Chat Noir couldn't process what just happened. He was looking at Ladybug for once second, then the next he was blinded by a pink light and faced with a horrified Marinette. 

He was shell shocked. 

He couldn't really remember much of the battle. He expected Ladybug to come back, to temporarily ignore what had happened, but she didn't. She didn't come back. 

Instead, Viperion and Queen Bee showed up. They aided in the battle, and together they destroyed the glove. The purple butterfly flew out, but with no Ladybug, Chat resorted to using a jar to capture it. 

It seemed to have worked. He considered destroying it with a cataclysm, but Viperion suggested he wait for Ladybug to take care of it. He knew she wouldn't show up, so he'd have to go see her.  

Chat wasn't sure if he should. 

Ladybug was Marinette. 

Marinette was Ladybug. 

Marinette rejected Adrien.

Ladybug is Adrien's girlfriend. 

What kind of twisted game was she playing? 

He placed the jar on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. If Viperion suggested he take it to Ladybug, he probably should. 

Adrien stared at it, not knowing what to do. He wasn't sure what to think. 

Marinette was Ladybug. 

Ladybug slept with Adrien. 

"Did you know?" Adrien asked his kwami.

Plagg paused mid-bite. 

"Know what?" he asked, resuming his bite. 

"That Marinette was Ladybug."

The kwami paused once more. He knew. He had seen her the first night she slept over. 

"Yes," he replied. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Adrien frowned. 

"Because I'm not allowed to," Plagg rolled his eyes. "You should really take that thing to your little girlfriend. It's dangerous having an akuma out and about, even in a jar."

Plagg was right about that. Adrien knew very well from his first battle what could happen if an akuma wasn't purified. 

School ended early after the akuma attack as it went longer than usual. So, he knew Marinette was going to be home. 

After Plagg recharged, Adrien transformed. He jumped out of his window, holding onto the jar closely. 

It doesn't take long for him to arrive at her place. He stood on her balcony, not knowing what to do. His heart ached. 

Should he knock? He probably should, it would be rude to walk into her room. Even if he had seen her fully nude, it wouldn't be respectful.

Respect.

Did she even respect him? 

What would he say to her? Did she want to talk to him? Would she just purify the akuma and kick him out?

As far as he knew, she didn't know who he was. 

Deciding to just get this over with, he walked over to her trapdoor and knocked. He heard a crash below. She knew he was there. 

He heard hushed whispers; he assumed it was Marinette and her kwami. A few moments later, the whispers hushed, and he heard her fumbling. 

She opened the door, and he was faced with a puffy-eyed Marinette. He froze up, not knowing what to say. Her eyes trailed down to the jar, and he remembered why he was there.

"The akuma needs to be purified," he mumbled. 

"R-right," she managed to squeak out. "Um, you can come in."

Marinette moved out of the way, and Chat Noir entered awkwardly. They both stood in the middle of the room, neither knowing what to say.

Chat just lifted the jar in her direction. 

"C-can you turn around?" she asked quietly. He turned around, and moments later, he sees a bright pink light flash. Chat opened the jar, letting the akuma fly out. 

Ladybug used her yoyo to capture the akuma, the white butterfly flying out of her opened window. She quietly detransformed. 

He turned around, seeing her looking away in shame. To say Marinette was still mortified was an understatement. 

 Her chest felt heavy, and she felt like they need to talk, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. 

Lucky for her, he spoke up first. 

"Never thought you'd be Ladybug. Marinette is so different."

Marinette flinched slightly; his words hurt. Chat took notice. His words came out harsher than anticipated. 

"I guess," she mumbled. 

Chat continued to look at her. He still couldn't put together why she rejected him then visited him as Ladybug. He wanted to ask, but he still believed she didn't know his identity. 

Why did she begin to visit him anyway? She began the day she rejected him. 

The same day Chat Noir told her he was rejected by Marinette.

The realization dawned on him, and his eyes widened. 

She knew. 

She knew he was Chat Noir. 

"You know," he whispered out loud. Marinette paled, confirming his belief. 

She began to visit Adrien after Chat Noir was rejected. 

A second realization dawned on him. Ladybug only visited him because Adrien was Chat Noir. She told him (Adrien) that she liked Chat Noir. 

She didn't give a fuck about Adrien. She was in love with Chat Noir. 

He frowned, "You only went to Adrien because you found out, didn't you?"

"Wh-what?" she finally turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"You don't give a fuck about Adrien. You only went to visit me because you knew I was Chat Noir."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he shut her up with a glare. 

"What kind of game are you playing?" 

"I'm not pl-"

"First you reject me, then as soon as you find out I'm Chat Noir, you sleep with me?"

"I didn't sleep with you immediately!" she retorted, her eyes starting to water. 

"But you still did! You didn't visit me because you felt bad; you visited me because I'm Chat Noir!"

"As if you weren't just planning on fucking me as a rebound!"

"I only did that because you started visiting me!"

"I didn't mean for it to go so far! You were the one that initiated everything!" Tears were now rolling down her cheeks. She felt angry and hurt that he'd accuse her of that. 

But she also felt shame because he was partially right. 

"You don't actually love me, do you?" he glared. 

"I do! I do love you!" she cried. Marinette took a step forward, but he quickly moved back. 

"Adrien, please, you h-have to believe me! I do love you!" Marinette was now full-blown sobbing. Her worst fears were coming true. 

Chat honestly didn't know what to believe. Logic tells him he should be somewhat happy. He fell in love with her twice. 

Except he didn't know which one was real. 

Were both real? Marinette and Ladybug?

Once again, logic was telling him yes, she is real. They are one person, and she's standing right in front of him. But he couldn't shake the feeling of being used, that her love wasn't genuine. 

If he wasn't Chat Noir, would she have visited him? Of course not, the cynical part of him thought. She's in love with Chat Noir. 

"I have to go, I've stayed too long," he mumbled. 

"N-no, wait. Adrien, please," she begged. "Let's talk."

Chat ignored her and walked towards her open window. If he wanted to leave through her balcony, he'd have to walk past her, and he didn't want to do that. 

"Did anything we did even matter to you?" she asked. "Do you even love me?"

Chat froze, his hand on the window sill. He didn't know. 

Instead of telling her that he left.

~~~~~~~~~~

haha sorry for disappearing on a cliffhanger

I was gonna finish the chapter the week I got back to uni, which was a week after chapter 19 was posted, but I got really homesick and felt like shit lol

I'm better now, but then I just lost my inspiration to write. This is the best I can come up with lol 

the teenage angst 

Plagg is tired of their shit lmao