Author's Note: Special shout out to my editor chloemeredxth on twitter, she always manages to scream each time I send her a chapter to edit and still manages to enjoy this story in its raw form.

Enjoy a useless chapter for just...a shit story. Please help. Ah.

The sun had made its peak through the balcony slider doors. Marinette nearly felt like her skull had split in half, which was likely a result of a hangover.

She was faintly aware of the little black cat purring beside her, and she could certainly smell the sweet aroma of fresh bread.

After living in a bakery for so long, Marinette found it the norm to wake up to such a smell.

It was only in those brief moments of first consciousness when one woke up. She forgot who she was, where she was, or what had happened the night before.

The sick feeling in her stomach only brewed deeper, and it was definitely not from the alcohol she had consumed the night before.

The blunette squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face into the pillows. Had it not been for the drink, Marinette would have been up all night.

Her drunken mind at the time attempted to formulate many different apologies before her words stopped making sense, and everything she conjured ended up as garbled messes, such as placing a pair of underwear on an iPad.

"Shit..." Marinette breathed, slowly sitting up in the bed. She ran her hand through her hair, her head aching with each movement she made. She didn't know how she was going to face Adrien, but she knew for sure that he was incredibly pissed at her for the way she came onto him.

"O-Ow..." she whined, her eyes squeezing shut as the light from the sun had nearly burned her eyes. The black kitten beside her glanced up, her green eyes wide as she blepped. The small mammal cocked her head to the side, watching as Marinette fell back into the bed.

The blunette reached down to tug at her nightgown, covering her legs as she had never felt so small in her life. The kitten jumped off the bed, trotting out of the bedroom casually.

Marinette knew Adrien was awake - she could hear him shuffling down below her, and she wasn't sure if she was mentally ready to go down and apologize for what she tried to do the night before.

Part of her thought it was better to pretend she was asleep for the whole day and wait it out until he had to be somewhere, but she knew that if she did that it would make it awkward for the next time they met.

If she had planned to never speak to him after this was all over, she would be wasting the time she had with him now. Her heart squeezed in her chest and Marinette was almost sure she couldn't breathe. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and rubbed her eyes.

The female groaned, her head throbbing painfully. Marinette wasn't sure how she was going to do her shift at the bar later that night. She rolled her shoulders, carefully standing on her feet. She wasn't sure what Adrien's plans were for the day, but she had every intention to catch him before he left. Even if she was dreading it. It was the adult thing to do.

The blunette hesitantly ventured her way out of the master bedroom. Her chest felt painfully tight as she wandered into the hallway towards the staircase to the first floor. Her heart only began to thump wildly in her chest as she descended them.

The noises down below only grew louder and louder with each step she took.

Marinette tiptoed on to the last step. She poked her head out into the back hall towards the kitchen where she heard Adrien.

The young woman pressed her lips together, her heart sinking to her ass the moment her eyes landed on the back of Adrien's head. The blonde model yawned, wearing a dark t shirt and jeans as he buttered a fresh bagel from the toaster oven. He lay the bagel between his lips as he sealed the butter back up and grabbed the knife to rinse it.

Marinette felt so small. She was almost tempted to spin on her heels and haul ass back up the steps. She just wanted to hide under the blankets like a foolish coward. She had always complained to herself that she wanted to distance herself from Adrien after she returned the ring, but she felt like complete shit when Adrien gave her that distance.

Regarding the circumstances, she couldn't really say that she blamed him for leaving. She had crossed a lot of personal lines that she had no right to even press. She wanted them to separate on good terms. It was so tense yesterday that the separation they did end up concluding, made her sick to her stomach.

Marinette felt as if her legs were about to give out at any moment. He seemed completely oblivious to her presence, but Marinette refused to run away like she always did. Her toes pressed on to the cold tiled floor of the kitchen, her breath growing rigid as she was terrified of his reaction of seeing her again.

She paused, pressing her lips together as she glanced down. She inwardly scolded herself for feeling like such a reprimanded child.

"A-Adrien..." Marinette breathed, her fists clenching at her sides.

The model froze, his brow furrowing as he tossed the knife into the dishwasher. He reached up, pulling the bagel out from between his lips before finally turning to glare at her.

A subtle blush dusted his cheeks as he remembered how he got carried away the night before. He vividly remembered the boner he supported, and he certainly remembered the way she felt against him when she decided to straddle him.

"I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Marinette continued, the silence between the two of them nearly making her sick. "I was drunk. I wasn't thinking. I went against my better judgement. I didn't mean to cross any lines or make you do anything that you didn't want to do." Marinette further elucidated, feeling completely ashamed of what she had coerced that night.

"I promise that it won't happen again..."

Adrien simply gawked at her, the bagel in his hand growing cold at the silence screaming in both of their hearts. He almost wanted her to forget about the night before.

Hell, even he wanted to forget. The blonde wanted to move on from their mistake, but he knew that he couldn't lie about it either.

He had to tell Kagami.

"I... I understand," Adrien replied, his lips pressing together. "I wasn't in my right mind either. I don't really drink and I'm not... experienced in that category, either." The male blushed, worrying that he was digging to much into this.

"But I can't keep this incident away from my girlfriend. I genuinely do love her. I don't want to ruin any of the plans we made together," The blonde reached up to rub the back of his neck, looking away from Marinette who watched him with wide eyes. "I don't want her to think that there's anything transpiring between us or that we even remotely like each other as more than friends. I can't lie to her about it either."

Marinette pressed her lips together, the young woman reached up to run a hand through her hair as she allowed his words to sink in.

"You aren't lying to her about anything. We don't like each other more than friends, and what happened last night was a stupid drunken mistake," Marinette murmured, her chest feeling tight once more.

"If you want... I-I-I'll explain it to her. I'll tell her that you called me by her name so you were thinking of her the whole time. I'll assure her that we aren't anything but friends, and I'll even inform her that after you divorce me, we'll no longer be talking and she can have you fully." The female kept her eyes away from him, her words hitting daggers to both his chest and hers.

"It was my fault, I'll take the blame for this."

Adrien immediately shook his head, a grimace etched onto his features from the ache. He didn't want to be reminded that he was never going to see her again after they divorced. He felt like he was torn between keeping his best friend and the love of his life.

It tore at his heart relentlessly.

"Marinette don't do that." He replied, his voice barely above a whisper. He knew how cruel Kagami could be to Marinette, he had witnessed it himself.

From the way her voice quivered and the way that she stuttered, Adrien was convinced that Marinette was terrified of his girlfriend.

"It wasn't just your fault. I had a part in it too," He replied, his cheeks growing incredibly red as he recalled rutting his hips into hers pretty vividly the night before.

"You... you can't take the blame for this. I will figure something out. Either way, we were both drunk, and it doesn't mean anything to either of us. Just a dumb mistake."

Marinette furrowed her brow, subtly nodding in agreement as he spoke to her.

It meant nothing to either of them.

Just a stupid mistake.

How could words sound right, but feel so wrong?

Marinette glanced back up at him, her face feeling warm as she recalled how vulnerable he was beneath her. The sight scratched such an unusual itch that it almost made Marinette ashamed to even bring it into focus.

Adrien glanced at his watch before he took another bite out of his lukewarm bagel.

"I have to go. I'll see you in a few hours, or tomorrow, or whenever you're finished with whatever plans you have to make."

Marinette sighed, her heart sinking as he was about to leave her alone.

"Okay, so maybe I was wrong," She muttered, crossing her arms tautly against her chest. "Perhaps you are as audacious sober as you are drunk."

Adrien exhaled, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. The male pressed his lips together tightly, successfully stifling a laugh that bubbled to his chest.

"Are you insinuating that I'm some sort of jerk?" He asked, dropping his hand to the side and glancing at her.

Marinette shrugged, quickly glancing away from him as she couldn't find the strength inside of herself to look him in the eye.

"Perhaps... and what if I end my shift too late and I don't see you? What if you return a million hours later and we don't see each other at all? How would you feel knowing that was the last thing you said?" Marinette asked, perking a brow.

Adrien bit his lip, her heart squeezing at how adorably stubborn she was. This woman would surely be the death of him.

"Then, I'll just see you when I see you, Marinette," The male replied, taking another bite of his bagel. "So if I'm out for a million hours, then I guess that means I'll see you in roughly four hundred and sixty seven days."

She furrowed her brow, immediately glancing back at him to shove a look of daggers that would have definitely killed him if looks could kill.

"Fine...then be that way."

Adrien shrugged, a small smile tugging on to his lips.

"I think I've earned the right to be mad at you this time. Weird right? Me? Being mad at you?"

Marinette groaned, about ready to turn around when Adrien reached up to obnoxiously pinch her nose until it was red. The female gasped, her eyes wide as she rubbed her stinging nose. Her lips parted, almost ready to formulate a rebuttal, but paused the moment she saw his face.

He looked troubled. For a brief moment, Marinette saw someone who didn't have many friends, who seemed completely lost with his relationships and seemed completely ignorant to social life, but the most painful look she saw from him was the utter fear.

Marinette knew there was a huge possibility that she could have ruined his relationship with Kagami.

Guilt began to sink into her heart as it was dawning on her, how much this relationship meant to him. She couldn't do this to him anymore.

She needed to step away from him.

Marinette watched him turn his back to her, her eyes lowered to the ground as Adrien excused himself and left out of the back slider doors.

She remained still, her soul nearly feeling like it was about to break. The small black cat mewed with a soft purr, before she began to rub herself on Marinette's ankles. Marinette glanced down at the little kitten just as the kitten looked up at her with wide green eyes.

"Do you think I could make it up to him somehow?" Marinette questioned, turning so that she could plop herself onto her sofa. The black kitten followed her with a trot, before the feline hopped up on to the sofa at her side.

The mammal sat down, her tail waving side to side behind her before eventually settling for a nice paw groom. Marinette glanced at the cat who simply minded her own business as she groomed without a care in the world.

"You're right," Marinette replied to the feline. "I've fucked things up way too much." The kitten simply glanced back at Marinette, her white whiskers flickering forward with a soft purr.

Marinette furrowed her brow, sitting up as an idea popped in her head. She gripped her phone, unlocking the screen and pulling up the internet.

"I don't have much money in my bank account, but I did get my bonus, and with this I may have enough to surprise Adrien with a piano! He said he loved playing as a child, perhaps this would lessen his disappointment in me," Marinette murmured, not even caring for a single second that she was talking to a cat. "I wonder if they could deliver it for me and if they could get it here fast!"

Marinette wasn't sure when Adrien would be returning, but she had hoped it was a heartfelt gift from her to him.

She had been incredibly callous lately and she wanted him to know how sorry she was. The young woman pressed her lips together as she scrolled through her research to locate the shop she had seen on the way home. Her heart skipped a beat, and a small smile made its way on to her features as she was finally able to locate it. She pressed the phone to her ear, feeling incredibly antsy for an answer.

"Steinway." A soft feminine voice emanated from the other line.

Marinette gasped, her brain immediately jumbling up her words before she could even get them out.

"Hi! Yes! Uhm. I was walking by your shop the other day... and... I saw a piano in your window. Is it for sale?" Marinette asked, knowing how expensive the instruments are.

She had a couple hundred grand saved in her savings that she collected since she was in high school, it was meant to cover the expenses for her graduate classes, but Marinette felt that perhaps this was a bit more important. Despite how off the two had been, Marinette wouldn't hesitate to spend a dime for a gift, especially for a special friend like Adrien.

The more Marinette thought about it, the more Marinette recalled all the times Adrien tried to do his best. She remembered when Adrien stepped in when Nick forced his way on her. She remembered how he nursed her hangover the night before. She remembered when he assured her that the photo she sent him was nothing more than a photo and that she wasn't going to change in his eyes.

Marinette recalled them two being awkward when they first met and even not knowing her he chose to sleep on the floor just so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable. They definitely had an off relationship, but she certainly didn't hate him.

"The C-227 is for sale ma'am. We require a down payment before you can pick it up," The woman replied on the other end. "The downpayment is about twenty percent of the entire cost of the instrument."

Marinette blushed, and she glanced down at the kitten who cuddled her way onto the young woman's lap.

"O-Oh. I have to pick it up? It's supposed to be a gift for someone. Is there anyway you could pull some strings? I can pay extra if that's possible. I don't have the equipment or crew to bring it out-"

"We can't pull any strings ma'am," The woman interjected coldly. "We can put a downpayment, but you will have to find reliable transportation of it."

Marinette sighed, her cheeks growing red at the woman's callousness.

"Fine," she deadpanned, her fingers lightly scratching behind the little kitten's ears. "I guess I can at least start a downpayment or a deposit, and I'll figure out what I can do from there." her voice trailed off, her heart sinking as she had to come up with something quick.

"Very well," the woman replied, a brief moment of silence settling between the two before she spoke again. "And what name am I putting on the account?" She asked, her voice displaying anything but joy towards Marinette who was not impressed.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Marinette replied, her eyes widening as she remembered that she had his last name added on to hers. "Agreste-" The female added on awkwardly.

There was an awkward pause on the other line. It lasted so long that Marinette had worried she had lost connection somehow.

"Agreste?" The woman inquired, her voice quivering slightly. "As in... Gabriel Agreste?"

Marinette blushed, glancing down at her kitty once more.

"I... uhm... there's no relation," She explained bashfully. "He's actually my father in law. His son is my husband, the piano is for him." she further elucidated. Marinette waited patiently as the line scuffled a bit. The blunette tapped her fingers impatiently on her knee. It appeared completely unprofessional.

"M-Mrs. Agreste!" The woman breathed on the other line, her voice flustered and bashfully. "I-I'm so sorry! We didn't know it was you!"

Marinette furrowed her brow, rolling her eyes. As if she deserved the shitty service if she were anyone else but Adrien's wife.

"Its fine," Marinette replied. "Can we proceed with the downpayment? I need to figure out how to get the piano here asap before I leave for work."

"Of course, Mrs. Agreste," The woman replied in a bashfully chipper voice. "We'd be more than happy to pull some strings for you- as an apology for less than impressionable service-"

Marinette giggled, glancing down at her kitten and shaking her head. Apparently having his last name meant more than she initially realised.

"Wait, so you two had sex?" Nino asked, his voice dropping to a low whisper so that no one in the restaurant with them would hear them.

Adrien blushed deeply, he wasn't usually the type of person to talk about his sex life, but that was only because he didn't have a sex life. He had no idea what he was doing or what he was going to do.

He was well aware that Nino had some experience but Adrien had no one else to confide in.

Sex talks with his father sounded horrifying, and to have them with Nathalie sounded odd as well. Nino wasn't the number one candidate, but he certainly out beat the others on Adrien's list.

"I- we didn't have sex," Adrien whispered with a blush, the male felt his heart run relentlessly in his chest and he glanced around nervously. "We... we just... got really drunk and like... sort of... dry humped..." the male couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Dude! If Kagami knew she would kill you both!" Nino replied, his eyes wide, in complete disbelief as to what he was hearing himself.

Granted, Nino was secretly thrilled that Adrien was warming up to Marinette, but he couldn't quite deny that he was terrified of Kagami finding out.

"I know that," Adrien sighed, his hands fiddling with the mug in front of him. "I... I don't know how I'm going to tell her. I felt like I cheated. I mean, it feels like I did. The whole thing was a total accident and Marinette is just a friend. Kagami told me that she was willing to move in with me, and I'm not going to start being dishonest with her now."

Nino crossed his arms, nodding at Adrien's explanation with a deadpan expression.

"And I get that," Nino replied, his eyes shifting down to the mug of hot coffee in Adrien's palm. "So my suggestion is to dump Kagami and try to kick it to Marinette. That way you don't have to come clean or lie to anyone."

Adrien groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Nino, I told you already. Marinette and I are just friends. I love my girlfriend. I want to actually grow with her," The blonde reached up and began to tug at his hair. "I don't know how to tell her. I'm scared she's going to leave me, or she'll harass Marinette, or something."

Nino hummed, uncrossing his arms and placing his hand on the table.

"But if you participated in it too, does that mean you liked it? You find Marinette attractive in some way. Unless you were really really really drunk but usually you wouldn't remember that sort of thing."

Adrien blushed, his eyes widening. Him? Attracted to Marinette?

It couldn't be.

Sure, he thought Marinette was beautiful but he wasn't attracted to her sexually... was he?

"No! I mean- I think she's beautiful, but I'm not attracted to her the way that I am with Kagami..." Adrien replied, his brow furrowing. "I mean... I have to be..."

Nino pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing at his friend's obvious confusion.

"Are you sure about that? It really sounds like you're trying to convince yourself more than you are with me."

Adrien closed his eyes, his thumb running along the inside of his top lip.

"I mean, I'd like to say that I was only participating because I am a man... but I noticed that... I struggle to perform with Kagami, whereas with Marinette I was able to get into it without really thinking about it. In fact, I didn't even realise that I had given in. It almost felt too natural."

Nino shook his head, chuckling softly as he grabbed his mug and took a quick drink of his tea.

"Yeah I don't think that has anything to do with you being a man. I'm thinking that you feel comfortable with Marinette more so than Kagami."

Adrien sighed, guilt sinking into his heart. He loved his girlfriend, he really did, but he couldn't help but notice that his relationship with Marinette felt more passionate.

Sure they flipped a lot, but Adrien hadn't had so much fun with someone in such a long time. She was incredibly sweet and open. He connected with her faster than he initially thought, and Adrien found himself completely attached.

She could stab him right in the back and he'd make sure not to bleed on her. He would always run to her somehow. He didn't know what to call it, but Adrien just assumed that they were growing to be close friends. Which is why it broke his soul the moment he learned that she wanted to disappear the moment they divorced.

"What are you saying?" Adrien inquired. "I have been with Kagami for four years," the male reiterated. "If there's anyone that I'm attracted to and comfortable with, its Kagami."

Nino rolled his eyes, smelling the stench of denial off of him. He was such an obdurate fool, he almost wanted to give up

"Four years don't mean shit. It doesn't matter how long you've known someone. Everyone connects with one another at their own pace. Whether you realise it or not, Marinette is your wife. This is a partnership that the entire city of Paris' recognizes you as, and frankly you and Marinette just seem like a better match."

Adrien clenched his jaw, frankly feeling frustrated with his friends insinuation.

"Look," Adrien started. "I don't think you-" the male paused the moment his phone started to ring in his pocket. He remained still, his green eyes glowering at Nino as he hesitated to answer the phone.

"This conversation isn't over-"

Nino nodded with a deadpan expression. He grabbed his mug, and pressed the edge to his lips.

"Mhm, whatever helps you sleep at night." He muttered under his breath.

"Adrien." Nathalie murmured on the other line the moment Adrien pressed his phone to his ear.

"What's up?" Adrien replied, tearing his eyes away from Nino.

"We got the information on Felix that you requested. It's definitely something you might want to see." The female sighed on the other line.

Adrien furrowed his brow as he sat up straight.

"I... I don't have time to go down there right now. Father has me attending a charity event in the city in a couple hours. Do you think you can give me a summary of what you guys found?"

Marinette held on to her chai tea cup tautly as she couldn't be bothered working another night. She had spent all that money as well as some of her savings for that piano as an apology to Adrien.

All of that money was meant to cover her school expenses, which was something she couldn't necessarily fuck with. She knew she had to work her ass off to recover that money.

Apologies were just too damn expensive.

The blunette rubbed her temples as the loud booms of the music rushed into her ears relentlessly the moment she walked into the club. She walked by a group of people, screaming so loud as they were incredibly inebriated, and it pissed Marinette off.

She wondered if she was that annoying when she was drunk. She tucked some hair behind her ear and glanced up just as she approached the bar.

The blunette widened her eyes the moment she spotted Alya behind the counter. Alya was never on time. It was definitely a sight for sore eyes, unless she was the one who was late. The brunette leaned over the counter, a small smile on her face as she spoke to a blue haired male who sat on the other side.

A deep blush covered the young woman's cheeks as she almost had to restrain herself from running over to them. A wide smile tugged on her lips, and her heart leapt at the sight of him.

"Luka-" she breathed, before she rushed over to them.

Adrien yawned, he really just wanted a shower and sleep. He wasn't too surprised to see that Marinette wasn't home when he returned, but he knew that she worked late nights so it wasn't out of the norm.

He'd usually just wake up to her the next morning. The blonde propped his keys on the kitchen island table as he entered his home through the back slider doors. He locked it behind him and ran his hand through his hair.

He had spent the entire charity event thinking about Nino's words. He also couldn't stop thinking about what he learned of his cousin.

He worried that the information he found out about Felix would only break Marinette even more. She had been struggling the last few days, he couldn't do this to her again.

He had felt so conflicted.

He had two secrets to keep.

The secret from Kagami regarding Marientte and the secret from Marinette that regarded Felix.

They were both horrible stories, but Adrien couldn't find the proper words to bring these up to either of them. He sighed, sliding his shoes off as he began to walk towards the back staircase.

Perhaps he could come up with something if he thought about it some more in the shower.

Adrien jumped the moment he heard an odd noise from the room in the back. It almost sounded like a musical instrument that was being banged on obnoxiously.

It nearly scared him into vomiting.

His emerald eyes glanced down as the kitten hopped out of the back room. The small feline yawned, arching its back as she stretched, almost as if she had a really long nap.

"Hey there buddy," Adrien murmured to the purring kitten who trotted up to his legs and began to nuzzle her head on to his shins.

"What were you sleeping on?" The blonde glanced back up in the direction of the room. He didn't remember having put anything in there.

All of Marinette's stuff either went into the extra bedroom upstairs or was set up in their appropriate places throughout the house. He pressed his lips together casually wandering towards the room where he witnessed the cat emerge from where she tried to greet him at the door.

He reached up, running his hand along the walls casually as the kitten turned and began to follow him towards the back room.

"It almost sounded like a-" his voice trailed off the moment he rounded the corner and saw the piano. It wasn't just a simple keyboard, it was a brand new, smooth grand piano. It almost looked like the one that he had in his bedroom when he lived with his father.

"Piano?" Adrien mused, his brow furrowing as he glanced down at the kitten who sat down and began to groom herself.

Adrien was completely at a loss for words. He had probably a million and one questions.

He had suspected that his dad had something to do with it.

The male moved closer to the instrument, his fingertips gliding across the smooth finish in complete awe. The model paused the moment he saw a yellow sticky note attached to the space just above the crisp piano keys.

Adrien furrowed his brow, lifting the sticky note and tugging it off carefully so that he had a better look. He sighed, sitting on the piano bench with an array of unfamiliar emotions.

His green eyes remained fixated on the message written on the paper and he bit his lip. It pretty much denied his initial suspicion that it had anything to do with his father, but all had to do with his Ladybug.

'I'm sorry.

-Ladybug'