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Adrien is convinced Marinette is falling out of love with him. In reality, she's spending every night fighting villains and every day pretending she's okay.
——
"This is the 5th date in a row she's canceled, Plagg." The blonde says to his kwami buddy. "5th time within two weeks!"
All the tiny black creature did was shrug. He had an idea why she was canceling, the past couple villains have been tough. They've both taken a lot of hits over the past two weeks, and being guardian of the miraculous didn't help with anything.
Marinette has been trying to find a way to locate the miraculouses, but to no avail. She's had restless nights, nightmares, just total stress over her shoulders. It was like boulders just kept crushing down on her.
"Maybe," Plagg said between bites of camembert, "you could stop staring sadly at that picture and actually talk to your girlfriend."
Adrien sighed, looking at a picture of him and marinette on a bench together smiling. It was taken during their second date... Nino and Alya also came along. A double date, so to speak.
He remembers that day well. Marinette was so flustered.. still getting used to things. Same as him. He didn't know how to react in a real relationship... he never really loved Kagami. It was more of a.. distraction as he tried to lose his feelings for ladybug since she kept rejecting him as chat noir.
He picks up the picture frame, standing up from his desk. He walks over and sets it on his bedside table instead of his desk, making a mental promise to himself to figure out what was happening.
That night, he can't sleep. "Do you think... do you think she doesn't love me anymore? That she regrets this relationship?" He asks Plagg. To no surprise, the kwami is already fast asleep, leaving Adrien to drown in his thoughts.
————
The next day Adrien quickly made his way to school, he stopped right below the steps.
There she was.
The bubbly, sweet girl he had fallen in love with.
Though... she didn't look bubbly. If anything, she looked exhausted. She was barely listening to what her best friend, Alya, was telling her.
Alya must have nudged too close to marinette or hit some kind of nerve, because just as Adrien walked up the steps all he heard was a yelling bluenette.
Alya stood shocked as marinette ran off to the bathroom.
Adrien ran up immediately to ask what happened.
"I- I don't know! I was just telling her about the cool ladybug and chat noir video I got and- and she just snapped!" The reporter hurriedly told him her response, glancing in the direction marinette ran.
"Where do you think she's off to?" Adrien asked.
Alya sighed, "the bathroom, probably."
Adrien cursed on the inside. How was he meant to ask her what's wrong if she was in the ladies room? He can't just go in there! He looks at the girl in front of him.
"Go get marinette for me."
"I don't think she wants to talk to me right now."
"Please, I'd get her myself if I could. Tell her I want to talk to her."
"Alright then..." Alya makes her way to the restroom to grab marinette.
A few minutes pass and Adrien waits right outside the ladies room. Alya comes out and shakes her head. "She just needs to be alone. She was this close to yelling at me again. Let's head to class.. I'll tell madam bustier that Marinettes feeling.. ill."
Adrien nods and waits a moment before walking to class with a sigh.
———-
Around lunch time, he notices Marinette is finally out and about! This time with.. Nathaniel.
She seems to be.. laughing?
Nathaniel did have a crush on her not too long back.. what if it's come back? What if she's falling for him without realizing it?!
That's ridiculous he thought.
Nathaniel is with Marc. I'm sure Marinettes just reading their comic.
———
At the end of the school day, Adrien grabs his bag and walks outside for fresh air when he notices a familiar blue haired guy riding a bike.
Luka.
Marinette had been helping with kitty section a lot lately.
"She can cancel our dates..." he whispers, "but still make time for him?"
Plagg flies up to Adrien's face, "Uh, no. She makes time for kittysection. The band."
"Yeah but... Luka is in it. What if.. he's taking the opportunities to get closer to her? To drive us apart? She looks tired... she's definitely staying up late for Luka! Or- uh- kittysection!"
The bike stops in front of the school and Adrien hides behind a bush.
"Literally what are you doing." Plagg laughs.
Adrien mutters a "shut up" before seeing Luka pull out his phone and text someone. Not even a minute later, Marinette leaves the building.
Instead of waiting for him like she usually does, (which she hasn't been doing for a few days) for him to walk her home, she hops on the bike with Luka with a smile.
Adrien feels numb.
Marinette hadn't looked for him at all today.
Not this morning,
Not in class when asked to parter up,
Not at lunch,
Not now.
She just... put her arms around Luka's waist and left.
Adrien couldn't move, lost in his thoughts.
For the first time in two weeks, this wasn't just stress. He was really worried.
What if marinette was really pushing away from him?
—————
"No." Adrien said while doing his homework, which usually he would be on call with marinette to do it together.
Plagg looked up at him from the pillow he was previously napping on. "No what?"
"I'm going over to her house today. Right now! I need to find out what's going on!" The blonde stands up from his chair, grabbing his kwami from the pillow.
"Hey! I can fly, you know!"
"Sorry, I'm just so... peeved!"
"Peeved?"
"Yeah! You know, annoyed, irritated, riled up!"
The kwami shrugs and flies into his owners jacket, but not before sneaking another bite of cheese.
———
Adrien doesn't ask or tell his father, Natalie, or his bodyguard anything. He just walks out of the mansion with a determined look on his face.
He watches the trees and benches and... the park.
The park where they had their first real date.
Where there were no interruptions, no father, not even kids running around.
It was a Thursday afternoon, fencing practice was canceled, and instead of telling his father he took the opportunity to spend time with marinette.
But now marinette can't seem to spend time with him.
He remembers her laughter at his stupid jokes, their eyes staring into one another, laying down in the grass and looking at the clouds.
He misses it.
He doesn't catch the tear rolling down his cheek, nor the fact that he's stopped in his tracks to look up at the sky, almost searching for a sign.
A sign she still loves him.
———
Shadow moth decided it was a great idea to attack at 5pm, so there they are, fighting none other than Mr. Pigeon...
again.
He doesn't even know how many times they've defeated him at this point. Seriously, of all people, why does shadow moth keep akumatizing him?
Whatever, there's no time to think about that. He'd rather just get it over with before-
CRASH
His head turns around at the speed of light when he thinks Mr. Pigeon is right behind him, but it's none other than the girl in red with black spots, laying on the floor like she just took a great tumble.
"Woah! I didn't see that fall but it sounded.. brutal." The black cat extends his arm out.
Ladybug groans, "sorry. I've been really tired lately." She looks up at him and takes his hand, standing up and stealing herself.
Her eyes look... familiar. Tired.
As they fight, all chat noir notices are ladybugs terrible motions with her yo-yo and the way she keeps having to pause for breaths.
By the time they defeat Mr. Pigeon, which took way longer than usual, she looks completely spent.
"Hey... ladybug? You okay? You took quite the falls and-"
"I'm fine, really."
"Okay then... pound it?"
The super-heroine seems to have forgotten all about their little tradition when they defeat a villain, as he looks up to find her already using her yo-yo to leave.
She falls again.
He sighs, knowing she probably doesn't want to speak to him right now.
Why does nobody seem to want to speak to me? He thinks.
Had he done something wrong? As not just Adrien, but Chat Noir too?
———
He enters the bakery, saying hi to Marinettes parents and asking if she's up there. They say yes.
As he walks up the stairs, his heart begins to pound. He can't understand why.
Every step felt louder than the last.
He almost turned around.
What if she really didn't want to see him? That's why she's been avoiding him?
He opens the door and finds marinette half asleep on the couch, icing her ankle.
His stomach dropped.
She looked awful.
Not ugly.
Tired.
Mentally. Though there were a few physical parts.
Her hair, all knotted out of her classic low buns.
There was something about her eyes, something familiar, something he'd seen before.
But where?
And to top it all off, she was physically hurt.
He slowly walks over to the couch.
"M-marinette? Are you okay?"
The bluenettes head pops up immediately
"What- who-" her eyes finally focused as she looked up. "Adrien?.."
"Yeah.... Just me. Are you okay?" He repeats his question with concern.
"I was just clumsy. Classic marinette, am I right?" She says with a clearly forced laugh. "Come, sit."
It was like Adrien's words vanished when finally in the moment where he was supposed to say them.
They sat in an awkward silence, Adrien not so subtly glancing at her bruised ankle.
"I'm fine, you know. I fall a lot."
"Yeah but that's... way worse than just a fall or one missed step."
"I'm fine, really!"
'Im fine, really'
The same words that he heard just ten minutes ago.
———
He left the bakery, he hadn't said what he wanted to say. He didn't know why.
Marinette had fallen back asleep during their fourth round of silence, so he decided it'd be best to let her be alone.
While walking down the street, Plagg peeks out, "What are you doing, kid?! Go back! I thought you were gonna tell her! Don't throw in the towel! You're being a dork!"
Adrien just half laughs and half scoffs. "I don't know. I couldn't bring myself to say anything."
"Is something about me off? I mean, marinette is clearly tired, and ladybug said she was tired. Marinette is injured and ladybug kept falling, do black cats really cause bad luck?"
Plagg nearly slaps the kid and screams that they're the same person. Unfortunately, he can't do that.
"You're not bad luck. Thats basically saying IM bad luck! To which I am NOT!" Plagg argues.
"Alright, alright. You're probably right. We've come this far and it's just happening now, so what could be the reason that both of them are...."
Then he thinks.
Ladybug is exhausted..
So is marinette.
Ladybug fell...
Marinette is injured.
No. He shoves the thought aside, the magic ladybug should've fixed anything and everything anyway. It's not like ladybug is still hurt.
Right?
———
He decides to go back to the bakery the next day.
However, Tom, Marinettes father, says she's not home.
How can that be? School just ended, she hadn't gone to see luk- er- kittysection today yet, right?
Then his phone screen turns bright.
An akuma alert.
He excuses himself and goes to an alleyway, transforming. He runs along the buildings to meet ladybug, who has a slight limp.
They defeat the villain and something in Adrien is telling him to hurry back to Marinettes room. So he does. Not even he stops for their fist bump, which he's pretty sure ladybug didn't either, so it's fine.
Adrien quickly detransforms and runs back.
Tom says she still isn't home.
He races upstairs anyway.
Her room is empty.
He waits.
Thirty seconds....
One minute...
Two minutes....
He starts doubting himself.
What am I doing?
This is ridiculous.
But then...
The trapdoor opens, Marinette climbs in.
She's so exhausted she doesn't even see him.
She rubs her eyes, still limping. But then she mutters, "Tikki.... Cookies in the drawer. I'm gonna get another ice pack, I think I twisted something. Or I'm just overthinking it. Whatever it is it's getting an ice pack." She climbs back down to her kitchen.
Adrien's breath hitches.
Crap he thinks.
He knows he's staring at a puddle of proof, but he just can't accept it.
No. Maybe she was out shopping with Alya. Maybe 'Tikki' is a new pet she has. One that.. eats cookies.
But why would she be limping? Why would she think she twisted something?
No. Like she told him. She fell. She's clumsy!
He looks around her room, almost like he's never been there before. He starts seeing things he's never seen before.
A yo-yo pattern in her open sketchbook,
Three different types of emergency kits around her room,
An alarm.
An alarm labeled 'patrol.'
He bites his lip. 'No, no, no! She can't be... but if she is.. no, she's not! You can't know! You're not allowed to know! Ladybug would kill you! But what if he did know?'
Who is he kidding. He knew. He knew and he couldn't accept it.
Not because he was mad, but because he was afraid. Worried. She had been putting herself in danger for so long... she's gotten hurt. Sometimes because of his stupid actions as chat noir.
Marinette climbs back into her room, ice pack in hand. she pauses when she finally sees Adrien standing there.
"A-Adrien? What are you doing here?"
"You... you've been lying to me."
She pauses. She doesn't know what's about to come out of her boyfriend's mouth, but she knows she's scared for it.
"....and I've been an idiot."
"What?..." she whispers.
"I thought you didn't want to be around me. That you didn't love me anymore. That you regretted our relationship. I even thought that Luka.... Dear god, not even Luka was the problem. You were exhausted, hurting, even physically hurt. And I kept making it all about me."
Marinette can't bring herself to say anything, she has no idea where any of this is coming from.
Finally, she spoke, "Regret? Adrien, I have no regrets with us getting together. I love you. Im sorry if I've been.. off. I'm just a little tired. Other than that I'm fine."
"But you're not fine." He sighs. "I just wished I could've noticed sooner. I could've helped."
"Helped with what?"
"First of all the patrols. I could've changed-"
He freezes.
Not only did he just practically tell her he knows she's ladybug, but he almost gave out his own identity!
God, what an idiot.
Silence makes the room unbearable.
"How long have you..." marinette begins to whisper.
"Only like ten minutes, I swear!"
"And how.. how did you figure it out?"
Shit. He can't tell her he saw the similarities of her as ladybug and marinette. Sure, their fights against akumatized villains are always recorded, but the reporters are never able to get too close without ladybug or him shooing them away for safety, so they've learned to record from afar.
"Well... uhm... lucky guess?"
"Adrien, stop lying to me! I need to know how you found out, what if others find out the way you did?"
"The thing is.. they wont."
"How do you know that?"
"Well... umm..."
"Adrien!"
"Okayy... uhm... I was a little bit.. close during the battles against villains."
"Why would you do that? Chat noir and I have it under control."
"Tell Chat noir to step up, you're exhausted." He mumbles.
"Don't change the subject. How do you know. Are the news stations getting too close again?"
"No, they've learned to keep their distance after we- I- YOU! After you," he points at her, "told them to back off a bit or else they'd get hurt."
"You're not one to stutter. You only stutter when you're unsure."
"Adrien." Her tone becomes stern. He knows it's now or never.
"I didn't know."
"What?"
"Well... not at first." He continues, looking at the floor. "I just thought you were tired. Then... then ladybug was tired. And then you hurt your ankle, today ladybug took fall after fall. Same leg and ankle was the main victim of those falls."
He sighs, "then... you both kept saying you were fine. Over and over again. I knew you weren't."
Marinette doesn't say anything, how did he know all this? Sure, he said he was close during the battles, but if he was close enough to hear a conversation between her and chat she would've seen him.
"To top it all off.. you forgot the fist bump. Twice. Came home limping. Told Tikki where the cookies were. I saw the patrol alarm, you've gotta hide that better." He laughs, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"There wasn't one big clue. There were a million small ones that all added up."
Marinette looks at him, then at a poster of chat noir and her in the back of her room that manon put up.
Who else rambles when he's nervous? Says dumb things?
Chat Noir.
Who else hides their emotions?
Chat Noir.
Who else could've been there to know how ladybug was genuinely doing?
Chat Noir.
She looks back at Adrien, he had used every single one of those habits in these few minutes they've been talking.
"You're chat noir." She says, looking right at him.
He pauses.
They stare at each other for what feels like years before Adrien finally says, "no....?"
She stares at him.
".....maybe?" He looks up at her, then sighs. "How.. how many times have I made your job harder? The reckless cataclysms... jumping into danger.. every mistake I made... every time I-"
She puts her finger on his lips to shut him up, "none of this is your fault. We're partners. Things happen."
"But why did it have to come to this? Why didn't you talk to me? You know, as chat noir?"
"I'm the guardian, I should be figuring these things out myself, not putting the weight on you."
"Marinette... you're clearly exhausted. Please, just let me do something to help you..."
"You're fast at language learning, right?" She suddenly asks.
"Uh... I think so? I mean, I can get the basics down decently quickly with the help of a teacher."
"I have some notes here." She grabs a stack of papers, smiling. "I'm trying to figure out what this stupid guardian book is saying. The kwamis don't know cause they're not supposed to know, apparently."
"You're letting me help? Just like that?" He's shocked. Normally she'd put up a fight.
"I'll put up a fight once I get an actual nights rest." She kisses his forehead and climbs up to her bed. She's too exhausted to argue.
"This is the toughest task you're getting, by the way. Everything else will be handled by me. You don't neee....." she drifts off to sleep.
Adrien smiles and stands up, determined to help his lady figure out these ancient texts.