Adrien had taken a long, hot shower and then spent most of the rest of his day sleeping, biding his time. With the looming threat of a new Hawkmoth, he knew he needed to get word to Ladybug without further delay. That in mind, he planned to track her down tonight and finally have the talk he'd been putting off the most.

The later it got, the harder it was to sleep... too much was riding on tonight's conversation. To distract himself, Adrien had been bulk deleting messages that were filling up his voicemail. Most of them didn't matter now.

He paused when he found just one from Marinette. He'd have expected more, considering how many times it showed she had tried to call. His finger hovered towards the delete button, but he changed his mind and decided to let it play.

The truth was, he ached to hear her voice, to hold her close. Before her little slip up, she had been one of the most important people grounding him through this whole mess... but if she refused to trust him, then things would have to change between them... as much as he didn't know if he'd be able to get over her.

"Adrien... I know you must have half a million messages by now, but if you find this one, just know I'm thinking about you. I'm worried. Nobody knows where you are or if you're okay. If you can... come home. If you need help... tell me..." he could hear her breathing hitch a moment, "I love you."

Adrien swallowed a lump in his throat and held his phone close.
"I love you, too, Marinette." he whispered, silently praying that if ever his lucky stars could align, that she would work through this with him.

~x~x~x~

As evening drew in, Adrien looked to Plagg, "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Plagg acknowledged, "What about you?"

"I'm not sure." Adrien confessed, "But she has to know the new Hawkmoth seems to already have it out for her, so there's no point in putting it off any longer."

"What are you going to do if things go sour? You're not planning to give back your miraculous, are you?" Plagg asked, looking concerned.

Adrien shook his head, "I think... we're in too deep now. If Ladybug and I can't talk things out, then that'll change a lot of things." his eyes clouded a moment, "...But I've decided, no matter what, I'm Cat Noir."

Plagg nodded, "Then what are we waiting for? I've got my paws crossed for you, my friend!"

Adrien nodded slightly, "Plagg... Claws out!"

As Cat Noir, he let himself out his bedroom window and up onto the rooftops.
He opened up the map function on his staff and smirked faintly.
Just as he'd thought, Ladybug was out and about.
He followed her coordinates carefully.

~x~x~x~

Ladybug flinched as a shadow leaped down beside her, tensed to fight.

"Whoah. Somebody's uptight tonight." Cat Noir mused, pushing her fist away with his staff, "Mind putting that down?"

Ladybug's eyes widened as her stance relaxed, "Cat Noir? Where have you been? Are you okay?" she started rattling off questions like a mother hen, looking him over critically.

He shook his head simply, "Can we talk somewhere a bit more private? It's important."

Ladybug watched him, "Uh... sure. Rena Rouge and Carapace are on patrol, anyway... Where did you have in mind?"

"How about the roof of the Dupain-Cheng Bakery? I'm friends with their daughter, so even if she notices us, she should let us be." Cat Noir said smoothly.

Ladybug felt a flutter of nerves but decided it should be okay.
Her parents were out tonight, and it ought to be secure enough... as long as he didn't try to pop in and visit 'Marinette'.
"Oh... um, alright." she agreed.

"Then my lady first?" Cat Noir dipped with a bow.
For a moment, everything felt just like normal.
Though Ladybug reminded herself that if he wanted to talk privately, something was up.

It wasn't long before the pair were perched on the bakery roof.
All the lights inside were off, adding to the quiet atmosphere.
"So," Ladybug said, "You wanted to talk?"

Cat Noir nodded, "First off, there's a new Hawkmoth out there. Someone must've found the butterfly miraculous."

Ladybug frowned deeply, "I was afraid of that. Are you sure?"

Another nod, "Real sure. She goes by Chrysalis. She tried to akumatize me, actually." he stated.

Ladybug blinked, "Akumatize you? What? When... When did this happen?"

"Last night. I resisted, but she seemed to have it out for you, so I thought you should know." Cat Noir said.

"Thank you." Ladybug nodded solemnly, "...Is there anything else?"
He seemed to be holding back.

She was rewarded with another nod from Cat Noir.
"It's about the other day. You know, when you said the secrets were getting too heavy again?"

Ladybug felt her heart start to beat a little harder.
"What about it?" she asked carefully, "If I said something that bothered you-"

"No." Cat Noir cut her off, "It's not anything you said that bothered me per se. It's more, you said it to me without knowing you were saying it to me."

"What? Cat Noir, you're not making sense..." Ladybug said.

"Forgive me."

"Forgive you? Forgive you for what?" her forehead creased in confusion.

"Plagg... claws in."

Ladybug shrieked and covered her eyes before she could catch a glimpse, "Cat Noir, what's wrong with you?! We're not supposed to know each other's secret identities! It won't end well!"

"M'lady, just look at me. You don't know this will be a bad thing." Cat Noir said.

"Yes, I do." Ladybug argued, "You don't understand!"

"Then help me understand." Cat Noir implored.

"It's not that simple!" Ladybug spat.

"What's not that simple, Marinette?"

Ladybug felt her blood run cold.
Images of Cat Blanc's twisted grin flashing through her head, the brokenness in his brilliant blue eyes...
"W-What did you just call me?" she asked.

"Marinette." his reply came calmly.

"That's not-"

"Yes, it is." he replied firmly, "Marinette, will you please just look at me?"
Something in his tone was desperate.

Ladybug swallowed hard, half-expecting Bunnyx to show up and berate her any moment.
Slowly, she lowered her hands from her eyes and gaped, "A-A-Adrien?! You... You're Cat Noir? Oh no... you're Cat Noir." she held her head in her hands.

Adrien couldn't help but smirk faintly, "That upsetting, huh?"

"N-No! It's just..." Ladybug covered her face again, mortified, "I've used you as bait! I've mocked your puns and thrown you across Paris!" her face was coloring.

"Not mad about any of that. I agreed to it." Adrien mused, "But there's still the matter of the other night." his tone grew more serious.

Sudden realization hit her, and Ladybug paled.
"Oh no... Adrien... I... I wasn't supposed to tell you any of that. I'm sorry... I promised your father that I wouldn't ruin your memories of him... And then I told you that you were a senti..." she clasped a hand over her mouth, "I...I... really screwed up."

"The only part that you screwed up is not telling me in the first place." Adrien said firmly, "Why didn't you?"

Ladybug looked down, "Well... I... your dad was going to die from the cataclysm anyway and I'd promised..." she said weakly, "I... I just wanted you to be able to be happy..." tears were budding in her eyes.

"Forget the promise for a moment. You gave me the rings and told me I was free, but you couldn't tell me what I was? Why? Didn't you trust me? Could you imagine what could happen if I didn't know and someone got ahold of my amok?"

"I realize that now..." Ladybug's voice came pitifully, "I just... I didn't want it to break you. You've already been through so much. You deserved to not have to worry!" she swallowed hard against a lump in her throat.

In his heart, Adrien was starting to feel a bit bad. He could see that this had all been effecting her deeply. Even at the start of this whole mess, the weight of it all had been smothering her. But this was important, and so he pressed on.
"You're still not answering me. Do you trust me or not?"

"Of course I trust you, with all my heart!" Ladybug said.

"Then what made you think I couldn't handle the truth? It's not the first time you've kept secrets from me... as Adrien or Cat Noir." he said, watching her, "If you truly trust me as much as you claim, then tell me why."

Ladybug looked conflicted, she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
Tears were running down her cheeks now and she was holding her head.
"I can't. I can't. I can't." she started whispering feverishly.

Adrien felt himself slightly taken aback by how strong her reaction was.
She was fairly rocking back and forth now, nearly hyperventilating.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she looked up at him like a stricken puppy.
"You can." he said in a firm, but gentle tone.

"No. No. Nononononono." Ladybug said tearfully, "You don't understand! You yourself said a new Hawkmoth is out there, the more secrets we share, the more danger we put ourselves and everyone else in! Everything could be over! We know too many things about each other already!"
She felt sick.
Too many times she'd been warned, too many times things were reset in some shape or form... not all of which she could remember. But still, that one time was burned into her mind... That alone was enough.

Adrien never looked away, but he gave her shoulders a squeeze.
"Marinette, don't shut me out." he implored, "The secrets... I don't doubt they served their purpose when my dad was Monarch, but I don't think they're going to help us this time."

Her eyes searched his, looking for some good reason to believe him.
All she could see was Cat Blanc, all she could remember was every time things had blown up in her face. She was terrified.

"This new enemy... she doesn't seem to just want a wish from the miraculous. In fact, she didn't ask for it. All she wanted was to make you suffer." Adrien watched her eyes widen further, but he continued, "If this enemy has a personal vendetta against you that deep, then it makes more sense for us to be open and honest with each other. If there are no secrets, then there's no room for seeds of doubt. We'll conquer any lies...together." he promised.

Ladybug's lip trembled, "A-Adrien. I'm scared... I'm so scared." she admitted.

"I know." he pulled her close, "Just please, trust me now if never before."

Ladybug wrestled with her subconscious before slumping slightly into his embrace.
"A-Alright... You want to know why I'm so scared?"

Adrien pulled back enough to look at her.

Ladybug took a deep breath, "This... isn't the first time we've been together... At least, I don't really remember all of the other timeline because it got erased... but..." she tried to figure out how to word things.

"...Take your time." Adrien was perplexed, but satisfied with her decision to open up.

Ladybug nodded slightly, "Remember the beret on your fifth name's day?"

He blinked, thrown off by what seemed an arbitrary detail, but nodded.

"It was something I made you... as Marinette, but I was stupid enough to drop it off as Ladybug and... well...you put two and two together and found out my identity." she shook her head, fighting off the nightmares that still came in flashes, "But it was a mistake!... I never thought something that seemed so small could blow up into something so large... but it had world-ending consequences."

"You're... exaggerating, right?"
He hoped, at least.

Her lips formed a thin line which caused Adrien to pale slightly.
"I don't know everything that happened because Bunnyx dragged me through time to help fix things, but from what I understand, you and I had started dating and eventually Hawkmoth found us out..." she trailed off a moment, now processing the horrible extra layer of that.

All Adrien could offer was a short nod, encouraging her to continue.

"He akumatized you and... and when I saw you... you'd been that way for months." She was getting choked up, tears starting to fall, "You'd become Cat Blanc, a white version of Cat Noir with infinitely more powerful cataclysms. You'd destroyed everything and everyone around you... even the moon. Paris was in shambles, the oceans were risen... but the worst was seeing you just so... broken." she tried to fight it, but sobbed helplessly, "You were in so much pain... so empty... ruthless... it broke my heart..." She could barely speak through her tears. She choked out more sobs and took a deep, shaky breath, just trying to continue.
"After the timeline was repaired... I couldn't bear the thought of anything like that ever happening to you again. I couldn't risk something small between us spiraling into literal Hell on Earth!"

Adrien flinched, glimpses of his own nightmares surfacing.
Holding his lady as a pile of ashes... destroying everyone around him...
He felt sickened to think it was real in any reality... even one that had been erased.

"So... that's it then..." He found his tongue, voice very quiet.
The reason she tiptoed around him... All this time...

Plagg had been right on the money, but seeing it first-hand was another matter. In her position, she had seen things none of them knew about... and it had traumatized her. Understandably so, because they weren't just dreams... she'd lived those things. The closest he could relate was his short time as Aspik, trying again and again to save her, but he shuddered to think of living through anything like Ladybug described and not being able to tell a soul.

Ladybug was hysterical at this point, sobbing, "I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry, Adrien! I've been trying s-so hard, but no matter what I do I always r-r-ruin everythiiiiing!" she cried, "I was so w-worried when you went missing, and now I know even that was all my fault and I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry!"

He broke free of his stunned stupor and pulled her close.
"Oh, Marinette."

She was shaking like a leaf, sobbing uncontrollably.
Any last bits of anger towards her had melted away.
He held her tighter, "Hey... Hey... Shhhh. It's okay, Marinette. I forgive you. It's going to be okay."

He rocked back and forth with her gently and as her crying softened, he wiped her tears away gently with his thumb.
"Thank you for being honest with me." he said quietly, offering her a soft smile in hopes to reassure her some.

"I'm sorry." was all she could find to say, whispering it now, blue eyes glistening. "I'm so so sorry."

"I'm not mad anymore." Adrien promised, planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm... I'm still so scared." she admitted softly.

"I know." Adrien said, "But we'll face this together. I trust you, just don't stop trusting me."

"I won't... I promise, I won't." Ladybug sniffed, "Spots Off."
Now Marinette, she hugged Adrien close.

He ran a hand through her hair and pulled one of her hands up to his lips, planting a reassuring kiss.
"I missed you, by the way." he told her quietly.

"I missed you, too. I was so worried you were gone for good." Marinette admitted.

He pulled her closer still, their faces inches apart.
"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." her voice was hoarse from crying.
She leaned up and kissed him, a gesture he returned.
Then another.

They pulled apart.
"You're back now. That's the important part." Marinette decided.
They sat in silence a moment, "We could go down into my room if you want." she said at length.

"If you want." Adrien said, "If it's just the same to you, though, I'm content to just sit here and stargaze with you."

Marinette glanced at him, then snuggled up close.
"Okay then."

~x~x~x~

Tikki floated over by Plagg a little ways off, "You really think things will work out this time?"

"I'm not sure, Sugar Cube." Plagg admitted, "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see."
They stared at the pair of teens.

"For now, at least, they're awfully cute." Tikki acknowledged. She glanced at Plagg, "No comments about how gross they are?" she asked in surprise.

"Eh." Plagg said dismissively, "It's been a rough few days, let them have their moment."

Author's Note:
A special thanks to Rose Tiger for your kind review on the last chapter! I'm glad you liked it! There's only one more chapter left to this fic, now that Adrien has the information he was looking for. It's been a joy writing this and I hope to write more for this fandom- oneshots or otherwise. Reviews make me happy and I'll see you all in Chapter 8!