Adrien POV:

Adrien watched in confusion as Marinette left, hand in hand with Luka.

"I didn't know they were dating" he asked Kagami and Nino in curiosity.

"Yeah dude me neither" Nino replied, "I thought she liked y-" Though before Nino could finish his sentence Alya, kicked Nino hard from underneath the table.

"Oww what was that for babe..."

Alya gave Nino a meaningful glare warning him that he better shut up or else.

"Why does it matter if they're dating or not?" Kagami interjected, "I personally don't care for gossiping about relationships, it's against my upbringing!" she huffed.

Adrien did not share the same views as his girlfriend, and wanted to know what Nino had almost said. What about Marinette? He couldn't help wondering.

"What was that you said Nino?" He asked.

"I err.." Nino gulped as he glanced at his girlfriend. "Didn't say anything dude, I have no idea what you're talking about dude please don't hurt me Alya" he said in a rush.

"No you said something about Marinette liking someone else" Adrien said the hopelessly blind boys curiosity peaked.

"It doesn't matter!" said Kagami, who was growing increasingly frustrated at the current topic.

"Right darling?" Kagami said expectantly, "since you have a girlfriend and all why worry yourself with someone like Marientte."

"Uhhh" Adrien hesistaed

"Right???" Kagami said growing impatient with Adrien's behaviour. "Right boo??"

Adrien felt a lump in his throat, he had no idea where the sudden pet names had come from, but it painfully reminded him of bugabo- LADYBUG

"Right..." Kagami said raising an eyebrow waiting for him to address her with a pet name. They were dating now he should feel comfortable calling her dear or darling or...boo. He had no problem calling Ladybug, m'lady or bugaboo or....stop it Adrien!

But something in him found it difficult to get the words out. As if there was a painful lump stuck in his throat and it wasn't somehow right.

"Err a right... um." Adrien struggled to think of a name...

"Darling!" Adrien yelled. The words felt forgein and forced...not at all how it felt when he used to tease his lady. He had to stop comparing Kagami to Ladybug!

"Yes adrikins!" Chloe screamed from across the cafeteria.

Kagami glared at the blond girl. "He was talking to ME" she responded angrily. "Right boo?" she looked at Adrien expectantly.

"I have to go!" Adrien blurted out and then ran to the boys washroom.

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Marinette POV:

Marinette was desperately trying to focus on her homework, but thoughts of Chat Noir kept invading her mind.

She was debating whether she should expose her true feelings for Chat Noir or keep her love for him buried inside, never following her heart and letting her true feelings surface.

"Why won't he get out of my head Tikki" the dark haired girl complained to her kwami as she put her head in her hands, feeling hopeless.

Tikki hugged Marinette on the cheek.

"Oh Mari" Tikki sighed. "It'll get better" the wise kwami told the sorrowful girl.

"D-do you think I should tell him about my feelings?" Marinette asked the little red kwami. The question kept running through her mind. Should she tell him or would it just make things more awkward than they already were? What if she made it more awkward by not telling him how she felt?

"I can't make up your decision for you Marinette, just like I couldn't tell you if you should confess to Adrien." Tikki told Marinette truthfully.

"Adrien! That's it Tikki thank you so much!" Marinette said.

"Your welcome" Tikki giggled, unsure of what the dark-haired girl meant.

"I never told Adrien how I felt and I lost him. If I had been braver he might have rejected me or it might have worked out. Either way it's too late for me and him... although that's fine because I'm over him now." Marinette began to explain.

"I don't want to be afraid anymore Tikki, I want to take chances, make mistakes, and express who I am! I want to truly live and that means finding courage in myself, being brave and taking a risk!"

"I feel like I haven't completely lost Chat Noir and even if he rejects me I'm going to fight to get him back!" Marinette finished, determined to win back her kitty's heart.

Tikki smiled at her, glad that the girl's confidence had returned.

"I'm proud of you Marinette" her kwami told her.

"I'm proud of me too" the blue-eyed girl admitted, "but I can't be too proud yet, not until I've actually told him." Marinette told her kwami.

"Look at the time Tikki it's almost time for patrol!" Marinette said rushing to get out of her seat and close her books, "don't wanna be late, Tikki spots on!"

Ladybug climbed into her balcony and swung to the Eiffel tower, her confidence growing.

"I've got this...I've got this... I've totally got this!" Marinette repeated, building up all her courage and strength to face Chat Noir.

Once she got to the Eiffel tower, she realized that Chat Noir had yet to arrive.

I must be early she thought to herself, or Chat could be running behind.

She began to wait for her partner, but as the minutes went by, she felt her self doubt start to eat away at her confidence.

She tried calling Chat Noir, but it went to voicemail.

"Where could that Cat be?" she said out loud, wondering if she should start patrol without him.

A nagging voice in her head told her that if she started patrol then she wouldn't get a chance to confess her feelings.

He'll show up, he wouldn't miss patrol she assured herself, but after his strange behavior, she wasn't sure.

She waited a few more minutes, and was out to start patrol she saw a dark figure appear beside her.

"Chat Noir you're here!" she cried, Ladybug couldn't control the joy and relief she felt seeing his beautiful green eyes and his golden locks as he appeared like a bright light of hope in the dark lonely night.

She couldn't stop herself from pulling him into a warm embrace.

She felt Chat Noir begin to hug her back, but then he abruptly pulled away from her, his face blank and unreadable.

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug said, hurt and confused at the sudden change in behavior.

"Yes Ladybug?" Chat Noir asked, ignoring the way her sadness hurt him.

Ladybug looked down at her feat, why did things have to be so awkward and distranded between them?

They used to be friends. They used to share a special bond, that she thought no one could break. But now he looked at her as if she was nothing to him. Like she never meant anything.

"W-why did you pull away?" she mumbled to the ground before forcing herself to look into his gorgeous emerald eyes.

The old Chat Noir would have made a flirtatious comment about her question and the stuttering, but the new Chat instead turned away.

"We should start patrol" he said, his back to her.

He was about to jump into the black night when Ladybug grabbed his arm.

"Chat Noir wait!" she cried in pain, unwilling to let go of him.

"I have to t-tell you something" she began, a blush beginning to coat her cheeks "and I'm being serious so please don't laugh at me, and god this is embarrassing..." she said as she buried her face in her hands.

She felt Chat Noir gently pull her hands off her face, and for a second she thought that the old Chat Noir had returned, and her heart began to beat rapidly.

But her heart began to break all over again when she heard his next words...

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Chat Noir POV:

"Can it wait Ladybug...we should be starting patrol" he said shaking off her warm touch that made his heart melt. He had to...he couldn't be with her.

No matter how right it felt, no matter how desperately he longed to hold her in his embrace and feel her soft lips against his own, tell her that he was so sorry for his cold behaviour and that he would wait for her, be there for her, take on the world for her...

HE COULDN'T

Because no matter what, no matter how much his heart yearned and ached for her he could never make her truly happy, she loved another, he wasn't enough and because he loved her with all he was, he needed to let her go.

He saw fresh tears well in her eyes and his heart painfully ached. For a second he was afraid she would cry... and he knew his restraint would be thrown out the window.

but instead she wiped her eyes and mumbled something incoherent, looking down at the ground, refusing to meet his eyes

"What did you say Ladybug?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his expression blank and emotionless.

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Ladybug POV:

Ladybug flinched from Cat Noir's cold tone and finally raised her head to look into his eyes. But the warm, lighthearted pools of green that she once loved were gone, know bleak, dark stripped of any emotion.

After patrol her and Chat met back up at the Eiffel tower. Her once fun-loving partner had insisted on them doing patrol first, which lead to them agreeing to meet up after they were done.

She couldn't believe she was actually going to tell him how she felt, it was weird.

The dark-haired girl had spent ages trying and trying to tell Adrien how she felt, but she had never mustered up the courage.

Now, here she was about to confess her feelings to the boy of her dreams.

She saw Chat Noir's figure appear beside her and she took a deep breath

"Ch-Chat, I have to tell you something and it's stupid and r-ridiculous but I p-promise you it's t-tr-true" she stuttered.

"What is it Ladybug" Chat Noir said with a monotone voice.

"God I can't believe I'm doing this" she mumbled, mustering all of her courage, right now she needed every ounce of her bravery she had in herself.

Ladybug took a deep breath.

"Chat Noir, since you told me about your girlfriend things have been different between us, and it's made me do a lot of thinking, and it's made me realize something..." she began, her bluebell eyes locked with his emerald green.

"It's made me realize that I've always taken you for granted and never really stopped to think about how much you mean to me"

"It's made me realize that I love you."