(A/N): A short update for those who expressed such distress over the cliff-hanger last Chapter. Marinette's POV makes a come-back in the next Chapter, and it's going to get a bit worked up. You guys are brilliant, all the comments and response have been incredible!
Happy Reading!
Chapter Ten
For three whole seconds, Cat was stunned still. For a further second he wondered at the soft press of his partner's lips against his own. And then for three blissful seconds he closed his eyes kissed her back. His fingers were curled at her neck, an arm around her waist drawing her closer with a sharp tug.
And then she'd drawn back so fast he fell forwards after her. He looked up from her arms, just in time to see her wide blue eyes blink twice. Fast. She released a breathless utterance of his name that send a gloriously nervous fragile feeling through his senses, his eyes flickering shut.
"Cat…"
And then LadyBug was gone, and in the time it took for him to hit the rooftop and sit up to look for her she was nowhere to be seen. Seven seconds was all it had taken for the world to flip on its axis, for things to feel like he was stepping into heaven. Cat took a shuddering breath as realisation struck him all at once, tearing through him and leaving him absolutely floored.
Marinette had kissed him.
Cat fell back against the rooftop feeling weak all over and fuzzy. He closed his eyes as a giddy chuckle left his mouth, a grin like no other spreading over his lips like a sunrise.
She'd kissed him.
And he'd kissed her back.
Cat thought he might never experience anything half as wonderful as the way her lips felt against his own. There was still a heat there, lingering like the memory of her touch, tingly and amazing and his heart fell so full he could yell his joy into the setting sunlight.
He set off for Nino's not long after, eager to be in Marinette's company again. He was nervous and tingly all over at the thought, almost missing his footing twice before he gave up and retransformed in an alley. He grinned unabashedly at Plagg's cackling, sunnily ignoring the Kwami's taunts.
Adrien was fighting back the ridiculous urge to whistle as he kept his pace even, fighting the skip in his step because he knew everyone on the streets would see it. He was over the moon. The love of his life had kissed him like he'd been dreaming of for so long, and he had never felt so happy.
Knocking on Nino's door, Adrien sighed, a dreamy smile on his face that might never leave.
It wasn't until he walked into Nino's room and saw the way that Marinette tensed, her gaze flickering to him and then away again. She was upset. He could tell, knew her well enough to know that that weak look in her eyes was the source. She was feeling guilty and by the way she was gripping the controller in her hands she was also feeling the urge to flee. He swallowed hard as it hit him, and the smile did indeed fall from his lips.
Marinette liked Cat. Very much. Enough to want to kiss him and enough to actually do it. Alya had proclaimed her crush on Adrien and Marinette hadn't denied it, not even slightly. So he'd thought it was true, decided it was a true possibility. He'd been so caught up with the overwhelming thought that Marinette, the girl he'd fallen for twice liked both sides of his personality that he hadn't stopped to consider the blazingly obvious.
She liked Cat, and she liked Adrien. And that was wonderful and his luck couldn't be any better if he had a room full of ladybirds. And she'd kissed him, and he'd kissed her back and she was here and she liked him and he loved her so much it hurt but one thing struck him and he could have kicked himself for not realising sooner. Marinette was a sweetheart, caring and moral and standing up for what was right.
And she didn't know.
For all she knew her identity was a secret, and he knew and hadn't told her. But what was so much worse was that she didn't know who he was. When her gaze flickered over again, ten minutes later and half-way though watching Alya's and Nino's characters fight, his fear was confirmed.
Marinette was feeling guilty about what she'd done and she was almost certainly feeling conflicted, the way he had for so long when he was falling for Marinette and felt like he was betraying his lady. He cursed internally, looking down at his hands as a wave of sharp and guilty nerves took hold of him.
She was going to kill him. When he finally came clean and told her what he knew, who he was… She'd never want to see him again. Adrien sighed, wishing for the happy feeling to come back. He looked at Marinette again, noted her tense shoulders and her big blue eyes and her red cheeks and he felt terrible.
This was all his fault, as usual.