"Do I get a goodbye kiss?"

"NO!" Ladybug yelled quickly. Chloe laughed as the hero almost turned the same shade of red from her outfit. Ladybug's heart was beating really fast, and it felt so wrong. But what felt wrong? "I-I gotta go, Ch-Chloe. Bye."

"Bye, Ladylove," Chloe said and waved her fingers at her. Ladybug blinked before rushing out of the room. Chloe crawled over to the center of her bed and positioned herself under the soft covers. She breathed in and smiled. The covers were starting to get Ladybug's scent.

Several days had passed, and Marinette had only seen Chloe in school because she had to. She actually felt better missing school to go fight an akuma than she did having to be in the same room as her. She could not keep her eyes off Chloe, and she knew that if she wore her Ladybug getup, Chloe would be the same way. Chloe was wearing less makeup, and she was starting to like her a whole lot more since she bothered her much less when she was Marinette. Her hair was getting longer, and she changed her perfume to something she liked much more. It reminded her of vanilla and honey, and the scent would make her heart beat fast. Marinette would catch herself staring at the "wrong" blond and would bite her lip. Class was torture. It was Friday, so she would be able to relax and enjoy being Chloe free. Maybe.

Tikki seemed to never stop asking her when she was going to go check up on Chloe again. Frankly, Marinette didn't want to go as much as she wanted to go. When the final bell rang, Marinette waited for Alya out in the hallway. She kept her eyes on her classmates who were all walking out. Adrien walked out and smiled at her, and she managed to smile and wave back without making a fool out of herself for once. Adrien and Nino then continued to walk away, and she watched them disappear around the corner. When her eyes went back to the door, she was greeted with a set of familiar blue eyes that could make it seem as if a bucket of cold water was dumped on her heart. Chloe just scoffed and walked away with Sabrina behind her, making Marinette's heart feel heavy for some reason. Alya finally walked out and gave Marinette a smile that she had to return to avoid questions.

On their way to Marinette's house, Alya kept talking about many different things that Marinette could barely register. She'd usually pay attention because Alya was always very close to finding out her identity, but her mind kept thinking about how different Chloe's eyes seem when they're looking at Ladybug.

"So I'm starting to really get solid evidence that Chat Noir and Ladybug are totally dating," Alya said, getting her best friend's attention. "I mean, they both go out on night patrols pretty much every night. It's probably an excuse to be with each other." Alya gasped and put her hands over her heart," Oh no, what if they can't be together in their civilian forms so they have to keep hiding who they really are to the one they love."

"I'm pretty sure they're also hiding their identities from other people, and that they're too scared to tell anybody," Marinette said.

"Scared? Marinette! If I was Ladybug, I'd tell you in a heartbeat. I mean, I can't imagine how hard it is keeping a secret that big from your best friend and the people you love."

"But you're not," Marinette told her and stopped walking. Alya took two more steps before turning around to look at her best friend who was staring at her shoes. Marinette focused on this dirt smudge on the corner that she couldn't get off. Chloe had stepped on it once before. She instantly regretted opening her mouth, and she just wanted to think about that dirt smudge and Chloe. Alya was quiet for a few seconds before she realized Marinette wasn't going to say anything anymore

"Yeah, Marinette," Alya said," I'm not the person who saves Paris all the time. But people look up to her as Ladybug. I'm just trying to give credit to the person who's behind the mask."

"Maybe she doesn't want credit. She's content knowing she's done her job and that she's loved as Ladybug."

"Maybe she's just scared that people are going to love Ladybug more than they'll ever love the real her," Alya said, causing Marinette to look up and stare right into her eyes. Alya frowned and turned around to keep walking towards Marinette's house. Marinette followed.

The walk to her house was silent the entire way there, and Marinette didn't know if she should apologize. She just didn't know what she was apologizing for anymore. When they reached Marinette's room, Alya just hugged Marinette.

At that moment, Marinette started to cry, and she knew exactly why.

Chloe's father would be arriving soon, and she was somewhat happy. Her father was the only company she had in the household even though he stopped treating her like he used to. Ladybug hadn't gone to check up on her since that one night, and Chloe grew more upset by the day. She was lonely and not even all the unlimited credit cards in the world could console her. She had so much clothes on the way to her house, but it didn't matter if Ladybug wasn't on her way to her room.

Chloe was sitting on her bed in her bathrobe. Her hair was wet, and she was hugging her knees. She was staring into a picture frame that had a crack on it. It obstructed the view of her dear mother's face. She started to cry softly. The crack wasn't there the night before, and she didn't know how it happened. But it was her fault. It was her fault she couldn't see her mother.

Chloe jumped a little as her door suddenly opened. She panicked as she saw her father walk in. She tried to quickly wipe away her tears and cover the framed photo with one of her pillows, but she wasn't quick enough.

"Why are you crying?" he asked in monotone voice. He hadn't been the same loving father lately, and she didn't know who she was answering anymore. So she didn't answer. He rolled his eyes and picked up the pillow that was clearly out of place in the middle of her bed. He tossed it directly to her when he saw the photo of Chloe's mother. Chloe shielded her face with her arms, and the pillow went off to the side. Her dad looked furious and disappointed. She wanted to cry even more now.

"It's broken," she whimpered, finally answering the question. Her dad got the photo frame and threw it against the wall, causing Chloe to scream. "Dad!"

"I told you to stop looking at things like this from the past and getting like this. Get over it. Your mother didn't want you anymore. Let. It. Go!" he yelled at Chloe who was now covering her ears.

She started sobbing and breathing in broken patterns and asking," Why?" over and over again. Her dad just watched her break down as she rocked back and forth, trying to control her breathing.

"Nobody bothers fixing anything that's broken," he said as he started walking out. Before he closed her door, he said," Everyone just gets something new to replace it or learns how to live without it." He slammed the door shut loudly.

Chloe wanted to ask her father why he never learned how to live, but she instead started to cry like she always did. She never looked for the truth, and she knew exactly away.

"Be careful," Chloe said in a dry and morose voice," there's glass all over the floor." She was laying down at the foot of her bed, horizontally. Her head was no longer facing the ceiling, but facing Ladybug. She hadn't moved from her bed. She was too tired to collect the photo of her dead family, and the maids could clean up the glass the next day.

"What happened?" Ladybug asked as she approached the foot of the bed where Chloe was lying down.

"You don't c-care," Chloe softly said before she started shaking and crying softly again. Ladybug felt as if someone was getting her heart and tearing it into millions of pieces. A few months back, this would probably give Marinette a lot of pleasure to see. But now, she was horrified as she saw one of the most powerful teenage girls she knew become a sad and broken riverboat of tears.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this," Ladybug got down on her knees and placed her hand on the side of Chloe's face," if I didn't care, I wouldn't be here."

"I think I hate my dad now," Chloe whispered. Her hand reached over to cover Ladybug's hand, and she moved it towards her lips. She pressed a very light kiss on the hero's hand, causing them both to blush.

"Did he do this?" Ladybug asked, trying to ignore Chloe's action. Chloe nodded slightly. "I'm sorry, Chloe. I should have come sooner."

"It was around 7," Chloe told her," it's fine." Ladybug stared at Chloe's puffy face. The room was very dim, but you could see how broken Chloe was. She was pale, but her nose and cheeks were red. Her eyes weren't the ones she was used to seeing as Ladybug.

"Let me tuck you in," Ladybug said, not exactly registering the words before they came out of her mouth. Chloe gave a weak smile and nod before moving to the headboard. Ladybug walked to the side and tried to cover Chloe, who reached out to grab hand that had the corner of her blanket.

"Lay with me. I'm afraid."

"…Okay," Ladybug said, instead of saying the truth: So am I.

So I haven't updated in months, and it's 2:19AM, and I'm going to be up at 4:40AM. So I started writing around 12, and I realized that if I didn't finish now, I was going to delay it more. My brain is a little off right now, but I'll probably edit later. I don't really like the Mr. B scene, so I might change it more. Also, I'm not sure if I should tag this with abuse? Thanks to all those that comment and leave kudos. Y'all are sweethearts