Chapter 1: There's A Boy
Adrien Agreste fell backwards onto his bed with a sigh, throwing his hands behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling with a confused expression.
"Plagg, I can't get it out of my head."
"Let me guess," his kwami replied, his mouth already half-full of cheese. "It's about Ladybug."
Adrien turned to look at Plagg. "She called me her friend tonight. I know, I should be happy with it; it's not like I have a lot of friends or anything."
"But…" Plagg prodded, drawing out the word.
"But I can't forget her words: 'there's a boy'. My lady likes someone else. Am I wrong to be jealous?" he asked, sitting up.
"The only way to get over a heartbreak is to eat a lot of cheese," Plagg joked, but stopped when he saw Adrien's expression. He sighed. "I know it's hard, but a real friend would try to support her feelings. Huh, I wonder what kind of boy Ladybug would fall in love with?"
"That's it!" Adrien announced, clenching his fist. "I have to help her."
"What?!" Plagg exclaimed, spinning backwards in mid-air. "But I thought you were in love with her? What happened to feeling jealous?"
"Don't you see? That's the reason she's been able to resist my charm. As long as she has these unresolved feelings, Ladybug won't be able to move on, but once he's out of the way, she'll fall for me for sure," he finished, a smile growing on his face. "This is going to work."
"This is going to be a disaster," Plagg grumbled.
The next night, Cat Noir perched on a rooftop overlooking the city of Paris. With the clear night sky full of stars and bright electric lights dotting the city skyline, it would have been the perfect scene for romance, but that would have to wait. First he needed Ladybug to confide in him.
He scanned the area ahead, waiting for her. They always did a patrol at this time of night, but everything had been quiet after Glaciator's late night ice cream attack. Looking to his left, he saw the rooftop balcony that belonged to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and thought of their conversation the previous night.
She'd been stood up too, which surprised him. Everyone seemed to like Marinette, surely there had to be a reason her date didn't show up. Wait, wasn't he supposed to meet up with her and her friends for ice cream? Well, Adrien, that is, not Cat Noir. Adrien realized might have met Marinette's crush that day if he'd gone to Andre's with them. Marinette was a good friend, and had actually cheered him up a bit by hanging out with him. He wondered if her "rocky road" to romance was going better than his was.
A rush of air announced the arrival of Ladybug, and Cat Noir glanced over at her.
"About time, I was almost ready to take off," he teased. "What took you so long, hot date with the boyfriend?"
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I never should have said anything. And no, I don't have a boyfriend." Her gaze moved over the city, searching for trouble.
"He turned you down?" Cat Noir asked softly, leaning over to look at her.
"Not exactly," she explained. "Look, Cat Noir, I don't think it's a good idea for us to talk too much about our secret identities."
"All you've told me is there's a guy and he 'didn't exactly' turn you down," he said dryly. "I can't really track him down with that information, now can I?" He did an acrobatic flip and landed with both feet on the railing. He squatted in front of her to get her attention.
He continued, "Look, you called me your friend, and that meant a lot to me. I'm just trying to be here for you."
Ladybug's expression softened. "Sorry," she apologized, tugging on the side of her mask in a nervous gesture. "It's just hard to talk about. I'm sure you're the same with or without the mask, but I'm more confident when I'm Ladybug."
My lady gets shy? Cat Noir smiled, having learned a new piece of information about her. "I think I can understand that. I'm way smoother as Cat Noir."
She chuckled a little. "If that's smooth, I'd hate to see the alternative."
Ouch. Try another tactic. "So about this boy of yours. You can tell me about him without giving any details, right?"
She seemed to think about it. "Yeah, I guess that could work. He's really smart, and a good person, kind to everyone." She muttered under her breath, "Even those who don't deserve it."
"A nice guy, huh? So what's the problem?"
"Every time I get around him, my heart starts pounding," she started, walking over to the edge of the roof, leaving him there.
The jealousy panged in his chest again, but Cat Noir tried to ignore it.
Ladybug continued, "I try to talk to him, but it always comes out wrong, like gibberish. And recently, I overheard him talking to someone and he called me 'a very good friend'."
I know how that one feels, Cat Noir thought, but he realized he really did understand her situation. Liking someone, and only being thought of as a friend hurt.
"Wait…" he said, realization dawning on him. "He doesn't know you like him."
She shook her head. "I worried for a while that he thought I hated him."
He hopped off the railing and walked closer, cocking his head to the side. "I can't imagine anyone saying no to you, Ladybug. Any boy who would do that, well, wouldn't be good enough for you anyway."
She smiled, and he wished for the millionth time that he could see her without her mask, see if the area around her eyes softened with sincerity. He was happy to have that smile aimed at him.
"You have to tell him, it's the only way," he said, and was sad to see the smile disappear.
"I can't. I stumble over my words just trying to say hello."
"Cat got your tongue? Maybe I could help?"
Ladybug scoffed. "If I need a cheezy pick-up line, then I'll come to you. Looks like a quiet night, I'm going to head back." She flung her yo-yo over a neighboring chimney and swung off.
"Hey," he protested. "My lines aren't cheezy."