Today was the day. The day she was going to tell him. Tell him she loved him and who she was with the mask on. If she could trust anyone, it would be him.

And today was the day.

Today was the day. The day he was going to tell her. Tell her he loved her and who he was with the mask on. If he could trust anyone, it would be her.

And today was the day.

It had taken a long time to come to her decision, but Marinette had finally settled the matter in her mind. She would be going to art school in autumn and might never see him again, well without the mask anyway.

The only guilt she felt was not confiding her plan in Alya. But she wanted to do this alone. Alya was a very supportive friend, but at university Marinette would not be able to rely on Alya for constant help. Thus she had chosen to do this one alone, just to prove - to herself more than anything - that she could.

She had chosen Friday because it gave her the rest of the weekend to cry about it if it all went wrong. Not that she thought it would. But… Just in case.

She had chosen to do it at the end of the day, the best time to see him alone.

But as her final class of the day finished, someone entirely unexpected caught her attention.

Adrien had wanted to do it for a long time. But between photo shoots, homework and being a superhero, every opportunity he had had had been stolen from him.

He had not mentioned it to Nino, so that he didn't blow it before Adrien could even start. As well meaning as Nino was, Adrien didn't want him trying to force the situation. Yet Nino seemed to have gathered something was up, and when Adrien hung back at the end of the lesson, he didn't question it. Adrien made a mental note to thank him later.

"Marinette? Can I talk to you a moment?"

She looked around with a slightly startled expression on her face. But nothing more. Gone were the days where she would blush and stutter in his presence. Her face rearranged into a neutral smile.

"Sure, what is it?" she asked.

Adrien glanced around and waited for Kim and Max to bustle out before he spoke again.

"Well, um, there's no easy way of saying this. So I'll just say it." Marinette continued smiling as she waited for him to go on. "I really like you."

There. He'd said it. He beamed down at her, proud of himself. But his smile faltered as pity flooded her face.

"Adrien," she began weakly and Adrien panicked. Of course, she didn't understand fully yet, he had to go on. He had to explain. "I don't feel the same way."

And his mouth failed him. He had been going to tell her he was Chat. That he'd visited her more times than he could count. That they were best friends outside of school. That he wanted that in school too.

"Huh?" he managed.

"I don't like you like that. I used to, but… There's someone else," she explained. Her voice was gentle yet firm. "I'm sorry."

Adrien tried to speak again, but succeeded only in a goldfish impression.

Marinette gave him another pitying smile before shuffling out of the room. Once she was gone, Plagg floated out of his pocket.

"I'm sorry Adrien," he mumbled. "Do you want some cheese?"

Adrien looked around to see Plagg holding up a square of camembert.

"No Plagg, you have it."

...

"Do you think he's alright Tikki? I mean it doesn't bode well, does it? Maybe I should wait."

Tikki watched Marinette pacing around her bedroom.

"Adrien will be fine. And you shouldn't wait, you've put off confessing to Chat too long already."

But that evening, Chat never came.

Author's note: So I had an exam today and it went badly. The computer system messed up and none of the files for the listening assessment were loading and we ended up having to move rooms. Nightmare.

I sent this to AmyNChan and she told me to post it so if you don't like it I take absolutely no responsibility for it :P

Please review :)