Clarissa: I tried to e-mail you, but you never responded. Hopefully I can get you in on the next chapter.

I know that this is chapter is shorter than many of my other chapters, but adding on to it just didn't seem right. Get ready for all of the feels. This ship is getting real yawl. Oh, and get ready for chapter 16. We are going places.

Compassionate. Steadfast. Beckoning. Adrien's strikingly beautiful green eyes were the gateway into the very depths of his soul. They eased any sense of doubt that I had lurking within my mind. I could trust him. I should trust him. I had to tell him what was on my mind. That was the only way we could ever form a true, everlasting relationship, and honestly, at this point, I just wanted his comfort. I wanted Adrien to know how much I was hurting so that he could be there for me. I wanted him to wrap his arms around me and to tell me that everything would be okay. I craved his affection. I craved it more than anything.

For some reason, though, taking that step of sharing my insecurities terrified me. Adrien had always been such a distant dream that the idea of opening up emotionally seemed impossible. The fact that Adrien could learn about the innermost struggles that I held deep inside of myself had seemed like an implausible idea. It was irrational, of course, but it is hard to admit that the person that I have been pining after for so many years was here in front of me.

However, those eyes told a different story. Those enchanting eyes that earnestly peered down at me as they lightly glistened in the sun. He did care about me, and he sincerely wanted to help me in any way that he could. The time had finally arrived. Now was the moment to take down the shield. I had to allow myself to become vulnerable. It was time for Adrien to see a piece of my heart, and hopefully, for me to see a piece of his.

"It's this friend I had," I began while fiddling with my thumbs. "We haven't seen each other in a long time, and I was really hoping to reconnect with that person."

Adrien smiled while gently tucking a lose strand of my hair behind my ear, "That sounds familiar. I don't know what I would do if we had never reunited. What happened?"

Heat rushed to my face as an all too familiar blush reappeared. The fact that Adrien saw our reunion as something that he couldn't live without came as a shock to me. I wondered if I could actually share my thoughts and feelings with him, but it still just didn't seem real that he could actually have feelings for me. I had to try to trust him with mine. Even though I had not experienced his emotions yet, I hoped that in slowly opening up to him, it might break down that barrier keeping us apart.

With a deep inhale, I prepared myself to pour out my heart to the man that I hoped that I would one day form a deeply passionate relationship with. "I recently got back into contact with this friend….or so I had thought. It had been tough not hearing from this person for so long, and I had been so happy to hear that that person's life is going well. However, that person just…..just stopped responding."

Adrien's muscles seemed to stiffen and become rigid as a look of recognition flickered in his eyes just before he looked away. He then took a few deep breaths before relaxing and turning back to me with an inquiring gaze. "How long has it been?" He asked with a stern seriousness that I had never heard him use before. "How long ago was it that you last heard a response from your friend?" A sense of desperation permeated through Adrien's voice. I was baffled as to why he seemed so intense as to knowing the answer to this question, but I was touched to know that he seemed to care so much.

"Uh….about a week," I meekly answered realizing how ridiculous I sounded while tilting my head down to look at the ground. "I know that a week doesn't sound like a long time, but I just feel like this person should have responded by now."

A gentle hand nestled its way beneath my chin guiding my gaze upward so that I could look, once again, into those tender green eyes. "Don't worry," Adrien's soothing voice promised, "your friend will respond soon."

The quickly fading light in the room was now a dull reminder of diminishing relationship that I had held with Chat Noir. Just as the darkness of night is inevitable, the end of our friendship seemed so near. I gently caressed the hand that was beneath my chin within my palms lowering it to rest upon my lap. "You can't know that," I somberly stated. Adrien tilted his head, like an inquisitive cat, leaning forward ever so slightly in anticipation of what I was to say next. "It must sound so foolish to you - being so distraught over someone not responding for a mere week. It's just that….it has been so long since I have seen this person, and it just hurts thinking that he no longer wants to be my par….friend. I know that my fears may seem unmerited, but we were just so close for so long. Waiting is so hard and I don't know how to handle the pain." Silent tears began to stream down my face as I poured everything out. "Now that I know that he is out there, each day without a response feels like…... like a he doesn't want to see me anymore."

All of the sudden, Adrien lunged forward desperately pulling me into a compassionate embrace. His left arm wrapped around my waist while his other hand gently caressed the back of my head as he held me against his chest. He tenderly rested his head atop of mine as I became engulfed in his heavenly aroma, courtesy of L'Homme by Yves Saint Laurent - an intoxicating cologne that I had recently picked up for was exactly what I had needed. It felt so perfect to be within his arms. My heart soared while simultaneously breaking. I couldn't help but to melt against his body as I let everything go.

My tears turned into sobs as I continued on, "I can't understand why….why he won't reply. It just…..hurts. It hurts so much." My body shook violently and muffled cries erupted from deep within my chest. I couldn't hold it back anymore. All of the guilt that I had felt for not truly getting to know Chat Noir and constantly rejecting all of his advances, the regret that I now felt at never disclosing our real identities, the years of not knowing where he was or if he was safe, the emptiness that I now felt at his continued and seemingly purposeful absence from my life - it was all there. All of it was now pouring itself out as I leaned entirely upon Adrien trusting him not to let me fall.

Adrien tightened his hold around me as he clenched his fist into my disheveled hair in a passionate, nearly desperate manner. "Your friend is an idiot," his voice shook as he breathed into my ear sending chills down my spine. "He is an idiot for not realizing how much he was hurting you."

I could barely breathe. Adrien spoke with such raw emotion that it nearly broke my uncontrollably fast beating heart. There was a pain and sadness within his voice that I just could not comprehend. Of course he would care that I was hurting, but this seemed like… like something more. It was almost as if there were some sort of guilt that was lingering within his words. However, this had nothing to do with him.

"I'm sure he wasn't intentionally trying to cause you so much pain," Adrien continued as he loosened his grip on my hair, "maybe he was just…. just unsure of how to continue to communicate." His voice was so soft and gentle that it seemed as if he were talking more to himself than he was to me. "If it really has been that long, maybe he was just confused. Maybe he thought it would be better to just leave things as they were and that it would be easier that way."

My mind was going crazy with Adrien's words. I wondered how he could be so insightful as to what Chat Noir could possibly be thinking. It was almost as if he had experienced a situation exactly like this. It was almost as if he himself were Chat Noir. But that would be too convenient; it would be too easy. There was just no way that my long time partner was sitting here with me right now. If that were so, then he surely would have confessed to me by now who he really was now that he knew that I had been the one to send the letters. Adrien was just Adrien - my sweet, loving, and kind Adrien.

Adrien backed away, removing his hand from my head and instead rested it to my cheek, his fingers delicately intertwining themselves in my hair. A single tear tried to make its descent down my face, but was quickly wiped away. As we locked our gazes, I could see Adrien's serene eyes as they projected an oxymoronic sense of fragility and strength. His face was relaxed but saddened; his breaths were deep yet ragged. And even though he was trying to comfort me, I felt as if he was the one who needed to be consoled.

A half-hearted smile formed at the edges of his mouth as he tenderly wrapped both of his hands around mine. "But maybe…. maybe easier doesn't always mean better. Please don't give up on him, Mari. Even the biggest idiot in the world would eventually realize how stupid he was being for losing you."

My heart tossed and turned uncontrollably within my chest. Adrien was everything that I dreamed that he would be. He was kind. He was gentle. He was loving. Adrien knew exactly what to say to calm my stirring heart. I knew I could tell him anything. I could tell him everything. Even if he knew all my secrets, he would still look at me with those gentle eyes. Adrien would never judge me for what I had done, for who I was, or for what I had hidden. He would be there for me - through thick and thin.

New emotions erupted within me as I began to fall in love with Adrien all over again. It was just like it was on that first day with the umbrella. However, this time I knew that we were on this journey together. Adrien did care for me just as much as I cared for him. His words made that absolutely clear. We were falling so desperately towards one another as the love between us was beginning to take root. Nothing else mattered. Adrien had, once again, stolen my heart. All I wanted was get as close to him as I possibly could. I wanted to feel my fingertips as they glided through his now messy blonde hair. I wanted to experience the warmth of his lips pressed against mine. Most of all, I wanted the sensation of his love and comfort to never go away.

Without even thinking, I leaped towards Adrien wrapping my arms around him and burying my face once again into his welcoming chest. After a moment of shock from the sudden change in position, Adrien returned the embrace, resting his head upon mine.

"He will respond," Adrien purred, hurdling my thoughts back onto Chat Noir."I just know he will," he promised while squeezing his arms around me in a reassuring gesture. And for some reason, even though I knew that there was no way that he could be certain, I believed him. Chat Noir would respond, and even if, by some chance, he didn't, I was beginning to believe that it would be okay.