"You've got to hang in there, Ladybug."

"Chat…" her voice was weak, weaker than it had ever been, and he refused to look into those eyes and see hopelessness where it didn't belong.

"Just hold on. We'll get you to the hospital. Give me time." Time was all he needed. He needed the world to stand still for just a moment, a breath, so he could save his partner. He had to save her.

He looked out over the city. He could get her to a car, drive her there quicker. But traffic…the rain…

He slipped a little on the pediment of a rooftop, shingles wet from the storm. Ladybug gasped from the sharp movement, and he cursed out an apology.

More time. More time. More time.

"Chat…please just stop….stop and listen for a second."

He looked down at her desperately—her soft cheek tucked against his chest, eyes fluttering against the rain.

Blood coated her abdomen, and red was no longer his favorite color. For once, her charm didn't turn everything back to normal. It didn't heal her. It could restore a broken watch, but when it mattered most, it couldn't sew a person back together.

Because Chat Noir was a production of unlucky chaos, and chaos always wins.

"Please," she begged, and he exhaled, helpless. He slid to the ground with her in his arms, muscles aching, hating that this might be the last time he'd see those orbs of blue and ebony pigtails.

"I need you to tell my family," she whispered. "On Gotlib….the bakery."

"My Lady…" Don't say goodbye. He couldn't handle this, listening to her last words. This wasn't supposed to happen, not yet, not like this. If Ladybug ever braved the end, it was to be by his side, a final act to end Hawkmoth. A heroic death that would be broadcasted and honored and seen by the world. Not here in the rain, in the isolated depths of the city.

"Please tell them I'm sorry. Tell them that I just wanted to save Paris. That I wanted to save them," she said, crying now.

He couldn't breathe around the ball of ice in his throat. He was dying right along with her.

"Tell a girl named Alya too…my best friend. She deserves to know."

And that's when it hit him. It hit him like the very blade that perforated his Lady's stomach moments before.

Alya…the Bakery….

The pain behind his eyes intensified, and he looked down at her like she was the sun, and the sun was abandoning him.

"I…I will, Ma—my Lady," he promised, unable to see her properly through the tears. Yet seeing her properly for the first time in his life.

Marinette. His princess.

Pure light, snuffed out by the darkness in this world. Everything made so much awful, perfect sense.

"Chat?" she whispered, expression pouring forth everything he never heard her say but dreamed of, "...Bien joué."

Her hand rose for a final fist bump, and he closed his fingers around hers and kissed her knuckles. Blood dribbled from her mouth as she smiled.

He couldn't produce anything significant, any deserving goodbye. He wasn't ready for goodbye. So he whispered their saying back, closing his eyes, drowning in his loss.

"One last thing," she coughed, her eyes falling shut, her smile dwindling.

He nodded, shattering from the inside.

"Tell Adrien Agreste I loved him."

.

.

.

.

.

.

She didn't die.

Of course she didn't.

Because her life had to become much more awkward and painful before that happened.

When Marinette awoke at the hospital, she frowned, confused and frankly, disappointed that heaven smelled like disinfectant.

But then she patted her chest, her stomach, the scar there, and her eyes grew wide.

"Tikki?" she whispered immediately.

The little bundle of pink came splashing back into her life, giggling, and Marinette cried from relief and wonder and overwhelming gratitude.

"How?" she choked, nuzzling the kwami.

"You died as Ladybug, but Ladybug cannot die. She's a symbol. She's immortal," Tikki explained. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng may not be invincible, but Ladybug is. This has only ever happened once before, when the chosen hero embodied the role of Ladybug so well that the souls were interchangeable. You truly are special, Marinette."

Marinette wished the kwami would have mentioned that earlier. Flinging herself off buildings would have been a lot easier without the pressure of certain death. Still. She was grateful.

Marinette looked around the room. At the get well cards. The balloons. Her mother's purse on the bedside table...

Oh no, her parents.

"What do they think happened?"

"They don't know the details. Only that you were injured in the akuma attack."

Well, it wasn't exactly false.

Tikki bit her lip, and Marinette fisted the sheets. "What aren't you telling me, Tikki?"

"Chat Noir dropped you off as Marinette, after your transformation wore off. But he left before you started breathing again! He doesn't know you're alive."

"Chat?" she gasped, remembering. Then her face reddened, and a ball dropped, crashing through the floors of her chest. "Oh no."

"What is it?"

"I told him…I told him to tell everyone…." She slapped her hands to her face, eyes wide and haunted. "Tikki, I told him to tell Alya. And…and…" she screamed. "Adrien!"

OoO

The next day she was bombarded with questions and hugs and sentiments.

Alya, still (thankfully) oblivious to any Ladybug secrets, wanted all the gritty details, but Marinette assured her she'd tell her everything later. You know, once she figured out her alibi. She did end up showing half the class her stitches though, much to Chloe's distaste.

But the moment she had been dreading came to pass, and she didn't think she could survive the look Adrien gave her when he saw her standing there, pointing at the scar tissue on her stomach.

Marinette yanked the shirt down, flooding colors.

Adrien stood in the doorway, unmoving.

He knew, she realized, panicking.

He knew he knew he knew.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said against the silence, so sincere it startled her.

Marinette's heart stopped performing. He knew.

"I…me too," she managed. She gave an awkward little thumbs up because she didn't know what else to do with her hands.

He smiled at her, and for the first time, it was an unreserved, open smile. It reminded her of someone else.

OoO

Marinette couldn't take it. All class she had anxiety attack after anxiety attack, debating where she was to go from here.

She had to confront him. Explain herself. Explain how she was delirious at the time, didn't know what she was thinking, blurted his name because he had the same green eyes at Chat Noir.

Just...something.

"Adrien?" she whispered. He halted before exiting the room, pausing for her as though he'd been expecting it. She was astonished he actually heard her, and he smiled again, waiting for the room to clear.

Marinette could barely process what was happening, but she didn't miss Alya's arched eyebrow and Nico's grin before they disappeared out the door.

It was just the two of them, alone. And she'd never felt so afraid.

"Did Chat…" she felt like she might cry. Her stupid kitty had ruined everything. How had he gotten to Adrien, and not her family? Not Alya? Why had he gone to Adrien first? "Did Chat Noir...tell you?"

Adrien's eyes flickered, and she prayed he might say something along the lines of, "tell me what?" Anything but—

"He did."

Marinette's hand clamped around her binders, digging into the plastic. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. All her plans washed up blank and meaningless.

Her crush. The boy she dreamed about all this time. He knew her deepest secret. And he was just standing there, watching her with an expression she couldn't read.

Say something, she thought. Please, before I burst into tears.

"Is it true?" he asked finally, and her head shot up, heart pounding wildly.

This was it. This was her test. She could jump from skyscrapers, defeat akumas, risk her life, but facing the boy she loved…telling him how she truly felt…

She closed her eyes.

You're Ladybug, dummy. You can do this. And afterwards, you can cry into your pillow and drink hot chocolate and never leave your room again for the rest of your life.

Slowly, she nodded.

She heard a snicker and cautiously opened one eye.

What in the—? He was laughing!

"Sorry," he said in apology. "I just…you look so scared."

"I'm terrified!" she exclaimed, and some insane part of her matched his incredulous smile.

He shook his head at her with such compassion and friendliness that a bit of her fear dissipated.

"Tonight. Chat Noir. He's going to deliver a message for me. Okay?"

Marinette frowned, lost at the turn in conversation. "What?"

"Trust me. It'll be better that way," he said. He waved goodbye, leaving her in an empty room, completely flustered and emotionally shell-shocked.

OoO

She waited impatiently for Chat Noir to arrive.

She'd attempted to reach him multiple times to assure him she wasn't…dead or anything. But no response. Which was unusual, to say the least. It also caused her a massive sense of unease. If she couldn't get a hold of him, certainly Adrien was having difficulties as well. Which meant that any second Chat could show up out of nowhere and tell her family she spent her nights (and days) as a crime-fighting superhero in spandex.

She tried to distract herself by drawing a little, tweaking a few designs, doing some math homework that wasn't due for another week.

But her fingers were trembling, and she couldn't steady her hand.

Why did Adrien want to answer her confession through Chat? Was he trying to be romantic? Or was he rejecting her like…like a coward?

Also. Who smiles like that and leaves the room right after a girl admits that she does in fact love you? No one!

She collapsed on her bed, groaning from the pain and confusion in her heart.

This was too much.

Her near death experience. Her parents freaking out about her near death experience. School. Adrien. Chat freaking Noir knowing her identity and ruining her life.

There was a knock at her ceiling panel. "My Lady?"

She jerked, sitting up and opening the hatch. "Chat?"

She didn't even get a chance to look at him. He'd pounced at her, wrapping his arms around her waist, digging his head into her neck, pressing her into the mattress.

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her.

The last time she'd seen him, she'd been saying goodbye. Forever.

She slid her arms around him, nuzzling into the embrace.

He was warm, and real, and oh, dammit, she'd missed him.

She felt tears on her collarbone, and her feelings clustered in her throat, clogging her airway.

"Chat, are you crying?"

He didn't answer her, and her heart sank. How hard it must have been to watch her light fade, to carry her body to the hospital knowing his partner was gone. He'd watched her die.

"Never do that to me again," he whispered sternly, breath warm on her cheek.

Smiling to herself, she threaded her fingers through his golden locks, tucking him to her tightly. "I won't."

After they held each other for a long, suspended moment, he pulled back, but not completely. He straddled her, hands on her arms, brushing circles, like he had to keep the contact or she might fade away.

"Adrien said…you had a message?" she began nervously.

Chat nodded, grinning a little. "He wanted me to tell you that he's flattered. That he's lucky to have a girl as beautiful as Marinette Dupain-Cheng hold him so close to her heart."

"But…" she sensed, crumbling.

"But…" he whispered, "he's also terrified."

Her mouth fell open, disbelieving.

"Why?"

Adrien was scared too? That made no sense. He was Adrien Agreste!

"Because…" Chat exhaled shakily. "Because he loves you with all his heart, and he's scared you'll only love half of him."

If she had been standing, she would have fallen over.

Love….Adrien….what.

She swallowed, heart pounding, head reeling.

Chat was looking down at her with such turmoil, such fear, and she didn't understand.

She shook her head wildly, trying to make sense of things. "Then…then he should reveal that other half! He should risk it. I risked it."

"He was afraid you'd say that," he sighed, and then he murmured something, and a bright green light illuminated her bedroom.

From the leather clad hero remained a boy with soft blond hair and beautiful green eyes. The love of her life. Lying on top of her, pinning her to her bed. Looking at her like she were a storm about to wreak havoc on his life.

"A….Adrien," she gasped, fumbling. She felt a lot like Alice, falling in all directions down a rabbit hole.

"My Lady…"

She gasped again, and she was trembling all over, which was ridiculous, because this was Chat. Her idiotic partner. Her best friend.

How could she have been so blind?

She'd studied every little detail about the guy. The nape of his neck, his shoulders, his biceps. His hair. His eyes. The little pale scar on his lower lip. She knew him down to the nitty-gritty.

And he'd been there—her spotter—all along.

"You love me?" she got out, incredulous. She sank into her mattress, as if to create distance between them.

"I've loved you since day one," he confessed.

Hearing it, seeing it sent her straight to cloud nine. While simultaneously sending her into cardiac arrest of course.

"And you thought…you thought I wouldn't love you as Chat Noir?"

He shrugged. "Ladybug is immune to my flirting."

"Only because she loves Adrien so much," she explained. His mouth tightened, and there was so much caution and worry in his face. It broke her racing heart. "Chat…when I detransformed, did you love me any less, knowing I was Marinette?"

He looked aghast. "No! I loved you even more. Because I realized I knew you, the real you. All your quirks. All your imperfections. The way your scrunch your nose when you're thinking hard…or how your arms flail all around you when you're excited…"

Marinette laughed. "Then why did you think this would be any different?"

He watched her warily, hair falling down around his face, adding a shadow to his features that only emphasized his state of mind.

She stroked the side of his face. "Do you know how incredible it is to find out the sweetest, most modest and gorgeous guy in Paris is also my best friend? Is also the guy I spend every afternoon with? Is also the guy I would never give up in a thousand years...even for his other half?"

Adrien stared at her, unblinking, eyes glistening.

"Knowing both of you makes me love you twice as much," she finished, brushing the hair out of his eyes.

She'd imagined the next moment a thousand different ways—a slow progression, a brush of hesitant lips, a tender kiss in the rain.

But Adrien kissed her then, really kissed her, and it was better than any fantasy she could have dreamed up. His calloused hands cupped her face, and she breathed him in, and her lips matched his like a sparring match, pulling, pushing, forfeiting. He tasted like sugarcane and tears.

Warmth spread through her, and she tugged him in closer, relishing in his slight gasp, and the way he propped himself on his forearm, glided his hand along the back of her head, along her waist, her hips, her thighs.

The desperation—the quenching taste of their longing—got the better of them. It was clear how passionate and happy Adrien felt by the wetness of his cheeks, by the intensity of his kiss. He nipped her bottom lip, and she tugged a little too aggressively on his hair, making him chuckle into her skin as he placed butterfly kisses down her jaw, onto her neck. Kissing everywhere he could, because she was alive, and she loved him back.

It felt so right. So overdue. And her heart might have been seconds from bursting through her sternum, but she didn't care.

He grazed his lips against hers once more, lingering. His nose brushed against hers, her cheeks, her brow. She clung to him, smiling as he explored.

"Good Lord."

The noise startled her, and she bumped heads with Adrien violently, cursing. "What was that?"

"Plagg," Adrien murmured, rubbing his temple.

The kwami bubbled into view, munching on the bakery's cheesy bread beside Tikki.

"Oh, he's…cute?"

Adrien winced.

"Cute? Seriously?" Plagg drawled. "Ugh."

Adrien waved him off. "Go away. I'll buy a whole fridge of gouda if you leave us alone for the rest of the night."

"Only a fridge?"

Adrien glared, and the creature darted off with Tikki, snickering.

Sighing, he glanced back at Marinette and smiled, pecking her on the lips again. "I can't…believe this is happening right now. Do you know how long I've wanted this?"

"Yeah, I can imagine," Marinette giggled, kissing him on the cheek, just because she could. "But…I think..." she kissed the corner of his smile, "I think it was worth the wait."

Adrien studied her fondly.

"It was worth a hell of a lot more than that."

THE END. Woohoo. I love these two way too freaking much. I wrote part of another multi-fic where they hold auditions for The Princess Bride and things get complicated when Adrien wears Westley's mask. But idk if I'll post it? We'll see.

Thanks for reading!