#SuperBug : Not So Secret Anymore

Chapter 14

The rest of the month was pretty much the same, but Adrien started to act a little bit more like himself, it was a relief for his father and friends to see him smile and laugh again. We could say that Marinette's croissants help fifty percent of the problem, at least that what Adrien said.

At school, it was easier for him, because he didn't have to see Ladybug or Superboy, but when he was Chat Noir that was another story. The first week he did his patrol nights alone and avoid his partner like the plague, even if she was alone most nights it was too hard for him just to see her during combats so he stayed away as much as possible. The second week, They would meet up before and after patrol, they didn't have conversation like they used to, it was hard for the both of them, but Ladybug knew he had to be the one doing the first steps. He was healing and she was ready to wait for her partner and best friend to come back when he would see fit, she didn't want to push him or hurt him more than he already was. The third week, they started hanging out after patrol, talking about anything, joking around.

"M'Lady?"

"Yes Chat?"

"I know you have a boyfriend, and to be honest I am a huge fan. But I don't want our relationship to change, I want it to stay the same. If you both don't mind, I like the pet names and the flirting, of course it will now be a friendship flirt, but you are the only person with who I can be myself and enjoy life fully..." without finishing his thoughts, she pull him into a hug and he was able to let all the stress from the last few weeks go down the drain.

"Chaton, I don't want you to change for anything. I love you so much, you are my partner, my best friend and I know we are soulmates, platonic ones but still soulmates, and I can't lose you. I'm happy with you and I'm happy with Superboy and it would mean everything for the both of you to become friends, because I don't want to choose." She let go of him and locked eyes with him to make sure he was listening.

"Superboy and I talked about the secret identities and us knowing who we are and keeping you out is not what I want... So if you agree we would like to do a reveal with the three of us, because if after you see me with a boy, you'll know him right away. What do you think?" his eyes were wide by the time she was done. He blinked a couple of times before a smile bigger than usual crossed his face.

"It would be AMAZING!!! And I could be your man of honor and a wonderful godfather... oh! And I will give him the shovel talk as well, because nobody hurts my Bug. Even if he has superpower I have a Catacl*** and Plagg loves you too and he destroyed the dinosaurs so a superhero is nothing for him and... Wait I'm too intense right now." He took a deep breathe, calming himself down a bit "I would like to meet him and as you saw a little too excited to know you outside the mask."

"Me too Chaton, me too!" the rest of the night was quiet and they talked about their civilian lives, but not enough to spoil the reveal the next week.

* * *

The sessions with with Dr.Thompkins really helped Marinette rant on her class and her double-life. Letting some stress out of her system give her a little bit of peace and helps her sleep. After all those years fighting HawkMoth it was still a struggle for her to express her real emotion, even being thousand miles away, it just didn't seemed to ease her, her head was a mess and she knew it. The only difference was that for the first time in years, someone was listening to Marinette and Ladybug, it felt good and she knew the psychologist wouldn't judge or tell her to stop her work, she understood, after all those years working for the Justice League that she was needed and nothing could stop her.

"You know Marinette... You don't have to say anything to me, but I can see in your eyes the desire to speak. Without telling what, can you tell why you can't talk?"

"Habits I imagine," taking a deep breath and changing her position on the couch, Marinette was trying to give herself some courage. She knew too well that there were something she couldn't say for safety, but she was so used to keep quiet that just the idea of talking to someone, other than the kwamis or Chat about the Miraculous or her mission, it was weird.

"The guardian before me had this rule, where no one could find out about the Miraculous, including knowing our identities. It was hard sometimes for Chat Noir and me, but eventually he was just my best friend I couldn't tell anyone. Later on I had to travel in the future, with Bunnyx, and find out how Chat learned my identity, because..." the young hero paused, remembering Chat Blanc was really hard for her. She had nightmares every night and he was their almost every time, the fear was there, even now, with knowing Adrien's identity, but Bunnyx hadn't appear this time and the only love they had for each other was familial, he was like a big brother for her.

"At the time, we were young and in love. I was in love with his civilian self and he was in love with Ladybug, so we were pretty much in a love square. He had found out I was Ladybug and the future Chat was telling me we started dating not long after that. Than his father made us separate, but when I had left he saw an Akuma and ran to destroy it, before it touched me, but to do so he had to transform in front of me. Somehow HawkMoth found out about it and found a way to akumatize him, he became Chat Blanc..." she realised at that moment that she was crying, softly, but crying. It was the first time she talked about those events to someone.

"Sorry... I just... Ouf! Okay! So one way or another HawkMoth found out our identities and Chat was akumatize, after he asked him to kill me, but because he loved me, he couldn't do it. So instead he let his power consume him and he destroyed everything. The continents were mostly under water, the moon had broken in half and he was the last person alive.

"'Our love destroyed the World M'Lady.' I can still hear it every night and even if I know that it won't happen and nobody except Bunnyx and I knows about it, I was there..."

The silence in the office was not heavy like other sessions, it was almost comforting. Dr. Thompkins didn't say anything, opting to let Marinette go through her thoughts by herself, which she was grateful for.

Maybe one day, it would get better. Maybe one day, she won't have as much nightmares. Maybe one day, the weight on her shoulders would be easier to carry, since she now had Jon and Adrien by her side.