Seven Seconds

Heart and Soul

No one moved.

Marinette was frozen, staring down at his ring. And Adrien was frozen, staring down at her, staring down at his ring.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally looked up to meet his gaze. But she didn't say anything. She simply looked at him, tears forming in her eyes.

And Adrien tried to think of what to do. Okay, so Marinette probably recognized his ring. But now what? Should he play dumb, or should he confess? Not knowing what to do, he didn't do anything. He simply looked back at her.

Fighting back the tears, Marinette let go of him. Then she silently reached both of her hands up and ran her fingers through his hair.

At her touch, Adrien held his breath. Surely that whooshie hair of his would give it away. And he watched as her trepid expression morphed into painful despair.

And when the light that normally shined through her eyes was completely extinguished, Marinette suddenly pulled her hands back. "No," she cried weakly, stepping away from him.

He fought back his own tears as he stepped forward. "Princess, I..."

"No," Marinette repeated, squeezing her eyes shut.

Taking another step towards her, he placed his hands on her arms to try and comfort her. But she immediately pulled away. Then she started sobbing as he desperately tried to explain.

"I'm so sorry," he choked out. "I'm sorry, I just love you so much. And I wanted us to be together..."

She covered her ears with her hands, shaking her head back and forth. "No, no, no," she kept repeating over and over to herself.

Not knowing what to do, Adrien tried to comfort her again.

But she pulled away from his touch and sank down to her knees. Then she really let the tears out as she cried into her hands. "Not my Chaton, not my Chaton. No, he's not you," she whimpered, barely audible. "Please Chaton, your Princess needs you."

Adrien kneeled down next to her, his own tears pouring out. "I'm right here, Princess. I'm right here."

"Please," she begged to the world. "I need you, Chaton."

He wrapped her up in a hug. And at first she fought against it, but after a second she recognized the warm embrace that she had gotten so used to over the past few weeks. So she stopped struggling.

And she took a minute to catch her breath. Keeping her eyes shut, Marinette finally whispered a word. "Chaton?"

"Yes Princess?" he replied, trying to contain his tears.

"Is it really you?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm here."

She nodded into his chest. Starting to cry again, she whispered some more words. "I love you."

And Adrien held her tighter. "I love you so much," he said, a faint smile crossing his lips.

They remained wrapped up together, with Adrien stroking the back of Marinette's hair as her tears slowly subsided. Then, keeping her eyes firmly shut, she reached up and pulled him in for a kiss.

It lasted a full minute, with Marinette putting everything she had into it, and with Adrien holding onto her like he would never let go.

And he planned on just that; never letting Marinette go. It was a miracle that she was forgiving him. He wasn't expecting it, and he definitely didn't deserve it. But here she was, kissing him like she had always kissed Chat Noir. Possibly even better.