Hey guys! Sorry for disappearing for a month or even more! Finals week came up and there were all these tests before it too! And it was just really hectic! BUT now it's winter break! Finally! So those of you waiting for The Masquerade Ball I will try and update it as much as possible. Normally updates will be on Fridays but since Christmas is coming up I have some serious shopping to do. So again it might be delayed a bit. Sorry.

Here is a one-shot to apologize for disappearing!

Thank you for everyone who followed, favorite, and/or left a review! I love and appreciate it!

Credits for this story goes to pinksakura271. She came up with the fabulous idea. Go show her some love and read her bio. It's a fabulous OC of Descendents among other awesome stuff. So go check that out! :)

As always credits to my little sis, Paris for proofreading. You're amazing!

Note: this story is set the night of The Evillustrator…

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug or the cover image. They belong to their respective owners.

Adrien's Reflected Thoughts

Marinette. That is all Adrien could think about that night. How brave she is. How confident she is. How intelligent she was during the whole mission. Plus, Marinette didn't stutter around him once! Well yes he was transformed as Cat Noir but that was beside the point. Adrien loved to see Marinette's confident side, how her bluebell eyes spark with dermin… Adrien groaned as he dragged his hand over his face, facing the ceiling as he laid in bed. Get a hold of yourself! He yelled inside his head. You've had a long day and have a presentation to work on tomorrow. Let's try and get some sleep! With that he shut his eyes and forces himself to sleep, ignoring any lingering thoughts about Marinette.

…

Adrien found himself in an abyss of darkness.

What is this place? How did I get here?

The blonde boy tries to remember but his mind went blank. He didn't even remember getting out of bed! Adrien shook his head trying to clear his mind when he notices a tall oval mirror in front of him. Curious he starts to walk towards the mirror. When he was directly in front of the mirror, he found himself staring at his alter-ego, Cat Noir, instead of plain old Adrien. Bewildered, Adrien takes a step closer and holds out his hand to touch the mirror to make sure that this was real. Just as his fingertips was about to make contact with the glass, Cat Noir gestures for Adrien to step away from the mirror. Shocked and confused Adrien complies. Without wasting another second, Cat take a couple of sets back to give himself a running start before he did a perfect flying sidekick through the glass mirror then landed on all fours in a cat-like pose. Adrien gasps, staring at Cat dumbfounded. Cat smirks in return and stood up staring at Adrien dead in the eye, sending shivers down Adrien's spine. There was something off about his alter-ego. Something different and it wasn't a good thing. The cat-themed hero continues to bore Adrien down with his burning gaze, mesmerizing Adrien.

"So we teamed up with Purrincess today," Cat purred crossing his arms. Adrien absentmindedly nods tilting his head still trying to pinpoint what was different about his other self. Everything was the same, the black skin-tight leather suit, the boots, the tail, the gloves with claws, the golden bell, the fake cat ears on top his messy blonde hair. Nothing seems out of the ordinary...except… for- "don't deny it. You love her." That was enough to break Adrien out of his trance.

"Um… well… I care about Marinette very much, but you know I-we love Ladybug." Adrien said as his hand went to rub the back of his neck. Cat scoffed rolling his green cat eyes before shaking his head and chuckling darkly, making Adrien visibly shiver. "Look I'm your true free self, you can't lie to me about ANYTHING." The cat-themed hero said staring at Adrien once again. Cat points to himself with his thumb and said, "When I met Purrincess for the first time during that mission, I flirted with her, which shows that she is the first normal girl we genuinely care about. Besides it's pointless when we care about Ladybug," Cat finishes gesturing between them with his claws. That crossed the line. Adrien's hands forms into fists at the side of his body. His eyes blazed with fury as he glared at his alter ego, offended.

"HEY! Us caring about Ladybug is not pointless-"

"Yes it is pointless!" Cat snapped cutting off Adrien, leaning close to him so that their noses were almost touching. He poked Adrien's chest with his clawed index finger. "THAT BUG," Cat spat her name in disgust, "is only a dream, a fantasy!"

"But Lady-" Adrien starts trying to defend his lady.

"How much more STUPID can you get?!" Cat yells, stepping back and throwing his hands in the air in frustration. Shaken with fear Adrien didn't respond. "Marinette is REAL!" Cat Noir continued, "Someone we can touch and bring happiness to! Ladybug doesn't even believe our feelings for her to be genuine!" The black leather-wearing boy looked at Adrien square in the face. "You know I'm right."

Adrien decides speak up even if he was trembling with fear.

"But Marine-"

"Yes, I know Marinette stutters." Cat said cutting off his human self pinching the bridge of his nose. "But that's around you not me!" The angered black cat took a deep breath to calm himself. Cat Noir stared at Adrien, stepping closer to him so he was slightly towering over the fearful blonde. "Visit her as me from time to time. You will see Adrien, that Purrincess is the one we should cherish instead."

With those last haunting words Cat Noir turned around and jumped back into the mirror. Safely inside the mirror, Cat turned back to face Adrien and yelled, "Cataclysm!" activating his power of destruction. Quickly Cat put his hand against the glass, shattering the mirror into a million pieces of glass. The pieces flew into Adrien's eyes blinding him until he jerked upright in his bed with a gasp. He was sweating profusely. Looking down at his lap and breathing heavily, he clutched the sheets underneath him. It wasn't until he caught his breath when Adrien realized it was all a dream. "It was just a dream." Adrien repeated to himself between heavy breaths. Once his breathing steadied, Adrien thought about what just happened. Again, Adrien's heart started beating rapidly when he processed what his inner Cat Noir had said.

Ladybug. Adrien always loved her from the beginning. Her confidence, her spirit, her goodness. She never backs down from a challenge. She cares for everyone in the city and is determined to always protect the people of Paris. But the spotted heroine never returned his feelings for her. Ladybug would always reject him. Reject him. Reject him. She would always- Adrien sighs dejectedly, releasing his grip on the sheets and lied back down on his bed with the back of his left hand of his forehead and his right hand on his stomach. His inner Cat Noir is right. Ladybug didn't think his feelings for her were real. Adrien sighed once more as his thoughts drifts towards Marinette the second time that night.

Marinette. She is the sweetest girl he has ever known. She always helps everyone, stands up for what's right, and supports all of the people she loves. Adrien smiled sweetly as he thought about the beautiful spark of determination, focus, and passion in her eyes when she would work on a fashion project. Marinette wasn't even a crazed fangirl when Cat Noir showed up. She was actually ok with it. She treated him like an equal, a close friend. Adrien's smile grew wider at the thought. Maybe his inner Cat is right, maybe he could make his Princess happy as Cat Noir. She seemed fond of Cat Noir when the hero came to meet her for the first time. But Adrien had to be sure. He could ask her what she thinks of Cat Noir at school tomorrow before visiting her that night. Yeah, know how much Marinette likes Cat so he knows how much he has to work to win her heart. Yup. Good plan. Adrien smiled and mentally pat himself on the back before turning over and drifting off to sleep, excited for tomorrow.