#Luka;;photos—{And then I crack a smile ‘cause I love you and I’d do it all again.}

[gloryundimmed]

Here

[omniswords]

chronicles of a parisian dumbass 19

i’m sorry i’ve been MIA ; ; i’ve been up to my ears in streaming and also returning to work in-person. either way, i hope you enjoy this update of chronicles. better late than never right?

strap in 💙💖

If Luka could get at his phone, he wouldn’t know what to type. maybe a vague, oh, fuck. Maybe some long thread about how cryptic conversation starters only ever scared him and ended both of his relationships—only to follow up with silence in the face of a couple of likes, or a reply from a sort-of-stranger that would debilitate him, remind him of his own vulnerability, more than it would reassure him. Hell, maybe even a message to Bubbles about how he was right all along that he’d need the luck. Or how Bubbles was right about how he really was in for it the moment he stepped into the bakery.

It’s just that, with the way Marinette Dupain-Cheng is looking at him on her balcony—all sad, scared softness—he gets the feeling that he’s not meant to repeat whatever she tells him.

Luka steels himself, loosens his death grip on the neck of the guitar, and releases a breath he doesn’t want to hold onto anymore. “Yeah,” he says. “Anything.” It comes out choked from how tight his vocal cords are. The way they get sometimes when he plugs in the microphone and hits RECORD.

She pats the floor in front of her and mumbles something about being on equal ground, and he slides down to meet her, guitar in tow. She looks like she wants to touch it, feel now real it is. Or how real he is. As though that moment with his card wasn’t enough.

“It’s about your sister,” she says, her gaze darting away in shame. “And Adrien. Sort of.”

“Okay,” he says. It’s slow, and uncertain, but he hopes it tells her he’s all ears.

Marinette looks at her lap and draws herself up and in. Like she’s wanted to tell him this for a long time. Like she’s only just found the words for it. “We were pretty close,” she says. “In grade school. Not as close as… Rose, yeah, Rose. But we were in the same class for a couple years. I helped her with some class picture stuff, she listened to me yammer on about Adrien after he joined our class… even helped me come up with some ideas on how to… confess to him? Win him over? I don’t know.” She rubs the back of her neck. “Actually, I think all my girl friends did that.”

Luka nods slowly, thinks of the school photos in the album Juleka bought from the thrift shop, tries to match faces in his head. He thinks he sees pigtails. Or maybe a bun. He could be wrong. “So,” he says, “you had it pretty bad for him, huh.”

“I dunno if I had it bad. Like I said, puppy love. I mean, I thought we were soulmates—God, I even named our kids—and I couldn’t even get out a sentence in front of him. I didn’t even like him at first. Plus, we were like, fourteen. I didn’t know any better.”

He shrugs. “Just cause you were fourteen doesn’t mean it wasn’t real.” He thinks he catches a blush stealing across Marinette’s face then, but maybe it’s just a trick of the lights. “So… what changed?”

“With Juleka? Or Adrien?”

“Both, I guess.”

Marinette turns her head away. “It’s dumb.”

Luka shrugs again, smiling faintly. “So?”

She starts to pick at her nails, like her hands are just looking for something to do. Without thinking, he gives the spinner ring on his index finger a flick to get her attention, then slides it off and hands it to her. She looks at it with questions in her eyes, then slips it on. It barely fits her index finger, and it wobbles when she gives it a curious flick of her own. It seems to get the job done, at least. “He lent me his umbrella,” she mumbles, final but sheepish. Then she follows up, before his brow can so much as furrow, “He was friends with an old bully of mine—Mrs. Bourgeois’s daughter, actually—and I caught him doing something with some gum on my chair. And I… misjudged him. “Another flick. “He was trying to make it up to me. And he said… he didn’t have any friends. He hadn’t even been to school.”

He lets out a hollow laugh. “Rich kids, huh?” And then, at the first sign of her discomfort, “Sorry, I—”

“No,” she says. “It’s okay, I was just thinking…” She presses her thumb into the curve and the aged grooves of the ring more than she actually spins it. Like she cares about losing it more than she cares about comforting herself. “I think everything around me told me that… that was how I was supposed to feel. Unwavering love. Now it’s been years, and I think… I think I just wanted to be that friend for him. I just wanted to be what he was looking for.”

Luka lifts his gaze from the ring to her face. “Who says that’s not love?” He doesn’t know where the words come from. They just feel like the right ones to say.

Marinette freezes, blinking at her hands. She doesn’t say anything; the only sound is the whine of his ring as the metal scrapes together with another flick.

When the silence goes on a bit too long for either of their liking, Luka clears his throat uncertainly. “So, um…”

She speaks so he doesn’t have to. “Juleka,” she murmurs. “Right, um…” It’s hard to tell who’s more uncomfortable between the two of them. Who's really supposed to say what next. “Well, I mean… you can sort of imagine that I wasn’t the only one who wanted to… y’know. Be with Adrien.”

Luka doesn’t have to imagine, but he nods anyway.

“Not”— Marinette hedges—“not that Juleka was competition or anything. I mean, duh. Just… there was this other girl—there were other girls, and…”

“You don’t have to tell me this,” he urges. “If it still hurts.”

She closes her eyes. Hard, and just for a moment. “Please let me tell you this.”

Her voice wavers. That’s all the cue Luka needs to stay quiet. To let her say everything, or nothing, at her pace.

“Her name was Lila,” she says. “She was a new girl. From Italy. Everyone liked her, except… she lied. Like, compulsively. About connections she had, places she’d been, charity work she did. And she did it because she wanted everyone to like her. She was just telling people what they wanted to hear because the attention made her feel important. She thrived on it.” She gets to her feet. “Sorry, I can’t sit still when I get all… agitated. You know?”

Luka gestures vaguely at the balcony space. “That makes two of us.”

Marinette takes that as her cue to start pacing and turning on her heels, only pausing every so often to stare up at the night sky. “I was jealous,” she admits. “I was also our class representative. And I might’ve… used that to my advantage.”

Maybe he shouldn’t say Hell yeah out loud, but he’s definitely thinking it.

“I kept tabs on people’s schedules, you know?” she says. “So we could work on important events and class projects and stuff. There was one we were planning for Adrien, to celebrate that he’d been in school with us for a year and all. And it just so happened that…” she shrugs, feigning apology. “All the days that worked conflicted with all her charity work.”

Luka whistles, half-impressed. “This the part where you tell me she decided to make your life a living hell like some high school drama villain?”

Marinette’s face falls. “Yeah,” she says, and her voice cracks, and he wishes he weren’t right. “But all she did was exactly what I did. Convinced… everybody… that every little thing I did was proof that I wasn’t a real friend. That I couldn't commit to anything because I committed to everything. And especially with how I avoided her… didn’t trust her, treated her cruelly. she turned everyone against me, a little at a time. Even Alya.” She shifts her weight. “Even Juleka.”

Luka’s heart sinks. He almost wants to reach for her hands when she paces toward him. Almost wants to kick himself for asking, “And… then what?”

She lingers at the balcony railing, perhaps preferring to tell the night sky the rest. “She got me expelled.”

Luka tenses.

Marinette doesn’t notice. “I’d been telling myself for months that I deserved it. Eventually I just… believed it. Let it happen. Never talked to my classmates again.” She shrugs. “I cried a lot. Transferred schools. Threw myself into… everything. Because if Lila said that was what I was doing—just over-committing—I might as well own it. And because if I was constantly doing something, then I couldn’t stop to think about all the bad things I deserved. And I couldn’t be paranoid about being judged for every little thing I did.”

“What…” He’s trying, with every fiber in him, to keep his heart from breaking for her. To keep himself from blurting out how well he knows the feeling. “What about Alya? And Adrien, and, uh… Mrs. Bourgeois’s kid?”

Marinette turns to face him, leaning back against the railing, and something in her face—no, everything—changes. There’s a tiredness in her eyes, a twitch in her hands. Lines in her face that shouldn’t be there for decades. As though she’s just lived them all over again. “I didn’t talk to Alya for over a year. I couldn’t be friends with her. I couldn’t even talk to her.” Her gaze lowers. “It was really hard on Nino.”

“Nino?”

“Our friend. well. My friend. Her boyfriend. He’s the one I’ve been helping for that summer project.” She folds her arms tight. “He apologized first. If it weren’t for him, Alya and I still wouldn’t be talking. And Chloé, well… Mrs. Bourgeois’s recommendation letter had nothing to do with her. I entered some contests with my portfolio and won a couple of them.” She flicks her gaze back. “I did run into Chloé once. In New York. I guess she decided to live with her mom for a while. She kind of took the ‘enemy of my enemy is my ally’ approach. Which was… weird. But tolerable.”

Luka searches her face, even at a distance, and settles on the end of the deck chair again. “What about Adrien?”

The pause that follows is heavy. He can’t tell who feels the weight of it more; he just hopes it’s equal. Marinette scrunches up her lips, braces herself on the railing, and all those decades come back. “Well,” she murmurs. “I guess you don’t really realize what you have until it’s gone, huh.”

He sobers. “He felt guilty.”

“I guess we all did.” She scuffs her heel. “I guess we all do.”

Luka waits. There must be more she wants to say.

There is. She even starts pacing again. “My guidance counselor used to tell me that all that’s necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. It was supposed to be comforting.”

He raises an eyebrow. “It doesn’t sound very comforting.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” she says, “He reminded me they were still good people, and good people could do bad things, and even if they were still good, it was okay for me to not want those people in my life anymore. I dunno.” She rocks on her feet. “Maybe someone told Adrien the same thing and he couldn’t stand doing nothing anymore.”

“Did you want him?” he asks. “In your life? Do you still?”

She heaves a laugh like it’s hard to do. “Would you think it was messed up if I said yes?”

“No, of course not.”

“He could see it,” she says. “What Lila was doing. That was why he felt so bad. That was why he convinced her to clear my name. Turns out he knows how to use things to his advantage, too.”

Luka softens and runs his fingers over the body of his guitar. “He must love you a lot,” he says, “if he was willing to do all that for you.”

At first, Marinette doesn’t say anything, only grips the railing tighter. He can see it, how her knuckles go white, as though there’s something she’s trying to forget. Then she murmurs, “She tried to talk to me. Juleka did. To… apologize… I ghosted her. I didn’t want to deal with it anymore. For a while, I didn’t want to deal with anything anymore. I don’t want you to think it didn’t hurt me, because it did. It did hurt.”

Luka’s stomach turns. He puts his guitar down. “That’s why you’ve been so nice to me, huh…” There’s a lump in his throat that he tries to swallow; he only partly succeeds. “You felt guilty about avoiding her and just… wanted to make it up to her.”

Something flashes across Marinette’s face. Horror, maybe. Or shame. “No, I—that’s not what I—”

“I’m not upset.” He’s not. He’s staring at the floor with a pit in his stomach and a shake in his limbs, and his knee is starting to throb again in protest, but he’s not upset. “Really. I get it. If that’s what you needed for your own closure, then…”

A ragged breath and a sniffle cut him off, and he’s barely able to lift his gaze before Marinette kneels in front of him, placing his ring in his palm and closing his fingers around it. He can’t revel in the touch—won’t let himself—because her hands are cold. Trembling. “Don’t go,” she whispers, squeezing his hand tight, and when he looks up there are tears staining her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t even be asking this of you, just… please, don’t go.”

Luka learned, a long time ago, to look for the things unsaid. when I can’t make it really meant I’m trying to avoid you. when you’re certainly different really meant God, you are a level of fucked-up I can’t put into words. When we need to talk really meant it's over.

He hears, “Please don’t go,” and he thinks he finds, I want you in my life. Don’t you want me in yours?

Or, maybe, I need you.

Or maybe it’s as simple, as desperate, as, Not you, too.

He’s known Juleka, and maybe even himself, long enough to know what that sounds like in other people.

“Hey,” he murmurs. “Hey, I’m not going.”

Marinette freezes, still staring at their hands. “Why? You have every reason to.”

“Because I’m not.”

“You’ve known me for like, two months, as what? A baker’s daughter? Overly nice customer service? Someone who just gave you kindness out of some dumb high school guilt?”

“I’m not going,” Luka says again.

“You should.” Marinette rubs her eyes dry. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to.” He coaxes his hand open, slides the ring back onto her finger. “Isn’t that enough?”

Marinette studies the ring, giving it a cautious flick. As though touching it might break it altogether. “It’s too big.”

“Then I’ll trade you.” Luka takes the ring back, digs around in his pocket, and fishes out a couple of guitar picks. “Here. Take one.”

One of them has a picture of Jagged Stone’s face. The other has a Kitty Section logo, crudely painted on with some of Juleka’s old nail polish. Marinette takes the first one almost instantly with another sniffle, examining it from all sides. “He’s… my favorite.”

“Yeah.” Luka smiles, not minding that she can’t see it, and thinks of the album cover. “Mine, too.”

She runs her thumb over the faces and edges, blinking away whatever tears threaten to stick around. “Why?” she asks again.

“To prove it.” He tilts his head. “To prove I’m not going.”

She turns the pick this way and that, but doesn’t put it away just yet. Instead, her eyes drift toward his guitar and the amp, and then up to him. “Hey,” she says. “Do you think you could do me a favor?”

“I know,” he tells her. “I won’t tell Jules about any of this. And I won’t make you talk to her if you don’t want to.” And I’ll stay. I swear to God I’ll stay.

“Not that.” Marinette presses her lips together, still sitting on her knees. Still holding on to the pick for dear life. “Can you play it again?”

“What, the song from your playlist?”

“Me.” She looks away, her cheeks flushed and blotchy. “Can you play me. Again.”

Luka’s heart picks up, so loud he can barely hear anything else. Even her. “Yeah,” he says, setting his guitar in his lap, “Yeah, I think I got it this time.”

i guess it’s eleven now.

[ravenclawshavemorefun]

Monstre Aux Yeux Verts 《a miraculous ladybug fanfiction》 chapter 5

Adrian can't stop thinking about the night before. Supper at Marinette's was the most fun he'd had in a very long time. Adrian was young when his mother disappeared but he still remembered how she made everything fun, even boring every day tasks. He remembered going to the park with her, movie nights, and even cleaning his bedroom, but he never remembered having a meal as a family like they did at Marinette's. They joked and laughed with eachother during and after the meal while they all cleaned up together. Adrian had been more than happy to help out, they treated him like part of the family. Although Luka was there also, he felt closer to Marinette than he had ever felt before.

"What are you thinking about?" Plagg asks packing away some camembert in Adrian's backpack for the school day, "you're smiling and laughing at nothing like a crazy person over there."

"Last night." Adrian laughs.

"What was so great about it? They didn't even have a cheese platter."

"All you think about is your own stomach, Plagg. When i have my own family, we'll have all our meals like that."

"Cheese-less?!" Plagg gasps.

"No!" Adrian laughs, "together and fun."

"Whatever you say, kid."

There's a knock at the door and Natalie opens the door a crack, "Adrian, your breakfast is getting cold and you have 10 minutes before you need to leave for school."

"Thank you, Natalie, but I'm not very hungry." Adrian says packing up the rest of his things and heading to the door.

"Is everything alright?" She asks in her usual way: deadpan, like it didn't matter to her either way, but Adrian knew her better.

"Don't worry," he smiles at her, "everything's great, i just had a large supper last night."

She nods, "i hope it was a pleasant evening." They start walking to the front door where his bodyguard is waiting to take him to school.

"It was so fun!" Adrian gushes, "Mr. Dupain is so funny! He played a prank on us with wasabi flavored macaroons and had us laughing all night! Mrs. Dupain-Chang is so nice and Marinette-" he blushes, "she's just really great. Do you think father will allow me to go out like that more often?"

"I'm not sure, Adrian, that is a question for him."

They reach the front door. "Right." He says deciding to not get his hopes up.

"Have a productive day at school." Natalie says as he and his bodyguard walk out, he waves goodbye.

"Marinette!" Her mother calls up the stairs, "if you don't hurry you're going to be late!"

"Coming, mom!" She calls back, throwing her stuff in her bag.

"Last night seemed like a success." Tikki states optimistically, "Adrian looked very happy."

"I hope so, Tikki. I had no idea he was dealing with so much at home."

"It really makes you appreciate what you have, doesn't it?" Tikki asks getting into her hiding spot.

"It sure does. I hope the advice i gave him works and things get better for him." Marinette says nervously.

"Don't worry so much, Marinette, it was great advice."

She runs downstairs and grabs an apple to eat on the way to school.

"Marinette, tell your friends i can make more wasabi macaroons if they'd like!" Her father laughs.

"Oh, dad, you're not that funny!" Marinette says despite laughing as well.

Alya was standing with Nino and Adrian on the steps of the school waiting for her. "Hey, girl, we were about to give up on you being on time today!" Alya says smiling.

"Sorry, guys!" She says hurrying up the steps. In her hurry she misses a step and flys forward. Adrian catches her in a hug. "Ugh! Sorry!" She blushes, "honestly, it's beyond surprising I've never broken a bone considering how 'graceful' i am."

Adrian pulls her into a standing position chuckling, "you okay?" He pulls away a little but keeps a hand on the small of her back.

Marinette puts a hand on his arm and moves away to a more appropriate distance for 'just friends'. "Yeah, thank you." She self consciously looks away at Nino and Alya who both have a strange look on their face that she can't read. "Are we ready to go in?" She asks. They all walk towards the door, Adrian holds it open for her. "He seems happier, at least" she thought to herself.

Waiting for class to start, Alya nudges Marinette, "what happened after Nino and i left yesterday?" She whispers.

"Well, Adrian and Luka stayed for supper..." Marinette whispers back.

"And?"

Marinette's confused, "and that's it. Why?"

"Adrian's acting a little different today is all, i was just curious." Alya smiles like she knows something Marinette doesn't.

"How's it going, dude?" Nino asks Adrian then adds in a whisper, "what was the deal with you and Marinette earlier?"

"What do you mean?" Adrian asks feeling a little warm.

"Did you tell her?" Nino asks.

Adrian shushes him even though he was already whispering, "no, she doesn't know, but... I'm going to tell her." He decides impulsively.

"Everything?" Nino asks eyes wide.

"Probably not the stalking and spying stuff but yeah, I'm gonna tell her i love her."

"Woah, dude! Too soon!" Nino hisses, "you can't just tell a girl you love her out of nowhere!"

"You can't? Why not?"

"Well... 'cause you can't. You gotta start slow. Like asking her out first. Is her date with Luka still on?"

Adrian gets that burning sensation in his stomach, "how am i supposed to know?"

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Adrian? Nino?" Startled, they shake their heads. "May we start class then?" The teacher asks amidst giggles from the rest of the class. Adrian looks down at his books a little embarrassed. And class begins.

"Adrian seemed to have a good evening at the Dupain-Chang's." Natalie states to Mr. Agrest.

"I'm aware, but it's only a matter of time before his heart brakes." Mr. Agrest says certainly.

"Are you sure Miss. Dupain-Chang wouldn't want to be in a relationship with Adrian? We won't wait that long to akumatize him will we?"

"Of course not, Natalie, i have back up plans to be sure he will be akumatized before the week is out. Then i will have the miraculous and our family will be one again." Mr. Agrest gazes at a photo of his wife and Natalie nods feeling conflicted.

School passes quickly, at lunch Alya, Nino, Marinette, and Adrian are all sitting together talking and eating when Alya says, "it's been a really long time since anyone has been akumatized, hasn't it? I hope that doesn't mean something big is coming."

Marinette and Adrian realise she's right and their eyes widen. Nino says, "yeah, it's been almost a week. Maybe Hawkmoth gave up." He adds hopefully.

The room quiets a little then hushed whispers give the illusion the room was full of snakes. The four of them look around to see what's going on. "What's Luka doing here?" Alya asks.

Adrian looks at Marinette and watches her cheeks get pink, "i don't know, maybe he has to drop something off with Juleka."

"Most guys don't bring their sister flowers at school." Nino scoffs. Adrian quickly looks at Luka, sure enough he was carrying a medium sized bakery box and just a single pink flower.

"Hey, guys, i have a long lunch break so i thought I'd stop by and eat with you." He sat next to Marinette and held out the pink flower to her, "this is for you, Mari, i saw it and thought of you." She took the flower and thanked him, blushing furiously.

"What's in the box?" Alya asks.

"Oh, i stopped by the bakery, your parents said these are your favorite dessert, and i made your dad swear they aren't wasabi flavored." Luka laughs. They all laugh with him and grab a macaroon from the box. They were red strawberry with chocolate filling and dark chocolate with mint filling the colors of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Adrian gets an idea, as Chat Noir he's much more confident, he could tell Marinette tonight as Chat Noir. Feeling more confident, Adrian takes a bite of his dark chocolate and mint macaroon. He'll just have to bide his time until then.

Marinette felt very self conscious with the whole room looking at her and Luka sitting together. Luka seems to read her mind, "i hope it was okay that i came here," he takes her hand and whispers in her ear, "i didn't realize it would cause such a scene."

Marinette gives his hand a squeeze and whispers back, "I'm glad you came."

Once everyone got used to Luka being there everything went back to normal and the rest of the school day was mostly uneventful.

That evening after the meeting with Jagged Stone Marinette and Tikki decided Ladybug should go around the city and check things out. "It's strange that Hawkmoth hasn't made any moves lately." Tikki says suspiciously.

"I agree. He wouldn't just give up, he must have something big planned." Marinette says setting her stuff aside on her desk. "Let's make our rounds, Tikki, spots on!"

Nothing seemed out of ordinary around Paris, after a couple hours flying around the city, Ladybug decided it was time to go home. She lands on her rooftop terrace and feels a presence there with her. "Who's there?" She calls swinging her yoyo.

"Woah, milady, it's just me." Chat Noir steps out of the shadows.

"What are you doing here?" They both ask at the same time.

Chat Noir laughs, "i just wanted to talk to Marinette."

"'Talk to Marinette'?" Ladybug repeats, "why?"

Chat looks uncomfortable, "well... i just... why are you here?" He changes the subject.

"I am... checking things... around the city." She says carefully, "don't you think it's strange that Hawkmoth hasn't made a move lately?"

"The thought has crossed my mind. Did you find anything?"

"No." She says half relieved but still a little apprehensive.

"Well, i guess all we can do is wait." Chat says sitting in one of the lawn chairs.

"What are you doing, Chat?" Ladybug asks crossing her arms.

"What? Nothing. Waiting." Chat says nervously.

"Here? You're up to something, i can feel it." Ladybug tapps her foot waiting.

Chat gives her a long look. "Okay, look. I've been waiting so long for you to love me like i love you, and I've realized that it's just not going to happen."

Ladybug sits in the other lawn chair. "I'm sorry, Chat-" she begins but is interrupted.

"No, let me finish. You are a great friend and partner, so I'll always care about you, but I've decided i need to move on."

Ladybug is surprised to feel a little stung, "but what does Marinette have to do with it?"

"I have feelings for her." Chat says quietly looking away.

Ladybug mentally facepalms. Of course that stupid cat would "move on" to the same dang person except without the mask. "You know you can't reveal your true identity to her, right?"

"Yeah." He sighs.

"What kind of relationship would that be if she can't truly know you?" Ladybug cuts herself with her own double edged sword. How could she be in a relationship with Luka if he couldn't truly know her?

Chat Noir interrupts her thoughts, "so what? We can't be in relationships ever? That doesn't seem fair! Everyone has secrets! Everyone!" He has a point, she thought to herself. "I don't care if you think I'm selfish, i have to tell her. Tonight." He adds stubbornly.

"What about Luka?" She asks before she could stop herself.

Chat looks at her suspiciously, "what about him?"

"Well uhhh... she uh... told me about this boy Luka- i think that's his name. She said he asked her on a date for friday and she agreed." Ladybug hopes that sounded convincing.

"Maybe i will sweep her off her feet and she'll forget all about that guy." Chat grumbles.

Ladybug giggles, "oh, Chat, i love you, but you have the worst timing."

"I have the worst timing? I tell you I've moved on and THEN you tell me you love me? It's like I'm cursed!"

"You're not cursed. Maybe you should find someone in your normal day-to-day life."

"She is from that part of my life, but i can't talk to her- what are you doing?"

Ladybug had clapped her hands over her ears and started humming, "i can't know anything about your identity, Chat!"

"I didn't say anything... unless you know Marinette out of the mask too! Do we know eachother?!"

Ladybug jumped up out of the chair, "let's just stop there! We can't know anything!" She meant what she said but she couldn't stop herself from wondering.

"Maybe we can talk to Master Fu, it would just be easier if we knew everything about eachother."

"Yeah! Easier for Hawkmoth! All it would take is one little slip. It's not just about us, its about our loved ones too. You have to think about someone other than yourself, Chat!" She says out of frustration.

Chat looks hurt, "you think i don't?"

"I didn't mean-"

"I know what you meant, Ladybug. But maybe if you knew who i really was you'd understand that this mask helps me be the real me. The people i care about are the same in both lives, so is it really safer to not know eachothers identities or are you just afraid to let someone know the real you?" Ladybug is stunned into silence and Chat scoffs, "go ahead and run away. I'll wait here for Marinette."

Ladybug isn't sure what to say and stands there awkwardly for a few moments before taking off around the corner and de-transforms. "This is going to get really awkward, Tikki."

"Speak from the heart, Marinette, he'll understand." Marinette takes a deep breath and walks down the street to the door beside the bakery that lead straight to the rooms upstairs.

Chat spots Marinette walking down the street alone and watches her step towards the side door just below. He takes a deep breath and tries to figure out how to say what he needs to say. He hears Marinette shut her bedroom door and he waits. Should he knock? Should he wait to see if she comes out to the terrace? He quickly grabs the bouquet of flowers he had left in the shadows when Ladybug surprised him. He was about to knock on the trap door when it busts open and hits him in the face. He groans and covers his bleeding nose. He can't even see Marinette with his eyes streaming but he could hear her.

"Oh my god! Chat Noir! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there! Oh my god! Your bleeding! Don't move! I'll be right back!" Chat sits there trying to clear his vision and stop the bleeding. Marinette returns less than a minute later with a first aid kit and tends to his sore nose. "I don't think it's broken at least. I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, princess, I'm fine." Chat held the tissues Marinette gave him to his nose.

"What are you doing lurking around by my door?"

"Great! Starting off on a bad foot." Chat thought to himself. "I wasn't lurking! I was about to knock like a gentleman when you threw it open like the room was on fire. Is your room on fire?" He asks mockingly.

"No!" She says shortly. "I just... it doesn't matter, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He cuckles and hands her the bouquet, "these are for you."

"Oh. Thank you. What are they for?" She asks surpised.

Chat laughs, "well not for breaking my nose, that's for sure."

She slaps his arm playfully, "oh its not broken! Don't be a baby."

Chat stands and offers her his hand and pulls her up. They walk to the chairs and sit. "There's something I want to talk to you about." Marinette's face gets very serious. "I came to tell you that..." Chat pauses looking for the right words, "I... I... really like you, Marinette. I think you're really awesome and beautiful and..." Marinette blushes.

"That's really sweet of you Chat but we don't really know eachother."

"But we do-"

"You can't tell me your identity!" Marinette interrupts him. She sighs and keeps her eyes closed, Chat takes the opportunity to study her face without judgment, "i wish things were different, but they aren't. If i were akumatized i would get you hurt, or worse and i never want to hurt you, Chat."

Moved, Chat caresses her cheek and she opens her eyes, "i understand, princess, but i felt like if i didn't tell you i would burst. When Ladybug and i defeat Hawkmoth maybe things will be different for us."

She delicately lays a hand over his, "i hope we'll be able to get to know eachother, but until then i hope you find someone that makes you happy, even if you can't tell them you're a superhero."

Chat fights an overwhelming urge to de-transform and show her who he really was, but decides he has to confess his love for her as Adrian. "Maybe i will."

"How did you think that was going to end?" Plagg asks bluntly.

Adrian bellyflops onto his bed "I don't know." He sighs, "but now that I've said it as Chat Noir i know what to say. Tomorrow's the day. Ive got to tell her before it's too late."

[gloryundimmed]

Luka tag dump. Finally will be able to start up the queue again I think maybe