No.
Everything was happening too fast.
No.
Adrien knew she was Ladybug.
No.
Adrien knew about Chat Blanc.
"NO!"
Marinette stood up abruptly, pushing herself away from the desk, away from Adrien. Her chair fell over behind her and she tried to ignore how Tikki had just exposed herself, or how Adrien had jumped up too, immediately ready to fight whatever had caused her to startle so badly.
"You can't know! You can't know it's me! I can't… I won't go through that again!" Marinette shrieked, backing away from Adrien as if he'd already been akumatized, backing away as if she'd already been akumatized. "I won't do that to you again!"
"Marinette!" Adrien's voice rang out, concern and pain and alarm all melded into one. She shook her head and this time, when the sobs started anew, she couldn't help the torrent of words that came flooding out with them.
"I-It was m-my fault!" She sobbed, backing toward the professor's desk and sinking down to the floor when the back of her legs struck it. Adrien approached her slowly, as if she were a fragile, broken thing, and crouched down in front of her. "I was selfish and I.. and I…" She sobbed harder, and Adrien drew her against him, and oh, it would have been a dream if she hadn't been so lost in her despair.
"I'm right here, Princess. You haven't lost any part of me," he murmured into her hair, which only served to make her cry harder and cling to his overshirt. All pretence of her crush on him vanished with the nickname. This was her partner, her Chaton, and he'd found her even though it could destroy them both.
So… She explained. It wasn't graceful, or easy. There were plenty of times where her words dissolved into incomprehensible sounds of pain, and Adrien just held her against him until she could find her voice again. She didn't know how he could be so patient with her, but then again… When hadn't he been? Adrien was the most patient person in the world, next to Chat Noir… And, as it turned out, they were one and the same.
She leaned into his solid warmth, wondering in a moment of silence just how many times she'd wanted this very thing from him. This closeness, this understanding. How many times she'd dreamt of him holding her just like this, albeit more romantically than her being a crying mess on the floor.
"I'm so sorry, Adrien," She managed finally, curling and uncurling her fingers in his now rumpled and tear-stained overshirt. "I'm so sorry you found out… We… We can never be…"
Adrien sighed, and Marinette shivered as she realized his forehead was on her shoulder. "Just let me think about it for a moment, alright?" He said finally, drawing soothing patterns on her back all the while. "Do you feel better… Now that you've talked about it?"
Kwami bless this boy, he was still worried about her after all this. "I don't know," She answered truthfully. "I.. I don't think I've had a chance to process it properly." She leaned into him again, closing her eyes. "Will you… Um…" She blushed, realizing what she was going to ask, but pushed through it anyway. "Will you visit me tonight, Chaton? To… Talk about this more?"
She heard Adrien's breath hitch at her question and then heard him let it out slowly through his nose. This must be so difficult for him, she thought wearily, knowing his feelings for Ladybug at the very least.
"You know, any other time, I'd have taken that invitation as something else, my Lady," Adrien teased gently, giving her a gentle squeeze. "But yes, I'll be there. Do you.. I mean.. Do you want me to come as me, or…?" Marinette smiled slightly at the absurdity of the question.
"Well, cat's out of the bag now, isn't it?" She mused and smiled when he chuckled at the pun. "Whichever is easier for you. I.. I know your schedule is strict." She blushed, not willing to elaborate on just how well she knew his schedule, even after all this time. Some habits died harder than others.
Adrien nodded and stood, and Marinette nearly whined for the loss of his warmth. He's not yours, Marinette, she chided, even as she took his proffered hand to help her up.
"May I walk you to your next class, my Lady?" He asked softly, not letting her hand go. Marinette sighed, wishing she could say yes. Instead, she squeezed his hand and slipped hers from it, wrapping her arms around herself to keep from doing anything stupid.
"Not… Not right now." She tilted her head toward the door. "We... We might know but nobody else does. It'd be stranger than it already has been if.. If we were suddenly…"
"Closer?" Adrien supplied helpfully, and the tips of Marinette's ears pinked in response, but she nodded. "Fair enough." He sighed, ruffling his hair in a gesture that was undeniably both Adrien and Chat, and then offered her a small, hesitant smile. "Thank you for telling me, Marinette… I know that... You could have simply said no. I hope… I hope I wasn't too forward."
"No more than usual," Marinette replied. "We… Should go before Alya and Nino come barging back in here." Goodness knew that they'd both have enough questions to last the rest of the afternoon. "I'll.. See you later?"
"Yeah," Adrien caught Marinette's hand before she could drift too far away, brushing his lips against her fingers, "See you later."