Ladybug's fake identity

Chapter 20: Truth

Adrien landed in his room, detransformed and let himself fall headfirst into his bed without bothering to close the window behind him. His kwami flew out of the ring and made his way towards the cheese closet with a hungry grumbling. He expected his holder to lift his head and comment on his bad taste as soon as the smell of camembert would hit his nostrils, but only silence answered his loud munching. The small cat frowned. Adrien had spent a great time with Marinette, what was the problem? He flew over to the boy without forgetting to bring along a piece of creamy cheese.

"Hey kid, what's got you so down?"

The model answered, but his voice muffled by the pillow came out as a simple, loud groan. Just as Plagg was about to ask him to repeat, the boy turned over on his back, ending his sentence with, "but... What about M'Lady?"

"What about her?"

"Do I still love her?"

The kwami shrugged. "How could I know? My only love is cheese, it's not that complicated."

"I've noticed," his holder chuckled without much energy and covered his eyes with his arm. "I wish it could be that easy. But it's not. I'm so tired. I think I love Marinette. No, I love her for sure. But I don't think I ever stopped liking Ladybug. It's just that with that story with Lyssa, I think I projected Lyssa's faults on Ladybug and... I don't know. I can't say for sure that I love her now, even if she didn't do anything wrong. Nothing actually changed. And on the other side, there's Marinette."

"So what's the problem? You can't choose between the two? Why would you have to choose? You've got two identities, kid, make the most of it."

That was especially bad advice, even Plagg could tell. But he didn't really care. He knew that Adrien wouldn't listen anyways. So he just gulped his cheese down while waiting for a reaction.

"That's not even the problem!" the boy protested. "The thing is I love Marinette! But I took Lyssa's side. Hell, I'm even her boyfriend! And Marinette thinks 'Adrien', as a friend, abandoned her, whereas 'Chat' believed in her and stayed on her side. But what will she do if she ever learns that I am both?"

"That's the whole point of the mask: she won't know it. Now go break up with that liar — what was her name again? — and confess to Marinette. Ta-dah! Problem solved."

With those words, Plagg flew over to his cheese closet again, surely deciding that this last advice deserved another treat. Adrien stared after him with heavy eyelids. Sure, it would be a way to go about things. And he knew that Marinette would probably never learn about his identity. Still, he felt bad about it. It wasn't only about her knowing, but also about him feeling as if he was deceiving her. He didn't want that. Besides, what ever assured him that she would accept his confession? But for now, his mind was too tired to think about it. He closed his eyes and let his mind slowly drift away until darkness reached him.

Plagg peeked out of his closet and sighed upon seeing his holder sleeping without having even changed. From the open window blew a soft breeze, playing with the few strands that softly grazed his forehead. 

"He's going to catch a cold." The kwami flew towards Adrien and pulled out the blanket to cover him with it. "Goodnight, kid."

*

Adrien arrived early at school that day. Maybe too early: when he stepped into the classroom, his gaze met only one pair of eyes: deep blue eyes he had learned by heart underlined by dark circles that should have lifted his worry, but that morning, he couldn't seem to care enough.