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“You’re in love with a statue,” were the immediate, treacherous words that escaped Chat’s mouth. The ones that incited an all-out glare from his closest friend, the ones that could have put an end to any hope he had of romancing the girl but were also completely worth it.
Because he was the statue. Or rather, he was the inspiration for the statue.
Let’s just rewind here.
It’s tradition when a mermaid reaches a certain age for them to go up on land for the first time and use their human legs. Many decide to stay, some decide to go back following some shenanigans.
Shenanigans which, in Chat’s case, may or may not have resulted in a statue.
One that Ladybug, his friend of many years, still goes back to the ocean to look at.
And make drawings of while on land.
And dream about regardless of location.
Not knowing that it’s him.
And that he is completely and utterly in love with her.
Really, he should have had the heart to tell her by now, but…
“He’s handsome,” she reassured, “and he’s out there somewhere. He’s a real person, I just know it.”
He didn’t have the heart to do it. “Yeah, he definitely is, and he’s probably made for you,” Chat said, earning him a wrinkle of her nose that he liked far too much. He couldn’t help but grin at it, he could never help but grin at her.
Ladybug was the type of friend that you met once in a lifetime, and the type of girl that you fell in love with every minute.
So, he wrapped his arm around her waist, placed his head on her shoulder, and said, “who knows, he might be even closer than you think.”
Ladybug rolled her eyes, flicking his nose before saying, “you wish, you old catfish.”
He’d tell her someday… or maybe he’d go to the surface with her and let her figure it out.