Conceal not reveal.
That was marinette's upper priority.
She did care about her partner a whole lot.
But she couldn't take this
_______________
Adrien had had a bad day.
No, correction.
He'd had a bad month.
Plagg's lack of protest to a late night outing as Chat Noir, that has nothing to do with patrolling, is proof of that.
The reason for this terrible month?
Ladybug. And Marinette. Who, it turns out, are the same person.
While before Adrien had been curious about Ladybug's true identity, now he wishes he could go back in time and stop the reveal from ever happening. If he'd known this would be the result, Adrien would have tried his damnedest to stop it.
The reveal had been both accidental and unavoidable. Before he could even register what was happening and try to turn away, Ladybug's disguise melted away to reveal Marinette. He'd been happy to know it was Marinette behind the mask, more than happy actually. His partner and best friend were one in the same. It couldn't get any better, that's what Adrien thought.
But Marinette didn't feel the same. (or he thought so)
To say she freaked would be putting it mildly.
"Marinette?" Adrien's mouth drops open. It's been so obvious all this time, how did he not see it? "I can't believe I've been so stupid."
There's a final beep from Adrien's ring and his transformation drops as well. Adrien isn't filled with anxiety like all the other close calls, because now he knows it's Marinette behind the mask. They're friends, he has no reason to worry... Right?
"A-Adrien? You're...y-you're Chat Noir?"
"Um, yeah. Kind of funny how we've been dancing around each other's secrets, huh?"
"Oh my god. You….you're...and he…" Marinette's eyes widen as she takes short, shaky breaths. "I-I-I can't d-do this!"
Spinning on her heels, she takes off at full speed leaving Adrien standing there with a look of bewilderment on his face.
"What was that about?"
"You probably freaked her out." Plagg replies, swallowing his cheese whole. "I don't think she's good with surprises. You should have given her some kind of warning."
'WARNING WHAT WARNING IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN' adrien's mind screamed, boiling anger rised in his chest, anxiety came along.
They're friends, so why is it so bad the Chat Noir is also Adrien? He couldn't figure it out. He tried talking to Marinette the next day, but she made it more than clear that she didn't want him near her. Alya grilled him, asking what he did to Marinette. Unsatisfied with his answer of, 'I don't know', she'd started ignoring him. Even Nino had grown distant. Not that Adrien blamed him, Nino has been friend's with Marinette for years. Even though he's trying not to take sides, Nino is in a tough spot with this situation. He'd actually tried playing the middle man for a while, but Adrien told him to give it up. No amount of talking to her was going to fix this mess he'd found himself in.
