A/n- This chapter's a little different. This book is mainly focused on Adrienette, but I'm adding a sprinkle of MariChat and a dash of LadyNoir in this one😉

Marinette was able to distract herself by drawing and sewing on Friday. She convinced her mom to let her stay home by saying that her ankle still hurt. She figured she might as well finish her dress for the dance, even though she may not be going with the guy she loved now. That diary entry was super embarrassing, and Adrien would probably rather go with Lila. Or, at least that's what Chloé told her on Twitter. She was too tired to fight back at this point. That's when she decided to finished sewing.

"Do you think it looks ok?" She asked Tikki, who sat near her, eating chocolate chip cookies.

"Absolutely, Marinette! You have true talent!" The bluenette frowned.

"I really don't, Tikki. There are much better fashion designers and dressmakers than me."

"There's always going to be someone better," The Kwami said. "But you have to be the best you can be." The teen smiled weakly, before going back to her work.

That's when her phone buzzed with a text message. It was from Adrien. She glanced at the device for a moment before finally picking it up and reading:

Hey Marinette! Are you doing ok? Nino and I tried to visit you yesterday, but you were doing homework. Since you weren't at school today, here are the notes we took in English:
*picture of notes*
Anyways, I hope you feel better soon! We all miss you! :)

Marinette's bottom lip began to quiver, and her vision became blurred with tears. That's so not true. In the heat of the moment, she texted back:

No one misses me. You don't have to lie, Adrien.

And then she shut her phone off.

**

No one misses me. You don't have to lie, Adrien.

Adrien read the text Marinette sent him as he sat in the back of the car on his way back from school. Why would she think that? He texted:

Almost the whole class was concerned because of what happened yesterday. And if they don't miss you, Nino and I definitely do.

But she never replied.

**

"How is your ankle holding up, sweetie?" Sabine asked her daughter as they ate at the dinner table.

"It's doing better," Marinette faked a smile.

"Were you able to get caught up with your schoolwork?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Adrien sent me notes."

"What a nice boy," Tom smiled.

Marinette smiled uncomfortably, feeling her cheeks heat up at the very mention of him. What's the point in even liking him anymore if he found out about your creepy fantasies? He's obviously just being nice to me because that's how he is with everyone. Even Chloe and Lila.

"Marinette, honey?" Her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?"

"I said are you alright? You've hardly touched your food."

"Yeah," she slowly nodded. She heard the words, but never processed them. It was as if she was a robot programmed to say one thing: "I'm fine," in hopes that if she kept saying it, maybe she would be.

But without Adrien...she had a feeling she would never be fine.

**

"Don't forget that you have patrol with Chat Noir tonight," Tikki cheerfully reminded, slightly irritating Marinette.

"Oh yeah," she sighed. "I'm so tired, though. What if I just skipped and told Chat I was sick and couldn't make it?"

"But would it be the right thing? Remember, a superhero never lies."

"But it's just one little thing."

"What if there's an akuma? Don't you wanna be there just in case?" Marinette paused for a moment.

"Fine. I'll go, but I might not stay as long as I usually do."

**

Adrien finished his dinner as quickly as possible so that he could transform for patrol. First, he was going to stop by Marinette's to check on her.

"Why are we taking a double trip?" Plagg groaned, just finishing a piece of Camembert.

"You know I have to check on her," the model lightly scolded. "You saw her text from earlier."

"Yeah, Yeah, I know. But teenage girls can be soooo dramatic sometimes. Besides, why are you wasting so much time caring about someone who's just a friend-"

"Plagg!" He snapped. "I'm going whether you like it or not! Claws out!"

"Ahhhh!" The Kwami protested as he was sucked into his owner's ring. Chat Noir quickly got onto his roof and headed towards the bakery.

**

Marinette quietly moved onto her balcony when she was sure her parents had went off to bed. "I still think I should be sleeping too," she complained to Tikki.

"Hey, you had all day to sleep," the Kwami giggled.

The bluenette rolled her eyes. "Spots-"

"Hey!" A sudden voice interrupted. Tikki quickly flew under a flowerpot.

"Ch-Chat Noir?!" Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin. "What in the world are you doing here?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," he laughed nervously. "I was actually just planning on stopping by really quick."

"We don't have any croissants in the oven if that's what you came here for."

He winced a little. "As...tragic as that is, I just came here to talk to you before I go out on patrol with Ladybug."

"Oh...kay? What's up?"

"Not much. What's up with you?"

"Uh...not much either. I just went to school and ate dinner." He tried not to feel hurt that she lied to him.

"So...everything's going alright?"

"Yeah, absolutely!" She smiled, but he could tell it was fake. Adrien had seen Marinette smile so many times at school, and he knew what her real smile looked like. And it was much ore pleasant than the façade she was putting on now. But "Chat Noir" wasn't supposed know Marinette super well. He just had to play along. Of course she's not gonna tell me anything. I really should've thought about this before I came. "Uh...not trying to be rude or anything, but shouldn't you be going? What if Ladybug's waiting for you?"

"Oh!" He jumped a little as he stumbled out of his thoughts. "Yeah, y-you're right! I-I should-whoa-" be nearly fell off he balcony. "I should...go." Marinette laughed , shaking her head. He swore that was the first time he's seen her genuinely do that in weeks. If he could almost fall off the balcony over and over again just so he could see that smile, he would do it without a second thought. But she was right. He had to go.

"Bye, kitty," she waved, rolling her eyes at his goofiness. "I'll see you around!"

"You too," he winked before jumping off with his baton.

Chat Noir waited for about five minutes until his lady showed up at the Eiffel Tower. "Hey Bugaboo. Fancy seeing you here."

"We're on patrol, genius," she teased with a small giggle. Her laugh made him do a double take. It sounded exactly like Marinette's did just minutes ago.

"Can...you do that again?" He asked.

"Do what again?"

"Laugh?"

"Why?" She gave him a strange look.

"I don't know?" He awkwardly shrugged. "Your laugh just reminds me of someone."

Marinette's eyes widened. Crap. Is he talking about me? "Oh? Really?"

"Yeah. I was probably just imaging things though."

"You probably were, Chaton."

"Yeah..." he frowned, looking out into the night sky. Thousands of little stars lit up the sky. They probably didn't even need street lights. 

"So..." Chat began after a few moments. "Romantic night, huh?"

"Ugh," Ladybug groaned, rolling her eyes. "Please don't."

"Don't what, M'lady?" He scooted a bit closer to her. "Don't flirt with you anymore? I know you'd miss if if I stopped-"

"Don't!" She yelled, completely taking him aback. "I'm not in the mood for that, ok?"

He raised an eyebrow. When was she ever? But this time seemed different. Like she was...shutting him out. Then again, she hadn't been acting like herself recently. "Ladybug?" She just turned her head, looking in the opposite direction. "Please talk to me. Is there something bothering you?"

Everything, she thought. But she could never tell Chat Noir, no matter how much she wanted to. They couldn't reveal anything about their identities. Besides, he already had enough to deal with as it was already. She didn't want to be a burden for him or anyone else. It was bad enough that Alya saw her as one now. Alya... Hot tears boiled in her eyes at the thought of her (ex?) best friend. My fault. This was all my fault. Before she knew it, the tears came streaming down her face. Not being able to control her breathing, her shoulders began to shake. Stop crying, Marinette! You are on patrol now. This is not the time!

"Bugaboo?" She could hear Chat Noir's voice through all her crying. He had gotten closer, sitting right next to her, a hand on her shoulder. Her partner wasn't sure what to do. He had never seen his lady in such a state. She looked so...broken. Not to mention, he had no idea what she was crying about.

A/n- hE hAd No IdEa WhAt ShE wAs CrYiNg AbOuT (sorry, lol xD)

"I-it's ok, I'm right here," he tried comforting. When that didn't work, he tried cracking a joke. That only seemed to make her cry more. So he did the very last thing he could do. He slowly gathered her in his arms to where she was sitting on his lap. She seemed to pause for a moment, but then continued to sob. It wasn't nearly as loud as before though.

After a few more moments, her shoulders shook less and less with every breath. When she was down to just sniffling, he though she would immediately pull away, but she didn't. She simply laid there, breathing in and out slowly in sync with him.

Ladybug felt a warmth she never thought she'd ever feel in her partner's arms. It almost helped her to forget everything that had happened the last few weeks. She felt as if she could just fall asleep right here, and she'd be fine. Except for that fact that their transformations would wear off and he'd see who she really was. Just a nobody. A problem. Marinette.

"I'm tired," she said, finally getting up. Chat still looked at her, concerned, but then relaxed a little. If she doesn't wanna tell me now, she doesn't have to.

"Alright," he smiled warmly. "Goodnight, M'lady."

"Goodnight, Chaton." Now that was by herself again, Marinette knew it wasn't going to be a good night.

A/n- More intense things to come next. Stay tuned, and thank you for reading!! :)