#allycharms

~~~~~~

A few minutes ended up being more than two hours and a promise of another visit. She called it a date and although Adrien flushed at that, he didn't protest. Next day in school, Marinette watched as Adrien walked around with a dazed smile on his face and her arm was hurting from the constant pinching she was doing to convince herself she wasn't dreaming.

One date became two and then three and before she knew it, Ladybug was visiting Adrien every other evening. They mostly watched movies or shows or discussed their favourite books and sometimes even rehashed some old Akuma fights once Adrien had admitted to watching all the footage from the fights on Ladyblog.

They confessed to each other at the end of the date five and the first kiss happened during the date eight. The question of Ladybug's identity rose only once and Adrien said he understood the need for secrecy and that he would wait as long as he had to to find out. If she decided to tell him at all, that was.

All things considered, things were going rather well for them. Which meant that sooner or later, something would go wrong.

~~~~~~

"Is everything alright, Adrien?" Marinette had finally managed to catch up to Adrien during a break. He had come in late that morning and he had looked visibly upset. Well, it was visible to Marinette, who had come to know him really well during the past few weeks, not that he knew that.

"Of course, everything's fine," he told her and his smile would have almost fooled her into believing him. But there was something in the way he held himself that belied his words. Marinette was about to throw caution to the wind and hug him until he either told her what was bothering him or he felt better, whichever came first, when he added. "It's kind of you to worry about me but you don't have to, I just have an off day."

The I'm your girlfriend, of course I'm going to worry about you never made it out of Marinette's mouth. Because Adrien didn't know. He had no idea that his girlfriend was right next to him. He just saw a... a...

Marinette was stunned to realize that she had no idea what Adrien thought of her. Did he consider her a friend? Or just a classmate? She had gotten better at talking to him - it was hard to be nervous around someone with whom you made out regularly even if it was under a mask - but their interactions were usually brief and often in a group setting.

For the first time since they started dating, Marinette felt doubt about how things were going to turn out. She had been thinking about telling him who she was and until now, all the scenarios she had imagined had a positive outcome. But with this suddenly realized uncertainty, she couldn't be sure any longer.

Adrien liked Ladybug. She knew that. The question was, would he like Marinette, too? Because if he couldn't, if he only saw her as that clumsy classmate/possible friend, then was it really fair, to either of them, to continue with their relationship? What if Adrien could never like Marinette like that? He was just nice enough to pretend he did so he wouldn't break her heart. No, worse than that, he would think that because he was dating Ladybug, he was obligated to like Marinette, too. And that really, really wouldn't be fair to them.

Marinette knew what she had to do, no matter how much it pained her to admit it. One way or another, things were about to change. She would ask Adrien what he thought of her and make her decision after that.

~~~~~~

"Can I ask you a question?" Ladybug spoke up during a commercial break and Adrien immediately muted the channel so he could give his Lady - even if she didn't know it was him - his full attention.

"Of course," he said. She bit down at her lip as she always did when she was nervous.

"Hypothetically, if we weren't together, would you date someone else?"

Adrien blinked. That was not what he had been expecting.

"Someone else?" he repeated.

"Yes, like another model or maybe Chloè," she said. Adrien suddenly understood. This was a test. Ladybug was going to ask him about the girls in his life and he was supposed to reassure her he only had eyes for her. He had seen and read a lot of stories like that, a lot of them featuring a tsundere type of character and truth be told, Ladybug could be tsundere-ish at times. At least when it came to him as Chat Noir. She was more of a yandere type with him as Adrien, though. Nevertheless, Adrien knew how he was supposed to answer.

"Chloè is almost like a sister to me, I don't see her that way. And most of the models I know are not my type, either."

"What about the other girls in your class? Would you date any of them? Rose or Alix or Juleka?"

"Rose is too nice and sweet. There's nothing wrong with that but I prefer girls who are more assertive." He gave her a pointed look but she just kept looking at him expectantly. "Alix is too intense, though. And I'm pretty sure that the first time she would see my room, I would become second place to the climbing wall." Ladybug smiled at that and Adrien basked in the sweet feeling of an approaching victory. "As for Juleka, she is too quiet and withdrawn. Again, nothing wrong with that but it's not my type of a girl," he finished, certain now that this was a boyfriend test of some kind and that he was acing it.

"What about Alya?"

"Honestly? Alya scares me a little bit." He felt proud of the giggle that answer prompted from Ladybug. And it wasn't lie at all. Alya was scary, especially with her zealous quest to unmask the heroes. All too soon Ladybug stopped giggling, though, and turned slightly away from him.

"And what about Marinette? If you and I weren't dating, or even in a world where Ladybug didn't exist, would you be dating her?"

Adrien barely stopped himself from saying yes. That wasn't the correct answer. His girlfriend was asking him if he liked another girl and no matter how sheltered Adrien had been, he knew that the only good answer was no. No matter how true or false that statement would be.

"Marinette is just a friend, nothing more. You are the only one I want to date," he said and took Ladybug's hand, wanting to pull her closer so they could cuddle while they watched the rest of the show. He saw her tense at his touch and then she pulled her hand free, wrapping her arms around herself as if she was in pain. "Ladybug?" he spoke in a quiet voice. He heard her take a deep breath and then...

"I think we should end this," she said, her voice flat and lifeless.

"What?!"

"Us. I think we should stop seeing each other."

"A break-up?"

She nodded and Adrien felt his heart drop into the bottom of his stomach. He didn't understand. Everything had been going so well. They had been getting to know each other, the making out was awesome, he had even passed her test. Where did it go wrong?

"Why?" he got out and wasn't even ashamed at how wobbly his voice sounded.

"Because it wouldn't be fair. I was going to tell you who I am one of these days but then I realized you might not like that side of me enough to date her. And I know you're kind enough to pretend to still like me, which is why I can't ask that of you. We have no future, not when you would never see the other side of me as anything but a friend."

She stood up from the couch and turned to him. He could see that her eyes were suspiciously glassy but she still gave him a smile.

"I really enjoyed our time together, Adrien and I'm sorry it ended like this."

By the time he thought to try and stop her, she was already gone. A few moments later, Adrien felt Plagg settle down on his head.

"Not what I expected but Tikki's bugs have always had a penchant for drama," the Kwami said nonchalantly.

"What happened?"

It was a rhetorical question but Plagg answered it anyway.

"Ladybug dumped you because you're as dense as a bag of bricks."

Adrien scowled.

"And why do you think I am dense?"

"Because you failed to realize why she was asking those questions."

Adrien thought back to their talk. It was nothing special, right? Just some sort of a boyfriend test that was easily passed by speaking mostly truth.

"She was just testing me, that's all."

He heard Plagg sigh.

"C'mon, kid. I know you're dense but I didn't think you were stupid. Think about what she said and what you said."

Adrien did. He thought back to Ladybug's questions and how she reacted to his answers and even how she acted before asking one question in particular. The pieces clicked together and he felt like the biggest idiot ever.

you would never see the other side of me as anything but a friend

Marinette is just a friend, nothing more

"Marinette?"

~~~~~~

Marinette just started to really get into her crying, when there was a knock on her roof door. She hastily wiped her eyes and made sure Tikki was close enough if she needed to transform before she pushed the latch back.

The door swung open upwards and a frantic Chat Noir tumbled inside past her, ending up half-hanging off her bed.

"Chat?" Marinette started to ask if he was okay when he sat up, his eyes focusing on her with a laser precision.

"I lied," he said. "You're not just a friend and I would date you in a heartbeat if I had the chance."

"What?" He wasn't making any sense. Dating her? Lying? "What are you talking about?"

"When you asked me earlier if I would date you if Ladybug didn't exist. I lied. I thought you were testing me and that I was supposed to say no to every girl you mentioned even if it wasn't true," Chat spoke very quickly but Marinette caught every word. And if she was hearing him right, that meant that...

"Adrien?" she asked tentatively and he nodded before he looked down at himself.

"Oh, I forgot I didn't detransform," he said and then did just that. His Kwami rolled his eyes and scoffed at them both before he floated off towards Tikki, muttering something under his breath all the while. Marinette didn't pay him much attention because she was completely focused on the fact that Adrien, with whom she had broken up not even an hour ago, was sitting on her bed and telling her that her reasons for the break-up were based on false evidence.

"You lied?" she asked and he nodded sheepishly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you." She nodded in acceptance of his apology and he gave her a small smile before he frowned. "What was up with the breaking up, though? You didn't even let me speak or ask you anything."

Marinette flushed. She had pretty much broken up with him arbitrarily, without giving him a chance to tell his side of the story. That had been wrong of her.

"I'm sorry, Adrien. I was so focused on getting away and ending things quickly that I disregarded you and your feelings."

He gave her a long, considering look.

"Just don't make a habit out of that. Because I like you very much, Marinette Ladybug Dupain Cheng," he declared and scooted closer to her, reaching out for her hand. "Could we maybe start over? No secrets and misunderstandings this time."

Marinette had to fight back a smile. The evening had been an emotional rollercoaster but it seemed the finish would be calm and steady, if she wanted it to be. Later on, she would freak out, she knew herself that much, but the most important thing right now was to reassure her kitty boyfriend and heal her own self-inflicted wound.

"I think I can do that, Adrien Chat Noir Agreste and I would be happy to start over again, no secrets this time. But," she paused and smirked at him. "I might need some... persuasion."