You guys are amazing. The response last chapter got was overwhelming. I can't thank you guys enough for sticking with me.

Adrien felt his blood painfully pounding in his head, in his heart. How could this even be possible? Maybe he was imagining all this, maybe his lovesick mind had finally gone mad? Maybe Marinette also had a friend she oddly nicknamed Chat Noir? Maybe that friend also happened to call her princess? Maybe he had texted her the exact same message he had sent his lady at the exact same time? Maybe, maybe it was just all a miraculous coincidence. Because it simply just couldn't be what it seemed to be. He couldn't have been oblivious enough to spend the last two weeks in her sole company without realizing she was the dear princess he had been hopelessly in love with all this time. He couldn't possibly have been sitting in the same room as her, texting her, without even suspecting anything all along.

He impossibly could be lucky enough for the two women he loved to be one and only.

His heart beating so hard in his chest he was afraid it would explode at any given time, Adrien went back to his bedroom at a mechanical pace and picked up from the floor the pants he had on when he showed up at her place earlier that day. Reaching for the front pocket, shaky fingers clenched around the small piece of paper she had given him and he looked at the numbers she had scribbled down, his vision getting blurry from anticipation. Unlocking his own phone, he pressed on Add contact and typed in the digits Marinette had provided him with. Deep down, Adrien knew perfectly what would happen. It didn't prevent him though from feeling like he was free-falling down a skyscraper when his phone prompted him with an error message, confirming what he already knew by then without any lingering doubt:
Contact already existing. Do you want to replace [Ladybug] with [Dupain-Cheng, Marinette]?
Adrien couldn't bring himself to answer the simple question the little device was asking him. His fingers ultimately gave up on holding it, shaking so much the telephone hit the floor with a soft thud.

The blond felt dizzy, overwhelmed. What he knew about both girls began to overlap in his mind, connecting now very obvious dots and filling blatant holes in their respective personalities.

The great internship Ladybug had been hoping to get in a big fashion house was the one Marinette had gotten at Agreste.

The nosy best friend was obviously Alya, and the dress Ladybug had gone MIA for a few days to sew was the masterpiece he had genuinely praised Marinette's talent for making.

The kitten Marinette had recently gotten was Tikki, the ginger ball of fur Ladybug had been so proud to show off.

The reason Marinette had closed her apartment door behind her when he had been at her place to make up for their fight was probably to make sure said Tikki wouldn't escape.

Of course, Ladybug's parents owned a shop, himself had been a fan of Tom and Sabine's bakery for years.

Both of their birthdays were in July, a fact he hadn't registered until this very second.

They both loved pink an awful lot.

Now that he knew Marinette better on a personal level, it was easy to see they were both equally sassy, passionate and endlessly kind.

Other dots, on the other hand, were cruelly painful to connect.

Of course, Ladybug had been freaked about being dragged to the strippers given Marinette's past! What in the world had the girls been thinking? And to think Nino was convinced his bride-to-be was having an innocent sleepover that night.

On the night of the wedding, Ladybug had fallen asleep on the line mere seconds before Adrien had found a sleeping Marinette on her couch, her phone in her hand.

Wait a second.

Marinette had almost been raped by Nathanael four years ago. Ladybug had drunkenly confessed that evening that she would have had a three-year-old by now had she made another life-altering choice.

His head started spinning madly as what that fact implied sunk in, and Adrien had to sit down on his bed.

FUCK.

There had never been an almost.

Nathanael had raped her, and she had had to get an abortion because of him. He didn't know the exact reason why she'd felt the need to lie about it, but it was crystal clear that she had now.

To think about all the things she had had to go through on her own made Adrien's heart ache desperately for her. No wonder Marinette reacted that way when he foolishly tried to push their relationship further. No wonder Ladybug wasn't interested in anything more than platonic with anybody. The poor girl had been scarred for life by a monster that Adrien dearly wished worst than dead at that precise second.

But if Marinette was really Ladybug, who was the mystery boss she had loved for seven long years? She couldn't possibly be infatuated with his dad, it would be a very disturbing idea, and he was pretty sure she had mentioned her boss was an old class-

Oh.

Adrien stood abruptly in the middle of his bedroom, clutching at her phone for dear life, a lovesick grin spreading on his face.

It was him.

Ladybug was in love with him. MARINETTE LOVED HIM.

He ran his hand nervously through his hair, still trying to reign in all the implications of her double identity.

He needed to see her.

Rendered completely obvious to his surroundings by that sudden revelation, Adrien raced down his stairs for the second time that day. Somewhere along the afternoon, it had started pouring rain, but the young man never even realized it. He sprinted toward her apartment, hoping to catch up with her as soon as possible, not bothering to stop and take his car. He needed her. He needed to be there for her, to help her heal. She had been through so much all on her own, without anyone to fully rely on, without anyone knowing the whole truth. He made a vow then and there, as he ran blindly under the angry sky, to never ever let her down. To be by her side through everything, to love her till his last breathing.

He finally spotted the familiar lithe figure reaching her building, clutching her arms tightly around her chest like she was trying to prevent herself from falling apart into pieces. The rain had washed down the tears on her face, but her red and swollen eyes spoke volumes.
"Marinette!"
Startled, she looked up and her eyes widened as she saw him finally catching up with her, out of breath, clutching her phone desperately in his right hand. Frowning, she breathed softly:
"Please tell me you didn't really run all the way here in the rain only to give me back my phone?"
Ignoring her question, Adrien grabbed her shoulders and turned her toward him, firmly planting his gaze into hers, grassy green meeting bluebell once again. He was shaking uncontrollably but he didn't care the slightest:
"I don't want to wait until we're thirty-five to be with you Marinette. I don't care how slow we'd have to go for us to work out, heck I don't even give a damn if we never go past the holding hands stage. I just want to love you."
Confused, the young lady bore her gaze into his, searching for answers he was more than willing to give:
"What? What did you just say?"
His voice shaking, Adrien repeated softly:
"I don't wanna wait until thirty-five. And I sure as hell don't want another woman to steal my heart away from you. Apparently, we need to have another conversation about our relationship as co-workers, I'm still not convinced Plagg isn't possessed, and now I'm kinda mad you didn't elope with your so-called boss after all, but I do know that I love you. I love you, princess. You and only you."

He saw realization slowly filling her bluebell eyes as recognition dawned on her. She raised a tentative hand, caressing his cheek tenderly:
"Chat?"
Adrien nodded, a huge lump forming in his throat:
"I'm sorry, my lady. I know you didn't want me to find you, but you forgot your phone at my place. When I texted Ladybug, your phone went off on my kitchen table."
He saw her eyes filled with tears again and had to refrain himself from hugging her. The young man didn't even know if they were happy tears or not. Her hand still resting on his cheek, she closed her eyes, tears now freely streaming down her face through the rain.
"You are really my kitty? Mon chaton?"
Emboldened by her reaction to his revelation, more positive than he would've dared to dream of, Adrien rested his forehead against hers, ignoring the wet locks glued to theirs faces:
"I am. Always been. Allow me to love you, Mari. Don't you see it? It's always been you, and only you. There has never been another woman in my heart. I've loved you ever since that blessed morning where you texted me by mistake at five a.m. And I've spent the last two weeks falling for you all over again."

Marinette kept her eyes closed as if she couldn't bear even looking at him. Shaking her head slightly, she whispered just barely loud enough for him to hear:
"I don't… I can't…"
The blond's heart was beating so hard it was almost painful. Covering the hand that was still lingering on his face with his own, Adrien reveled in her touch for a second.
"I'm ready for anything if it means being with you, Mari. You can tell my anything. Tell me you're not ready and I'll wait all my life if it's what it takes."
She still shook her head stubbornly:
"That would be so unfair to you."
Adrien went on, ignoring her objection:
"You can tell me that you're scared, and we'll work this out together, at your pace."
"It's not that eas-"
"But don't you dare tell me you don't feel the same about me. Don't tell me you don't love me, Mari, I won't believe you because I know you do."

Hearing those truthful words seemed to awaken something in Marinette. She opened her eyes, slowly, and sustained his loving gaze. She didn't move, didn't flinch, didn't try to remove her hand from his cheek. She just stood there, under the pouring rain, her forehead resting against his, both their hands on his face. He noted that her other hand was clutching desperately on his shirt as his was still holding her phone. They stood there a few minutes, looking into each other souls, searching for answers they were the only ones to hold.
When Marinette spoke again, it was barely even a whisper:
"I do love you. So much it terrifies me. But I don't know how…"

At that, Adrien didn't hold himself back anymore. He wrapped his arms around her into a tight embrace and buried his face in her damp hair:
"I'd give anything to go back in time and fix that up. To somehow prevent this from happening to you. I know it won't be easy, but you ARE so worth it, my lady. He stole so, so much from you, Mari. Don't let your fears steal your happiness too. If you do that, he wins."
A single, broken sob escaped her lips, and Adrien tightened his embrace around her, gently stroking her back.
"I'm not expecting anything from you, Mari. I'm willing to take whatever you're comfortable enough to offer me. I told you earlier, I'm fine with ever getting just to hold your hand. Just let me be there for you through hard times. That's all I'm asking for. I don't want you to be alone ever again. I want to protect you, to laugh with you. I want to share the good and the bad with you. I just want to be with that incredible, amazing, talented and beautiful girl you've taught me to love so much."

He kissed her temple, putting all the love he held for her into that simple kiss:
"Just let me love you like we both need to."