Adrien lied on his bed trying to make sense of what he had just happened .

.

'Oh ! And who is the 'amazing guy' who cat-ptured my lady's heart ?'

'I'm looking at him '

.

She didn't mean to let it slip , but she did .

She seemed a bit worried about his reaction , probably thought he was going to make some kinda fuss . But he was just frozen in shock .

He just didn't understand .

Why?

How?

It had a nice night , he was jumping across rooftops , stopped two muggings ( night vision was useful for finding guys who lie in wait in the dark ) and finally and Definitely not least , he just say a flash of red and began to make his way to his lady .

He should have stayed put , ...or even gone home .

Yes , it was that bad .

He caught up to her , they threw around some teasing , had a nice talk when she suddenly stopped moving and looked at the view in front of her with a wistful smile .

Then she murmured.

"I wish I could talk to my crush as easily as I can talk to you ."

She froze , not wanting to look back at him as his heart broke . But he put it in the back of his mind . He was good at pushing back his pain .

"Chat..."

"Well...um... , he may be holding your heart , but at least I have our wonderfur conversations..."

She let out a breath of relief at his teasing tone . It slightly hurt that she believed him so easily but everybody did , so ...it was normal.

But she still seemed a bit worried .

"...besides you'll come around eventually , m'lady."

He said with a wink .

She laughed before turning back to her previous view .

"Yeah right ! You flirt (ignore the pain , Ignore! ) no offence , but you don't even compare to someone as amazing as him ."

Her eyes softened and she let out a sigh , a small blush dusting her cheek .

Me-OUCH! Okay, that was painful but he could do this . Just keep talking or she'll get suspicious. Oh ,And make a pun .

"Oh ! And who is the 'amazing guy' who cat-ptured my lady's heart ?"

"I'm looking at him "

She snapped out of her haze and covered her mouth with her hands before turning towards him with wide, panicked eyes . But he had already followed her view to see ...

A billboard.

A billboard promoting Gabriel Argeste's new fashion line .

A billboard that that had His face smiling right at him almost as if He was mocking Himself .

.

.

'What?'

"What?..."

He whispered.

Ladybug was looking at him with a worried and confused look and he quickly recovered . She liked him , but no, she didn't . So she was a fan of his without even knowing it . Yeah that must be it . This was just her bantering with him .

'Then why was she looking so worried?'

"Chat , I ..."

"Oh I see . So my lady is a fan of the Argeste kid , huh ? The dude's probably a loser in real life ."

He didn't expect her outraged reaction ,...like someone just insulted her mom.

"A LOSER? Chat , just because he's a model doesn't mean that's all he is . I like him , not his ad pictures and he's a GREAT guy , especially compared to someone like YOU! ."

Ladybug rubbed her temple in frustration before stomping off , leaving him gaping at where she was standing , a part of him feeling flattered at the praise but mostly just confused .

He was a great guy compared to ...Himself? ...

Ladybug likes him , but she doesn't like ...him?

That adorable look on her face was for him ?...but not him?

She liked him as a model ? ...but not as a superhero?

He didn't know how long he stood there before staggering to the edge of the roof towards the image .

Why?

He looked at the image of him smiling back with a childish cuteness but mischievous eyes to promote the stylish clothes for children. He remembered that shoot . He had tripped that morning and had a bruise that was aching like crazy but he bore it to do the shoot cause his dad was supposed to be there .

His dad wasn't there .

Did ladybug know the story behind the picture she was staring at with so much ...love? No! Impossible ...adoration ? ...yeah...that's gotta be it .

He looked down at the street below him before falling , the cleared his head enough to leap to the next building and make it home .

And there he was .

He stayed up and finished his homework , knowing he could still wake up in time for school .

He fell back on his bed as Plagg returned from his visit to the cheese storage . If Plagg said anything, he didn't hear it . He just...couldn't understand .

'..he's a GREAT guy , especially compared to YOU! '

'He is me , I'm him . What does that even Mean ?

The only difference is he's rich and famous and I'm ...Unknown . And he knows ladybug isn't that...shallow . She's not Chloe or somebody like her.

"What does she mean?"

"You know you're not exactly the same person when you put on the mask , right kid ?"

He turned his head on the pillow to see Plagg siting up and staring back at him .

"I'm me . Who else could I be ? I'm even more myself when I'm transformed ."

Plagg's raised one eye at him .

...Oh...OH!

His eyes widened as he realised that what he said wasn't true .

Adrien Argeste was not Chat Noir .

At least not to everyone who knows them .

Adrien Argeste was the quiet , always smiling , cute , rich , famous boy who everyone loves . It was part of his job that everyone loved him . He was perfect . Athletic ( thanks to fencing , fitness training , diet ) , smart ( thanks to homeschooling , strict, expensive teachers , isolation ) , well-mannered ( thanks to a job of pleasing people ) and obedient ( cause he doesn't want to lose the little freedom he had ).

Chat noir was loud , reckless , made stupid jokes and puns he learned from years of being stuck in his house with no contact with normal kids , silly , happy...Chat noir was free.

The only person who even remotely knew how Adrien really was is Nino ...and he knew Nino was Not Ladybug .

Adrien Argeste is Chat noir .

But nobody really knows Adrien. Why would they when they could see the perfect boy he had to be .

.

.

.

Then what ? ...

Should he act like Adrien around Ladybug ? Can he ?

She makes his heart burst . She makes him feel free , ...happy and maybe , if he controlled his mouth and act more mature , she might like him back .

No.

She wouldn't .

Chat noir was freedom ,...sweet , sweet freedom with no rules governing his every move . He could do good and not get reprimanded for 'making a scene'.

Heck ! He was the scene !

Plus , he liked what he had with ladybug . He liked the banter and the flirting and the partnership . He liked being needed for himself and not for his family name .

He loved her .

She made him happy .

Why should he change that?

Even if she liked him back , it would mean nothing if he was acting out a role like she was some ...stranger .

No.

She liked the quiet , perfect boy . Well , she was perfect , so it made sense .

But she did like the loser , though not in the same way . And that little bit of affection was so much more wonderful and real than whatever he might get if he became ...'a great guy , ...especially compared to someone like him.'

He had more than enough girls who 'loved' him . It wasn't their fault . They didn't know him . He makes sure of that . It's part of his job after all . He needs to maintain his image for his image to sell .

But Chat noir 's image was his to choose and he likes it .

Ladybug doesn't hate it either ...and that's enough.

Besides , this closes the desire to find out her identity . Man , she would be so disappointed to find out her 'amazing , great guy' was really her 'flirty , silly kitty' and whoever she was , they probably wouldn't be able to hang out like normal friends if she already knew him .

Unless they do and he just doesn't know it . Then , there wouldn't be any difference in anything but their partnership . And he liked their partnership .

He loved her . She didn't ...nothings changed .

He chuckled .

Oh well! He liked being her silly kitty. At least he can trust her when he's like that . Maybe , one day , she'll come around. He always knew it was a long shot anyway . This doesn't change anything except the fact that he no longer wants to share identities either .

"You know , Plagg . Sometimes I really hate this bad luck."

"Nobody likes bad luck , kid." Plagg seemed disgruntled , as if expecting something else.

"...yeah ...but I'm grateful for the good that you gave me with it ."

Plagg seemed surprised but grinned into the pillow and Adrien closed his eyes and finally fell into a slumber.

.

.

.

AN:-

I am starting too many fics but hey ! Since I wrote the chap . I thought I might as well post it .

warning : I don't have a very concrete plot for this fic beyond snips at this point , so ...its probably just gonna stay a one shot . Hope you like it .

please review .