So most of these shorts are based around 'what ifs'. What if Adrien found out about his dad? What if Marinette saved Chat outside the suit? etc. This one is brought to you by: What if there was a reason these to dorks couldn't see the obvious?

Warning: Angst ahead :)

Marinette sat at the top of the Eiffel Tower, looking out onto the sleeping city. Seven years and she still didn't tire of this view, of the exhilaration racing across the rooftops, of the freedom found when she donned the spots. Seven years. She was ending her university career soon, hoping to secure a full time position at Agreste, where she worked now. As a student, she didn't do much designing, but it was at least at the company she wanted.

She glanced over to her right, a pun at her lips that died in the wind. No Chat. He wasn't there, which was the norm now. She sighed, "I miss you chaton."

Ever since the defeat of Hawkmoth, her kitty had been avoiding her. At least, that's how it seemed. Patrols were not as necessary now, but he had always been eager to do them before. Now...it was stilted. And he never appeared on the anniversary of their greatest accomplishment. It had been three years today.

Her gaze flitted from the empty spot at her side to the Agreste Mansion. It stood empty now or perhaps Adrien sold it. He never mentioned it if he did. Three years of guilt and she still couldn't face him. He hated her, she was sure. After all, Ladybug was the one who took his father away from him. The only thing she managed was to keep the press in the dark. For all the public knew, Gabriel Agreste had a mental breakdown and was forced to resign. Adrien took on the mantle, the burden, and made no other comments to his father's health. People eventually stopped asking.

"Well Tikki, I guess we better head home." She stood, giving one more cursory glance along the horizon, hoping for a black blur to be bounding over to meet her. Nothing. Sighing, she took to the roofs herself.

She landed on her apartment balcony and called off the transformation, catching Tikki with practiced ease. The red kwami smiled at her charge, "I'm sure he's fine Marinette."

"How is it, in seven years, we've never guessed who we are?" she asked randomly, stepping inside the small studio apartment, setting Tikki down by a plate of cookies. It was a question that had been gnawing at her lately. Had she really not known Chat well enough to pick him out of a crowd?

And then there were moments, moments were the mask seemed so thin, like she just barely saw the boy behind it. But every time she came close, a wall was thrown in her face. Like a forgotten memory or a elusive word, it stayed just beyond her reach.

"Magic of the miraculous." Tikki replied with the munch of a cookie, "Only if both you and Chat want a reveal would you be able to guess."

Marinette fell on the couch with a huff, "Chat has always wanted to know my identity Tik. And lately...ugh, I want to be us. I want to be with him, my whole self and his whole self. So that should work right?"

Her small friend stared at her and Marinette was reminded once again of how old Tikki was. Those blue eyes held so much sorrow and wisdom in them, "It's not just wanting to know who the other is. You both have to want to let the other know who you are."

"But I just said I did."

"Marinette...Chat has not been himself since Hawkmoth's defeat, you recognize that yourself. So he may want to know who you are still, but maybe he doesn't want you to know him."

The thought jolted through her. Her chaton...was insecure? It was hard to think, but she had noticed the side comments and hunched shoulders whenever they did interact. Was it possible that Chat was afraid of her? Afraid of her reaction? Or was something in his life holding him back?

Noticing her change in mood, Tikki put a paw on Marinette's hand, "Call him tomorrow and talk. You've been putting it off too long."

She nodded, "I will. But I've got work in the morning. Night Tikki."

Tikki watched the young girl get ready for bed and sighed as the light finally flicked off, "Oh Plagg, this bug and cat are in such a mess."

"And this is why I carry extra clothes in my office," Marinette mumbled as she stepped inside her small cubicle, her shirt covered in coffee. The real crime wasn't her ruined clothes but the waste of perfectly good coffee. How on earth was she supposed to manage the morning without caffeine? Maybe she could still run by a coffee shop before the design meeting.

She quickly grabbed her extra set of clothes and changed, fixing the last button as she stepped into the hall and, for the second time that day, ran headlong into someone. "Sorry! I am so clumsy. I wasn't looking."

"It's okay Mari. I should be used to it by now," was the amused response. She looked up and gave a small eep. He should be used to it. She spent half of their teenage years running into him.

"A-Adrien. Hi."

Adrien smiled, but it didn't quite fit. "And the main thing is I saved the coffee. I noticed your lack of one when you came in."

He held out a cup to her and her eyes widened, "Thank you! I didn't think I was gonna make it today."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" he winked and moved on, speaking with others about business and design, the new fall line rapidly approaching, the new interns for spring. She sank into her cubicle.

The rest of the day was a waste. She spent the whole time glancing at Adrien. He was one more enigma in her life. He had changed with Hawkmoth's defeat, going along with the cover story for his father having a mental breakdown. He didn't even tell Nino the truth. No one could deny his change though. He dropped out of school, dropped his dream of becoming a physics professor, and dived into the world of fashion seemingly overnight. Alya and Nino fretted over him like mother hens.

Marinette did her best to maintain their friendship, but she never approached the topic of his father. She couldn't. Not with what she knew. Glancing up again, he had entered his office, the door closed. Did Adrien notice the cookies she left yesterday? Very few knew the significance of yesterday, but she couldn't do nothing. Perhaps she should have bought them instead of making them herself. Or given flowers. Could you give flowers to guys?

Before she knew it, the last designer was shutting off their light and waving at Marinette goodnight. It wouldn't be the first time Marinette stayed late, and with her hoping to get a full time position in the design team, it was an investment well worth it. She hummed and tried concentrating on anything but the conversation she would have to have after she left.

"You should head home."

Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin, "Adrien! Don't do that!"

He chuckled, "Sorry. I was just leaving. You should go home. It's late."

"Yeah..."

"Something bothering you?"

She looked up at him, chewing her bottom lip, "Yes, no. I...there's this friend. And he's going through a rough patch, but he won't talk to me. Actually it's almost like he's avoiding me. Anyways, I'm meeting up with him tonight and...how do I get him to talk? I just... I hate the wall that's been pushing us apart. He's...he's my best friend. I don't want to push him away even more than he already is. I can't lose him. But this...this isn't working."

"Mari...Marinette stop. Breathe," he watched her closely as she did so, slumping in her chair. "You should ask. If he really is your best friend, you're not going to lose him by getting him to talk. Who knows, he may need the push."

She looked up at him, seeing the young boy she fell in love with, the one she was a stuttering mess before. When did that stop? Marinette smiled. It stopped when he needed a friend more than she needed love. "Thanks Adrien."

"Come on, I'll walk you out."

She blushed and hurriedly closed everything down and stuffed her papers in her bag, "Oh, and thanks for the coffee this morning. Any chance I can pay you back?"

His smile grew warm, a rare sight nowadays, "You already did."

"Huh?"

"The cookies?"

"Tha-those, I, uh, what cookies?"

He chuckled, "I know Dupain-Cheng cookies just by smell alone. They were delicious. And...much needed. The coffee was me paying you back."

They walked to her car and she paused, "Still, next time Alya and Nino drag us to a new restaurant and ditch us, I'll pay."

"I'd like to see you try," he opened her door for her, a slight smirk and gleam in his eyes. A challenge. A crack in the shell he built around him. She grinned, sliding into her car.

"Challenge accepted monsieur." Her eyebrow quirked up to match her grin as she shut the door. He laughed as she drove off and that laugh carried her all the way home and all the way to the Eiffel Tower.

Marinette fingered the box of cookies and tarts in her hands. She couldn't help it. Baking was stress relieving. And her parents taught that bad days were always made better with baked goods. She stared at the skyline as there was a soft thump beside her. Her heart lifted at that sound. He came.

Smiling brightly, Ladybug faced her partner and threw him into a hug, his greeting lost in her actions.

"T-to what do I owe the pleasure, my lady?"

"I missed you chaton." She sat and patted the space next to her. He hesitated, his ears flat on his head. Her smile dropped, "Please?"

With a sigh, he dropped beside her and accepted the cookies she offered. A silence stretched between them as she struggled for how to start. Hawkmoth. That's where it went wrong, that's where she would be begin.

"Did you know Hawkmoth was grieving?" She asked, her voice quiet and low, "His wish was to bring his wife back. He couldn't move on. He shut himself off from his life, his son. The grief consumed him. So much so that the he couldn't see what the wish would cost him. It broke him, Chat. And... and his son-" Marinette stopped, her voice cracking, "His son has to bear that burden. The stupid boy is doing it alone. One day he's in college and pursuing his dream for once in his life and then I swoop in and ruin that."

"Ladybug, what..."

"I care about you Chat. And I already ruined Adrien's life and I accept that I've lost any chance with him. And I'll make that choice every day, but... I can't lose you too. Please don't let me lose you too."

Strong arms were suddenly around her and she returned the hug, grasping onto Chat like a lifeline. He buried his face into her shoulder, "You won't lose me my lady. I'm right here."

"Then how come I can't see you?" she hiccupped.

He pulled back, "What are you talking about?"

She took an unsteady breath, "I know I know you. I know it, but...I can't...see it. Tikki, my kwami, said the miraculous keeps us from doing an accidental reveal. We have to both want it. And Chat, I feel like I'm drowning I want it so bad, but...you don't."

Chat grew still, unaware as his tail wrapped around her leg. His eyes grew distant again, "What if you don't like what you see?"

"Impossible."

"The son of Hawkmoth you spoke of, does he know about you?"

"That I'm Ladybug? No. I didn't want him to hate me, to know I ruined his life."

"Sounds like you don't know him that well then."

She quirked an eyebrow, eyes never leaving his face, watching storm clouds crowding her happy kitten's glow, "I know him pretty well. He's kind and brave and selfless. The epitome of goodness wrapped up in the worst luck I've ever seen."

"Alright."

"Alright what?"

Chat stood, taking her hands and dragging her up with him. "I trust you. Wholly. Completely. Plagg, claws out."

"Spots off." she whispered, blinding light surrounding the young adults. There was a gasp, though she wasn't sure who initiated it and suddenly she was engulfed in a hug, her chaton, her Adrien, whispering her name over and over.

"I'm so glad I told you to talk to me," he mumbled gruffly, not releasing his vice grip. Fingers dug in his hair and she held him tightly.

Warmth spread from her head to her toes. She was complete. Here in his arms was all she needed, the masks fallen away, the two pieces finally converging and crashing together. Heartache and grief and pain all finally crashing down in each other's arms to a future of healing and joy and life.