Marinette sat on her bedroom floor, resigned in the haze of the last twenty-four hours. I told Cat Noir I love him. I kissed Cat Noir. Nope. I made out with that boy.

Her thoughts were consumed, too, by the contents of the previous night's dream. Active though her mind was, her body had given up in sheer exhaustion - an all too familiar feeling. Sleep had never returned; the post-dream anxiety and cold sweat-laden sheets that needed to be changed had fully prevented it.

She hadn't fared well in school, either, despite Alya's ministrations about the day being almost over and how there was only one more school day to worry about for the week. One small victory was that Marinette didn't fall asleep in class again. Twice in one week would've landed her in detention, for sure. She'd been lost in her head all day, barely able to contribute to class or conversation. Even lunch, a usually welcome reprieve from the doldrums of the day, did nothing to help subdue her mental disquiet from the night prior.

She had noticed Adrien eating alone again, looking withdrawn and nearly as tired as she felt. Not considering for a second that he'd chosen to sit alone in thought and maybe her presence may not be welcome, she sat next to him on the bench and expressed her concern. But she'd found him... apprehensive? No, that couldn't be it. Adrien was never nervous around Marinette. It had always been the opposite. And was he being evasive? Though not unkind, his answers were short and vague. And his smile had been missing something. The change in temperament was jarring, but Marinette did her best to conceal her chagrin.

Warm streams of sunset filtered through Marinette's windows as her fingers absentmindedly fiddled with the fibers of her rug. Tikki floated leisurely near Marinette with a large cookie, firmly situated between her little kwami arms. She was used to these frequent crises and repeated her primary refrain.

"Don't worry so much, Marinette."

"Easy for you to say! You don't have to worry about boys. Sweet, sad, tired model boys and charming, impulsive, electrifying superhero boys! Ughhh!" Her hands flew up to hide her face.

Tikki giggled sweetly, but darted away abruptly when she heard a light thump overhead.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Thirty minutes earlier

Adrien sat on his couch, eyes refusing to focus. He barely remembered coming home from school, eating dinner, or his Chinese lesson. Only flashes of the day surfaced in his mind: A test, but what subject? Chloe's shrill voice, but to whom had she been speaking? Marinette sitting next to him, sapphires burning with worry, a hand on his arm. But what did I say to her?

Marinette.

Eyes closed in attempted concentration, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, a deep, earthy funk assaulted his olfactory receptors causing him to scowl.

"Plagg! Do you have to wave that stuff in front of my face?!"

"Come on, kid. You gotta snap out of it. You've been in a funk all day. Heh. Catch that? Funk."

Choosing to ignore to crafty, yet inappropriately timed pun, Adrien retorted, "Of course I have! Patrol...and just thinking about what LB said. And what I said to her." Oh, Marinette. Why did I mention her to Ladybug? God, that was so stupid. "And I couldn't go back to sleep after that..I don't know..was it really just a dream? It felt more real." Adrien rubbed his eyes and sighed in defeat. "What do I do, Plagg?" He let his semi-rhetorical, desperate whine fall from his lips.

"Have some cheese? I've never had a problem with cheese."

Adrien found his body moving on autopilot, bounding and flipping over Parisian rooftops, watching the sun slip under the horizon. He didn't register much more than the wind in his hair until he landed on a familiar balcony.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After waiting with bated breath for a full minute, Marinette still hadn't heard the tell-tale knock of her friendly, neighborhood alley cat. Confusion and concern tied her in knots, but she made her way to the hatch and pulled herself up onto the terrace. She was met with the vision of a lost cat, hands gripping the railing; it seemed as though he didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there. She reached a tentative hand out to Cat Noir, calming slightly when he didn't shy away from her touch.

"Kitty? Come inside and sit with me."

Settled onto the chaise with hot chocolates, Marinette and Cat Noir observed a tense silence, until it became too much for the girl.

"You don't have to talk to me, but I'm here for you. I've never seen you like this, Cat."

He looked at her and smiled - a small, sad smile. Setting down his mug, Cat Noir stood and began pacing, rubbing the back of his neck as he gathered his wits and words.

"This week has been confusing, wonderful...heartbreaking. Ladybug finally said she loves me. ME." There was a modicum of incredulity, laced with anguish. "But she doesn't think we can make it work and it's...it's not fair!" His petulant cry caused his features to flare briefly with anger before they softened again.

Marinette's look of concern only grew. Cat Noir huffed and gave her a wry smile. "Just my luck, huh?"

He resumed his seat next to her and hung his head, forearms resting on his knees as his shoulders tensed and hunched in emotional torment. He added in a small voice, "She told me to find someone else because all we would ever have is stolen moments. And Hawk Moth would use our connection against us. I know she's scared, but... There's nothing we can't handle together."

"Oh, Cat." She spoke faintly and began to cry, unsure if it was more for him or herself.

"You want to know the hardest part? I actually have been thinking about someone else. I couldn't help falling for her, too. She's fierce and fiery, but soft and kind. The stupid thing is that I told Ladybug."

"I'm so sorry, Cat. I wish I knew what to say or how to help." Marinette rested a hand on his back, doing her best to mask how her heart shattered.

Cat's breath hitched as he wiped his eyes. With a low, somber voice he said simply, "The only thing that could help is if I could still possibly hope that the two girls I fell for were one and the same. But I can't hope. I've seen them standing side by side. And I can't change my target. Even falling for someone else, I've never stopped loving LB for a single second. I never will. I'll wait for her for as long as I need to. I..." The boy in black sighed heavily, feeling defeated, and he tore his gaze away from his friend - from the girl he never expected to fall for. But he couldn't blame her. He stood so suddenly, Marinette nearly dropped her mug in surprise. "I should go." He spoke with an irrefutable determination.

Marinette could do nothing but watch as he quickly made his way to the loft, turning to offer a brief but sincere, "Thank you, Princess," before leaping out into the blustery October night.