I wanted to write something fun and cute and heartbreaking all at once. This story is full of short chapters, but as a benefit, I hope to release chapters almost daily.
Disclaimer- Own MLB? Nope.
Two years prior, Chat Noir stood on a Parisian rooftop and gulped.
The cool evening wind didn't seem to compliment his nervously glistening skin. He let out a quick shiver before speaking.
"Ladybug?" he inquired earnestly.
"What's up Kitty?"
The sixteen year old man inhaled, begging the universe, luck, fate, destiny, or deity to protect his wish.
"Bugaboo..."
"Chat, what's up?"
"Promise to not make fun of me?" He entreated his friend.
"Never," she promised.
"I always say that you are the girl for me. And I think you think it's a joke".
A little bit of Marinette crept out as Ladybug fell to the ground.
The hero rose to her aid as he continued his confession.
"And it isn't. I am hopelessly and entirely in love with you," he began, lifting his partner,"not just the suit. I love that you sometimes stumble and fall. I love when you bite your lip after saying something silly, or when you scrunch your face after making a mistake. I love your calmness, and how your mind thinks. I love your kindness, and desire to help others. I love you".
Ladybug felt gravity overcome her jaw.
"Um... Kitty," she offered delicately," I love you too, but not like that. You are my best friend, the boy who can make me laugh when all the other boys make me want to scream... But I will always be your friend!"
She smiled softly, waiting for Chat to recover with a joke. Instead he spoke solemnly.
"I get it... um... Bug, can I have a hug?"
As arms were extended, Chat hugged her and sobbed: not a tear, nor gentle weeping. He cried very much the same way he had when his mother had died.
Ladybug just clutched the vulnerable boy as a stream of dejected agony trickled down her shoulder blade.
"I did this," she thought in anguish," and I can't do a thing to fix it".
Simultaneously the hero in her arms made himself a heartbreaking vow.
"I will never love again".
The following pair of years were tough for both teens. Alya moved to London for an internship with a well known newspaper. Nino was in Japan, promoting his up and coming album.
Adrien had taken on many Gabrielish attributes. He was colder, busier, and had pushed everyone away in his life. Well almost everyone. He had relied on Marinette's friendship more than anything in this time.
One day the pair were sitting on a park bench, the way they sometimes did. Each had one earbud in their ears, listening to a new Jagged Stone song on Adrien's phone.
Adrien slid his hand in Mari's, allowing the words of the music to fill his soul, begging the numbness to remain.
Nothing had been the same since that wretched day. Colours had faded, flavours dulled, and every smile was hollow.
Marinette had watched his downward spiral, and in some strange maternal way it had caused her to love him even more.
She squeezed his hand, knowing that she had to speak now. School would be ending in a month, and after graduation Adrien had told her that he was leaving his hometown to pursue modeling elsewhere.
"I have no reason to stay," he had explained. And so now Marinette knew she had to expose her feelings, if not to give him a reason to stay, at least to provide her with closure.
"Adrien, I love you," slipped out of her lips before she could think.
"That's stupid," he replied tersely.
She looked at her sweet little cinnamon roll in unrestrained shock.
Adrien realised how harsh that sounded, and explained.
"I mean, I'm a poor choice. If I could fall in love with anyone in the world, it would be you... but... I lost my heart in this city, and I don't think hearts grow back".
Marinette listened to the excuse, but refused to accept it.
"It will grow back...Please, take a chance on me?" she begged tearfully.
Suddenly, without even having fallen in love with his friend, his heart was at the fringe of breaking again.
A tiny subconscious part of his mind -the part that still believed in love- spoke in place of his uncertain silence.
"Tell you what, let's make a deal. For the next month I'll be your boyfriend. If I fall in love with you, I'll tell Father I've reconsidered leaving Paris. If not, you need to promise to accept me as your best friend, and know I can't be anything more".
Outwardly he looked doubtful that it would work, but in that tiny corner of hope his brain held, he wished he could learn to love again.
"Ok," Marinette sniffled, squeezing his hand tighter.
They shared the same common realisation.
"This is double or nothing. Two hearts find joy, or the pair find bitter heartbreak".
They had 30 days to heal a broken heart.
I have a rough idea where this is going, but I haven't structured it like the rest of my fictions, so let me know if y'all have ideas, suggestions, or additions to the story.