Home sweet home.

Home.

Sweet.

Those two things were all she could think of. She wanted nothing more than a cookie.

And a nap.

Even after jumping around as ladybug for years, this cast still seemed to beat her somehow.

She didn't like it, the feeling of being crippled. She was independent. Though it didn't mean she wouldn't ask for help.

She wasn't stupid. Just, tired. And upset. And confused.

But stupid, for the first time in a good while, wasn't one of those many feelings.

Her mother had fussed over her while they were at dinner, pleading with her, to let her take Marinette to school. But Marinette refused. If she really needed a ride, she would get Alya to take her. But for now, she was fine.

Her mother needed to watch the bakery, and so did her father. There was no need for them to take off time from work when she was capable of getting to school without them.

She made her way to her room, despite her parents effort to make her sleep downstairs instead, so she wouldn't have to use the stairs.

She refused, and did her homework at her desk, having a light conversation with Tikki.

****

To say that Adrien couldn't sleep was an understatement. He was absolutely restless.

His green, 'I'm terribly stupid' eyes stayed plainfully open, even as they burned to be shut. Even when he rolled over in his bed, and buried his face in his pillow, they would always find their way back to look at the ceiling.

Even in his luxury of a room, full of everything anyone could have wanted, he felt so...empty?

Maybe that wasn't the word for it. Then again, he was feeling so many emotions all at once.

Marinette being ladybug? That wasn't so crazy was it? Of course it wasn't. And that's what made it so crazy in the first place. How had he never thought of it.

But then again, that caused him a whole new set of problems. Not only did he have to win over ladybug, he now had to win over Marinette. Yes, they were the same person, but they didn't like Adrien, nor Chat Noir. Not anymore it seemed.

He bit his tongue bitterly, wishing he could have done so when he had rejected her. He hadn't meant to be so harsh, just...honest.

At least, what he thought was honest. But it turns out, he was lying to himself, now wasn't he?

Marinette, just a friend? Hardly.

But would he love her if she weren't Ladybug?

If they were two seperate people?

He already knew, that if there was only one or the other, he would take it. But how could he choose?

Ultimately, he decided, he couldn't. If they weren't the same person, he could never choose. But, he didn't have to.

Because there wasn't two. They weren't her without ladybug, without Marinette.

All that she was, he found, he really liked. And it made the heat rise to his face, and he was almost afraid that the heat would wake up a sleeping Plagg lying on the pillow next to him.

It was irrational of course.

But wasn't love sometimes?

******

"Marinette!" Tikki whisper-yelled.

Marinette stirred in her half-asleep state, letting out a distressed sound of tiredness.

"Yeah?" She breathed sleepily, pushing her bangs out of her eyes and rolling over to face her.

She had went to bed early, and had been sleeping for a good 3 hours. In the mornings, it was almost impossible to wake her up. But for some reason, in the middle of the night, it was easy. Like her body was on alert for something. And apparently it was.

"I think I heard a knock, on the balcony door." Tikki pointed in the dark, the dimly lit room casting shadows across the fabric of her blankets.

There, in the background she could hear a faint knock.

Her mind was too tired to care about the fact that someone had managed to get onto her balcony. And it definitely wasn't processing enough to grab some kind of weapon or be on guard.

Without really thinking about it, she hoisted herself up, slow and drowsy. She opened up the door, and peaked her head out.

Her eyes adjusted to the light change, before they settled on a black shadow. Well, what she thought was a shadow, before she noticed a mop of blonde hair on top of it's crouched frame.

"Chat?" She blinked, rubbing her eyes to clear the sleepiness from them.

"Hey there." he smiled gently.

"What are you doing here?" She shook her head.

"Well I was just, out and about...and I thought I would stop by. Maybe see if your ankle is alright?" He gestured inside.

"How did you know my ankle was broken?" She asked slowly, her brows furrowing in a strangely intimidating manner.

He nearly choked on his tongue.

"W-well I saw you walking home, and your leg was hurt. I was going to help but, you had made it to the bakery already." He spat out quickly, hoping his somewhat-truth could sweeten up his bitter lie.

Luckily, it seemed like just the right amount of sugar to cover it, which wasn't easy considering he was talking to a bakers daughter.

"Okay..thank you but...why so late?" She asked.

It was then he realized how tired she looked. He hadn't noticed her tangled hair, or the bags under her eyes. Her tank top falling off the edge of her shoulder.

"Oh my gosh you're right! I'm sorry! I didn't even realize how late it was! I couldn't sleep so I just went out. I didn't think about the fact that you would most likely be asleep!" He rambled quickly, placing a hand over his forehead.

"Well usually I wouldn't be." She shrugged.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" She tilted her head to the side a bit, leaning her arm against the opening to the balcony.

"Wh-....well...i....just thinking about..." He trailed off, catching a glimpse of her concerned look.

He felt his cheeks grow dark.

"Stuff." He finished, quickly, yet subtly glancing away from her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

He did. We wanted to tell her everything. But he couldn't.

Not because he was afraid she would judge him. He knew she wouldn't.

But he didn't think either of them were in the mental state to talk about it.

Not now at least.

And she'd probably be mad at him for watching her. Though technically, he was a civilian when it happened.

But if she found that out, she'd probably have an anxious fit thinking about who else could've seen her.

"That's okay. Thank you for the offer though." He grinned a bit, a small, but sweet smile.

"Well I can get you something if you want. Like food, or drinks....I have a sleeping mask if you think it'll help. I don't really used it."

Because it was lady bug themed, and if someone saw her sleeping with it on, they would be able to tell she was ladybug.

"Actually, that would be nice, the sleeping mask I mean. I probably shouldn't be eating right now anyways, I've got to diet for mo-" He stopped himself short.

"-re.....muscle. Yeah. So like, no midnight snacks...." He scratched his neck awkwardly.

She chuckled softly.

"Okay, okay. Don't strain yourself. Just give me a second." She held up her index finger, for the number one.

One second. Although, she did take longer than a single second to duck underneath the trap door and grab the mask from her pillow.

And it took him longer than one second to cool his cheeks down. Luckily, it was hard to see in the darkness of the night.

It took longer than a second for her to hand the mask over, and tell him a kind goodbye. And longer than a second for him to jump from her roof, and trail his way across the city to his own room.

To detransform to a frustrated and hungry Plagg. To stand in an empty room big enough for an entire, large family. To flop onto his bed, clutching the ladybug printed fabric to his chest. He didn't wear it, just held it as he stated at the ceiling.

It took longer than a second to do all of that.

But it only took a second for him to realize that he liked her.

At least a little bit.

*******