Author's Note: Oh boy. The snow's started falling. I have two dogs to walk and a sister that won't get up to help me do it. This is going to be interesting. Imma stay indoors today with a pot of constant hot chocolate running. Anyway, enjoy the Ladrien in this chapter!

Chapter 11

Ladybug jumped from roof to roof, every now and then flinging her yo-yo out to catch the taller buildings and surpass the gaps she couldn't alone. Her eyes were bloodshot. If the mask wasn't there, anyone would be able to tell that she just spent the last hour crying her eyes out over her horrible date with Chat Noir. Thousands of different possibilities for how this night could have gone ran through her mind and her vision blurred again just considering them. He hadn't admitted it but she knew. She'd really hurt him. Honestly, using him as a fall back never once occurred to her until he'd started worrying silently about it. Tikki was right. She hadn't considered all of the consequences and did the one thing she'd said she wouldn't do.

She'd hurt Chat Noir.

She flung her yo-yo again and landed on the roof of one of the residential buildings. Her breath came out in soft little clouds. Finally, the weather was turning to be more appropriate for the fall. It was late so the world was silent in an eerie, mystical way. She placed her weapon back on her hip. Without thinking, Ladybug had traveled over to the Agreste mansion. She could see into the large, open windows that faced the outside corner of where the building resided; the room was well lit as its occupant was very much awake and sitting at his three-screened computer desk. She swallowed painfully. Really, what in the world was she thinking? Coming here after she just hurt her partner like that. Her feelings for Adrien hadn't really changed despite what she'd just told Chat and maybe that was part of the problem; she was moving too fast and doing so had hurt him. She sighed, rubbing her eyes with the back of a gloved hand to clear the tears, and started to move on when she heard from below, "Ladybug?" A quick glance revealed said boy staring up at her from a now open window. He motioned for her to come down. She hesitated but he was insistent, motioning quickly with his hand for her to come. She sighed, tossed her yo-yo, and flung herself into his room, where she landed with a rather soft thud before replacing her transportation back to her hip.

She remembered when she'd been in his room before. In front of her was a couch with the bed and three screened computer behind it. There were various games to her right and high action features like a skateboard ramp and a rock climbing wall to her left. A second level held nothing but large book shelves with more books than she'd ever seen outside of an actual library.

"Ladybug, is everything alright? Is there an akuma attack?" She turned. Adrien's hair was slicked back, indicating that he'd just gotten out of the shower, and his face was flushed with worry. Panic flashed in his eyes but to her, it looked like a tiny spark of electricity. She shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she replied with, "Nope. I just needed some fresh air so I decided to do a solo patrol this evening."

His shoulders relaxed. He smiled at her brightly, "Oh good. I thought there might have been an attack or something."

"It's quiet this evening," she smiled sadly. He tilted his head at her, a frown crossing his lips.

"What's wrong?" She blinked and wrung her hands together.

"Wrong?"

"If it's not an akuma then something else is bothering you." He moved closer then so that she had to look up to meet his expression. Blue met green and she felt drawn in. Damn it. This was exactly her problem. Adrien reached up and cupped her face gently between his hands. She was trapped. She didn't have the willpower to break from his hold, despite knowing she had the strength. He eyed her face before wiping a thumb under each eye. "You've been crying," he stated matter-of-factly, "I can see it. What's wrong?" She swallowed painfully.

"It's nothing a civilian needs to worry about." He smiled and dropped his hands. Moving past her, he sat on the couch and patted to the seat next to him.

"Then how about a friend?"

She hesitated again. After this internal debate, she slowly moved to where he motioned, sitting beside him. Neither of them spoke for a bit. Finally, she took a steadying breath, looked down at her hands, and said, "I… I really messed up tonight. I hurt Chat Noir."

Adrien blinked. "What?"

"I hurt Chat Noir." She breathed again and continued with, "I invited Chat to my place so he could continue to help me practice dancing for this event I'll be attending and we started talking but I made a mistake and told him that I basically was trying a relationship with him because this boy I had a crush on admitted to me that he had someone else he liked and this made him think I was using him only as fall back and now I can't reach him nor do I think I can face him again because I didn't want him to know that. I'm not using him as fall back. I genuinely like him but all of this was going so fast that it just seemed like I was and now… now I don't know what to do or think." She shook a bit. "I'm scared. I know a superhero isn't supposed to say that but I really am scared."

He stared at her, mouth open a bit in surprise. His mouth was dry and all he really wanted to do was grab her in a hug and say that everything was going to be okay, that Chat Noir didn't hate her, that he too wanted a relationship with her; not just Ladybug but Marinette too. But he couldn't. He couldn't just say it because then it really would hurt her too much. Instead, he reached out and put a hand on top of her shaking hands and drew her attention to him. He smiled. "Ladybug, it's alright to be afraid. No one said superheroes had to be perfect twenty four seven. Besides, you're allowed to have a normal life outside the suit." He coughed. "Also, I don't think Chat hates you too much. After all, isn't he your partner? It would be pretty shameful of him to give up on you so quickly because of something like this. Especially since it sounds like your relationship is going from professional to… well, something more."

"But what if he doesn't want to speak to me anymore? What if he decides I'm not worth it?" She slumped in her seat looking more dejected than he'd ever seen her before. "What if he gives up on me like I was afraid he would?"

He didn't hesitate this time. He immediately grabbed her and held her in a tight embrace. At first she made no movement to reciprocate the motion but eventually she did. She buried her face in his neck and squeezed the back of his shirt. Fresh tears came to her eyes and fell, wetting his shoulder. He merely held her while she cried again.

Several minutes later, she pushed back from him, her face as red as her eyes. He almost didn't catch the blush under her mask. "S-sorry. I got-got your shirt a little wet," she blubbered. He brushed her hair gently back off of her face and smiled.

"I have plenty more. Don't worry about it." He paused. His smile grew wilder as he said softly, "Your hair. You have it down this evening." She blinked before chuckling.

"Yeah I uh… was wearing a hoodie earlier and it didn't do well with the pigtails in."

"It looks good. I like it on you." She smiled and wiped her eyes.

"Thank-you." A sharp beep rang out and both of them flinched, knowing full well that that was the sound of her miraculous running out. Tikki was tired especially since she'd been up comforting Marinette for some time. "Well," she said softly, standing, "That's my cue to go. Thanks for listening to me. It's nice to know that people like you are willing to help people like me."

"You mean superheroes? I think Alya does better at that than me."

"True but I don't see Alya here right now do I?" She smirked again, pulling her yo-yo off her hip. Adrien joined her at the window, opening it for her. Another beep rang out. She threw the yo-yo and it hooked on a nearby building but she paused before taking off. She faced him one last time, noting how close they were. "Adrien, there's something I need to confess. That boy I said I originally liked before Chat? Well… he was you." He blinked. After a few seconds, his face flushed red and he put a hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. Ladybug only smiled sweetly. "I wanted to confess at least once. I'm going to make things right with Chat. Thanks, for everything."

Before he could stop her, she tugged on the yo-yo's string and it pulled her through the window and out into the night. He watched until she was out of sight.

Adrien let the window drop shut. He slid to the ground in dazed silence as her words hit him hard.

Him.

Dear goodness he'd been jealous and petty of himself.

Ladybug, no Marinette, liked him.

Both of him.

Plagg flew out of hiding and rolled his eyes. "That was your chance to take it the next step further and you lost it. So what now lover boy?" He closed his mouth and licked his lips.

"Honestly, I wish I knew." He stood, walking over to his desk to find a notebook. He began scribbling ideas like crazy. Plagg flew next to him to spy over his shoulder but he couldn't make heads or tails of the things his chosen was scribbling onto the paper.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Trying to figure this out."

"And writing it down's going to help?"

"I don't know but it's better than doing nothing."

Plagg landed on the table and crossed his arms. He wasn't one for romance, he hadn't lied to Adrien when he'd told him that that was Tikki's area of specialty, but he couldn't just watch his chosen scribbling like a maniac into a notebook hoping for an answer. He thought for a second.

"The ball."

Adrien stopped writing and eyed him, "What?"

Plagg rolled his eyes, "I said, 'the ball.' You deaf now as well as being idiotically love struck? Why don't you use something related to the ball to confess to her? Why not those lessons you're giving her on the side?"

The young man blinked. "You mean... have her figure out I'm Chat the same way I figured out she's Ladybug? Dancing?" Plagg shrugged.

"Why not?" Adrien bit his bottom lip then licked his lips.

"There are three weeks left. If we keep practicing regularly until then… it just might work." He smirked and gave Plagg a gentle rub on the head. Plagg closed his eyes and fought back the urge to purr. After all, he was the cool God of Destruction. Not some easily manipulated kitten. Adrien closed his notebook and went over to his calendar to check his schedule. Lucky for him, all of his Wednesdays were clear right up until the ball and all he could hope was that it remained that way.