Marinette was so ready to do this. She had been hyping herself up for the past few weeks, and she was confident that she would finally be able to tell him the truth.

She was going to do it. Right after school on that fateful Friday in spring. It was the time of year for new relationships to grow after all.

She had thought of what exactly to tell him for a long time. Marinette had even written a whole speech to tell him of her feelings, but in the end she had decided to just outright tell him „I love you!"

She wasn't sure how he was going to react. In the past he has told her about a girl he was in love with, and she was ready to accept his rejection, if it meant that he was going to be happy.

She didn't really expect anything from him anymore. She knew that the chances of him reciprocating her feelings were crushingly slim. She was ok with that. She was prepared for every single situation, she had thought of every probable outcome to her confession.

What she hadn't accounted for though, was his actual reaction.

It was lunch when she approached him. She wanted to ask him to meet her after school, because she wanted to talk to him, she had said.

He had smiled at her, and told her that he would have to ask his fathers secretary first, but he would let her know before school let out.

Ten minutes before the bell rang, he turned in his seat and gave her a thumbs up. He would have time, though not much. She was happy that she could have even a little bit of his time.

When class let out, both of them took their time packing away their stuff. Marinette had warned Alya previously, that she would need the classroom to confess to Adrien. Her Bff was only too happy to make sure that they would be undisturbed.

When everyone had left and the both of them were the only ones left in the classroom, Marinette came to stand in front of Adrien and took in a deep breath.

Even though she knew that she was ready, and that it was really time to finally tell him, she was still extremely nervous. Of course she was very afraid of his rejection as well, but she knew that she would have to accept that he wasn't feeling the same way as her, so she was ready to face the music.

„Adrien, I know you must be really confused about this situation, since you don't know what this is about. I have thought long and hard about how to tell you this, and nothing really sounded right, so I'm just going to tell you straight out. I love you. I know you might not feel the same as me, but i just wanted you to know that you are loved, and that i genuinely hope that whatever your answer may be, that we can still remain friends. I just want you to be happy, and if the person to make you happy happens to be me, i'd be overjoyed, but i also understand that you have your own emotions, and as saddening as the thought is, i understand that they may not be favorable for me."

After her monologue, she dared to glance at his face, and she was shocked at what she saw.

His face was in a grimace of disgust. That was the one reaction she was not prepared for. She had thought that he might not believe her, that he might laugh at her or yell at her or any other emotion. But never in her wildest fantasies had she thought that he would be disgusted with her feelings for him.

She had promised herself not to cry, at least not in front of him.

She had thought she would be strong enough to smile through his rejection.

All of that was useless though.

She hadn't thought he was capable of being so cruel.

But here she was, tears running down her face as she stared at him, the disgust still written on his face.

„I-I'm sorry. I g-guess i must have been really wrong about this if this is your reaction. I had counted on you rejecting me in various ways…but i never could have guessed that you thought i was disgusting. I-I-I'm really sorry you had to associate with a disgusting person like me!"

She didn't wait for his words to destroy her even more, so she bolted and ran home as fast as her legs would carry her.

When she ran through the bakery, her parents attempted to ask her what was wrong, but she just ignored them and ran upstairs and into her room, locking her trapdoor in the process.

When Tikki came out of Marinettes purse to console her heartbroken chosen, the girl just cried out „Tikki, spots on!" and cut off her kwamis tries to help her.

Ladybug jumped out of her room and raced across the rooftops of Paris on her way to the Eiffel Tower, climbing the structure in record time.

When she arrived at the very top, she fell to her knees and let out heart wrenching sobs. She cried out all of her pain and sorrow.

She just couldn't believe that Adrien, the sweet, gentle sunshine child, cinnamon roll, was capable of being disgusted with her.

She had thought that they were at least friends in his eyes, but never had she imagined that he would destroy her in the way that he'd done.

After crying and sobbing for hours, she finally fell asleep at the top of the tower, still transformed.

That was the way Chat Noir found her hours later, curled up, transformed and with dried tears on her cheeks.

He ran up to her and took her in his arms, not knowing what to do with the sleeping girl. It was obvious that she had cried, but he had no idea what had happened or what to do with her.

Just as he was about to shake her awake, she slowly opened her swollen eyes and looked up at him with soulless eyes. He couldn't bear the pain in her blue orbs, so he had to avoid the eye contact.

„Chat Noir? What are you doing here?" she asked with a raspy voice, from crying and screaming and sobbing.

„My Lady, i was out on patrol when i saw on my baton that you were outside and transformed. I came here and found you lying here on the ground. Please tell me my Lady, what happened to you? Who caused you such pain?" he asked, his voice growing more desperate with every word he said. He wanted to know who was at fault for his Lady's pain, and when he found out he would make them pay.

Ladybug was conflicted, on the one hand she wanted to tell him, but on the other hand she knew that she would only hurt him if she told him that she had confessed to the guy she loved.

When she looked into his eyes, she saw the genuine concern and love he held for her. She could tell him what had happened. He was her partner, her best friend. He could console her and be there for her in a way nobody else could.

She decided to take a chance and tell him what had happened to her earlier that day.

„I…I once told you about the guy i was in love with right?" she asked, and she could see the pain her question caused him, but he seemed to push it back for her. He wanted to be here for her, it didn't matter what he felt right then.

„Yes, M'lady of course i remember…" he murmured, with only a fraction of the hurt he really felt, in his voice.

„Well, i had decided that it was time that i told him about my feelings for him. So today at lunch i asked him to meet me after school to talk. When we were alone after classes, i told him that i loved him and that i knew that i was probably not the one he wanted, but that i understood and only wanted what was best for him, and for him to be happy. The only thing i asked of him was to remain friends. When i finally finished with my confession, i looked up into his face and he… hic…. he had that disgusted expression on his face. He was disgusted with me Chat! Why?! I don't understand! I had thought that he at least saw me as a friend! But that look he gave me Chat, that look broke me. Before he could say anything i apologized for being a disgusting existence and bolted home, ran to my room and transformed and came here as fast as possible." she was exhausted by the time she finished. She was crying again, just thinking of what had happened made the pain a hundred times worse.

Chat Noir was speechless. How could anyone be so heartless and most importantly stupid? The most amazing person in the whole world had given her heart to that boy, and he had treated her as if she was some disgusting bug. She was Ladybug for goodness sakes. How could anyone in their right mind reject her or feel disgusted by her.

He didn't understand. He just couldn't fathom anyone ever doing something like that.

He didn't say anything, and just took Ladybug in his arms and held her tight, just being there for her.

They stayed like that for the entire night, and when the sun started to rise the next morning, they finally separated and went their ways home.

Marinette tripped into her bed when she came home, but she knew that she had to face her classmates today. She couldn't miss school again, just because of a broken heart.

She decided to just completely ignore Adrien from now on. He didn't deserve her if that was his reaction to her truest feelings.

When she reached school that day, she simply went inside and headed up to her classroom, not waiting outside to look for Adrien like usual.

When she arrived in her classroom, everyone looked at her expectantly. She didn't understand at first, but then she understood that they were probably curious about the day before. She just gave her classmates a sad smile and shook her head, not wanting to retell the story.

When Adrien arrived, she didn't even spare him a glance. He didn't deserve even a fraction of her attention anymore. The way he had treated her was simply not acceptable.

„Hey Marinette, Alya, Nino, how are you guys? Sorry that i couldn't see you all yesterday, but i was stuck at a photo-shoot all day long. Did i miss anything?" he asked, sounding extremely tired, but also completely normal.

Marinette couldn't believe her ears. What was he talking about? He had been here yesterday, she had confessed her feelings to him after all.

Nino and Alya looked just as confused. They were pretty sure that Adrien had been there the whole time the day before. Nino decided to voice what everyone else was thinking.

„What are you talking about dude? You were here for the whole school-day yesterday. You were sitting right next to me after all. And Marinette even talked to you after school."

Adrien just looked at them all confusedly. What were they talking about? The only time he got out of his house yesterday was for photo-shoots and later on as Chat Noir, and he had no recollection of talking to Marinette either.

When he looked closely at her, he realized that she had dark circles under her eyes, and that her whole face was a little bit puffy, as if she had been crying for a long time.

„No really guys, i was at photo-shoots for the whole day. I had no second of spare time. OH!"

He realized in that moment what had happened. Of course, that was the only plausible explanation.

„What dude? What's with the OH!?" Nino asked impatiently. Marinette was very curious as well.

„You see, i have a cousin, and he looks completely the same as me. He has always loved to play pranks on people by pretending to be me. I guess he must be back in town and Nathalie must have told him that i wouldn't be at school yesterday. That would explain why i was seemingly here even though i wasn't." Adrien explained.

Marinette was baffled. That made so much more sense than Adrien actually being disgusted by her. She had to rethink her own feelings at that though. She couldn't even tell that it wasn't the real Adrien that she had told her feelings to. She hadn't been able to see that it wasn't the boy of her dreams standing in front of her, but someone completely different.

She wasn't so sure about her own feelings anymore after that. It was like being in love with someone who had a twin, but not being able to tell them apart.

She was ashamed of herself for that. For years she had thought that she was actually really in love with this boy, but in the end she realized that that may not be so true. She wasn't even able to tell that it wasn't him.

When school ended that day, Marinette was ready to drop dead and sleep for an entire week. She was exhausted from the previous days events, as well as this day. When she got home, she decided to go for a short run as Ladybug, she wanted to see if she could run into Chat Noir and tell him that it had been a misunderstanding.

She hadn't even been out and about for five minutes when she spotted him at the top of the Eiffel Tower, as if he had been waiting for her.

She landed next to him without any sound, and settled in next to him.

„Hey kitten…i wanted to say thank you for last night. I had really needed that. Though the thing is, today i was told that it was all a misunderstanding. I still can't believe it, but apparently my crush has a cousin that looks identical to him, and it seems that whenever he's in town he uses every chance he gets to confuse people, and it seems that it had been him i confessed my feelings to yesterday. Now i understand the disgusted look on his face. I can't help but feel ashamed of myself. I couldn't even tell that it wasn't really my crush and confessed to a total stranger…I feel so stupid, how could i say that i'm in love with him, if i couldn't even tell him and his cousin apart… Sorry kitty I'm rambling aren't i?"

When she looked over at Chat, she realized that he had been frozen, though she didn't know for how long. She touched his shoulder and he seemed to snap out of it. When he looked over at her he seemed to have some kind of revelation, because his entire face split into a big goofy grin.

„I knew you'd fall for me eventually M'lady, but i had no idea that you already were. To think that my shy, stuttering classmate that sits behind me in class, is actually my love, my partner and the amazing Ladybug. Who would've thought."

He said, his smile growing even bigger when he saw the realization dawning in her eyes.

„You-You're Ad-Adrien!" she squawked out and blushed a deep red that rivaled her suit.

„And you are Marinette, my Purr-rincess, my Lady, my Bugaboo, my sun, moon and stars and the love of my life. I'm guessing that it was my dearest cousin that broke your heart yesterday, but don't worry M'lady, you are not the only one unable to tell us apart when we wear the same clothes. Not even my father or late mother could tell us apart. So don't doubt your feelings for me Princess, because by the heartbreak i could see radiation off of you yesterday, i can tell that your feelings are very much true. My only question now is…Will you still want me even if you know that i'm just your silly partner?" he asked, looking at her with his best version of kitten eyes.

She decided that words were unnecessary, so she simply nodded and threw herself at him and hugged him close, kissing his cheeks, his nose, his eyes, his brows…really anything she could reach really.

When she sat back a little she was surprised by him suddenly grabbing her waist and pulling her closer, their lips were really close and she could feel his breath on her face.

„May i please kiss you my Lady?" he asked softly, pleadingly.

Instead of answering, she surged forward and closed what little space there was between their lips. She kissed him passionately and he responded in kind.

It was the perfect first kiss. She felt so warm and loved in his arms, and she knew that even though their identities had been revealed, and everything had become just a little bit more dangerous because of it, they would make it. They loved each other, and love is all they would need. They could do this.

They were partners, best friends and finally lovers as well.