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Day 23 - Revelations

"Wh-what did you say?" She barely managed to get out, staring at the blush spreading across his face under his mask.

"I love you. I've been falling in love with you for weeks and I feel like I'm about to explode." Chat Noir said desperately, trying to make her understand. "I've been in love with Ladybug for so long, I've been fighting back how I felt about you. I thought I couldn't possibly love you the way I loved her. I couldn't be in love with two people, it was wrong. I tried," he said on the verge of tears, "to stop feeling this way about you. I have m'lady, and she is amazing and courageous and makes me feel like I can do anything as long as I'm with her."

He placed his hands on her shocked face, staring into her eyes, "And then you," he nearly whispered, "You have this heart that is strong and selfless. You are talented and creative, and seeing you smile makes my heart kick against my chest. I hear you laugh and my entire world is consumed by your joy. I miss you when you aren't around, and I can't get you out of my head."

He let her go and stepped back, seeing her expressionless face, "I'm an awful person I know. My heart belongs to Ladybug, but you have so much of it already I don't even know how true that is anymore." He ran his hands frustratingly through his hair with a groan, "I'm such an idiot. I shouldn't have said anything, you probably hate me now. What kind of hero am I? It was stupid to put myself in this situation. I know I shouldn't get close to you, it is a mistake that could come back to hurt us both."

"Chat," Marinette tried, watching as he put his head against the balcony rail.

"And I would never want that to happen. If you were to get hurt because of me, I'd never forgive myself. I wouldn't be able to walk into school everyday and not see you."

"Chat stop," she warned, her voice barely a whisper in her shock at hearing this seeming to spill out as though a dam had broken inside of him. If she didn't get herself together, and stop him before it was too late, she was going to learn more tonight than she knew was safe.

"Seeing your empty seat would haunt me. It would be a loud, constant presence at my back torturing me until I broke." He said heavily, his panic bypassing every rational thought about trying to keep his identity hidden, about trying to keep his feelings from her. He couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't live another second in this state of constant turmoil.

"And then I figured it out, the thing that I had thought was impossible. I thought you hated me," he shook his head quickly, "not hate. I swear the only person you could possibly really hate is Lila - for good reason. Maybe tolerate would be a better word, but I've always considered you a friend, one of the greatest, best friends I could ever have the luck of having."

He put both of his hands to the back of his neck, groaning as he turned his back to her and stared up at the sky, "But I was wrong! I was so, so wrong! And it's all Father's fault!"

That caught her a little off guard, "Your Father?"

"He was looking over some work at dinner, and I happened to be wearing my favorite scarf that I thought he'd made for me. When he asked to see it, he was surprised by how well it was done. I asked him how he could be surprised by something he made, and he looked at me like I had lost my mind. He told me without batting an eye that he hadn't made it, but that he'd like to meet whoever had made it because they had a good eye for craftsmanship."

He started sounding upset, "I didn't know what to think. All this time I thought he'd made it for me for my birthday, and when he denied it again when I told him that, he showed me the embroidered letters hidden on one of the ends. M.D.C."

He scoffed, "The letters were barely a shade lighter, and I had never picked them out before. His freakish designer's eyes caught them instantly and after he gave it back, I literally sat in my room and stared at the letters with tears in my eyes until it dawned on me."

He caught her beautiful bluebell eyes, clearing his throat as he told her the truth, "You were the only person to give me an actual gift on my birthday, Marinette. A gift that I have been wearing in front of you, thinking it was from my father and I am so, so sorry if I hurt you because I never, ever meant to. If I had known then what I do now, I feel like so much could be different right now. I would never have had half the hesitation, or worry that you were going to one day stop being my friend out of nowhere."

She felt her head shaking lightly back and forth, staring into his emotional green eyes, her heart going still as his words reached deep inside of her.

This… it couldn't be true. It was impossible… right?

No, it had to be. There was no other explanation.

"Adrien?" She whispered as her eyes pooled with tears.

He nodded solemnly. His lower lip was trembling as he took hard breaths, staring at her with the beautiful green eyes she had come to love, apparently in and out of the mask.

She closed the gap between them slowly as her tears fell, reaching up to caress his face. Her hand shook, but his eyes closed like he was in pain. "I'm so sorry Marinette. I'm so sorry it took me so long to realize how you felt."

She ran her thumb across his cheek gently, and his eyes opened, full of worry. Her voice rang with truth, "Don't apologize. I made you the scarf to make you happy on your birthday, and it did. It didn't matter to me if you knew it had come from me, not if thinking it came from your father made you happy."

He put his hand over hers, "It's not right. My mom, she always said it was the thought behind the gift that made it special. You poured your heart into it, and I,"

"Had a heart full of love and happiness as a result." She said with a shy smile that didn't last long, "Did you really think I, hated you?"

He blushed, looking down nervously as he held her hand at his neck, "I didn't know what to think. You were always so nervous around me, and sometimes you wouldn't even talk to me."

"You silly kitten." She said, trying not to cry again, "I am so in love with you that you take my breath away. My heart tries jumping out of me, and your smile turns me into a puddle. Seeing you happy makes me so happy that it causes my world to spin and I can barely stay on my feet."

She asked a little sadly, "Was that really the only gift you got on your birthday?"

He stayed silent and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, "I'm so sorry. If I had known I would have showered you in gifts."

He instantly hugged her back, reveling in the way her scent overwhelmed him and brought him a sense of peace. "Your gift was perfect, princess."

He still sounded upset and she asked, almost knowing, "And that's why you feel so torn, because you know I,"

"I hoped you did. I really, really hoped you did." He said interrupting her.

She smiled, not afraid to finally say it, "I do love you Adrien. Whether you are Adrien or my amazingly brave, selfless and pun-loving chaton."

He said it like his heart was breaking, "You know that, we, we can't, right? If Hawkmoth ever found out and came after you because of me,"

"Hawkmoth can't hurt me. As long as you are safe, that's all that matters to me." She promised.

"You don't think it's wrong of me," he asked sheepishly, "to be in love with you AND Ladybug? I've tried to let her go Marinette, I swear I have but she, there is something that always pulls me back to her. I know she is in love with a boy she knows in her civilian life,"

"You." She said easily. "Ladybug is in love with YOU, Adrien Agreste."

He frowned slightly, "What makes you think that? She's never told me who she was in love with."

"Because she couldn't even tell him." She admitted, "She thought that he'd never see her as more than a good friend. His friendship was important to her, but she wanted to be so much closer than that. She could barely stay on her feet when he was around, and stuttered to even say good morning."

She saw his eyes widen as she kept going, "She just knew he thought she was a weird freak, and she tried to let him go. She wanted to let her Kitty into her heart when he showed her the beautiful rooftop he had made for Ladybug. She started letting him spend a few nights on her balcony, and she felt herself falling, but there was something about Adrien that always pulled her back to him. Even knowing he was in love with another girl."

She felt her lip trembling, "And now he's standing in front of her, pouring his heart out and confiding in her about how much pain he is in because of how torn he's been." She rushed to get it out, "And by some twisted miracle, she finds out that the person she pushed away was the boy she loved, who already loved her when she had her spots on."

The magic instantly washed over her as Tikki disappeared from her hiding spot into her earrings.

She stared at his chest as the magic settled, his voice shaking, "Ladybug."

She had to tell him, "I would have never, ever, stopped being your friend. No matter what happened, no matter who you were in love with. I would have smiled and been happy for you, and never let you find out how much it hurt to know I never stood a chance."

"No one else stood a chance against you m'lady. No one but my princess." He said, feeling all of his emotions crash into one another, fitting themselves perfectly into the full space of his heart.

"I'm so sorry Chat, I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to make you feel like you weren't good enough or,"

He wrapped her in his arms, lifting her up and spinning her around. She wrapped her arms around his neck, telling him longingly, "I love you Kitty. Both sides of you, and everything that makes you who you are, that will never change."

"Marinette," he whispered, gently setting her down, "My princess, my lady, will you let me have the chance to make up for all the time I've wasted?"

She put her forehead to his, "It wasn't wasted. Every moment with you has meant the world to me, and brought us to this moment. I wouldn't change it for the world." She smiled at him, seeing his beautiful green eyes shining, "But, if you'll let me, I'll spend every day showing you how much I love you."

"Claws in." He said suddenly, telling her shyly, "I don't want to ask this as Chat."

She smiled, seeing Plagg appear just above his shoulder wearing a giant smirk, "Spots off."

Her transformation fell and Tikki zoomed straight to Plagg, hugging him tightly. Plagg held Tikki close, a soft smile on his face.

There wasn't a hint of hesitation in Adrien's voice as he grabbed her hand, holding it to his chest, "Will you be mine?"

"Forever." She whispered longingly.

Their lips met, their hearts beating as one, and their world becoming nothing more that the person wrapped in their arms.

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Au Revoir for now! Á demain!