Chapter Text
Adrien knew he had to tell her. The secret he swore to hold locked up itched at the back of his throat when he was in her presence. It was the secret he held deeply to his heart and soul, yet it was one reason his relationship with Kagami never truly made it off the ground. He'd opened up to his girlfriend about everything in his life, from his Father to the disappearance of his Mother. What she did not know about however, was his identity crisis, and his double life.
Adrien had decided right there and then: he was going to tell her. She deserved honestly, and he desperately wanted to fully open his heart to Marinette.
As Adrien got ready to meet his girlfriend, anxiety started to consume him. How would this put her at risk? Was this the right thing, or was he just utterly selfish? Adrien pushed back these thoughts. He had to tell her, for their relationship, and for himself.
Adrien knew if he held back from telling her, things would only be strained during the recent rein of the new butterfly Miraculous holder Chrysalis, unable to explain his scattered absences.
He'd thought about consulting Plagg about his situation, but figured he'd be no help.
He left his house, deciding to walk in order to clear his head. He wore a green pull over with basic dark blue jeans. His longhair fell into his face today, much like Chat Noir's.
The walk to the Dupain-Cheng was refreshing, his anxiety draining from him during his journey. Adrien arrived and opened the door to the boulangerie, greeted by Marinette's parents.
"Hi, Son!" Says Tom warmly to him.
"Good morning, Adrien!" Greets Sabine. The Dupain-Cheng household always felt like home to him, even before him and Marinette got together. The constant smell of sweet pastries and warm bread gave comfort to Adrien, and of course those who lived there.
"Good morning Mr Dupain and Mrs Cheng," says Adrien formally, "How has your day been?"
"We told you before, son, just call us Tom and Sabine. You're part of our family after all!" Tom tells him.
No one shows him love like the Dupain-Chengs.
"Marinette's in her room, probably working on her designs, like always," Sabine tells the boy, "You're free to go up."
"Thank you, Tom and Sabine." The two adults smile at Adrien as he makes his way up to Marinette's bedroom. His anxiety starts to rise again. Nevertheless, he signals on his girlfriend's trapdoor with his knock; He hears footsteps above. The trapdoor opens and his hand bearing the two twin rings was grabbed and he was pulled up into Marinette's room. Before he could even pick himself off the floor, a pair of lips attached themselves to his, the soft, addictive lips of his girlfriends; this instantly erased his worries. He focused on nothing but her. The feel of her lips dancing against his own, her sweet taste that exploded on his tongue as it entered her mouth, the tilt of her head to deepen the kiss, her hands in his hair, her shifting to settle in his lap...
And they were going too far, once again.
They broke apart, gasping for air. During this abrupt, steaming exchange, Adrien failed to notice the magical black cat escape from his bag, venturing into his girlfriend's room.
"Not even a "hey, hot stuff" this time?" Adrien asks his girlfriend, still sat in his lap.
"I missed you, is all, hot stuff." He could feel his girlfriend's smirk on her lips. He once again craved her kiss, but if their lips dared to meet again, he feared they wouldn't detach, and the secret rose in his throat like nausea; he needed to tell her. Marinette stood up and lent a hand to her boyfriend. "Come on, princess." He took it, and snaked his hands around her waist.
"Mari, we need to talk." Adrien tells Marinette. A look of fear painted her face.
"Why?"
"Don't worry, it's not serious." He replies, "Well it's serious, but not serious if you know what I mean."
Marinette could tell by the look on Adrien's face that he was nervous. She one of his hands again, this time the one bearing his Miraculous.
"Come on." She lead her boyfriend up to her bed and they sat down face to face. Marinette still held his hand, now lifting it up to her lips and placing a soft kiss to his knuckles; Adrien softened at the gesture. "Are you okay, Adrien?" She asks him.
"Yes but— this is particularly hard to talk about," starts Adrien, "I've wanted to tell you for so long, but I was terrified of the consequences."
"Consequences?"
"Like I said, this is pretty serious," He held eyes with his girlfriend, "you can't tell another soul." Marinette now bared a confused expression on his face.
"You know you and can me anything, Adrien. It'll always stay between us." Adrien loosened up at his girlfriend's support. She took his other hand, squeezing them both in support. "I love you, and I'm here for you."
"And I'm—" Adrien knew he couldn't turn back now. Marinette was about to know him through fully. She was about to be the first to know him through fully. "I'm... Chat Noir."
Marinette had no reaction for a few seconds, until it merged into one of confusion and disbelief.
"No you're not." Adrien was taken a back by her reaction.
"What do you mean?"
"This has to be a joke... right?" He watched her face fall as his was still eyeing her seriously. "There's no way." Her face continued to fall, until she looked like she was about to cry. "Adrien, you're not Chat Noir... are you?"
"Mari, I'm serious." His girlfriend's eyes began to leak, tears running down her face. "I'm so sorry, Marinette. I should've told you sooner, after the kissing, then us talking the day after..."
"No, Adrien. It's not that," she continued to cry, unable to hold back "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."
"Why are you sorry?" Asks Adrien. He was confused, but he couldn't stand to see his love cry. He pulled her into a hug, but she didn't seem to melt into his arms like she normally would do. Her crying had sudden change of tone. She pulled away from him. A foreign look sat on her face, almost like... anger?
"Adrien, I think you should leave." Says his girlfriend, her voice now stern.
"Marinette, I don't understand—"
"I just— can't right now, okay?" She was angry at him, he knew it, and it hurt. "Can you just— leave?" If her initially being mad at Adrien wasn't painful enough, this sure was. Despite his lack of understanding regarding her reaction to his situation, he decided it was best to listen to his girlfriend in this current situation. He was hurt and confused, but respected her enough to not argue with her and let her have her space.
"Okay, if that's what you want." Adrien got up, climbed down from her bed, and made his way to her trapdoor. He glanced up at her one more time; she wasn't looking at him. He sighed, looked back at the trapdoor, opened it, climbed through and shut it with a loud thud.