Something Just Like This
"You know you're my best friend, right?"
The words fell down from the sky and pierced through him like a thousand glass shards. She shifted beside him and slipped her hand into his. There was a painful sort of comfort in the way their fingers entwined.
He hadn't known.
There was something so bright and burning about her that made the distance between his mask and hers insurmountable. No matter how many battles they faced together or how many hours stolen on late night patrols- the weight of their self-imposed secrecy hung like a literal veil over his eyes. It colored every smile, every injury, every triumph.
It hurt to breathe sometimes with how much he loved her.
"It's hard," she continued when he didn't speak. "it's so hard sometimes, you know? To be the same. To not let it affect everything. To remember that for everyone else, nothing has changed, that nothing can't suddenly be too much."
Ladybug leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. He felt the gesture from his neck to his thighs as they sat in the quiet. Paris never felt more like home than when her hair brushed against his cheek.
The shining lights of his city blurred but Chat didn't dare move to wipe away the gathering tears in case he disturbed whatever spell had fallen over them.
"Sometimes… sometimes I feel like everyone is just waiting for us to fail. A reason to give up on us."
She spoke his fears so softly he almost didn't mind them. His fingers twitched in hers.
"Don't give up on me, Chat."
"Never, my Lady."