A prompt done on tumblr for alpacalypticpotatoes.
Ever Since
"Chat, I'm serious, stop following me. This isn't working."
"What do you mean this isn't working?" Adrien landed clumsily beside her and the chimney, angry tears filling his eyes. He was trying his best to keep it together, he really was, so Ladybug saying outright in such a decided tone of voice that it 'wasn't working' threatened to push him over the edge. "We're not done here yet, Ladybug, we have to follow that stupid butterfly!" As he spoke he eyed the white speck, growing ever fainter against the dying twilit sky. Anxiety gripped him at the thought of losing it, but when he lunged for the top of the chimney to continue the chase again, Ladybug seized his arm and hauled him back down to the rooftop.
"No, I have to follow it," Ladybug insisted. "You, go home."
Adrien gaped at her. "What is your problem?" he spat. "I've done nothing but worship you since the day we met and I've worked my ass off since the day we found out Hawkmoth's identity, and now you're just sending me away like a dog?"
The look on her face suggested he had smacked her, but at the moment, he was too hurt to care. But the seconds ticked on, and her lip began to quiver, he started to rethink his words. But before he could say anything else her face hardened and her lip curled, and she shoved him so hard that his back hit the chimney and stayed there. "What is your problem?" she shouted. "That's my line, Chat, what is your problem? Ever since we found out you've been– I don't even know!" Throwing her hands up, she stepped haughtily away from him to hit him with a long, hard look, but the anger was somewhat dampened by a glisten in her eyes. "You've been off your game," she said softly.
Adrien scowled again. The butterfly had definitely gotten away by now, and that was just perfect, wasn't it? One more day of this bullshit. "I'm sorry, am I weighing you down?"
"What– no!" Ladybug burst. "See, this is exactly what I'm talking about! Of course you're not weighing me down, Chat, you're just not – not yourself! I'm worried about you. You're distracted. Angry. Irritable. You keep stepping into harm's way and I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to you. I don't think I could…"
"H-hey," Adrien said weakly, reaching toward her but faltering at the last second. Oh, man, he was such an idiot. "Don't cry, Ladybug. I'm sorry. God, I'm such an ass."
"Don't apologize. Just tell me what's wrong."
He'd spent his entire life learning how to school his facial expressions into the exact ones he needed to hide his real emotions. Unfortunately, Ladybug knew him too well to fall for it.
"No, stop," she insisted. "If you say 'nothing' again I'm seriously going to punch your face off."
Despite himself, he smiled.
Ladybug's responding smile outshone his by miles. "Huh, haven't seen that in weeks. Not since…"
Her smile faltered into something more thoughtful, which made Adrien's heart plunge and his blood run cold. Keeping this from her had been not only torture, but one of the most challenging things he'd ever done as Chat Noir. If she even got close to the right track, she would figure it out instantly. She was too clever not to.
"You know him, don't you?"
Unfortunately, Adrien couldn't decide which emotion he was supposed to feel if the true answer was 'no' quickly enough to paint it on his face before Ladybug saw the real answer.
"Thought so," she hummed. "Chat, I know what I said about our identities. I know what I said about talking about our personal lives. But you're my partner. You're my best friend. If you have some sort of connection with Gabriel Agreste, I want to know, not only because it affects our team dynamic but because it's obviously affecting you. Please," she whispered, "just tell me."
"And what if I did?" he whispered back. "What if he was my… What if deciding to keep on fighting him was the hardest thing I've ever had to do?"
"Then, if that were true, I would say that I was proud of you. And…" Adrien's breath caught in his chest as her gloved hand came to rest on his cheek. Warmth radiated from her wide, sapphire eyes and soothed the hurricane that had been brewing inside him for weeks, by the smallest degree, like a candle in the night. "And I would say that I still love you, Adrien."
