"You don't like it here anymore?"

Marinette paused in front of her apartment door with two grocery bags loosely hanging on her arms. The door was cracked open, but the question leaving her daughter's lips had her hesitating to step inside.

Because that question wasn't directed at her. It was meant for Adrien.

"I love it here," Adrien's voice answered softly, "But me being here is making other people sad, and I don't want to make anyone sad."

"You're not making me sad." That was her daughter's simple answer. Of course, Emma saw the simplicity in it all. She didn't understand just how truly complicated it all was.

That thought in itself had Marinette smiling sadly. Leaning forward, she gently pressed her ear closer.

"Please stay." Emma pleaded.

Adrien's voice was filled with remorse and guilt. Marinette didn't have to see his face to know he was hurting too. "I can't. Being here makes your mama unhappy."

Marinette's eyes widened slightly at that. That wasn't how she expected him to answer.

"Why do you make Mama unhappy?" Emma asked.

She heard Adrien inhale shakily. "A long time ago, I hurt your mama's feelings real bad. I didn't mean to... but I guess because I was hurting too, I hurt her by accident."

Marinette couldn't help but lean in a closer. Adrien had been hurting during their relationship? Why didn't he ever tell her? She could have helped—

"Did you say sorry?" Her daughter sounded incredibly serious now.

Adrien let out a sad chuckle. "Yes, but sorry isn't always enough."

"Why not? I say sorry to Mama all the time, and she always forgives me."

"I'm sure you haven't hurt your mama like I have." Adrien answered her.

A few seconds of silence ensued after that. The only sound that could be heard was the shuffling of limbs along carpet as Adrien assumingly continued to pack his suitcase. Marinette considered using that as her chance to step inside, pretending as if she had just come back from the car and hadn't overheard a single word.

But Emma spoke up again. "Did you tell Mama you were hurting?"

It took Adrien a moment to respond. "No... I didn't."

"Why not?"

Another beat of silence. Marinette leaned in closer. She heard a shuddered breath leave his lips.

"I-I don't know. I guess I'm just... stupid."

The frown on Marinette's lips deepened. Whatever Adrien had felt or was currently feeling he should've told her about. Marinette wouldn't have judged him; didn't he know that? She loved him even if she didn't want to admit that to his face for the sake of her own pride. She loved him so much that all she wanted was for them to be a team; to raise their daughter together; to be a family. Finding out who he was under the mask didn't change her love for him. It didn't change the future she wanted with him.

Why couldn't he see that? Why couldn't he trust her?

"Are... are you leaving because of me?"

A shuddered gasp slipped past Marinette's parted lips. It was too whispered for anyone else to hear it, but that question leaving her daughter's lips had just overall shattered her heart into a million pieces.

"What?!" Adrien gasped, sounding horrified. "No! Of course not. None of this is your fault, Emma. This is between me and your mama, okay?"

"Okay." That was her daughter's passive answer. She didn't sound like she believed him. In fact, she sounded like she was convinced him leaving was her fault.

That only further broke Marinette's heart.

She heard Adrien exhale shakily. It sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "Can I get a goodbye hug?"

That question surely shattered any intact pieces of Marinette's heart that she might've had left. Because her daughter hadn't been the one to ask that question.

Adrien had.

The sound of little feet shuffling along the rug followed as Emma seemed to rush into Adrien's arms. Marinette was tempted to look. The door was slightly ajar, and all she had to do was easily sneak a peek, but could her heart handle it? Could she handle seeing her daughter clutching on to the father she didn't even know she had, crying on his shoulder and begging him to stay with touch alone? Could she handle Adrien clutching on just as tightly, trying to hold back his tears?

She realized, as silent tears cascaded down her cheeks, that no, she couldn't.

And so, Marinette remained hidden, head barely touching the wooden door in front of her as she silently shed some tears of her own.

____________

Ladybug sat atop the Eiffel tower with her legs dangling over the edge. It was well past midnight. Her daughter was sound asleep in her bed, Alya and Nino were off at the club spending a needed night alone, and Adrien had left the apartment shortly before she had, insisting he needed to run a few errands which involved visiting the twenty-four-hour mini mart across the street to pick up essentials for his trip. Of course, Marinette knew that was just his excuse for him to leave so that he could meet her here as Chat Noir.

The sound of Chat Noir's boots meeting metal as he perfected his landing had her straightening her posture. Tension rose to her shoulders as she quickly wiped away the lingering tears painted on her cheeks. The chilling wind made an unpleasant shiver run down her spine.

"Hey," Chat Noir greeted her softly, almost sounding out of breath. He took a seat beside her, allowing his legs to dangle over the edge as well. "I'm sorry for calling so late. I just needed to talk to you about something really importa—"

"You're leaving." She interrupted him with that she already knew. She spared him a look out of the corner of her eye, knowing that if she faced him fully, he would see her tear-stained cheeks. "Again."

The look on his face proved he hadn't expected her to know that yet. "How-how did you know that?"

"Call it a lucky guess." She mumbled. Unfortunately, the bitterness in her words was clearly audible, and the disappointed frown that quickly pulled at Chat Noir's lips only further proved he didn't appreciate her tone.

"That isn't fair, LB." He said with furrowed brows. "You don't even know why I'm leaving."

"If it's the same reason as last time, then you don't even need to bother explaining."

"It's actually quite the opposite as last time." Chat Noir replied a bit irritably. "The last time I left was for selfish reasons. This time, I'm leaving because I'm hurting other people for being here."

"Yeah? Well, I guess it just depends on which people's feelings are more important to you."

Chat Noir shook his head, a chuckle of disbelief leaving his lips. "Stop trying to make me feel like my mistakes of the past define who I am now. I already know I've messed up and I already feel guilty, so I don't need you to remind me."

"So you're saying you're not the same person in your past? Because if I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure the Chat Noir now is doing the same thing as the Chat Noir did then: running away."

"Yeah," he let out a bitter laugh. "Me leaving the first time was stupid and I realized it was a mistake, but coming back didn't fix anything. All it did was make things worse."

Ladybug's ablaze irises snapped to his as she inclined her head towards him. "Maybe because no one trusts you. Maybe because you still want to hold on to secrets after all these years."

"Don't talk to me about secrets." Chat Noir suddenly hissed out. To most, the sudden rise in his shoulders would have seemed intimidating. It didn't phase her in the slightest though. "You're the one who was so adamant about never sharing our identities with each other. You have no room to talk."

"That was when we were kids, Chat Noir. We're adults now. If you wanted to know right now, I'd tell you without hesitation. The real question is: would you tell me who you are?"

His features lightened slightly, revealing a bit of fondness behind his impending rage. "Of course." He answered without hesitation. In fact, there seemed to be hopefulness swirling in his irises.

The sight suddenly had Marinette feeling sick. So, he was quick to share his identity with Ladybug, but not with her civilian self? The woman he apparently loved? The mother to his child?

That didn't make any sense. None of this made any sense. Marinette had to find out his identity by eavesdropping, but Ladybug was about to have him confess it straight to her face?

What was the difference? Chat Noir claimed to be in love with Marinette, the same emotion he claimed to feel for her alter ego once upon a time ago. Now, she was simply confused, unsure if his confession to either of her identities had ever been genuine to begin with.

Ladybug furrowed her brows, confusion evident in her features, and perhaps a bit of hurt too. "I don't understand you, Chat Noir."

He matched her expression, equally confused. "What do you mean?"

The superhero in red stood abruptly to her feet, suddenly feeling too overwhelmed. Her hands flew up to tug at her pigtails in frustration and she began to pace. Chat Noir quickly followed her movements, the steel underneath his boots clinking against the metal of the Eiffel Tower as he stood, his eyes watching her in nothing but concern.

Finally, she turned around to face him. "I know about your relationship with a civilian."

Chat Noir's eyes widened in absolute shock, his reaction enough evidence to prove that he hadn't expected her to know. His surprise was genuine, and his lack of response was deafening. He simply stood there for what felt like centuries, staring at her helplessly.

"I know her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Ladybug continued emotionlessly, "And I know you have a daughter with her."

Even in the darkness, she could see as his throat bobbed uncomfortably.

"Have you told her who you are?"

"No." He answered immediately. He sounded far away, as if he hadn't even fully processed the conversation they were currently having. "But she figured it out anyway."

"What about your daughter?"

Chat Noir's brows suddenly furrowed deeply, the question about their daughter seemingly shaking him out of his shocked reverie. "How do you even know about her? How do you even know about Marinette? Have you been like... stalking me?"

The accusation somewhat offended her. "Of course not."

He didn't believe her. In fact, he seemed ready to defend the woman he apparently loved and his daughter without hesitation. "Then how do you know about them?!"

Ladybug had already anticipated his raised voice, and that was why she didn't even flinch, but what she hadn't expected was the opportunity being presented to her. This was her chance. She could easily tell him what she'd wanted to tell him all those years ago after she'd found out she was pregnant; when Marinette realized what she had really wanted was to spend the rest of her life with him. She would've told him she was Ladybug back then. She would've trusted him enough to tell him.

But he never trusted Marinette enough to tell her.

Exhaling shakily, Ladybug decided enough was enough. Chat Noir may have been afraid to be honest with her for whatever reason, but Marinette wasn't going to allow her own reserved fears to hold her back. Not anymore.

She lifted her chin, refusing not to break eye contact as she said, "Because I'm Marinette."

A few things happened at once. Chat Noir's eyes widened in shock and then in horror. He took a step back, a shuddered breath escaping past his lips. "You're lying."

Ladybug simply shook her head. The silence between them began to grow thicker.

His breathing began to grow heavier. Chat Noir took another step backward, but this time, instead of in fear, in betrayal.

She knew what it felt like to be betrayed. He once made her feel the same way.

"You're lying." He said again.

"I'm not."

"You're lying!"

Once again, not even his raised, angered shout could have her flinching.

"Why would I lie about that?"

His eyebrows furrowed further to reveal his building rage. "All this time... its been you?" A mirthless chuckle escaped his lips, something she'd never heard from him before. The sound sent a shiver down her spine, and not in a way that corresponded with butterflies in the stomach. This shiver was uncomfortable and chilling. "All this time Marinette has done nothing but pester me about revealing my identity, whereas Ladybug always told me not to. So which is it? What do you really want from me?"

"What do you think I want?" Ladybug asked him rhetorically. "All I wanted was for Chat Noir to be honest with Marinette."

Chat Noir scoffed. "You wanted me to be honest? You weren't even completely honest with me, but you wanted me to be honest? How hypocritical of you—"

That really boiled her blood, to the point where Ladybug didn't even let him finish that thought.

"I didn't go pursuing a relationship with someone as Ladybug, Chat Noir!"

This time, she raised her voice, and Chat Noir flinched back because of it.

"I didn't make someone fall in love with my superhero self!" Ladybug continued on in a shout. Her sudden burst of confidence caused her to take a step forward, and now that she was one a roll, there was no turning back. "You did, and I will never understand why! I don't understand why Adrien rejected Marinette, only so that Chat Noir could make a move on my broken heart!"

Again, he swallowed, and even licked his lips nervously, but his silence wasn't enough. It wasn't even close to being satisfactory. She needed an answer.

"Help me understand it, Chat Noir. Because it doesn't make any sense to me."

Her partner sighed in defeat, his shoulders sagging in utmost regret. "I-I just... I can't tell you..." he said desperately, "It's embarrassing... and you'll hate me—"

"Chat Noir—Adrien..." Ladybug took a cautious step forward, an exhausted sigh escaping past parted lips. "You need to stop making assumptions about me or about us. After everything that has happened, I don't hate you. I could never hate you. I love you. Whatever it is, you can tell me, and we can work on it together, but at least give me a chance to help."

"You don't understand." He said as he took another step back. The retreating gesture had her placating hands falling at her sides. "I am so ashamed for everything I've done to you, both as Adrien and as Chat Noir."

"Then help me understand." Ladybug practically pleaded.

Chat Noir silently shook his head, his shaggy blonde locks swaying back and forth with the motion. As he did so, he took another step back, and her gaze quickly fell to his waist as she watched one of his arms disappear around his back, assumingly reaching for his baton.

Her eyes slowly lifted back to his. Her expression alone was begging him to reconsider. "Don't you dare run away from me again, Chat Noir."

Hesitation clouded his features once more, mixing with the pain already there. It hurt her heart to see, but what her hurt her the most was knowing that he didn't trust her enough to be honest with her. It hurt the most knowing that what was holding them back from the happiness they both desired and deserved was simply because there was something he couldn't tell her.

Her brows furrowed in frustration when he remained silent. "You can't just leave again. That isn't fair after everything we know now."

"Isn't fair for who?" He asked, his voice sounding hoarse and unsure. "You? Of course it isn't; it's unfair for both of us. It's unfair for Emma. But life is unfair."

"'Life is unfair?' Really, Chat Noir? Really?"

"It is. It's so unfair." He continued on irritably, as if his anger was slowly beginning to rise. "None of this is fair!" He exclaimed as he finally lost his temper, gesturing to their surroundings with his hands in a wild manner. "Everything that has happened between you and me has been unfair!"

"That doesn't mean we can't try to make things better!"

"I tried to make things better... but what good did that do?" Chat Noir asked bitterly, "You pushed me away anyway! You told me I had to leave! You said I couldn't be a part of Emma's life!"

"Because you refused to tell me that you were Adrien! Because you were never going to tell our daughter who you are behind the mask, and I wasn't about to let you lie to her for the rest of her life!"

"What makes you so certain that I would've never told her?!"

"So you would've told her, but not me? The one who begged you for so long while we were together to tell me who you were?" Her voice broke off from its confident streak then, sounding hoarse as if she were about to cry, and the last thing Ladybug wanted was to shed any tears in front of him. The last thing she wanted was to seem so weak; to seem so broken still because of him.

He must've sensed her brokenness seeping through, because his expression softened slightly, and then he took a step forward, as if to embrace her.

But Ladybug didn't want an embrace. Truthfully, she didn't know what she wanted other than his honesty.

So, she took a step back, maintaining the space between them.

His arms fell at his sides once more.

"I don't want a hug, Chat Noir," she said as she struggled to fight back tears. "What I want is the truth. Tell me the truth, and that will be more comforting than a thousand hugs."

There was a strangeness swirling in his eyes, something she couldn't quite decipher. How he looked at her was a man who had already given up; a man, whom, even despite her pleas, couldn't seem to grant her what she wanted. It was clear that even despite the lines they had crossed together (which would have seemed like steps forward) were only pushing them farther apart.

Chat Noir was only further withdrawing, and if he didn't change his mind, there was nothing else she could do to convince him to stay.

Realizing this, Ladybug's tears vanished. Her freckled cheeks were still stained, sure, but fresh tears ceased their silent trickle. Her posture straightened, only to pronounce the tension in her shoulders. With an exhaled sigh, she said, "Well... then I guess this is goodbye... for good this time."

He didn't need to say anything in response. His silence was all she needed.

Unclasping her yo-yo from her side, Ladybug swirled it around her finger and turned her back to him. She didn't look back over her shoulder, not even as she launched herself down into the city below. He didn't call after her; he didn't even beg her to stay. Instead, the cold wind beat upon her stained cheeks, drying up the streak of tears that had once been there.

As Ladybug leaped through the city, putting more and more distance between her and the Eiffel Tower, she realized he would never follow. Chat Noir wouldn't chase after her, he wouldn't beg her to stay with him, and he wouldn't ever bend down on one knee like she always pictured and dreamed he might do someday, because Adrien didn't love her enough.

Instead, he chose to leave her again; leave their daughter; not even willing to fight for either of them.

And so, with this knowledge, a new streak of tears flowed down her cheeks as Ladybug's agonized sobs echoed out throughout the still city.

_______________________________

Tune in for chapter 15 on (7/29/2022) where Adrien Agreste will finally visit his father before he leaves. Perhaps the conversation they have just might be the change of events Adrien needs to tell Marinette the truth.

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