This was it.
This was the day that Marinette would ask him out... or so she told herself. She ran her teeth over her bottom lip as she peaked over the corner of the wall and watched the blond boy chatting with his best friend. She had liked him forever—forever—and now she was worried that if she told him, he would completely turn her down and probably even be rude to her. What if he refused her? Oh, she was so not ready for that!
"I cannot do it..." Just as she though; a blush on her cheeks and her blue eyes letting determination slip.
There was a grunt, "Yes you can!" Her friend encouraged.
"Alya, thank you for the support, but I honestly can't. What if he refuses? What will I do then?"
"It isn't the end of the world, Marinette. Plus, he's a nice guy, he won't turn you down without a valid reason."
"It's a valid reason enough for him to say 'I just don't like you'." Marinette sighed loudly as she rubbed her cheeks.
Alya grunted again, "Look here, Marinette, just go! If he says no, well, at least you know that you need to move on." Her friend had her arms crossed over her chest as she held her phone tightly in one of her hands.
Marinette slowly nodded as she took a deep breath and slapped her cheeks, "You're absolutely right. I'll never know unless I try."
"E-xact-ly." Her friend chirped as she gave her a thumbs up, "Now, wish you all the best!" Alya then pushed Marinette forward, towards the talking boys.
Marinette stumbled a little but straightened her back as she inched closer to the two boys. She puffed up her cheeks and let the air out as she also let her blush fade. This is it, she bit her cheek and finally tapped on her crush's shoulder.
Adrien turned around and a smile settled on his lips upon seeing Marinette, "Oh, hey Marinette, what's up?" His eyes seemed to sparkle and Marinette was starting to feel her heart swell in her chest but also up in her throat.
She gulped—barely—and then smiled goofly and waved her hand, "Erm, H-hey—uh—Adrien."
The boy gave her a slow nod and slowly started turning back to Nino since she had kept silent for a minute.
"Uh, w-wait." She stuttered over her words and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, "I-I was, erm, thinking..."
"Hm?" Adrien tilted his head and looked down at her hands, watching what she was doing, "Marinette?"
Marinette jumped back up and scratched the back of her neck as she watched him, "Um, well... It's k-kind of, uh, Saint Valentine's day and you know it's kind of known as the day of love and—and well..." She had rushed the entire sentence and he could hardly understand her but miraculously was able to follow along.
"Yes?" He continued after her voice had died down and she had not finished her sentence.
"Really?" Her eyes shun as she blinked at him, disbelief on her facial features, "You will?"
The poor boy flailed his hands in front of himself and shook his head, "Uh—wait, I meant that you should go on, I was not able to hear what you were saying..."
"Oh! Oh..." she bit her lip and dropped her head, "Then you won't..."
"Marinette, I do not even know what you're talking about." He sighed, "Can you please tell me what you wanted to tell me?"
Her head shot up to look at him again when she realized that she had not actually asked him out yet, "Haha," she nervously laughed, "silly me."
"So, what was it that you wanted to ask me, Marinette?" He tilted his head and held unto the strap of his bag a little tightly, as he had an idea as to where this was going.
"Um, well... You see, haha, I..." She was slow in her thought process but the following words basically flew out of her mouth like pigeons darting away from humans, "wanted to know if you want to go to the movies with me tonight." I did it!
"Oh, um," he began.
"I mean, it doesn't have to be the movies, it can be anything. We can go swimming, or to a cafe or whatever you want really. It doesn't have to be the movies!" She blabbered on and did not even stop to think about what he was about to say.
She watched him smile innocently as he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, his smile dropping down to a sympathetic frown, "Marinette..."
"Y-yes?" Now the fear hit her. The tone in his voice, the frown on his lips... he was going to reject her. Her vision slowly clouded over as he continued to speak.
"I-I'm super and utterly sorry... but I kind of have feelings for someone else. I really do appreciate it, but I am very sorry." And he could see her blue eyes glossed over with tears.
She laughed a little and shrugged, "Right, haha, what can I do about that, right?"
Adrien noticed that she was trying her best not to blink because she would shed a tear, "Mari—"
"Haha," she giggled, trying to laugh the pain away as her heart slowly sank to her stomach and she felt ill, her throat dry and aching, "I mean, how could I possibly think th—haha," she smiled and gently knocked on her head, "I'm so silly." A tear slowly slid down her cheek and it took Adrien so much willpower to not reach out and wipe it away.
"Marinette..."
"Welp!" She sniffled and rubbed her cheek with her palm to wipe away the tear, "I wish you the best with her and I hope that she appreciates you!" She then gave him a smile—a genuine one—and waved as she escaped behind the corner of the wall where she came from.
Adrien sighed and shook his head as he felt rather guilty for having turned her down, but Ladybug was still in his heart and he did not want to give up on her now.
Marinette ran past her friend and quickly sprinted home. She skipped stairs on her way up to her room and did not even think to greet her parents as she flew past them. Once reaching the safe comfort of her room, she went up the last set of stairs to her bed and buried her face in the pillow. The tears fell down her cheeks and she understood how much a heartbreak truly hurt.
She lay in bed for a few hours, crying and then simply staring up at the sky. Her throat ached, and she was tired. Tired of everything, of being Ladybug, of being Marinette. She was tired of her life and she just wanted to curl up on her bed and stay there for a few days until she calmed down.
A knock interrupted her empty mind and she opened her eyes as she rolled over to be on her stomach again, "Yes?" She croaked but upon hearing the knock again she noticed that it was actually coming from the small window above her to the terrace. She blinked up at a black cat and then sat up slowly as he opened the window.
"Hey, princess," he waved from outside.
She closed her eyes a little and made space for him to enter, "Hi Chat Noir." She mumbled as he jumped onto her bed.
"W-what's wrong?" Alright, so Adrien was being ridiculous right now. He had no idea why he wanted to see Marinette even after rejecting her more than a few hours ago. He could see her puffy red eyes and her tear stained cheeks that he had actually felt really guilty all over again. Marinette had been such a lovely girl, and yet he had just trampled all over her heart.
Marinette wore a frown as she fell back onto her bed, "Nothing, don't you need to be saving Paris anyway?"
"Not right now, no ones in trouble other than you... Now tell me what's wrong."
"Go away you stupid cat and just leave me alone." She growled and pushed him away, "I don't want to talk to anyone right now."
Chat Noir slowly nodded and finally got it in his mind that he was not wanted, "Alright, then see you later, princess." He gave a two-fingered salute and climbed out of her room again. After seeing that she had been distressed and quite upset with what had happened between them, he was starting to go back on his plan that he was going to tell Ladybug that he loved her.
Marinette felt her phone vibrate and she reached for it a little lazily, "Don't call." She answered the phone with a cold response and went to turn it off until she heard the voice of the male that had rejected her.
"Marinette, it's Adrien."
She sat up quickly, her eyes starting to water all over again, "What do you need?" She tried to sound as if she was not phased by the rejection.
"I think," the male began, "that we need to talk. It's important. Meet me by the Eiffel Tower at twenty, please?"
"Uhm," Marinette wiped away the tears that were already streaming down her cheeks, "O-okay." She did not know why she would even agree to having met with him when she was already a crying mess. She tried to wipe her tears away to the best of her abilities as she ended the call. She shook her head and slowly descended the stairs of her her bed and looked in her mirror.
Her blue eyes were also red and puffy, her hair was a slight mess and her clothes were all wrinkled up. Marinette took a deep breath and fluttered her eyes closed, she needed to look at least a bit presentable and not as if she had been crying for a few hours as her heart had been shattered. She changed out of her usual clothing and into a red and black polka-dot dress as she fixed her hair slowly. It remained in its usual parting and Tikki had suggested a different hairstyle but Marinette was much too discouraged to change it.
"I like it this way, Tikki." Marinette mumbled and the poor little figure frowned.
"What do you think that he wants to talk about?" Tikki chirped, trying to cheer up her companion.
The black-haired girl shrugged and hung her head, "I don't know."
It was about thirty past nineteen when she started heading out of her house, waving her parents a small and shy good bye as she tried to hide her face away from them so they did not have to know that she had been crying. She took her time in walking to the meeting place, Tikki was telling her to hurry up because they were going to be late but it seemed like Marinette was in her own little world.
She arrived at the Eiffel Tower ten past twenty because she had stopped by the Seine to just watch as the water flowed.
"Marinette," She heard Adrien call and she turned around to see him standing in a black suit, "I thought you might not come..." He mumbled under his breath.
"Truth be told, I did not want to come..." She dropped her head and looked down at her red shoes, "What was it that you wanted to discuss?"
"I wanted to tell you something important, but we have to go to a more private place." He scratched the back of his neck and he extended his arm so that she could hook her arm around it.
Marinette eyed him and now she was very confused, did he like or or not? She hesitantly hooked her arm around his and followed as he led her past the Eiffel tower and past the city streets to his house, "Why are we here?" She asked looking up at the intimidating building.
"Come on in..." Adrien explained as he led her inside his house and to the dinner table, where there was two plates of food set.
Marinette took a deep breath as her cheeks felt warm all over again, "Adrien, I don't understand. Do you like me back?" She blinked.
"I want to show you something before I answer that question." He spoke as he fidgeted with the ring around his finger, "You must promise not tell even a single soul."
"I-I'm no good with secrets." She mumbled as she shook her head.
"I will show you, but you have to promise me to keep it to yourself and only yourself. No 'I told my fish', this is honestly something you cannot tell anyone ever."
Marinette played with her earring and tried to nod slowly.
"I'm Chat Noir." Marinette's head shot up to look at him, wide eyed and in disbelief, "And I love Ladybug...but I know that she doesn't love me."
Marinette was stunned, she did not even know if that was possible. Adrien being Chat Noir was beyond her, "W-wait, Adrien, I am not getting you right now. I do not understand."
Adrien seemed to be shaking a little bit as he let Plagg leave his jacket, "I thought that you needed a better explanation than that. So I invited you over so I could explain myself... Marinette, you're a very lovely girl. I've kind of noticed that you had a crush on me, and I really am sorry that I cannot exactly return all my feelings as Ladybug remains in my heart."
Marinette squeezed her side purse and slowly opened it, "A-Adrien..." she murmured.
"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable, Marinette."
"I-it isn't that. I just wanted to tell you..." she pondered, "since it's only fair..."
Adrien looked upon her and bit his lower lip, "Yes?"
"I'm L-Ladybug." Tikki peaked out from the purse and flew out to meet Plagg.
Both Adrien and Marinette stood in silence as they looked at one another, a soft smile on both their faces.
