Chapter 3: Internal Struggle Part 2

The akumatized person Ladybug was fighting had the top half of a person and the bottom half of a spider. Beams of light were being shot from the mouth. It was red and black and so huge that Ladybug felt like an ant in its presence. She was dodging shots of light and legs that were coming at her too fast to let her come up with a plan. Where was Cat Noir?

Ladybug suddenly tripped over one of the legs, and before she had time to get up, a light beam was coming toward her. A silver stick flew in front of her face, deflecting the beam back at the spider-like akuma, who dodged it. The next thing she knew, Cat Noir was standing in front of her, offering his hand.

"Need a hand, Milady?" Cat Noir asked, looking down at Ladybug with a smile.

Ladybug returned his smile, took his hand and stood up. "Thanks, Kitty."

"I'll distract her, bugaboo. Do your thing."

Cat Noir ran toward the creature with a shout and diverted her attention away from Ladybug. Ladybug quickly called on her Lucky Charm, and a banana peel fell into her hand. Cat Noir had just been struck with one of the giant legs, and he landed on his back at Ladybug's feet.

"Maybe it's telling us to split," the black suited hero said in a pained voice.

Ladybug shook her head with a smile, then focused on figuring out a plan. Once she figured it out, it didn't take long for the duo to save the day.

"See you next time, Cat Noir," Ladybug said, about to leave.

Before she could leave, she heard Cat Noir call out to her. She turned around and faced his remorseful eyes.

"I was late. If you got hurt, it would've been my fault. I'm sorry." Ladybug's partner looked down after apologizing.

Ladybug could tell her Kitty felt really bad. Her heart lurched seeing him like that. She didn't blame him for anything. She wanted to reassure him and make him feel better. Without thinking, she walked right up to him and hugged him. She could tell he was surprised, but after a moment he hugged her back. Ladybug was comfortable. Something about this hug felt familiar, but she couldn't figure out why.

Ladybug had always considered Cat Noir a great partner and friend, but something changed. At the beginning of their partnership his constant flirting had annoyed her, but she had eventually begun to like it. If she was being honest with herself, she had never been immune to his flirting. She had always had a tiny crush on him, but because her feelings for Adrien were so much stronger, she was able to keep her feelings for Cat Noir in check, until recently. It was becoming more obvious to her how kind, brave, helpful and chivalrous he was.

Ladybug felt so guilty for having feelings for Cat Noir. She felt like she was betraying her feelings for Adrien. Adrien. She was in love with him but also had feelings for another guy? This wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to either boy, but she could no longer deny that she had feelings for both of them. They had a few things in common, actually. Maybe that's why she had feelings for them both. She lost a lot of sleep thinking about all of this.

Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't pull apart until the second beep of their miraculous. After pulling apart, she saw Cat Noir blushing and staring at her, dumbfounded. She smiled shyly, blushed and looked away. Ladybug heard Cat Noir clear his throat and looked back at him.

"Anyway, I'm really sorry for my bad timing," Cat Noir apologized.

"I'd say your timing was purrrfect."

Cat Noir's eyes widened in shock before he cracked up laughing. "Milady just made a cat pun? Could it be that you're finally feline our chemistry?"

Ladybug giggled. "Silly kitty."

"Would you like to stay and watch this beautiful sunset with me?"

Their miraculous beeped again. "Next time, Kitty." She smiled at him and swung away on her yoyo.

Ladybug quickly found a deserted alleyway, detransformed, gave Tikki a cookie from her purse and started walking back to the park where she left Alya.

"What was that about?" Tikki asked from Marinette's purse.

Marinette knew exactly what Tikki was talking about and felt her face heat up. She wouldn't look at her kwami. "That? Pfft! Just a friendly hug. I was just comforting him."

Once Marinette got back to the park, the two best friends hugged each other, relieved that the other was safe. Alya told her that she got the fight on tape, and that's all they talked about until Alya had to leave.

Night had just fallen, but Marinette wasn't ready to go home yet. She texted her parents to let them know she was okay, then laid back on the soft grass, looking up at the stars. She felt so happy and peaceful but couldn't help but think how much better this moment would be with Cat Noir or Adrien to share it with.

"Hi, Marinette!"

Marinette knew that voice, and it gave her butterflies as usual. She sat up and saw him walking towards her and smiled. "Hi, Adrien!"

Once he reached her, he asked, "May I join you?"

"Sure," Marinette grinned, feeling the blush on her cheeks.

Adrien sat down beside her. He was really close, so close that their legs were touching.

"I wanted to watch the sunset, but this is much better," Adrien said while looking up at the stars.

"Why is this better?"

Adrien glanced at Marinette out of the corner of his eye and smiled, face still turned upward. "The company." He winked.

Marinette's heart fluttered in her chest. She just smiled shyly and averted her eyes, feeling her face heat up.

For the next few minutes, the "couple" stayed silent, gazing at the stars. Then, a breeze blew, making Marinette shiver slightly and rub her arms. The next thing she knew, something was being draped around her, and she saw white fabric. She looked over at Adrien who was just sitting back down. She noticed he was no longer wearing his classic white shirt over his t-shirt. He gave her his shirt. On the inside, she was squealing, but on the outside, she just gave him a loving smile.

Adrien caught her smiling at him and rubbed the back of his neck. "You were cold, right?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Marinette could never really keep her eyes off of Adrien, and it got worse after he gave her his shirt, if that's even possible. He knew so much about stars and mostly kept his eyes fixed on the sky, pointing out constellations. This meant that Marinette could look at him all she wanted. He glanced at her occasionally, but when he did, she quickly turned away.

Marinette pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time and frowned. "I have to head home."

Adrien stood up and held out his hand. "I'll walk you."

Marinette took his hand, stood up and the two started walking.

"Hey, Adrien? Can I ask you something random?"

"Go for it," the green-eyed boy responded, still holding her hand.

Marinette bit her lip, nervous. "Have you ever had feelings for two people at the same time?"

Adrien stopped them and looked at Marinette with a confused expression. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well…uhhh." Marinette frantically tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't give her away, while looking at everything except Adrien.

"Do you have that problem?"

Marinette's heart was pounding. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did she ask that? How was she going to get out of this one? She didn't respond.

"You do, don't you?" Adrien smirked.

Marinette was caught. What could she do? She was getting tired of lying, tired of hiding her feelings. Besides, he might like her too. She had noticed a few things that told her so, but she still wasn't sure. If he did reject her, it would definitely hurt, but he wouldn't be mean about it. Plus, she was pretty confident that he would still be her friend. She took a deep breath, gathering courage and started pulling Adrien along.

"You caught me." Marinette said, looking straight ahead, not wanting the boy beside her to see her red and panicked face.

"Yes I have."

"What did you do about it?"

"I wish I could tell you. I'm going through it right now."

Marinette's heart sank a little but not fully. One of those two girls could be her. It was possible. Still not looking at Adrien, she asked, "Does it feel wrong? Do you feel guilty?"

"Very. Do I know them?"

"Yes."

"What are they like?"

Marinette gulped. She was about to tell Adrien how she felt about him. "Well… the first guy is very sweet. He's also very smart, nice to everyone and chivalrous. He's a gentleman. He's also a very good friend."

"And the second guy?"

"That's the problem. He has the same qualities as the first guy except…"

"Except what?"

"He's really flirty."

"I don't know, Marinette, but maybe we can help each other."

"Okay. What are the two girls like?"

"They're pretty similar. That's my problem too. They're both selfless, brave, kind, really smart and kind of klutzy. I consider them both good friends too."

Marinette's heart did a somersault, and her stomach was full of butterflies. Klutzy? She was the klutziest girl that she knew of. They stopped at Marinette's door and faced each other. Adrien let go of her hand, and Marinette instantly missed his warmth.

Marinette looked up at Adrien with a genuine smile. "I don't know, Adrien, but we'll figure it out together."

Adrien smiled. "Together."

Marinette looked down and saw Adrien's shirt still around her. "Oh, your shirt."

"Keep it," Adrien said. "It looks better on you anyway." He winked, Marinette giggled, and Adrien surprised her by quickly kissing her on the cheek and walking away.

Marinette stood there, stunned as she watched Adrien take a few steps away from her, only to stop, look back at her and wave. She waved back, still stunned and watched him until she could no longer see him.

As soon as Marinette woke up, she sent a text to Alya asking her to come over as soon as she was able to. After sending the text, Marinette zoomed down the stairs and wolfed down her breakfast. She also brushed her teeth, got dressed and did her hair in a hurry, wanting to talk to her best friend as soon as she got there. She needed to tell someone about last night, and she needed advice.

At the sound of the doorbell, Marinette flung the door open, saw Alya and dragged her up to her room. Once in the privacy of her room, Marinette let go of Alya's wrist and turned to face her.

"AdrienandIwatchedthestarslastnnightandhegavemehisshirt!" Marinette let out in one breath

"Woah girl," Alya said calmly. "Breathe and slow down."

Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She spoke again, calmer. "Adrien and I watched the stars last night, and he gave me his shirt." She gestured to the white shirt lying on her bed.

Alya squealed. "I need details!"

Marinette proceeded to tell Alya everything, from Adrien surprising her at the park to him kissing her on the cheek. Alya was silent and patient during the whole story, not even interrupting once. The only sign Marinette got that her best friend was listening was the constant smirk on her face.

Once Marinette was finished, Alya grabbed her hands with that smirk still on her face. That smirk turned into a wide grin, and Alya shrieked with excitement. The girls jumped up and down, screaming in celebration.

After calming down, Marinette asked, "What do I do now?"

"Talk to him girl!"

Alya was right. Marinette's love for Adrien was getting stronger but so were her feelings for Cat Noir. She was ninety percent sure they were the same person but still felt some guilt since she wasn't one hundred percent positive. She had to find out for sure. Alya couldn't stay long, so as soon as she left, Marinette put Adrien's shirt on, transformed and left her house.