"Breath, kid, breath..."

Hands on his knees, Adrien tried to stop himself from emptying the contempt of his stomach on the street. Passersby weren't even looking at him, probably used to this kind of scene by now. But when they saw a young man who probably had too much to drink, they didn't see the haunted eyes or the tears running down his cheeks.

After a few minutes, now sure he wasn't going to puke, Adrien let himself fall to the ground, his back to the wall. He looked to his right, where Alya was sitting, teary eyes fixed on the night sky. He glanced around, frowning.

"Turtle boy went back inside to fetch you guys some water," Plagg explained inside Adrien's pocket.

The latter simply nodded, too numb to talk. To think of anything rational. The only thing he had in mind was Marinette. Or rather, Victoria.

It was like being confronted with a memory that wasn't quite right. She was slightly taller, her body curvier, her face older. But the eyes were the same shade of dark blue, without the sparkle in it. The lips were just as he remembered, perhaps a bit fuller. Her smile was the same, although it was forced and shy. But her hair was a light brown instead of black so deep it shined blue under the sun. And most importantly, there was no sign of recognition in her eyes. No sign that she knew who they were. No sign of the loving friend and brave partner he so deeply loved. No sign of Ladybug. She was just another random girl who bore a striking resemblance to Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He wished he could say she was a pale copy of the original. That she wasn't as pretty. But he couldn't, because Victoria was without a doubt the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She was exactly how he imagined Marinette would've looked like if she had gotten the chance to grow older. Minus the hair. He couldn't get over that, for some reason.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" he whispered. "How much she looks like her, I mean."

Alya laughed without humor. "Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it." A pause, then; "You okay?"

"No. Are you?"

"No."

"You guys know it's not her fault, right?"

They both jumped and turned to look at Nino who was crunching down beside them with water bottles in his hands.

"Victoria," he explained, handing them the beverages. "It's not her fault if she looks like Mari."

"Of course. We know that." Alya assured.

"Do you?" Nino asked, glancing pointedly at Adrien.

He didn't want to admit it. Couldn't admit it. Of course, it wasn't her fault! But… but how dared she? How dared she looked like her? How dared she walked around with her face without a care in the world? He knew it wasn't rational. Knew Victoria had nothing to do with this. But god, it hurts.

"I know it's not her fault. It's just…"

It was just weird, unfair, the universe's most cruel joke. But Adrien didn't know how to express it. Didn't know how to explain that for a brief second, his wildest dream had come true, only to crumble down immediately after. Because Marinette wasn't coming back to life. He knew that better than anyone else. He had held her lifeless body in his own damn hands. And yet, yet, the second Victoria smiled at him, it was like this heavy weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders. Like he could breathe for the first time in seven long years.

Fuck, he needed a drink. Or two. Screw that, he needed to be blacked out drunk and forget everything, down to his own name. Only then, maybe, would he feel better.

"I know," Nino said when Adrien failed to finish his sentence. "I know it hurts, trust me. Mari and I… we've been friends since we were babies. She was like my sister. So trust me, I know how much you guys are hurting. But do you think she would want us to stay this miserable after almost ten years? She would want us to move on." He looked at Adrien. "To be happy."

"I try."

"Nino," Alya started but stopped herself when she saw who was coming out of the building.

Victoria and Dylan were both looking uncomfortable, the latter trying hard to avoid the three Parisians. He was holding his girlfriend's hand and tugging her along. But she looked hesitant, opening her mouth and then closing it, her eyes darting around between them, Dylan, the taxi that had just parked in front of the building, and the ground.

"Let's go, babe," Dylan muttered. "The car's here."

She frowned but followed him, now keeping her eyes on the ground. But as Dylan opened the door of the taxi for her, she suddenly turned around and blurted out: "I'm truly sorry for your loss."

Even her fucking voice… If it wasn't for the missing accent…

God, Adrien thought, can I just die?

Victoria finally entered the car, followed by Dylan who merely nodded at them.

"What do we do now?" Alya asked as she watched them leave. "Go back up and eat with Reid and Lila like everything's normal?"

"I mean…", Nino started, passing his hand through his hair, clearly in some sort of dilemma. "I don't really want to, but…"

"But it's your career," Adrien completed for him. "It's important."

"Not as much as you, guys."

Adrien stood up and held his hand to Alya. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine and even smile. And then, we'll go back home and get drunk on the couch. I've been faking my entire life. Trust me, a few hours won't be the end of me."

"That was deeply concerning but yeah, sounds like a plan," Alya claimed.

"Alright then, let's go. I love you guys so much, you know that, right?"

"Oh, Nino, come here. You too, Adrien. I think we deserve a group hug."

"Yeah," Adrien whispered. "I think we do."

They held each other for a minute, just like they'd been holding each other for the past years. Life was painful and brutal, but in the end, this love was worth living for.

"Ready guys?" Nino asked a minute later.

"Ready as we'll ever be."

"Oh my God, guys, you came back!" Lila exclaimed once they were back in the apartment. "I wasn't sure, given the fact that… Well, you know."

Alya took a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, well, we're here so let's eat, alright?"

"Of course, yes! But I just wanna say," she grabbed Adrien's hands who, surprised, almost pulled back with disgust, but managed to stop himself at the very last second, "how very sorry I am for this. I should've warned you better. Vee, I mean Victoria, is my best friend, but I remember how weird it was the first time I saw her. God, I almost burst into tears right there and then!"

"It's fine," Adrien mumbled through gritted teeth, carefully removing his hands from her grip. "Thanks."

"Of course, follow me. Reid, baby, they're back! Let's eat!"

As Lila cheerfully led them to the dining room, Alya trailed behind, lost in thought. Because there was something weird to this whole thing. No matter how much she tried to rationalize this, something was off. And God knows she was going to get to the end of this. Even if this was the last thing she would do.

—

The ceiling was moving. Or the bed. Maybe both. Wait, what was the door suddenly doing there…

Alright, so maybe Adrien was drunk. At least he was still conscious, which was more than what Alya and Nino could say. As soon as they had opened the door of his apartment, Nino had made them drinks, and Alya had drunk herself to the brink of death, mumbling here and there things about dying, friendship, love, and resurrection. None of it was really clear, but Nino had still nodded until he eventually fell asleep right on the table next to her. Adrien had then transformed for a second to take them both to their bed before crashing into his own.

He was glad to have Plagg curled up next to him, purring. He wasn't doing that all that often. Just when he thought Adrien desperately needed some support.

So, OK, maybe it was pretty often. But still.

Adrien closed his eyes, praying that it would make the world stop spinning so damn fast. But as always, behind his lids were hiding the most painful of memories. The ones that taunt him even in his sleep. The memories that only death would free him from. Tonight, it was one of the worst of all. The memory of her lips and the promises they held.

SEVEN YEARS AGO

"So, I've been thinking…"

"Wow, are you okay?"

"OK, first of all, rude. Second of all, as I was saying before a certain Lady interrupted me," Chat Noir pointedly stared at Ladybug, who laughed, "I've been thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that we absolutely should have a party with all the other holders."

Ladybug stared at him for a moment, confused, before simply going; "Uh?"

"Think about it! We could give the other holders their miraculous for the night and we just rent a hotel room and have a party! We tested it last month, you and I, and now we know that we can get drunk in our suits, it's just harder. So, why not do it with the others? Let's have some fun, for a change!"

"Kitty, have you lost your goddamn mind?"

"It would be good for the team's morale!"

Ladybug turned to look at the Eiffel Tower, mostly just to hide her smile. It was a terrible idea and she knew that he knew it too. It was a recipe for disaster. Putting a bunch of drunk superheroes with powers and secret identities in a room together? Nothing good could come out of it, except too many reveals. Obviously, they couldn't risk that.

But, if Marinette was completely honest with herself, it did sound fun… And after all, Chat Noir and her had gotten drunk last month and both of their secret identities were fine. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, after all?

No, it most definitely was a terrible idea. But she was still young, couldn't she enjoy her youth once in a while?

She turned towards him and he was already looking at her with a smirk, knowing perfectly well what she was thinking.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?"

"Yeah, but I'm your pain in the ass," he laughed.

And that was true, now more than ever. He was stupid, brave, sweet, and hers. It had taken her weeks to admit her growing feelings for him. At first, she couldn't believe it herself. She thought she could never get over Adrien, not after their breakup. It had hurt so much to split up with him, but hiding her secret identity from him was too hard. Their breakup hadn't been messy thankfully, especially since it turned out that Adrien had had the same idea - which in itself was also incredibly hurtful. They were still talking since their best friends were dating, but it had been so hard. Being always near him, yet unable to kiss him, to talk to him, to hold him, or to feel his skin on hers... It had killed her slowly.

But little by little, Chat Noir had grown on her. She knew he was going through something similar. He had cried about it a few times, talking about how he had to break up with his girlfriend despite being in love with her. But he didn't have a choice, the secrets were too much. And who knows, maybe, one day, when the timing would be right…

They had helped themselves through their respective breakup, giving each other a shoulder to cry on and an ear always ready to listen since none of their friends could understand. Eventually, the pain faded. It was still there, buried somewhere deep inside, but something else was coming back up. Something that had always been there. This comfort and faith in each other. Marinette had slowly come to realize that Chat Noir was not only the only person in the world who could understand her but also the only one she fully trusted with her life. He was more than her friend. He was her partner, her best friend, her other half.

Once she realized what was happening, she panicked. What about Chat Blanc? But Tikki had been a great help. She calmed her down, saying that if anything were to happen, Bunnix would make an appearance. For now, she just had to follow her heart.

Honestly, given the fact that it took an eternity for Marinette to admit her feelings to Adrien, Tikki probably thought that Marinette would never say anything to Chat. But every time she saw him, this need to scream it out grew bigger and bigger. She wanted to grab his face and kiss him senselessly. And she was pretty damn sure that his feelings for her were back, too. She could see it in the way he looked at her, in the way he would bend down to kiss her hand or her cheek, right on the corner of her mouth, his lips lingering for a moment too long…

God, she wished it wasn't all in her head. How ironic would it be if, after all those years, she finally fell in love with him while he saw her as nothing more than a good friend?

"I guess you are," she admitted. "Unfortunately for me."

"At least I have a great ass, don't you think?"

"Oh please!" she laughed, feeling her cheeks burning. "If one of us has a great ass, it's me."

"Can't deny it, it's a really nice one."

"Are you saying that you've been looking?" she asked, arms crossed over her chest and frowning, while also trying to keep herself from smiling.

"M'Lady, you're always running in front of me and I'm just a boy. What am I supposed to do?"

She definitely couldn't admit that she did kind of wanted him to look…

"Look at the sky, maybe? Or quite literally anywhere else?"

"It's not nearly as interesting."

"Pervert."

He started laughing, head thrown back and eyes closed. His skin was glowing with the last rays of sunshine and Marinette felt her heart filled up with love. She could simply look away. She should…

Ah, screw it, she thought.

She moved fast, pulled him by the chin, and brought his lips to hers. Chat Noir immediately froze. Had he not noticed all the signs she had been dropping in the past weeks? All the hints that made it clear that her feelings had changed? For a second, Ladybug panicked, afraid that he was going to push her away. God, that would be so embarrassing!

But he delicately cupped her cheek, his other hand grabbing her hip, and his lips started moving against hers. First slowly, and then with the same passion, the same need. And what started as a sweet kiss changed into a desperate one as fire burned inside them. She wasn't sure when, exactly, she had moved to straddle him, but neither one of them was complaining about it, that's for sure.

When they parted, the sun was long gone. Chat Noir's hair was even messier than usual and Ladybug had lost both her pigtails. Their lips were red and swollen from being kissed for so long. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter. Everything was fine. The world hadn't collapsed into itself and Chat Noir wanted to kiss her, too! Marinette could almost feel all of her doubts and her anxiety melting away, leaving place for this inner peace she used to only feel around Adrien. Oh, how things changed!

Chat Noir brought her back to him, his lips softly kissing her this time. At that moment, Marinette knew in her heart, without a shadow of a doubt, that everything would be ok for them.