Marienette 's POV :-

'I love you ,...m'lady '

I stared at the ceiling of my room .

I felt ...numb .

The evening played out in my head . The akuma attack which ended with the usual fistbump . He was smiling , flirting , throwing around ridiculous puns until the time came for goodbye . That's when he asked me to meet him at their usual spot on the tower , saying he prepared a surprise for their anniversary.

The guilt of forgetting prompted her to go , taking with her the sweater she had knitted for him in advance .

He never forgot.

The evening was wonderful like it usually was , they ate , traded presents , talked about the final battle that should be nearing according to their kwamis .

He had set up a radio and somehow managed to get her to dance with him . It was fun . He twirled her around , teased her when she stepped on his feet and made her feel loved .

So loved .

They sat on the edge overlooking the city they had been chosen to protect . As it got late and the conversation dwindled to a comfortable silence , she felt a gloved claw gently grasp her shoulder .

"Close your eyes ." he whispered.

She obeyed . She was facing the city and felt his breath across her ear as he whispered four words .

Words that kept playing in her head.

"Je t'aime...m'lady"

She felt him move away but her eyes remained shut as her hands curled into fists . His warmth covered her clenched hand and she opened her eyes and turned to see him . I remembered thinking 'why?', 'why now?' 'Why when there was no possible way she could pretend it was anything but real'.

I realise now that was exactly why.

He looked at her with gentle eyes filled with love and understanding . There was no hope in his eyes , just acceptance . He lightly squeezed her hand , silently telling her to 'say it '.

'Just say it . Get it over with '

'Make it real'

Her mouth felt dry .

She felt like crying .

She felt like running .

She didn't want to hurt him .

She didn't want to say she didn't love him , cause she did ...So much.

If it weren't for the sweet , unreachable boy that already claimed her heart , she would do anything for her partner , who stole the little bit she didn't know she still had .

But he deserved the truth .

She loved him .

She trusted him .

She never wanted to lose him but ...

"Chat..."

He nodded reassuringly . She forced her mouth to open .

"... I'm sorry ..."

She wound her fingers with his and squeezed though he made no move to leave . That wasn't enough. It wasn't him , it was her . She just couldn't ... She wasn't ... She closed her eyes and spoke.

"It's not you ... And it's not that I don't feel any ..."

A single finger pressed gently against her lips and she opened her eyes to see him give her a gentle smile .

"I know , my lady ..."

He knew . We both knew . No one could take the others place in our lives . But...

He gently grasped my face and moved closer . My eyes fell shut and my lips parted on their own accord . I was too emotional to think clearly .

I felt him press his lips against my forehead and softly murmur the words I desperately needed to hear .

"...it's okay , m'lady ...We're okay ."

She felt the small tears on her face .

IT took a while for her to realise they weren't from him.

"Mari , are you okay ?"

I was ripped away from my memories at the sound of my kwami's worried voice . I turned in my bed to see her cuddled up against me and gave a smile .

"Do you think we'll be okay again ?"

Tikki knew who I was talking about . Ladybug and Chat noir were excellent partners and if that was to change ...

"Definitely. He said it himself , didn't he ?..." Tikki shot out .

THe worry was still there.

"...and it was probably for the best ."

What?

"What? He doesn't even know me . Maybe I should just show him who I am outside the mask . Show him he dodged a bullet ."

"Do you really believe that ?"

She didn't.

She used to , but when she told him she was different outside the mask , he just laughed and said he was the same . Even told her he met her outside the mask and she didn't have a clue .

She almost told him the same thing before shutting up not knowing if he rescued random people like she did but knowing she never rescued someone who she thought was Chat noir .

Guess she didn't know him as well as she thought either .

After a while , the secret keeping was purely routine . She knew he had problems outside the mask and she didn't want to to take away the quote 'only time he could truly be free' unquote. There were also plenty of other excuses but the only real reason was that she was scared .

Scared he might be disappointed.

Scared he might be happy .

Scared he wouldn't respect her anymore .

Scared he would respect her more .

Scared ...to lose the only real reason to say no .

Chat was the partner she trusted with her life and the friend who would run across the city after midnight because she needed a distraction .

He was silly and sincere , ridiculous and dependable and...

"...why couldn't he have waited until the battle was over ?"

Tikki flew up and landed on her stomach and gave a small smile.

"Hawkmoth's going to make his move soon . He plays with emotions, Mari . Unrequited feelings , fear , doubt...they're dangerous."

"Is that why he confessed ?"

Tikki smiled .

"I don't know . But he knew your answer ... and now , so do you ..."

Marienette groaned .

Tiki patted her head reassuringly.

"...Just listen to your heart, Mari . You'll be fine...So will he ."

That would be wonderful if her heart wasn't telling her to leave the country and never look back.

.

.

.

.

At the Argeste mansion:-

Plagg bit another piece of cheese in silence as he watched the boy who , minutes ago was comforting and reassuring the girl who rejected him and was now clutching the pillow he was screaming into with shaking hands as it got soaked with his tears .

Barely a sound was released into the open which frankly was pointless since the house was empty anyway .

'You know she doesn't feel the same way , kid'

'I know ...'

'She likes someone else'

'I know...'

'This is a lot of preparation for a rejection.'

'I want to make sure she knows I'm serious. '

'Adrien...'

'I know , Plagg . But ... I need her to know how we feel won't change the fact that I'm her partner ... I need her to know...'

The broken sobs slowed down . The kid had getting his heart broken down to an art . His mother , his father , his entire life just constantly punches him in the gut , but he takes that bad luck and uses it for the right reasons . Sometimes he slips up , but that's normal .

He was an excellent Chat noir.

This time , of course, he ripped his own heart out . His best performance. The smile never left his face until they separated , then he ran and cried and finally broke down .

He really was a pro when it counts .

Hopefully they would get past this before the final battle .

Plagg watched at the shaking lessened and washed his mouth before flying to the boy collapsed face down on his bed . He landed on the pillow and placed a paw on the boy's head .

Two dull green eyes turned towards him and closed as a small smile formed on the wet face . An arm moved from under the pillow and pulled him closer to the boy .

He snuggled between the arm and the boy's face , ignoring the stickiness of the tears and making sure the boy knew he was there.

He knew how important it was to the boy for Someone to be there .

The tears still didn't stop though .

'You gonna tell her you're leaving ? '

'No,...I'll tell her that after the fights done .'

A.N:-

Just because it's starts with an emotional scene doesn't mean that's the theme of the story . It'll vary depending on the plot line .

So ...I have a lot of unfinished fics and this started out as a comic when then got backstory , then I wrote a drabble and basically decided to post it . Warning : I'm not that clear on pacing . I know where I want the story to go but I'm not sure on how to get it there , so ...yeah ... Plus , I know 2nd person view is preferred by a lot of people but I'm more used to 1st person so it might vary depending on the scenario.

Hope you liked it .

Please review .