A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction: Melting (COMPLETED)

Chapter 10: The Truth

"Hey are we still meeting up today?" A text went through.

Adrien turned over in his bed, looking at the text from Marinette that had been reminding him for a good 15 mins now. Plagg floated over and saw the red in his eyes and pretended like he didn't notice. He landed beside his hand that was holding the phone and split the piece of cheese in half. He handed one piece to Adrien in hopes it would make him feel better but not even a smile formed on his face. Adrien simply dropped the phone on the bed and turned over, hiding his head under the blankets.

"Kid?" Plagg asked.

"I'm not trustworthy. I am not worthy of being Chat noir anymore. I betrayed all of their trusts, Plagg. Go find another Chat noir." Adrien said, his voice muffled by heavy breathing and cloth.

Plagg heard him shuffling under the blanket and saw a hand poke its way out into the lighted room. He laid it on the table beside him and covered himself back up, leaving the kwami to deal with his decision. It was the ring. Adrien took off his ring and had given it back to Plagg.

"Adrien! Come on. You are trustworthy! You are the best Chat noir!" Plagg pleaded, but no answer was returned to his begging.

Plagg sat staring at the ring on the table, unaware of what he should do.

Plagg left the ring on the table, hoping he would change his mind and get his confidence back, but hours and hours went by. The phone kept vibrating every couple of hours, which Plagg assumed it was Marinette, who was hoping for the date he knew she wanted so intensely.

"Adrien! I've had it. Get up. Go on a date with Ladybug! Tell her everything and then if she decides to take your miraculous then you can give it up!" Plagg yelled.

Plagg thought his words didn't touch Adrien but after a few seconds he saw Adrien shuffle back out of the blankets. Adrien took a shower and got dressed, thanking Plagg as he handed him another fresh piece of cheese. He flipped open his phone and saw a couple of texts from Marinette.

"Hey are we still meeting up today?"

"Are you busy?"

"It's ok if you are, maybe we can get together some other time."

"I guess I will see you in class tomorrow Adrien."

Reading the texts from her as her excitement grew into disappointment made his heart ache. He started typing but soon deleted what he was going to write. He dialed her number and decided it would be faster to just call her. There was no answer. He felt a pit in his stomach and transformed a few moments later, hopping his way over rooftops to Marinette's. He leaped down the ladder, not caring what Marinette's parents had said about using the door and looked around her room. She was nowhere to be seen.

Did not answering make her feel so disappointed that she got akumatized? Did he let things go too far? Where was she?

His mind was spinning but he couldn't shake off the bad feeling. He was about to run down the steps into her house when he heard someone coming up. He jumped upstairs back onto the balcony, leaving it open so he could see inside. It was Marinette and Alya.

A breath of relief waved over him as he saw she wasn't heartbroken enough to get akumatized. Though for some reason he felt heavy, glued to the spot he was in. He was almost afraid to go down the ladder and confront Marinette about how he felt and what had happened. That's when he heard his name.

"Adrien?" Alya asked.

"Yeah he called me yesterday. He wanted to hang out or go get something to eat... but he never showed or responded." Marinette sighed, sitting on her chaise.

"Maybe he was grounded?" Alya said, shrugging.

"That's what I thought but his dad never takes his phone away when he is grounded." Marinette said.

"You've got a point there girl. Sounds to me that he chickened out." Alya teased.

"Him chickening out? Please. If anything I thought I would be the one to chicken out." Marinette gave a soft saddened giggle.

"You're right about that one. It's so stupid of him to stand you up, knowing you've been waiting for that moment for so long. Guess model boy can be a jerk after all." Alya sighed.

"Jerk? Adrien? Never. I just think... it might have been a rash and regrettable decision and didn't want to make me sad or something." Marinette smiled, as tears fell down her cheeks, causing Alya to step in and hug her.

She was crying. She was crying because of him. He had made her cry and Alya was right, he was a jerk. He hadn't thought how Marinette would feel if he didn't show up to their 'friend date'. He wanted to go so badly with her but his problems and insecurities and guilt had stopped him and made him do something he regretted all over again.

Chat stayed on her balcony and listened to them talk for a couple of hours, not leaving her side as she spilled her heart out to Alya, unaware that she was being listened to. Though the feelings she was spilling were heart touching and made his heart skip a beat with every word about him, it also made it ache. It was a little past ten when Alya went home, Chat noir watched as Marinette waved her friend goodbye. Marinette walked back inside her bedroom and collapsed on the bed, crying into her pillow. Her tear soaked pillow collecting the tears as she wept. Chat sighed and jumped inside, creating a thud on the floor.

Marinette looked up in surprise and frantically wiped her watery eyes to try and fake a smile.

"Oh hey chat! I didn't hear you come in." Marinette forced a slight laugh, to hide her hiccups and coughs from her cries. Chat stood there, unable to move as he felt the pressure and guilt starting to overwhelm him.

Why is she trying to hide her tears? She is obviously crying but why is she faking a smile? Why give him a smile when it was him that caused those tears. Would she still be smiling if she knew it were him that caused her that pain?

Chat bit his lip in frustration and his voice began to tremble.

"Marinette... " He began.

Marinette stood up and started to walk toward him but he backed away.

"I need to tell you something. Something important." He confessed, seeing the confusion starting to form on her face.

"What are you-"

"I know you're ladybug." He blurted out, clenching his fists.

"What?" Her eyes grew wide.

"I know that you are ladybug... You, Marinette Dupain Cheng are Ladybug."