"I hate Hawkmoth! He has the worst timing for ruining everything!" Marrinette flopped down through the skylight into her bed.
Tikki floated over her shoulder, and mumbled, "not that there ever really is a 'good' time to terrorize citizens, but yes it certainly wasn't ideal."
"I was so close this time, so close to telling Adrien how I felt," Marinette cried into her cat pillow. "This could have been it Tikki! When will I ever get another chance like that! Everything was going perfect, and then someone gets akumatized!"
"Just tell him the next time you see him! All that matters is that he knows how you feel!" Tikki encouraged her.
"But by the end of the month his father is sending him off with that horrible Lila to London for a weeks to do a new fashion campaign! Weeks Tikki! Poor Adrien alone with Lila for weeks! Oh gosh! What if she actually manages to get her sticky fingers on him?! What if she seduces him?! I needed to tell him how I felt today to have enough time for operation 'Keep Adrien in Paris!" Now my whole schedule is thrown off!" She pointed dejectedly to her oversized calendar breaking down Adrien's schedule with multi-coloured sticky-notes all over it.
"You know..." Tikki shook her head at the chaotic stalker board Marinette had crafted, " ...you could skip right to the part where you just tell Adrien you care about him...that would save some time."
"Marinette lifted her head miserably from her pillow, "if it was that easy I would have done that ages ago! You know me...I get all...'Marinette,' and then I make a fool out of my self more than ever!"
"You are Marinette! The weilder of the Ladybug miraculous! The guardian of Paris! I know you can do it! You are unstoppable!" Tikki yanked on her ponytail, trying to snap her weilder out of her defeatist attitude.
All this merely led to Marinette burrowing into her pillow even further, and letting out a muffled cry of despair. "Now you sound like Chat Noir! Thinking I've got everything under control, and able to deal with all this pressure. Everyone expects me to know what to do, and not screw up...but so often I just make a mess of everything."
Tikki plunked herself down on Marinette's blanket next to her, without a word.
Marinette turned her head to look at Tikki with tears building in the corners of her eyes, and whispered, " I made a mess of things today didn't I."
Tikki patted her arm quietly, and replied, "You were able to capture the akuma in the end, so that part turned out well..."
"...but I snapped at Chat Noir, and pretty much told him he was in my way..." Marinette sat up, and brought her knees up to her chest. "I just couldn't find him when I needed him, called in a few of the other weilders to try to stop the akuma to get back to Adrien, but then the whole thing went sideways. I got caught by that reporter who cornered me about a supposed breakup with Chat Noir, (even though I've told everyone again and again we've never been a couple), then Chat Noir popped in being all flirty with me in front of everyone, and I just flipped."
Tikki didn't look at Marinette, but just nodded quietly to herself.
"I took it out on Chat Noir...even while I was yelling at him I knew he wasn't really the one I was mad at. What is wrong with me?! How can he still keep insisting that he loves someone like me?! The look on his face...man Tikki it just killed me, I felt like I had just slapped a kitten. Now I not only screwed up my love life today, I also hurt one of my best friends."
Again Tikki was quiet.
"So what do I do?" Marinette hugged her knees tighter, and put her head on top of them expectantly.
"I told you before that you need to tell Adrien that you care about him...well that is my advice for Chat Noir too," Tikki replied firmly.
"But that is totally different, I'm in love with Adrien, but with Chat Noir I..." Marinette flailed her arms around.
"Marinette!" Tikki startled her with a commanding presence in contrast to her typical chirpy encouragement (which few individuals, besides Plagg had ever witnessed), "If you truly care for either of them, you have to tell them you care for them, otherwise you will loose them both!"
Marinette's eyes popped open, and her mouth hung there for a moment. Then she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and straightened her shoulders. "You're right Tikki. Next time I see them face to face no more excuses, no more games. I am going to tell each of them exactly how I feel!"
Suddenly there was an alarm that shook them from their conversation, and both Marinette's and Tikki's eyes darted over to the darkened window. An akuma alert!
"Well, it seems you're going to get to tell at least one of them sooner, rather than later," Tikki replied.
"Shit!" Marinette said under her breath. She wasn't sure which she was dreading more, the latest creation of Hawkmoth or facing her Chat Noir after the way they had left things earlier that afternoon...no...she knew... A wayward butterfly she could handle...making things right with Chat Noir that would really take a miracle.
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All of you wonderful readers are the reason I have decided to keep this story going! A special thank you to Liventmenow, KagamiPINKAgreste Deu2Ex and dontgiveahoot for taking the time to write a review and really encourage me to not let this plot bunny fizzle out into a oneshot. Another thank you to all those who choose to favorite or follow this story! I am very excited to share it with you, and I have more chapters underway:) Happy reading!
