"I just don't understand why he would... do this?!" Marinette cried in frustration, curled up in a ball on her bed. She put her hand on Adrien's photo, the face she would never see again, the smile she would never enjoy again.

"And I was so stupid! I never told him how I felt. I could have... I could have helped him. Saved him. I was being so selfish." The tears wouldn't stop, but she mustered the energy to climb through her hatch onto the balcony, arms collapsing as she pulled her body onto the cold tiles.

It was dark, and chilly, but she didn't care. She had taken off her earrings and set them back into the box, reluctant to even think about being Ladybug now. She knew she was risking akumatisation, but she didn't care at this point. She scrambled to her feet, and weakly walked to the rail, grabbing it before her legs gave way.

Three days ago, Adrien had fallen asleep, and never woke up again. They found a short note saying he couldn't handle the world anymore. Since, Marinette hadn't left her room, hadn't eaten, showered, nor spoken to anyone, not even Alya, or her parents.

It took every ounce of will in her body not to just fall down off the other side of the railing. The only fresh air she had gotten was from constant visits to the balcony.

"What difference does it make that I'm still here?" She yelled into the night air, mist bellowing in front of her face as the words left her mouth.

She didn't realise a dark figure invisibly hiding in the night shadows, until he flicked his collar, and pounced onto the rail on the other side of the balcony. The bell echoed into the night.

"It makes a difference to me." He whispered. Marinette turned around and froze.

"Chat...Noir?"

"You're sad about Adrien Agreste?" He could easily tell.

"In what way do my feelings matter to you?" Marinette felt more tears welling up and a burning sensation in her throat as she uttered the first words she had said to anyone in three days.

"I, uh..." he paused, smiled on one side, then continued. "I happened to be quite... close... to him."

"And I was in love with him." Marinette tried to be blunt. "Why are you here?"

"I don't know if you know, since I've heard that you haven't shown up to school in a few days, but Paris is going through an Akuma attack, a pretty bad one too. Someone else who was close to Adrien. It's lasted a couple days." There was confusion and almost anger in his voice. "And Ladybug... She hasn't shown up."

"What if...?" Marinette thought out loud, thinking that it might not make a difference anymore if he knew the truth.

"What if?" Chat echoed her.

"What if Ladybug wasn't coming back? What if she's gone?"Marinette suggested.

"Then I guess you and I are in the same position. But why wouldn't she come back?" He questioned. They stood in silence, until Chat gasped, making Marinette shudder. "Do you know Ladybug?" He asked, looking back over Marinette's face. She was now staring at the ground, but nodded.

"Do you know why she doesn't want to come back?" He developed his original question. Again, she nodded, biting her lip.

Before asking his final question, his eyes wandered to her ears, where he realised something was missing. She always wore the same black circular earrings, but now they weren't there. His ring had a cloaking mechanism, so the black earrings could easily be...

"Marinette... you're ladybug?" His voice cracked. She let out a breath that she didn't realise she was holding.

Chat didn't know what to do, he felt weak inside. He had been ignoring the love of his life, passing her off as just a friend. For so long. And now he had left her, selfishly faking his own death and not thinking about the people he was leaving behind.

Slowly, he took his hand, and softly touched the bottom of her chin, lifting her head. His other hand took one of hers. Her entire body was weak, he could tell. The outline of her eyes were a dark mixture of red and black. Her deep ocean eyes stared into his, welling up with more tears.

He knew, she was the one he loved.

"He thought you were... awesome." He whispered.

She frowned slightly. "He thought I was awesome? Adrien Agreste?"

"Definitely!" He replied, unsure of where he was going with the statement.

"How?" Her voice was filled with desperation. She didn't believe him, not yet.

"Well..." he began hesitantly.

"He said...
There's nothing like your smile
Sort of subtle and perfect and real
He said...
You never knew how wonderful
That smile could make someone feel"

"And he knew...
Whenever you design things
You secretly sign in your name
And he noticed
That you still scream and cheer
When you win your favorite video game"

"But he kept it all inside his head
What he saw he left unsaid
And though he wanted to
He couldn't talk to you
He couldn't find the way
But he would always say"

"If I could tell her
Tell her everything I see
If I could tell her
How she's everything to me
But we're a million worlds apart
And I don't know how I would even start
If I could tell her
If I could tell her" he spilled it all out. There was a long pause as she processed the information.

Then, she broke the silence. "Did he say anything else?"

"A..about you?"

"Never mind, I don't really care anyways..." it hurt to hear, but she needed to know.

"No, no, no..just, no, no..he said..he said so many things, I'm just..I'm trying to remember the best ones. So, um.." he didn't know why suddenly he was stuttering.

"He thought...You were really brave, and you'd do anything to save and help the people you know and you love."

"He did?"

"And he couldn't spend a single day, when you weren't who he was thinking of."

"But he kept it all inside his head, what he saw he left unsaid"

"If I could tell her
Tell her everything I see
If I could tell her
How she's everything to me

But we're a million worlds apart

And I don't know how I would even start
If I could tell her

If I could tell her"

She took a step back, realizing he was so close. This would be her dream, if this was all true, and she really wanted to believe it.

"But what do you do when there's this great divide?"

"He just seemed so far away" Marinette added.

"And what do you do when the distance is too wide?" He continued, unphased.

"It's like I don't know anything" she cried.

"And how do you say... I love you?" He brushed her loose messy hair behind her ear.

"I love you" He went to grab his ring.

"I love you" he pulled the ring off, and detransformed. Plagg immediately flew to the floor, not wanting to be involved. Marinette's eyes widened more then possible in disbelief.

"A-Adrien?" She cried, tears flowing once again.

"I love you!" He called out, and pulled her wet face to his, closing the gap between their lips. They stood there, and Adrien could feel her sobs, despite her still kissing him back. He pulled away, and she smiled.

"But we're a million worlds apart" they whispered together. "And I don't know how I would even start."

"If I could tell her." Adrien pulled Marinette into a hug this time, and she melted into it. He whispered into her hair. "If I could..."

"I'm right here, Marinette."