Something was off. Something had ticked, and she knew exactly what had broken inside.
The charming smile, the tinkle of his bell, the way his ears reacted when she had called out his name. The happiness in his eyes faded to a dark glow. Everything had gone wrong in the matter of seconds. It was as if time itself had stopped. What had she done? It didn't help that her vision was blurring, the sounds around her- muffling sounds was the only thing that she had remembered.
Before the lights went out.
The city was unusually calm. Unusually calm for a Saturday night whilst patrolling. Citizens would have caused masses of noise, parties in the clubs, even the quiet ones. But, the city was silent, the sound of only a couple of cars were heard from the rooftops of Paris, where a male perched.
"I need to tell her. I need to finally tell her my feelings! She can't deny me... Not this time..." Chat told himself, a light blush stained on his tanned cheeks, hidden beneath the mask. A smile tugged at his lips, butterflies filling his stomach, before the sound of someone landing was heard behind him.
Without a second to lose, the disguised male scrambled to his feet, a wide grin on his face as he saw her, in all of her perfection. Brilliant, blue bangs draping in front of her equally as beautiful blue eyes, shadowing the rest of her face and disguising her as greatly as her mask did. The red of her suit complimented her figure and the individual black dots completed her perfection.
Her presence never seized to amaze him. Taking several steps forward, the blonde fell into a cluster of words, a wide grin stained on his lips. "My lady!" He exclaimed, holding a note in his left palm, that had been quickly scribbled on and then scrunched up,quickly hiding it behind his back, avoiding any sign of weakness that he, the great Chat Noir, had to write out several love letters before he had perfected his words.
Nothing could stop him now.
...Aside from the tired, sad look in his Lady's eyes. "M-My lady..?" His voice stuttered, and when he saw her face crumple up into sadness and tears, he felt his heart tear in half inside of him.
"My lady? Why... W-Why are you... Why are you crying?" His smile had faded, his arms opening instinctively, but when he stepped forward to hug her, she cowered away, a whimper escaping her lip, clutching her yo-yo tightly in her hands, until her knuckles turned white.
What had snapped inside of her to make her cower away from him?
She was usually so strong, so confident, so... Ladybug. It took him every muscle in his body, in his chest, not to break down at this scene of his companion being so upset.
"My l- Ladybug..?" He spoke once more, the heroine in front of him slowly calming down, her face darkening to a soft red, her nose wrinkling slightly in despair. "W-What happened...? Why are you so..."
She stopped him. Her words cut him off. "Sad? Upset? Emotional? Broken?" The lady he knew was snapping at him, as tears filled her eyes, her fists clenching. "Weak..? Was that what you going to say..?"
Taken back, his eyes widened in shock, his ears lowering. Opening his mouth to speak, Ladybug stopped him, quickly wiping away her tears and blinking rapidly. "I'm sorry. I'm just... Tired." She told him, her voice changing completely, from strong, witty and sharp, she was breaking down again.
This time, Chat was more successful at bringing out his arms, where his lady fell into perfectly. His arms wrapped around her perfectly, the female only moving closer for comfort, and for a few moments, it was perfectly calm.
The hug lasted for what seemed like erternity, his heat or her heat, warming them both up, inside and out, the closeness comforting them both at desperate times.
"My lady..?" Chat began, loosening his grip on her, his voice soft, he stepped away from her and hooking his thumb underneath her chin to make her look up at him, forcing a soft, yet handsome, smile. After a moment, she returned the smile, a blush hidden beneath her mask.
"I have something to say..." He continued, Ladybug giving all of her attention to him, her beautiful sea blue eyes watching him as he spoke. Taking a deep breathe, filling his lungs with air and confidence, he continued.
"For ages... In fact, since the first day we begun working together, I have never seen you break down... I have never seen you with so much hurt in your eyes... I don't know what's happened, my lady, but you have to understand, your pain hurts me..." His words were like silk, everything he had written on that note, was blurring in his vision, and improvising wasn't as easy as he thought. As Ladybug opened her mouth to apologised, he stopped her, and continued.
"I don't know what's hurting you, but understand that we are partners, Ladybug, you can rely on me to be a shoulder for you to cry on, even if its over a faile assignment." A smile broke both of their lips, and he lowered himself onto his knees, his eyes never leaving her eyes. "I've been trying to say this forever. I've been trying to say this for so long, but something always distracted me, you, us..."
Another pause, and a sharp breathe. "Ladybug, I love you."
That's when everything started to go wrong. Her nose wrinkled up in pain, the same hurt in her eyes returned, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, in shock, her mouth opening to speak but no words came out. Everything around her...
Everything blurred, and everything was limited to a muffle, ringing in her ears. "My lady..? ... Ladybug? Answer m-"
It was Chat. Before she could reply, she felt something grab her hand, and a harsh gasp escaped from her lips, cowering like she did before. No... No, he didn't love her... He couldn't love her.
He loved her mask, he loved her disguise. How could somebody love someone without knowing anything about them? Her nose wrinkled up, pulling her hand away from his.
She breathed in, a pained expression remaining in her eyes. "Chat-"
She paused. Was this right..?
"I'm sorry Chat. I don't love you."