Adrien was panicking. Life had a habit of throwing curve-balls his way and he was used to it. But this... He was not prepared for this...
He'd never seen Marinette cry before. She was always the strong one of their group. Fiery, passionate, a natural leader, and incredibly creative and resourceful when she set her mind to anything. She was also very gentle and kind to everyone. Forever a source of joy and optimism in his lonely life, Adrien treasured her friendship more than almost anyone else's. And in a moment of hesitation, he may have just ruined it all.
They sat together on a solitary park bench halfway between their respective homes after he'd offered to walk Marinette home after a long session of her repeated destroying him at Ultimate Mechastrike 3 and listening to the new Jagged Stone CD at his place. The pair had stopped to rest in the snowy park to squeeze a little more time together out of their day before Adrien was missed. That's when it happened.
Their day had been fantastically fun, near perfect. Adrien was elated that Marinette and himself had grown so close as of late, but hadn't realized just how close until this moment. Admittedly there were fewer more romantic feeling locations they could have chosen to sit than in an empty park in the snow. The sun just beginning to peak through the clouds that had blanketed Paris' streets throughout the day. He also realized too late the implications of holding his, usually clumsy, friend's hand had. Simply wishing to make sure she wouldn't slip in the icy path. Even if that wasn't the purpose originally, this romantic scenario seemed to bolster the streak of confidence Adrien truly admired in his friend. Thus, as a conversation about school probably being canceled again tomorrow started to trail off, Marinette turned to him...
And confessed her feelings.
She poured her heart out and the stunned model had absolutely no idea what to do.
Adrien was speechless. He honestly had no idea she had even remotely felt this way about him. Having always assumed her past shyness was either lingering distrust from the gum incident or intimidation at the fact the he was a sort of celebrity in a field she was passionate about. It had never even occurred to him that maybe she was actually head over heals in love him.
That wasn't even the half of it either. His own feelings for his classmate were... Conflicted, to say the least. Honestly, that's why he had been doing everything he could to get time to hang out with her alone in the last several weeks. Adrien needed to sort out his feels for her soon. And fast. Recently he swore every moment he had with her felt just like those precious few he had with Ladybug.
Ladybug.
She was the sticking point in all of this. On the one hand, Adrien wouldn't mind becoming closer to Marinette. He cared about her deeply and was at the point that he could no longer deny the butterflies in his stomach every time she smiled or laughed at one of his bad puns.
But his lady... She was HIS LADY. Maybe she didn't see him the same way he saw her, but he couldn't bring himself to give up. She was his bestfriend, his partner, his first love. Moving on from those feelings to newer ones was going to take some time, he knew that. The problem was...
He was out of time.
As his mind ran through all of this, slowed in the shock of the surprise confession, Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to do, what to say, who to choose. But he had to think faster, because to his horror, his long pause had already clearly given her the wrong idea.
At first, Marinette had been staring at him hopefully, cheeks blushing adorably from a combination the cold and embarrassment and eyes full if determination. But the longer he took to speak, the more worried and desperate her expression became. Until finally, whatever dumbfounded expression he must have been wearing at that moment seemed to tell her all she needed to know. He watched helplessly as she turned away, eyes growing wet with tears she tried desperately to brush away. "I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have... I just..." She trailed off, her voice weak and panicked, her eyes darting off in the direction of home.
'Nononononononoooo!!!', Adrien screamed inside his head as he watched the tears escape her usually bright and beautiful eyes. 'Say something, you idiot!! Why can't you think faster?!'
"Marinette... I, uh-" was all he could manage get out before she suddenly stood up and spun away from him.
"I should go!" She shouted through the quivering of her lips, moving to escape her imminent rejection as fast as she could. Adrien's eyes widened as she started to move away and in that moment he knew he had to make a choice.
"MARINETTE! WAIT!!!"
Adrien dove after her managing to successfully grab onto her hand before she was out of reach. But he'd over estimated the length of the bench, his knees barely missing edge as gravity took its course. With a yelp, the flailing boy fell straight off the side of the seat and face planted into the snow. He still managed to hold onto her hand tightly, however, and pulled a startled Marinette down to the ground with him.
Adrien sat up slowly, groaning as he did. "Oooouuch..." He shook his head rapidly to remove the snow from his face and hair before looking up to meet his friend's gaze. As she stared at him as confused as ever as he tired desperately to organize his thoughts. "Sorry.." Adrien took a deep breath as he shifted onto his knees and faced her, never letting go of her hand, for fear that he might lose this chance. He couldn't take that.
"Mari, please. Hear me out okay?" He pleaded with her sincerely. "You told me how you feel, now please give me the chance to do the same." Adrien looked into her eyes hopefully and after a moment, she nodded, still sniffling and now avoiding his gaze entirely. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, like he always did when he got nervous, "I'm sorry I froze up there. You really caught me off-guard and I don't want you to get the wrong idea just because I'm not the fastest thinker... I honestly had no idea you felt that way about me..." He blushed, remembering all the glowing things she said about him, bringing up the day he leant her is umbrella, and how much he meant to her at this point. Adrien was convinced it was mostly hyperbole, but if that is how she saw him, he couldn't help but be in wonder that anyone could care so much about him.
"Honestly... You must be the only person in Paris who DIDN'T know..." Marinette managed to choke out with an exasperated look on her face.
Those words stung Adrien more than he'd care to admit. He wasn't the most socially adept teenager, his sheltered upbringing made sure of that. Especially when it came to girls. Anyone would be too if the only girl they knew personally growing up was Chloe.
Shaking off the bitterness of her comment, he pushed on. "I know, I'm still new at a lot of this. So I'm honestly really unsure of my own feelings right now." Adrien looked away just as Marinette snapped her gaze back to him, curiosity in her eyes. "For the longest time, I've had my heart set on someone really close to me..." He said carefully, trying to think of how to dance around his relationship (or lack there of) with Ladybug. "They're really my first love, but... They don't feel the same towards me and I really don't have much hope left in that regard." With that, Adrien brought his other hand up and sandwiched the one of Marinette's he was already holding before looking into her eyes with a purpose. "But lately, I've been feeling something different, and yet the similar... I don't know how to explain it, but its the same kind of feelings I only ever got before around her, but now, I just get them around you all the time and they're SO much worse."
The boy heard Marinette's breath hitch and pressed froward. "All I've wanted lately was to spend time with you, talk to you, anything! Even if it means losing at Mechatrike for the 50th time in a row, at least I was hanging out with you, Mari... I was really hoping that in spending more time together I'd be able to figure out what on earth I'm feeling, but honestly I'm even more confused than I was before! I swear I can barely even think around you anymore!" He shouted, turning his head up to the sky in exaggerate his point.
"I like you alot, Mari... You're amazing, creative, you always bring a smile to my face when I see you. You're also one of my bestfriends and I would never want to risk hurting you because I can't get my head on straight..." Adrien looked down at their hands with a frustrated sigh as he trailed off. The desperation in his voice must have been incredibly obvious, he thought to himself. And seeing as he already had hurt her, even if it was by accident, saying all of this was probably only making things worse. He weaken the grip on her hands, giving her the freedom to pull away and held his breath, he was sure she'd leave him. But as he looked down, Adrien was just in time to see her other hand reach up and tentatively join his. Looking back up in surprise, he was met by a beautiful, tearful smile.
"Mar-UHM!?" Adrien found himself cut off in the best way possible. Marinette pulled him closer and pushed her lips against his. After a moment he relaxed, giving her hands a gentle squeeze and leaning into the kiss. In a flash, the whole world fell away and his mind was clear of any doubt for the first time. All there was was the two of them and he liked it this way.
After, who knows how long, still sitting in the snow, they separated. But only by a couple inches as they leaned their foreheads together. "Y-You understand what I'm trying to say, then?" He said hopefully, completely unable to look away from her shinning bluebelle eyes.
"Seeing as you nearly tackled me into the snow to make sure I got the message... I'm inclined to believe you." Marinette responded with a teasing tone he had gotten much more familiar with as of late.
Adrien couldn't help cracking a smile, "What can I say, I've always heard love makes you do crazy things. I guess I just had to see it for myself." He watched her eyes widen and realized what his choice of wording really implied. But he didn't backtrack, he made his choice and meant it one hundred percent. "And maybe after watching you start to walk away... I realized I was more afraid of losing you, then I knew." He admitted softly, pulling Marinette's fingers to his lips and kissing them like he'd done so many times as Chat Noir. When his eyes returned to hers, she was crying again, but this time instead of running away she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly.
"I love you too.."
She said it at nearly a whisper, but her words caused Adrien to melt in her arms and return the embrace as tightly as he could. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. "I want to try this, if you'll have me?"
"Of course, Adrien..."
Adrien hoped he'd only ever see happy tears from Marinette again.
——Epilouge——
Chat Noir leapt threw the air with reckless abandon. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so happy. With a first date with his new girlfriend set for dinner tomorrow night, he was basically on cloud nine. As he came to a stop atop the roof of a tall building over looking the river, he noticed a familiar silhouette sitting on the corner as the sun set over the snowy Paris streets.
"Good evening, Ladybug." He said cheerfully, as he landed next to her. He had decided earlier that maybe since he's in a relationship he should try to tone down the flirting with his partner, even if it almost felt unnatural to not at this point.
If Ladybug noticed the more reserved greeting, she didn't say. Instead she just turned up to look at him and smiled brightly. "Oh hey, Chat. What brings you out tonight? We weren't planning on patrolling or anything." She patted the ground next to her and he gladly took the seat.
"You could say I've had a paws-atively crazy day today. And just needed to stretch my claws a little. What about you, bugaboo? Speaking from experience, its a bit of a cold day to be out sitting in the snow."
The spotted hero raised a brow at that remark, but didn't push it. "I had a bit of a crazy day myself, admittedly... I confessed to that guy I like." Chat's eye's widened. Crazy they both have such similar experiences today. He really hoped this guy didn't hurt her or he'd regret it... She caught his worried expression and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry Chat, it went well. A bit rocky at first, I sort of panicked when he didn't respond quickly, but after I gave him a chance to talk we..." Ladybug trailed off with a dreamy expression in her eyes and Chat furrowed his brow at how weirdly this sounded like what exactly happened to him, but it couldn't be... She couldn't be... He could never be THAT lucky... Right..?
His thoughts were interrupted by a giggle from his partner when she saw his face. "What is it, Kitty? Jealous are we?" She said teasingly. Chat Noir met her gaze and deciding to scrap his weird train of thought before it had the chance to derail. He smiled at her warmly.
"Honestly, M'Lady, I'm just glad your happy." Chat said with a genuine sincerity that was quite unlike his superhero alter-ego.
A soft smile spread across his partner's lips, "Aw Chat... You're really sweet. Some girl is gonna love that someday, you know?" She meant it, maybe a bit more personally than she'd let on, but Chat was too busy being flustered at the compliment to notice. Finally he composed himself and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Actually, I also just started seeing someone.." Ladybug gasped, raising a hand to cover het mouth.
"Really?! That's great Chat!" She gave her partner a tight hug. "What's she like?", she asked, excited both for her partner and that his overly romantic tendencies might be focused elsewhere for a change.
Though, as he began describing his new love interest emphatically, deep down Ladybug felt a small pang of sadness about how she'd at least miss the idea of 'them' and his flirts a little... Even if she'd blocked Chat's advances at every turn, there were little moments she felt it too. But she finally had Adrien and Chat now had his apparenty 'purr-fect and gorgeous' mystery girlfriend.
So they probably weren't really meant to be anyways.