He sits on her balcony, chatting away with her about this and that. He never says anything about who he is, but he does delve into his personal life enough that she gets an understanding about him and what he does.
She doesn't have to worry about talking about herself. She's just Marinette to him. nothing more. She talks about her family, about Alya, and about how much she wishes to become a famous fashion designer.
He makes a joke about how "half of Paris wants to be famous fashion designers" and she laughs.
They go silent for a moment, and she notices she's staring.
Forgetting for a moment who she is, she leans in toward him.
She tries to kiss him, but he only pulls away.
"Im sorry." he tells her "you may be my princess…" he looks up to the moon with a sigh. "but she'll forever be my queen."
.
Cat Noir is distancing himself from her. He hopes the less he's around her, the easier it will be to convince himself he isn't falling in love.
He's failing miserably.
Every night, while on patrol, he finds himself staring in the direction of her little home.
And every night, Ladybug has to tell him to hurry his "lazy cat butt" and follow her through the streets of Paris.
He wonders if his Princess waits up for him. If she loses sleep because he doesn't show up anymore.
He wonders if she still even cares.
.
Ladybug doesn't respond to his advances. She's still torn between letting her love go, and holding on tightly.
She doesn't regret being his partner. She loves it, really. She just doesn't love him. She doesn't know him well enough to even consider the notion.
But he knows her. He knows both sides of her, and he chooses the side that shys away from him.
She could pretend she isn't hurt. She could pretend that Ladybug returns his feelings.
But Marinette is the one that fell in love with Cat Noir. And Ladybug still has a city to save every night.
Sure, one half of her would be happy, but she would lose her nightly visits. He wouldn't come to see her if he was with Ladybug. He would have no reason to.
But aside from all of that. Her heart still yearned for Adrien. She still wanted to have him as hers. And if it came down to choosing. She would choose Adrien.
Her knight is waiting, but her King is forever the keeper of her heart.
.
Adrien doesn't smile as much, and when he does, it's fake.
Nino takes a note of this, and takes the time to put himself in danger to get Ladybug to talk to him.
"He's in love with you, you know." he tells her, and she isn't sure who he means.
She decides he's talking about Adrien, and her heart makes a pitiful squeeze in her rib-cage.
He'd never love Marinette.
She realizes that both of her loves are head over heels for the same girl, and don't even pay attention to her. At least, not the part of her she wants them to see.
She smiles a sort of sad smile, and waves goodbye as she calls over her shoulder,
"Not all of me."
.
Alya sees Marinette crying in the girls locker room.
She storms out and grips Adriens shirt tightly in her fists.
"You BROKE her heart. You selfish ASShole." her own eyes start to tear up and Nino has to pry her hands off his best friend.
"He's just too caught up in his own fantasy world." She tells Nino.
The boy doesn't have the heart to agree, even when he knows she's right.
Adrien knows he's hurt his Princess. He knows that she's crying over what he said. But he can't stop himself from loving Ladybug when he knows Marinette is in love with Cat Noir.
She doesn't love Adrien, and she never will.
His heart hurts just as much as hers.
.
He doesn't show up one night.
She waits until the sun starts peeking it's way over the horizon, and goes home.
He'll give up eventually.
She won't, but at some point, she knows he'll get bored and tired of waiting up for her.
She's almost sure that tonight, is the night he's given up.
Because really, who wouldn't.
Marinette sits at the edge of her bed, holding her head in her hands. Tikki watches on as her charges heart breaks more and more everyday.
.
People are starting to notice.
They aren't as in sync as they used to be.
they don't even talk as often.
Cat Noir annoys her less and less.
Mainly because he's lost his humor.
She fell for him too late, because he already fell for someone else.
The irony in that.
The moment she starts to fall for him, he loses interest in her.
Another unrequited love story.
.
Adrien goes to her one day, right after the bell for lunch has rung.
"Do you ever miss the way it was?" he asks. His eyes are downcast, staring at his orange shoes in disgust.
"Miss what" she doesn't stutter. and She's found that she hasn't in almost a year.
"How Ladybug and Cat Noir used to be."
"Everyday."
.
It's funny, how life seems to work out like this.
She's aware that he's moved on, from both sides of her.
And she's well aware that she'll never get over either of them.
Because either way, her heart was always big enough for Cat Noir and Adrien.
She knows that now, because she only ever needed room for the one person.
But he's moved on, and she's still stuck.
Her Knight left her a long time ago to chase after his Queen. While his Queen was waiting for her King.
How funny their life used to be.
And now that she's gone, he realizes he never had to go chasing anyone in the first place.
She was already there, waiting.
But the funny thing about fate, is that it doesn't always have a happy ending.
.
Fin~