Hi! Welcome to 'Help Me...'. If you didn't read my profile, then you wouldn't know that this is my first ever fanfic. You also wouldn't know that I ship Maricat, Adrienette and Ladynoir. My plan for this fanfic is mainly Adrienette and Ladynoir, but I might add some Maricat if it makes sense. You may have noticed how I was unsure about the ships. You also may have deduced that I didn't exactly plan this fanfic well. At all. I'm really sorry about that. I just got really excited and jumped right into it. Which may or may not have resulted in the chapter being REALLY scatterbrained. Once again, I'm terribly sorry. Well anyways, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

Emotions

"No…" A voice in his mind whispered.

This was the moment. The moment they declared it. Their first kiss… Kagami leaned in. And this time… Adrien didn't resist.

All of him wanted to… but he couldn't. Quite literally. Kagami's hands were wrapped around her waist. She was oh, so close to him. All she had to do was lean in one more inch.

And she did. Adrien's lips met Kagami's.

His hands dangled loosely by his sides. His eyes open, staring at Kagami's hair. His heart beating fast, but not in the good way. He didn't want it to be true; it couldn't be true… but it was. His lips were touching Kagami's. And there was nothing he could do about it.

His thoughts then struck him. Wasn't this what he wanted? No, Adrien realized, it wasn't. He didn't want to be with Kagami. He didn't love her.

He had hands. Adrien finally seemed to realize it, and he pulled Kagami away from him.

"NO!"

Kagami opened her eyes. And saw Adrien, standing there, no longer kissing her, but with a look of desperation on his face.

"No… I- I'm sorry Kagami… I can't… No we- we're just friends. I was wrong, wrong about this whole thing. Listen, I don't mean to be harsh but… I don't have feelings for you and I never did. I was… scarred… and I did something reckless. I gave it to you… the rose…but I can't. I can't play this game anymore. I'm not in love with you… and that's something I can't change. You're a wonderful girl Kagami… but you're just a friend."

"Wha-" One moment Kagami looked heartbroken; the next she was furious. Rage was radiating off her; bubbling inside her.

"WHAT? Adrien... how could you?! I HATE YOU! YOU'RE A BEAST! You lead me on! You let me love you! You didn't say anything! You even let me kiss you! And now, now you have the guts to say we're just friends… YOU'RE TERRIBLE!"

"No… listen… let me explain… I didn't realize until-"

"I don't want to hear it." With that, Kagami walked off, out of the park and into her car. And it zoomed off into the distance.

"No…" Adrien couldn't hold it in anymore. He stumbled towards a park bench and let it all out. The tears came rolling down. Why? Why couldn't he be happy with what he had? And why was what he wanted… just outside his grasp?

Another one of Marinette's stunning designs was in the process of completion.

This time, it was a dress. A beautiful black one, with traces of emerald green. Marinette had wanted to do something inspired by Cat Noir, but with a twist. And she decided the twist would be elegance.

A lot of adjectives came to her mind when she thought of Cat Noir. None of them were elegance. Elegance was more of her thing; ladybug's thing. Cat Noir's was… anything but. Therefore, Marinette decided to design an elegant black dress, with traces of emerald green.

It was being produced spectacularly; everyone who had any sense of style would agree. While Marinette worked on her dress, Tikki was talking to a particular black kwami on her balcony.

"Listen Plagg… the poor boy is in a terrible state. You have to help him! I know you care about him… I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need to be harsh with him. Any sympathy will have him feeling worse. Help him find clarity. Help him cool down. And make sure he doesn't go and do something reckless, that he'll regret later on… He's been rejected by the love of his life and he's realized he was never in love with the girl he thought he had fallen for. He's going through a lot… just make sure he's ok, alright?"

"'Course, sugarcube. I'll give him all the support I can… but… you know me… I'm not exactly the kwami that likes to give warm hugs… If he needs more than I can give then… Will you be there for him?"

"If he needs me, yes. I don't know him very well, but I hope I can change that. I'd like to meet the boy Marinette fell for."

"Thanks, sugarcube. I really don't know how to do this stuff. But, hey, with your help, I think I might just be able to pull it off!"

"My, oh my! Is plagg being sentimental?" Both kwamis burst into fits of laughter as they said goodbye.

Tikki flew back into Marinette's room and watched her finish her dress. Adrien wasn't the only one who needed emotional support. Marinette was still in the process of making the decision of choosing between Adrien and Luka. The girl was beginning to open her heart to Cat Noir as well. Not to mention balancing being ladybug with everything else!

"Time for patrol, Marinette."

"How could I forget?" Marinette replied, showing an extreme lack of enthusiasm. Battling akumas was becoming harder by the day… and Cat Noir… well, he was off his game. Therefore, Ladybug had to take the burden… and it wasn't doing her well.

It was 12:00 AM. Marinette often stayed up late, designing. At midnight, she went on a patrol of her own. It was proving to be quite useful. A lot of akumas were being created late at night and ladybug spotted all of them.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug patrolled the city for one hour straight and once she decided to go back home, she heard a voice.

"Ah, ladybug! What a pleasure!"

"Ah, Akuma!" Ladybug mimicked the victim. "Couldn't you have shown up earlier? I wasted one hour of my life waiting for one of your kind to appear."

After half an hour of battling the akuma, Ladybug deduced that the victim was an actress who's audition went badly. But Ladybug wasn't troubled by that. She was troubled by how Cat Noir wasn't by her side. It had been half an hour for goodness sakes!

She needed his help for her plans; she was lost without him. Other times, he had been off his game… but not being there completely? Something was wrong.

She had been battling the akuma for 3 hours, when Cat Noir showed up. He made no entry pun, and he didn't wear his usual smirk. Ladybug let it pass for being tired, and allowed herself to assume Cat Noir didn't see the akuma alert on his phone until recently.

All those thoughts were erased when she watched him fight. He was beyond being 'off his game'. He was making beginners mistakes and acting as if he just got his miraculous.

Ladybug was… confused. Cat Noir hadn't been himself for a while, but now she could barely recognize him. In fact, if she didn't know how Cat Noir looked, she would have thought that the boy fighting beside her wasn't the kitty cat she knew.

Was something wrong? Was his civilian self going through something? Perhaps the talk that Tikki and Plagg had on her balcony wasn't a 'catch up session' to talk about how everything was going… Maybe Plagg needed advice on how to help Cat Noir get through whatever he was going through.

Ladybug dearly wanted to help, but she didn't know how she could without having their identities revealed. So, she decided to focus on the task at hand - defeating the akuma.

It took the heroes four hours of struggle to defeat the akuma. It was 6:30 AM. Ladybug wanted to talk to Cat about what happened to him, but school started in an half an hour, and she couldn't afford to be too late.

"Cat…"

"Yes?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine… Goodbye M'la- Ladybug."

With that Cat Noir leaped off into the distance.

"Oh kitty… what's on your mind?"

Adrien walked into the classroom and slumped down on his desk. He gazed at the blackboard, unseeing. Why were girls so complicated? He thought of last night… He let his lady- no, Ladybug - he let Ladybug down. He was trying to get over Ladybug.

He thought about how he was. He hadn't been of help to Ladybug. He had been a nuisance; a burden. This was wrong… it was all wrong. He couldn't let his emotions affect his fighting. He couldn't afford to do anything wrong. One wrong move and it was game over.

"Adrien?"

"Yes, Ms. Bustier?" asked Adrien, bringing his thoughts back to reality.

Ms. Bustier chuckled and said, "We're taking attendance dear."

"Oh… Present!" Adrien was evidently embarrassed.

"Alix?"

"Present!"

"Alya?"

"Present!"

"Chloé?"

"Ugh! Can't you see I'm right here!"

"Ivan?"

"Present!"

The school day continued normally. Adrien struggled to focus on the lessons, but it barely mattered, since he had learned everything already.

At the end of the day, an… exhausted Marinette came up to him. Adrien hadn't realized she tired she was. Some friend he was!

"Are you ok, Adrien?" she asked him, concern etched on her face. "You've been acting… strange today."

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

Marinette's face was still a mask of concern and it warmed his heart. She was so kind…Without thinking about it, he told her about the incident with Kagami.

"Oh Adrien… I'm so sorry… Is there anything I can do?"

"No, no, I'm all good."

"I'm not taking no as an answer. Let's see… how about you come over to my bakery at 5:00? I'll have some passion fruit macaroons ready for you."

"Marinette! I couldn't-"

"Nuh-uh! No 'Marinette's. You're coming." Marinette's look of stubbornness softened. "Come on, let me do something for you! You're my friend!"

"But-"

"I'll take that as a yes!" A cheeky grin was plastered across Marinette's face.

"Thank you, Marinette… You're too kind."

"I'm just doing what any other friend would do. Speaking of other friends… when are you gonna tell them?"

"Dunno… tomorrow, probably…"

"Ok… See you at five!"

"See you!"

"I'm proud of you, Marinette!"

"Thank you, Tikki… I want to make you proud more often. As the new guardian, I need to be able to do whatever I put my mind to. Not stuttering around Adrien is just a baby-step."

"Whatever you say…" Tikki looked skeptical.

"Now, Tikki, I've been thinking… I need some advice about what to do with the other miraculous'. The identities of all the other heroes have been revealed… and I'm wondering what to do about it."

"You want to keep them, don't you?"

"What? No! It would be too dangerous…"

"I mean, if you could keep them, without jeopardizing their… well everything."

"Of course! I chose them for a reason."

"Well, there is a way."

"There is!?"

"Yes. Open the guardian book."

"Ok…" Marinette had found the book lying in the park. She assumed Hawkmoth dropped it. She had been amazed at how fantastically convenient it was.

"Now, turn to page 106."

"HOW TO CHANGE A MIRACULOUS HOLDER'S APPEARANCE!?" Marinette squealed. "This. Is. PERFECT! I just have to brew some of this up and BAM! If the holders' appearances are different, then Hawkmoth will think I've gotten new ones! And I'll tell each of them that they're a special exception and that the other owners have been replaced! Then nobody will know anybody's identity! You're the best, Tikki!"

Tikki flew up to Marinette's cheek and rubbed her head against it as Marinette giggled. It was their 'thing'.

"AHHH! IT'S 4:00 PM ALREADY! I told Adrien to come over at 5:00 AM! I need to make the macarons!"

Adrien steeped out of his car and onto the sidewalk in front of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. The smell of macarons reached his nose and he inhaled deeply. Marinette was absolutely wonderful! He could thank her over and over for inviting him and it wouldn't be enough for him.

He walked in the bakery. Quite a few heads turned his way and he pulled his hoodie further over his head. He hoped he wouldn't be recognized. His method worked and everyone turned away.

He scanned the bakery for Marinette, but couldn't find her. He felt a tap on his shoulder and his heart sunk. He had been recognized. Someone knew Adrien Agreste was in the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

"Nice outfit. I'm guessing it's meant to serve as a disguise," said a cheery voice behind him.

Adrien could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Marinette!" He exclaimed as he turned around.

"Come on! Time for macarons!" Marinette lead him to the kitchen and picked up a plate of passion fruit macarons. They were stacked in pyramid pleasing to the eye. There was chocolate sauce dripping down some of the sides.

"Marinette! You shouldn't have! This is just too much! I can't accept this." Adrien eyed the macarons in shock. He had underestimated Marinette's generosity.

"Well, I'm giving you no choice!" grinned Marinette.

"Ok, how much is it?"

"How much is it? How much is it?! It's exactly 0 euros. Also known as on the house."

"But-"

"No 'but's!"

"I thought it was no 'Marinette's."

"It's both!" laughed Marinette.

"Fine… We'll share it over Ultimate Mega Strike."

"Deal. Come on up to my room."

The duo entered Marinette's room (she had taken down the posters of Adrien) and started playing some intense Mega Strike.

Before they knew it, two hours had passed, a pile of macarons had been finished and Adrien had been beaten by Marinette 50 times, exactly.

"Thank you, Marinette. This really cheered me up."

Marinette smiled at him. That sweet, beautiful smile. Adrien hadn't realized how pretty she was until recently.

"What are friends for? But Adrien… you should talk to Kagami in your next fencing lesson. The worst thing you can possibly do is run away from your problems."

"You're right… Thanks anyways. You're the best." Adrien hugged Marinette tightly and they said their goodbyes.

"Marinette, we need to talk."

"About what, Tikki?"

"Your feelings and mental health."

Marinette had a sickening feeling she knew what this was about.

"You can't avoid it forever! Choose. The clarity will give you peace."

"But-"

"Like you said to Adrien, no 'but's. Think. Who do you really love? Even he doesn't love you back. Who does your heart truly belong to?"

Marinette took a deep breath.

And her voice was barely above a whisper when she answered.

Like I said, this chapter was a bit scatterbrained (like me lol). Don't worry, I'll work on it. Well, I hope you enjoyed it anyways. I will try to update every week. But I can't make any promises. School's hectic and I have a lot of work. But, of course, I will try. That's all for today! Bug out!