Loose interpretation of the prompt. Eh~. But hey, it was hard to fit it in, though it did change from my initial planning.

So late again. I had a rough time trying to write it when I gave myself a chance, and I watched too much anime to do that. I need to stop doing that.

LadyNoir

Adrien felt like he was looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses- and not just because of all the Valentine's decorations.

Last night, seeing Ladybug had simply been amazing. Especially since she said all those things about him… with how kind and caring she thought he was, even despite their limited interactions…

Wait. Adrien paused en route to class. Ladybug had used those exact words to describe her mystery boy. Could he possibly be…?

He knew that hope could probably only lead to his heart getting broken by her, again, but he couldn't quite let it go.

Adrien smiled. He knew it might not be Valentine's day yet, or even the last patrol before it, but he knew what he had to do tonight. It wouldn't be for the first time, but he had to confess to her.

Once he got into the classroom and saw the typical Valentine's cut-out card, Adrien frowned.

He couldn't just dismiss Marinette. He still did like her, still as a bit more than a friend, but he wanted to preserve that friendship regardless.

And, out of anyone, Marinette didn't deserve to get hurt.

He picked up the card, ready for whatever it said.

A long time ago, I gave you a card just like this, but I didn't sign my name then, either. But my feelings still ring as true as that day.

That… wait. That Valentine's card? Adrien knew everything he was getting was from Marinette, but… he'd always hoped that was from Ladybug. He always hoped that his feelings were reciprocated.

Adrien sighed as he sat down. It wasn't that he didn't like Marinette, if anything, it was the opposite. But Ladybug was his first love. He would need that to be killed off first- one last fatal blow, before he could give her a chance.

Marinette wished she could get her cheeks away from the color pink. But she was still just beaming with happiness from seeing Adrien last night.

It might just be admiration for a superhero, but… it felt at least she had a chance.

No, Marinette couldn't gather up the courage to confess at school, in front of witnesses (*cough*Alya*cough*), but she thought she might be able to do it alone.

So, after the bell for lunch rang, she caught his hand.

Adrien looked back, startled, but relaxed when he saw it was her. "Hey, Marinette."

"Hey, Adrien." Marinette smiled at him, still feeling a little flushed and breathless. "I was wondering if…"

Alya had obviously tuned in to their exchange, and was not-so-subtly trying to see what happened.

Whatever. It's not like it would throw a halter in her plans. Marinette pressed on. "…if you would like to meet up tomorrow. You know, hang out?"

Nino heard the words "hang out," and suddenly the conversation was on his radar. "Cool! All four of us could hang out!"
Adrien immediately jumped on board with the idea. "Yeah! I think I have some free time both tomorrow and Sunday! If you guys wouldn't mind meeting up both days, that is."

Marinette grimaced, and gave Nino a look. She knew that Alya had told him about her crush when they had started dating ages ago, and Nino wasn't nearly as oblivious as the love of her life, so he better get it when she said, "Actually, I wanted to talk to Adrien alone."

She watched as Nino's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh. OHHH. I see. Well, Alya and I will just leave-"

"You know what?" Alya- graciously- cut in, knowing full well how Marinette didn't want to have anything accidentally spilled before she spilled her guts herself. "I think that sounds great, Adrien. And afterwards, you and Marinette can stick around for whatever she wants to talk about. Sound good?"

That… actually did.

Even Adrien nodded, though he still looked uneasy. "I guess that's… fine."

Marinette took a deep breath before following her friends out of the classroom.

That was it. Tomorrow was the day. Marinette would tell Adrien how she felt about him.

Besides, what was the worst he could say?

"No."

Chat looked down, clenching his fists. "Why? Why can't you accept my feelings for you?"

"Because of him," Ladybug said. "I can't give up on him. I've decided to confess tomorrow, and I intend to keep our agreement."

He looked away, scoffing. "I'm not asking you to return my feelings. What's so bad about their existence?"

She whipped her head towards him. "I don't want to lead you on or give you false hope, Chat. I still care for you as my friend and my partner. I can't do that to hurt you."

Chat frowned. "You're barely giving me a chance. You'll only accept me if things don't play out the way you want them to."

"Chat, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." He seethed. "I can't keep chasing you on the glimmer of hope that one day you'll return my feelings. Especially since I've realized how I feel about Ma- about my friend."

The look of anguish on her face wasn't helping his resolve. "I'm sorry kitty. I still can't-"

"You still can't." Chat clenched his teeth. The final, fatal blow had been dealt. "I'm sorry, but it's over. My feelings the deal- all of it. I'll remain your friend and partner, but that's all we'll ever be able to be."

He turned away before he could see her expression. This was hard enough as it was. "Goodbye, Ladybug."

Oof. It's over. And if you don't want your heart broken even more, I highly recommend not looking up the prompt for tomorrow, if it's not too late already.

The next chapter will be a long one. All the MariChat ones are, I realized, because I put major plot points in each of them.

Which is a bit of a problem, since I'm also going to be going to my town's annual Chocolate Affair (which is amazing) in the morning and a huge booksale where you can get books for super cheap afterwards. I'll get the best head start I can on it tonight, and I think I'll probably be able to post it tomorrow, but I doubt I'll be able to do the one for Sunday, like I originally planned, as well. Just giving you a heads-up.

Thanks for reading!

I write mostly fluffy love square stuff if you want to check out the rest of my works.

Check out my page to get a link to my AO3, where most of my stuff is posted. I'm slowly cross-posting onto here. and I mess around sometimes on Tumblr at potatoe-knight and too-much-camembert.