Cat Noir patrolled the city, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. As he passed the Dupain-Cheng Bakery he had an urge to stop in and see Marinette, but she wasn't out on her balcony. It was probably just as well, since he had made her cry as Adrien a couple of days ago.

On the last day of school she had told Adrien that she loved him and asked him out on a date. It had completely blindsided him. He ended up telling her as gently and vaguely as possible about his feelings for 'this girl he met while taking a walk around Paris without his bodyguard' and how it wouldn't be fair to Marinette to start a relationship with her while he loved someone else. Adrien would never forget the heartbroken look on Marinette's face, especially since he had a crush on her as well. Although she said that she understood, she was crying as she walked away. It broke his heart and caused him to feel torn between his friend Marinette and Ladybug.

After that, things got weird. Apparently Lila had heard their entire conversation and somehow had gotten herself akumatized because of it. She proceeded to kidnap Adrien to lure Marinette out. She told the whole school about how he was too good for school girls because of some mystery chick. To his horror, she told everyone about Marinette's confession too.

Eventually Ladybug, with the assistance of Queen Bee, rescued him and de-akumatized a love note Lyla had written to Adrien. Lyla had been upset because, as she claimed, every word was the truth.

It was strange for Adrien to watch Ladybug "Pound it" with Queen Bee instead of him. It was even weirder when Ladybug acted a little cool toward him when he thanked her for saving him.

For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that their situation was all wrong: Ladybug had rejected him for someone else and now he had turned down Marinette for Ladybug.

The boy Ladybug liked couldn't possibly love her the way he would, if given the chance. But now he wasnt giving Marinette a chance. He had even gotten into an argument with Plagg over rejecting her.

A storm cloud gathered in the evening sky and a low rumble sounded. In the distance, he could see a figure in red sitting on Pont Neuf. Cat Noir's heart did a happy flip when he realized it was Ladybug.

It was raining by the time he reached her. "Hey, Ladybug. I heard that there was an akuma attack a few days ago. Sorry I wasn't around."

She didn't turn to face him. "It's okay. I figured you might be off on vacation or something, a lot of kids were. That's what happened to Rena Rouge and Carapace. They warned me that they'd be gone this month."

He was relieved that she wasn't angry. And now he had an excuse. He hated fibbing, but sometimes he had to since she insisted on keeping their secret identities a secret.

"I was, but now that school's out for me I promise to give you a heads up if I go anywhere else with my family."

"Me too, even though I don't see my family going anywhere."

Ladybug sounded really sad, and she hadn't turned to look at him once. In fact, she hadn't really seemed like herself a few days ago either.

"Milady, I know you don't want to talk about our personal lives, but is something bothering you?"

Ladybug let out a sniff. He realized that she was crying.

He felt like a jerk. Now two girls had cried because of him less than a week. He started to panic.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry I asked. I'll shut up now. Or maybe I should just go away." He picked up his baton.

"No!" Ladybug practically shouted. She grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving and he could now see her face. Despite her mask, he could tell that her eyes were red and wet and puffy, as if she'd been crying for days. "I came out here as Ladybug because my normal life was too much for me to handle. But...I'd rather not be all alone."

"Hey, it's okay, I've been there." He said soothingly, rubbing her back. "I'll help however I can." He briefly wondered if this was about the boy she told him about, but was afraid to ask.

"I- I feel so stupid for crying like this... but I can't help it." Ladybug sniffled." My parents are really worried about me and I'm not even letting them know how upset I really am. M- my friends are all off on vacation and I don't want to spoil it for them. Sure, I have my kwami, but, I just feel so alone right now..." Ladybug's voice cracked.

Loneliness was a feeling he could definitely relate to. He pulled her into a tight hug. She sobbed into his shoulder.

He ran his hands through her hair. A tear escaped his eye at seeing her like this.

"I'm right here, Ladybug." Cat Noir said softly. "And I'm never leaving."

Disclaimer: Thomas Astruc and Disney Channel France own Miraculous Ladybug, not me.