hook, line, and sinker

notes: here we are at the end! we made it folks. i will admit, i don't really like this chapter either; i don't really think it flows well and i'm super iffy on the ending? idk i kinda forgot where exactly i wanted these last 2 chapters to go so i just winged it and...well...let me know what you think. i tried to get back into the style of the story, idk if i really succeeded. thanks for reading everyone! enjoy! see you in the next fic! :D

vii.

Everything is different, now. He doesn't call her "my lady" anymore, and she's abandoned her cat-related pet names. There's a hole in his heart and in his gut; the easygoing camaraderie they had in their suits has become strained and tense and strictly professional, and their friendship is basically dead, and Adrien hates it. He hates everything about everything and he hates himself the most because he knows, he knows, that he's the one at fault.

Even Plagg's taken to ignoring him half the time.

The thing is, he doesn't know how to fix—anything. What is he supposed to say, what is he supposed to do? He could apologize, but what, exactly, is he apologizing for?

Everyone—and he means everyone—has noticed the change in dynamic between Chat Noir and Ladybug, and their class is still completely out of the loop about Adrien and Marinette. First Marinette was avoiding Adrien, then Adrien was avoiding Marinette, and now they were just—weird. Quiet. Not avoiding, but not seeking. No one can pry any answers from either of the two teens in question.

Adrien tries to think through the past few crazy months. So Marinette figured out he's Chat Noir and he found out Marinette is Ladybug and she thinks he's disappointed it's her—which is not exactly true. The truth is, at first, Adrien really had no idea how to feel about it. It didn't make sense to him, but he wasn't angry or disappointed—at least not with her. He was angry and disappointed with himself because he thought he would know, he thought it would be obvious to him if ever he came across her true identity. And it turns out this whole time she's been there all along and he never figured it out, had in fact forced her to show him the truth, and he just—couldn't deal with the fact that he didn't know her, either side of her, as well as he believed. He couldn't deal with his own oblivion and he took it out on her, he realizes now.

So he seeks her out and apologizes for it.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette, you didn't deserve how I treated you at all," Adrien practically grovels, eager to get back into her good graces. "I just—I thought I would know, you know? But I didn't and it—it messed me up." He shakes his head. "Can you—can you forgive me?"

Marinette smiles, a tiny broken thing, and shakes her head gently. "There's nothing to forgive. You did nothing wrong, Adrien. It's my fault, really, I shouldn't have—shouldn't have let you build up illusions about—well, anyway. It's fine."

Adrien doesn't really understand what she means, there's something strange about her words, but she's already gone and he doesn't know how to ask.

So he lets it go and that's that.

Except things still aren't the way they used to be.

Marinette—as herself and as Ladybug—is still so careful around him, so unconfident and unsure of herself, and he just can't understand it. He watches her as her smiles grow less fake but never fully real, watches as she doesn't laugh, watches as she ignores rather than confronts. He feels a punch in his gut every time she subdues her reactions, retreats into herself. Why? What's wrong? What is he missing?

He's passing through the park one day and he spots Marinette playing with a small group of children. He watches her, smiling fondly, as she braids flower crowns and plays tag and laughs like he hasn't seen her laugh in months. The kids love her, running around and giggling when she catches them and then lets them "overpower" her. Her hair's a mess and there's grass on her clothes and her eyes are sparkling and she's so beautiful his heart aches.

Adrien jolts back with the force of his thoughts. Something like epiphany strikes him.

And then, of course, an akuma crashes in.

He quickly transforms behind a tree, preparing to jump out and fight when he sees Marinette trying to calm the kids and keep them safe. Oh no, he thinks in dismay.

She stands in front of them with her arms thrown out, fearless, defiant, gorgeous (it's all so obvious now), as the akuma looms ever closer. He wants to yell at her to get away and just transform already, but instead she does the unthinkable: she picks up a handful of rocks and throws them at the akuma, distracting it and leading it away from the children. They watch her fearfully, reaching their little arms out for her, but she just flashes them a bright smile and motions for them to run in the opposite direction.

And then she takes off.

Swearing, Adrien runs and leaps towards the akuma, making contact with a hard kick before flipping back and landing on his hands and feet. The akuma swipes at him and out of the corner of his eye, Adrien sees a reddish flash of light and then Ladybug is swinging forward at the akuma. Adrien sighs in relief and and jumps up to join her. Their teamwork is smoother than it's been in a long while and they defeat the akuma easily.

But Marinette runs away before he can even look at her and smile and say "Mission accomplished!" so there's nothing to do but run after her.

He catches her back in the park, where she quickly releases her transformation behind a bush before jumping out and making sure the kids are okay. They all clamber for her embrace, before she pulls away and waves goodbye. She turns around to leave but her eyes land on him and she freezes.

He's Adrien again, not Chat Noir, but he can't help himself when he stomps up to her and demands, "Marinette, what the hell were you thinking? You could've gotten hurt!"

Surprise flashes through her blue eyes. "You...saw me?"

"Of course I saw you, that was so reckless, how could you—that's my job! It's my job to be reckless, and your job to—to not get hurt!" What is he saying, what is he saying, he has no idea what he's saying, what is going on—

Suddenly, she's in his arms and he's burying his face in her neck and trying to hold back tears, and he's babbling on about missing her and needing her and (dear lord he's such a sap) wishing she would just tell him what's wrong so he could fix everything for her because god he loves her so much, actually, it's almost a physical thing—

She shoves him away and he blinks uncomprehendingly at the space between them and the trail of tears down her face. She opens her mouth and a flood of words pour out, and really all he can catch is: "You're making this so difficult" and "I know you love Ladybug but" and "please stop doing this to me" and "no, it's not your fault at all, nothing is your fault, you're perfect" and "I'm a disappointment, I'm not suited to be Ladybug at all, I know, but I am, and I love you, and it just hurts, you know?" and Adrien can't listen to anymore.

Because oh, he thinks. Oh.

He steps forward, she steps back, but she stumbles and he lunges forward to catch her, and it's so reminiscent of that fateful day in the rain but this time—this time he's not letting her go, not for anything, and she's crying too hard to speak now.

"Marinette, look at me," he says softly. She's already shaking her head and hiccuping and decidedly not looking at him and in any other situation, he would be smiling at how cute she is. He moves one hand from around her waist to cup her cheek, swiping at her tears with his thumb. She tries to turn away but he brings his other hand up as well and tilts her head up at him, holds her in place. He smiles softly, a little painfully, and she's so confused, he can see it in her eyes—

"Marinette," he whispers, and leans in.

Her hands clutch at his shirt; she's trembling. "No, wait—you don't—I'm not—"

"Yes, you are, my lady." His lips brush across forehead and she gasps a little. "It's you, and I love you."

A sob. "A-Adrien, don't—you can't—"

His lips move down to the corner of her mouth. He whispers into her skin, "Do you trust me?"

Her breath catches, Adrien's heart stops beating—but she nods. She nods firmly against him and it's an answer, a surrender, and a confession, all at once. "Yes. Of course. Do you trust me?"

He smiles and pulls back, looking into her eyes again. They're hopeful and open and so, so blue, and it's her: everything he's ever wanted. "You know I do."

Adrien leans forward again and this time she meets him halfway.

It's not perfect, and it's not elegant, and it's definitely not an ending, but it's theirs.

© Copyright 2016 by The Siege