Tell Me Why You Love Me

Metamorpher

Adrien paced back and forth in the room he and Nino were in, racing through ideas of how the hell he would be able to get out undetected. A trashed vehicle and cement debris were piled outside the front door and along the very few glass windows the store possessed. The akumatized villain had come out of nowhere. All Adrien had heard was the loud crash outside and saw through the small gaps in the window of screaming pedestrians and a deep voice terrorizing anybody passing by. The booming noises outside would not stop, he so desperately wanted to transform and help everyone. He might as well just tell everyone that Adrien Agreste was also the proclaimed superhero if he were to transform right now. The obstacle was practically impossible, especially with Nino here. It felt like eternity having to wait for Ladybug to lift up the debris.

A realization struck his mind like lightning. If Ladybug were to free everyone in here, then it wouldn't take long for her to narrow down who Chat Noir was. There were about 20 other people in the building, including the workers. That's a small pool to detect who was under the mask.

He had to get out on his own.

The two were in the original fitting room where Nino had been trying on his tuxedo. Now in his normal set of clothes, his friend sat on one of the benches with his brows heavily lowered, most likely texting Alya of his situation. He didn't seem too worried, but he was definitely not totally at ease. His fingers were racing each other as he texted on his phone, frequently looking out the small portion of the window that hadn't been covered by debris.

Adrien scanned the room for some kind of outlet. The door to the room only led to the main lobby and receptionist desk, where some of the customers were. He couldn't do anything out there. There had to be some sort of outlet he could use to escape. He glanced up around the corners of the ceiling and saw a screwed-in vent. His head lit up with an idea.

He peered over at Nino. "I have an idea. We can find a way to unscrew the vent up there and find our way to the roof where they'll be a ladder," he explained as he gestured up toward the vent.

Nino looked confused. "You're trying to get out?"

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't we? There's an akuma out there."

He nodded. "I know that, but why would we want to go outside to where the scary guy is? Aren't we safer here? We should just let Ladybug and Chat Noir deal with the akuma like they always do."

That's a bit more of a problem than you think.

Adrien sighed to himself. "What if they don't get here in time and the guy wrecks the place? Don't you want to make it to your wedding?"

Nino gave him a look. "So melancholy, dude."

"Hey, I'm just saying. There are many possibilities to this."

"But we've always been in these types of situations," Nino refuted. "Usually, I'm with Alya when it happens. But trust me, we're perfectly fine in the building. I doubt the akumatized dude is after us specifically."

Now Adrien was growing antsy. It was only a matter of time before Ladybug would be at the shop to clear the debris and create a very short mental list of who Chat Noir could be. Maybe he should've just texted her that he was occupied with something so important that he couldn't fight. Then again, she probably would just get mad at him. That definitely would not have been a good idea.

It's not like Adrien didn't want Ladybug to know that it was him. He had been wanting to reveal their identity for so long, but she always refused with valid claims that he had overlooked for a long time when he was younger. After some reevaluation, he understood what she was trying to protect. She hated taking risks, especially after, well, the froggy risk kid, and is probably the main reason why they have yet to be unmasked by Monarch by now. He respected her decisions and will continue to enforce them as long as she wished. It kept them both safe.