The next morning, Adrien was rather brutally woken up by a very displeased Plagg pouring a glass of ice cold water on his head:

"Wake up, Romeo. This has gone way too far. You're gonna get yourself killed if you keep this charade up."

The young man groaned, burying his face in his pillow. "Leave me alone. I'm okay, Plagg."

"No, you're not. I'm not even sure I'll be able to transform you once again. Every akuma you fight alone is a chance on a silver platter given to Hawkmoth to remove your miraculous from your bloody corpse."

"What can I do about it? It's not like I can force her to forgive me, or stop loving her all of a sudden."

Plagg snorted in disbelief. "You're not even trying to fix things at all, you just keep weeping all by yourself."

"SHUT UP!" Adrien jerked upright in his bed, blind with anger.

Plagg was deliberately playing on his holder's sensitive nerves, pushing his buttons. He was tired of tears and waiting for a miracle to happen. He wanted to act, and fast before things got anymore out of hand. "Just tell her everything already, so we can move on from this shit!"

"How? She won't listen to me, she won't even see me!"

The black kwami smiled mischievously. "Well then, find another way to tell her what you have to say."

---

Marinette suffered a very similar wake-up, with Tikki throwing various things at her until she finally stirred up of her sleep. She rubbed her eyes, staring at her kwami in disbelief. "What the heck, Tikki? What has gotten into you?"

The red kwami stopped mid-flight, crossing her arms on her chest. "I've had enough of all this, Marinette! This must stop, and this must stop NOW."

To say Marinette was taken aback with the angry outburst of her spotted friend would be an understatement. This was the first time ever Tikki acted any less than kind and understanding with her, and she didn't like it. "W-What?"

Tikki finally landed on her knee, a disapproving scowl plastered on her face. "I've put up wordlessly with your useless weeping all week. You've done nothing for the past seven days safe from bathing in your own sorrows. I've warned you, Marinette. I probably won't be able to even transform you again. You have to do something about this. Fix it!"

Marinette looked away. "I don't know how! How can we even go back to being partners?"

Her small friend shook her head angrily. "Try. You'll find a way."

---

That fateful Sunday evening, Adrien found himself reluctantly knocking on her parents' door once again, begging them shamelessly to let him see her, to give him a chance to explain himself. Her dad sighed, feeling genuinely sorry for the poor boy who visibly cared deeply for his daughter. "Son, she was very, very clear. She doesn't want to see you."

Adrien sighed. He knew all too well that was the answer he was going to get considering it had been the same one he had gotten all week, but he was also perfectly aware that Plagg wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't really try. "I know, and I wanna patch things up with her. This is a huge misunderstanding, and I want to make it up to her. I'd do anything for a chance to talk to her."

Sabine shook her head, a sad knowing smile on her lips. "I'm sorry, but she's been locked up in her room for the last seven whole days now, I don't think I can do anything to change her mind."

Adrien absorbed himself in the contemplation of the tip of his shoes, Plagg's words playing on repeat in his mind. "Well... could you... Do you think you could at least tell her something for me?"

It was his last strand, the last thing he was willing to try before giving up to preserve his own sanity.

Tom smiled at him warmly. He really liked that kid, and truly felt sorry for him. "Sure thing, son. What do you want us to tell her?"

The blond model gathered his courage and forced himself to look at the man before him in the eyes, even if he were a nervous wreck. He wanted him to believe him without a single doubt, to see the sincerity in his own eyes. "Please tell her that I want her to know what a beautiful girl I think she is, inside and out. That I want her to know that I understand why she's upset, but I need her to know I like the whole of her personality, just like she is. I like everything about her and wouldn't want her to change anything at all. She's perfect."

"Son, maybe you should tell her your-", Tom tried to cut him off, but Adrien was oblivious to his surroundings, caught up in her heartfelt confession.

"Tell her that I like the way she always put her friend's well-being before her own, that I like the cute way she is clumsy and yet so passionate about just everything that matters to her. That I like the way she stutters when she's nervous, the sound of her laugh, the way her marvelous blue eyes shine when she's happy."

"Adrien, listen, she is-"

But he didn't listen. He went on, a fiery blush spreading on his cheeks. He didn't care, he had to get it off his chest. "Please, please tell her I love her for seeing the man I am behind the mask."

He didn't hear the muffled gasp from the attic stairs when he said "love," but Tom and Sabine definitely did.

"Tell her that I love her for caring about me, for seeing more to me than my pretty face and my dad's cash." At this point of his speech, he began to tear up. "Please tell her that I love her. And that I miss her."

A heavy silence welcomed his last sentence. When he finally got himself enough courage to look up again, Marinette's parents were smiling. Grinning even. Sabine put a hand on his shoulder and smiled widely. "You just did, young man."

"W-What?"

And that's when he saw her.

Half crouching on the higher steps of the stairs, Marinette was clasping her left hand against her mouth, while the right one was clutching for dear life the railing of the stair. She wasn't moving any muscle, like she was frozen there. Her father patted Adrien lightly on the shoulder. "We're gonna give you some... privacy. Don't hesitate if you need anything."

And with that, her parents were out the kitchen, leaving a stunned Adrien and an obviously upset Marinette alone.

Once down in the bakery, out of earshot, Sabine hugged her husband, chuckling to herself. "That's all, honey? No talk about not hurting your princess and such?"

Tom kissed his wife on the cheek, unable to stop smiling. "No need. You saw it too, don't try to fool me. He's a good kid. He will never hurt her on purpose."

"What makes you say that?"

Tom hugged his wife tightly, inhaling her scent. "He looks at her the same way I've been looking at you for the past twenty-two years."

---

Marinette was still staring at Adrien like a deer in headlights, not even daring to move a toe. The young man awkwardly took a step toward her, eager to ease the awkwardness. "Mari-Marinette? How much did you hear?"

Her knuckles whitened against the railing. "Enough."

Her voice was neither cold nor welcoming. He didn't know where he was standing with her. Was she still mad at him for the kiss? Did she figure out he was Chat Noir, hence being mad at both of them all at once? "Can I-?"

She bounced down the stairs, and in a second she was standing right in front of him, her menacing finger poking his chest aggressively. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys?"

He blinked, taken aback with her sudden rush of violence. "W-What?"

She didn't even listen, ablaze with pure anger. "First Chat Noir toys with my heart and my brain like he's playing some kind of twisted game..."

Her scent was intoxicating. She was standing so close to him he'd only have to lean in a little to ravish her raspberry lips.

"Then you kiss me out of nowhere, after blissfully ignoring my very existence for almost FOUR YEARS."

He had trouble concentrate on the words she was half yelling at him. He only could focus on not kissing her right on the spot, and it was quite a herculean task in itself.

"If it wasn't enough, YOU also stop by EVERY fucking night to ask my parents to let you see me even though they told you that I want nothing more to do with you..."

A few inches. That was the only thing keeping him from tasting her, claiming her as his.

"And to top it all, you have the nerve to come into MY home declaring to MY PARENTS that you LOVE me?"

God, she was so close. Merely an inch separated their lips. He was dizzy from the smell of her shampoo. She was shrieking now, but he didn't make out words out of what she was saying.

"What's wrong with you? You thought that with Chat Noir out of the picture I'd become an easy target?"

That was it. She was so close to him that he could feel her pulse on his chest, as unsteady as his.

He lost it.

In one swift movement, his lips were on hers, fierce and demanding, hot and soft, wet and rough. He had dreamt for the past months or so of doing this, ravishing her just like that. She stiffened into his arms, but he deepened the embrace, his hands in her back holding her against him, keeping her close to him like he was scared she would fly away.

And damn was he scared.

Stopping to gather her breath, Marinette pulled away a little, suddenly feeling lightheaded. "W-what-"

"I love you," he cut her off before claiming her lips once again, hungry for more of her. Marinette tried to pull away, struggling to get her thoughts straight.

"But-"

"I love you," he repeated, nuzzling his nose into her neck, before kissing her again ever so gently.

Marinette tried to shake her head clear. "You don't even make any sense, Adrien. You kissed me once, that's all. There's nothing more to us. There's certainly no love."

He flinched. Her words harshly stung his heart, but he had to remind himself that she wasn't aware, let alone see, of the bigger picture.

He chuckled softly, cupping her cheek with his hand, resting his forehead against her. "There is so much more to us, princess."

Marinette's heart skipped a beat and her eyes grew wide when she heard the pet name he just gave her. In answer, he gave her a huge and slightly sheepish grin very, very Chat-like.

Could it be?

She took her time to really look at him, to carefully analyze his features, taking in every small detail about him. Seeking similarities. Sure, there was the obvious clues. They were both blond, green-eyed, and... well, she had to admit they both had chiseled musculature that would make any girl drool and any boy green with envy. But surely there were plenty of men in Paris that matched that description as well, right?

Studying Adrien's face closely, she noticed he had big dark bags under his green eyes like he hadn't slept at all for days. Like he had spent his nights roaming Paris' streets on lonely patrols... A wide bruise spread on his shoulder, showing past his shirt collar. His already pale complexion looked even whiter than usually, making him seem sick. His blond hair was a complete mess, and it was clear his current hairstyle only matched his overall feeling. He looked like he had been to hell and back. She noticed his familiar silver ring on his right hand, and couldn't help but wonder…

"Why do you keep calling me princess? The only other person in this world that does that is-"

She was cut off by a very loud crash and the unsettling sound of Tikki suddenly screeching upstairs.