A/N I want to show Adrien's pov after Dream Trapper's attack so we are going a little back in time to the day after the attack.

Chapter 3 - Fault

Adrien's POV

I couldn't sleep last night. What I had seen yesterday had plagued me the whole time to the extent that even if I did somehow fall asleep the nightmares would be so terrifying I would wake up within a few minutes sweating profusely. Even Plagg had been concerned and had snuggled against my cheek. That had brought a small grin to my face as I had sought comfort in the action. So now here I am at school looking utterly depressed. Nino notices the minute I get out of the limo and cries out, "What's wrong, man? You look miserable!" I almost flash him a fake smile out of habit when I remember that Nino knows me too well to not spot if it's fake. So instead I wave him off saying that it's nothing and that I was just tired. He doesn't look entirely convinced but fortunately doesn't press for the truth.

The students start filling in and by the time Ms. Bustier enters everyone settles down in their seats. Or well, almost everyone. Our everyday Ladybug, as I had called her, dashes through the door and skids to a stop in front of the teacher while panting. Her cheeks flushed, she says "I'm so sorry Miss, my alarm didn't work and I overslept." to which Ms. Bustier replies, "It's fine Marinette, just make sure to fix your alarm once you get home." Marinette nods gratefully and while on her way to her seat she gives me a shy, flustered smile. I can't help but return the smile despite my mood.' She's so cute' I grin, as the teacher starts the class.

As the day goes by, I just barely manage to act normal and distract myself from my thoughts by trying to listen to the classes. Luckily, so far no Akuma has wreaked havoc. Usually, I would love to run away from my schedule and see Ladybug but today I really don't wanna talk to her. Not after what I saw. I should probably tell her what I saw but I just don't want to worry her when I don't even know what I saw.

Then I get dragged into a scheduled-in-the-last-minute photoshoot.'Great, just when I thought I finally had a little time to myself.' I mentally groan and my body is on auto-pilot, posing as the photographer instructs. "No no, this is all wrong! There is no spark!" The annoyed photographer says much to my displeasure. Is my turmoil really that obvious? I try to hide all my distress and put on the best smile I can muster. He still doesn't look satisfied but doesn't say anything. So what if this isn't my best photoshoot? I can't bring myself to care.

At patrol, I manage to avoid eye contact with Ladybug and get over with it without any trouble. When I get back to my room and detransform, I feel utterly exhausted. Plagg goes up to his cupboard quietly and starts nibbling on his cheese as I flop face-first on my bed. After a minute or two ( or an hour maybe, I couldn't tell) Plagg finally speaks up. "Hey, kid...I'm not really good at this but I hate seeing you so miserable. Please talk to me." He pleads with me which brings one of the first genuine smiles of today on my face. I sit up to look at him. While I'm grateful for Plagg's concern, I don't know what I should say when I'm so confused myself. As if he had sensed my hesitation he says, "Just know that you aren't alone in this. I'm with you and you can talk to me. I don't want you to suffer in solitary." I smile sadly at the ancient being and say, "I just don't understand what that was Plagg. Why did I see an akumatised version of myself? And was it real? Was it an illusion? Why were there two Ladybugs?"

"I'm guessing it had something to do with being hit. Do we even know what the Akuma's power was?" Plagg says with the most serious expression I have ever seen on him. "No." I reply plainly. Plagg floats up to my face to look into my eyes as he speaks. "Then there's nothing we can do. But Adrien, you need to tell Ladybug. She's your partner, she deserves to know." As much as I want to deny him, Plagg is right. So I nod and tell him that I will tell her at the next patrol.

[A/N The continuation of the previous chapter starts here.]

Third Person POV

"Then, Ladybug, When did the Chat Blanc incident happen?" Chat Noir asks finally fathoming what had happened, his insides churning and heart aching at the fact that what he had seen had been real and Ladybug had experienced it. That he is the cause of her nightmares. He watches as Ladybug's eyes widen, hundreds of emotions flash on her face before settling on utter horrification and remorse while his own reflect dread. 'He saw that!? He WASN'T supposed to see that! What must he have thought? Oh god, this is a disaster! What if he knows who I am or even worse what if -' "Ladybug, please. Please tell me the truth. When did I get akumatised ?" Chat Noir interrupts her train of thoughts, pleading with her desperately.

Ladybug bites her lip and looks everywhere but at him trying to think of something, anything to get out of this. She desperately wishes that an Akuma would show up. But when she risks a glance at Chat Noir, all thoughts of denying him leave her brain and she knows that she has to tell him.

"Chat Noir, I don't know what you saw but you weren't the cause of what happened, okay?" She says determinedly, "I'll tell you, but promise me you won't blame yourself."

"But-" Chat Noir starts, the self-depreciation visible on his face. The red-clad superheroine feels her heart shatter at the sight. "No!" She yells, leaving Chat Noir stunned by her sudden outburst. "You've been blaming yourself, haven't you? Oh, kitty" Her voice softens as she pulls him into an embrace. Chat noir hugs her back quickly, seeking comfort in her arms as she rubs soothing circles on his back.

"It's NOT your fault," She says, voice muffled by his shoulder. (A/N *Cue our oblivious Ladybug feeling warm and fuzzy in his presence but denying it meant anything more than friendship* Sorry guys, I just don't know how else to describe her feelings 😅) "In fact on the contrary," She pulls back to look at him, "It was mine." She says, diverting her gaze to the floor with shame. "What? How?" The blond asks, confusion written all over his face. "I don't exactly know how you um-, got akumatised. Chat blanc had said something about our love doing this to the world but in the long run, it was a chain reaction caused by a mistake that I made." She replies, her voice laced with guilt.

"What mistake?" He asks, ignoring the love part for now. The bluenette sighs and sits down to recount the whole story, telling him to do the same. "It was around a month ago, I was delivering a gift to my civilian friend as Ladybug which I didn't know at the time but it had caused an accidental reveal." She says, her gaze fixed on her lap while Chat feels dejected that he was left in the dark about something this big. The superheroine tells him how she had run into Bunnix who had asked her if she had done anything abnormal, before taking her through a portal into future Paris. As she recalls to him how Paris had rendered a devastated wasteland, Chat Noir wonders why she had hidden this from him for so long when it was clearly tormenting her, if her expression was any indication.

"Then I saw yo-Chat Blanc sitting at the edge of the building singing to himself." She corrects herself because that was not Chat. There was no way that her partner can be like that. 'There has to be a missing piece that I don't know about' She thinks, stifling a sigh. "And when I called out to him he," She trails off causing the superhero's ears to perk up. "He tried to take my miraculous." She completes much to his horror. "Once I got away, he called with my name. My civilian name."

Seeing a shocked look take place on Chat's face, she asks, "You...didn't see that?" However, when he shakes his head, Ladybug can't help the sigh of relief that escapes her. "What did you see, then?" She asks, confused. "I was on the Eiffel tower. By the time I got to the place you and Chat blanc were fighting, you had called out your Lucky charm." He replies.

"Oh. Was it an eraser?" She asks to be sure that he had actually seen the real incident and not some gruesome nightmare while Chat is processing everything. "Huh? Yeah." He says, snapping out of his thoughts. "Then, you saw what happened?" She asks to which he explains, "From that point on, yes. But I couldn't touch anything so I floating after you in the water."

"So the statue... was of the future Ladybug" he realizes mid-sentence. Ladybug explains that she went back to the past to erase her mistake and consequently the alternate timeline. "Ladybug, I'm so sorry," He says when she's done. "Chat-" He cuts her off, "I destroyed the city we protect! I destroyed you! I-I can't -" His voice breaks, a lump forming in his throat as he stands up to pace. "And if Bunnix hadn't shown up on time, I would've caused an irreversible future." He says ignoring Ladybug's protests, voice just above a whisper.

'It's all my fault. I was supposed to protect her!' He thinks staring at his ring, making a decision. "You deserve someone better as your partner than me. Forgive me Ladybug. Plagg, I renoun-" He starts, but before he could slip his miraculous off entirely Ladybug yells while pushing it back. "NO! Chat listen to me!" She cries out in distress. "None of this is your mistake! It's mine, it's Hawkmoth's, but not yours. Please," She says with a watery expression while clutching his shoulders in a vice-grip.

Eyeing his hesitation, she continues "I don't want anyone else as my partner. I can't do this without you. I won't do this without you." His eyes widen as he grasps the implication. "You can't quit!" He exclaims to which she replies, "You can't either!"

"But, you still want me even after everything I did?" He asks doubtfully, making himself as small as possible under her gaze. At this, she gives him the soft smile that causes his insides to flutter pleasantly and says, "Oh chaton, of course I do! I need you." Chat scans her face for any uncertainties and when he doesn't find any, he doesn't stop the grin that comes to his face.

"I know I don't tell you this often, but I love you kitty" She continues, her smile widening. She sees his cheerful demeanor return as he gasps dramatically, "Finally fall for this dashing cat m'lady?" To his surprise, she doesn't deflect his advances as usual. Instead, she laughs and says "Oh you know what I mean. But seriously Chat, don't ever belittle yourself. We're a team remember? You're just as important as I am."

"Whatever you say bugaboo" He replies and as much as she wants to act like she hates the name, (A/N- Come on, does she really hate the name?😏) she doesn't find it in herself to brush him off. Though she wouldn't admit it to him, she likes his usual humorous; outgoing personality. She had missed their banter in these past two days. "Okay kitty, I should go. Are you going to be fine?"She asks, worry taking over her features. "I'll be purrfectly fine m'lady, don't worry." He replies, grateful for her concern. She shoots him a smile and says, "See you at patrol tomorrow!" as she swings off.

"Love you too" He whispers, smiling to himself as he takes off in the opposite direction.

A/N *spits out coffee* MOM! It's terrible! (I've never tried coffee before)

Anyways, so I realized that I can't write angst but I managed...somehow. That's why I took so long sorry for the delay! I was also busy setting up an Instagram account for miraculous! If you want you can go check it out for the latest news. ➡ . 22/

I'm also planning something for Finding Out, which I will be revealing in the A/N of the next chapter.

Next chapter we'll see what Marinette thinks about being the person Chat loves the most 😏. I'll most probably be updating in a week.

Thanks for reading! Make sure to comment on your theories and have a great day/night!

-Bug out🐞