Author's note: Hello again. This chapter is extremely short. A bit of a tease. But fear not! I am working on the rest. Thank you for all the great feedback on chapter one! Seriously, I didn't think anyone would really be following this story at all, but I'm glad I was wrong. Enjoy chapter two!

Chapter Two

Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Marinette's mind played on a loop, alternating between the image she had just woken up to, Adrien asleep where Chat Noir had been, and memories of Adrien and Chat—moments when she should have figured it out—moments where his identity should have been obvious. She was so caught up in her surprise that she missed a shot with her yo-yo and plummeted between two buildings, bouncing off the alley walls to break her fall. She hit the ground roughly and found herself sprawled out on the cold asphalt. Rolling onto her back, she lay there a moment. It was a clear morning, and the sunrise was turning the sky a gorgeous golden pink. But she didn't see any of it.

"Holy crap," she said out loud. "He—but he—and he's—" she couldn't' find words.

Chat Noir's civilian identity was Adrien Agreste.

Adrien Agreste.

Adrien Agreste.

Adrien. Agreste was Chat Noir.

Ladybug covered her face in her hands and groaned. It was just too much. She had separated her feelings for them in her mind ages ago—she loved Chat; he was her friend and partner, and she couldn't imagine being Ladybug beside anyone else. But she was in love with Adrien. Especially since in the three years she had known him, she had gotten to know him. She saw that he helped out his charities for more than good publicity. She saw how he relaxed and smiled around his friends, and knew it was 1,000 times brighter than the smile he gave to the cameras. And she saw that deep loneliness in his eyes when no one else was looking. It matched something in her.

Being Ladybug meant making sacrifices. It meant secrecy and falsehood and deceit. Being Ladybug forced Marinette to build up this wall around herself to keep everyone at arms-length, and it was so…exhausting. And it was the real reason she hadn't wanted to approach Adrien and reveal her feelings. Sure, she was terrified he would reject her; yet, she was also terrified that he wouldn't. What if he returned her feelings? If they started dating? He would be one more person to lie to, and one more reason to hide herself deeper in her secrets to protect. And it wasn't like she could just mark him as unattainable and move on; she would have the same problem with anyone else. So, she resigned herself to remain in love with a boy she could never let herself have.

Ladybug heard the early morning bells and groaned again before rising and swinging back into the air. She didn't want people to find her there. Besides, her parents would be upstairs to wake her for breakfast soon. With practiced ease, she swung herself onto her balcony and dropped into her bedroom with a sigh.

"Spots off," she said, standing. Just as the light of her transformation began to fade, she heard a click and whirled around to see Alya sitting in her desk chair, fingers still on the lamp she'd turned on. Her face was inscrutable, with one raised eyebrow.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised."