Adrien couldn't believe it. After everything they'd been through, how could she have decided to go out and kiss Frederick?

He closed his laptop with a little more force than it deserved and moved into the lounge from his study area. He needed to do something; his body was filled with a toxic cocktail of hurt and anger — and longing . How could this woman dig deep into his heart and rip it out — all in the matter of 24 hours? It was a rhetorical question of course, she'd been playing the same game for years.

Sighing, he sat on the bench at his piano and allowed his fingers to take control; playing whatever came into his head first, an attempt at pushing Marinette out. But Adrien could play for hours and it would do nothing; Marinette had stolen everything from him. His heart, his mind, his soul. Slamming his hands down on the piano to create a loud, untuned noise, he pushed himself up and closed the lid abruptly, Plagg jumping from his nap on the top of the sofa.

Taking his phone from his pocket and opening up the Ladyblog once more; his mind screamed at him to stop and back away from the phone — he was too far gone. He began to march the length of the room. One hand scrolled the screen as the other played with the stubble coating his cheeks. His face was left to turn to scruff, as were his sweats. It's not like he needed to impress anybody, anyway.

'The truth, in fact, is that I'm a loser. I have been sitting on the greatest love story ever told, yet I completely ignored it. I ignored my Prince, finally accepting me as his Princess.'

Adrien removed his hand from his chin and reached into his back pocket. The pocket where his lucky charm lay, even after all these years. He felt the emotion grip his heart again as the pieces of plastic danced around in his fingers, a tight clenching taking to his heart and a prickling at his eyes. How could she have kissed someone else? It just didn't make sense. Had the whole thing with him been nothing more than an experiment? Or did she mean what she'd written?

The words from her latest post had embedded in his brain as he hurt himself once more by reading the blog post. Every single syllable was a stab in the heart. Could he even believe what she'd said? Was it real or just a publicity stunt?

Without warning, his doorbell rang. Adrien switched from the Ladyblog to an app on his phone and pulled up the monitor. "Hello?" he said, coughing slightly to remove the thickness in his throat. He hadn't allowed himself to cry yet, but he was quite certain the emotion was brewing.

"Adrien? It's Alya. Can I come up please?"

He looked down at the screen and into the eyes of his friend and Marinette's best friend. Ladybug's best friend. He wished he could tell her to go away, to leave him alone to wallow in his own self pity, as he comatosed himself on ice cream and Hallmark movies. The last thing he wanted was for his 'almost' girlfriend's best friend to lecture him on his behaviour.

Moments passed as he considered his opinions; his curiosity winning out as he unlocked the door to the building.

"Sure," he said wryly.

He watched as Alya stepped through the doorway and closed it behind her, the snap of the lock suddenly bringing him back to his senses.

"Damn." He rubbed over his brows.

Plagg flew in front of him, a frown of worry taking over his face.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" The kwami asked.

Adrien shrugged. "What else am I going to do? Leave her outside and have her banging on the door all night. You know she won't give up."

A quick tap of his phone and once again his attention was on the Ladyblog.

'...and so If you are reading this, bring my lucky charm and meet me at our spot. I'll be there for the next hour.'

Knowing Ladybug/Marinette the way he did, it was most likely the rooftop opposite the Eiffel Tower. They'd lived, laughed and cried by that object; its grandeur the background for many of their greatest, and worst, moments. Victory, defeat; love and loss... the heart of Paris also the heart of their foundation — a foundation which had possibly been rocked one too many times.

Could they continue this way? Were they meant to just spend their lives dancing around each other and causing pain? Because right at this moment, he couldn't see a way out of this. They just seemed to be moving in a dangerous circle of love and hurt.

Was love really worth all this hassle?

A knock at the door drew a sigh from Adrien's lips — he really didn't have the energy to deal with this right now. Running a hand through his hair, before grating the skin of his hand once more over his stumble, he headed to the doorway and let Alya in.

... and there she stood. Her usual bravado was missing as her shoulders hunched in on themselves. Not exactly the fiery greeting he thought he would have received.

Using an arm, he welcomed her into the main living area of his apartment, closing the door behind them and following after.

"This is quite the apartment, Agreste. How come you haven't had any parties here yet? Afraid we'll break the fancy statues?" Alya motioned to the statue Marinette had made fun of when she brought him home... what? Only a day ago? Oh, how quickly the wind changes!

"Why are you here?" he sighed, crossing his arms and tilting his head to one side. He had no patience for small talk; in fact, he had little patience for anything at the moment.

"That is not how you greet your guests, Kitty Cat, I thought that would have been part of your Agreste training."

"How much did she tell you?" Adrien looked at his friend — the one who knew Ladybug's identity. It made sense now, Marinette had obviously sent her to make sure he turned up. What did Marinette think? That Alya could guilt him into going? Or maybe just manhandle him there? He checked her neck, looking for the possibility she was wearing the fox Miraculous because the only way he was moving from this spot was if she dragged him.

"She'll be waiting for you, you know." Alya moved to the sofa and sat herself down, her hands holding together with a slight tremble as she placed them in her lap.

He wasn't sure how he was meant to respond to her question; 'okay, I'll go hop, skip and jump to the girl who kissed me then broke my heart by kissing another man', or 'I'd rather stay here and wallow in my self pity so please vacate my safe space'.

"She'll be waiting for a while then because I have a rather busy evening. Now, if you'd just mind –"

"Don't even try that with me, Adrien, I know exactly what you're doing and you're not pushing me out. You're in your sweats! You're not going anywhere."

He rolled his eyes and headed for the chair opposite the sofa. Dropping into it, he looked Alya in the eyes and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. "What do you want?"

"For you to go to the girl you love. To supersuit up and fly to the one who's beating herself up about what happened, and finally kiss her senseless." Alya said, plainly.

"Why should I go to someone who obviously seems fine with kissing other men? I can't have meant that much to her. I kissed her and then she continued to date other men, and Frederick of all people. But that's not the worst—" he laughed. "She writes on the blog for everyone else to do it too. Such a hero!"

Alya was shaking her head furiously from side to side and he was slightly worried she was going to cause herself some sort of concussion. "Adrien, you're the one who's got it all wrong."

"How?" He pushed off his knees and stood up, peering over at Alya and feeling his anger boil once more. "The evening after she let me kiss her, she wrote a blog about ' if you're not official — keep dating'. I'm an idiot, I know I am, I let myself live in this fantasy world — one where I finally get the girl of my dreams, only to be used as part of her social experiment. I'm done Alya, you can tell her she can have Plagg back. I can't work like this anymore."

"I don't think so, Kid." Plagg flew forwards and into Adrien's face, his little hands on his hips as he glared at his holder. "Listen to Trixx's kid and sort this out, because Tikki and I are done. This is the most stupid game of kiss chase we've ever been involved in. Give me sworn enemies any day."

Adrien looked at the kwami, his mouth opening and closing, before he turned to Alya. She'd stood up with her hands still joined together in front of her body; her fingers playing nervously.

"It's my fault," Alya said, her eyes shyly looking to meet Adrien's. "Please don't take this out on Marinette. I m-m-messed up. I told Marinette she had to go on the date, she didn't want to, and I wrote the blog. All this —" She waved her arms around. "It's all my fault."

"How? You didn't kiss anyone else, she did!"

"I - I forced her into the date, and Frederick kissed her. She wanted nothing to do with it."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "She's her own person, Alya. You can't keep making the decisions for her."

"Please, Adrien!" Alya's eyes glistened under his spotlights and he couldn't ever recall seeing her cry. "It's my fault. It's nothing to do with Marinette. I thought Frederick was you and she agreed to one date with Chat Noir, she knew he wasn't you. I guilted her into it. Please, I beg of you, just let me explain."

Exhaling through his nose, Adrien sat down and listened.

••••••

"Chat Noir?" Marinette's voice was timid, the little hitch in his name alerting him straight to the nervousness she was feeling, a similar situation in himself. "I didn't – I mean – I need to talk to you."

Adrien, suited as Chat Noir, remained leaning against the desk. The desk which had brought them together and started their relationship — for the second time. His arms were crossed and he held up one hand to stop her from talking, his head shaking and guiding her to refrain from doing or saying anything else. Standing, he walked past her to the light switch, flicking it on before moving back and once more looking straight at her.

Messing with the zip on his suit pocket, Chat Noir pulled out a sheet of paper, one he'd gotten Alya to print off for him after their meeting earlier today. As it remained folded in his hands, he recalled the blog posted he knew off by heart.

"' ...and so If you are reading this, bring my lucky charm and meet me at our spot. I'll be there for the next hour.' I know you went to the Eiffel Tower. I had the livestream on."

"Adrien," she said with a step towards him, "please let me –"

Once again Chat Noir placed a hand out in her direction, stopping her from moving any closer to him. He had a lot he wanted to say. She'd spoken enough on the blog, though it took some persuasion from Alya for him to believe that they were actually Marinette's words, it was now his turn.

A soft sob left her luscious lips, as she covered them with her hand and nodded. It was killing him to see her so broken. The tear streaks stretching the length of her face had been caused by his actions and, if he was being petty, he'd say they were equal now. Her earlier actions still stabbed him deep in the heart.

"You know, I should have been in collège one day earlier than I actually was. I'd made it to the steps without being caught, but then this little old man in a questionable Hawaiian shirt and a walking stick was laying out on the ground. Everyone was walking past him so I went over and helped him up, sacrificing the freedom I'd always craved for this." He held up his hand, twisting the ring from side to side with his thumb. "After being dragged home by Nathalie, I found a small box on my coffee table. A box which for the first year I thought was the key to my happiness — my chance to be free and be me."

A sigh left his lips, his eyes moved to the ring on his finger as he placed the paper down and began to mess with his Miraculous instead. Twirling it around his finger and studying the intricate black shaping.

With a quick pull, the ring slid off along with the black material protecting him. Adrien was left standing in the jeans and shirt he'd thrown on. His face — clean and smooth as opposed to the stubbly coating it had covered a mere hour ago.

"This ring came with a whole array of responsibilities, but it also came with something else." He twisted and turned the ring between his fingers, the now silver metal reflecting the lights from the room, causing the dull object to glisten with opportunities, hope and destruction.

"You know–" Adrien threw the ring up, snatching it from midair as it descended and held it tight in his fist. "There are two things I think about often. The first is whether I should have gone against my better judgement and left Fu on the ground. Making my way into class and meeting you first."

He looked into her eyes, keeping his gaze level and unreadable, which was amazing considering the hard pounding currently occupying his chest. He wanted to just run to her, to sweep her in his arms and tell her that he wanted to give it a chance, give them a chance; but, he needed to get this off his chest first. The apology he owed her could wait until later.

"Secondly, I wonder if I should have been more insistent on the identities being revealed. We've been going around in circles for years, for no reason."

For the first time since she'd entered the room Adrien stopped and studied her properly — shoulders slumped and head down. Her delicate fingers moved around each other, locking and opening in their usual nervous way. He seated himself back on the edge of the desk. He wanted to remain level, not tower over her. It wasn't meant to be intimidating.

"I was scared."

"Yeah, well, so was I."

The silence wrapped around them, the feeling more of an itchy wool than a soft cotton. They knew they needed the warmth of each other; but, at the moment it was uncomfortable; the tightly wound tension waiting to be thrown from their bodies — but could they stand the coolness of reality.

"Tell me, Marinette... How can I believe anything you say? Tell me, because right now I'm finding everything hard to understand. You didn't date Chat Noir because apparently you were in love with Adrien Agreste, then you gave up on Adrien and didn't choose Chat Noir again... you chose Luka instead. Then Paul, Gaston and even Frederick. So tell me Marinette! Why was it never me? What is so wrong with me that I was the last resort?"

"It's not like that," she defended herself, tears creating a new river down her face.

Adrien frowned. "Then tell me. Tell me, Marinette, because I don't understand!"

"People like you aren't seen with girls like me, okay! This isn't believable!" she shouted, motioning between them. "I've never been able to face you rejecting me!"

"You're wrong Marinette, girls like you are seen with guys like me. I choose who I can be with, and I wanted to be with you! Dammit, did the kiss mean nothing to you? I put my heart out there for you, Marinette. Do you not understand how vulnerable I am around you?"

The heavy pants of breath echoed around the room as they glared at each other in an unspoken search.

"Where does this leave us?" Her voice was small and timid, one that didn't suit Marinette or Ladybug.

He gulped. Studying her face, Adrien could see the emotion begging to burst out and scream for understanding; tears of apologies drowning her gorgeous blue eyes, eyes which always made him feel safe and adored.

"Alya came to see me today. She had some very... specific pieces of information to tell me, information that I wasn't aware of, which I didn't give you a chance to explain." He pushed himself to stand, taking a hold of the paper to bring with him.

"I'm so sorry," Marinette whispered, the quiver in her voice matched by the vibrations of her lower lip. Her cheek being sucked in and he guessed chewed on.

He shook his head. "No." His voice was strong considering his legs felt like they were going to give way. This was the biggest moment of his life, one which could make or break their possibility of a future together.

Marinette's phone began to ring in her bag, though her eyes never left his as the chimes echoed through the near empty classroom. He prayed she would leave it, that she wouldn't answer to someone else's beck and call, the issue why they were here in the first place: Marinette's lack of ability to say no.

His dreams were cut short as Marinette turned her attention to the object. His own eyes closing and grip tightening on the paper in his hand. They were never going to get anyway, and it felt like a knife to the heart.

"I'll call you later, Alya. I'm turning my phone off."

His head shot up to face her, her eyes glistening with something he wanted to bottle and keep forever. He watched as she pressed a couple of buttons and shut the device down, handing it to Tikki; the small kwami took it back into the bag as Marinette stood strong.

She looked beautiful. Not even the worried expression she'd entered the room with could harm the natural beauty of the woman in front of him; the woman who even when breaking his heart made him feel more alive and loved than anyone else ever had in his life.

"You were right. You have always been right. I listen too much to what other people think, that's why I could never tell you how I feel about you. I always thought you wouldn't accept me. I couldn't lose you, Adrien. If I had to live with you forever just being my friend then that's what I would have done."

Adrien watched as the tears sparkling in her eyes escaped, sliding down the tracks on her cheeks, causing him to suck his own lips in. He could feel them quiver; biting down on them to stop the tears leaving his own eyes. The oppression behind them desperate for him to shed and, finally, heal.

"I couldn't lose you or Chat Noir. I - I -" Her sobs were breaking him, the need to run to her growing stronger by the second, but this had to be dealt with first; this conversation had to be finished.

She sniffed and spoke softly. "I didn't kiss him. I want to be with you. Please say I get a second chance. I'm so sorry, Adrien."

Adrien gulped and moved his eyes around the room. His mouth scrunching and releasing as he attempted to gain some kind of composure. "I know." It was huffed and barely there, but he'd said it. He stepped towards her, reducing the space between them. "And Alya's a shit friend, by the way."

A barked laugh left her mouth. "I know."

"There's a new -" he coughed, removing the thickness that had built in his throat. "Alya's posting a new blog tonight but I thought you'd like to read it first."

Unfolding the piece of paper which he'd been playing with, he handed it to Marinette and watched as she read it knowing every single word off by heart.

••••••

@ChatNoir_Official [438]

I remember the day I received my Miraculous, the day a piece of jewellery changed my life and introduced me to the world of the weird and the wonderful. I returned home, sat on my roof and looked to the heavens, and that's when I saw it — the fiery tail of a shooting star.

The flickering embers of the meteor lit the night sky and finally, after what felt like forever my life had meaning.

The symbolisation of a shooting star is of good luck; an element you can wish upon and hope that one day you'll be lucky enough for that wish to come true.

I waited my entire life for the star to reappear. Not just for the beauty of the dazzling lights to engulf me in their brightness, but for what the star brought to my life. Freedom. Purpose. Love.

I've spent many days walking amongst those who couldn't understand my frustrations. But even in the darkest of hours, I knew my wish would be granted, I believed it would be granted. I believed deep in my heart that one day my world would be whole again... and that my wish for an all consuming love would be complete. That my star would shine brightly once again.

Then it happened, I saw it. The brightest star I've ever seen — and my life, once again, had meaning.

••••••

Adrien watched the tears glide silently down her face, her hand fisting to wipe them away. "Is it me?" Her voice was laced with emotion. "The shooting star?" she sniffed. "Is it me?"

"Yes," Adrien replied, his own voice thick and hoarse. She was his shooting star, his guiding light, his lucky charm.

"I'm so sorry, Adrien. I shouldn't have listened to Alya, I should have stood my ground."

Adrien shook his head, finally moving close enough to touch her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "You can't help being you. I love the way you are, even though it can be infuriating at times; but, that wasn't our main issue, it was the identities — again . If you'd known I was Chat Noir, you wouldn't have gone on that date with Frederick. Alya told me everything, and I'm quite sure that's why she was calling — to apologise."

"Why here? Why didn't you come to the tower?" she asked.

He couldn't help the lopsided grin that appeared. "Because this is where it all started. This here," he pointed to Chloé's old desk, "is where our story truly began. If the gum incident hadn't been resolved the way it did, who knows where it all might have led us. We could have been enemies, or you may have succumbed to my puns. This, here, is the important part; you showed me how forgiving you are; how wonderful you are."

"And you taught me not to judge people before getting to know them. To finally trust again."

His smile widened. "I'm glad I was useful for something."

"So where do we go from here?" she asked, and if he could read her correctly, there was a clear hint of hope in her voice. A hope he was willing to capture and use.

"I think–" Adrien tapped one finger against his chin. "I think you need to ask me out on a date."

She looked at him, her wide eyed glare accompanied by a stuttering of her breath in her chest. "I'm scared."

He moved his hands to her hips and looked deep into her eyes. "I am too, but I know I love you with every breath I take. I want you and I need you Marinette. You need to trust me like you have for so many years. This is going to be okay. You and I, together as always. It's where we belong."

Adrien prayed she believed him, that the hope and desire in his eyes and words would be enough for Marinette to take this leap, to make his dreams come true.

"Okay," she said, closing her eyes and moving her hands; reaching down she grabbed hold of his hands and laced their fingers together, pulling him closer and pressing them against her heart.

"The first time I saw you, I misjudged you. I thought you were conceited and superficial. But then, I got to know you. I saw who you really were deep down—someone sweet, sincere, and generous. Since then, there's something I've been wanting to tell you. But every time I try, it's like my brain suddenly freezes. But now, I think I'm ready."

A crescendo of love swarmed them; their lips meeting as their hands remained tightly bound in between them. It was the sweetest, happiest and most special moment of his life. This girl loved him, and he loved her.

He could feel the tremor in Marinette's hands as they shook holding onto his, a tremble moving up her body and sitting on her lips. They broke away, Adrien slowly opening his eyes and coming face to face with a Marinette who looked every inch her alter ego.

"I want you to be mine," Marinette said, the emotion sending the worlds out in a roller coaster of tones and volumes, each evidence of the high feelings inside her.

"I always have been. 5 years ago, yesterday, today, tomorrow. Forever. "

Adrien didn't know whether to laugh or cry. They were finally here, after years of back and forth they'd finally made it. He reached forwards and grabbed the edges of the scarf, his scarf before moving one hand to wipe at her tear soaked cheeks. His eyes were sparkling and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. She was gorgeous and she was his.

Suddenly her lips began to move and words that, back when he was 14, he thought he would never hear, escaped her delicate pink lips.

"Kitty, I love you."