Uncovered Mask

"I recognized you as soon as I saw you,

As if we've called each other,

The DNA in my blood is telling me,

That it's you who I've been looking for..."

~Chapter Two~

"Plagg, claws ou-"

"A-Adrien?"

Both Adrien and Plagg's eyes widened at the raven-haired girl standing at the doorway. Her eyes turned into those of anger as she slammed the door quickly behind her and locked it. "Or should I say Chat Noir?"

On the outside, one would say she was just angry, but on the inside, she felt a swirl of both emotions and thoughts. She felt angry, confused, nervous, curiosity, and especially shock.

It was him this whole time? I had pushed him away several times... But why didn't he... Should I tell him it's me? Maybe he already knows, because the only way I would know he is Chat Noir is if I knew what kwamis are... Dammit, I spoke too soon, I should have just asked him what his kwami is...

"Marinette, look, I- Please. Don't tell anyone-"

"Wait! How did you know he was Chat Noir?" Plagg, the small kwami creature, flew in front of her face.

His voice disrupted her thoughts and she almost blushed for being dazed in thought. Just what I thought, now his kwami suspects me...

"W-What do you just mean? I just, well, I just guessed." Marinette laughed nervously, scratching the back of her neck.

"But the only way you would know who he was, is if you know what I am, which is a kwami." Adrien raised an eyebrow, intrigued at the answer she would have for them. After a minute, she finally scowled and rolled her eyes.

"That isn't what's important here! The fact of the matter is, how could you be so careless as to transform in an unlocked closet?! Anybody else could've walked in here, you know! Then everybody would know Adrian Agreste is Chat Noir!"

Adrien looked at her, still passive and calm, "What makes me think you're not going to tell anyone?"

Frustrated, and still debating whether to tell him or not, she scoffed and crossed her arms, "Don't you have a villain to get rid of?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Then? Transform."

He blinked, and looked at her confused, "Then get out and guard the door."

"Oh... Right, hehe."

Sighing, she quickly walked out and slammed the door behind her, locking it once again. She stood pondering for a second, and a sudden blush crept to her cheeks as she realized her crush was the one she had been with this whole time, a big flirt, as well as pushing him away. How much more stupid could I get?

A muffled 'Plagg, claws out!' pulled her out of her dazed ponder. She shook her head as the door swung open, revealing Chat Noir, Adrien's alter ego. His lips formed toothy grinned, "Thanks, Marinette. Now get somewhere safe..."

The teenager nodded, mock saluting, and with that he ran off. She glanced around warily, then rushed into the closet, locking it hastily. Tikki flew out of her coin purse quickly, "Marinette, are you okay? I mean, Adrien being-"

"I'm fine, Tikki! Just..." She shook her hand, as if shaking away her momentarily shock, and nodded. "Let's go save Paris."

"Tikki, spots on!" Bright magic flowed, transforming her into the superhero, Ladybug. She rushed out of the closet door, joining Adrien Agreste in battle.

Due to the akuma attack, school had been let out early, sending students home with extra homework. Marinette sighed as she walked home, exhausted. Fighting with Chat Noir had been both distracting and emotionally tiring, not to mention reporters had been bugging afterwards which had just stressed her out even more. The sun had started to set and she was dying to collapse on her bed.

"What a tiring day."

Marinette looked down to see Tikki slightly popped out of her purse, and she nodded in agreement. "Yeah... Tikki... Do you think I should-"

"No! Absolutely not! Marinette, we already talked about this, remember? It isn't safe for either of you, especially with HawkMoth still around. He could target you just for knowing Chat Noir personally..."

She knew what the kwami was saying made sense, but her heart ached for more. Especially knowing that it was him... Surprisingly, knowing he was also Chat made her more comfortable around Adrien, but there is still a twinge of nervousness in her chest at the thought of him. Her heart fluttered, knowing she's kissed Adrien, knowing he's spent almost every day with her, knowing he might actually love her... It meant the world to her. Not being to show her identity was the tricky part.

"Everything is so complicated, Tikki. Adrien trusts me, why can't I trust him? As long as- AHH!"

A black figure had swept her into the air, allowing her to release a loud shriek. She was used to being in the air, but being kidnapped was a whole different story. Marinette struggled against her captor, but it benefited no one when all it was met with was shushes. She had finally managed to deliver a good punch to the napper's face, she felt herself slip from his grasp midair.

"Marinette!"

She turned as she started to fall and screamed when she noticed it was Chat Noir. "Chat!"

Her bright blue eyes met his green ones, both in an urgent panic. Marinette couldn't change into Ladybug in front of Adrien, but she would have to if... Her eyes met the ground zooming in quick, she closed them, about to utter the words to trigger the change.

She felt herself being pulled back, her breath stolen from her with the shock from the force. Rolling together onto a roof, Marinette Dupain-Cheng found her face inches from Adrian Agreste's. For the third time this evening, she felt her breath leave her chest as her eyes gazed intently into the green cat-like orbs that belonged to her superhero partner and her crush. Her cheeks heated, her heartbeat pounded inside her chest, and her eyelids almost fluttered close when he nervously chuckled, "You should probably get off me now..."

His hands had gone clammy when she had ended up on top of him, he had felt as if it was meant to happen. Adrien wasn't as stupid as he looked, he had actually noticed her lips centimeters away from his, and the flutter in her eyes as her heart beat against his, and maybe he should've let it happen but...

But I love Ladybug...

As Marinette pulled away from him, he felt the warmth pull away as well. His heart almost ached.

Adrien stood up, dusting himself off while pondering to himself for a moment. Maybe I could learn to love her... To be honest, things weren't looking well with Ladybug. Marinette was the obvious, better choice. But his heart ached for her... But, he thought to himself, why would Marinette ever like someone like him? She was probably just in the moment...

Marinette rolled over, sitting up and fixing her bangs. His hand appeared in front of her, beckoning as an effort to help her up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything. I just wanted to surprise you."

"It's okay, I mean, no real harm was done." She took his hand, her blush not fading a bit as he helped her to stand. She smiled at him brightly, feigning happiness with sadness evident in her eyes at the fleeting moment.

"I actually wanted to take you home, maybe even spend some time with you, and talk about what you saw earlier..." He smiled wistfully, feeling bad for the lost moment that was at hand. He felt like those people in the movies, the ones who lead others on... How terrible...

The young girl nodded, "You did save me just now, you know?"

"Yeah but, I had just put you in danger before I-"

"Oh come on, I'm trying to toss you a yarn ball here..."

His eyes narrowed playfully, "Was that supposed to be a-"

"Look, just go with it." They both laughed, the terrible pun grazing the tension in the air away. There was a second of silence between the two, before the kitty grinned toothily.

"Well then, let's take you home..."

The two arrived at the bakery's balcony in a mere ten minutes. The laughs during their journey were many, and enjoy the way they did so. Their giggles in the night sky fell upon asleep ears, meeting cold air and bright street lights.

Marinette landed on her balcony gently, Chat hesitantly letting her go, almost as if scared she'd fall from his grasp to the concrete below. "So, you two really didn't know what you guys were doing at first? You just kind of guessed or-"

"Yeah, hahah. Ladybug and I were so clumsy at first, having absolutely no clue..." He smiled genuinely, remembering their first battle together. Ladybug was so afraid and unsure of herself... I remember when she came had come barreling in, saving me from the slam of Stoneheart's hand...

"Sorry, I'm late." Ladybug had hung him upside down on the street pole, sitting above him and looking at him with a serious demeanor.

"Lady, did I ever tell you, you turned my world upside down?" He had grinned cockily while she merely rolled her eyes. He certainly wasn't lying, though.

"Do you really love her?"

"What?" Brought out of his daze, he met her with a confused look on his face.

She smiled gently, "Ladybug? Do you really love her?"

"I-" Chat looked down, hesitating on his answer. His heart said yes, but he still paused. Was he unsure? Was it because Marinette was here? He didn't know. Before, he never would've given it a second thought, so why now?

"It's okay. You don't have to answer." Seeing the genuine confusion in his eyes, she realized that answering a question like that wasn't as easy as it seemed. "I mean, love is a really complicated thing."

"Love..." He nodded, agreeing with her. He turned, boosting himself up on the balcony, ready to leave.

"Wait..." Her voice sounded slightly rasp, thick with emotion. If he loves Ladybug, then he'd never love... Me. "I thought you wanted to hang out and talk."

"Oh... Well," He cursed in his head. Adrien knew he had to entail her with details, besides, she could be a useful ally. "We'll have all day tomorrow. It's a Saturday after all."

Marinette smiled at his back, he was still turned away. "Okay, so you'll come over as Adrie-"

"Yeah... See you tomorrow, Marinette."

"Chat, I-"

Not hearing her words, he leaped off the railing, extending his staff onto the park statue, and then jumping onto the roof over towards the direction of his mansion. She swallowed, If he had heard me, what would I have told him? Does he love her? Would he ever love...

His mind, his heart, they both clashed with each other, confusing his feelings for thoughts and thoughts for feelings as he raced into the night, desperate to sleep and forget all the bad and even the good. He didn't want to be in reality right now...

She retreated inside her room, sighing as she changed into her sleepwear, and turned off the light. She lifted the covers, sinking onto a warm embrace of blanket and bed.

Adrien Agreste sank into his bed, groaning at the pleasure of comfort.

Both green and blue eyes met the ceiling, throats lumped with emotion as a single sentence was uttered in the stillness of the night in unison:

"What do I do now?"

Gotta say, this one really hit the feels deep. I just really wanted to express the seriousness in their world, I mean sometimes it may seem like a simple cheesy cartoon , but the danger is real. And frankly, their lives are freaking complicated. I'm surprised that Adrien doesn't have depression with the life he lives.

Now, even though this one was just a little bit of an empty chapter, it definitely had character development. Chat Noir is debating his feelings, realizing that Ladybug just MIGHT not be such a logical and possible choice. And Marinette is just debating when to really reveal herself, or reveal herself at all. But I'll just say it won't happen anytime soon.

Tell me any errors and etc.! Leave a like on the post and don't forget to comment your support!

ANYWWAYS, I hope you're all excited for the next chapter, because it'll be a fun one!

Asylum 3