The next few hours were the best of Marinette's life. She was so afraid to talk at first, certain she couldn't trust her mouth to cooperate and speak clearly, but eventually she was brave enough to try. Sure enough, she stammered the first few times and got flustered easily, but the more she spoke with Adrien, the easier it got. Soon she found she could speak to him with hardly a problem.

Something seemed to be bothering Adrien, though, and Marinette couldn't tell what. She kept worrying that she was doing something wrong. Was she talking too much? Maybe she wasn't talking enough? Any time she got flustered again, he would flash that beautiful smile at her and all her fears would melt away. By the time they left the theater, she was feeling at ease.

Inevitably, the date had to come to an end eventually. Soon they were pulling up outside her home, but all Marinette wanted was to stay with Adrien. She had spent more time with him than she ever had before, but it still wasn't enough for her. Adrien got out first and held the door open for her.

"Well," Marinette said slowly as she got out of the car, "I should I guess home go… Uh, I mean, I guess I should go home." She started feeling nervous again as the evening drew to a close. Did he have a good time? she wondered, is he going to ask me out again? Is he going to kiss me goodnight?! That last one had her heart pounding hard and she found it hard to breathe.

"Yeah, uh," Adrien looked a bit nervous, "before you do."

"Yes?" Marinette prompted, possibly a bit too eagerly. He gave her a shy smile, then looked and saw his bodyguard watching him impatiently.

"Hold on," Adrien said. He leaned his head into the window of the car and said something to his bodyguard, then pulled out and turned back to Marinette. "Let's go talk in the park for a bit," he said, avoiding making eye contact with her.

"O-ok," Marinette stammered. Her heart was racing faster now. What did he want to say that needed privacy? Or what did he want to do?! He took her hand, almost casually, and led her into the park next to her apartment. She felt giddy at his touch and couldn't help but smile as she walked alongside him. He led her over to the nearest bench and sat down.

"Listen," he started, looking down at the ground, "I… This isn't easy for me."

"It's all right," Marinette tried to sound reassuring, placing a hand on his knee as she did, but she knew she was as nervous as he was. She waited to hear what he had to say with trepidation, not daring to hope to hear what she had waited for so long to hear, but too scared to think he might be saying anything else.

"Well," he started, his hand rubbing at his neck, "I don't think I'm being entirely fair, to either of us." Marinette wasn't sure what that meant. Was that good or bad? She clasped her hands together on her lap, squeezing them as hard as she could to try and steady her nerves.

"Marinette," he said softly, giving her a sideways glance. He wasn't smiling now; he had a strange look on his face. Was that… regret? "I had a really good time tonight," now it was starting to sound better, "and the truth is, I love…"

For the briefest of moments, as Adrien was midsentence, Marinette's heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat. In that one, fleeting moment, waiting to hear what the next word would be, she felt like she would die from joy.

"…spending time with you," he concluded. Marinette managed to breathe again, though her heart was still pounding, so loud she was certain Adrien could hear it. She tried opening her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. With growing anxiety, she waited to hear what else he had to say.

"Listen," he went on, looking down again and avoiding her gaze, "I don't want to play around with your feelings, it would be the same as lying to you."

No, Marinette started to panic, oh no, I don't like where this is going now!

"I don't want to do that," he continued, "You're a really good friend, Marinette, and I'd never want to lie to a friend."

"What…" Marinette managed to gasp out, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes, "What are you… trying to say?" She was shaking now, feeling her world starting to crash down around her, desperately hoping for some thread to cling to so she wouldn't crash with it.

"I'm…" Adrien hesitated, "I'm in love with someone else."

Everything seemed to go well after that, at least at first. Marinette was a fun person to spend time with. Adrien had already known how smart she was, and how kind, and she was also really talented, and funny, but all those qualities took on new meaning as he spent time with her. Her somewhat endearing clumsiness and awkward stammering even seemed to vanish as the evening carried on. Soon she was talking freely with him, and she wasn't too nervous to make eye contact anymore.

Adrien was really starting to enjoy himself. Maybe this is right, he told himself, Marinette is a great girl; why should I keep chasing Ladybug when I have Marinette right here? He had to tell himself that a lot that evening, and it distracted him, but he felt he was starting to believe it.

That is, until he tried looking into Marinette's eyes, those deep, bright, blue eyes. For a brief moment he gazed into them, lost in her beauty, before looking away, feeling embarrassed. He wasn't embarrassed for looking at her like that, but because he realized she wasn't the one he was thinking of when he did. Seeing those beautiful, blue eyes, suddenly the only girl he could see was Ladybug.

After that, he couldn't get Ladybug out of his head anymore, and suddenly he found himself comparing her to Marinette, imagining he were on a date with his lady instead of her. He knew it wasn't really fair of him, and he knew he should try to put her from his mind, at least for tonight, but he just couldn't anymore. Anytime he looked at Marinette, or heard her voice, or touched her hand, all he could think of was sharing these moments with Ladybug. He tried to cover it up, but internally he was wracked with guilt.

On the drive home, as Marinette was speaking more comfortably with him, he was trying to make up his mind. He thought he could move on from Ladybug, and that maybe Marinette was the right girl, but now he found that he couldn't. He had to tell Marinette; it wasn't fair of him to lead her on when he wasn't ready after all. He thought he was, he thought he even wanted it, but he clearly wasn't.

Finally, the car pulled up in front of the bakery. Adrien got out and held the door open for Marinette, trying to think of how he should tell her. He felt like a total jerk for what he was about to do, but better to do it now and tell the truth than to lead her on.

"Well," Marinette said slowly as she climbed out of the car, "I should I guess home go… Uh, I mean, I guess I should go home." Adrien couldn't help but smirk at her returning stammer. She must be getting nervous, again, he told himself. For a moment, he thought maybe he shouldn't tell her, not yet, but then he knew he had to.

"Yeah, uh," Adrien said awkwardly, "before you do."

"Yes?" Marinette absent-mindedly stepped closer to him, her eyes, her blue, Ladybug-like eyes, looked expectantly at him. He tried to smile at her, then looked away as he thought about how to tell her. He saw the gorilla watching him impatiently from the car with the window rolled down. He couldn't do this with someone watching, they needed more privacy.

"Hold on," he said to Marinette, then he turned to lean his head into the window of the car and said to the gorilla, "We're going to go sit in the park for a minute, we'll be right back." The usual acknowledging grunt was the only response he got, which Adrien took as permission.

"Let's go talk in the park for a bit," he said to Marinette, half-turning toward her, but avoiding her eyes. He couldn't look her in the eye anymore.

"O-ok," Marinette stammered. She sounded nervous. Adrien could hardly imagine what she might be thinking, he just knew he had to get this over with as quickly as possible. He took her hand, hardly even thinking what he was doing, as he headed into the park. Her hand was shaking, and her palm felt sweaty. She was definitely nervous, and he couldn't blame her. Oh no, he thought, what am I going to do to her?

They sat down on the nearest bench, Adrien continuing to stare at the ground. "Listen," he said, still not looking at her, "I… This isn't easy for me."

"It's all right," Marinette said in a shaky voice, but she placed on hand on his knee, trying to provide reassurance. It only made him feel guiltier.

"Well," Adrien started rubbing the back of his neck, as he often did when he got nervous, "I don't think I'm being entirely fair, to either of us." Marinette removed her hand from his knee; she could sense now that things weren't going how she had wanted. It wasn't really going how Adrien wanted either. He half-turned to look at her and saw the concern on her face. He couldn't smile anymore, not knowing what he was about to do.

"Marinette," he spoke quietly, "I had a really good time tonight, and the truth is, I love spending time with you." He paused, trying to think. It was so hard finding the words for this, how to say it gently. Suddenly, he remembered the words that were spoken to him, on a rooftop not far from there, when he was rejected, and they seemed like the perfect words to say. It seemed ironic that he would borrow Ladybug's own words to turn down a different girl because he still loved her.

"Listen," he started again, looking at the ground again, "I don't want to play around with your feelings, it would be the same as lying to you." He heard a sharp intake of breath beside him. There was no taking it back now, he had to just get through it. "I don't want to do that," he went on, "You're a really good friend, Marinette, and I'd never want to lie to a friend."

"What…" Marinette gasped, and it sounded like she was choking back tears. Oh I hope she doesn't cry, Adrien said to himself, I don't think I could bear that. "What are you… trying to say?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"I'm…" Adrien almost held it back, but he knew he had to say it, "I'm in love with someone else."