The sound of her pink purse dropping onto the wood floor seemed to echo in the stillness of the evening. Tikki, always eager to talk to Marinette whenever she had a problem, knew that this time there wasn't anything to be done. All the Kwami could do was watch as Marinette walked towards her bed and flop down silently.

She wasn't even crying, despite what had happened, which was the most worrying thing of all. There was no shock, no sadness, just an empty feeling where Adrien's name used to be. Marinette still loved him- of course she did. But the idea that she would ever be able to look him in the eyes after this was just so impossible.

Tikki watched for a few moments before nestling herself on the pillow next to Marinette's head.

"It will all be okay, Marinette." she tried to reassure her friend. "If he doesn't see what a great person you are then it means he just wasn't meant for you."

You're a great friend, Marinette but...

A quiet sob finally escaped her throat as her mind echoed the words that Adrien had said to her just an hour earlier. She hated that Tikki made sense, she wanted to believe that there was still a chance that she could ever have a chance to the kind boy who she had loved for almost a year. Ever since that evening when Adrien had given her his umbrella it was as though she was drawn to everything that he was. It was as though he was a bright and beautiful light, and she was the moth that stupidly hurt themselves trying to get closer.

There's someone else who I like.

Of course there was another girl. How could there not be? Out of all the girls in Paris, why would he pay attention to the awkward and clumsy girl who sat behind him in class? Still, Marinette had always had hope. Every time she talked, or they spent time together she felt as though Adrien could just see her as she was. They grew closer and closer each day until... No. she didn't want to think anymore about today. Pulling the sheets over her head, Marinette curled in on herself as more tears fell from her eyes.

Tikki floated around the room and quietly started pulling pictures of the model off of the walls without a word. She knew that it would just be harder on Marinette to wake up to all those pictures staring at her. By the time she was done, Marinette was already asleep, no doubt exhausted from having her heart broken. The kwami layed back down on the pillow next to her for the next few hours, watching over her.

As the sun went down and the moon became more clear in the sky, she nudged her Miraculous holder awake.

"Marinette, I know you're upset but Chat's waiting for you." she said quietly. Of course she had decided to confess to the love of her life on a night where she would have to spend a few hours with her flirty partner. As if this day couldn't get anymore exhausting.

But Tikki was right, heartbreak or no she shouldn't just stand up her partner like that. Marinette sat up and attempted to fix her pigtails in the mirror. She looked awful, but maybe transforming would fix that. That always happened in cartoons and anime, right? Magic just fixes everything.

"Tikki, transform me." she said quietly.

Ladybug stood alone in her room now, without even her kwami to talk to her. The reflection staring back at her didn't look much better with her superhero outfit on. If anything, the mask made her eyes look even puffier and more blood-shot looking.

'Maybe the dark will help hide it.' she thought in a half-hearted attempt to make herself feel more presentable.

She climbed onto the roof, looking around once before jumping off into the night.

Chat Noir sat atop a roof, the Eiffel Tower just in the distance. It wasn't the best view but it was always nice to see. He had almost considered not coming tonight with how bad he felt. He looked over the city with distant look as he recounted those few moments over and over in his head.

Marinette liked him, of course she liked him. How had it not been obvious before? Even Plagg seemed to have noticed, though he had never said anything. Stupid kwami. Maybe this is what it meant to really have bad luck. Losing the first friend that he had ever offered his hand to. Of course, that wasn't to say that Nino wasn't his friend, but Nino had given him no choice but to be friends with him (a fact that Adrien would always be thankful for). But Marinette was different somehow.

She was the first person at school to make him really laugh. She always invited him out to do things, she went out of her way for him even if she always seemed nervous. Of course she was nervous. How could he have been so blind to her feelings? She was also cute, he was able to see that much. But the idea of loving anyone other than Ladybug was simply impossible.

Maybe in another life if he hadn't been chosen to be the holder of the "bad luck" Miraculous he would have been able to see her in a different light. Yes, he was sure of that. Loving Marinette only made sense in a world where he really could be as normal as a famous model could be.

But he wasn't normal. He was Chat Noir and he was in love with his partner, Ladybug. The dark hair, the bluebell eyes, her features seemed to blur when looking directly at her. Perhaps that was one effect of the transformation- that no one could ever get a clear look at them no matter how long they stared. There was always a sense of mystery, a moment of confusion as to who they were.

Not that her looks were everything of course. Ladybug was smart and brave and witty and always had a plan. She was willing to do anything for the sake of saving Paris.

Even for the sake of saving Adrien Agreste.

In those few moments where Ladybug had almost handed over her Miraculous to save the illusion that took the form of himself, Chat Noir had felt scared, worried, and upset. But there had been something else hidden within the back of his head that he tried not to feel.

Happiness?

She had been willing to give herself up for the sake of seeing Adrien Agreste safe. Although he tried to tell himself that it wasn't personal, that Ladybug would have done the same thing for any number of people, something felt off. She had screamed a little too loud, looked a little too scared. It made him wonder whether Ladybug knew him under the mask, other than the posters of his face around the city,

The sound of something landing behind him snapped Chat out of his train of thought as he looked over his shoulder. There she was right in front of him, the love of his life, face partially hidden in the shadows.

"Good evening, my lady!" he smiled wide at her and dipped into an over-dramatic bow. She was quiet though, not saying a word as he looked back up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, taking a step towards her, starting to worry. "Cat got your tongue?"

She just shook her head, not even really looking at him. Ladybug walked towards the edge of the roof, staring out at the city. It was then that he saw just how tired she looked. Well, just because he was feeling bad it didn't mean that it was okay for her to feel bad as well. Besides, making her feel better was sure to at least distract himself.

As long as his lady was happy, nothing else would matter.

"You can tell me if something is bothering you." he said, moving to stand next to her. "I will do anything to make you smile again." He flashed her his trademark smile.

Ladybug just shook her head. "It's nothing that you can help with." Ah, so there was something bothering her. "It's something that I have to deal with alone."

"But we're a team!" Chat protested. "We're supposed to be able to help each other out!" There had to be something, anything that he could do to make her feel better.

"That only counts when we're like this." she said, looking down at her gloved hands. "There's nothing that can be done once we're back to normal."

"I don't think there's anything normal about you." Chat protested. "I think you're extraordinary no matter what."

Ladybug just shook her head. "It's time to start the patrol. Let's just get going. I'll take the lead." And without letting him say another word, she was already swinging off to another building.

Cold air hit her face and cut through her as she swung from building to building. She was going fast tonight, faster than she should to do a proper patrol. Her mind couldn't even focus on anything other than going from building to building, feeling the wind in her hair, distracting her from thoughts of anything else. Swinging around was methodical, although her yo-yo did most of the work, she hardly had time to think of anything other than what to aim for next.

When she realized that she had gotten too far ahead, she would wait for her partner to catch up. He'd stumble a bit next to her, smile and say something cheesy or flirty, she'd roll her eyes and then she'd be off again.

Ladybug didn't want to admit, even to herself, that having her partner say so many nice things both helped and made her feel worse at the same time. She didn't want him to tell her how lovely he thought she was, or how brave or smart she was. In all actuality, she still wanted to be home and curling up in her own self loathing, even if she knew that wouldn't accomplish anything. All she wanted to do was to keep going, jump higher, run farther than she had ever done before. Perhaps if she just kept going like this then she could just escape everything- even herself.

After an hour, and after letting Chat catch up to her once again, she started to aim her yo-yo again but Chat grabbed her hand.

"How about... we take a break?" he panted. Seeing him out of breath made her feel bad for a moment. It hadn't even occurred to her that he might be tired. He was always such a endless ball of energy but she supposed that even he had his limits.

The hand holding the yo-yo lowered, and she saw him physically relax. Maybe she should have just split up the patrols for the night. It wasn't fair to him that she was dragging him down with her problems.

Again, she found herself walking to the edge of the building, and sitting down. Her own heart was racing still from the rush of adrenaline. Now that she had gotten her bearings, she realized that she was near her house again. Even when trying to run away, she always felt drawn to home. Perhaps tomorrow she'd be able to talk to her parents. They'd make her feel better, right?

Chat sat down next to her and looked over in the direction of the bakery. For a moment, she worried that he was connecting her to that place, but then he spoke.

"That's Marinette's house." he said. "We've run into her a few times with Akuma attacks, haven't we?"

It surprised her that Chat Noir remembered her name. She looked at him, trying to decipher his expression. There was nothing in his tone to indicate that he was just making small talk, but something in his face seemed off. Was he just trying to distract her from whatever he thought was upsetting her, or did he have some other reason to bring up her secret alter-ego?

"Yes." she finally agreed. "She was there when the Evillistrator attacked, and the Puppeteer."

Chat Noir smiled, seemingly happy that he had gotten a proper sentence out of her. "She was also there with Timebreaker and when Mylene turned into that monster. You know, a lot of Akumatized people have come from that school." he frowned.

"Probably because Chloe goes there." Ladybug mumbled to herself. Oh man, she wondered if Adrien was going to tell anyone that she had confessed to him. If Chloe found out that he rejected her then that would really be the end of it.

Chat frowned at her but kept his mouth shut. It looked like he wanted to say something about being nice to the fans that adored her but knew when to keep it to himself.

"Well if there's any place that can cause a bunch of negative feelings, it's school right?" he laughed, and despite herself, Ladybug grinned as well.

"There's that pretty smile I've been missing!" Chat said triumphantly. He turned and looked at her, and she found herself drawn to his eyes. Those impossibly green eyes that almost reminded her of Adrien.

He made another joke and she laughed again. It wasn't even a good joke but for some reason she just kept laughing until tears were streaking down her mask. She barely even noticed that her partner was looking at her with concern.

Ladybugs' arms were around him now, hugging him tightly as her laughter started to die down. His chest was broader than she had given him credit for. Chat's arms were around her tightly, holding her close as though he was afraid that she was gonna either have a full on break down or run off again.

She looked up at him, his wide green eyes almost consuming her. How could anyone's eyes be so green? Greener than grass, or leaves, or even Adrien's. Up close, she had never noticed how handsome he looked...

No. This wasn't right. Neither Ladybug nor Marinette held any romantic feelings for Chat Noir. It wasn't fair to be looking at him like this when she had just been rejected by the person who she really loved.

"My lady..."

His voice was soft. So soft that her whole body seemed to relax. She felt warm like this. Her brain felt fuzzy as his eyes looked into hers still full of concern. Of course he was concerned, she had him running around all night and then ended up in hysterics when she would normally just roll her eyes at his lame jokes.

'Don't do it, Marinette.'

She reached up and touched his face. Chat's eyes went from concern to mild surprise.

'He deserves better than this.'

She moved her face closer. From here she could see how pretty his golden hair complimented his eyes.

'Marinette stop before you do something you're going to regret...!'

Kissing his lips felt familiar. Not in the sense that she had kissed him once before, but in a way that made her feel almost nostalgic. She could feel him physically start in surprise but he was quick to not let this opportunity pass up. How could he? She was kissing him of her own free will. This is what Chat wanted, right?

Marinette wanted Adrien. Adrien didn't want Marinette. Chat Noir wanted Ladybug. At least one person should get what they wanted, right?

'That's a terrible excuse and you know it.'

Marinette tried to ignore the voice in her head that was reprimanding her by kissing Chat Noir harder. He held her tightly, giving her a sense of security that she didn't know she needed.

Minutes passed before they finally broke apart. Chat looked at her as though she was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. To him, Christmas had come early and Ladybug was the only thing he had ever wanted.

Ladybug smiled back at him, trying to convince both herself and him that this was a good thing. How it would work out, she wasn't sure. She knew that she had made a mess of everything tonight but in the end, as long as one person could be happy out of all this, maybe it'd be okay.

Maybe she could learn to love Chat Noir as much as he loved Ladybug.

'You're a terrible person.'

They stayed there for a while longer, Chat Noir holding Ladybug but not saying a word. She could feel him basking in the afterglow of the kiss.

'You're using him as a rebound.'

That didn't mean she couldn't learn to love him, right? As he finally stood up to bid her farewell they shared one last kiss before he ran off, jumping higher than usual. It was okay as long as he was happy, right?

'Do you really think he'd be that happy if he knew the truth?'

No, he wouldn't. But he didn't have to ever know. From now on, Ladybug and Chat Noir were going to be together. Marinette would ignore Adrien as best she could and use her sewing to distract herself. As long as she kept Marinette and Ladybug seperate from now on then...

'Tikki is going to lecture you.'

The voice was right, as soon as she was safe at home and out of Ladybug the small kwami went off on her but Marinette wouldn't have any of it. There was no way that she could listen to reason at this moment. The Kwami sighed and floated off downstairs to grab some food, realizing that right now, Marinette was in no shape or mood to listen to anyone.

Maybe in the morning she would wake up and decide that she doesn't love Adrien anymore. Maybe she really would learn to love Chat Noir. Maybe one day she'd be able to look Adrien in the eyes again without feeling shame and embarrassment.

And maybe one day she'd believe the lies she told herself.