Chapter Text
I 'm gonna have a new best... friend!
Adrien didn’t know what brought him up to the roof in the first place. It wasn’t decorated, only utility workers were supposed to have access. Being an Agreste did have its advantages, after all.
He wasn’t sure why he went up. Maybe to see the city from this angle again. He hadn’t been up this high since he’d been Chat Noir. Seeing Paris like this… it brought a flood of memories he’d been avoiding. Fighting akumas, patrolling with his lady.
He’d already spent too much time crying over this. He didn’t need to start now.
A flash of red in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned in time to see a spotted hand disappearing around a chimney stack. He needed to get down from the roof without her seeing him. How?
He didn’t hear the footsteps behind him as he contemplated his escape route.
“Adrien?”
He froze. Adrien’s heart beat fast, the last time she was this close to him...
“What are you doing here?” Ladybug stepped in front of him, blinking. She didn’t look any different at all.
Adrien took one shaky breath, then another. Didn’t she know?
“You’re close to the edge.”
He looked down at his feet. Yes, he was. All that time as Chat Noir, he’d gotten used to not being afraid of heights. He backed away, and while it lessened the danger of falling it brought him closer to Ladybug. Nothing about her gave anything away. He’d always assumed she’d do something the next time they met, shout or cry or maybe even attack him.
She didn’t know. She didn’t know his identity. Even when she took his miraculous, she had protected his identity. And now she was haunting the city, acting as little more than a ghost.
“Why?” he said out loud, the word not much more than a breath.
“Oh.” Ladybug met his eyes, her lips curving into a smile. “You wouldn’t know.”