5 chapters in, and we finally get a one-sided reveal. Sorry if I got your hopes up for anything more lol. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
I've been thinking… is it better to release Shorter chapters sooner, or do you guys like it when I release longer chapters that take longer to make? Let me know what you think!
"I should have known he couldn't ever really like me…" Marinette sadly said, aggressively wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop falling.
"Marinette, it sounds like he was just trying to make it so your parents didn't get the wrong idea." Tikki explained, putting her small hand to Marinette's shoulder sympathetically.
Adrien was startled at hearing another voice up in the room with Marinette.
"Is she on speaker phone with someone or something? I don't recognize that voice …" Adrien worriedly whispered to Plagg.
Plagg bit his lip nervously. He clearly knew it was Tikki that Marinette was talking to, and that she would kill him if he let Adrien find out Marinette's identity this way.
"Kid, I really don't think you should be eavesdropping on Marinette." Plagg stated, pulling Adrien's attention away from the conversation.
"Hold on a minute Plagg, I just want to make sure she didn't tell this person anything." Adrien quickly said, tuning back in.
"-matter if I'm Marinette or if I'm her, he doesn't know me for who I am. I know… me of all people don't have any room to talk for making the same mistake, but it still hurts hearing him admit that he could never see one side of me in the same light that he sees the other."
"Marinette listen to me, Adrien still doesn't know this side of you very well. It's unfair of you to expect him to know any different when he has reason to believe you're two different people!"
"Why would I think Marinette is two different people? What the heck are they talking about?" Adrien questioned. To him, it sounded like absolute crazy talk given the situation, but Marinette definitely wasn't crazy.
Plagg was beginning to get worried that Tikki was going to reveal too much information, assuming she already hadn't... He needed to do something, and fast. He decided to fly out of Adrien's pocket, which went unnoticed by the boy who was transfixed on the conversation.
"I'm sure if you got to know Adrien better as Marinette, he would begin to realize just how similar you are-"
Tikki instinctively stopped talking, and flew into hiding at the sound of Plagg throwing his small body against the hatch to Marinette's room.
"Hello, Adrien?" Marinette called out, trying her best to sound as if she wasn't just crying.
"What the hell Plagg? Why did you do that?" Adrien angrily whispered.
"You have no business eavesdropping on their conversation. You need to go up there and talk to her." Plagg whispered back, meeting the boy's tone with just as much anger behind his words. He gave Adrien a hard scowl before flying back into his chosen's pocket.
Adrien's expression immediately fell as he felt guilty for listening in on her conversation. Marinette would never sabotage him by revealing his identity to anyone, he felt terrible for even thinking such a thing… He just had to trust that Marinette didn't say anything that could reveal his identity.
It didn't make any sense to him what she was talking about, but he was sure it was important enough to Marinette for her to cry over. One thing was for sure, he knew that he had undoubtedly hurt her feelings.
"Yeah, it's me… Can I come in?" He asked. "You know, class starts soon, I really think we ought to get going."
"Yeah just give me one minute here!" She called out.
After a few moments that Marinette took to re-compose herself, she opened up the hatch for him. He was met with Marinette's flushed face and red puffy eyes looking down at him, and he couldn't help but think for just a moment that Marinette even looked pretty right after crying. He stuffed that thought to the back of his mind however, as the two just stared awkwardly at one another for a solid few seconds before Adrien decided to speak up.
"So um, I guess we have a lot to talk about and not a lot of time to talk about it." Adrien said, pulling himself into the room the rest of the way.
Before she could speak, both Adrien and Marinette's phones buzzed. They both curiously looked to one another and pulled out their devices, only to discover an akuma alert had been sent out.
"Never mind about going to class I guess." Marinette said, looking back to Adrien who now wore a strange expression.
"You…" he hesitated, averting his gaze away from Marinette's. "You Know, right?"
"Y-yeah." She said, anxiously looking down at her feet. "I-I've known since yesterday."
A long silence settled between the two as they came to terms with this new turn of events. Adrien was unsure of what to say, but Marinette was absolutely brimming with unspoken words and apologies that had been helplessly swirling around in her mind.
Her next words came out suddenly, startling Adrien with their intensity.
"I-I-I had no right to get mad at you! I should have just accepted that you don't like me that way the first time you told me and I-I" Marinette could feel more tears prickling in the corners of her eyes as she tried to hold them back from falling yet again.
"I was just stupid and have been a bad friend and I completely understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore! I also promise that I won't tell anybody who you are, we can pretend like his never happened and I-"
Marinette stopped talking as she was taken aback by Adrien's sudden burst of laughter. His joyful expression threw Marinette into a loop of confusion.
"W-what?" she questioned, looking at the boy who wore a giant smile on his face.
Without warning or question, Adrien pulled the girl into a warm hug. She was shocked at the sudden contact, but quickly settled into the embrace as she wrapped her arms around Adrien's tall form. Everything felt right about being like this in the moment with the person she loved, and Marinette silently wished it could be this way all the time.
"You're very dear to me Marinette, I could never stop being friends with you because of something like this."
Her grasp tightened against the fabric of his shirt. "Well… then why are you laughing?" Marinette asked while looking up at him.
"Because I was going to apologize to you, but you beat me to it!"
Marinette frowned. "You have nothing to apologize about, I was the one who got upset. You were just telling my parents the truth, that is all."
"No" Adrien said firmly, pulling Marinette away from his body to look her in the eyes. "I knew that you had found out my identity, and I already knew you liked me, but I went ahead and crushed your feelings in a really insensitive way."
"Really Adrien, I shouldn't have-" Marinette started, but was gently shushed by Adrien.
"I know what it is like to feel frustrated when the person you like doesn't like you back. I completely understand how you feel, so you don't have to blame yourself for getting upset."
Marinette's expression softened as the words she previously was going to say fell from her lips. She peered into Adrien's caring eyes with a large blush. "You're so…" She paused, embarrassingly trying to find the right words.
"Handsome?" He grinned.
She rolled her eyes at his Chat-like comment. "Of course you're handsome, that one's a given."
"Oh, than what am I?"
She smiled brightly at him. "Your just so amazing… and I really should tell it to you properly this time- and I know you don't feel the same way back but-" she paused, realizing just how long they had been standing there since the akuma alert was sent out.
"I'll wait to tell you until you get back. Right now, you have an akuma to go catch."
Adrien smiled as they parted from each other. Plagg flew out of Adrien's pocket, looking rather annoyed. It clearly wasn't Marinette's first time seeing plagg, but she tried her best to act shocked when he appeared.
"W-what is-"
"I can explain it later. For now- Plagg, Claws out!" he exclaimed, as the familiar Green magic overtook his body and transformed him into the Parisian super hero and her beloved partner.
Seeing Adrien's Kwami wasn't new, but this… this was a whole different experience. It was strange, but the shear excitement of the situation vibrated through her whole body. She couldn't help but admire how attractive it was to finally see him transform in person. Everything that was beyond her wildest dreams just yesterday, was now happening there in her bedroom and being proven right in front of her eyes.
"I've got a city to save, Princess." Adrien saluted to her and gave his signature cheeky smile before making his way to the hatch of her roof and vaulting out of her room.