Un coup de foudre….
It can translate to thunderstruck…. When love might as well come in unexpected ways, when love can hit anyone and sometimes it is bright and filled with life, and sometimes it comes with a bit pain and work…. Just like now.
Ladybug stared at Chat Noir. It wasn't the first time he asked her if maybe, just maybe, they could get to know each other without the mask. She always came up with a good reason not to. But this time it was different…
He was telling her he needed someone.
It wasn't the same as relying in a person just in one level. No, maybe Chat Noir, maybe Adrien also needed someone to count on, someone like Ladybug.
"Chat," she began, "Chat, you know what I've told you before. We can't." Ladybug looked away, taking one step away from him, knowing that in a couple of minutes her transformation was going to wear out. It didn't help that it began raining, making all this much harder. A thunder was heard.
"M'lady… but… I love you." There, he said it. Her earrings began to send those beeps, alerting she was going to change back to normal. Ladybug sighed,
"I have to go." She threw her yo-yo and flew away with it, the small droplets of rain getting caught on her hair. She hated seeing him like that. She hated being the reason for seeing him like that. That's why when she got home, she just grabbed an umbrella and ran back to where he was. She was sure to walk calmly as she spotted him in the distance, it would be more than obvious if suddenly she, Marinette, appeared out of nowhere. She wanted to talk with Chat Noir, and not as Ladybug.
"Salut Chat Noir!" She greeted with a smile. Chat Noir looked up at her and greeted her with another one of his smiles. He was seating down on the ground, letting the rain wash over him. Marinette sat next to him and covered them both with her –previously Adrien's- umbrella.
"So… what are you out here?" She asked, even though she knew the answer.
"I'm not quite sure. I don't want to go back home, and well, M'lady already left," he answered.
"What happened?"
"Have you ever loved someone who you wished knew both parts of you?" Marinette almost laughed at the irony.
"Of course."
"Well, that's what I feel like right now. I love Ladybug, but-"
"But what if she's too afraid you won't like the person behind the mask?" She added with a whisper, looking down at her hand resting on her lap. Chat stopped to look at the girl. It was weird seeing her down, she was always smiling and being positive. Well, and stuttering when he came near her at school. But her not believing in love? In him and Ladybug?
"What? Of course I would!" He snapped. He expected her to understand that.
"But you don't know that!" Marinette shouted back, making Chat Noir widen his eyes.
"Mari-," He knew that this was no longer just about him. Maybe Marinette knew from experience too…
"Look Chat, maybe… maybe she is trying to do what's best. What if you don't like her, then what? Your friendship is ruined…"
Chat saw how her eyes started to lose a bit of its sparkles, the ones that made the blue ocean in her eyes stick out.
Marinette let out a small gasp as she felt Chat hug her. Her hands let go of the umbrella, making once again a way for the water to fall into them. She wrapped her arms around him too; both of them needed this, speaking to each other from different perspectives.
Chat opened his eyes briefly, only to find himself staring at her earrings. His eyebrows furrowed. It looked familiar, almost as in instinct he could imagine Ladybug wearing those earrings. He felt his heart stop for a second as he analyzed the possibility. It made sense. Marinette. Now that was not something he had counted on.
That and the fact that his ring began to send those beeps and it was too late to get out of there.
He broke apart the hug, just in time for his transformation to run out. He met her eyes and smiled.
Marinette widened her eyes, frozen. What was he- No.
"Adrien?"
"Yes, my lady?"
She stopped for a second, another thousand question flooding her head.
"How did-"
"Your earrings." She bit her lip, telling herself that she should have been more careful. But now what? Adrien already knew. Chat Noir found out…
Adrien… Oh gosh. What was she gonna say!? She always had a crush on him… he said he loved Ladybug. Well what about now? Now that he knew who she was.
"I- well-" Adrien chuckled, her stuttering was back. He grabbed one of her hands, making her eyes dart at him and her cheeks to redden.
"You know, for the first time, Ladybug is mistaken," he planted a small, brief kiss near her lips.
"I also love the person behind the mask."