Chapter Thirteen – The Plan

It's not exactly a secret to those who know Plagg that he doesn't like giving advice, and if he does give advice, it's that no matter what, cheese is the answer. However, only a select few people who truly know Plagg – Tikki, Master Fu, a couple of previous holders, and (not completely, but still a lot more than other's) the princess – also know that, while he doesn't show it as much, his heart is just as full as Tikki's is.

Plagg truly does care for his holders, he's just had far too many bad experiences with losing said holders and being hurt in the process that he has put walls up. Walls known as sarcasm, mischief and his ability to 'only ever love cheese'. Usually those walls stay up. Usually, he's even more irritable then he is being now. Usually, he doesn't have a holder like Adrien.

When Plagg first met Adrien, he thought, Great, another snobby rich kid that's going to boss me around and not give me the camembert I need and deserve. After the first five minutes however, he quickly realised that Adrien was different. Adrien is rich, yes, but he is also kind, curious, and so, so sad.

On top of that, he is also far too eager to please, and in the beginning Plagg milked that as much as he could. It isn't often he has been able to manipulate someone so easily, usually it's the other way around.

Then Plagg met Gabriel.

Gabriel is more Plagg's type; cold, heartless, manipulative. He is the kind of person he was expecting his holder to be. Plagg began wondering just how on earth a kid like Adrien could have possibly come from a man like Gabriel. Apparently, the answer is Adrien's mother, but Plagg is holding off on his verdict of that particular piece of information until he meets her (and he has a feeling that, one day, he will. He's just not about to tell Adrien so; that boy has had enough hurt in his short life; he doesn't need the risk of getting his hopes up only to have them crushed yet again. And if they were crushed by that, Plagg's sure Adrien won't be able to get back up.), especially after meeting Adrien's apparently 'lovely and kind' cousin.

All in all, Plagg cares for his holder, his kitten. He doesn't like seeing him lonely, sad, hurt, disappointed, heartbroken (although the boy really has to learn to stop leaping before he looks). But he doesn't want to go through the pain of bringing his walls down only to lose his kitten.

However, watching him with the princess, seeing the way his eyes light up and feeling his heart beat just a little bit faster from his spot in Adrien's overshirt, and then watching the light dim, his heart beat falter, any possible happiness leave his body the second he's away from her, it makes Plagg's walls come down without his consent.

If Tikki were here, she'd say that he should let them fall completely. She'd say to 'follow his heart' or some nonsense. She'd say something so cheesy (and not the good kind of cheesy) that he'd immediately feel sick to his stomach. Or start crying at all of the pain he's suppressed for so many centuries.

Tikki's not here though. She's where she should be; with her holder, the princess, making sure she doesn't fall off the cliff or sink into that deep, dark hole known as depression. As much as Plagg loves Master Fu, if he could he would curse him with so much bad luck he'd probably by one of the one percent of people that die from sneezing too harshly for dumping such a big, dangerous, life consuming task that is being the guardian on a child. (Seriously, what was he thinking?)

So instead, when he witnesses Adrien breakdown when he thinks Plagg is lost in a food coma, when all the pressure sitting on his young shoulders finally becomes too much for the boy to handle alone, Plagg swallows his pride and does the one thing he swore he would never do again; he lets his walls down. Together they come up with a plan (mostly just Plagg comes up with a plan, because let's face it, Adrien isn't in the right frame of mind to come up with a plan) for how to deal with the situation that has brought this particular breakdown on; his relationship with Kagami, and his realisation that he is completely and utterly in love with the princess.

The plan is quite simple, if only he'd stick to it.

Step One: Don't initiate any romantic interest or contact with Marinette until a, he has figured out what to do with Kagami, b, he has talked to Kagami, and c, he is in the right state of mind. This means he is not to text the princess, talk to the princess (outside of greetings and general conversation), and is absolutely, under no circumstances whatsoever, to visit the princess under the guise of Cat Noir.

This particular part of Step One goes out the window the second he sees Nino's Instagram post of a selfie of him and Marinette, clearly taken in the former's bedroom. Both of their eyes are bloodshot, and Marinette still has a tear running down her cheek, but they're both grinning. The caption 'everyone deserves someone' confuses him, but the relief that being with Nino has seemed to make her at least a little happier makes his heart swell. This is immediately followed by jealously that Nino was able to make her happy instead of him.

So, rather than remain calm and think through his actions, Adrien transforms and Cat Noir bounds across the rooftops to Marinette's house. Luckily (or unluckily, depending how you look at it), Marinette has fallen asleep reading on her bed by the time he gets there, and he finds himself staring down at her through her skylight. Rather than the previous time he visited her without her knowledge – the memory of her standing there in her underwear is still imprinted in the forefront of his brain, no matter how much physics studying and not thinking about flowers and girls he does – this time there is no rush of blood to certain areas, no sudden and unexpected urges he has to suppress. Instead there's only shock.

Her bedside lamp is still on, illuminating her loft bed enough for him to see her clearly through her skylight. He's only seen her sleeping the one time, and then he couldn't really see her face due to her head being on his shoulder. Now, he can see her long, dark eyelashes against her cheeks, her relaxed jaw and slight gap of her lips as she breathes softly. Her hair is still slightly damp from her shower, and it frames her sleeping face in soft curls, brought on by it being air–dried. Her chest rises and falls with each breath, but that's not what catches his attention.

Her sleepshirt has ridden up to just below her breasts, presumably from her moving around in her sleep, and the sight of her ribs and hipbones protruding harshly through her skin, highlighted with shadows cast by the lamp, makes him cry out in horror. The only thing stopping him from breaking into her room and pulling her into a hug is the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. He would rather suffer through modelling with Lila again than wake her up from her much deserved, and much needed, rest.

Instead, he runs across the rooftops until he can barely keep his eyes open, when he collapses onto his bed, releasing his transformation, only so he can toss and turn until the sun is starting to emerge through the early morning clouds, where he finally falls into a fitful sleep, only to be woken an hour later by his alarm. He's still no surer of what to do than he was when he first realised exactly what he was seeing, and even Plagg is at a loss as to what exactly can be done. The only thought that really springs to his mind is, does Tikki know? and if yes, does she know just how bad it is?

There's no time to really dwell on that, however, because Adrien has figured out at least one thing; he knows what to do about Kagami, so Step Two it is.

Step Two is rather simple; explain to Kagami that while he really does like her, he doesn't believe that they work well as a couple, and he wants them to go back to being just friends (Hopefully, Plagg thinks, he'll phrase it in a less blunt way, but that's the gist of the matter). At least, it would've been simple if he'd been able to actually get the words out.

Unfortunately, Adrien is a teenager, and teenagers have crazy hormones, and when you're current girlfriend pushes you down onto your couch, straddles you, pushes their tongue into your mouth, and removes their shirt to reveal their lacy black bralette that leaves next to nothing to the imagination, there is very little else you can think about.

Kagami's lips latch onto his fervorously, her chest pressed flush against his. He's still wearing the jumper he put on this morning, but it's thin enough that he can feel her against him, even through her bralette, and it goes straight to his groin. He tries to keep his hands firmly on her waist or hips or back, but even the smallest movements she makes slowly breakdown his self–restraint. Eventually, she must get annoyed with how slowly he's taking things, because she pulls away from him, pushes his hands under her skirt so they're cupping her tights covered backside, and nudges the back of his neck down, shifting up onto her knees slightly so her breasts are in his direct line of sight.

The look she gives him (not so much filled with the love and admiration that he's used to seeing, but rather lust and mild annoyance that he's not doing something) is enough to spur him forward and he kisses and nibbles down her neck and across her collarbones. Her breathing quickens and deepens, and she arches into his touch, urging him down further. His nose bushes against the soft skin of her breast not covered by the lace and she inhales sharply, pressing even closer to him. He traces the edge of the top of her bralette with soft kisses and light nibbles, his hands shifting only slightly to cup her butt cheeks more firmly over her tights.

He's acting solely on instinct, and the little information he's learnt from overhearing conversations in the school locker room (admittedly, nothing he ever hears is that descriptive, and most of the time he just tries to remember the key words so he can Google their meaning for later so he's not so oblivious and naïve next time), but judging by the slow rotation of her hips against his, it appears to be working.

When she removes her hands from where they're tugging on his hair (to encourage him to keep going or do more or to keep him from moving away, he's not sure, but either way his scalp feels a little sore and he hopes she hasn't pulled any hair out because his hairstylist would not like that), he blinks his eyes open to see what she's doing. She flashes him a coy smile and reaches behind her to undo her bralette, clearly deciding that she's had it on for long enough and they need to make a move on. The realisation of what is about to happen is like a bucket of cold water over him and he reaches out to stop her before she can release the clasps, his thoughts running a thousand miles a second until they land on one thought.

Marinette.

"Wait." He pants the word, trying desperately to catch his breath. "Wait."

"What's wrong?" Kagami drops her hands from behind her back, her bra thankfully remaining in place and firmly clasped closed. "I thought you wanted this."

"I do. I–I did. I . . ." He covers his face with his hands and groans. "Kagami . . ."

"Oh."

The flatness of her tone makes him look back at her. Her face is expressionless, but while her eyes reveal her hurt, they also reveal something else; acceptance. As if she was expecting this. The look she gives him could only be described as cool indifference, although not mean, and he bites his lip nervously. She gets up from his lap, pulls her shirt over her head, adjusts her skirt, and picks up her coat, folding it over her arm. Aside from her kiss–bruised lips and the slight ruffle of her hair, she looks like they hadn't just spent the last half an hour making out on his couch.

"I . . . I'm–" He starts, not really sure what he's going to say besides from 'I'm sorry'.

"You didn't change targets." Kagami cuts him off, oddly calm considering the situation. He thinks again that she must have somehow predicted this conversation would occur at some point, but how would she know that when he wasn't even sure it would?

"I–I tried." He swallows uneasily and drops his head back into his hands, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I really tried."

"I know. But it wasn't enough."

She purses her lips nervously, before she leans down and puts a hand on his shoulder. He looks up at her with tears of self–hatred for hurting her filling his eyes. She gives him a kind, sad smile.

"I'm not holding this against you, Adrien." She shrugs slightly. "Yes, we get along great, we are compatible, but . . ." She shakes her head slightly. "You're my friend. And . . . I think you've always been my friend." She gives his shoulder a slight squeeze and stands up straight, moving back a step so she's not towering over him. She offers him a rare, mirth–filled smirk. "I do have to say, I am going to miss our make out sessions."

He snorts, nodding his agreement. "Yeah. They were pretty great." He smiles up at her.

Her smile turns more pointed, and she waves her hand in a gesture meant to signify what just took place before he opened his mouth. "I think this one takes the cake though." His cheeks flush darkly and she smiles, satisfied. She starts to move towards the door but pauses. "And Adrien?"

"Yeah?" He looks over the back of the couch at her.

Her expression hardens, but her lips lift in a smirk. "If you hurt her, I will kill you." Before he can question exactly who she is referring to (although he does have a faint idea for once), she walks through his bedroom door, shutting it gently behind her.

The sound of it clicking shut is the only sound that fills the room for a while until what he just did catches up with him and he curls up on the couch, barley suppressing his sobs at the realisation that this was the end of his first relationship, and his connection to this incredible girl who so desperately wanted his heart.