He was caught between being asleep and awake. It was dark. Comforting. His mind was blissfully blank as he floated along in his half-asleep state. He was semi-aware of his surroundings, but not aware enough to remember previous events that day or comprehend current events. He remembered nearly crying, but not what had driven him there. He felt tired. Exhausted. His throat and head hurt. He wanted to go back to sleep.

"Adrien." There was a warmth resting on his cheek connected to the voice.

Adrien screwed his eyes shut tighter than they already were. The voice was prodding him to wake up. He didn't want to. Waking up meant remembering. Waking up meant having to face whatever it was that had hurt him so. He'd rather stay blissfully unaware.

"Adrien, wake up." The warmth became distinguishable as a paw. It was starting to tap lightly.

Plagg.

Adrien reluctantly and blearily opened his eyes. He stretched and sat up, blinking to clear the sleep from his eyes. He looked around his room, his eyes taking in the reds, oranges, and yellows of the sky as he gazed out his window. He watched as a flock of birds flew through the sky, carefree as they soared through the air. He sighed, a sudden sense of longing settling over him.

He wished he could be as carefree as the birds. As Adrien, he had multiple responsibilities he endured and an image to maintain in order to please his father. He was nowhere near carefree. The closest he ever came was being Cat Noir. Sure, he still had a job to do, but he felt alive in a way that he couldn't describe. It was thrilling, and he felt that his alter ego was his escape from the responsibilities and hectic lifestyle of Adrien. But even now, the freedom and joy of being Cat Noir were being drowned out by all the secrets. He hated secrets. They were a burden and only seemed to hurt others.

"Hey, kid. How are you feeling?" Plagg floated into his line of sight, breaking his train of thought.

And just like that, the memories came flooding back to him. How Marinette had revealed herself to her friends that she was Ladybug, and that the others had followed suit, with none of them indicating that they would tell Cat Noir their secrets as well, despite him being Ladybug's partner and part of the team.

The heartbreak was back as well. He screwed his eyes shut, still refusing to cry. There was still a chance. He was about to meet her for patrol. She might tell him then. He hoped she'd tell him then.

He hoped she trusted him.

He felt Plagg resting in his lap. Adrien reached out to rub behind the kwami's ears. The purr emanating from the small creature soothed him. He took several deep breaths before opening his eyes and looking down at Plagg.

"I guess it's time to go meet Ladybug, huh?" Adrien said. If Plagg noticed that Adrien hadn't answered his question, he didn't mention it.

Instead, he sighed. "You sure you want to do this, kid?"

Adrien nodded. "Yeah. I have to know."

Plagg fell silent, nodding his head.

Within minutes, a cat-themed superhero could be seen leaping and bounding over rooftops on his to meet with his spotted counterpart for patrol.

Cat Noir was nervous. He was sweating, his hands clammy underneath the suit, and his heart was beating rapidly. He felt nauseous, and at the same time, it felt as if Hawk Moth had let loose a swarm of akumas in his stomach. He could barely focus on what he was doing, almost falling off roofs multiple times. He was just so apprehensive about his meeting with Ladybug.

The flicker of hope that she might yet tell him her secret was at war with the thoughts that she would reject the idea once more. The thought made his heart twist painfully in his chest. After all they'd been through together, he'd like to think that they were friends and trusted each other. After all, he trusted her with his life multiple times, and he'd trust her with his identity if only she'd let him. The thought that that trust might not be reciprocated scared him, and for the first time, he was almost dreading meeting his Lady.

He reached the Eiffel Tower, looking around for his partner with no luck. He whipped out his staff to check the time. I'm early. Great. More time to be left alone with his warring thoughts. More time to wait for her with hope, dread, and apprehension.

He plopped himself down on a beam and put his chin in his hands, doing his best to not think about it. He failed miserably.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he barely heard her arrival as she landed behind him.

"Hey, Cat Noir!" she greeted cheerily.

Act normal. Breathe. Smile. It's what you're good at.

He turned around and plastered on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He stood up and sauntered over to her, taking her hand and kissing it. "Good evening M'Lady."

So far, so good.

She pulled her hand away with a roll of her eyes before returning her attention to him. He winked at her as she scrutinized him.

"You okay, Kitty?"

Uh oh.

"I'm fine, Bugaboo. Cat's honor." He raised his fingers in a salute, hoping that she'd laugh it off and they could head out.

She stared at him. "You're lying."

Well, that didn't work. Maybe I can ask her now…

As he opened his mouth to ask her about revealing, a sudden fear of rejection crashed over him. He couldn't make his mouth spit out the words, so Cat sighed. "I'll talk to you after patrol. Promise."

She gave him a wary nod. "Let's go, then." She took off, and he followed like he always does.

Coward.

"Alright, what's wrong?" She had a hand on her hip, her yo-yo resting in her hand.

He blinked as her voice interrupted his thoughts. "What do you mean, LB?"

She put her yo-yo on her hip before crossing her arms and scowling at him. "Don't give me that. You know perfectly well what I mean. You have been acting strangely all evening. You keep spacing out, and you've almost fallen off of buildings several times. That hasn't happened since our first couple of weeks at this. Something's bugging you, so spill."

He met her angry stare with a cool mask of indifference as he tried to figure out what to do or say. He wanted so desperately to know if she trusted him with her secret as he would willingly trust her with his and as she trusted the others. But the fear of a negative answer paralyzed him. He didn't know what he'd do if she rejected him now. Besides, she hadn't made any indication tonight that she was willing to reveal her identity.

But there was still a chance… And he had promised her that he would talk. And he never broke a promise. His mother had taught him that promises were special, that they should never be broken. She'd taught him to never make a promise you didn't intend to keep.

So, he latched on to the sliver of hope rising in his chest, sighed, and walked over to the edge of the roof. He sat down and waited for her to join him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. He wished he could say it was a comfortable kind of silence between friends, but it wasn't. It was tense and thick and only made him more nervous the longer it went on.

"I know I've asked this before," he began, taking a deep breath to call his nerves. "and after tonight, I won't ask again. I swear." He was twisting his miraculous on his finger now and not looking at her.

Now that he was started though, he couldn't back down. So, with a sudden boost of courage, he turned to his partner, looking her straight in the eye. "Would you consider… that is… will you…" He took a deep breath. This is much harder than it's been before. But he had to ask. It was important. He took one last deep breath.

"Can we reveal our identities to each other?" The words came out in a rush, but they were out there. He watched her as she stiffened.

Neither moved for a long time. With each second that passed with her simply staring at him and not answering, the flicker of hope he'd latched onto like a lifeline diminished before being snuffed out entirely. A lump formed in his throat. I shouldn't have asked. This was a terrible idea.

Finally, she sighed. "Cat… you know the answer to that. It's too dangerous for anyone to know."

Too dangerous? She revealed to the other members of this team and me already. Why is it too dangerous?!

The horrible realization came to him as he stared at her. "You don't trust me."

Her eyes widened, and it would have been almost comical if the situation hadn't been so tense. She opened her mouth before shutting it again, repeating the process several times. "No, that's not…" she tried weakly. "I…"

He felt his ears pressing against his head and his tail swishing behind him as the lump grew larger and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. Once again, he felt sick. Bile rose in his throat. His stomach churned. He needed to get away. Every instinct he had was telling him to run.

So he did.

He stood up and vaulted away from her as fast and as far as he could, ignoring her cries as she called after him. He didn't know where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to get away. The wind stung his face, it's harshness whipping against his cheeks as he ran. He wasn't sure if the tears in his eyes were from the sting of the wind or what had just occurred. Probably both.

He chanced a glance behind him and saw no sign of her. She hadn't chased after him. The realization brought him to his knees. Suddenly, he found it hard to breathe. He couldn't focus on anything except the mantra playing in his head. She doesn't trust me. She doesn't trust me. She doesn't trust me. She doesn't trust me.

The repetition eventually gave way to cold numbness. His mind had gone blank, and he was simply staring in front of him. But though he looked out at the rooftops stretching out before him, he did not see. Though he heard the sounds of the city at night, he did not listen.

By the time he had pulled himself to his feet to go home, it had started raining. He wasn't sure when that had started, just that his life was apparently a movie. Oh, and he was shivering. (He didn't know if that was from being cold or heartbroken, but supposed it didn't really matter in the end.)

Tears and raindrops blurred his vision as he stumbled over rooftops, desperately trying to hold in his sobs until he got home. He wanted to save his breakdown for when he was alone. His throat was already hurting in the way that it did whenever he refused to cry. His head was pounding, and the shivering had not stopped.

By the time he was inside his room and detransforming, he was completely soaked, and his body was shivering violently. His stomach was churning and his head hurt. All he really wanted to do was to curl up in his blankets and never emerge again.

Plagg rested on his shoulder. "Hey, kid. Let's get you cleaned up."

Adrien nodded numbly. "Yeah, ok."

Adrien headed to the shower, shedding clothes along his way. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water. As soon as the water touched him, the dam seemed to burst. Adrien sank down to the ground and, as the water rained down on top of him, finally broke down in tears.

He cried great, heaving sobs until the water had long turned cold. It's not fair! Why doesn't she trust me? Why are there always so many secrets? Why am I always the one left in the dark? Why am I not trusted? Why? We're supposed to be partners. A team. Equals. So why am I never allowed to know anything? If only she'd let me, I'd trust her with anything…

Why doesn't she feel the same way?

Eventually, he pulled himself off the floor, quickly cleaned his body, and shut off the water. After drying off and getting into his pajamas, he crawled into his bed, burrowing deep within the blankets and sheets. He hugged his pillow into his chest, and the tear returned. With hiccuping cries, he buried his face into his pillow. His breathing was erratic and his head was pounding. The walls were closing in around him. And he was alone.

Until a small warmth curled up beside his cheek reminded him that he wasn't alone. When all else failed, he still had Plagg.

He shifted to where Plagg could curl up underneath his chin. Plagg started purring softly, and Adrien's sobs slowly changed to muffled sniffles and gasps, though the tears continued.

And so it continued until Adrien softly cried himself into a restless sleep.

So, sorry this took awhile to get out. I was travelling across the country, then summer band started, and now I am in my second day of senior year of high school! So, I've been pretty busy. (Also, I posted during the day? What?)

Also, the "s" and "d" keys are not really cooperating with me, so if you see any typos, you know why...

As always, I hope you enjoyed! Remember to leave a review! All the feedback I've been getting is fantastic, and each comment leaves a smile on my face!

Up next: We get to see them at school! And possibly some other things, but definitely school…