The Ace-ing on the Cake : A Mlb Fanfic

Chapter 8 : Heartbreak

"Chat! Chat!"

Ladybug's frantic voice filled his ears and Chat blinked, realizing he was laying on his back. It took him a moment to remember what had happened, and when he did he mentally groaned. Once again, another fight had gone by during which he'd been useless to Ladybug. Thank goodness he'd sent her for help before the akuma caught him, though he dreaded to think of how many people Jack had gone after in the time between Chat getting hit and Ladybug returning.

Her head popped into view a moment later, eyes wide as she examined his face. "Chat? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, it's okay," Chat said, sitting up. He braced himself automatically for the pain from his ribs – probably the reason he'd been just a hair slow in the first place – but there was nothing. Of course, Ladybug had used her cure. He inhaled deeply and cast her a grateful smile.

Ladybug didn't return the smile. She seemed oddly shaken, her fingers finding and gripping his hand tightly. "Are you sure?"

"Never better. I'm fe-line fine," he said, upgrading his smile to cocky. Then, hoping to annoy her back to normal, he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. He was shocked when she didn't push him away, just breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad," she said quietly. "You scared me when I came back and saw you laying there."

"I'm sorry. There were some kids –"

"They told me." Ladybug finally smiled. "While you were sleeping, our help took down the akuma."

Chat looked around and belatedly realized they had an audience. Rena Rouge and Queen Bee were standing several feet away; Queen Bee was at least trying to pretend she wasn't paying attention, but Rena Rouge was blatantly and unashamedly eavesdropping. He shook his head in amusement and got to his feet. Ladybug stood up as well, eyeing him as though she expected to collapse at any moment.

"Do you want me to take Queen Bee home?" he asked, glancing at her earrings. She was down to three spots now, so she'd have just enough time to take back Rena Rouge's miraculous and find a safe place to detransform.

"That would be great. Um, Chat..."

He turned back to her. "What?"

Ladybug opened and then closed her mouth. There was clearly something on her mind, and had been for some time now – but whatever it was, she couldn't seem to bring herself to talk about it. That was unlike Ladybug, but Chat had learned a long time ago that Ladybug was very private when it came to her secrets. Pressing her for details when she wasn't ready to share, or wasn't sure if she could share, would only result a fight or worse.

So he smiled, patted her shoulder, and said, "See you next time, Bugaboo!"

"Patrol," she said before he could turn away again. "Tomorrow night?" Her miraculous beeped. Two spots.

Tomorrow night was Monday; they didn't usually patrol on Mondays, but sometimes they did switch things up just to throw Hawkmoth off. Chat considered the offer, reflecting on his schedule. So far as he knew, he didn't have to work tomorrow. He knew he had fencing practice and then piano lessons, but that should still give him plenty of time to do his homework, eat dinner alone, and then head out to meet Ladybug.

"Sure," he said. "Until then!"

He stepped away and Queen Bee sauntered over to join him. Chat didn't look back as they left, just in case he caught a glimpse of Rena Rouge detransforming. Instead, he and Queen Bee made their way over the rooftops towards Le Grande Paris. They made it to Queen Bee's balcony mere seconds before her transformation ran out. Yellow light pooled around them as their feet touched down.

"That was completely ridiculous, you know," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Uh, what was?" Chat said.

"You and Ladybug need to get your shit together. That kind of heartbreak is just... ugh. Needlessly dramatic." Chloé rolled her eyes and removed the Bee miraculous. She held it out to Chat, who just stood there and stared blankly.

"Heartbreak?" he repeated, dumbfounded.

Chloé just stared him down and shook the miraculous. "You want it back or not?"

Chat snapped out of it and took the miraculous. "What do you mean by heartbreak?"

She looked at him like she thought he was stupid, then turned and stalked into her room. "Doesn't even deserve Ladybug," she muttered as she went.

Completely baffled, Chat carefully tucked the Bee miraculous into his pocket – he'd return it to Ladybug tomorrow night, and then she'd take it back to Master Fu – and jumped off her balcony. He made his way back home, muffling yawns by the time he rolled in his window. It was just after ten now according to the clock on his nightstand, and he sighed.

"Plagg, claws in."

"Cheeeeeeeese," Plagg wailed as he tumbled out of the ring.

"Yeah, I know. You're starving." Adrien rubbed his hands over his face as he walked over to the fridge. He pulled it open, looked for a moment, and then took out some Swiss.

Plagg scowled. "That's not Camembert."

"It's all I've got. You ate all the Camembert," Adrien said, unwrapping the cheese. At least Swiss smelt better than Camembert, he reflected. "I'll go buy more later."

He set the cheese down on his desk and walked towards his bed; Plagg might whine and moan about not getting his coveted Camembert, but that wouldn't stop him from demolishing the Swiss because there way no way Adrien was running out to the store now. He faceplanted onto the bed, smiling ruefully to himself. At least his bed was infinitely softer than concrete. Good thing Ladybug's miraculous cure healed them all, or he'd have had some explaining to do over the scratches and bruises his face would've had.

As he lay there, listening to the sounds of Plagg chowing down on the cheese, he thought about Chloé's unusual choice of words. Heartbreak. It had to be nothing more than Chloé being dramatic. Ladybug always got upset when Chat was injured or otherwise incapacitated in some way, and vice versa. They were partners, of course it was upsetting. But heartbreak? That suggested something entirely different.

His thoughts turned to Ladybug's unusual behavior, and he wondered if Marinette was right and Ladybug would understand. In the early days, she'd been paranoid about letting even the slightest bit of information slip. It had been months before Chat learned even little things, like her favorite color (pink) or her favorite food (her maman's dumplings). They'd shared a little more as they grew closer, but even now Chat was never sure when he'd cross that line.

Was sexuality too personal? Maybe Ladybug would be happy to know, if she realized it also meant that Chat was contemplating giving up on her. She was smart enough to put two and two together and come up with four. Or maybe she would be angry... frustrated that even after all this time, he was still pushing at her boundaries. He wasn't sure he wanted to run the risk of the latter.

Not sure, even, that he wanted to tell her and risk letting go of her completely. Sex or not, he loved Ladybug. He might not know her name, but he knew the depths of her compassion and the fierceness of her strength and the spark of conviction that kept her fighting even when things were at their worst. She was stubborn and too quick to jump to conclusions be they right or wrong; she suffered from anxiety, worse at some times than others; she had a small circle of best friends and a wider circle of other friends, all of to whom she was deeply loyal; she was kind, never hesitated to help those in need, and unrelenting in her pursuit of what she enjoyed; she loved completely and whole-heartedly, with everything that she was; she was by far the most amazing person he had ever known. Those features made up the core of Ladybug, mask or no.

How could he ever give up on that?