, there will always be balance."

Marinette reached up to cup Tikki in one hand, bringing her to the front of her face. She dropped a gentle, albeit trembling, kiss on the kwami's head. "Thank you, Tikki," she breathed, still fearfully that speaking too loudly would cause her to burst out crying again. "I love you so much. Thank you."

The kwami let out a twinkling giggle. "I love you too, Marinette. Now let's get you ready for school. We don't want your parents to think something is wrong." A smile touched Marinette's face and, for the first time since last night, she felt like she was going to be okay.

It took more makeup than she usually wore and about thirty minutes longer than a typical day for Marinette and Tikki to agree that she looked presentable to the public. Her hair pulled up in her signature pigtails, she clamored down the steps of her loft, carrying the bag of trash with her. Before she turned the corner into the kitchen, she quickly forced a smile on her face.

"Good morning, Marinette!" her mother called out from her place at the stove.

"Morning, Mama," she responded, wincing a little when her voice came out quieter than normal.

Her mother turned around and rose her eyebrows in surprise. "What's the with bag, sweetie? I thought you cleaned up after your friends left yesterday." Marinette shifted uncomfortably under the studying gaze and she shrugged.

"Spring cleaning, Mama," she offered weakly.

"At seven in the morning?"

She forced out a light laugh. "Well, you know how I get when I have an idea in my head," she tried to explain. "I don't stop until it's done." Marinette made her way towards the door. "I'm going to set this outside then I'll come help you or Papa, okay, Mama?" With a nod from her mother, Marinette was down the stairs, breathing out a sigh of relief.

Tikki peaked out from her place in her bag. "You can't hide anything from parents, huh?" the teen asked, smiling ironically. The kwami laughed and tucked herself back into the purse as the teen entered the bakery. Thanking whatever good luck was on her side for her father being busy with a customer, she popped into the back and threw the bag into a dumpster.

Coming back inside, she saw her father was no longer busy. "Morning, Papa," she greeted, leaning up and tugging on his arm a little for him to bend down far enough for her to peck his cheek.

He chuckled at this and smiled at her. "Good morning, Marinette," he responded. "You look pretty today; is there a special occasion?" There was a teasing quality in his voice and twinkle in his eye that made Marinette blossom. In that moment, she was sure she was going to be okay.

"Sometimes girls just want to look especially pretty for no reason, Papa," Marinette told him, her voice playfully scolding. He laughed and nodded, turning back to tend to the ovens and goods he was making.

"Well, 'especially pretty girl,'" he teased, "go help your mother with breakfast today. I'm fine down here for the moment. If I need help, I'll call."

Marinette nodded and waved before she bounded back up the stairs to help her mother.

Adrien was awoken by the traditional knock on his door and Nathalie calling out to him that it was time for him to wake up. His head was throbbing and he let out a weak groan when he rolled out of bed, turning on the lights as he stood. From behind the door, he could hear Nathalie giving him how much time he had to get ready before he was expected downstairs for breakfast.

He pulled on his clothing, trying to make himself look presentable, even if he didn't feel that way. After button up his shirt, he entered the bathroom and visibly flinched when he looked his reflection in the mirror. He looked bad. His eyes were red-rimmed and swollen. There were blotches on his face and he could see his eyelashes stuck together with dried tears. A snorted and shook his head. Of course he would look like shit. He was the bad luck cat, wasn't he?

He spent a few minutes scrubbing at his face to try to rid the evidence of his emotional turmoil, but, in the end, he still looked just as bad. Giving up, he brushed his teeth and fixed his hair. He would ask Nathalie if he could have his makeup done. He always had a few minutes to spare before having to get to school and, after she saw the state he was in, she couldn't very well refuse. Adrien had the Agreste name to live up to, after all.

For the first time ever, Plagg was compliant and didn't complain when Adrien stuffed him into his pocket with some cheese. There weren't even complaints about missing breakfast or being starving. This was his way of trying to make things easier for him, Adrien realized, and he was so very thankful.

Silently, he added extra cheese into his bag, along with his school books. He knew Plagg would recognize it as thanks.

Exhausted and feeling wholly unprepared to face the day, Adrien treaded down the stairs, carrying his Ladybug posters and promptly dropping them into the recycling as he entered the dining room. His breakfast awaited him, like normal, at the head of an empty table. His father was gone on business to Italy. He had expected this sight, but it still hurt. He wished he didn't have to have breakfast alone.

As he took his seat and feebly began eating, he saw Nathalie enter the room, tapping away on her tablet. He perked up a little. He wasn't completely alone. Nathalie wasn't necessarily family, but she was sometimes the closest thing he had to it.

"Nathalie," he called. She hummed in response, still typing away. "Do you think I have time to get my makeup done this morning?" he asked, his voice clearly hopeful.

She didn't even look up from her tablet. "There's no need," she said, voice cold, "You don't have a photoshoot today. Finish up your breakfast and be in the car by 7:15, please." Then she left.

He felt his stomach drop and nausea ripped through him.

He couldn't do this alone. He couldn't face this emotional hell without help and the only people he had that could help him didn't care about him.

Adrien suddenly breathed in sharply and squeezed his eyes shut, trying with all his might not to start crying again. He had cried enough last night. He couldn't keep crying.

Plagg purred from his place in his jacket pocket and Adrien breathed out shakily. His hand slipped into the pocket and, still purring, Plagg nuzzled against him.

The boy didn't finish eating-he didn't think he could swallow with the lump of sadness stuck in his throat. With his hand tucked deep into his pocket, Plagg rubbing against his palm, purring as loud as he dared without getting caught, Adrien left for school early that day.

He didn't know what he was going to do when he saw her. He wasn't prepared, in any way. Even after arriving early, he loitered around the library, too nervous and upset to go into class. He was a coward that was afraid to look her in the face.

Plagg gave him strength and courage. If it hadn't been for a surge of Chat that led him down the hall to his class, he was sure he would have hid the entire day in the library. The boy gave his kwami an affectionate pet along the top of his head, making a mental reminder to buy the finest cheese when he got home tonight as a thank you for everything Plagg was doing for him.

Despite the chaos that came with living with the god of destruction and bad luck, he loved the kwami more than he could ever explain.

The moment he saw her, he almost tripped on his own feet. Okay, too much Chat from Plagg, he decided humorously, righting himself easily. She was seated behind where he was assigned, looking haggard and like she was wearing more makeup than what she usually did. At least he wasn't the only one affected, he told himself, trying to draw comfort from the idea, but finding that it only upset him more.

Trying his best to avoid any eye contact with her, not that, thank god, she was even trying, he hurried to his seat. He almost tripped again and cursed his bad luck, but only briefly before calming down.

Adrien slumped into his chair the moment he was seated. He brought up his hands and rubbed at his eyes as he yawned. He was exhausted, his head hurt, and he knew he looked like shit. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to face her, not yet, at least. But he was the bad luck cat, he thought sarcastically, as he caught a glimpse of Alya and Nino walking past him to sit down in their own seats. Trying to keep quiet, he let out a strained groan.

"Shit, dude," Nino suddenly said, shaking his shoulder a little, making the model look up, slightly annoyed. "You like like total shit," the DJ whispered, leaning closer to him. "What happened last night? Was it your dad again?"

He forced a weak smile on his face, feeling guilty for worrying his friend, even if it was a founded worry. "No," he told him. "It's nothing like that. I just…" He paused, trying to think of a believable lie for why he looked as terrible as he did. "I just stayed up too late watching anime. You know how I get sometimes." He tried to laugh at the statement, but he felt it was unconvincing, especially with the way Nino was still looking at him, skeptical and studying.

"You're a dork."

The statement was startling. Perhaps said a little louder than what it was meant to be, but Adrien knew how nervous Marinette could get sometimes. When he turned to look at her, her face was flushing different shades of pinks and reds-and she looked utterly mortified that she had said it outloud. With his gaze on her, he watched as her face morphed from humiliation to, while still flushed, determined. For the first time since finding out, he saw spots without the Miraculous.

"You're smart and talented when it comes to school, but at the end of the day," she said, tone teetering somewhere between feigned nonchalance and hysteria, "you're just a major anime dork, aren't you?" She was trying. Maybe that wasn't her initial intention when she showed up to school today, but she was recovering from her verbal blunder and trying to reach out to him, to mend the divide between him.

She was being strong when he needed her to be, he realized, and it felt like his heart bloomed in his chest in that moment.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and ducked his head to the side a little. "I'm totally guilty," he admitted, glad that the words didn't sound as awkward as he felt they did.

Marinette forced an awkward smile. They were saved by any further interaction by the teacher entering the class and calling for their attention.

Oh my god what was she thinking?! 'You're a dork?!' Where did that come from? Why had she said that outloud? God, Marinette just wanted to erupt into flames and die. She was so lucky Alya had only just sat down and was still going over posts from the Ladyblog or else she would never hear the end of it.

She was so thankful to Adrien, though. Despite her verbal blunder, and her sorry excuse to try to use it to reach out to him, he had responded to her. It wasn't easy, or even good, but it was a start.

Maybe they could do this.

She was so wrong.

Lunch was an obstacle she hadn't seen coming. Alya had yanked Nino away from Adrien, guilt written on her face even as she gave what Marinette was certain was a lie about needing him for some Ladyblog formatting help. The hero would have been inclined to believe her journalist friend if she hadn't seen her dragging her boyfriend off to a cafe down the road from the school instead of the library.

Adrien and Marinette stared at each other in silence. Her heart was somersaulting and she felt it rise to her throat. Either that or it was her about to puke, she thought humorlessly. Last year, Adrien had managed to convince his father to let him have lunch with his classmates half the week. Today was one of the days he was allowed to stay during the lunch hours.

He suddenly shifted on his feet, drawing his bag closer to him. Her eyes followed the movement and she wondered if his kwami was in there. She mimicked the movement unconsciously, watching his eyes zero onto her bag as well, and she wondered if he was having the same thoughts.

They were just standing in the hall, in awkward silence. She winced a little at the thought. They had been better than this lately, before her reveal. It had taken a long time for her to be able to have a conversation by herself with Adrien, despite her crush. Marinette still got tongue-tied sometimes, but they were much better friends in the recent months than they had been when they first met.

It felt like they were strangers again. Even though they knew each other better now than they perhaps ever had at any point before, they felt like strangers and it was all her fault.

That was when Rose came buzzing by. As if she knew something was wrong, the kind girl had extended an invitation for Adrien and Marinette to join her and Juleka for lunch with Nathanael. They both extended a look towards each other and, with a silent agreement that was far too Chat and Ladybug like for her comfort, they followed the pixie-like girl to a table in the library.

Marinette sat near Nathanael while Adrien took Juleka's other side, her right being occupied by Rose, who was chatting excitedly about an assignment she had gotten in one of her classes. They didn't look at each other for the rest of the lunch period.

In uncomfortable silence, they accompanied each other to their next class, sitting in their respective seats. Once at her desk, Marinette let out a sigh and pressed her cheek against the cool surface of the table.

She really fucked up everything, didn't she?

"Girl!" Alya exclaimed excitedly as she plopped down in the seat next to her. "Look what I have!" She pulled a magazine from her bag and waved it in Marinette's face, whose face blanched when she realized it was Agreste's new spread, featuring Adrien on the cover. A polite smiled forced its way on her face as she took it gingerly from her best friend.

"Ah, thanks, Alya," she said, trying not to wince as her voice fell sharply below the enthusiasm she knew she usually exhibited. "I was actually looking forward to Agnes B's spring shoot, though…" When she looked up and saw the confusion on the reporter's face she panicked. "I just think Gabriel Agreste is too cold for spring! It's a time for brighter colors and adventurous matching and-and he still uses dark colors, that's all!" It came out a tad louder and quicker than she had anticipated and she winced when Adrien's head turned to look at her.

A smile tugged at his lips and he gave her a curious half-grin. "I think my father considers white to be the only acceptable 'bright' color," he agreed. He was trying too, and that made her feel so much better. Her posture immediately began to relax and she felt herself smiling a little and nodding, more to convey her thanks than her agreement.

Ladybug was strong, but right now she was only Marinette and she didn't think she could handle having to deal with their problems at school as well, especially after the awful lunch they had just had.

"If you ask me," he continued, voice lowered like he was telling a secret, "I think red and black looks much better than white and black do-any day of the year."

Marinette couldn't even stop the laugh that erupted from her in that moment. She leaned forward in her seat a little and, in a equally low voice, replied, "I think I rather prefer green and black." Her heart warmed when his smile broke out in full force. They were getting better. It made her feel like she could breathe for the first time that day.

"Dupain-Cheng! Agreste!" The teens quickly sat properly in their seats and faced their teacher, who had a slightly annoyed look on her face. "You just came back from break; please keep conversations to the halls, not when I'm teaching."

"Sorry, Ms. Bustier!" they both echoed in unison. When she resumed teaching, they snuck a glance at each other and laughed quietly under their breaths.

Okay, now she was sure that they could do this.

They were Ladybug and Chat Noir, after all.

They met for patrol again that night. They didn't need to, but, after having the day they had at school today, they both felt drawn to each other. It was fixable, they both realized earlier that day. They weren't destroyed beyond repair.

Instead of splitting up to cover more ground, like they usually did, they silently came to the agreement that they needed to be with each other. It would add another hour to their patrol, but it would be worth it. They needed to get back into the rhythm of being partners, even after what had happened.

As the flew across the night sky, Ladybug found herself staring at Chat Noir. Her guilt about her behavior regarding Adrien was still eating her alive. She had felt better throughout the day and, when she had came home to a blank room, she had felt good. Seeing him now, however, and knowing that he didn't know of the terrible things she had done to him-it was tearing her apart.

She had to tell him. She couldn't live with herself he had continued to go through his life thinking he was the only one to do that in their relationship-their partnership. They had just finished their last block when she suddenly stopped on a rooftop, her heart squeezing tightly.

Knowing Chat, he probably blamed this all on himself. And it wasn't his fault. She was at fault too. She did wrong too.

Chat Noir heard her stop, heard her strangled breathing and moved close to her. "Ladybug?" he asked gently, reaching out towards her, but not touching her. He probably didn't know if they were ready for that yet. She didn't know if they were ready for that either. They were better today than they had been last night, yes, but they weren't perfect. This semblance of 'okay' they had was still fragile. His touch, and her words, would likely shatter it.

Ladybug looked up into his green eyes and turned to face the skyline sharply, clasping her hands together tightly. She couldn't not tell him. That was as bad as lying. She was better than that. Ladybug was better than that, but so was Marinette. Ladybug was the strong one though-so she had to do it now.

"I need to tell you the truth," she suddenly blurted. Not looking at him, fearing she would freeze at the look on his face, she rushed through her words, "I just-Chat Noir always made it really clear that he loved Ladybug, so I know you have feeling for her. I just think it's fair that you know Marinette has a massive crush on Adrien." Once she finished, she glanced up and winced at the look of confusion on his face. "And Marinette is guilty of idolizing Adrien, too." Confusion slid into discomfort and she felt her heart ache.

Chat Noir suddenly stepped back a few steps. He forced out a laugh, which sounded bitter, and shook his head. "Fell in love with the 'perfect' side, huh?" he asked, not even trying to hide the jaded tone he had. His fist was curled as he looked away from her and down the street.

She flinched and crossed her arms over her stomach. "It didn't start like that," she told him, voice quiet, "but it was definitely part of it." Ladybug could feel him staring at her, but she didn't look to met his gaze. "I hated you the first time I met you, remember?" She paused for a beat then continued, "Then you apologized to me and gave me your umbrella. You did nothing wrong and you apologized anyway. I was so mean and rude to you and, instead of hating me for it, you sought me out and had compassion for me. You didn't have to."

He didn't respond, but she saw him shift his posture from the corner of her eye. She pushed on. "Sometimes I wondered if I would have fallen in love with Chat Noir if I had met him first, or wasn't blinded by Adrien," she admitted quietly. "Chat Noir is a big dork, but he's my best friend and I do love him. More often than not, I was repelled by him because I was under the impression he flirted with everyone-that he wasn't serious with Ladybug." She laughed a little. "You called me 'My Lady' one second, then called me 'Princess' the next when I was a different person." Silence rang on the rooftop.

"Wishful thinking is stupid though," she whispered. "Because I can never go into the past and change what I did. I can't unlove Adrien, just like I can't unreveal myself to you three. And I feel like everything is such a tangled mess and I don't even know where to start to unravel it, but I knew I needed to tell you the truth." She took in a deep breath. "I put you on a pedestal too-and I hate myself for it."

He was staring at her. Chat could see the sheen of unshed tears behind the mask and he felt his heart slam against his ribcage. Marinette had loved Adrien, probably still did, if she was anything like he was with his love for Ladybug. Fuck, they were messed up, weren't they? Dancing around each other, loving one half and being oblivious of the other for almost two years now.

How do you even go about fixing something as screwed up as that?

Chat had to try, though, he knew. She was falling apart and, while he knew she could be strong, she wasn't perfect. Ladybug proved to him more than enough in the past two days that she was just as human as he was. He had to be strong for her too, because she couldn't do this by herself.

She could have lied to him and never told him about idolizing Adrien, he realized. Ladybug could have kept it a secret from him for the rest of their lives but, instead, she admitted to her faults as well. Despite the pain he felt, he was proud and thankful for that too. They had both made mistakes.

He wished he could start all over.

Suddenly his ears popped up and he laughed a little to himself. Ladybug's head shot up and she shot him a confused look. Despite the watery aspect of his eyes, his smile was easy-going, the first since Marinette's reveal. He knew what he could do.

His hand appeared, palm up, in front of her. Face still confused, she placed her hand in his and he pulled her close to him, extending his baton. "I have a stupid idea," he announced, grin still stupidly wide.

Her eyebrows knitted together. "Uh, what?" she stammered. "Kitty-"

Without warning, he swung tightened his hold around her waist and swung them over the edge of the building. A gasp of surprise sounded in his ear as she gripped his arm tightly and he found himself laughing. "Just trust me, Bug," he told her, "I've got you."

Ladybug's grip tightened on his arm and she shifted so that she was settled more against his side. "I do trust you," she whispered, voice broken. "I trust you more than anything, Chat." He felt his heart warm for a moment and he gave her a soft smile before catching the side of a building with his baton, propelling them further down the street.

After a few minutes, he lowered them to the ground and unwrapped his arm from around her waist. She stared up at him and gaped when he dropped his transformation. A quick glance around told her that she was in a dimmed alley way and she visibly relaxed. Without her saying anything, and, by the look on her face, to her surprise, her kwami dropped her transformation as well.

Adrien, with Plagg resting on his shoulder, faced Marinette, as Tikki hovered over her head.

His hand was held out to her again, open-palmed again, but held at its side. His smile widened as her face grew more confused.

"My name is Adrien Agreste," he started. "I double as Chat Noir, half of a superhero group, when needed. I love anime too much for my health and I hate modeling." He paused and, when jabbed by his kwami, added hurriedly, "Oh, yeah, this is my kwami, Plagg. He turns me into Chat Noir."

The hope that lit up her face healed most of the wounds on his heart in that moment. She looked so relieved and happy-her eyes shone with tears, but it didn't upset him; they were good tears.

Marinette took his hand and shook it firmly.

"My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she echoed. "I double as Ladybug, the partner of Chat Noir, when needed. My kwami is Tikki. I want to be a designer when I grow up and I hate bullies."

Despite the damp, dark alley surrounding them, they both felt their worlds shine when they smiled at each other.

Three months later

They were all laughing, sprawled out on a picnic blanket in the park. Nino curled against Alya's side, arm around her shoulders as he guffawed into her neck. Marinette, in a pink polka-dotted summer dress, sitting cross-legged next to them, playing with uprooted wildflowers in her lap, her cheeks flushed from giggling. All three of them laughing at a story Alya had just told them about a case of bad investigating that journalism club had gotten itself into. Adrien hadn't heard it over the roaring of his heartbeat in his ears. He knew he was working himself up into a panic attack, but he still struggled trying to reign in his breathing. Plagg in his collar was getting annoyingly restless. Then, Marinette looked up at him and gave him an encouraging smile, nodding her head.

Fingers curled tightly into fists, he weakly gave one back. You can do this, he told himself. You're not alone.

He cleared his throat. Nino's and Alya's full-bodied laughter died away as their gazes swung over to him. Adrien squirmed a little under their studying looks. A frown marred Nino's face as he sat up. "What's up, bro?" he asked, worry coloring his voice. "Are you okay?"

The hero looked down to his hand and idly twisted the ring on his finger. "I have something to tell you guys," he said solemnly. "But you can't ask questions. And you can't tell anyone." He flushed a little when he realized he was echoing Marinette from three months ago.

Swallowing thickly, he made to stand up when, suddenly, Nino shook his head and laughed a little. "No need, dude," he said, snorting a little. "We know."

There was silence for a beat.

"What?"

Leave it to Ladybug-Marinette-to react first. The confession was still echoing in Adrien's mind as he stared at his best friend, who was casualing laying back down with his girlfriend.

"You know?" he finally echoed, eyebrows drawing together.

Alya snorted and rolled her eyes. "You weren't exactly subtle when Marinette revealed herself, Cool Cat," she supplied.

Nino shrugged and pulled her close. "Yeah," he agreed. "You were basically screaming 'hello this is me, Chat Noir, this is my secret identity.'" When he and Alya looked up to see the looks of shock and disbelief on the superhero duo's faces, they both burst into uproarious laughter. It was the only sound nearby for a couple minutes until they hiccuped into silence, wiping tears from their eyes.

Adrien looked uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. In that moment, Nino took pity on him and sobered up. "We had suspicions, but it was honestly the behavior you two had around each other after that really sealed the deal for us, y'know?" he explained. "You could hardly look at each other or talk to each other the day after. Both of you looked crushed."

Alya nodded. "You looked like your lives were over," she said softly, voice sad. "We didn't know what to do. Or how to help. We didn't even know if we could." She smiled bitterly. "We're not even supposed to know. How could we help?"

The four friends stared at each other in silence. The two heroes were still clearly mulling over the information that they had just received, Adrien's face flushing a little at the thought that he had been obvious enough for Alya and Nino to find out his identity. He would have to be more careful about that in the future, he decided.

"We're glad you two worked it out," Nino said after a few minutes. "We were really worried about you two. Not just Chat Noir and Ladybug, but Marinette and Adrien." Alya agreed soberly, her face pinched with leftover concern. "But hey!" he exclaimed suddenly, drawing Alya's and Adrien's attention. "We have two badass superheroes in this group-and now that we 'officially' know, Alya and I can be your trusty sidekicks."

"Oh my god," Marinette suddenly shrieked, voice horrified. All three snapped their heads to look at her, just catching her literally slapping her face as she facepalmed, cheeks glowing. "Oh my god." Puzzled looks were shared as she flopped forward and buried her face into the blanket, groaning loudly. "Alya drew you as Chat Noir when we were fifteen!" she practically screamed into her mouthful of cloth, making it just barely audible to her friends.

Alya and Nino immediately started cackling, falling back with each other. Adrien, while still confused, was mildly amused by the situation. "Alya drew Adrien as Chat and I called her crazy!" With that, he also fell forward laughing. Tears clung to his eyes as his stomach ached and his lungs screamed for air. But he still laughed. After swallowing her humiliation, Marinette joined in. The parisian park was filled with outrageous teenage laugher for a few perfect minutes.

They were far from perfect.

They still had a lot to talk about in the future.

Mostly regarding the fact that they had been in love with each other and that they, after spending the last three months repairing their relationship and being nearly inseparable, were likely falling in love all over again with each other, properly this time.

But Marinette and Adrien were going to be alright.

They were Ladybug and Chat Noir, after all.