A/N: This is easily the most divisive fic I've ever written. God the flame wars are entertaining.

Three weeks. Three weeks since they'd had their second fallout, and Marinette had had time to think. Lots of time.

When the reveal had first happened, Mari had been shell shocked. Then she had been furious. When Adrien walked into the classroom and greeted her that first day afterwards, she had flat out ignored him, and Alya had been all over it. She had grilled Marinette for hours over why she was ignoring the model. Marinette had been unable to provide a satisfactory answer, and had thus taken to speaking to the model every time she thought necessary so as to avoid Alya's questions. And it worked.

Kind of.

Alya seemed to know something was amiss, no matter what Marinette told her, and Marinette was suspicious that her friend knew more than she was letting on. But she couldn't prove that, so she let it be.

But she was still angry. He had thrown her aside as though she was nothing, and she was prepared to give him a piece of her mind. But then she remembered that that was exactly what she had done to him five months earlier, and that was a mess she was still suffering repercussions from. So she sat down and talked with Tikki, who gave her some advice, which Marinette took to heart.

So she'd texted him, telling him she wanted to talk. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say, even now, but she knew what she had to do. So there she sat in the park, the first tints of orange showing on the Parisian skyline as the sun descended towards the horizon.

"Marinette." The distant nature of the voice that spoke to her made her flinch. She took a deep breath as he sat next to her.

"Adrien." She replied, trying to reply in the same manner, and pretty sure she was failing miserably. A few moments of awkward silence passed, before Adrien spoke.

"You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yes. A few things." Mari said, glancing at him. He nodded, indicating that she had his attention. "First, and most important, I want you back as my partner. Officially. In the eyes of the city." He cocked an eyebrow.

"Did you finally get tired of swimming through hot garbage?" Marinette grit her teeth, trying not to punch him in the throat. In fairness, those had been the exact words she'd used nearly five months prior. "I'm there all of the time anyways." he continued. "Why the official stamp?"

"It would help a few things." Marinette said. "Morale of the city for one. Also you would probably be able to help more. I know you aren't as effective as you were when we were a team, and I-"

"Done." Adrien said abruptly.

"What?" Mari asked, taken aback.

Adrien's eyebrows lifted slightly, finding her surprise amusing. "My answer is yes. Obviously. I am far more effective when working with you and last I checked, being more effective at saving people is a good thing."

"Oh! Right! Good!" Mari said, still reeling from his sudden acceptance. The two sat in silence again before Mari pressed on. "There is another thing I was hoping to talk to you about." Adrien gave her a sideways glance.

"What is it?"

"It's about.. Us." Mari said, lilting at the word. Adrien paused, and Mari saw something flash across his face. What it was she wasn't sure, but it gave her hope.

"How do you mean?" He asked, expression now guarded again.

"Adrien.. I owe you an apology." Adrien didn't move, so Mari forged on. "When I kicked you out of my life nearly five months ago.. I was blinded by anger. You were trying to apologize and I didn't want to hear it. God you were in tears and I ignored all of that. I don't deserve you as a partner. Not really. It's just that she's my best friend and I watched her die." Mari took a shaky breath, trying to find the strength to move on.

Before she could, Adrien held up a hand. "Marinette. You don't owe me an apology for that. I've understood from day one why you threw me out. My kwami doesn't necessarily agree with it, and neither did yours I'm assuming, based on how she reacted when our reveal went down, but I understood. I miscalculated, and Alya paid the price for it. It doesn't matter that it was reversed through your magic. It still happened."

"But it's not just that!" Mari burst out. Adrien looked surprised. "It's what happened after, what I did after all of that went down. How I treated you in front of the press, while I talked shit about you. I called you Shit Noir to your face for god's sake. I let hatred boil inside of me for so long because I didn't want to admit that I still needed you in my life. I decided to hate you because it was easier to feel that than admit I was wrong."

Adrien stared at her, before letting out a short huff of laughter. "So.. What do you want from us?" The way he said the word 'us' left Marinette feeling uneasy.

Marinette took a deep breath. "Can we.. Maybe try to be friends again?"

Adrien cocked his head as though considering it. "I don't think so. Not yet at least. And honestly, were we ever even that close as Ladybug and Chat?"

Marinette's mouth dropped in indignation. "Of course we were!" She protested.

Adrien laughed hollowly. "I disagree. As we are now, you couldn't speak a complete sentence around me without either stumbling over your words or your feet. I don't know anything about you. As for our other personalities, you seemed very eager to throw me out."

Marinette narrowed her eyes. "You just said I didn't need your forgiveness for that."

Adrien glared. "Not that. You didn't ask why. You assumed that I would just snap like that. You never gave me the benefit of the doubt. I felt betrayed. I still do. 'Partners forever', and yet you never asked why I was so angry that entire fight."

"There was no reason for you to be!" Marinette growled, defending herself.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "You still don't want to hear me out do you? I have a brain you know. I'm not just pretty."

"Oh like you were any better." Marinette snapped. "With your obsession on Ladybug. You think I don't remember how much you read the Ladyblog and how often you looked at pictures of me?" Adrien looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Marinette pushed her advantage. "Look I'm not saying my crush is entirely normal. I pushed it a little far. But if I'm guilty of it so are you."

Adrien sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "I never said I wasn't. But that's not the point Marinette. You don't listen."

"What is there to hear?" Marinette sneered.

Adrien stared at her, and then stood, clearly frustrated. "I think ten minutes in each other's company is too much right now. Let's pick this up another time."

"Fine." Marinette growled, rising as well. "Not that I wanted to be your friend anyway." She threw out the last sentence as a desperate blow, intent on getting the last word. She instantly regretted it. She was already feeling a wave of guilt crash over her, and she could practically feel Tikki's anger radiating from her pocket.

Adrien, who had turned to begin walking away, slowly turned back around. He took two steps forward, and was suddenly very close. Marinette, who wanted nothing more than to cower away, held her ground. He stared at her, eyes piercing her soul, and Marinette had never felt more like an open book.

Adrien just shook his head, looking up at the sky. "Well I did." Marinette's heart shattered. "That's all I ever wanted Marinette." He brought his gaze back to her. "Friends." He sighed, and rubbed the back of his head. "Look I'm far from perfect. I am more than willing to admit it. And.. I know you didn't truly mean that last thing you said. Unless you did?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. Marinette emphatically shook her head no. "I'm glad." He said simply. "But look at us. Not even a full conversation, and we were at each other's throats. We have issues Bug. I'm willing to work them out. But not yet. I think we both need time."

Marinette nodded. She could get behind the logic Adrien was using. "So.. Will we ever get a chance to be friends?" She asked softly.

Adrien put his hands in his pockets. "I don't know." He said honestly. "But I'm willing to see if we can spend time together and not be… Irrational."

Marinette laughed bitterly. "I've made a mess of this haven't I?"

Adrien sighed. "It's not just you Marinette. We've both fucked this up pretty royally." He pulled at his phone and sighed. "I've gotta go. We'll talk later." He turned and walked off, headed towards the limo she was sure he had arrived in.

"Adrien!" Marinette called. He turned back, looking at her questioningly. "Join me on Friday night?" Marinette felt a surge of hope when she saw the small smile that crossed his face. He flashed her a thumbs up, and turned back around. Maybe we have a shot at this. She thought, turning away from the figure of the receding model. Just maybe.