Adrien walked to school in a daze.

He had thought about waiting for her to leave and offering to walk her to school, but that was not the right way to go about it and he knew it. He diverted down a secluded alleyway, aiming to clear his head with a quick run before school. He had the time, and he had a lot to work out before he made his move, but with time seemingly not on his side.

He did not expect to come face to face with another raven haired beauty at this time of day. He did not expect her to come crashing into him mid run either, sending them both tumbling. With arms and legs entangled, Ladybug winced while Chat was trying to soothe his bruised behind which had absorbed most of the impact. He cleared his throat as she regained some composure, leaning over him with a hand on either side of his face. Eyes closed, she shook her head with a grimace.

"Sorry Chat, I was-ah-a bit, distracted."

Chat giggled nervously at their compromised position, normally he would have relished this closeness, but today it was more awkward than anything else.

"No problem LB," he shifted from underneath her, as she moved to sit on her rump. Rubbing his nape out of habit, he looked over to the school where some students had started to congregate. He was wondering if Marinette would be making an appearance soon. "You were going quite fast then." He commented as he settled casually beside her.

"I-uh, yeah, I was just clearing my head…" She trailed off, looking in the same direction as him. Ladybug had not wanted to see if Adrien was still at the park. The hero had felt awful after Kagami had arranged the meeting for her to confess to Adrien, and the image of him sitting on the bench afterwards sent a guilty pang through her chest. How could she even contemplate him having any feelings for her though, if Chat was the one she had fallen for. That would not be fair to him if Kagami's suspicions were correct, and the expert fencer had not contacted her since she left the blonde alone.

The polka dotted hero had planned on speaking to Chat that night, but as he was there and there was no time like the present, Ladybug knew to tell him before she lost her nerve. Taking a deep breath she prepared herself.

Chat spoke before she could start.

"Do you ever wish things could just be simple?" The blonde mused aloud, staring at nothing in particular. Ladybug looked sideways at her partner narrowing her eyes in thought. "Do you ever wish that everyone could just be honest, with no secrets or fear of rejection, so that everything could be out in the open?"

Ladybug played with her yo-yo and answered him quietly, "I do."

She recognised his musings as thoughts she had previously thought herself. She had always wanted to tell Adrien how she felt, but part of her was glad she had not now. If it was inevitable for herself and Chat to gravitate and embark in a romantic relationship with each other, then it was clear that she and Adrien were not meant to be anything more than friends.

Although it was not exactly guaranteed, it most definitely happened more often than not. Here she was, finally accepting the hand which had been thrusted upon her by fate. Ladybug had been mulling over his words for a few minutes, and she had failed to realise he was looking at her with a downhearted smile, expecting a reply.

She snapped out of her own mind, "I'm sorry Chat," she smiled, "what did you say?"

Chat smiled somewhat apologetically to her, "I said that I've met someone-"

Ladybug's eyes widened and she held her breath. This was not something she was expecting to hear from her partner in black.

"-and I want to tell them everything. Give her all the information," he looked down to his knees, averting his green gaze from her panicked blue. "I want her to know who I am and how I feel before it's too late."

Ladybug rolled her lips inwards and bit down, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible, his words told her she was too late. He had found someone else. The countless times she had rebuffed him had come back to smack her in the face, and who was she to stop him from being happy? The words he had spoken however, urged her to tell him how she felt.

"Chat," she started but her voice cracked as she continued, "I wa-nted...uh..."

She could not bring herself to do it.

"Does she make you happy?" Her voice was quiet, dread filling her while the seconds seemed to tick by, waiting for his answer.

Chat smiled and nodded before looking to Ladybug. "Happier than I've ever been."

The hero in red blinked back her tears. She was happy for her partner, he deserved to be happy, but that did not stop the sting.

He looked at her properly and could tell she was upset. "Bug, what's the matter?"

"Nothing Chat, It's fine, completely fine, you're fine-it's fine-we're fine-I'm, uh, fine?" She said it so quickly, he did not notice the replayed words from the night before, but he could see the tears forming.

"Come here Bug," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder in a side hug, "why are you upset."

"I'm gonna miss you."

Chat did not quite understand what she meant, but in Ladybug's mind, she was not likely to see him as Marinette if he was successful in his pursuit of this other girl. The thought broke her internally.

"LB I'm still here, you're still my partner, we're an inseparable team," he was rambling, not sure what to make of her reaction. "I'll still be on patrols, I'll never leave you-"

*Beep Beep*

'Saved by the beep.' Marinette felt some relief with her Miraculous sounding out.

'Thought you needed an escape Marinette."

'Thank you Tikki.'

'You okay?' Marinette could imagine a warm tiny embrace from her Kwami, and the thought calmed her.

'I will be.'

"I gotta go-" she stood up abruptly.

"LB-"

She shouted as she ran out of sight, "I'll see you later Chat!"

'Plagg, what just happened?'

'I have no ****ing clue.' The Kwami lied, thankful that this whole mess would soon be over with, 'hopefully.'

'What?'

'Nothing kid.'

Adrien approached the school and his heart dropped into his stomach.

On the steps outside the school stood Marientte, clearly upset with an arm around her shoulders. Luka was talking, but Adrien was not able to make out his exact words with all the noise surrounding him.

She nodded into Luka, and Alya hugged her while she was still being consoled. Nino looked over to see the blonde approaching. Their customary fist bump completed but it lacked its usual enthusiasm.

"What's up with Mari?" Adrien enquired, stretching his neck to peer over as Juleka obscured his view.

Nino's barely visible eyebrows furrowed with worry as he toyed with the peak of his cap. "I'm not quite sure," he sighed, "Luka was here talking to Mari about costumes for the band and next thing we know dudette's crying and no one can get anything out of her." The DJ adjusted his bag on his shoulders and gripped the straps with both hands. "She won't say what's up for some reason."

Adrien pursed his lips. If Luka had been talking to Marinette, and then Marinette was crying, she had most definitely told him how she felt and for some reason Luka had knocked her back. 'That's got to be it!' Adrien surmised.

The blonde quickly made deliberate strides over to the group, with only one thing on his mind.

Thank you for reading, its been mega busy today but I wanted to het this chapter done as it's been in my head all day.

Thank you for the reviews, follows and faves. Not many chapters left for this fic!

Take it easy =)

Lady Rhi X