I am proud to announce that I finally got my sister to watch ML and now she's just as obsessed as I am.

Day 7 – Letters

Adrien stared at the mostly blank page in front of him. Ladybug had suggested writing a letter to help understand what was happening in his conflicted heart.

"How is writing a letter to her supposed to help my situation? I don't even know if I like her," Chat Noir questioned.

Ladybug shrugged. "I write letters to the boy I like all the time to sort out my feelings. It helps to put them on paper so you can put things into perspective."

He frowned at the memory of her words. Under typical circumstance, whenever Ladybug would mention her love, he'd feel a sharp sting in his chest. But now… The pain was still there, but it was dull, and he found that thinking of Marinette helped to soothe the ache.

Sighing, he tapped his pen on the notepad staring at the 2 words he'd managed to write thus far: Dear Marinette.

How did anyone even write a letter like this? Was he supposed to just let his thoughts flow on the page reflecting his stream of consciousness? Was he supposed to write a poem? Ladybug didn't give him any instructions on the best way to go about this, so he assumed he could do whatever he wanted.

But that was the problem, wasn't it? He had no idea what he wanted. That was why he was sat here, staring at a blank piece of paper his mind and heart flip flopping between two girls.

He threw his pen down on his desk and groaned. "This is hopeless."

"You know you don't have to give it to her, right?" Plagg offered from the bed. "Just write whatever you feel and then throw it away or something."

Adrien considered the kwami's words. It would feel pretty good to get everything he's feeling off his chest and into the open. He picked back up his pen and just let his thoughts flow.

He wrote about her sweet smile, her gentle eyes, her lovely hair. He wrote about the freckles dotting her nose and how he wanted to spend however long it took to count them all. He wrote about her unfailing kindness, her sense of justice, her willingness to stick up for her friends. He wrote about her stammer, her awkwardness, her tardiness and how endearing it all was. She was passionate and peaceful, fierce and forgiving. She was loyal and trusting and hard working and she always had the right idea at the right time. She was clever and cunning and she never used those skills to hurt anyone. She was humble but confident, clumsy but graceful, timid but poised. She was Marinette, his everyday Ladybug.

Looking back at his words, he was struck by the similarities between his Lady and his friend. He had meant the words when he called her that the first time, but now…

He smiled. Ladybug was right, after all. Seeing the words written on the paper made him realize why he had started to have feelings for Marinette in the first place. She reminded him of his ladylove.

He read through his letter several times trying to make sense of everything. He now knew for sure that he had feelings for Marinette and they were incredibly similar, if not mirroring what he felt for Ladybug.

But the answer to that question only brought on more. Not to mention the guilt. How could he be in love with two girls at the same time? Sure they were very much alike, but was it really fair to Marinette? Did he only like Marinette because she reminded him of Ladybug, or did he like Marinette because she was Marinette?

Ladybug had turned him down so many times it didn't seem as though she would ever see him the way he saw her. The possibility of pursuing Marinette made him wonder if he would be considering her a 'second choice' and, while she probably didn't like him back, it wouldn't be fair to her if she did. He would naturally tell her everything, because he wouldn't be able to keep secrets from the girl he loved, so she would think he only pursued her because of their similarities and she would resent him for being considered 'second best' even though she isn't.

Then again…

He had yet to consider another possible explanation for the abundance of similarities between the two girls that seemed to tug his heart in every direction.

What if… What if they were the same person?

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be true. Their eyes held the same ferocity when faced with a challenge. Their bravery and loyalty never failed in their quest to help people in need. Marinette had to be Ladybug, he was sure of it.

But… She couldn't have been Ladybug. He wouldn't be so lucky that his two loves would be one.

He knew she wasn't because Ladybug had entrusted her with the mouse miraculous and he'd witnessed them firsthand standing next to each other. He frowned as he reflected on that day. Even back then, he was so disappointed to discover the two of them, nearly identical, side by side.

Maybe Marinette's cousin was Ladybug. Did Marinette even have family in Paris besides her parents?

Her grandfather lived not too far away. He laughed to himself as he remembered the taste test he was forced into by the two of them. Her bread was by far superior, but he couldn't have admitted that. He was a superhero at the time and superheroes have to be impartial.

"I'm going to get a sign that says 'no more face journeys' and hang it above your bed." Plagg's annoyed voice rang through the room.

Blood ran to Adrien's cheeks. "Sorry, Plagg. I was just—"

"Yeah, yeah. I know what you were 'just'." The kwami made a face. "Why do you think about girls when you could be thinking about cheese?"

Adrien shook his head and checked the time. He'd spent a little too long lost in his thoughts which meant he was going to have to stay up a little later finishing that essay for tomorrow. "That's because girls smell a lot nicer than cheese. Now could you be quiet? I have to do my homework." His words, while snarky in nature, were filled with humor. He loved bickering with Plagg.

Adrien turned back to his desk and regarded his letter. He didn't feel like he should toss it out, but he didn't exactly have a place to hide it either. The maids came through once a day and he was sure Natalie snooped through his things every now and again while he was at school. He didn't have anything against anyone knowing his thoughts, but he knew that everything would go back to his father and he certainly wasn't ready for that conversation with the man. For all Adrien knew, Father would assume he was getting distracted in school and would force him to be homeschooled again. He shuddered remembering the coldness of the mansion during the day.

However, the thought of carrying it with him to school made him nervous as well. What if Marinette saw the letter where he embarrassingly gushed about his crush filling up both sides of the page? What if Nino saw it and thought he was a creepy stalker and told Alya and she told Marinette and Marinette stopped talking to him in fear of encouraging him?

He frowned as he carefully considered his choices eventually deciding on shoving it in the back of his binder. The mere possibility of being taken out of school over shadowed any other terrible scenario.

"Shouldn't you be working, kid?" Plagg laid on the post-its he had arranged in a makeshift bed.

"Yeah, yeah," Adrien grinned. "I'm working."