don’t be scared
“I love you.”
Ladybug froze. “What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
“You… you can’t say things like that,” she said, but it sounded weak even to her own ears. She was weak.
“Why not? It’s true.”
“Chat…”
“Look.” He stepped around in front of her. When she wouldn’t look up at him, a clawed finger slipped beneath her chin and gently tilted her head back until their eyes met.
“Adrien…” she whispered, finally acknowledging the truth that had hung between them for the better part of two weeks now.
The miraculous cure had fixed all the damage Oblivio had done, but it hadn’t taken away their memories.
He closed his eyes like the sound of his name hurt, then opened them again to stare at her. “Marinette.”
It did hurt. Ladybug’s chin trembled. “We can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because Hawkmoth -”
“Screw Hawkmoth!” Chat shouted, so loud that they both froze.
She found herself holding her breath.
“I love you,” Chat said, choked. “All of you. And I don’t care about him.”
“I care. I care that he could hurt you to get at me. That he will hurt you,” she said. “Every time you get hurt, it kills me.”
Chat was shaking his head. “No.”
“Yes. You know it’s true. We can’t be together, Chat. It’s too dangerous.”
He was quiet for a moment before stepping back. Ladybug was cold the instant his hand left her body, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
“Don’t you see?” he said quietly, at last. “We’re partners, My Lady. All of Paris knows I love you. They all know you care about me.”
She went to speak, went to correct him, but a finger laid gently over her lips silenced her.
“He already knows you’re my weakness, as I am yours,” Chat whispered to her. “I would tear this city apart to get you back. That’s been the case since the day we met. Hawkmoth knows that; he’s no fool. All we’re doing is denying ourselves a bit of happiness in the midst of all this fighting. And if you want that -”
He stopped, tears in his eyes, and drew a shuddering breath. “Then fine. I’ll understand. But don’t ask me to pretend I don’t love you, because I can’t do that.”
She stared at him, speechless. Chat took another step back, and then another, until he turned and ran towards the edge. He flung himself off heedlessly, disappearing over the edge only to fly back up seconds later, propelled by his baton.
She stood there for several minutes after he was gone, just thinking. And at last, she came to the undeniable conclusion.
“He’s right,” Ladybug said out loud, realizing the truth of it even as she spoke. What was done was done. They couldn’t change it now.
Did she really think that Hawkmoth didn’t already know how much they meant to each other? Did she really think that if they pretended they didn’t love each other, they would magically be less of a weakness for each other? Did she really think that he couldn’t use them against each other now? Hell, he already had!
She scrubbed her hands over her face to remove the tears and turned to go home. She had some thinking to do.
The next morning, Marinette got up early. She dressed, went down to the bakery, and nicked some pastries. Her maman looked at her knowingly as she left, and Marinette blushed. She was nervous, but not afraid. After thinking about it all night, and talking at length with Tikki, she’d made her choice.
Adrien was already in class when she arrived - even when she was early, she was late. Marinette walked right over to his desk and laid the box down. He looked at it, eyebrows furrowing, and then up at her.
“You were wrong,” Marinette said. “I don’t just care about you. I love you. All of you.”
His jaw dropped. Someone in the class, probably Alya, made a high-pitched squeaking sound. Marinette didn’t care. She had eyes only got her kitty.
“But you were also right,” she went on. “I was scared. I’m not anymore. Like you said, we can take on anything together.”
“Marinette.” Adrien’s eyes actually looked a little wet. He surged up and came around the desk, scooping her up into a hug so strong her feet left the floor.
“I love you,” Marinette said, hugging him back, smiling so hard her face ached, and he laughed.
“I love you too,” he said, pulling back to beam at her, and this time the high-pitched shriek was probably Lila.
Marinette didn’t care. She was too busy pulling her partner in for a kiss.
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