Chapter 15: Mistakes

Nino is looking for Marinette in a sea of students when he hears faint yelling down another hall. He takes off to find the source.

He rounds the corner to see a door fly open, Marinette sprinting towards the door and Alya following close behind. Marinette stumbles with a sob, "Leave me alone, Alya!"

Nino runs forward and catches Alya before she can continue her pursuit. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Sabrina, comforting a limping Lila, emerge from the same door as Marinette.

He steps away from Alya to see her staring at the ground with her hair partially draping over her face, "What did you do to her?!" He yells.

She turns to face Nino, slowly. She looks at him blankly and when she speaks the words are quiet and slow. "I… don't know." There are tear tracks on her face, but even she doesn't seem to notice.

Nino scoffs, "Can you not see what Lila's doing to you?"

Alya furrows her brows. She looks like she might speak if she ever figures out what to say, but Sabrina answers instead. "Lila isn't doing anything. Marinette is the one who attacked Lila. All because she told everyone the truth."

Nino glares at Sabrina. "I've known Marinette since I was 4 years old and she would never do whatever you're accusing her of. Now if you'll excuse me, I was having a conversation with Alya, not you."

He waits for her to respond, but she just stares at him, her mouth slightly open. He takes a deep breath. "I don't know what's going on with you, because for some reason you've refused to tell me anything. But our friend, who is supposed to be your best friend, just ran out of here with tears and blood running down her face and YOU were chasing her. So I'm going to need an explanation."

She doesn't answer.

"It's not her fault, Nino! Marinette's a monster." Lila calls out to him, feigned desperation in her tone.

"Shut up." He doesn't even look at her.

"Wh-What?"

He huffs and turns to glare at her. "I said, 'shut up'. You may have everyone else fooled, Lila, but I know what you are and you won't get away with what you're doing to Marinette."

"I-I'm not doing anything."

Nino chooses to ignore her and turns back to Alya. "Ever since she came here you've changed. I don't even know who you are anymore."

She blinks. "I'm Alya." She holds her fists over her heart and she continues softly, "I'm your girlfriend."

Tears threaten to roll down his cheeks as he replies, "No. You're not." He walks away before she can respond.

Marinette takes a moment to collect herself before entering her apartment. She takes her other bun down and does her best to brush through her hair with her fingers to make it appear less disheveled. She holds back her tears as she walks and greets her parents but the second she's back in her room, she begins to sob violently. She makes her way to her desk chair and sits down, hugging herself.

After a few moments, Adrien walks up and places a hand on her shoulder. She jerks backwards, not expecting it, and falls out of the chair. He tries to catch her. He manages to grab her hand, but she still finds herself seated on the floor. Instead of pulling her up, he crouches down, intertwining their fingers. She hugs her knees with her free hand and cries into her arm, trying to quiet herself now that she's reminded of his presence. She fails and the hiccuping sobs come fast between short and rattled breaths.

Adrien rests his other arm on her back and rubs it gently. He doesn't ask what's wrong, granting her time to calm down before she even attempts to speak. His heart shatters into tiny pieces at the sight of her and he takes a moment to close his eyes and breathe deeply. He needs to be strong for her.

Unfortunately, the few seconds his eyelids are shut are all it takes for an akuma to flutter in through her window and land on one of her earrings. Adrien opens his eyes to find black and purple smoke where he expects to see Marinette crying.

As the smoke fades, someone else is sitting before him.A crown of black gemstones with a silver crescent moon at the center adorns her head. Her earrings are made of sharp black spikes, deep red liquid pours off of them that looks like blood but he can't tell if it's real or not. Her hair, now much longer and a deep shade of red, is messily draped over a torn gown. A shear veil drapes over her right arm, the other adorned in metal armor that looks almost like dragon scales. On her chest rests a prominent silver charm; the scales of justice. She holds a long jagged sword. As he watches her, purple glowing eyes stare back at him.

She tilts her head down, flashing him a wicked smile as her grip on his hand tightens. He yanks it from her, thankfully not losing his ring in the process.

"What's wrong, Kitty? Afraid I'll expose your secrets?" She lunges at him with her sword and he somersaults out of the way.

"Plagg, claws out!" A green light washes over him and then Chat Noir is standing in his place.

She crosses her arms and looks him up and down. "You call yourself a Superhero? You don't even have the guts to face your father. Ladybug doesn't need you. You're a low grade sidekick at best." The left side of the charm sinks as she speaks.

"Meowch, little lady. That would hurt if I actually believed you." She bares her teeth and tries to lunge at him with the sword, but the scale charm tilts to the right in time with his words and her arm suddenly falls back to her side under the weight of the weapon. She struggles to lift it again and fails.

"I'm nobody's lady." She snarls. The right side of the scale raises up again and she moves to strike him as the sword lightens in her hold.

"Of course not, Princess, but you're not a villain either. Do you really wanna fight your best friend?" He dodges just in time. The scale tilts back to the other side and her arm buckles before dropping again.

She falters, her devilish face instantly turns blank, as a stream of thoughts overpower the akuma's consciousness. Best friend? Images of Alya, Chloe, and Adrien flash in her mind. I lost my best friend, again. This whole Alya situation is Chloe all over again and now I'm fighting Adrien. This always happens to me.I must be the problem. What's wrong with me? No, Chloe and I are friends again. I almost lost Adrien, but that wasn't my fault. It was Hawkmoth's. Adrien hasn't done anything, I don't want to hurt him.

She shakes her head. "No, I won't fight you." The scale doesn't move. With another puff of smoke, Princess Justice becomes Marinette and an akuma flies over her head.

Chat Noir rushes forward and calls out his cataclysm as he grabs it. He looks down at her as relief washes over him. She blinks at him for a moment before the gravity of the situation sets in and tears once again stream down her face. I almost took his miraculous. I almost gave Hawkmoth everything he wants. I can't even explain that to him because I didn't tell him who I am.

Chat Noir smiles and steps closer to her, reaching out a hand to place on her shoulder. "It's okay, Marinette."

She books it out of the room before he can even finish the sentence. She races down the stairs, through the apartment lobby, and out the door. However, she doesn't make it very far down the street before arms wrap around her and she's vaulted onto her balcony.

She steps back and locks her blue eyes with Chat's green ones. "What were you thinking?!" They shout in unison.

Chat sputters as he tries to find the words. "Ugh- Pff- Wha- What was I thinking?" He finally says.

"Yes," She wipes her tears, "You just went out in the street where he could easily find you!"

"That should be the least of your concerns right now! For fucks sake, Mar. You run away from ME after getting akumatized? I'm literally one of the two people in all of Paris who could help you right now." He pauses and she thinks he's done speaking, but he jumps in with another thought before she can reply. "He just sent an akuma after you, who's to say he hasn't already found me?"

"What?" She shakes her head looking down. "No, no, no he can't… I can't…"

Chat's face softens and he rests his forehead on hers, "It's okay. We're going to be okay."

"But what– what if he–"

He pulls her into a tight hug, "It's okay. We don't know that's true and even if it is, I can handle it. But you can't just run off like that."

When she doesn't reply, he holds her even tighter. "What would have happened if he sent another? I would have had to come and save you. You're safer here with me. I have a miraculous and I know how to calm you down when you're upset."

She doesn't argue. While Adrien might not know she has nearly every other miraculous at her disposal, he's still not entirely wrong. "I'm sorry." She breathes into his chest as her arms wrap around him to finally return the embrace.

He kisses the top of her head, "It's okay. Just promise me you won't do that ever again."

Marinette pulls in a shaky breath, "I promise."

He pulls back to look at her and wipes away her tears. "Why did you run away from me?"

"I don't know; I was panicking and I felt guilty about the terrible things I said to you and about getting akumatized in the first place and I-I just… I needed to get away." The tears return before she's done speaking.

His face softens. "It's okay, Mari. I know you didn't mean it. It was all him."

"No," she shakes her head, "You don't get it. I was in my safe space and he still got to me. You were holding my hand! It would have been so easy for me to take your ring. I let my guard down and I almost messed everything up." She steps out of his arms and wraps her own around herself instead.

"That's not true, Marinette. Half the city has been akumatized by now; it's not your fault."

She wants to scream, "I'm not half the city, I'm Ladybug! I don't get to get akumatized like everyone else." But she doesn't. Instead, she sniffles, "I tried to fight you... My safe space isn't safe anymore."

"I disagree. Your room has kind of become my safe space, too, y'know? I still feel plenty safe here." He gestures to the building.

Marinette looks away sheepishly. "That's… That's not what I meant."

"Oh."

Quietly, she explains. "You're my safe space." She freezes after this admission. Chat Noir does as well.

His face melts, an outward reflection of what his insides are doing, into an expression of pure adoration. He notices how pink her cheeks are and suddenly loses the ability to breathe. Maybe Plagg is right. Maybe she does have feelings for me. Could I really be that lucky? The thought causes his mouth to twitch into a smirk.

Marinette feels like a deer in headlights. She wants to run away, but her feet may as well be glued to the ground. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that.

They stare at each other in tense silence until Chat leans towards her. "Well in that case, would you like to come back?"

"Y-yes, please." The panic and utter distress outweigh her nerves.

He detransforms and pulls her into another warm hug and she resumes crying yet again. He strokes her hair for a while and eventually her crying slows. He pulls away to grab her hand and lead her back to her room, Plagg immediately flies off to eat some cheese and hopefully avoid getting blamed for whatever apparently happened to Marinette after he left the school.

The pair sits down on the chaise and Adrien scans her features, trying not to stare at the marks on her face.

"Marinette… What happened at school?" He asks in a hushed voice, as if lowering his volume might help her remain calm. It doesn't. Her body is once again wracked with sobs before she can answer. "Shhh, it's okay. You're okay." He whispers into her ear while rubbing circles into her back. His other hand is laced into her hair, pressing her head into his chest.

"Al-" She chokes on the word, unable to get it out.

"Hey, there's no rush. Take some time to calm down." She nods into his chest and wraps her arms around his neck. Adrien begins taking slow, deep breaths, hoping she will follow his lead. She does.

This time, Marinette waits until her tears have stopped completely and her breathing has returned to normal before attempting to speak. "Alya hates me." She pulls back to look at him, removing her arms from behind his neck. He allows her to create some space between them, but doesn't let go. She fumbles for a moment, unsure what to do with her hands, until she finally decides to rest them on his chest.

"What? I'm sure that's not true. She's your best friend, aside from me, of course." He hopes she'll laugh at his half-joke, but realizes she's a bit too upset for that.

"Sh-she believes Lila. Everybody does." She sniffles.

At the mention of Lila's name, Adrien digs his fingers into the fabric of Marinette's jacket. "Anyone who believes one of her lies are idiots and they don't deserve to be your friend."

"Chloe's the only one on my side."

"And me. You'll always have me."

They stare at each other for a moment before Marinette inhales deeply and begins to speak again. "Okay, I think I can tell you the full story now. You know how Lila tried to convince Alya that I had been cyberbullying her?"

Before Adrien can even nod in response, the door flies open with a loud thwack.

"Nette!" Nino scrambles into the room expecting only to see the crying girl he watched flee from his now ex girlfriend minutes earlier, and instead finds her in the arms of his missing best friend. Tears stream down his face and his confused eyes dart between the green and blue pairs staring back at him. He speaks a bit more quietly as he raises his eyebrows. "Adrien?"

Marinette gapes at Nino for a moment, but quickly jerks her gaze back to Adrien as she pulls her hands off of his chest and balls them into fists at the base of her neck. She tries to stifle the surprised squeak that finds its way to her throat, but realizes she failed when she sees Adrien's smirk. He returns his own arms to his sides and scoots away from her.

Blushing, she turns to look at Nino. Her face pales when she notices the sweat on his forehead and the droplets leaking from his eyes. "What happened?" She hopes that if he answers, they won't have to explain what Adrien's doing there.

Nino blinks away his tears as he stares at Adrien. "Are you… really here?"

Adrien smiles at Nino, but it doesn't reach his eyes. He stands and strides over to him with open arms. His friend only hesitates for a few seconds before wrapping his own arms around him and burying his nose into the blond's neck. "I'm so glad you're okay." Nino manages to get out.

"But you're clearly not." Adrien allows himself to frown now that Nino can't see his expression. He turns to Marinette and tilts his head, urging her to join the hug. She walks over and places a hand on the crying boy's back. He looks up from Adrien's neck and down at Marinette before unhooking his left arm to pull her into the hug.

She quickly joins in. The three of them stand like that, arms locked, for several minutes while Nino cries his feelings out.

"So," Adrien starts as they all begin to pull out of the hug, "it seems like a lot happened while I was away from school."

Marinette offers a weak laugh in response.

Nino's eyes lock on the scars across Marinette's cheek. "I can't believe Alya did that to you."

Adrien follows Nino's gaze and his eyes widen.

Marinette furrows her brow and shakes her head. "Alya didn't do this. Sabrina did."

"Sh-she didn't?" His eyebrows raise and the light fades from his eyes. "Oh no, no, what have I done?"

Adrien places a hand on his shoulder that draws him back to reality as Nino meets his gaze. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

"I broke up with her." His voice is akin to a whisper. "What do I do?" He turns to Marinette pleadingly.

"I-it's going to be okay, Nino." She replies weakly.

He nods shakily before clearing his throat. "I'll tell you guys everything, but I think I need to hear Marinette's side first."

"Good thing she was just about to fill me in." Adrien nods at him.

Marinette swallows hard, "Okay so–"

She spends the next few minutes trying her best to explain, stopping twice to regain her composure after not being able to talk through her tears. Both boys listen while she talks and after the first time she has to stop, Adrien pulls her back into his lap and Nino holds her hand in an attempt to comfort her.

As the story goes on, they both come to the realization of just how bad things had been for Marinette and `Adrien has to resist the urge to transform here and now so he can hunt Lila down and make her regret everything she did.

After she finishes, Nino tells them his side of the story, "-and she wouldn't even answer me. Which is the real problem here! If she would have just told me what was going on, I could've helped her see through Lila's nonsense, but noooo, the most important things going on in her life have to remain secret even from her own boyfriend."

Just like I'm keeping secrets from Adrien… One of the many reasons why he could never love me. I'm a terrible friend. I've been blowing off talking to Alya, too. Maybe that's why she believes Lila. I haven't even given her the chance to hear my side of the story because I was too scared to tell her about Adrien.

She's thankful that she doesn't have to reply when Nino continues. "She even told me she was Rena Rouge for fucks sake but not this?" He freezes after he realizes what he said. "Wait no! Ugh why did I have to say that? Please don't tell Ladybug! She would kill me and I would never get to be Carapace again." His eyes widen and he waves his arms frantically, "Don't tell her that either!"

Adrien and Marinette turn to each other and the second their eyes meet, they both burst into uncontrollable laughter. Everytime they catch their breath for a moment, they lock eyes and it starts back up again. After two minutes straight of obnoxious giggles, Adrien finally lets out a relieved sigh and stops laughing. Marinette, however, continues laughing. Her eyebrows are raised and her eyes are wide, staring at nothing in particular. The sounds escaping her mouth become aggressively more unhinged until she lets out a strained, high-pitched screech. She doesn't know if she's more triggered by any of the words Nino just said or the lingering guilt over the fact that she still has yet to reveal her own identity to Adrien.

He places a hand on her shoulder and looks at her with knitted brows, "Are you okay?" There's a hint of laughter in his voice despite his concerned expression.

Nino stares at the two with his mouth pressed in a thin line. It isn't until Marinette gulps and shakes her head at Adrien that he decides to speak. "I'm extremely lost right now and I feel like I'm gonna need step by step directions on how to get back."

"Sure, sure, I can explain." Adrien shrugs his shoulders.

Marinette frantically snaps her head to look at him. "What? No, y-"

His features are far too nonchalant for what Marinette suspects he's about to say as he looks back at her."Shhh, it's okay, I totally got this." He turns to Nino with a bright smile. "Since we're revealing secrets, I think it's about time-"

Marinette hisses, "What are you doing?!"

He rolls his eyes and gives her a pointed look. "The thing I've been dreaming of this entire week." He turns to Nino again. "I think it's time you learned that Marinette is actually the coolest superhero to ever exist."

She blinks. The room starts to spin. She feels like she might throw up.

Nino's face pales. "M-Marinette is Ladybug?"

Her ears start to ring. She doesn't know where she is. She doesn't know who she is.

Adrien waves his hand dismissively. "Nah, nah. She's way cooler than Ladybug. She's Multimouse! Alya wasn't there to get a picture for the Ladyblog, but she had these big buns in her hair and this jump rope around her waist that looked like a tail! She saved Paris from Kwamibuster with one of the coolest plans ever. She was amazing." His eyes light up and he playfully nudges her with his elbow.

She doesn't know if it's that bit of contact or the word 'Multimouse' that brings her back to reality, but she takes a few seconds to process what he said even after her vision stills.

Nino raises an eyebrow and looks from Marinette to Adrien.

She sucks in a breath to regain her composure and lightly punches Adrien's chest as she buries her head in it. "Oh my god, shut uuupp." She groans. Adrien chuckles.

Nino scrunches his face. "How do you know about that if Alya doesn't?"

"Oh, that?" He waves a dismissive hand. "I'm Chat Noir."

Nino stares at him as his thoughts race, piecing different memories together.

Marinette harruphs, "Adrien Alexandre Antoine Adelard Athanasius Agreste."

"You know my full name?"

"I've Googled you." She says as if it should be obvious before frowning at him. "You shouldn't have told him."

Nino raises his hand. "I'm still here, y'know."

"I know you're worried about me, Marinette, but that's not your call to make. If this whole situation has taught me anything, it's that secrets tear people apart. Besides, I trust Nino. Don't you?"

"Well, I- I mean- You-" She lets out a frustrated sigh. "Of course I do."

"Um… thanks?" Nino frowns aggressively and widens his eyes at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Nino. It's just… Adrien almost died a week ago and I… I don't know."

His eyes snap up to meet Adrien's. "Wait, what?!"

Adrien grimaces. "Yeah… My uhh… My…"

Marinette crosses her arms and huffs, "Garbagriel AKA Big Scary Moth Boy attacked him."

"Dude…" Nino breathes.

Adrien swallows. "Um, yeah… But I'm okay now. Thanks to Marinette… And Ladybug."

Nino nods for a long while as he processes everything. Finally, he looks up. "I think." He lifts a finger, "That we've all had enough trauma for one day. Can we like, chill and play Just Dance or something?"

He grins. "That sounds like a pawsitively furtastic idea."

Nino laughs and shakes his head.

Marinette glares at Adrien. "You just told him so you could make cat puns, didn't you?"

He turns to her, still smiling, and winks. She rolls her eyes.

Nino looks at the pair quizzically, "How long exactly have you two been together without telling us?"

Marinette chews on the inside of her cheek, "A little over a week. Obviously telling people wasn't exactly an option." Adrien chokes on air and his face turns beet red.

Marinette sees Adrien's reaction and her eyes widen, "Oh, you meant– No, we aren't together. Not like that." Her cheeks are now dusted pink but she somehow manages to stay far more composed than Adrien… which isn't saying much seeing as he looks like he has descended into the 7th circle of hell.

Nino cocks an eyebrow."You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, okay yeah we've been spending a lot of time together and cuddling and baking together and stuff, but it's not like we've kissed or anything." Marinette shrugs and nods her head to the side, "Well, actually, we did kiss, once, but that was-"

Nino's voice goes up a few octaves, "You kissed?!"

Adrien is still extremely flustered but he manages to croak out, "As friends."

Nino's eyes widen and his jaw drops, "What the actual fuck is wrong with you two?"

Marinette and Adrien respond at the same time.

"He doesn't like me like that." || "She doesn't like me like that."

Nino face palms and murmurs something to himself, but the only words Marinette can make out are, "So many years," and "Fucking dumbass."

"Soooo…" Adrien laughs awkwardly, "You wanted to play a game?"