It didn't really take a long time for Kat to bounce back. Marinette was water, she flowed and sometimes she could get low but she was always strong and flowing and deep, like a river. She felt so deeply she couldn't even think of hiding it all, though she does keep the darkest parts of her deep where few can see. Kat was a burning fire, though. No matter how much you believe you have extinguished her, all she needs is a little air to breath, a little help to start her back up again and her passion and strength could burn the world down once again.
Kat immediately began helping Marinette and Felix's messed up relationship. No matter how much Felix TRIED, Marinette would never look twice at him. Felix didn't know how to really say he was sorry for what he did, so he contented himself by SHOWING it. Unfortunately, it seems Marinette has blinded herself to his antics.
It was almost hard to watch. Marinette avoided him, yet her eyes were drawn to him. She tried not to get to close to him, but she was clearly unable to even control herself so as to do so. She was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
Kat had done something she wasn't proud of in order to settle this. She had scanned and printed a few of her best friend's most recent diary entries. Kat and Felix knew the other would do anything to help the other, so Kat was sure that after several days to at most a fortnight of whining, pouting, and giving her the silent treatment, Felix would forgive her for this most recent transgression.
"I am definitely NOT going to read that." Marinette argued immediately when Kat showed her what she did. "First of all, it is an immoral invasion of privacy. And furthermore, I don't want to know!" She argued vehemently.
"You're gonna do this with me. Or I swear to god I will… send an E-mail to Gabriel Agreste and tell him to … eh… umm… arrange a marriage between Felix and Chloe Bourgeois!" That is officially the emptiest threat she ever made and she has to stop and pray for forgiveness for using the Lord's name in vain. "You're still gonna do this with me, Mari. I know you don't approve but YOU need to do this. If not for yourself, than do it for me! …pweeeeease?"
"…I don't care. He can go marry off whoever he likes." Marinette was purposefully looking away from the brown haired brunette in front of her. "And stop with the puppy dog pout. It's an unfair advantage."
"The only unfair advantage is the one the other person has." Kat replied in a deadpan tone, while still giving Marinette her irresistible puppy-dog pout. Felix, nor her father, nor her mother, nor Marinette herself has never been able to say no to it.
"Kat, No." She was purposefully avoiding Kat's face, looking anywhere but there. She pretended to be fascinated by the photos of Kat's two boyfriends and various other friends, along with scientific experiments, and various awards strewn about her room. "I am a role model for many children I can't do this! Besides, why are you putting me through this?" She started rambling, not giving Kat a chance to reply. "I don't wanna read how much he loathes me. I also don't care if he feels 'guilty' which is pretty unlikely considering how resolute he was as to NEVER liking me, so WHY?"
Kat rolled her eyes so far back that for a second all Marinette could see was the whites of her eyes. "Mari…He's been following you like a puppy for weeks now and been doing everything in his power to "make you like him again". Aren't you curious as to WHY?"
Mari cocked her head as if she were a confused puppy. In all seriousness, she never noticed, too busy trying to heal her own wounded heart. And of course, find a way to fix Kat. No matter how much she is hurting, she knew Kat must be hurting just as much, if not more. "Kat. Does he know I'm Ladybug?" She asked hesitantly. "After you became… Well, I was injured. Did he see who I was without the mask?"
Kat frowned at her best friend and nodded. Technically he knew. Because she told him. But she can't just say that to Marinette. She doesn't know that Felix is Chat Blanc. "Felix knows your Ladybug now, but that isn't the only explanation. Now come on and read this with me."
"I think you have your answer right there. You don't need me to read this. Just… Just let me be, Kat; I've had enough chocolate for many lives as it is."
"Marinette…Do you trust me?" There it was. The card Kat always used to get her way. Mari always ended up bowing down to Kat's wishes on the grounds that she just needed to trust her. Of course, it did usually work the reverse way as well.
"I… Of course I do, you know that! I just… I can't do this. I'd much rather hear him lie in person than read his diary. If someone were to read my diary, I'd die." Seeing the look on Kat's face she added, "Kat…Will you rest this case if I agree to let him at least talk to me?"
Kat's eyes were watering and she looked like she was gonna cry. "You DON'T trust me!" She was about to cry until she heard the last thing Mari said and then she nodded. "Okay, but you have to actually listen to what he has to say. Okay, Marinette?"
"…Okay. And please stop being silly; I'm doing this just BECAUSE I trust you, okay?" The two hugged and then sighed. They both knew what needed to come next. The talk with a certain blonde kitten.
Before Kat would let it happen she did have a short talk with Felix. ""Okay, Felix. Here is a list of things to NOT do and or say. 1) Don't freak out because she agreed to talk to you and you're probably only getting this one chance. 2) For once you need to actually talk about your feelings. AND APOLOGIZE. 3) Do not say that you realized your feelings when you learned she was Ladybug. 4) Tell her how you fell for Marinette as Marinette. 5) THEN tell her you are Chat Blanc. Not BEFORE."
Felix huffs at that and mumbles that he NEVER freaks out and then gets nervous because "Oh my god, what if I mess up? What if she decides she hates me and never wants to see me again? What if she can never team up with Chat Blanc again and hates me?"
Kat then slapped him in the face. "Okay. What did I JUST say about not getting nervous and freaking out?! God." She huffed for a moment. "You guys both owe me so much for dealing with your angst-ridden-arses." She mumbled under her breath.
Marinette decided to wait until Felix came to talk to him again, giving her time to psyche herself up. Kat had to hold his hand the whole way and give him an encouraging talking to. Mari was so confused after a full day when he was nowhere near her. Seriously? She had to put most of her effort into avoiding him and now all of a sudden he wasn't even trying?
Kat had to physically push him into Marinette. He collided with her and his pale cheeks turned pink. Felix, for once, isn't his cool, calm, and collected self. He stumbles over his words for a few moments and asks her if they could talk, in private.
Mari hums in approval, trying hard to seem completely indifferent. They go somewhere private. Kat, Alya, and Nino are Eavesdropping and Kat promised to tell Adrien and Nathanaël everything. Nino started snickering and Alya ordered him to shut up and hold the phone the right way. Kat made a mental note to set them up next.
Felix, in one long run-on sentence, starts rambling on about how sorry he was about what he said, how he didn't mean it, how he was actually falling in love with her at the time he just couldn't admit it, how he wishes he could take it all back. He needed to stop for breath about 6 times as he said this because it got so long. He stops before telling her he's Chat Blanc and just waits for her to respond, wide eyed as he looked at her tear filled eyes.
Mari was just listening to all that without even saying a single word, stiff as a plank, and is actually trying really hard not to cry. She's unable to stop the tears from escaping. "You.. You…" she tries to say between her now loud sobbing, her shoulders shaking, holding a hand clenched close to her heart as she chokes on her cries.
Felix is wide eyed and has no idea how to respond to this. "I…I didn't mean to make you cry. Please, stop crying."
Kat knew how to deal with this, but he certainly did NOT. Kat was currently being physically held back from interfering by Nino and Alya. "Oh my god, they seriously can not do this without me." Nino ended up half-heartedly agreeing that they are a bigger mess than Kat is and they can't handle their own feelings, but it didn't stop him from holding her back.
Marinette rubs her eyes furiously, trying to wipe her tears off her cheeks. "I-I'm n-not… cry…ing." she says after a while, smiling crookedly, tears still streaming down her face.
Now you're both crying and lying to me." It was practically a whine. Poor Felix was psyching himself up for what he believed to be an immenent rejection from the woman he loved. "Would it be easier for you if I was Chat Blanc right now?"
Kat whispered to Alya and Nino that Felix wasn't Chat Blanc (which was a dirty damn lie) and that Marinette was torn between Chat Blanc and Felix so it was personally logical to ask if it would be easier if HE was Chat Blanc.
Marinette froze, her face twisting in utter FEAR. He… He was Chat Blanc?! She had rejected him because being conflicted over /him/?! But… But wait. Kat had said he knew of her secret identity. Him being Chat Blanc only meant one thing. He was only apologising to his lady, not Marinette as a whole. Unable to process all that information at once, she tried to do whatever she did whenever she was out of ideas; retreat. So she just run towards the door, but, for heaven's sake, she couldn't open it.
She desperately tried to make it move, but it just wouldn't BUDGE! The fact Nino, Alya, AND Kat were all leaning on the door was the cause of that. After a while, she gave up and just slid down to her knees, sobbing loudly, head in her hands.
Felix watched as she was…afraid. She didn't want him to be Chat Blanc. She hated both sides of him now. He felt his eyes water and his lower lip tremble. He roughly wiped his eyes so she didn't see him. "Here." He wasn't stupid. He didn't CARE that he had so much more to say about how much he loves her. She didn't want to be here, and wanted to do anything to avoid her. He put all his force behind forcing the door open. There was a Crack as the door splintered a bit from the sheer force used. The three of them were thrown down to the ground by the door opening so abruptly. He walked away from her, his fists clenching and unclenching repeatedly. She broke his heart and, he didn't even know how to deal with that.
Marinette raised her head, hands still clutching her hair painfully. He… He was leaving. Leaving. Again. Just like he did all those times she'd tried to interact with him in the past. She tried to say something but it stood choked in her throat, unable to get out. Wait. He said he loved her. Yet, he was leaving? Was Marinette that awful to bear? Well, she wasn't. She might not be as perfect as Ladybug, but she didn't deserve that. She rose from the ground in a fit of new-found righteous indignation and just shot at him with a low, accusing voice, "Liar."
Now was the moment that the three Eavesdroppers decided to leave and give them their privacy. This was clearly finally that line that they dare not cross. Kat had left them. When she got to Adrien and Nathanaël , they asked her for details. Kat's only response to that was loud sobbing. She couldn't deal with this angst. It caused both her boyfriends to wrap their arms around her and try to cheer her up. She tearfully explained everything she saw.
Felix turned back and glared at her. His eyes were pink rimmed from his unshed tears and he looked more upset and angry than ever. "What did you just say?" He practically growled. He took her by her arm and dragged her back into their private closet. "Now, I ask again, what did you say to me?"
Marinette shouldn't have lashed like that, she wouldn't, it wasn't like her. But, all of those disturbing thoughts, bottling up… They left her broken. She had to lash out. She needed to. She shook her hand forcefully away from his grasp, glaring into his eyes with just as much force, her own eyes puffy, red and irritated. "Liar." she simply stated again, still able to hold herself back, though.
Felix glowered at Marinette. "/I/ am the liar here?!" He snapped. "All I wanted you to do is like me. And you don't. You don't even like the side of me that is nice and sweet and loves you so much. And now that both sides of me love all sides of you, all you try to do is just ESCAPE. And THEN you have the NERVE to say that /I/ am the liar here? You stopped loving me the second I fell in love with you."
Alright, now she was unable to hold back in the slightest. She was stunned, shocked. "I stopped loving you? /I/ stopped loving you?! Do you have any idea how conflicted I was when I rejected you?! I had already fallen in love with Chat Blanc but I'd fallen for Felix way earlier and I couldn't just do that!" She screamed to the top of her lungs, unaware from the fresh tears streaming down her face. "I don't like you, when all I do is respect you and trust you and endure that unbelievably cold façade, trusting it's just that and trying to break through like the idiot I was!" She stopped to hold her throat, coughing from the sheer volume of her voice.
"And what about you?! You fell in love with Ladybug, the oh so perfect and kind and honest heroine everybody just seems to /adore/ and now, of all times, you come here and claim you love the whole of me, that you love Marinette! So don't you DARE calling me a liar again. DON'T YOU JUST DARE!"
Felix's entire face was dark red and he was filled with a volatile mixture of embarrassment, anger, longing, hope, and fear. "I didn't just fall in love with Ladybug! Just because you don't see it doesn't mean you aren't beautiful and amazing and special just by being who you are!" He snapped angrily. "The only reason everyone loves Ladybug is because she has you in her." He added, huffing and trying to keep his cool but he lost all of it. "So don't you DARE say my love is a lie. When you have no IDEA how much I love you."
"No, /you/ have no idea how much I loved /you/." She used the past tense consciously, trying to hurt /him/, for once. She didn't want to care he called her everything she ever needed to hear, and let her selfish side roam about, not wanting to be the only one hurt again. "Nobody KNOWS IM LADYBUG! NOBODY! NOBODY NOTICES MARINETTE AND EVERYBODY JUST EXPECTS LADYBUG TO BE ALWAYS AND AT ALL TIMES PERFECT, A POISED SUPER HEROINE WITH NO NEGATIVE FEELINGS! WELL GUESS WHAT." she screeched, throwing a tantrum she would afterwards regret way too much.
"I'm sick of it. Don't say you love me, I can't stand it. Don't say love. Don't. Just… Just don't." She brought her hand to her face, trying to hide it because she knew she couldn't trust her expressions to conceal her hurt. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this." she muttered, obviously deflated. "Also, when I said 'loved you', I lied; I-I still do." Her voice cracked; she was unable to hurt someone out of her own volition, after all. "Ladybug fell for you in the end, isn't that great, kitten? Unfortunately, everything comes with a price; Marinette is still around." A cold, humorless chuckle escaped her lips.
"Loved?" He whispered to himself, looking genuinely hurt. He believed that she didn't love him anymore, but he didn't expect her to SAY it. When she continued and said the truth, he wrapped his arms around Marinette and held her lovingly. "Marinette is even better than Ladybug." He replied, almost quietly. "I'm glad she's around. It would be a tragedy if you left somehow." He whispered, as honest and open as he's ever been.
She sighed in his embrace, holding him desperately, as if he'd disappear at any given moment. "Don't worry about that." she tried to reassure him, reading out to caress his face with a small smile. A smile that faltered once she heard the rest of his words. "You…"
'Don't believe that', she wanted to say, but she trailed off, not wanting to hurt him, to hurt them both any further. She'd have to keep that inside of her; it would be easy, after all. She'd kept enough secrets from everyone. "Felix, I-" she started after a while, retrieving her hand and holding it close to her chest. She didn't know if he wanted to hear that, but she wanted to say it. "I-I love you." she finally whispered, burying her face into his chest.
Felix held her to him and rocked her in his arms. "I love you too, Marinette." He replied, running his fingers through her shiny blue hair. "I love you so much." He whispered, resting his chin on top of her head. He hoped this meant he was forgiven, but being able to be with Marinette this way was good enough for him right now.
She started crying in relief, a huge, genuine smile taking over her features. He'd said he loved her. He really did. She wanted… She wanted to… kiss him, but she wouldn't push her luck, everything had a limit. So she just sat there, allowing herself to be comforted in his embrace, holding him tighter, closer. A small, quiet "Th-Thank you." escaped her lips, and she raised her head once again ever so slightly to look into his eyes, fearful and expectant of his reaction.
Felix looked into her eyes and leaned closer to kiss her, giving her time to pull away if she didn't want to kiss him right now. He loved her and he finally got his beautiful princess and his Lady both. He felt his chest swell happily. He would just have to end up burning those bridges when they get to them.
She felt as if her mind was stuck with glue. She didn't know how to process the new situation, something she'd dreamt of but never believing it would actually come true. So she just stared at him fearfully, blinking rapidly, leaning slightly back.
Felix made a confused noise and pulled away from her once he saw her lean back. "What's wrong?" He asked confused. "Is something the matter?"
She almost whined pathetically when she felt his arms leave her, but held herself from doing so. She screwed up. "M-Matter? No-nothing is the matter!" she said, shaking her head rapidly. She grasped him from the collar and tried to connect their lips together, but she just managed to bump her forehead onto his nose. She turned deep red in embarrassment, left his shirt as if it'd burnt her and started apologising, biting her lip to prevent her from crying again, not having the strength to look him in the eye.
Felix actually began to laugh at that. She was so clumsy, it was just adorable. "Oh my god, you're so cute." He said in between snickers, before leaning down and wrapping his arm around her waist as he gave her a deep kiss.
She was almost ready to cry when she heard him laugh, but his words made her blush even harder. She grinned happily before squeaking in surprise when she felt his arm crawl on her back, and his lips pressed against hers. They were soft, warm, and she felt herself melt, her knees giving in. She broke away first to gasp for air, leaning on him, eyes closed, a fully content expression taking over her features.