A/N: Before we begin this story, I want to start by letting you all know that no salt, hate or negative opinions regarding season five's finale or the show in general will be tolerated in my works. So if any of yous even dare to do that, not only will your comment be deleted but you will also be blocked on all socials because I'm so fucking sick and tired of the negativity in fandom spaces.

Spaces that were created where we could express how much we love the source material and its characters, ruined by haters who can't shut their fucking mouths and invade every positive fan's post because how dare we enjoy something.

Aight rant over.

This drabble occurs directly after the s5 finale so spoilers alert if you're not up to date! Also, not a PEEP about the s6 leaks are allowed here either! ZIP IT.

Without further ado, enjoy~!

"You will never be "the one"

It's sad to say some things never change

You will always be "that one"

We can't forget the biggest of mistakes"

R.I.P - Coldrain

Pairing - Adrinette

Prompt - 'Lies'

~(x)~

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He caught her staring at him like that again, all wistful smiles and sad, sad baby blues that almost seemed vacant. It was as if she was staring right through him and the rest of the world hardly existed in her eyes. Their good friends were giggling and playing amongst themselves, enjoying the freedom that they gained after the relieving downfall of Monarque and Mayura and a part of him was irrationally angry with how they didn't note the silent pain that was clearly etched in his girlfriend's face.

.

But they weren't him.

They weren't able to see through her fake smiles like he could.

It was as if their hearts and souls were synced in a manner that was just so indescribably intimate and raw and it simply made his chest ache excruciatingly the more he peered into the hidden melancholy within her blues.

Yet despite that, he couldn't figure out for the life of him why she wore such a bittersweet, crestfallen expression. Why she often lingered on such feelings in his presence when they were supposed to be celebrating.

So, he was determined to find out one way or another.

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Marinette instantly snapped out of her thoughts as soon as Adrien made his way towards her, a pleased hum leaving her throat when he briefly kissed her lips and her eyes regaining back its usual spark. A small part of him exhaled in relief from the normalcy but the larger part remained both worried and curious about what was going through her head moments beforehand.

It was almost frightening how quickly she was able to mask her emotions because if he wasn't paying attention, he would have assumed she was fine and happy (sourly reminding himself of all the masks he would wear to hide what he truly felt underneath most of the time).

"You okay, Marinette? You were staring at me for the past ten minutes or so without saying anything." Usually, a teasing statement like that would have had her blushing up a storm and bursting with word soup trickling down her mouth. Now? She simply moved her gaze back to the front, dropping her mask and observing their friends with an unreadable, straight face. She leaned onto his arm a few seconds later and immediately, he rested his hand on her hip whilst continuing to watch her with barely concealed anxiety.

"I…I guess I still can't believe everything that has just happened." She murmured quietly, eyes almost unseeing and her thoughts wandering once more to a place where he couldn't go. Before he could say anything, she suddenly sprung on a question. "Hey...how far would you go for the person you love?"

When she glanced back at him, all he could do was furrow his brows, puzzled.

"...What do you mean?"

She flickered her eyes to the ground for a few moments before meeting his gaze once more. It was like all the answers to his questions were right in front of him but they were encrypted in a bizarre, convoluted code and he couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he racked his brain.

Adrien tried his best to not let his frustrations show and it took him everything to not shake her by the shoulders and beg for her to tell him what was truly wrong.

To finally, finally let him in.

"There...there's a book I read as a child. A long, long time ago. I don't remember much about it. But I do remember that the main character made a decision that she thought would protect someone she loved. It was a bad decision. A really bad one. She shouldn't have made it at all. But she couldn't bear to see him in any more pain than he already was in." Adrien didn't know whether he understood her a little better or if he was even more confused than ever, further tangled up in his web of desperate questions to the point where it was choking him and crushing his lungs.

The boy had to force himself to focus on her words at face value to avoid sinking into the frightening darkness, which was fueled by his dread, fears, and anxieties. Perhaps, he could even reach the clarification he's been searching for by going along with her convoluted answers and dissecting them later in his own straightforward way.

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Adrien pondered over her answer for a little longer and although what she remembered sounded quite similar to other things he'd seen, read and watched, ultimately it didn't ring a bell (and during his homeschooling days, he had gone through numerous books and mediums to satiate his loneliness and his curiosity of the world outside of his gilded cage).

"How did it end?" He decided to ask instead whilst curling a stray strand of hair behind her ear tenderly as the breeze picked up, causing some of their friends to squeal from the sudden rush of coldness. Marinette and Adrien's eyes were locked onto one another and he could have cried from the sheer exhaustion and sorrow that echoed in her blues for a split second.

"I don't remember. But I don't think it ended well for the main characters." She bit her bottom lip and he curled up his fist tight to resist the urge to part her sore flesh away from her teeth with his thumb. "From time to time I can't help but think she made a terrible decision. That she should have done something else at least! Instead…instead of making him believe a lie."

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"It sounds like to me that she loved him so much, she was ready to deceive him as long as possible to keep him happy." This time he was watching their friends into the distance, his mind lingering on the fact that he has and will have to continue to keep Marinette in the dark about his secret identity until the butterfly miraculous was recovered. "It sucks. But I can see why she did it. Love can make you do crazy things and blind you to the point where you forget what the right thing is to do." And guilt began to bubble up within the pit of his stomach as he recalled all the times he was determined to use his cataclysme against a living, breathing being.

"...I guess."

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They were silent for a few more moments before he wet his lips and spoke again.

"When...when I found out about what Kim and everyone else has done to you in the past, I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to hurt them all. I was going to do it." Adrien admitted with all the courage in his body and his eyes stung with incoming tears threatening to pool at the edges. He didn't dare to look at her but he knew that Marinette was watching him with wide eyes through his peripheral vision. "And if anything else were to happen to you..."

A memory of the vision he received before he was forced to leave back to London flashed through his mind so vividly, he almost believed that under his palm was nothing but ashes and that he was decked up in white. The possibility of being akumatised and ruining the world never, ever left his dreams.

But he knew…

Deep down inside he knew…

He would destroy the universe if anything, anything happened to Marinette.

"I understand. I'd have done the same if the situation was reversed." Marinette thought back to the ruthless beating she put Gabriel through, guiltily biting down her lip again because every attack she threw at the man was emotionally charged with resentment regarding how he treated Adrien. How he treated Chat Noir, her friends and Paris. How he tore the love of her life away from her just to keep him under control and to make her suffer.

She probably would have killed him herself with her bare hands alone if she never realised that the older man was trying to bring his wife back to life all along. However, one could say that she was indirectly the cause of his death because she could have sacrificed herself with the wish so that Adrien and his family could have lived happily ever after…

Right?

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"Well, aren't I lucky to have you~?" Adrien's sudden teasing smirk snapped her out of her thoughts once more, this time earning the soft, sweet (although subtle) blush he'd been dying to see for quite a while. "I guess we're just made for each other."

'Would you still say that when you find out that I've been lying to you all this time?' She had to swallow back down her tears and then forced a smile, hoping that her boyfriend didn't notice a thing. She laid the side of her head against his arm, eyes back to the front and he followed suit, leaning his head on hers.

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The burdens and guilts and secrets remained unspoken between them both.

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~(x)~

A/N: I am so, so excited for S6! Lemme know what you thought of the drabble in the comments~~~~~

Or else Gloob will air the finale midway through the airing schedule like last time.