Author's Note: One of these days I'm going to actually do my homework, and not some random drabble about random feelings.
Anyway, I'm very invested in how Marinette would feel after the reveal and Adrien confessing his love, because it's very canon that she's insecure and way more confident under the mask.
Please leave feedback, it's much appreciated!
Disclaimer: Miraculous Ladybug and the characters in it are not mine.
I love you.
He had said it before to her, many times, and she knew if she asked him to, he'd say it over and over again. But, she thought with a sting in her heart, he had said those three words to Ladybug, not to her. Not to Marinette.
And now, after finally revealing themselves to each other, he had said those words again.
Looking into his eyes now, she could tell he was excited. Of course he was, he had just seen the love of his life transform into someone so close to him. He was so very very lucky, Marinette thought as the stinging in her heart became worse. Ladybug, his true love, was so easily accessible to him now, and he didn't have to worry about who was behind the mask. Because how could small, irrelevant Marinette reject Adrien Agreste, Chat Noir?
Her heart felt like it was on fire.
He didn't love her. He loved her alter-ego, the girl clad in red and black, the confident girl who wasn't clumsy or insecure. The girl who sacrificed everything just to stop someone from getting hurt, the girl who wasn't afraid of powerful villains, the girl with millions of fans who lived to hear what she had to say. He loved Ladybug, not Marinette.
She could feel tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, and she hoped, she prayed that he couldn't see them. She wished she was brave and strong like the girl with the mask, not weak. Ladybug's heart wouldn't be broken over a boy, but Marinette's heart was.
She understood why he loved Ladybug. The hero was everything Marinette wasn't; confident, brave, selfless, smart, and even witty. She could stop an akuma in an afternoon, and Marinette could barely stand up for herself.
Feeling the tears start to slowly dripping down her face, Marinette quickly wiped them away. She might not compare to her strong alter-ego, but she refused, at the very least, to let him see her like this. She refused to show him that she was weak, because that was what she was, and she hated it.
He didn't love her, he didn't love Marinette. It was that thought that caused her to take a step back, away from the boy she loved, the boy she had hoped might love her, the boy she now knew would never love her. And then another step, and another, until she was running, running anywhere but to him.
She kept running, ignoring the pain in her legs as the pain in her heart was much greater. She kept running until she was standing in her safe place, her bakery, her home, with tears streaking down her face. She raced up the stairs and collapsed on her bed, seeking the comfort of her sheets. Marinette pulled her knees to her face, and sobbed. Each one raked through her body, reminding her just how weak she was, how weak Marinette was. She shuddered with each cry, her mind stuck on the image of Chat's - of Adrien's - shock when she had first released her transformation.
Of course he had been shocked, she thought, Marinette was nothing compared to the amazing Ladybug. She was nothing,
I love him, thought Marinette, but he will never love me.
With that thought on repeat, her tears slowly gave way to the peace of sleep.