Is it Too Late? (FINISHED)

He knows?!

It was now getting close to when he had to meet his anonymous note writer at the Eiffel tower. He snuck out the window as Chat Noir and transformed before he would reach the tower.

When he got there he just waited on a park bench, guessing that whoever it was would most likely sit down next to him, especially since they know who he is. His mind was racing, desperately wanting to know who figured out his identity, and how. He didn't think he did anything that was too revealing.

Then all the sudden the bench he's sitting on shifts, and he looks up to see who had sat next to him. It was one of the last people he would've thought.

Sitting right next to him was Luka Coffaine. "Look Agreste, I'm not telling anyone your secret identity, but I need you to do something for me" Luka said. Adrien didn't respond right away still trying to process that Luka knew who he was. That explained why he didn't like Chat Noir. What if he told Marinette?

"What do you want?"

"I want you to stay away from Marinette" Luka said, plain and simple.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing, who does Luka think he is? Why does he get to dictate who Marinette does and does not hang out with? "What?! You're crazy" Adrien replied scoffing at the ridiculous thing Luka said.

"You heard me. I want you to stay away from Marinette. As you probably noticed, I care deeply for her, and I'm sick of you messing with her head. First you reject her as Adrien, then you flirt with her as Chat Noir, and now you are dating Kagami".

The truth is Adrien understood where he was coming from, but this was Marinette, he couldn't just stop hanging out with her. She's way too goOd Of a fRIeNd to stop hanging out with. "That should be her decision, not yours"

Luka had had it with him. "Well, then I guess I'll just have to tell Marinette who you really are, and I bet she wouldn't like finding out that you've been Chat this whole time".

That really stuck with Adrien. He had dug himself a hole bigger than he knew to get out of. Marinette wasn't a big fan of Adrien at the moment, and if she found out that I used my alter ego persona to talk to her, also about my civilian form, she'd especially never want to talk with him again.

"I hope you're happy," Adrien said before walking off. As much as he hated it, he had to walk away, before he did something to Luka he'd regret, or not. Either way, he had to leave. He'd still be able to talk to her during school, but not that much. Maybe if he only visited her at night then Luka wouldn't find out about it. Adrien then also decided it was time to tell Marinette about the Kagami situation. It wasn't fair for her to be left in the dark about all this.

...

When he got back home and de transformed, he flopped down on his bed. "Out of all of Paris, he had to be the one to figure out my identity". Plagg did agree that this seemed like a one in a million situation. He felt bad for his holder, but he should've thought about seeing Marinette as Chat. He knew it was risky, and if Luka could figure it out by that, then who's to say someone else wont. Someone who's not as willing to keep his identity a secret from the world.

He then decided to text Marinette to see if they'd be able to talk tomorrow during lunch, making sure to reserve a time, especially since Luka has been taking up all her time lately. And it didn't seem like he was backing off anytime soon.

...

Marinette finished working on HW, and recalled the day. She was glad Chat stopped by to say hi, but didn't understand why him and Luka don't get along. First Luka didn't like Adrien, and now Chat, it seemed he never liked the person she likes at the time. As she was about to go to bed, her phone buzzed. She was a bit shocked to see Adrien's name pop up on her phone,

'Hey, could we talk at the beginning of lunch? It'll be quick' he typed.

She was now more curious than ever. She couldn't really think of anything major that he'd have to say to her. Even though she was still sad over the situation, she figured that it was about time she'd start talking to him again.

'Yeah sure, we can meet by my locker' she sent back.

Adrien was beyond happy that she answered. Now he just had to think of what he was going to say. How would he tell his very good friend that he wasn't actually dating his girlfriend but it was actually just a publicity stunt. It didn't exactly roll off the tongue. He'd think of something.

...

It was lunch time, and Marinette went to go meet Adrien. As she was walking over to his locker, she noticed he looked incredibly nervous. She was starting to get a bit scared of what he wanted to tell her.

"Hey Adrien, what did you want to talk about?" She asked. He seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and looked up at her. Why was his face red? He probably is sick she thought.

"I'm really sorry about last week, and everything that happened. I-I just wanted to let you know, um, that the Kagami thing..." Marinette was starting to regret talking to him, she thought they were hopefully past that. "Well, my father, he's making me 'date' her as a publicity stunt" he explained.

Marinette was shocked. She was a bit confused why this came up so late, but she definitely wasn't expecting that. "Wait, really?". Now that she knows Adrien didn't get a girlfriend after he rejected her makes her feel better, but it doesn't change her feelings, she likes Chat now.

"Yeah, I just felt bad about the whole situation".

"I'm so sorry he's making you do that" Marinette said while putting her hand on his arm to comfort him.

Adrien was internally screaming, she was touching his arm. Hopefully she's not mad at me anymore, he thought. Saying that to her was like a breath of fresh air, now they could be friends again, like before, or so he thought. But then their moment was interrupted, "-beep- Marinette! Time to go!".

Luka saw that Adrien was talking to Marinette at school. He thought Blondie was going to stay away from her. Luka then sent a death glare to Agreste, trying to get him to remember what they had talked about.

Adrien gulped seeing Luka, he hoped he'd let this one slide. If Marinette found out who he was, she'd never forgive him. That's a problem for another time. "See you after lunch" Marinette said while running down the steps. Adrien sent a sheepish smile her way as he waved goodbye.

Then Nino and Alya came up to him, "I'm glad you finally told her dude, it was the right thing to do" Nino said. Alya didn't say anything, but sent him a look instead. She still didn't like the way he was messing with Marinette's head.