Adrien was stunned into silence. After a very long moment that could have been anywhere between two seconds and two minutes, he finally realized that his mouth was hanging open. With some effort, he wiped the stunned look off his face and turned to Marinette to confirm Alya's claim. Only, Marinette had slid down in her seat and buried her head in her arms so as to avoid his gaze.
Neither could believe that Alya had so suddenly and so bluntly confessed on her friend's part. Nino's hand had even frozen on its way to pick up his hot chocolate, his eyes darting between his two best friends and his girlfriend.
"Is that, um, is that true Marinette?" Adrien finally asked. He swallowed roughly.
Marinette busied herself with the hem of her blouse. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Well, I mean, I have you, I mean, a crush. A crush on you." She groaned and buried her face in her hands. Breathing in deeply she tried again, her voice muffled by the palms of her hands as she rushed through her words. "I've been in love with you for a long time. But I know you don't like me like that. I just needed to tell you. It's okay. You don't have to do anything. I-"
Alya placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder, stopping her rambling.
"Sorry," the bluenette breathed, peaking out from her hands to glance at her crush.
Adrien still hadn't said anything. His eyebrows were pulled together in thought. When he finally met her eyes, he gave her a strained smile. "Mari, you're one of my best friends. I'd never want to lose you..."
Marinette tried to hold back the tears that threatened to overtake her. She wasn't stupid. She could recognize the beginning of a rejection. She willed herself not to cry, avoiding Adrien's eyes so that she did not have to see the guilt there.
Despite Marinette's efforts, Adrien did notice the tears welling in her bluebell eyes. They were eyes that reminded him of Ladybug's, the love of his life. Maybe that is why he suddenly couldn't find it within himself to reject her.
"I've never thought about you like that," Adrien continued, "but, maybe I could try?"
Marinette blinked. Had she heard correctly? This wasn't the romantic response she had always fantasized about, but it didn't sound quite like a rejection either. "What do you mean?" She asked. She looked up at him hopefully. Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.
"I guess we could maybe go out sometime," Adrien said. "I mean, if that is what you want."
It took Alya kicking her from under the table for her to finally respond. She stood up suddenly, excitement evident on her face. "Oh my God! Oh, um, I mean, yes!"
"So a date with pigtails, huh?" Plagg teased later that night. "Whatever happened to 'Ladybug is the only one for me'?"
Adrien hit a sour note on the piano. He stopped and turned to scowl at the kwami.
"I never said I was going to marry her. It's just a date." Plagg rolled his eyes and Adrien sighed. "What was I supposed to do Plagg?"
"Seems to me you could have just said no."
"You didn't see her face. I couldn't hurt her like that. She's one of my best friends. What if I rejected her and she never forgave me?"
"What are you going to do then? Pretend you like her for the rest of her life?"
"It's not pretend, Plagg."
"But you always said you didn't have a crush on pigtails."
"I don't."
Plagg groaned dramatically. "This is hurting my brain too much. Just give me some cheese and do what you want."
Adrien had barely gotten the camembert out before Plagg had half finished it. Once his kwami was fed, he turned back to the piano, absentmindedly beginning his practice again. He knew Plagg had a point. His feelings for Marinette were somewhat contradictory. And if he were honest with himself he might actually like the pigtailed girl if he wasn't so enraptured with Ladybug.
But he was in love with Ladybug, and he doubted there was much that could change that.
Adrien let his fingers still, deciding finally that he was too distracted to keep playing. He got himself ready for bed and collapsed into the covers, sighing silently to himself. If he were lucky Marinette would realize after their date that they weren't right for each other.
But he was the black cat's, and black cat's were rarely lucky.