Alya's behavior had changed.

There were just slight, subtle changes, nothing too much, she still seemed like the same old Alya. But Nino had noticed anyway, the way she drew away from him while kissing sometimes, the way she avoided eye contact with some people that she valued a lot.

The way she spoke to people, the way she acted, the way she generally carried herself.

Before, about two weeks before, she had still worn her back straight and her eyes gleeful but Nino had noticed how her shoulders sometimes sagged, he had noticed how her eyes were veiled by a seemingly unnoticeable shadow.

He knew her too well for her to hide something from him.

At first, he let her be. It was her choice to talk to him, her choice if she wanted to tell him if something was wrong.

Maybe something in her family had happened or maybe some message she had received. He knew, after all, that there were some haters of the Ladyblog, for reasons unknown to him.

Nino gave her one week. He waited for one week before dropping hints.

When he hugged her goodbye after school or when he greeted her with a kiss in the morning, he let her know he was there for her. In a hushed whisper or sometimes just a gaze, he let her know that he was there to listen, to support her no matter what.

She seemed to pick the hints up, however she still didn't do anything about it. Or maybe she hadn't understood him, or didn't want him knowing there was something up with her.

He would be fine with that. He would be fine with her not wanting to tell him something.

He himself had a few things he didn't want her to know about him (at least not yet) and he would completely respect her decision if she deemed this information as not shareable.

That was her decision to make, and he wouldn't pry.

Though… He was curious.

And he at least wanted to ask her one time. If she told him that either, nothing was wrong, or that she didn't want to share, he would let it rest.

But asking, that's what he wanted to do.

When a month had passed since he had noticed something being slightly off about her, he grew anxious. She hadn't gotten worse, but she hadn't stopped being just a little different.

He subtly asked Marinette if she had noticed something, over a casual conversation after school, but Marinette, her very best friend, didn't even seem to have noticed anything.

That's what caught him off guard. Were the changes so little that only he had realized something was apparently off?

He still waited. For her to open up to him, maybe, for her to make a first step, but it never came. He let her know more obviously that he was there for her, he stuck by her side during Akuma attacks even if his heart always wanted to hide in his pants when he saw an akumatized victim running rampage in the city.

Nino also made sure to cuddle with her more often, even if she called him dork and pushed him away, but in the end, after bickering a bit, she always leant against him and he knew she enjoyed it. He also made sure to let her know he supported her. When Marinette once again tried talking her out of running right into battle for the blog, he now stood up for her, interlacing their fingers and joking that he'd keep her safe. Well, he didn't want her running in mindlessly either, but at least he had stopped scolding her for that.

Each time he did that he earned a small smile from his girlfriend, and it made his heart swell.

But she stayed different. He tried getting through to her by letting her know subtly and obviously that he was there and open to her. He even shared some of his things that he never told anyone before. That he sometimes stayed up to watch Anime that Adrien had recommended to him, because he actually found a liking in some.

She called him nerd, lovingly, but never shared something from her life.

It began worrying him. He had given her time, had given her space and affection and unconditional love and support. And yet she didn't seem to be reassured.

He still stayed true to his word that he wouldn't pry if she didn't want him to. He really did, he swore that he would let her keep her privacy, he didn't want to be a control freak.

But he wanted to let her know that he knew something was up and he wanted her to decide if she would tell him or not. If she decided that she didn't, it'd be fine with him.

So, one evening when they were at her house, he gently closed the door of her room after a nice dinner with her family and turned to look at her lovingly.

He had made sure that her big sister was home, to give her the security of being able to throw him out if she needed to. He also made sure to ask her in her familiar surroundings, not in his home, so that she could send him away and wouldn't need to go home, still.

He also made sure that her parents were around and that she wouldn't need to feel anxious.

He even asked her if she wanted the door shut, even if he knew that she definitely did because one rule in the Césaire household was that if a door was closed, the person wanted privacy and would get it until the door was opened again. Even the twins kept that rule.

After a short pause he still kept close to the door, to open it immediately if she wished, and buried his hands in his pockets.

"Alya?"

She looked up from her phone, probably texting Marinette, and smiled.

"Yeah?"

Suddenly, he felt like caging her in. So he quickly sat down on her bed, not to be a threat. He hated thinking of himself that way but something was weighing down on her and he had to make sure to give her all the freedom she needed before asking what was up.

"Are you-…", he broke off, swallowed thickly, the words like dust in his throat, "… Are you keeping secrets from me?"

That seemed to make her listen up. With a quick swipe, her phone was on her desk, screen down.

"What?", she asked, her head slightly tilted.

"It's just-… I noticed you acting differently. I mean, maybe nothing's up and I'm just imagining but-… I think, over the past month, something changed?"

With a sigh he kept his gaze down, his shoulders sagged.

"I don't need to know if you don't wanna tell me.", he quickly clarified, "I still love you all the same. Whatever it is. I just want you to know that I'm here for you and I want you to know that you can tell me anything, okay?"

A long silence stretched out in which he fidgeted around with his fingers and looked around, just not to his girlfriend, until a sniffle broke it. In a heartbeat he was up and at her desk, his hands hovering over her hips, unsure if he was allowed to touch her, soothe her, as he saw her chin quivering and her eyes glassy.

"Alya? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to poke too much. You don't need to tell me anything, I'm just here for you, you can cry if you want to or I can go and-"

"What did I do to deserve you?", she finally interrupted him with a choked chuckle, her shoulders shaking before she breathed through, straightening her back and taking his hands to caress them, to reassure him that she was fine.

"… Do you need me to go?", he carefully asked, immediately feeling her fingers tightening around his.

"Please, no…", and finally, with a sigh, she blinked a few times, smiling almost melancholically, "I-… Didn't think anyone would notice, to be honest. I did my best not to show. But I guess-… I'm glad you did…"

With a careful nudge of his nose against her forehead he made her look up to him, their gazes locking.

"Wanna talk?", he softly asked, rubbing the backs of her hands with his thumbs. She smiled and shrugged, tears still glistening in her eyes.

"Well, might as well. I'll have to tell you someday, anyway. So-…", he waited as she collected herself, took in a deep breath, straightened her back and squeezed his hands, and when she talked he tried his best to look the most reassuring he could, "… I think I might be bi."

In an instant, he pulled her into a tight hug and buried his face on her neck, squeezing her tightly.

"Oh gosh I thought something in your family had happened or something happened to you! I thought something really serious was up."

With a light, relieved giggle she melted against him, the joke in her voice evident since she knew how he had meant it. She always knew.

"Oh, and that isn't something serious?"

He nuzzled closer to her neck and shook his head, a light grin playing on his lips.

"It is, but it's nothing life threatening. Most of all, it isn't something negative. I thought it would be something negative."

Alya softly ended the embrace as she fished for his hands again, once again leaning against the desk while he stood close to her, his lips pressed to her forehead.

"… Well, it might be… While I knew I could trust you with this I dunno how my family will react…"

He sighed as he nodded, letting her rest her head against him.

"I know… That's hard. But I know your mom and dad will be fine with it. I'm sure Nora's a lesbian anyway, so she'll be more than fine with it. And the twins are kids, they'll accept it anyway."

He earned a light smack on his upper arm for that and grinned broader.

"Hey, we don't know anything about Nora's sexuality! She's not the type to talk about feelings and stuff.", Alya giggled and he shrugged, "But yeah, I thought that for years. It actually surprised me she had a boyfriend back when I didn't know you guys yet."

Nino grinned and snuggled her closer, pressing kisses along her temple down to her neck.

"… Well I know for sure that Mari won't mind. And Adrien's such a sunshine boy, he can't have anything against that."

Alya played with his hands as she hid her face in his shirt.

"Yeah… I'm just scared about my grandparents… They're pretty… Conservative, you know?"

"They'll have to accept who you are. And if they can't, they'll either learn or they'll miss out on a great part of you.", he replied, knowing that he could do nothing to ease the anxiety, but he knew that his words alone would show her his support, "And I'll love you no matter what."

That once again triggered her sniffles and she let go of his hands to wrap them around him in a tight embrace.

"… I love you, too."

They remained like this for a moment and Nino let her collect her thoughts and put them in order while finding warmth in his chest, before speaking again.

"You know what, I think I knew."

"You did?", the surprise in her voice almost made him laugh.

"I dunno. You seem like the type.", he chuckled, once again kissing the soft skin on her neck, "And besides, now I know for sure that we both like boobs."

This finally made her laugh fully and he didn't think he could grin any broader as she pulled back, lovingly called him a dork, and pressed a kiss to his lips.