Bee-tee-dubs, my dumb self is connecting all this as one story instead of just doing oneshots because I apparently like to make my life more stressful than it is :D

Sunday, December 2

Marinette puts down the plate of cookies on the coffee table, trying to get comfortable sitting so close next to Adrien on the small couch, but she can't help her leg from bouncing up and down and her fingers from fidgeting.

"So… are we going to remain awkward or are we going to say something. If you don't want me here, I can leave. I understand." Adrien was about to get up, but Marinette rests her hand on his thigh and softly pushes him back down.

"No, it's… okay. I'm just being stupid."

"You're not, Marinette. I know that I can't just expect everything to be normal again. I want to try though." Adrien grabs a cookie off the plate, delicately munching on it.

Marinette soundlessly nods and remains quiet for some time, taking a cookie for herself as well. "Things wouldn't be like this if you had contacted me though. It's quite a big deal, suddenly moving to another country, another continent nonetheless, without telling someone."

Adrien sighs and dragges his hand down his face. "I know that. And I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you though?"

"I couldn't."

"How come?"

"No time. And Father didn't allow it."

"Why?"

"His appearance in New York was supposed to be under the radar. He had been planning it for weeks. When he dropped the bomb on me that I needed to pack and that we were leaving in the next 24 hours, he barely let me have any time to do anything else except prepare myself for the trip. He took my phone too, and didn't relent when I begged him if I could contact my friends. He didn't want to take any risks of word coming out to the media."

"…I see."

Just like she suspected, it wasn't his fault at all. She was still upset though and that feeling couldn't just go away.

Adrien stares down at his hands folded in his lap, cookie already comfortable in his stomach. "When we were in New York and we were seen, I assumed it didn't matter anymore, especially since we were going to stay there for a long time, but he still wouldn't let me contact you guys. I tried so many times, you have to believe me. I managed to get Nino one time and spoke to him for like two minutes, but that's it. I wish I could have done more. I should have done more. I'm so very sorry, Marinette. You have to forgive me."

Marinette closes her eyes in thought. She remembered Nino getting a phone call during school oh-so-long ago and he had been very excited. Alya had shushed him though and when Marinette later on asked who he had been on the phone with, he refused to tell her. Now she understood why. That was during the time she was still very heartbroken. Although they didn't have the whole picture of how Marinette and Adrien's relationship truly was, they did connect her gloominess and irritability to the lack of her crush during the day.

"I-I forgive you, Adrien. It wasn't your fault. Thank you for taking your time and telling me right now though, now that you're able to."

Adrien nods eagerly. "I have only been back for a day. This is basically the first time I'm going outside on my own and I immediately went to you. I have never stopped thinking about you, My Lady."

Marinette couldn't help the corners of her lips from turning up at the nickname. It had been so long since she had heard that name. "You weren't easy to forget either, you know?"

Adrien smiles and shuffles a little closer, feeling more at ease and comfortable now that the tension had left the room. "Every day I wished I was there with you. Every time an Akuma appeared on the news, I followed your every move to see if you were doing okay. I wanted to help you so badly. You can't imagine how many I almost ran away to buy a plane ticket to Paris just so I could help you out."

She blushed at his words and averted her gaze on him to the window. Those words were really nice, and she could feel he meant it. But was that the only thing on his mind or-

"I also wished we could have finished our conversation as well." That got Marinette's attention, and she looked directly into his eyes. "I was dumb for not deciding then and there what I wanted. I shouldn't have gone home to 'figure it out first'." He mocks himself by speaking the last words nasally.

"That wasn't dumb," she spoke softly.

"It really was though."

"No, Adrien," she puts her hand on top of his that was resting on his leg, "We literally just showed each other our true identities. We were confused and surprised. And then my lame self just starts to blurt out everything that's on her mind and just grabs you face and kisses you!" Back then she had been mortified by her actions, right now she can only giggle. "What were you supposed to do? I can only understand why you did what you did. Yes, I was sad for quite some time, especially since you just left after that day, but that's doesn't mean that it wasn't justified."

"I know," he mumbles and she realizes he had come closer than he had been before. She feels flustered and looks away. He grabs both of her hands and starts to squeeze them softly. "But we wasted so much time."

Marinette nods and looks him in the eyes again, only to see he was impossibly close now, his breath mingling with hers and his eyes focused on the lower part of her face. She wants to say something, but it dies on her tongue as he scoots closer and closes his eyes, slightly pouting his lips and almost pressing them against her-

She nudges him back and he immediately responds, letting go of her and giving her the space she needs. This is what she had wanted for so long and right now… she just can't.

Marinette is shaking her head with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I just can't, not now. It took me so much time and effort to get over you, and I just... can't do this now."

Adrien is obviously upset but doesn't push, letting the words sink in. "Told you I was dumb."

She shakes her head. "Stop saying that. You needed some time back then. Well, now I'm the one who needs some time. I mean, of course you had to think about it. You always had had your eyes on Ladybug and then she suddenly turns out to be your friend you would have never given a second thought?"

"Marinette, I-"

"You never saw me romantically and don't you dare say otherwise," she accuses.

"I never said that," he counters. "But I probably would have liked you, if I would have let myself. You think I never saw any attractive people in my line of work? Of course I did, but I never did anything with that since I only had eyes for one and only one. That also meant Marinette was off the table. The reason I needed to think was to see if Marinette and Ladybug could ever be on the same level for me, and they could. I just had to decide that straight away."

Silence falls over them again except for the low sounds of the ovens doing their work downstairs and the whistling of Tom as he puts pastries in said ovens. Adrien and Marinette have no idea where their Kwamis are, but they are probably either hiding somewhere together to give them some privacy or still hiding in their own spot to not interrupt the conversation.

Adrien tries not to be frustrated, but it's hard when things aren't going as planned. "I'm sorry," he says again. "I know I was stupid back then. I know I'm still being stupid now, but at least… let's try something, okay? One date? We're Ladybug and Chat Noir. Aren't we supposed to be together?"

"And that's where lies the problem, Adrien," Marinette says. "This isn't some Christmas movie that ends up with a happy end. It takes more than some sweet words to change my mind. I know that I still like you, but like I said before, it has taken me so much blood, sweat and tears to forget you and now you just drop back in my life again. I basically buried every feeling I ever had for you. You can't just dig that up in one go, it takes time."

Adrien feels a spark of hope bubble up in his chest and he grabs Marinette's hands in glee. "Then I promise you this: I will convince you that I really like you for who you are, and that there is no problem with liking me back despite what you're telling yourself. I really want us to work. I'm back for good and I want to spend as much time as I can with the people I care about the most. That is you, Marinette."

She can't fight the smile appearing on her face. She always liked a good challenge. "Then start convincing me."