The city was beautiful tonight.
Tiny pinpricks of light lit up a web of crisscrossing architecture, and if she tried a little harder, she could make out the cars rushing past in the fading evening light.
But even though the air carried the faint aroma of spring flowers, and the sun looked beautifully pink, Marinette couldn't help but feel the painful tang of bitterness rising up her throat steadily.
Everything was perfect, except it wasn't.
She felt the air shift slightly as Chat settled himself beside her, their legs dangling over the thin rung, high above the city.
She wondered what they must look like to the ant like people going about their lives below them. Did they look like imposing superheroes?
She gave a miserable smile.
Chat nudged her, and she couldn't help but let her head softly fall down onto his shoulder. God, what had she done to deserve such a wonderful partner?
She had to speak. It would ruin everything, but she had to.
Chat deserved better.
"Adrien?"
He hummed in response, laying his head down on tops of hers, the short puff of movement dislodging her bangs into her eyes.
Then he smiled gently down at her, so lovingly that it hurt, brushing away the stray strands. She steeled herself.
She didn't want to let go of him. He was her best friend. He…was everything.
"Adrien, we need to talk about this."
The brightness in his eyes dimmed slightly, but he nevertheless sat up and turned around slightly to face her.
They both knew that they had to do this.
She started to speak the words that she'd carefully planned, carefully practiced a million times over, but before she could, Adrien gently pressed a finger to her lips.
He took her hand in his, like he'd done at the end of a thousand triumphant battles, and gently kissed her knuckles.
He didn't let go of her hand.
Turning back to the city that lay before them, he sighed and closed his eyes, as if trying to draw courage from the deep reservoir of bravery he carried within himself.
"Marinette, I love you. I've loved you from the moment we fought Stoneheart, and my feelings have never lessened. And that is something I need you to always remember. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded slightly.
"We defeated Father two years ago. It's taken this long to rebuild my life, and I still fumble sometimes. I need to get away from here, at least for a little while. I need to figure out who I was meant to be before Father tried to manipulate my life.
Y-you've been by my side the last four years, and you've been my rock whenever I couldn't bring myself out of my despair. And…I wish I could stay here and love you, but we can't do this to ourselves. You don't love me, Marinette.
You've always loved an idealized vision of me. You're beautiful, and you're perfect, but you don't love me. And that is the truth I must accept."
She went to say something, although she didn't know what, but he gently shushed her.
"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. I love you, and perhaps, I always will. But you don't. And that's okay. We've tried our hand at a relationship, but neither of us are happy, Marinette."
He fell silent after that, and she gently entwined her fingers with his, kissing his cheek softly.
"I'm sorry, Adrien. I-I don't know how to make this better, because you deserve all of the love in the world. You're my best friend, Chat."
Adrien smiled slightly, squeezing her hand in reassurance, before letting go. She stood up, pulling him up along with her.
She looked at him, her eyes roving over his bright green eyes, framed by the black mask, a mask that hid away so much pain and so many secrets; over his wild, adorable blond tresses, over his angular face and slight smile.
She missed his cheeky grin.
Adrien's arms opened invitingly, and she pulled him to her, holding onto him tightly enough to bruise. Marinette buried her face into his shoulder, carefully concealing her tears, but she had a feeling he saw them anyway.
Loosening her arms around his neck slightly, she pulled back a little to look at him for perhaps the last time in a long while.
She smiled, then, hopeful and bitter and sorrowful and happy.
"I'll miss you, Chat."
He leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to hers, a last kiss to mark the significance of the hundreds they'd shared over the last two years.
He pulled away after a second, smiling down at her, wistfully, softly, and with everything else that Adrien Agreste was.
"I'll miss you, too, my lady."
A/N: Hey! So I noticed that most of the readers thought that this was a one-shot, and I am here to clarify. This is going to be one long fic, maybe 20 - 30 chapters, covering uni and a little bit of adulthood. This was just the prologue.
However, updates are going to severely infrequent, and I'm apologetic, but it's how it is. *shrugs*
Also, it is another reason for you to follow this story, so that you can know when I post!
Leave me some love, my people. x
Also x2: My other fic [The Subtle Art of Plotting] is a five chapter fic, three of which have been currently posted, and this is just a confirmation that it's not on hiatus. I'll update it in a month or two because exams are a beast, man.
And that's all! See you on the other side.