"What were you thinking?"

Marinette winced, leaning away from Tikki's furious expression. In all the years she'd known the Kwami, she'd never seen her so angry.

Tikki flittered around the room, mumbling under her breath. Unfortunately, of perhaps fortunately, she was talking so quickly that Marinette was having difficulty deciphering what she was saying. It couldn't be anything good. Tucking herself under her blanket, Marinette proceeded to hide her face in guilt. After all, it was her fault Tikki was as frantic as she was.

It turned out that whilst Marinette had been on her midnight adventure, Tikki had woken up. She'd read the note Marinette had left her, and promptly lost her mind with worry when she'd flown to the Trocadero to discover it empty.

"What if something had happened to you? You could have been kidnapped! You could have been hurt- and I wouldn't have been there to transform you! Marinette you KNOW there's been a spate of muggings around the area recently," Tikki flew up to her covered face, her anger melting into sadness, and Marinette's guilt grew tenfold, "what if you'd been mugged too?"

It was true, there was a bit in the local news about the spate of robberies in the area. According to witnesses, the culprits were two large men. They'd been using their threatening size to intimidate their victims into handing over their valuables. They were clever too, often striking when an akuma was causing trouble, so they'd attract less attention and not be caught by Ladybug and Chat. It didn't stop the pair looking out for them during patrols though.

Still, Tikki had a point.

"I'm sorry," Marinette said, forcing herself to look Tikki in the eyes, "I didn't mean to make you worry. I really was going to go to the Trocadero and stay there. But I promise I was ok. Chat Noir was with me. He took me to the Jardin du Luxemburg to help me with my art. I- in a platonic way! Nothing romantic or anything. He still doesn't know I'm Ladybug."

And I broke into the Palace but you'll probably have a heart attack if I tell you that, Marinette thought, relieved to see Tikki calming down a bit. The Kwami deflated, descending until she nestled against Marinette's cat cushion with a sigh.

"I'm glad Chat Noir was with you," she replied, her voice small, seemingly too relieved to address the fact that Marinette had run off into the night with her superhero partner, "I don't think I could bear it if something happened to you too."

Suddenly Marinette remembered their conversation from earlier in the week, remembered Catherine, Joan of Arc, and countless others of fallen Ladybugs. Her heart clenched, as though she'd been the one to experience loss after loss. The weight of her responsibilities pressed against her chest, returning with a vengeance after her hours of delinquency- of freedom. It was as if the combined exhaustion of all previous Ladybugs converged in her mind. Her bones felt heavy, her eyes were itchy and dry. She fell back against the headboard, closing her eyes.

"I promise I'll do better next time. I don't want you to worry," Marinette promised, "I never wanted to upset you. You know that right?"

"I know," Tikki whispered back to her.

They were silent then. Marinette stared up at her ceiling, thinking back on how strangely her evening had turned out, and how complicated her life seemed to be becoming.

She still held a candle for Adrien, but she loved Chat Noir. She was a superhero, but she was also a normal girl trying to get through the last month of school before university…

She was a mess, to be honest.

Marinette groaned, flipping onto her side and delving deeper under her duvet, cringing when she remembered that she'd almost cried about another boy in front of Chat Noir.

Then panic hit.

She sat up straight, limbs flailing, eyes wide, ignoring Tikki's shriek of surprise.

"Oh my god, what if he asks me about that?!"

"Asks you about what?" Tikki moaned, rubbing her forehead in exasperation.

"Asks me about WHO I was talking about when I said I've had feeling someone for three years! Chat's going to figure out who I am eventually, and then he's going to know that Ladybug has feelings for another guy aside from him!"

"Marinette it's two in the morning."

"-And then what if he questions if my feelings for him are real? Of course they're real! Adrien is just a- just a crush now. I have to let that go," Marinette carried on, ignoring Tikki's disapproving murmurs, "I mean I have to right? I guess there's still that crazy possibility that Adrien could be Chat because, you know, they both go to the same school as me and everything. But that's insane, he couldn't ever be- could he? ARGH to hell with it."

She threw her bedcovers off, stomping down to her desk and pulling out her sketchbook.

"What are you doing?" Tikki peered down at her with a withering glance.

"I need to draw, I'm just too tense to sleep. I need to unwind." Sure enough, as soon as she'd sat up her shoulders had twinged in protest. When Tikki opened her mouth, no doubt to argue against her decision, Marinette shot her a reassuring smile, "It's ok, it's Friday tomorrow. I can afford to be tired on a Friday, besides I'm always tired. That's my secret Captain," she joked, posing dramatically, "I'll be all right, I just need to de-stress. All these boys crowding my brain need to get out for a bit, and I'm sick of arguing in my head about Adrien and Chat. I'm sure I'll have a better idea of what to do in the morning."

"You just have to be patient," Tikki repeated her sage advice for perhaps the millionth time, hoping that this time might be the time it stuck, "maybe let things happen instead of trying to figure out solutions to problems that don't exist yet."

"Yeah and maybe I'll sprout ladybug wings and fly naked across Paris. Both are just as likely," Marinette snorted, the truth behind her words too painful to not make light of. The need for action festered in her, where a few hours before she'd been content to let the chips fall where they may.

She just HAD to make an ass of herself in front of Chat Noir, didn't she?

Marinette shifted in her seat, pencil in her mouth, anxiety creeping through her lungs like poison ivy. Try as she might, she couldn't shake the image of Chat Noir's face before he'd left.

He'd tried to hide it, but she knew him too well.

She'd seen his frown, the hurt in his eyes. That, coupled with their near-kiss from earlier in the week, had Marinette's mind reeling. What did it all mean? Had she hurt him when she'd talked about her love of a boy from school? Or perhaps he'd been thinking of Ladybug, maybe he's feeling apprehensive?

Something felt wrong. In all honesty she'd had a wonderful time with Chat, until she actually stopped to think through all the little moments she'd missed at the time. The sadness in his eyes, the tension in his whole body, she could have sworn she'd seen tears too- though those could have been from laughter.

Marinette yawned, idly sketching the beginnings of a new dress; a new dress which Chat Noir had helped inspire. Tikki was right, Tikki was always right. As much as she hated it, she had to be patient. The hour was late, and she was too tired to connect the dots. Whenever she tried, the connections short-circuited, flickering into nothingness.

Once again she found herself thinking that the sooner Chat figured out her identity, the better things would be. If all else failed, she'd probably snap and de-transform in front of him to get it over and done with.

---

"Will you take that stupid thing off? You look like you're going to boil to death!"

Marinette glanced down at the red hoodie adorning her slim frame, resigning herself. She'd worn the darn thing all morning and, so far, no Chat Noirs had revealed themselves. The early afternoon sun beamed through the window of her history classroom. No air conditioning meant that the temperature inside was at least five degrees hotter than outside. Coupled with the fact that there was no breeze, meant that Marinette was currently feeling as red as the hoodie she wore.

Taking Alya's advice, Marinette peeled the hoodie off her sweating form (her bare arms thanking her) and sighed in a way that was half-relieved, half-sad. She stuffed the hoodie back into her bag, and tried not to look too despondent about the whole affair, lest Alya become curious.

Had she seen the real Chat Noir at all today? Had he seen and ignored her? Or had the silly cat not realised the red hoodie she was wearing was his? It was pretty generic.

You haven't seen Adrien today.

The little spark of hope, which lived in the dark recesses of her mind, came out to play. For the faintest of seconds, it illuminated her, causing her doubts to run hissing into the shadows. She forced a smile away from her face. Don't go there again for God's sake.

Whilst she continued to argue with herself, Nino arrived. Collapsing into a chair between Marinette and Alya, the poor DJ looked as tired as Marinette felt. Pushing aside the few Ladybug and Chat Noir research books Alya had found at the local library, he slammed his face against the desk and let out a low whine.

"I swear," he grumbled, his voice muffled against the surface of the desk, his glasses askew, "group work with people you don't want to work with is, like, the worst form of torture there is."

"Music gang still giving you trouble?" Marinette inquired, patting his back in sympathy. The look Nino sent her way reminded her of a kicked puppy.

"Just tell me who I have to kill hon, just give me the word," Alya shot back darkly, sending a shiver through Marinette. Once again she reminded herself how utterly terrifying her best friend could be when she wanted to be, "but I think you can handle the torture for now right? You're strong, you can do it! Besides, there's worse forms of torture, like thumb screws, or that stretchy thing they did to Gollum in Lord of the Rings-"

"Babe I told you I'm not into that Fifty Shades shit," Nino huffed, but he'd sat up whilst Alya was mid-rant, his eyes softening. He seemed to be fighting a smile.

"Nobody asked you to be," Alya replied, eyebrows wiggling.

"I swear whenever I get a boyfriend, sometime in the next billion years, I'm going to get you back so hard for this," Marinette groaned, picking up two books and using them to shield her ears.

"I thought you were seeing- OOF!" Nino began, stopping only when Alya swiftly elbowed him in the side. He doubled over and, were Marinette not so curious, she would have felt another stab of empathy for Nino. She herself had been on the receiving end of Alya's elbow jabs. They were deadly.

As it was, Marinette frowned at the both of them.

"Thought I was seeing who?" she asked, squinting in suspicion. When the pair refused to meet her eyes, instead having their own silent conversation, Marinette decided to leave her questions for later. She could always text Nino, he'd crack under pressure if she badgered him and bribed him with enough cookies.

Before the awkward conversation could continue, a bag was dropped next to her and Marinette squeaked in shock. She jumped sideways with a start, jostling Nino's shoulder as she did so.

Nino was the first to discover the culprit behind Marinette's shock, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Adrien, bro, what are you doing here? I thought you were leaving for a shoot."

"I am," he replied.

Marinette frowned, avoiding staring at him. She'd been up half the night torn between thinking about Adrien and Chat Noir (so much for distracting herself). As a result, she felt far too embarrassed to steal a glance in his direction. How could she dare face him after she'd spoken about him in such an embarrassing way the night before? Her face burned once again, more due to embarrassment than the heat of the day.

Looking past her own worries, however, something in Adrien's voice caught her off guard. She stayed silent, waiting, her mouth inexplicably dry.

"I just wanted to give you all these books I bought from Amazon, before I left. It's the least I can do, seeing how MIA I've been throughout the project," he explained and Marinette could sense the rustling of his bag as he rummaged through it, producing at least three more books to add to their research pile. Her heart beat faster, but it wasn't due to a rush of affection, or embarrassment, or fear.

No, it was her instincts again. The same ones from the previous night, the ones telling her something was wrong. I'm being paranoid, I'm imagining things.

"Oh dude I could kiss you!" Alya squealed.

"Not if I get there first," Nino laughed, waiting for Adrien to come back with a witty retort.

He said nothing.

"Adrien are you ok?" Nino asked, and suddenly Marinette felt as though three sets of eyes were watching her. She busied herself with her phone instead, pretending her ears weren't on fire.

"Hmm?" Adrien responded, and Marinette couldn't help but realise just how…emotionless he sounded. Her blood ran cold, "yeah Nino, I'm fine. I have to go is all," he paused, only for a second, but it was the longest second of Marinette's life, "talk soon."

Only when she was sure Adrien had left did she look up, glancing at the door which he'd walked out of moments before.

Alya was the first to speak up.

"What was with him?"

Nino was quiet, and Marinette peeled her eyes away from the door to look at him, her own worry mirrored in his expression. She bit her lip, not noticing how quickly Nino diverted his attention elsewhere.

"I don't know," Nino said, frowning and flicking through his phone calendar, "it's not anything to do with his mum I don't think. The anniversary of her disappearance isn't for another five months or so," he looked up at Marinette again, a hint of a sparkle in his eyes which made her believe he'd figured something out, "Mari- you wanna go check up on him before he leaves? If you hurry you can catch him."

"Me?!" Marinette squealed, curling her lip in disbelief and earning a glare from their teacher, "why me? What could I say that you couldn't say better?"

"I don't know, you just- you just, have a way of calming people down I guess," Nino hurried, continuing despite Marinette's scoff, "it's true! You're really good at making people feel better."

"He's right you know," Alya argued fairly, tilting her head to the side. Suddenly Marinette was reminded of the pep talks her parents used to give her, "go quick or you'll miss him! Get the scoop, then come back and tell us what's up with him already!"

Marinette stood up, not entirely sure why she was agreeing (damn peer pressure) and hurried out the door. Her thoughts were still valid ones, after all what could she possibly say to Adrien to make him feel better?

Only when Marinette was gone did Nino turn to Alya. Pulling his hat lower down his face, his lips pulling tight in fear, Nino braced himself for his girlfriend's inevitable wrath.

"Babe," he whispered, "I think I fucked up."

---

His footsteps echoed around the empty hallways, blood roared in his ears, every ounce of his will concentrated on not falling apart at the seams.

Adrien sighed, head bowed low. He'd done it. He'd survived his first meeting with Marinette- and he'd only thought about their night time adventure eighteen times. His heart had only wanted to explode sixteen times. Granted he'd wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear in shame the entire time. Nevertheless, it could have gone a lot worse.

In a way he knew he was running from his problems, although not intentionally. Still- he couldn't help feeling glad about his modelling appointment taking him out of school for a change. The less he saw of Marinette, the better handle he could get on his feelings. The less he saw her, the less likely it would be that he'd hurt everyone; Marinette, Ladybug, himself.

What a coward he was.

"Adrien!"

He kept walking, throat seizing up as he realised who was calling his name, allowing himself to believe he was hearing things, even as a creeping sense of doom loomed over him like a shadow.

"Adrien!"

He stopped, his hands curled into fists against the strap of his bag, and closed his eyes. He steeled himself. Inhale. Exhale. Get ready. He turned around.

Her eyes pierced his heart like an arrow. Not even the heaviest armour could have protected him.

God I'm doomed.

"Hey Marinette!" He chirped, smiling wide and raising his arm in a friendly greeting. It sounded fake even to his ears, "What's up? I didn't forget anything did I?"

Marinette caught up to him, slightly out of breath, her cheeks a delightful shade of pink. She shook her head, and his eyes lingered on her hair style. Why, of all days, had she decided to wear her twin tails? It was like destiny was deliberately trying to rub his face in it.

"No. No you didn't forget anything, I was just- you know- wondering," she looked uncomfortable, and for a wild second of blinding panic, Adrien thought she might know the truth about him. It was a thought which caused him to take a step back, caused his stomach to revolt. The idea that she knew he'd been pining after her- had thought she was Ladybug- and was about to renounce their friendship because of it, caused the blood to drain from his face. He brushed the panic aside angrily, realising that Marinette was far too kind to hate him for something like this. Even if she did know, which she most likely didn't. "I was just wondering if you were ok?"

Adrien blinked, slow to comprehend the meaning behind her question.

"Errr, yeah?" he replied, confused as to why she'd followed him halfway out the school to ask him such a question. Nevertheless, he continued to smile reassuringly, "I'm fine!"

Marinette squinted, her nose wrinkling in a way that sent his brain cartwheeling down the hall and left him a brainless love struck zombie- and Adrien hated zombies. His favourite games involved blowing their brains out, the kind of games his father was unaware he played.

Well you know how the saying goes: You die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

"Are you sure?" Marinette pressed, disbelieving, "you're wearing your model-smile right now."

Adrien froze.

"My what?"

Marinette blanched, looking as if she'd divulged a great secret, her shoulders raised and she angled her body awkwardly.

"W-well you know!" she replied, her voice loud and her tone somewhere between airy and anxious, "W-when you're upset and you don't want people to know, you give them your model-smile. I'm not saying you're fake or anything, I'm sure you don't want us to worry about you but," she exhaled then, lowering her arms, and all Adrien could do was gawk. When she spoke next, her tone was a lot softer, and she smiled encouragingly at him, "we're friends Adrien. You care so much about us and help cheer us up when we're down. You won't be bothering us if you tell us what's wrong ok? Friendship is a two-way street. You don't seem like you're feeling the best, but we understand if you don't want to tell us why. Just know that we- that- that I'm here for you. If you want to talk…ok? I'm here."

Adrien barely registered the sound of his bag clattering to the floor, its contents spilling out around their feet, his phone buzzing in the front pocket. He ignored it, ignored it all, ignored everything. It didn't matter.

Nothing mattered except the girl currently in his arms.

He clung to her, felt her warmth, closed his eyes against it. Her body was stiff in his arms, and he almost pulled back, worried he'd stepped over the line. But then she wrapped her arms around him. She embraced him, comforted him, and he was undone.

"Adrien," she began, so gently that it almost ripped him apart. He trembled.

"I like you."

Adrien heard her gasp and wondered if he should stop, but her words had unlocked the last of his restraint. He couldn't stop. Not even if he tried.

"I like you, Marinette," he repeated, pressing his chin deeper into her shoulder, glad he couldn't see her face, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't be doing this. You deserve- you deserve more than this," his scrunched his eyes shut, took a steadying gulp of air, "I have feelings for you, more than friendship, and it's not right. You're so amazing, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't realise it sooner but, I can't. I can't have feelings for you. Marinette I- I don't want to lose you too. I don't want to hurt you. It's not fair."

He pulled back, noting the blankness of her face, the way her lips had parted and her eyes glazed over, unblinking. Stepping away from her, Adrien began to collect his belongings. Reality pulled his spirit back to Earth- it slammed back into his body violently. He couldn't breathe.

What have I DONE?!

And Marinette simply stood there. Not reacting. Not even a little.

"I promise," he continued, trying not to crumble further, "I promise I'll get a handle on these feelings. For you, for me, for- for others. I won't let this ruin our friendship. You mean too much to me."

When Marinette continued to stare, silently, and his phone kept ringing- he realised he could stand it no longer.

"I'll see you later," he mumbled, no longer able to stand looking at her.

He fled.

---

"Marinette," Sabine asked, "don't you think that many cookies will make you sick so soon after dinner?"

"We don't have any ice cream, I need something," Marinette replied dully, stuffing her face with the eleventh cookie. Even Tikki was glancing at her worriedly from her hiding spot.

Sabine sat on Marinette's desk chair, surveying the burrow of blankets and cushions Marinette had made and was currently curled up inside of.

"Is this about a boy?"

"NO!" Marinette yelled, near-hysterical and now on her twelfth cookie, "Never! I'd never over eat because of stupid guys and their crazy feelings and confessions and I'd never cry about the fact that THERE'S NO ICE CREAM IN THE HOUSE because of a BOY!"

"Ok so that means yes," Sabine confirmed with a sigh, standing up and lifting the edge of Marinette's blanket burrow, "can I come in?"

"There are crumbs," Marinette warned feebly, but shifted until there was room enough for two, ignoring the fact that one of the pillar-pillows fell against the back of her head. When Sabine crawled in, she wrapped an arm around her daughter and pulled her tight against her side, stroking her hair.

Marinette fought a fresh wave of tears by shovelling the thirteenth cookie into her mouth. She hiccupped.

"Oh sweetheart, you really are your father's daughter," Sabine smiled fondly, "so worried about whether things will turn out well."

She paused, tilting Marinette's chin until their eyes met.

"Is any boy being cruel to you? Deliberately hurting you?"

Marinette shook her head.

"No, but… it's Adrien," she said, finally speaking the words that had been shut tight in her head all day. She'd been tight lipped, returning to their history lesson with a face so pale Nino was sure she'd been about to faint. Alya had pressed her for info, but backed off after Marinette snapped at her uncharacteristically. The pair of them had been texting her non-stop since the end of school, but she asked them to leave her alone. Mariette knew she was making them worry, but she couldn't face them. She refused to tell them what had happened between her and Adrien in a quiet hallway. It wasn't her place to, "he told- he told me he liked me."

Sabine clapped her hands together, a beam spreading across her face.

"Oh wonderful! He's such a nice boy, and you liked him so much when you were younger," she lowered her hands in response to the look on Marinette's face, "so why aren't you happy?"

Marinette ate another cookie.

"I- well he said he couldn't have feelings for me. He said that he shouldn't have feelings for me, he doesn't want to hurt me."

"Perhaps he's afraid of ruining your friendship? You two have been good friends for years," Sabine reasoned, absent-mindedly picking up crumbs with a tut of disapproval, "how did you leave things, after he confessed?"

"I kind of- sort of- froze," Marinette cringed at the memory, burying her face in her knees and letting out a small screech of frustration. Why could she never act appropriately in the moment? Ladybug was great in an emergency! Marinette, on the other hand, would be great about ten years after an emergency, when there was nothing left but dust and rubble, "and then he had to go because he had a modelling shoot."

"Oh dear."

"Mama!" Marinette yelped, snapping her head upwards so quickly she gave herself whiplash. Whilst Sabine rubbed the back of her throbbing neck for her, Marinette carried on "you can't just say 'oh dear', if you lose hope then I know I really have messed up!"

"No, no, no," Sabine soothed, "you haven't messed up dear. Not at all. This is just a blip. But it's a blip that can be un-blooped, do you see?"

"So how do I un-bloop it?" Marinette mumbled, pouting, and Sabine chuckled.

"Talk to him. Talk things through. Whether you still return his feelings or you don't, he needs to know. He's a good friend to you, Marinette, don't hurt him by leaving him to question where he stands. Uncertainty causes pain, especially in matters of the heart."

With that, Sabine shuffled out of the blanket burrow, allowing time for her advice to sink in.

"Are you going to be all right by yourself tonight?" she asked, patting down her sparkling navy dress with one hand and clutching cookie crumbs in the other.

Marinette nodded.

"Yeah, thank you Mama. I hope you have a good night dancing, what are you trying this time?"

"Ballroom!" Sabine cooed, "oh! I love your father dearly but salsa dancing wasn't his forte, and truth be told I've always found ballroom to be more romantic," she lost herself, her eyes clouding in a pleasant daydream before bending back down to kiss Marinette on the forehead, "call us if you need anything."

"I will, and Mama? You look lovely," she smiled. The smile dropped the instant Sabine left and she fell backwards into her blanket burrow, which collapsed on top of her. Her brain felt like it was going to burst.

After she sensed a cushion rustling above her face, Marinette fumbled around, creating a small hole amongst the cushions so that Tikki could join her.

"Your mother is so wise! She said exactly what I was thinking."

"I still can't believe it though Tikki," Marinette sighed, sitting up gracelessly, her twin-tails askew, "Adrien has feelings for me?!"

She frowned, pressing her fingers to her temples.

A small part of her, the part which used to have Adrien's photos plastered to her wall, was in a constant state of squealing in delight. But it was a small part of her compared to the utter storm raging through her conscience.

Why? Why now?! After years of dreaming about it, why did Adrien have to confess his feelings the second she'd realised she was in love with Chat? Why did she not outright reject him? She should have done!

You know why you didn't, the happy side of her taunted.

Marinette wanted to scream.

"Tikki I don't think I can be patient anymore," she said, her tone final, "I think I need to do something. I just need to figure out what I'm missing."

"I actually agree," Tikki surprised her by bowing her head seriously, "the only thing is, what do you think you're missing?"

"I don't know," Mariette replied, voice growing faint as she lost herself in her memories, "something about Adrien's confession," CONFESSED! ADRIEN CONFESSED! ADRIEN AGRESTE LIKES YOU! "it just didn't make sense. He said he couldn't have feelings, but the way he said it- I don't think he was only worried about ruining our friendship. He mentioned other people."

"Maybe he's worried about ruining your friendship group?"

"Maybe," Marinette repeated, tugging a blanket until it was tucked under her chin, "I think I'll take a nap. I'm so tired, maybe I'll be able to figure it out with a clear head."

"Oh no missy! We have a patrol to do!" Tikki piped up, tugging the blanket out of Marinette's hands, "you wouldn't be so tired if you and Chat Noir didn't keep showing up to each other's patrols! It's your own fault, so up, up, up!"

"Ok, ok!" Marinette couldn't help the half-smile which graced her face at Tikki's obnoxious cheerleading. Some things, at least, never changed.

As she transformed, disappearing into the night, she wondered how she might feel if Chat showed up to her patrol. Could she forget the troubles of the day, allow them melt away as she pressed her lips against his? Could she tell him about another man confessing to her? How would he react to such news, she wondered?

It was a moot point. Chat Noir didn't show up, and her patrol was as dull as ever because of it. Paris, it seemed, was behaving itself for once. Ladybug trudged across rooftops with a pout of displeasure.

It's not that she wanted there to be crime, far from it, but she needed something to distract her mind from it's nervous, intrusive thoughts.

Towards the end of her shift, she made her way across the city slower than ever, as if she were an ordinary pedestrian in an extraordinary place. She paused briefly, staring out at the storm clouds on the horizon. Ladybug hoped it might rain soon. It was long overdue.

Rain, umbrella, Adrien, UGH!

What the hell was she going to say to him when she saw him at the weekend? Alix was having a birthday party tomorrow and she was fairly sure that was the worst time to talk to him about this whole mess. Then there was the spa-and-tennis day on the Sunday, which was probably an even worse time. It seemed, she thought, that the world was trying to throw Adrien Agreste at her, and yet there was no time suitable to tell him…to tell him…

To tell him what exactly? What was she going to say?

Sorry Adrien, I loved you for three years but I can't return your feelings anymore because I'm in love with my superhero partner and we've kissed- like- a lot so I'm pretty sure my wanting to go out with you would count as cheating even though a massive part of me totally wants to like the giant butthead I am.

Yeah THAT would go down well.

Without realising it, Ladybug had wandered to the other side of town and she stood, frozen solid in shock at the sight in front of her.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me?" she wailed, smacking her palm against her face, letting it flatten against her mask. She'd been worrying about Adrien so much she'd actually made her way to his house, "what did I think this would achieve? Yeah LB, excellent! Fantastic idea idiot! Let's just show up at Adrien's house as Ladybug and try to cheer him up that way! YAY!"

She frowned, scuffing her feet against the roof tiles of the house which stood across the street from Adrien's. She was facing his room, and light pooled from his open windows. He was home.

For a moment she allowed herself to peer in through the windows, as something caught her attention. It appeared to be a larger version of her blanket burrow. Scratch that, this was one-hundred percent a blanket fort. Music blared out the window, at a decent but low volume, she could just about make out the tune.

Adele?

Does he- does he make blanket fort when he's upset too? She wondered and, despite her inner turmoil, her heart warmed at such a peculiar thing to share in common.

As quickly as the smile appeared on her face, it vanished. Wherever Adrien was under that vast expanse of a fort, he was hurting just like her. She was, for lack of a better word, spying on him. Intruding on his pain. It wasn't right, and she was going to fix it one way or another. Perhaps it was the fact that she was currently Ladybug, but she felt strength growing within her, and she made a silent vow.

She would not let this fester, she would address it, she'd talk to him. They'd straighten this whole mess out.

For now, however, she decided to leave Adrien alone. Turning on her heel, Ladybug began to slink away into the night.

"WILL YOU PLEASE TURN OFF THAT GODAWFUL MUSIC?!"

Ladybug stopped, half-frozen, as a furious voice pierced the night air. A voice which came from Adrien's room. A voice which was decidedly not Adrien's.

She turned around once more.

---

"Plagg!" Adrien scolded, chasing after the Kwami, who'd left the fort carrying the remote to his speaker system, "don't yell so loudly, what if someone hears you?"

"Nobody's home, and even if they were, I don't care. I can't take a second more of this death-inspiring music!" Plagg snapped, chewing on the remote until the music muted, "there much better."

"Give that back!" Adrien growled almost tripping over as he ran to his window, which Plagg was currently attempting to throw the remote out of. After dodging Adrien's hand, Plagg ducked under his chosen's armpit and twirled around to face him. Adrien almost ran head-first into the window, but quickly turned to scowl at his Kwami.

"Kid you've gotta stop this. It's not healthy, and if you mope too much I won't get dinner," Plagg argued and, although his voice indicated that he was fed up and irritated, his expression told a much different story. It made Adrien soften his stance a little, in fact he outright wilted.

"I know," he agreed quietly, "I know. I'm just angry at myself. I tried to do the right thing, but it looks like I'm digging a deeper grave for myself," he tilted his head until the back of it thunked against one of the white window panes, "I have to talk to Marinette properly, tell her that I don't want to stand in the way of her and Nathanael, and then- and then I have to tell Ladybug," that part caused him more fear than anything he'd ever experienced before, "I have to tell her everything, and hope she forgives me. I can't stay quiet about this can I? It would be dishonest. Even if- even if she ends up hating me… do you think I'm doing the right thing Plagg?"

When Plagg didn't respond, Adrien peeled his eyes away from the ceiling, frowning.

"Plagg?"

But Plagg wasn't looking at him, instead he seemed to be fixated on a spot just above Adrien's head, his eyes focused on something beyond the window panes. For a moment, the Kwami's eyes were wide, his mouth drawn into a thin line of shock-

-And then he smirked.

"Plagg?" Adrien repeated, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He began to twist his head around, curious as to what had caught Plagg's hard-won attention so easily, "what is it?"

"What it is, is I'm about to break this remote into little pieces!" Plagg cried with a sudden burst of vigour which caught Adrien's attention, making him forget about whatever Plagg had seen. It was probably just a stray cat or something, "THAT'S what it is!"

"Oh no you don't!" Adrien cried, giving chase to the Kwami, who'd began darting and dodging back into the pillow fort. Adrien dived back in, scrambling for the remote as Plagg cackled.

Whatever had momentarily distracted the Kwami was soon overlooked, all but forgotten amongst the fort which came crashing down on the both of them.