Adrien's POV
The door slamming shut behind Alya broke me out of the shell shocked like state I was in.
"Dude, what did you do?"
I turned to Nino, completely shocked. My brain refusing to process his words. If Alya was that angry, it meant Marinette must be in a pretty bad state.
But I mean, I couldn't just have someone tainting Ladybug like that, especially when I knew that she hates liers. Still, I was probably a bit harsh.
Ignoring Nino and quickly rushed out of the classroom, hurriedly following in Alya's footsteps and rushing down the hall to catch up to her.
She was marching with her head high and her auburn hair flying back behind her shoulder, the anger radiated off her in waves.
"Alya!" I said when I was close enough, the words coming out in a pant. She whipped around to face me, pointing an accusatory finger at me.
"What do you want now!" she practically glowered at me.
I shrunk back against her onslaught.
"I just wondered if there was anything I could do to help." I muttered, lowering my head against her furious stare, her skin seemingly glowing with self righteousness.
"Help? Help!" her words were punctuated with jabs to my jest with her finger. "I think you've 'helped' her enough!" She screeched.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt her." I said again, the words ringing empty even to my own ears.
"It's bad enough as it is that you broke her heart, but you could have at least been nice about it!" her gold eyes glimmered with fury.
"I know I get it, I hurt her, but please let me help!' I pleaded, my voice regaining some of it's strength.
"Hurt her? You practically destroyed her!"
I was surprised, destroyed her? I didn't think I had hurt her that badly, but looking into Alya's gaze, where the fury seemed bottomless, I supposed I had.
She looked away from me for a brief moment, before turning back to me.
"If you want to help her, here's my suggestion. Stay away from her." practically growling the last part, she turned and stormed off.
A warm hand placed itself from my shoulder and a whistle followed. I didn't turn around to see Nino staring after Alya with an equally surprised expression on his face.
"What did you do to piss her off that badly?"
Shaking my head I turned around to pack up to head home.
Alya's POV
After confronting Adrien in the school halls, I made a beeline for Marinette's place, my anger, frustration and worry adding fuel to the adrenaline pulsing inside my veins.
I barged my way through the line of customers waiting to be served, walking past the counter and through to the bakery in the back.
Tom, Marinette's Father, looked up from where he was kneading the dough, a surprised expression on his face.
"Alya," he said warmly, if slightly confused, "it's nice to see you."
"Nice to see you to Sir," I said, my voice rushed, "listen, is Marinette home?" I asked, taking note of Tom's confused and slightly worried look, his bushy eyebrows rising and his mustache shifting as his
"Yes she arrived home only ten minutes ago, why?"
"Thank you sir!' I replied, hurrying up to Marinette's room and leaving a very confused Mr. Dupain staring after me.
I was rushing. Paris couldn't afford for ladybug to get akamaized again, and me? I couldn't afford to see my best friend go through that sort of pain all over again. Last time it had nearly broken her, and this time? I don't think Chat Noir would even be enough to break her out of it this time.
I opened the trapdoor, my eyes immediately widening in surprise at the sight of a sniffling swollen eyes Mari sitting in her computer chair with a red blob flying around her fussing.
The two froze upon seeing me. The little red blob's eyes widened with a mortified expression upon her face.
"U-um meow?" the red thing said, ending it more like a question then a statement.
Marinette's snuffles ceased and she looked between me and the red thing like a rabbit caught in a spotlight.
"A-alya!' she exclaimed a little to loudly, "I can explain!"
"It's alright," I responded slowly, the realisation suddenly dawning on me.
"I know you are Ladybug."
Marinette looked horrified by this revelation, rushing over to me and all but yanking me up into her room and slamming the trapdoor shut behind me.
"Shh!" she said, glancing around her as if the walls had ears. "Someone might hear you!"
I laughed and pulled her into a hug, feeling her stiffen in surprise before cautiously returning the hug.
"You poor thing," I cooed, earning an appreciative glance from the red bug, whom I noticed had two little antennae protruding from the top of her head.
Overwhelmed, Marinette immediately dissolved into tears, the sobs wracking her body.
"H-he doesn't love me." she cried into me, fisting her hands into my shirt.
"Shh, shh," I murmured back, "I know."
I maneuvered myself until we were sitting on her chaise and held her until the crying stopped, with only her body trembling.
"How about I go down and get some icecream and we can watch stupid chick flicks all night?" I said, relieved when she nodded softly.
The red thing had disappeared when I came back up with the icecream. Only Marinette sitting on her chaise, blowing her swollen nose with tissues.
I offered her a spoon, before cracking open the lid and pushing play on the movie. Both of us refused to talk about the two huge bombshells that had been dropped on her that day. Adrien rejecting her, and me telling her I knew she was Ladybug, instead, we sat together silently, occasionally making fun of the stupid plot and dumb characters and gauging ourselves on ice cream.
When we had finished three movies, Marinette had fallen into a restless sleep, tossing and turning on the couch. I covered her with a blanket before cleaning up the ice cream and heading home.
Marinette's POV
When Tikki woke me up a few hours after I fell asleep, Alya was gone. I smiled for a moment, remembering how Alya had come in and immediately known what to do. I was really glad that she was my friend. The smile disappeared however when Tikkie opened her mouth.
"Marinette, you still have patrol with Chat Noir tonight." My face twisted into a frown and my eyes brimmed with tears.
"No, no! Don't cry Marinette, you don't have to go if you don't want to! I think it's perfectly acceptable if you don't want to go today!" she said her little voice squeaking worriedly.
"No, I think it's best if I go now. I have to learn to cope with it, and it's better that l get it over now before the next Akuma attack."
Tikki smiled at me proudly, but the smile was infused with worry.
" Only if you're sure Marinette." She said.
"I'm sure," I responded, "Tikki, Spots On!"
With the transformation enclosing me, and Tikki's magic wrapping around me, I took a deep breath before plunging deep into the night, heading off to the usual meeting place with the weight of the world resting upon my shoulders.
Adrien's POV
She was sitting on the edge of the building, her feet dangling below her and her yo-yo still strung on her waist. I smiled when I saw her, taking in how Paris illuminated her figure before approaching, knowing she had heard me.
"Good evening Bugaboo-" I cut myself off as she turned towards me. Something was wrong, her gaze was broken and her eyes were read and puffy, her cheeks flushed and swollen, she had been crying.
"Bugaboo," I said softly, "what's wrong?" sure, she had mistakes in the past, but we all made mistakes, she was still my closest friend and the love of my life.
Her gaze finally focused on me.
"Like you care." she said, though the words lacked venom.
"Bugaboo," I repeated again softly, "whatever it is you can tell me." Something within her seemed to snap at that, and she turned away from me, as if the sight of me standing there physically pained her.
She was silent for a moment before speaking again softly, self loathing lacing her every word.
"I have a good friend." a simple enough start, I thought, before she continued.
"She had her heart shattered today you see. The guy she was confessing to accused her of lying."
"About what?" I asked. Her friend must have been extremely close to her to get this reaction from her.
"About being Ladybug."
"She was lying then, wasn't she, after all, you are Ladybug." I was confused, if shw was lying was was Ladybug so upset.
She shook her head, midnight hair flying around her face.
"That's not the point. The point is, what is so hard to believe about the fact that she might be Ladybug. It's not that I'm prettier then her, I know that's not it. Is it because I'm braver, kinder, smarter or more selfless?" she asked, and I suddenly felt that this conversation was not meant for me, but rather a conversation with herself, so I stayed silent, until she turned her gaze towards me.
"What do you think Chat, am I prettier than her?"
I was taken back.
"I do think you are prettier, kinder, smarter and more selfless than whoever you are talking about. But I guess my opinion is rather biased. I do love you after all." The last part was supposed to be taken as a joke, but as she turned back towards me, her face had darkened, the shadows seeming to cling to her skin.
"Don't lie Chat, you don't love me. Besides you should know better, after all, Ladybug hates liars, doesn't she." she said this self mockingly, as if she was parroting something someone else had said.
I fumed.
"Give me a chance Ladybug, how do you know I don't love you unless you give me a chance!" I practically shouted, the world around us becoming eerily silent.
She stood up, storming towards me until we were practically sharing breath. Her hard crystal eyes staring up at me.
"Give you a chance?" she said softly, dangerously. "Give you a chance?" she said again her voice rising and the fury palpable in it.
"I've already given you a chance, you stupid Cat! And how did you react to that? Oh, let me think... Ladybug hates liars, wasn't it. Well I'm done with lying." she said, grabbing her yo-yo off her hip and and flicking her wrist, the yo-yo flying from her hand and attaching itself to a distant building.
"I don't feel like patrolling anymore." she said softly, the anger seemingly evaporating from her, and when she spoke again, she sounded tired.
"Goodnight Adrien." and with that she flew off into the nigh, a red speck in the distance.
...
Marinette.
Marinette was Ladybug.
How could I claim to love her when all I had done was hurt her. How could I claim to love someone, and vow that I would spot her if i ever met her out of the mask and yet condemn her for lying when she confessed to me.
How could I claim to be a hero? Heroes were supposed to protect, serve and make the world a better place to live in. But as I stared after her I realised I hadn't made Marinette's world a better place to live in.
No, I had destroyed it.
