He tried. He honestly tried. But when he stepped out from behind the dumpster she was still standing there. Adrien couldn't be sure of what she was doing, but he knew that Ladybug had flown into the alley right as he was de-transforming. He had ducked out of sight before she had de-transformed, but he could have sworn she had left.

However, now he watched as Marinette Dupain-Cheng slipped her cellphone back into her purse before casually walking out of the small alleyway.

"Marinette...is Ladybug?" he whispered out loud.

"Yep! And it's about time you figured that one out." Plagg, the black kwami answered. "Now where is my cheese!?"

Adrien reaching into his shirt pocket and gave the kwami his treat as his mind began to spin. Now that he knew, it was all too clear.

I should have seen it earlier, he thought to himself. No wonder I've been crushing on her more and more.

While he had never admitted it, Marinette had been much more than just a friend to him for some time. He had thought about giving up on Ladybug and asking her out, but the fear of being rejected had stopped him. Adrien already had to endure Ladybug's rejections on a regular basis, but at least he had a mask to hide behind with her. With Marinette, there would be no reclaiming of their friendship if he told her about his growing feelings towards her and she didn't return them.

After the events leading up to the battle with Silencer, Adrien had become even more convinced that he had made the right decision. Marinette clearly had a thing for Luka and Luka clearly liked her. He had even made up a few photo shoots so that he wouldn't have to be in the video they made. Watching the two of them together was painful, but, at the same time, he was happy for her.

Luka's a good guy, he thought as he headed towards home. They'll be dating soon. I could never compete with him anyways.

The walk home seemed incredibly long, even though he was only a few blocks from his house. Once inside, he collapsed on his bed, burying his face into his pillow. He had managed to not tear up during his walk, but now the ache in his chest was beginning to boil over.

"Kid?" he heard Plagg whisper, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Plagg," Adrien lied, hoping the kwami would drop the matter. But, contrary to his usual nature, Plagg didn't let it go.

"Adrien, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy to know who Ladybug is."

"I am happy. Marinette is amazing. I should have seen it sooner."

"Ok...so...ask her out." Plagg suggested. Adrien turned his head so he was facing the black kwami of destruction.

"Plagg. Are you blind?" he asked. "She's in love with Luka. That's why I quit the band."

"She's in love...wait...that's why you quit? You were...jealous? But I thought Marinette was 'just a friend'."

Adrien sighed deeply. It was true that he had constantly said Marinette was 'just a friend', but it was his way to trying to convince himself of that more so than anyone else.

"No Plagg. I like her. I've liked Marinette for a long time, but I didn't want to say anything."

"Because of Ladybug?"

"Well, yes. But also, I didn't want to ruin the friendship we have. And now there's Luka, so...yeah. I guess it's a good thing I didn't."

"But kid...your just going to give up? Just like that? After all this time trying to win her over as Ladybug?"

"I love her. I want her to be happy. And if that means Luka, so be it. Besides, how can I compete against him? He is so cool, and smooth, and I know he's going to take better care of her than I ever could." The ache in his chest grew and grew as he spoke. Adrien knew he meant every word no matter how much it hurt him. "Besides, Plagg. She loves him. Not me."

"Then how do you explain that?" Plagg asked, pointed behind him. Adrien's eyes followed his gesture to his desktop where an image of Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing floated across his screen saver.

"She forgot about Luka. I'm the second best, Plagg. And that's the truth."

"But…" Plagg started to argue, but Adrien couldn't continue this discussion much longer without the tears taking over.

"Enough, Plagg. Just drop it, alright? I've made my decision. I want to support Marinette and Luka. I want her to be happy, so let's just forget all this and move on. It's better that way for everyone."

Adrien didn't wait for a response, but instead got off the bed and headed into the shower. The kwami had long established that he would never come into the bathroom uninvited, despite his ability to float through doors. Adrien turned on the water and quickly undressed and got in. Squatting down, he let the warm water flow over him, washing away all the tears that poured from his eyes.