Chapter 1
"Today's the day Alya!" Marienette said to her best friend as they walked into school together.
"That's awesome girl! I'm so proud of you. I can't believe you're finally going to tell Adrien how you feel."
"I can't either, I'm really nervous though."
"Don't be. I mean how many times have you tried?" Marienette looked sheepish.
"Too many." Alya nodded.
"Exactly! It's about time you just told him how you feel to his face."
"I don't know. Maybe I should just write him a letter."
"You tried that already, Marienette. Do you remember what happened?" Marienette hung her head in shame.
"I forgot to sign it." Alya nodded.
"You forgot to sign it so he never knew who wrote it. Which is why this time you are going to march yourself up to that boy and confess to him face to face!"
"But what if I mess up?"
"You won't! We've practiced for the past two weeks just for this moment."
"What if he says no?"
"Then Adrien is an idiot who doesn't deserve my best friend and we find someone else who is worthy of your awesomeness."
"You make it sound so easy, Alya."
"That's cause it is easy, you just over complicate it girl."
"But, but-"
"No buts! You're going to march on over to Adrien right now and tell that boy how you feel!" And with that Alya shoved Marienette… right into Adrien.
"Oomph! What the? Oh, Marienette, are you okay?" Marienette sprung back up off the ground very quickly.
"Who, me? Fine! Yes! Fine, me am! I mean, I am! Fine, that is!" Marienette cringed internally. Why'd she always have to ramble on when she was with Adrien.
"Oh, that's good." He was smiling at her. Marienette felt her heart go all melty. He had the most amazing smile. Marienette's melting stopped as soon as she caught sight of Alya staring her and making hand signals over Adrien's shoulder. Right! Focus!
"But, um, Adrien?" she forced herself to say.
"Yes?"
"Can I, uh, um… talk to you about something in private?!" The last part of her sentence came out in a rush.
"Sure," he said. He started walking to a quieter area of the schoolyard. Marienette returned Alya's thumbs up before she followed him. When they were alone, Adrien turned to face her.
"What'd you wanna talk about, Marienette?" She opened her mouth… nothing came out. Her mind was racing, her face was turning bright red. 'Come on Marienette! It's too late to turn back now!' she thought. She still couldn't get the words out. "Marienette?" Adrien looked concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Fine!" She stammered out, trying to reassure him. 'Come on! What would Ladybug do? Be Ladybug! That helped. Ladybug was brave. She told the truth. That was what Marienette needed to do. 'Just be honest. Say what you need to say. You practiced this. Just breathe and let it out. Lay your feeling out on the table.' She took a deep breath and let it out, as calmly as she could.
"Adrien, the truth is I really like you. I've been hiding my feelings for you because I've been scared of what you'll think about them. But, I'm not scared anymore and I want to be honest with you. I really like you. I have since you lent me that umbrella. I know that you might not feel the same way about me but just have to let it out and be honest." It was such a relief to finally have told him that. She looked up at him, she'd been careful not to look at his eyes when she had confessed, afraid she'd lose her nerve. He was just staring at Marienette in silence. Her brief moment of relief was suddenly replaced by anxiety. Adrien was being far too quiet.
"Marienette," just the tone of his voice as he said her name was enough to make her heart shatter. "I'm so sorry. I'm can't return your feelings." She nodded.
"Can I ask why?"
"I like someone else." If Marienette's heart wasn't already shattered, it had been completely obliterated hearing those words come from his lips.
"I understand," she said, fighting back the tears.
"I'm really sorry, Marienette." The sincerity in his voice cut like a knife. Even when he was rejecting her he was so kind and caring. It killed her as it reminded her why she had fallen in love with him in the first place.
"It's alright. I can't be mad at you for being honest with me. It's better that I know the truth instead of believing in false hopes." She knew that some of the tears were no longer being held back and spilling from her eyes.
"Marienette," Adrien said, reaching out for her. Marienette pulled away. As much as she would love the comfort of his touch right now, it would only hurt her more knowing that his heart belonged to someone else.
"I need to go." With that she left before he had a chance to say anything, walking quickly at first and then breaking out into a run as soon as she was far enough away from him. She didn't even know where she was running to at first. Marienette just knew that she needed to put distance between her and Adrien. Between herself and what had just happened. She ended up in an isolated corner of the library.
She knew she should call Alya and tell her what had happened. As soon as her friend found out what had happened she would immediately make it her mission to comfort Marienette and make her smile again. Marienette loved that about her best friend but that wasn't what she needed right now. She didn't need comfort. Right now she needed to cry. Needed to mourn the love she had just lost, the dreams that had vanished with it. She just sat there curled up into a little ball, crying for she didn't know how long.
"Marienette?" She looked up at the strange voice. She was surprised to see not Alya like she suspected, or even Adrien or one of the other girls. Instead, Nathanael was standing there, looking concerned. "Are you okay?" Marienette debated lying but he had already caught her crying. There was no point in trying to pretend she was fine.
"No, not really." Nathanael sat down next to her.
"Do you wanna talk about it? What happened?"
"It's just… I really liked Adrien and I told him how I felt." She realized that earlier that year Chloe and revealed to the entire class that Nathanael had a crush on Marienette. This had lead to an awkward situation with Nathanael becoming akumatized and her serving as bait. "Sorry, I'm sure this is hard for you to hear."
"It's fine. I understand and I just want to make sure you're okay. I'm guessing he didn't feel the same way." Marienette shook her head.
"He told me that he likes someone else."
"I know how that feels. I'm sorry you got hurt. You don't deserve that." He offered her a hug and she took it. It was nice to have someone who had gone through what she was going through and understood how she was feeling.
"Thanks, Nathanael. You're a really good guy."
"It's no problem, I'm glad I could be here for you." He fell silent for a second as if considering what he was going to say next. "I know this might not be the best time for this but I just need to be honest with you. I know you might not like the way I like you and I don't expect anything from you. I just want you to be happy and I promise I will always be there for you in whatever way you need or want me to be. And, if there's even the slightest chance that you might be willing to accept my feelings I promise I will be good to you. I'll be here waiting if you ever decide you want to be together. I'd wait for forever to have a chance with you."
Marienette was surprised. She'd never expected anything like that from Natanael. He had always been so quiet and reserved. She'd known he had a crush on her but she'd never expected him to feel so strongly about her. It was something she never considered before. Marienette had always been so focused on Adrien she'd never stopped to consider that maybe she should look somewhere else. Sure Chat Noir had always shown interest in her as Ladybug but he was just flirting with her. Chat didn't mean it like that and he was only interested in Ladybug, he didn't want the real her. Nathanael sincerely cared about her and was willing to wait for her to decide she wanted him. Maybe it might be time for her to have someone love her back for a change instead of pining after someone who didn't want her. She at least needed to open herself up to the possibility of what Natanael had to offer. Not now but maybe when she was ready to try again and hopefully try better.
"Nathanael," she said looking into his eyes. "I-I think I might be willing to try with you. But I need some time to make sure. I'm so sorry." Nathanael just smiled at her and rubbed her shoulder.
"It's okay, I know you aren't ready yet. I just want you to know that when you are ready, I'll be right here."
"Maybe we can try being good friends first?" Marienette asked tentatively.
"I'd like that."