Chapter Text
Marinette doubted Chat Noir had intended to land on her roof from the surprised look on his face when she poked her head up from the window hatch. In all honesty she should have waved to him and that should have been that. His ears were down against his head and there was a look on his face that she could only describe as spooked.
"Chat Noir, are you alright?" She asked with true concern for her partner.
"I-," he started, looking away and out at the city, then back down at her. Tension in his shoulders deflated, not in relief, but more resignation. "No. I need to find Ladybug."
Marinette wasn't sure what to do. No alerts had popped up. "Is there an akuma?"
He shook his head and Marinette found herself climbing out onto her rooftop. She didn't care if a civilian would be starstruck by having THE Chat Noir at their home, something was wrong and she had an overwhelming need to find out what it was so she could help her dear friend. "Then what is it?"
He looked torn, and she half expected him to make some sort of joke and run off. In fact she hoped he would, because then she could go find him as Ladybug. Instead he ended up leaning against the railing, looking at her. He looked absolutely heartbroken in fact. "Hawkmoth, I found out, I found out who he is."
To say Marinette was surprised would be an understatement. She didn't doubt it was true, but after all this time they could finally take the battle to the man trying to manipulate everything from the shadows. "Ladybug will be thrilled," she told him, because it was true. She started to smile, but then noticed how the cat hero was curling his shoulders, his arms wrapped around himself. "Shouldn't she?"
"Maybe, I don't know, this is a mess!" Chat Noir ran a hand through his hair looking at the sky. "Marinette, he's my father!"
She didn't mean to gasp, but she couldn't help it. "You, you need to tell Ladybug!"
"I know that! But I don't know where to even look!" He sounded angry and on edge, but he then looked at her and curled back in on himself again. He softened his voice when he continued. "I know I need to tell her. I don't even know how I'm going to once I find her though."
"It will be alright I'm sure," Marinette wanted to hug him, desperately.
"I'm not so sure. She doesn't want us knowing each others' identity, and now, I just can't do this alone. Someone needs to know who he is though." Chat Noir was looking at her intensely. She felt like all her secrets were exposed to him. "I'll tell you."
"Wait, what?" This wasn't happening! "What about Ladybug?"
The pout was impressive, she'd give him that. "I don't know when I'll see her. Besides, I trust you."
Marinette blinked several times. "What makes you so sure you can trust me?”
He smiled. It was a sad smile of a boy that lost so much but was still holding onto hope. It was a smile that she associated with the smell of rain. "You're Marinette. The girl that became class president because you didn't make any promises other than to try your best. The girl who stands up to Chloé when she's wrong. The girl that makes sure that people feel included. The girl that goes the extra mile for her friends. The girl that forgives when an honest mistake has been made."
Marinette couldn't understand. It wasn't even a question of how Chat Noir knew these things about her, but rather that was how he saw her, Marinette her, not Ladybug even. It was a bit heady.
"I trust you because you're my friend," he whispered.
Marinette couldn't have looked away if she tried. Chat Noir trusting her was the most normal thing in the world for her, even if he didn't realize it. So she watched as he let go of his transformation because he needed her, even if this wasn't how it was meant to be.
"A-Adrien?" She had thought she'd been ready, but she was so wrong. Everything inside of her started to vibrate and then her conciseness reminded her of why he was there. She moved without thinking, wrapping her arms around the boy. He sagged into her hug, holding her as though holding on to reality itself. He was shaking and all she could do was rub his back and mutter assurances. She wasn't even completely sure what she said, but eventually Adrien gathered himself up.
"I-I'm sorry Marinette. I shouldn't have..." He trailed off as she shook her head.
"Why don't you sit down? You've been through a lot. I'll go down stairs and get you some tea and something to eat." She didn't lead him to the little lawn chair, but instead to the window hatch that lead into her room.
Adrien was obviously distraught, but as he sat down on the lounge he gave her his best smile. It broke her heart a little seeing him try so hard. "I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you."
Marinette knew she was blushing. How could she not, getting a compliment like that from the boy she liked so much. "You deserve so much more than I can give." Realizing that was a bit too honest she stepped away. "I mean tea isn't that much and I mean it's good tea you should like it but if you don't it's okay but there will be dessert or something. I don't know what but I'll find something and bye!"
Marinette was halfway down the stairs to the main floor of the apartment before she realized she had better not be running down the stairs. Fortunately both her parents must have been in the shop and so she was relatively free to make tea in peace.
When she returned to her room it looked like Adrien hadn't moved. "I didn't want to go down into the bakery, so all I got were a few croissants."
Adrien took the offered cup and plate. "You're not seriously apologizing for this are you?"
Marinette shrugged. She was still having trouble thinking that this was the same boy that she ran across rooftops with. She was having an even harder time believing what he told her. She sat down on the floor beside the lounge and watched him devour one of the croissants. "It's not fair. To you. It's not fair that he's, he's..."
"It's okay Marinette," his voice sounded defeated.
"No it's not! It shouldn't be like this," she was angry and the only thing from keeping her from marching herself to the Agreste estate right that moment was the soft green eyes watching her. For some reason she just could not fathom leaving him. At least not right now.
"I'm sure Ladybug will figure a way to fix this," Adrien said, but he didn't sound convinced. Not that Marinette knew how she could fix this for him. Sure they would have to figure out a strategy together, but he sounded so defeated already. Not that she could blame him. She couldn't even imagine how betrayed he must be feeling.
"You're not still worried that Ladybug is going to have a problem sharing identities, are you?" The question was asked lightly, but she noticed the teacup shake in his hand.
"There's no way I can avoid telling her, but she might.... It might be safer if.... I know in the end she'll do what she thinks is best, I just...." Adrien wouldn't even look at her at this point. She looked from him to the black creature, his kwami, hovering by his shoulder. Its, his, attention was on the blond boy. She wasn't the only one worried for Adrien.
"I think, I think you have a lot of worries right now Adrien. None of this is your fault and I want you to know that." Marinette stood. She couldn't fix this for him. At least not yet. But she could at least lay to rest his doubts about one person. "I'm sorry if this is too many shocks in one day, but I really want you to believe me and believe in yourself."
There was confusion and maybe a touch of curiosity on Adrien’s face. Marinette smiled. "Tikki, you might as well come out."
Out from behind her sewing supplies came a small pinkish creature with black dots. Marinette watched Adrien's eyes widen as he looked at the kwami then to Marinette. "You're...?"
Marinette nodded, having lost her nerves by this point. She just revealed her identity for the first time and it was to the boy she was crazy about who was her partner and all because his father was making life miserable for the whole of Paris. If it was hard on her, it was harder for him as she heard a sob escape Adrien's throat before he launched himself off the lounge and wrapped his arms around her, holding her for a second time that afternoon. "Why? You didn't have to..."
"Of course I did," she said, trying not to cry herself. "We're a team. We're in this together. I wasn't for one moment going to let you tackle this alone and I couldn't let you think I would abandon you!"
If she cried a little it was hardly a big deal. Adrien cried on her shoulder for a long time until he finally had to sit. She promised him over and over again that they would work together to find a solution. She wasn't sure she could fix this though and he agreed, but he was confident in her all the same. It was a lot of pressure but he promised he wouldn't just lay all of it on her shoulders to fix. "It's just I know I trust you. Even if there probably isn't any easy answers or clear cut way to deal with this. I trust you."