Here is my last one-shot for 2023. Thank you everyone who has read, voted and commented on my fics this year, you're all superstars.

This last fic is based on a prompt for the Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server Anniversary. I hope you enjoy.

*****

Christmas holidays were a big deal at Françoise DuPont collège. As the last bell rang everyone was out the building as though it was on fire.

Goodbyes were thrown to each other, promises of catch ups and outings; hugs, fist bumps and even some kisses, and yet as Adrien moved at a snail's pace towards his car, the opposite feeling was there. He didn't want to be at home, he wanted to be here with all his friends. He knew his father wouldn't allow him the opportunity to 'roam' around Paris like a bored teen, instead he'd have extra tuition and piano rehearsals.

Oh, well...it was only two weeks. Just two weeks of confinement and loneliness and then he would be back here. Back in the warm embrace of his friends and classmates.

He made it down the last step and took one last look up at the building he adored more than his mansion. It was just two weeks. Two weeks and he would be back. He was strong, he was a superhero. He could do this.

Three days into the break and he realised he couldn't do it.

Laying back on his bed, Adrien placed his phone beside him and ran his hands down his face. There was nothing to do.

Nino was currently skiing in the Alps, Alya was babysitting and Marinette was working in the bakery. He could probably reach out to some of his other friends, like Luka or Max, but he always felt slightly awkward... they were friends, but they weren't friends who he hung out with without the others present. The anxiety of not knowing what to say or do was far too overwhelming and not at all what he wanted to do at the moment.

He lifted up a hand and looked at his ring. He could maybe go for a patrol, but that would be alone too, he knew Ladybug was busy over the Christmas period. He'd volunteered to pick up the patrols to give her family time, she didn't even question it before saying yes.

Not even a single 'what about your family, Chaton.' Just a thank you and an 'I'll see you when I see you'.

Adrien glanced at his phone again, before picking it up. At the beginning of the break, he remembered Nino telling him about a website where you could vent your frustrations almost anonymously. All he needed to do was sign up and create a disguising nickname. Something smart and, maybe, even including a pun of some sort.

No one apart from himself knew he was... Prince Catnip!

... and as Prince Catnip the world were now completely aware of his father's horrendous parenting. He decided to pull up his latest AITAH post and see if anyone else had replied to his last vent, when a new post caught his eye.

Adrien read it once, twice and three times. There was just something drawing him in, an almost familiarity to the story. His phone chimed and Lila's face appeared on the screen.

Lila! Of course. That's why it seemed so familiar it reminded him of Lila. The hurt and manipulation she was causing — especially to Marinette.

Curious to what the comments were, Adrien continued to scroll down the page. He began to think about what he might reply himself, after all, he'd seen the way girls like that had caused hurt to people he knew. But reading the comments were causing him as much anger as Lila did.

Adrien continued reading, each and every hair on his body standing on edge. This was ridiculous! It was obvious that the girl was venting out frustrations and all people could do was tell her she was jealous. He imagined if this was Marinette with the whole Lila situation and how much he'd hate the people for what they're saying. How dare they!

Pulling up his account he began to type. Maybe if a woman's point of view is just seen as jealousy, maybe having a male point of view on the situation would change the understanding.

Just as he pressed 'post', his phone vibrated in his hands. Patrol time.

Calling his transformation, Chat Noir escaped through his window and zipped through the air.

*****

An unexpected sight was laid out before him, as Ladybug was marching backwards and forwards on the rooftop. From his position, he could see her mouth moving up and down at speed, almost like she was talking to herself. Her hands were flailing around and she looked angry, not in a way which would send him sailing over Paris, but in a way that she would blow up the world.

He watched for a couple more minutes before lowering himself down onto the rooftop, trying to make sure he didn't frighten her — something unfortunately which didn't work. As she reached around she grabbed a hold of his arm and yeeted him hard over the rooftop.

"Chat Noir?" she cried, a snag of something wrapping around his ankle before pulling him back onto the rooftop. His landing was less than graceful, as he collided chest first with the rooftop and continued to slide across it a metre, or so.

"Sorry, sorry, oh my goodness!!"

As he tried to come back to his senses, he felt hands grab hold of his arm and pull him upright. Situated unsteadily on his feet, he attempted to figure out how that went so wrong — one look at her face giving him the answer.

"Are you okay?"

They stood in silence for a moment, both staring at each other and he prayed she'd open up to him. Her eyes were rimmed with dark red circles, tear streaks left in her makeup and glossy eyes — there was no way she could say she was fine. Everything proved otherwise.

She nodded, her top teeth lowering over the bottom and leaving white tracks in their wake. His arms crossed over his chest, one eyebrow raising in disbelief. The nod slowed down as her lip quivered and a sob escaped her mouth once again.

Quickly, she slammed a gloved hand over her mouth quieting the sobs but doing nothing for the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Silver tracks left to reflect the sun as it set in the sky.

Without hesitation, he grabbed her and pulled her into his body, lowering down onto his knees and cradling her in his lap. She sobbed freely and he could feel the pain in every tear. He'd seen her break a couple of times in the past but that was nothing compared to the girl in his arms at the moment.

They stayed that way for what felt like hours, his hand caressing her hair as she gripped hard at his shoulders. This was real, raw emotions of a heartbroken teenager.

"I'm good now," she whispered in his ear. "Thank you." She moved back, fisting her hand and wiping roughly under her eyes and then over her nose.

"You're welcome."

They sat quietly, side by side, Chat Noir having no idea what to say or do. She had broken down in ways that he'd never seen before and his heart hurt for her. Something like that only happened when you had been hurt — and every sign led her to believe she was on the verge of breaking point.

"Do you - um - do you want to talk about it? I've been told I'm a good listener so I'm more than willing to help you out?"

She huffed out a laugh and he wasn't sure whether that was linked to him saying he was a good listener, or the situation she was in at the moment.

"I can believe that, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about a teen girls drama. I'm just a little frustrated at the moment."

"So you are a teen?"

She laughed again and looked down to the floor, his heart breaking for her.

"Try me," he asked, his hand coming up to place on her shoulder. "Please."

"Don't judge me," she whispered before taking a deep breath and puffing the air from her cheeks.

"I have an... issue, at collège, with one of the other girls. I've tried to talk about it with my friends but they don't see this girl the way that I do. The only other person who knows what she likes has tried to support me... I suppose, but he's too good. He wants us to just take the high road because we know the truth, but I'm just..."

"Done?" Chat Noir filled in the black for her, the grateful look one which made him sure he'd chosen the right wording.

"Does it sound petty?" she questioned, her hands wringing the life out of each other as she spoke.

His lips turned downwards, in a thoughtful pout. "No, I don't think it does."

They sat in silence a while longer, Chat Noir thinking in circles about what she'd just said. It wasn't dissimilar to his and Marinette's story about Lila. Luckily, his friend had managed to avoid confrontation and, along with himself, ignored Lila's fabricated lies and unbelievable truths. But come to think about it... why hadn't anyone else?

"What about your best friend? They must be on your side," he asked, twisting himself to face her.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" A huff left his Lady's mouth, her eyes rolling and his blood boiling. Is she saying her best friend doesn't even believe her? Isn't it friend code you always stand behind your bff?

"She doesn't?"

Ladybug sorrowfully shook her head. "The boy is involved, and my friend just thinks I'm jealous of the way they are together."

"Oh! She's his girlfriend."

He was suddenly confused. If this guy was dating this girl then why? If she was as bad as Ladybug said (and he believed every word coming out of her mouth) why would a guy want to be with her?

"Gosh no! He feels the same way as I do!"

Okay, now Chat Noir was really confused! Didn't she say nobody apart from the one guy believed her? So that means the guy is the one that told her to take the high road.

"And he thinks you should take the high road?"

"Well, he said 'as long as we know the truth', but there's no 'we'. It's me and a boy she's obsessed with, so I'm getting the wrath. She wouldn't dare do it to him, she's too far up his father's backside to rock the boat."

Everything was starting to sound a little too familiar. It was like a story he knew but couldn't place, kind of like the many retellings of Cinderella. He knew the story just not this variation, or did he?

"Have you spoken to anyone else about this?"

She fumbled around a little, her hands once again trying to tear each other apart.

"Only you and —"

She mumbled something, his ears struggling to hear the words.

"What was that?"

"Reddit!" she cringed, and he almost fell from the roof of the building.

Reddit! Reddit!

Princess Justice! Marinette! Ladybug! The same story repeating again and again.

"And —" He reached up to the back of his neck and began to rub. "And how did that go?"

"As well as you'd expect, they'd all stuck up for her once again, saying I was jealous. I get it! I do! But he doesn't like her! He's on my side. Maybe I didn't phrase it as well as I could have?"

"No one supports you? No one at all?"

"I haven't checked since this morning, but it was blatantly obvious whose side people were on, and FYI it's not mine."

Chat Noir felt his blood pulse in his ears. What if his thoughts have been right? What if this led him directly to the identity of his Lady? One thing was for certain, he would go to the end of the world and back for her. So even if this was Marinette, he was prepared to fight as Adrien or Chat Noir.

"You know what makes it worse..." She suddenly continued. "She has been proven time and time again that she is a liar, but apparently it's an illness and people should give her the benefit of the doubt! Then she lies again the next day and everyone's believing her again. She tried to get me EXPELLED, Chaton! Expelled! My parents were furious! But I'm the one that should have been mad! They believed her! Where the hell was my apology for being falsely accused?"

"What do you want me to do? Seriously, LB, tell me and I'll do it! No one does this to you!"

She giggled, moving closer and resting her head on his shoulder. "I know you would and that really means a lot to me. You have no idea how much. I just needed to vent. Thank you for listening."

Listening wasn't enough though! He should have done more, been more. Why the hell was he such a marshmallow? His friends were being hurt because he had to 'see the good' in everyone. Well now he'd seen the bad. It was very bad, and he wasn't going to stop until this was sorted out once and for all.

*****

As Adrien sat and read through the latest responses he couldn't help but feel the way people were commenting to him was completely different to what Marinette received. It seemed when a girl posted about a girl, she was just jealous, but when a guy commented it was the end of the world.

His phone chimed with an incoming message. Lila really wasn't giving up.

Lila: Hi everyone, party at mine tonight. I'll send you all the address. Ciao for now!

If Lila was throwing a party that evening then everyone would be there, everyone except Marinette that was.

10 minutes later, he found himself on the 'Dupain's' doorstep, chocolates and a bunch of roses in his hands and a sorrowful look on his face. This was his first step to setting things right.

"Adrien, my boy, come on in!" Tom opened the door and quickly ushered him inside, a blessing from the cold weather.

"I hope you don't mind me dropping in like this, it's just I was hoping to see Marinette. Is she in?"

Tom looked at him with a frown. "Are you not going to the party?"

Oh! That took Adrien aback. He was almost certain Marinette wouldn't have been: a) invited to the party, or b) willing to go to the party. But his Lady was a strong one, maybe she'd decided it was better to be there and crowd control than stand back and let Lila continue with her manipulating.

"No, I - um - I actually wanted to see if Marinette wanted to do something else. I'm not big into parties and I know sometimes Marinette can get too caught up in creating. I thought it might be good for us both to have a break and some fun."

Tom nodded. "That's a lovely idea, son, but Marinette's not feeling too well tonight. I'll pass on the message though. Maybe you could play a game online or something?"

She was fine about 20 minutes ago, he knew she was because he'd been with her. Okay, maybe fine was a little bit of an exaggeration, but when they'd left she'd been fine in herself.

"Oh, okay," he replied, considering his next move. "Well, I'll message her or something, maybe she wants to chat?"

"That sounds good, do you want me to give her those?" Tom indicated the box in Adrien's hands for him to realise he was still holding onto the chocolates and roses.

"Oh, these, no they were for my ... errrmmm ..."

Girlfriend! A small voice whispered in the back of his head. Girlfriend! It said again.

"Girlfriend," Adrien said, cringing in the matter of seconds after speaking.

"Your girlfriend?" Tom looked as puzzled as Adrien felt. This was not the right choice of wording in the slightest.

"Oh boy! Is that my phone ringing? It must be Nathalie or - or my girlfriend who I completely just didn't make up. Thanks Mr Dupain, see you soon."

"See you —" Adrien didn't even wait to see what Tom was going to say. Oh, man he'd messed this up big time and now her father was going to think he was an idiot.

Turning the corner from the apartment, he crushed the roses to his chest, the thorns prickling into him. "Ouch!"

Pulling them away, he rested his head back against the brick wall and took a deep breath. What an absolute idiot!

"That could have gone better!" Adrien opened his eyes to see Plagg's smarmy grin peering back at him as the kwami hovered over his head. "Now, let's just go home and eat those chocolates."

"I can't give up that easily, Plagg."

"Personally, I think you should because —"

As Plagg continued his lecture, Adrien noticed something above him... actually something that was quickly moving down to his level.

"Plagg, claws out!"

The smash of the plant pot came just after his transformation was taken, the stray bits of clay scattering around him and luckily leaving him unharmed.

"Sorry," a voice, as soft as an angel, floated down towards him. His Lady was on her balcony, and he had a means to go up there now, after all she did almost kill him.

Unclipping his baton from behind his back m, Chat Noir extended upwards coming face to face with a startled Marinette.

"Well, hello, Princess. I believe you have something to say to me." He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked knowing full well what would follow... and there it was.

An eye roll, followed by a hand against his shoulder. She pushed him backwards (most likely trying to push him off his baton), however, the anticipated move was deflected by his front somersault over onto the balcony and his baton retracting in his hands.

"That wasn't very kind, and to think I've come bearing gifts."

He could see her peering around his back, looking for what was hidden in his hands. She looked around the rooftops before tilting her head quickly to the side.

"Fine," she huffed, moving down through the skylight and onto her bed.

Quickly, he followed after her, clambering down and trying to protect the petals left on the flower. As he settled on the bed, he suddenly felt quite shy and out of his zone. Why had he come here again? Was there a reason for it?

He turned his head to look at the corkboard lined with fairy lights. His picture sat amongst the others and he couldn't help but smile.

"Are you going to tell me why you're here, or are you just going to admire Adrien Agreste for the rest of the evening?"

"I wasn't looking at Adrien!" He dropped the chocolates and flowers on her bed, his hands shooting up in defence.

"Hey, I'm not judging. I stare at it enough myself."

Everything inside of him turned ice cold. He needed to make sure he wasn't taking this the wrong way. Had she just admitted to staring at his picture?

"You stare at him?"

"Well, duh!" she laughed. "Where have you been? Living under a rock? Even Monarch knows I'm in love with Adrien, his Truth Akuma made sure of that."

She moved down to the lower part of her room and all he could do was stare after her.

What? How had he not pieced this together? She — him — them! Wow!

"I - um - I don't think he's privy to this information."

"Of course he's not! I've tried my hardest to protect it."

She gave her mouse a quick shake as the screen came to life showing quite the selection of photos of himself surrounded by ribbons and hearts. Oh, boy! Whilst staring at the screen with no words to accompany his current flummoxing, his eyes registered the change of website, his brain, however, was working quickly to catch up.

Finally processing she'd gone onto the Reddit page, he saw the deflated look in her eyes as she scanned over the comments — her comments to her AITAH post.

He knew what they said, he'd read them time and time again himself wishing that there were more people out there willing to help a young girl in need.

"Are you okay?" he asked as she let out a soft sigh.

"Do you ever feel like you're living an alternate life? Like you know something is happening but because everyone doesn't, you think you're going insane?"

He grabbed her empty trash can and flipped it over to sit beside her at her desk.

"Would it help if I said yes?"

She let out a chuckle. "Only if it was the truth. I just feel like I'm seeing everything so differently to everyone else. Like what happens to me that day isn't actually what happens and my brain is just morphing it into what I want it to believe. Just look at all these people out of the situation who think I'm jealous, or a stalker."

"Have you spoken to any of your friends?" He knew he'd already spoken to her about this but hearing it from Marinette's mouth would be different. More real. More important.

"Yeah, but she's just so believable! You know what she's like though right, you believe me don't you, Chaton?"

She was almost begging and it broke his heart. "Of course, I do, and it sounds like this person does too."

Chat Noir stretched forward and scrolled down to a comment he was very familiar with.

He watched her reading the comment, her eyes glazing over before a stray droplet escaped and formed a path of pain down her face, followed by another, then another, until she was flinging herself into his arms and wrapping around him tightly.

"I gave myself away didn't I?" she whispered in his ear.

"Yeah!"

They continued to hold onto each other. He didn't want to break the connection because if he did he was scared she was going to run. "I'm here for you as much as I can be. Lila won't get anywhere near you again, not that you can't take her on yourself, I just don't want you having to do it alone."

Marinette pushed herself away, making a fist and wiping aggressively over her nose and eyes. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry for figuring out your identity to, it's just that –"

"Marinette! Marinette, are you awake sweetheart?" Tom's voice boomed through the trapdoor and Chat Noir froze in his tracks. Her father finding him up here was not going to go well. She looked at him with as much fear as he looked back at her, neither blinking or looking away. Full fear of being caught.

"Y-yeah, father."

"Adrien's just been here –" Chat Noir physically felt the blood leave his face. No! Please no! "He was worried about you and brought some chocolate and flowers to make you feel better. Why didn't you tell us you were dating?"

His heart plummeted through his stomach faster than a Disney drop tower. It seemed tonight really was the night for revelations.

"I - um - I -"

Oh God! She clearly didn't know what to say, which made two of them.

Tom's chuckle bounced the floorboards a sound no one was expecting. "Well, if you want, give him a call and ask him to come back. I thought you were asleep so sent him away. The poor boy was panicking and pretty much ran away from the house. He's such a sweet kid."

"I'll - I'll call him right now."

Chat Noir began to clamber off the bin and towards the ladder, hoping to make a quick escape before she pieced everything together. But he forgot two very important things: one – his Lady was exceptionally smart and two – he had a rather long tail.

"Excellent, me and your mother are just dropping some extra flour round to your grandfathers. Let Adrien in when he arrives, but keep your door open."

"Say Hi to Pops for me."

As Marinette kept a tight hold on his tail, she said a quick goodbye to her father, her eyes firmly placed on him, his tail now wound around her hand. With a quick pull, she managed yeet him to the other side of the room without any need for her super strength. Oh, he was in trouble!

Keeping her eyes away from him, he remained still sitting on the ground.

"I don't know whether to scream at you, or kiss you?"

"Well, I know which I'd prefer." His joke fell flat as Tikki appeared and flew out beside her holder.

"Now is probably not the time to joke, Chat Noir." Tikki's stern voice was emphasised by her hands placing firmly on her hips.

"Marinette, talk to me please."

They seemed to sit in silence for what felt like hours before she finally spoke. "If I turn around, who am I going to see?"

"Someone devilishly handsome?"

"Chat Noir!"

Sighing loudly, Chat Noir called off his transformation, Plagg shooting from the ring and heading towards where Tikki was hovering in front of Marinette.

Slowly, she turned around in her chair, gasping as her ocean blue eyes met his, tears once again flowing freely down her face. Before he could say anything, Marinette launched forwards and landed in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying herself into his chest.

"We're going to fix this, Bugaboo. No more taking the highroad, it's time for some cold, harsh payback."

*****

*****

Happy New Year everyone and I wish you love and peace for 2024!