A/N: The whole constipation note thing in Backwarder was literally painful so I fixed it. :D

To say he was surprised to hear Marinette call his name at the train station was an understatement. What was she doing here? "Marinette?"

She skid to a stop before him, pulling a paper out of her purse and handing it to him. "Here! Read this on the drain—I mean train!"

Curious, he reached out to take the paper, only for her to yank it back. "WAIT!" She opened it, glanced it over, and blushed bright red. She folded it and shoved it back in her purse before pulling out two other papers to look at. "This one!" she said folding it back up, "Yes, this one. Not the doctor's note. It's not even mine! That would be embarrassing." She topped it off with an overly bright smile.

Honestly, he never liked those smiles. He'd worked long enough as a model to know what was real and what was fake and forced. He'd hoped to be past that by now—they were friends, weren't they?—but for some reason, Marinette's smiles were rarely real.

"I… I need to give this to you," she continued, that overly bright smile fading. "Because… what I want more than anything is written on this paper and… only you can give it to me."

He barely heard her considering her voice got quieter with each word, but he caught enough to realize that whatever was on the paper was important, and that he should treat it as such.

He took the paper from her, and the moment he pulled it from her hands, she spun and ran, tossing back "have a nice trip" before nearly running into someone.

He looked down at the paper. Marinette ran all the way here to give him a paper?

"What was that about?" Kagami asked from behind him.

"I…" He looked at the paper once again before looking back at her. "I'm not sure."

It was late at night in his hotel room that he looked over Marinette's letter for the umpteenth time.

"That from your girlfriend?" Plagg asked.

"No, she's just…"

He couldn't finish that sentence.

Plagg settled down on his shoulder. "Hmm?"

With a sigh, Adrien folded the note and shut his eyes. "She likes me."

Plagg snorted. "And you're just figuring that out now?"

"What do you mean?"

Plagg rolled his head to level Adrien with an exasperated glare. "Come on."

Adrien's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Good kwami! It's a wonder she still tried with as dull as you are."

"Wait…" Adrien's eyes narrowed. "Are you…?"

The look on Plagg's face was as flat as a crepe. "Kid, even I could tell she liked you. For a while."

"But… but we're friends."

"Obviously, not to her."

Slowly, the gears in Adrien's mind started functioning, pulling up every memory he had of her. She was bubbly and encouraging and confident with everyone. Except when it came to him, that same girl turned into a stuttering, bumbling mess.

If she didn't see them as friends, that would explain why.

It also hurt, striking a chord in him that made him want to pursue this girl to the ends of the earth until she thought they were friends.

Adrien's gaze landed on the love note. Except… that wasn't going to happen. Because it was perfectly clear that she hoped for more.

If Adrien could, he would give it to her. But he couldn't, not with his heart taken by Ladybug. Which left the question, "What am I supposed to do, Plagg? I don't want to break her heart."

"Too late."

Adrien glared at his kwami.

Plagg just shrugged. "I mean, it isn't like she's been crushing on you for ages and you never even realized she liked you."

With that realization hitting him over the head, Adrien collapsed back on his pillow with a groan. "I thought we were friends, Plagg."

Plagg groaned. "I swear, you're one of the dullest kittens I've ever had."

"Sorry!" Just what he was apologizing for, he wasn't fully certain.

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Look, kid. If you're dull, there's nothing I can do about it, but you gotta do something about pigtails."

"I don't know what to do."

With another long groan, Plagg dragged his paws down his face. "I'm going to need so much cheese for this."

"You've been lost in your thoughts all day."

Adrien jumped at Kagami's voice breaking into his thoughts.

"What are you obsessing over?"

He felt himself cringe as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I… um… got a love confession yesterday."

Kagami quirked a brow. "So? How is it different from any of the other ones you get?"

That got Adrien to pause. Despite being on the tip of his tongue, the words 'because it's from Marinette' weren't voiced.

With a bit of a smile, Kagami turned her attention back to the street they were walking down. "See? Why bother with it? You have plenty of fans who are just setting themselves up for heartbreak. It's not your fault. If they don't know you, they can't be genuine in their confessions. Focus on people who are in your life and actually care for you."

Adrien took her advice to heart, quickly getting lost in his thoughts again. True, he got hundreds of love letters and confessions, but Marinette was different. This was Marinette, a girl who he knew and who did seem to care for him. More than he realized. She wasn't just a fan. She wasn't just 'setting herself up for heartbreak'.

And Adrien knew that he couldn't not blame himself if he broke her heart.

"Kid, you're gonna burn a hole into that note."

With a sigh, Adrien let his hands fall to his lap. "I know. I just… I don't know what to do."

"You've had days to think about it and you're still clueless?"

"I'm not clueless. I just don't know how to handle it."

"What's the problem?" Plagg snipped sarcastically. "She likes you, you like her—"

"But she's just a…"

Plagg stared down Adrien, hard. Adrien felt himself shrink under his kwami's gaze.

"Really?" Plagg challenged. "Really?"

Adrien bit his tongue.

"Do you like her or not?"

"I love Ladybug. I can't be in love with her."

"Sure you can."

"No, I can't."

Plagg's expression softened. "Kid. I get you're trying to be loyal to Ladybug—"

"She's the love of my life, Plagg!" Adrien said. "I swore myself to her."

"No, you didn't. Kid," Plagg cut off as soon as Adrien opened his mouth to argue. "You two aren't in any sort of relationship. You don't owe her anything. You're allowed to like another girl."

"But…" Adrien couldn't continue that sentence.

"Be honest. You like pigtails."

Adrien forced himself to swallow. "Marinette's incredible."

"Then go out with her."

"But I can't give her all she wants. I still love Ladybug."

"You can give her honesty and a chance. That's sometimes enough for girls."

Adrien looked over at Plagg, his eyes slowly narrowing with realization. "Since when did you become so willing to help?"

"Since you've been irritating the heck out of me and I can't enjoy camembert in peace."

He couldn't fall asleep if he tried; that Adrien knew. Instead, he was an idiot, and he transformed, sitting on the rooftop of the hotel he was staying at. He did it in part to clear his mind. The other part was to call Ladybug.

After half an hour of trying, he finally got through to her. Not video, like normal, but just hearing her voice was enough. "What do you need, Chat?" she snipped.

"Advice," he answered.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "What sort of advice?" she asked, her voice losing its sharp edge.

His gut twisted nervously. "Girl advice."

Another pause. "And there is no one better you can ask but me?"

"No."

"… What's going on, Chat?" she asked, her voice now much gentler, taking on a worried tone. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew she had a worried crease in her brow. "You're quiet."

Chat forced himself to take a large breath before starting. "Well," he began. "You see… I…" he sighed. Why was this so hard? "I got a love confession a couple days ago."

"And?"

"And I'm going to have to face this girl soon."

"Face?" she asked, confused. "You mean she told you she loved you then you walked away?"

"No," he said. "I… she… she wrote a letter, then gave it to me right before I left the country."

"Ahh. I see. So, what's the issue?"

Words got stuck in his throat a moment. "I… I don't know what to do."

Ladybug was quiet on the other end. "Really?" she asked flatly. "A girl hands you a love confession, and you don't know what to do."

He shrugged, feeling kind of stupid at the moment. "Yeah. Like… I don't know."

"Do you like her or not?"

Silence.

"Kitty?"

Chat felt like banging his head into a wall. "I don't know."

"How do you not know if you like her or not?" She sounded exasperated. "It's kind of a yes or no question. Maybe a 'not in that way'."

He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry. "I love you."

There was a silence on her end, one broken by her sigh. "Kitty…"

His heart twisted painfully. "I'm loyal to you, Ladybug. And you only."

She sighed. "Well, back to the topic at hand, you have her answer. Tell her no."

He whimpered.

"Chat?"

"But it's so hard."

Silence. "Hard?"

He groaned.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Yeah."

"If it were any other girl in the world—anyone you could think of—would it be easier to let her down?"

Her question surprised him. He almost answered no, but something stopped him. Instead, he mulled the question over, running through every girl he knew—sans Ladybug, of course— and he was terrified of the conclusion he came to.

"Is that silence a yes?" Her smirk was audible.

Again, words choked him up. "Y… yeah."

Ladybug giggled. "Oh, chaton."

"But I love you," he whined. Because he did. He loved her spunk and creativity and bravery and everything about her.

"Kitty," she began softly. "I'm flattered. I really am. But you know my heart is set on someone else."

Despite knowing that, it never got easier to hear.

"But look. There's a girl that you care enough about to call me asking for advice. You care enough about her enough that you obviously don't want to tell her no. Sounds like a special girl."

"She is," he said easily. Because Marinette was. She just wasn't his lady.

"Then I think you should give her a chance," she said, smile clear in her tone.

He groaned again.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know," he whined. "I just… you and…"

"Chat," Ladybug said, her voice firm yet gentle. "Let me go."

Those words hurt more than anything. "I…" He didn't know where he was going.

"It's okay," she assured. "Go get her."

Fifteen long seconds slipped by before he could formulate an answer "Okay."

He swore he could hear her smile over the phone. "I'm proud of you. And I'm sure that you'll make her heart soar. I know you're a special cat, and I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who thinks that. She's one lucky girl."

He knew she was trying to help, but it hurt at the same time. "Thanks, Ladybug."

"You're welcome. Anything else you need help with?"

Hanging up and calling it a night was the last thing he wanted right now, so he struggled for a topic. "How do I ask her out?"

There, an honest to goodness question.

Silence again. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm serious!" he said. "I have no clue how to go about asking her out. Heck, I'm still nervous at the thought of facing her."

"Why?" Ladybug asked. "You just go up to her and ask her out."

"No, you don't understand, Ladybug. She… the note, it… ugh."

"What about the note?"

He paused, his lips pursed in indecision. "Well, could I just tell you it so you could help me?"

"You mean read it to me?"

"I memorized the whole thing."

Ladybug snorted. "Really?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about it!" he defended. "I just… what do you do when your friend gives you a letter that reads 'Dearest you. When you love someone, you must never hold back from telling them, because one day, you might realize it's too late and that all your hopes and dreams are ruined with no way to go back in time and do it over. I want to tell it to you today before you leave so you can take my words with you. I'm hoping they'll make their way to your heart and that when you come back, you'll give me a chance to prove how true these words really are. I love you.' Like, what do you do with something like that? She's confessing her love to me and… I mean, I have to do something because I can't not do something but… I… how do you handle that?"

Ladybug was silent for the longest time. Chat almost worried she'd hung up on him. "Ladybug?"

"Sorry!" she said, her voice suddenly squeaky. "It's nothing. What were you asking me?"

"How… I mean… It's a lot. What do I do? Like, how do I ask her out."

"Just ask her!" she said, before clearing her throat. "Really, just go up to her and ask her out."

"Yeah, but…" Chat groaned. "How? Like, she gave me this. I can't just go up and ask her out. I don't even know if it's going to work and I don't want to ruin our friendship and… I don't know."

Ladybug was quiet at the other end. "Are you scared?"

The words were like ice water. "Wh-what?"

"Are you scared?" she repeated, her voice steadier than before but still clearly shaky.

"I…" Could he be? Scared? Of Marinette?

"Because," Ladybug began, her voice still wavering. "I know for a fact that that girl was far more scared of handing you the love confession in the first place. Because she had more on the line than you do now."

Chat pursed his lips, his brow knitting together in shame.

"And so, I really don't think you could go wrong with just going up to her and saying 'yes, I'd like to give you the chance. Go out with me.' It doesn't have to be long and fancy."

"But she wrote me a nice note," Chat whined.

There was a chuckle on the other end that proved Ladybug was smiling again. "I doubt she would mind something so simple."

Chat sighed.

"No matter what happens, Chat, promise me one thing?"

"What is it?"

"When you get back," she said, her voice gentle and sweet. "You go to her and give her an answer."

Chat sighed. "Okay. I promise."

He could hear Ladybug sigh. "You're a good guy, Chat," she said, her voice gentle and sweet. "She's really lucky to have you."

He was thrilled to be back in Paris, but it also caused an immense amount of stress. He knew that he needed to honor Marinette as well as keep his promise to Ladybug, meaning that the moment he found Marinette, he would ask her if they could talk privately.

He found her easily enough hanging out with her friends in front of the school The moment he approached, the girls eagerly pushed her off to him then scattered like pigeons.

Marinette, for her part, seemed to be more put together than usual. Her smile was real, not one of the over-bright ones she used to give him. Maybe it had something to do with the confession and she was hopeful he'd say yes.

"Can we talk privately?"

Her expression fell some. "Uh… yeah. Sure."

He took her hand in his, and together, they walked into a private corner in the school, one where they weren't able to be seen easily.

"Um, so, I thought of your words." He rubbed the back of his neck. "All weekend, actually. I couldn't get them out of my head. And… it was hard because… I… we… we're friends. But obviously, you thought more of me."

She smiled and nodded, a bright blush now staining her cheeks.

"I want to give you a chance, but I want to be completely upfront with you."

Her expression fell, her brow lowering in confusion. "What about?"

He took both her hands in his. "There… there was another girl I worked with," he began. "And I really liked her, but she only sees me as a friend, so I have to respect that. And… I just want to apologize because I can't… I can't give you everything you've given me but I want to give you a chance and time and…" He was rambling now, he knew it, because he didn't know how to end that sentence or where he was even going with it.

But she squeezed his hands. "It's okay, Chaton," she whispered. "I know what you can give me."

He blinked. Once, twice, three times. His mind was fried. "Wh-what did you say?"

She grinned widely. "Chaton, you have no idea how good if feels to somehow be the only girl in the world to catch your attention, both in and out of the mask."

His heart was racing, his chest tight, and mind barely functioning. "No," he said. "No, no, no. No way I'm that lucky."

Her grin split into two as she squeezed his hands.

"No. I'm the black cat. I—"

"Kitty," she interrupted. "You haven't kept your promise yet. Not fully."

"Wha?"

Her cheeky grin was one hundred percent Ladybug. "You haven't asked me out."

In an instant, he fell to his knees and pulled her hands to his heart. "Go out with me!" he begged. "Please, my lady, my bugaboo, my princess, go out with me."

With bright pink cheeks, she nodded. "Yes. I'll go out with you."

Bonus:

"I regret ever trying to get them together," Alya grumbled as she stared at the sickeningly sweet view before them.

"You don't mean that," Mylene said, elbowing Alya in the side. "Look at them. They're so happy."

"Sickeningly," Alix pointed out. "Adrien's a puppy at her feet. I want to know what happened to cause little miss can't-form-a-sentence-around-daffodil to get her to be a normal human being around him."

"It's love!" Rose said as way of explanation. "Love conquers all!"

The other girls rolled their eyes.

"Well, at least she's happy," Juleka mumbled.

"That's true," Alya relented. "Though I'd actually like to see my friend again. Adrien may be the love of her life, and he may be treating her like a queen, but a month is about the limit before Alya storms the castle and steals her away. I need deets."

None of the other girls could disagree with that.