Is it Too Late? (FINISHED)

Rejections

Marinette Du Pan Cheng was now given a huge responsibility, the guardian of the Miracle box, she can only hope those around her will provide support for her. Today was a new day, and Marinette decided she was going to do it, she was going to confess her feelings for Adrien.

What caused this change of heart? Well she realized that either he liked her or he didn't, and that the sooner she told him the sooner they could date, or she could move on.

"I'm really proud of you Marinette" Tikki said, although deep down she knows most likely that he will reject her for her alter ego self. But then her holder would finally be able to get over Adrien.

They had sat through the entire school day, and Marinette was getting more anxious by the second, but she knew now more than ever that it was like a bandaid, she just had to rip it off really fast, and it'll finally be over with.

After the school day Marinette and Adrien were the last two packing up in the class, "Wait Adrien, I-I need to talk to you, it's important"

"Yeah Marinette, what is it?"

"W-well, you see... Ivekindahadacrushonyouforalongtime".

She said it so fast, that Adrien didn't catch a single word of it, "What was that? I couldn't understand"

Marinette then took a deep breath and finally said it, without even stuttering, "Adrien, I've liked you, more than a friend for a while now".

Adrien's heart broke. He really liked having Marinette as a good friend, but he had no idea how she felt. He looked down at her knowing these next words would change their friendship forever. He could lie and tell her that he liked her too to keep her as a friend, but he knew he had to tell her the truth, no matter the consequences, "I'm flattered, but the truth is, I'm in love with someone else", As soon as the words came out of his mouth, they felt bitter, as if they weren't fully true. Just then he knew he had messed up, big time.

He then looked at Marinette as he could practically see her heart split in two, "Oh ok, I totally understand, um... I'm just going to go". She wouldn't even look up at him.

All in an instant as she went to leave, Adrien knew he needed to fix his mistake, "Wait Marinette! Don't go!" He chased after her, but she didn't stop.

The class watched as Marinette sprinted down the steps of the school with Adrien chasing after her, but he had to stop at the bottom when he realized Gorilla was here to pick him up from school, but before he got in the car Alya came yelling at him.

"What did you do to Marinette?!" she yelled.

"I made a huge mistake, that's what I did" he explained.

Alya could see the disappointment in his eyes, and wondered what horrible thing could've happened to the two. "What happened?" she asked in a calmer tone.

"Marinette told me she liked me, but I told her I'm in love with someone else".

All the sudden Alya was back to full on rage, "YOU DID WHAT?" At this point Nino had to hold her back.

"I didn't know what to do, I do love someone else, but I really don't want to lose Marinette as a friend" He said hoping Alya would listen to him.

But no, she was still furious, "If someone tells you they like you, YOU DON'T SAY YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE! You tell them, 'Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way'. THATS WHAT YOU TELL THEM"

Adrien was so overwhelmed with the situation that he even yelled, "I didn't know what to do! Ok? And I still don't know what to do, I don't want to lose her".

With that Alya said "It might be too late for that" before walking away.

Nino told Adrien, "Dude, you messed up, big time" then he went to chase after Alya. Adrien whispered to himself saying, I know.

Marinette was devastated, she thought the worst he could do was reject her, but no, she found out he was IN LOVE with someone else. As soon as she got home her parents asked, "Hi honey, how was..." as they watched her run up into her room crying. They knew as much as they wanted to comfort her, she needed her alone time at the moment.

When she reached her room she took down all his posters, his schedule, changed her lockscreen on her computer, and immediately burst into tears. Tiki was terrified that she would get akumatized, "Marinette, I'm so sorry, but try to calm down a bit, remember, there's always a solution to your problems".

A sniffling Marinette sat up saying, "I know, but am I not allowed to have emotions! I always have to keep mine in check, always making sure others are fine, but I'm so tired, it's getting hard to do this".

It was worse than Tikki thought. All she could do was comfort her holder and hope that she'd start feeling better.

Hawkmoth could sense a feeling of sadness stronger than ever, but was extremely confused when the Akuma disappeared before even reaching the person it was targeting

Marinette had to transform into Ladybug to cleanse the akuma that was headed straight for her. She just hoped that there would be no other Akumatizations tonight, because there was no way she was thinking straight.

...

Adrien had finally gotten home after a long day of Chinese lessons, fencing, and photo shoots. But the second he crashed on his bed, the sadness from earlier returned. He felt so awful for what he said to Marinette, more than he ever thought he would.

"Kid! What did you do? You didn't have to crush pigtails' heart like that" Plagg was beyond furious at his holders careless mistakes. What if a heartbroken Marinette was akumatized, how would they defeat Ladybug? Would he have to tell Adrien her identity?

Then breaking him from his thoughts, Adrien said, "I know! That seems to be what everyone's telling me"

"So why did you do it?" Plagg asked.

"Honestly, I don't know! Why did it hurt so much to tell her I loved someone else?" Adrien was so confused at the pang in his chest. He hasn't come to accept his feelings, in a fear of losing his first friend, but now his fears are coming true, and would this mean that he'd have to confront his feelings?

"I think someone likes Pigtails," Plagg said, wanting to see the reaction of his holder.

Adrien's face immediately blushed as red as ladybug's suit, "What? You know I like Ladybug, Marinette's just... she's just a... just a friend, ok?". He wasn't even sure what she was, but all he knew is that he wanted her in his life somehow, "Look, I'm not sure what she is, but what do I do? I still want us to be friends".

"Kid, you told the girl that's been crushing on you FOREVER that you LOVE someone else, I don't think things are going to be normal for a long time"

Adrien hated what Plagg was saying, he refused to believe this, "I have to check up on her tomorrow, I need to make sure she's ok"

"I'm sure she's not, but I don't think you should be talking to her until this has all settled down".

"Wait! I know someone she's not upset with"
"And who's that... wait... WAIT, don't do what you're about to do!!!" Plagg yelled

"Too late, Plagg, Claws Out!" Adrien yelled, wanting to check up on his veRy gOoD frIEnD.