Author's Note: This is a fic based off of a comic written and drawn by hogeky on tumblr by the same name. Please go there to view images and support her comic!

Permission was received to write this fic.

The Parisian night was quiet, a calm city free of mischief, and a crescent moon to decorate the starless sky. Ladybug rest her head on her hands as she stared out into the dark horizon, thinking thoughts that plagued her.

She was waiting, but she could not silence her mind as she waited.

"Good evening, My Lady," a voice greeted from behind. Ladybug took a deep breath at the sound of her partner's voice. He approached to stand next to her, leaning on the ledge of the flat roof. "What's the matter? You seem to be lost in thought," he observed, a smile on his face.

"Really?" she responded, still staring out into the sky, a little nervous that she appeared to be so obvious.

"Did something happen?"

"I wonder…" Without falling over the side of the building, Chat Noir did his best to put himself into her line of sight as she refused to tear her eyes off of the sky.

"You know, you can always talk to me." She turned to look at him, only a little surprised at the realization as to how much she had come to trust him over their years, and how prepared he was to help her.

"Why are you so clingy," she commented, meaning to tease him.

"Oh My Lady, I'm just worried."

"About what?"

"A potential love rival?" She hesitated before speaking again, lowering her head to rest in crossed arms atop the ledge.

"Well, you're right about that, Kitty. I received a love letter from someone."

"That's why you're so down?" Chat Noir tried his best not to cringe away at his own insinuation, but she didn't seem to noticed him regardless, too preoccupied with her own thoughts.

"No, it's just, it's really weird because we know each other in real life." If it were possible for one's jaw to entirely dislocate due to shock, his would have.

"WHAT?" he shrieked. In the time span of perhaps 2 seconds, Chat mentally went through a list of every woman he had ever known, narrowing his list of perspective Ladybugs down from the entirety of Paris, to his own social circle. The blood in his face seemed to run from his cheeks and into the pit of his stomach.

"Chat?" Ladybug said, knocking him out of his trance like state. He shook his head violently, clearing his mind before speaking lest he say anything terribly ridiculous. Of course, he had no such luck.

"What!" he exclaimed again, drawing out the vowel for much longer than necessary. "What do you mean you know him? Like, you're friends?"

"Yes," she replied simply, utterly confused as to why he seemed to be freaking out. Seeing this, he attempted to sober up. Clearly, he had said things that seemed terribly ridiculous, contrary to his earlier efforts. Chat Noir looked out into the city, taking deep and calm breaths.

"Is he…" he began, hesitating in fear of how she might respond to his question, "Is he so horrible that his letter upset you this much?" His voice was barely a whisper but he looked at her as he spoke.

Marinette thought back to Valentine's Day; the day she had found Adrien's discarded draft of a love letter. She had fished it out of the trash bin in the classroom and could barely make out what had been written, despite his absurdly neat handwriting.

"Do you really think he would write a Valentine's Day letter to me?" she had asked Tikki after her kwami planted the idea in her head.

"Of course Marinette, who else would it be for?" Tikki replied. Marinette didn't blame Tikki. It seemed the obvious answer, but now she realized she was wrong.

Technically, it had been for her. He had been describing her. Jet black hair, eyes blue as the sky. She had to wonder about his comment in seeing her everyday, now that she knew it had not been for Marinette, but she had been so certain. She had been so sure that Adrien's Valentine was for her; was for Marinette.

Not for Ladybug.

"No," Ladybug sighed. "It's not his fault. Let's just say the real me got something wrong. It wasn't meant for me." Chat Noir leaned in ever so slightly in interest of her speech, but even with that, he could not make out her last sentence. There was enough sadness in her eyes, however, to put him on edge.

"What?" he cried, his confusion knowing no bounds. "What did I? I- I mean, what did he do wrong?" When she didn't reply, he wanted to erase the entire incident. He felt like he could cry. No, he definitely wanted to cry just a little bit. He swallowed back at the swelling in his throat. "You could just, forget the letter, and…"

Her ears pricked at his words. A rage went up Ladybug's spine and cluttered her brain. She couldn't believe that he would even suggest such a thing! Truly, he could only think of himself. Of course he would want her to forget his competition.

"Why can't you act like a normal person and try to understand me for once!" she screamed, leaning in aggressively as he took a step back. Thoroughly frustrated, Ladybug swung off, back to her home and away from Chat Noir. It took him a moment to bring himself out of the shock of being yelled at.

"Ladybug, wait!" he called, but she had long since gone. "I didn't mean it like that."

"That stupid cat!" Marinette yelled at no one in particular. "Who does he think he is! I never should have told him, he never takes anything seriously!" She stomped along the streets of Paris, determined to blow off steam before going home. It likely wasn't wise to walk through the door angry, especially since her loving parents would interrogate her on the matter. At the least, they would be worried over a problem she knew they could not fix.

Of course, this had nothing to do with the fact that Marinette forgot to bring extra cookies for Tikki, and that perhaps her kwami was tired. It had nothing to do with that at all.

"I don't understand Marinette, why are you so upset?" Tikki's voice chimed, her head popping up from the small purse she resided. "You are Ladybug, which means the valentine was still meant for you." Marinette sighed deeply.

"It's not about whether I'm Ladybug or not. It's just, well… I, Marinette, I'm in love with Adrien. And I want him to like me for me, and not the superhero version of me he barely even knows. Ladybug is me, but Ladybug is not the part of me I want Adrien to like." Her eyes had lost their focus and her feet ran on autopilot. She wasn't quite sure where she was going anymore. "Because he will never ever know that I'm…"

"Hey kid!" a voice interrupted. It was aggressive and muffled, but startled her all the same. Marinette turned around to face a man in all black, wearing a bandana tied over his mouth. Only the glint of his eyes and the pale skin around it could be seen. In his hand, was a small knife. "Give me your bag, and no one gets hurt." Her body tensed, eyes flickering to the small bag to which the mugger was referring. A bag that currently contained a tiny, magical, bug-like creature. What do I do? Tikki's still too tired for me to transform. Glancing down, Marinette ran through a thousand and one scenarios, and yet only one thing stood out in her mind.

I have to protect Tikki at all costs.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the positive feedback I received from the first chapter! I'm so happy to know people are enjoying it. I wanted to reiterate that none of the plot is actually mine, and belongs solely to hogeky. I'm only filling in a couple of blanks and interpreting. If you love the story, please let her know!

For those asking, I did tell her about the first chapter and she loved it! :D