It was a long night for Adrien. His mind had bounced all over the place. He thought about Marinette at first. He played back her confession in his mind while a twinge of guilt coursed through him.
Marinette's willingness to help others, the extent she would go to achieve what someone else needed. Her selflessness and positive attitude. Her talent and dedication, never giving up on anything. And she was just so kind to everyone. Even those that weren't so kind to her. These qualities reminded him of his Lady, and thus, why he had dubbed her their "everyday Ladybug".
Then his thoughts drifted to Ladybug again. Would he actually find her? What if he did and then he felt nothing at all for her civilian side? What if his love for her was just the mask?
"No, that's not true." He whispered to himself at 3:16 AM.
You feel something for Marinette though. You always have. And you've always explained it away. The thought rushed to the surface. He took a deep breath and rolled over onto his side. Adrien always denied it because of Ladybug. His loyalty towards her kept him from thinking of another girl that way. But his heart seemed to wander on its own, as much as he tried to hide it.
But I'll hurt her in the future if I find Ladybug, he threw back.
Ladybug's right, though. I need to let go enough to be able to see those around me. And even if I was with Ladybug, now that I know I feel… things for Marinette, would that ever go away, either?
Back and forth he went in his mind as he tossed and turned.
Adrien woke up five hours later, only getting three hours of sleep.
"At least you got some sleep," Plagg offered as he inhaled his morning Camembert.
"Thanks," Adrien grumbled as he rubbed his eyes.
"Do you know what you're going to do at least?"
He grunted as he got out of bed. "I think I do," he smiled.
There were no 'what ifs' playing through his mind anymore. He was going to live for right now like Ladybug told him to. He'd just deal with any consequences of his choice later.
Adrien rushed out of the car, making sure to thank Gorilla first. He waited until his bodyguard drove out of sight before rushing over to Marinette's.
"Adrien! Hello dear," Sabine greeted him.
"Hello Mrs. Cheng, is Marinette here?"
"Yes, she's upstairs. You know her, always sleeping in," she said with a playful shake of her head. "Why don't you run on up?"
"Okay, thank you!"
Sabine watched Adrien run through the door and chuckled. Tom walked in from the back room. "What are you laughing about, dear?"
"I think our daughter may finally have her feelings for Adrien returned today."
Adrien stood at the bottom of the steps in Marinette's kitchen. He glanced up at the trap door but didn't take a step towards it. He rested his hand nervously on the stair railing.
"What are you waiting for? Go up there!" Plagg nudged.
"But that's her room. What if she's asleep? What if me being here makes her uncomfortable?"
"Trust me. It'll end up just fine."
Something about Plagg's tone encouraged him. Not in the usual way which usually steered him into trouble, but he sounded confident. And… relieved?
With a nod, Adrien made his way up the steps and knocked.
"Come in!" he heard Marinette reply.
"Hey Marinette," Adrien stepped in the room.
Marinette's back was facing the door as he came in. She had been collecting her belongings for school into her bag. She stopped at the sound of his voice and sucked in a breath. What was he doing here? Did he figure her out? Does he know now? No, no.
She shook her head to clear it. Impossible. He couldn't know she was Ladybug. She hadn't given him any decent hints.
Did that mean Adrien was here just for her then?
"A-Adrien, hey," she stuttered slightly, "What's up? You've never visited me before school," as Adrien anyway, she added to herself. "Are you okay?"
He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he took a few steps towards her. "I'm fine, I just… had something I wanted to tell you and I didn't want to say it at school."
Marinette's eyebrow quirked with curiosity.
"I wanted to know if you'd like to go out with me sometime?" he laughed anxiously, watching her expression carefully. Her eyes went wide, but she remained still and quiet. Wanting to fill the silence, he decided to get everything that he could say, out, so she'd know where he stood.
"Honestly Marinette, I've always had feelings for you. You've always been very important to me in a way that I've never been able to explain other than with 'just a friend', though that never seemed right either. But I've always loved someone else and her being in my life blinded me from seeing anyone else. I felt guilty towards her when I started to realize that you were more than just a friend to me. Recently, she told me that she wants me to be happy and encouraged me to see other people. So I did some thinking and I've realized that whenever I have something going on with me, whether good or bad, it's always you that I want to reach out and talk to about it, not her. It's always your smile, your happiness that fascinates me and makes me feel happy too in a way that she never has. And then-" he cut off for a moment, taking in her expression that had now softened, but she remained quiet.
"And then I found out that you liked me too and I just couldn't keep it to myself anymore. I had to do something about it…." Her continued silence gave him the impression that she wasn't pleased with anything he was saying at all. He let out an abrupt sigh.
"I probably shouldn't, I probably shouldn't have told you all this, I'm sorry that was so bad of me-" he began walking back towards the door shaking his head, frustrated with himself, when Marinette rushed up and wrapped her arms around his stomach from behind.
Adrien straightened with shock.
Marinette wrapped her arms around him tighter as she leaned her head on his back and closed her eyes. "You found me."
"...What?"
"You found me," she repeated again. "And you like me. That's all I wanted, Kitty."
It took a few moments for it to click. "M'lady? How-?" he cut himself off as a grin spread across his face. "Of course," he chuckled, "it makes so much sense now."
"I'm so sorry Adrien, I could've told you who I was too, but I thought, if we're truly meant to know about each other, then it'd happen when it was supposed to and it just didn't feel right to tell you myself."
"I know, and I shouldn't have revealed my identity at all. It was irresponsible and stupid."
"And if I'm being honest, I never realized you liked Marinette, so when I found out who you are, knowing how you've always loved Ladybug so much...well I guess I just wanted to know that you could love Marinette, too. I really hoped you would."
"Didn't I tell you I would love you, even behind the mask? Silly," he twisted around so he could wrap his arms around her. "I just didn't imagine that I'd love both sides separately."
She laughed and his heart skipped at the sound. "I didn't imagine that I would, either."
"Wait what? M'lady, don't tell me you also had feelings for Chat Noir?" he leaned away so he could get a good look at her face without letting her go.
"Mmm, guilty," she wiggled out of his grip and sat on her chaise. "I told myself I couldn't love Chat Noir, not just because of Adrien, but because a relationship either in costume, or revealing ourselves and date as civilians would be too dangerous. But just like you, without realizing what was happening I started to acknowledge that I felt things for Chat Noir and it was so difficult to have to turn you down and hurt you so many times. You're my best friend, Kitty. Keeping secrets and hurting you is something I never want to do again, I'm so sorry I had to."
"It's alright Princess, I understand. You did what you had to do and now it's worked out, it's fine now."
"So you're not mad?"
Adrien shook his head and sat down next to her. He reached over and took her hand. "I'm not mad at all. Frustrated,definitely. We loved both sides the entire time and did nothing but hurt each other that could've been prevented. But not mad, I could never be mad at you."
Marinette snorted. "I don't believe that for a minute, Chat. Glaciator?"
Adrien blinked. "Frustrated with the situation, m'lady. Never you."
"Uh huh," she side-eyed him and elbowed him in the ribs with a melodic giggle. "If you say so, Adrien."
The sound of her laugh made him feel a bit dazed. He wasn't aware that he had spaced out a little too long, until Marinette's eyes met his. Once they locked on his, she couldn't bring herself to look away, as if nothing else was worth looking at.
Without thinking, he started to lean towards Marinette, his eyes only drifting from hers to focus on her lips. He half expected for her to push him away by the nose, to say "Silly Kitty," and shake her head, being shot down yet again. But she didn't. Instead, she began leaning toward him, too, her eyes beginning to close.
"Marinette! Adrien! You're going to be late for school!" Sabine called up the stairs. The two teenagers jumped and scrambled to their feet.
"We should probably go, my father will be furious if he found out I was late for school, especially when my bodyguard dropped me off so early."
"And I should probably stop this habit of being late to school," she smiled sheepishly.
He laughed as he thought of the times Marinette came into class late. "So, are you ready to let everyone know about us? Or do you want to keep it a secret for now?"
Marinette reached out and took his hand. "No more secrets involving us. At least, no more secrets that aren't to keep our identities safe."
"Oh good, I wasn't sure I'd be able to sit through class everyday trying to pretend. Do you know how we're going to handle Lila and Chloe?"
She picked her bag up off the floor. "Nope, not at all. But you're forgetting, first I have to figure out how to handle my parents and our best friends if we want to make it into class."
"Piece of cake, m'lady. Me and you against the world, right?"
She grinned as she grasped his hand tighter. "Me and you against the world."
