Is It Too Late To Love You Again?

Chapter 3: Multimouse and Adrien

"You know..." he went to sit down on his piano stool, her eyes followed him as she turned to glance at him from behind her shoulder, "I do get the whole superhero 'protecting your identities' thing. Yeah, but if you're comfortable enough, you can share some things with me. Be as vague as possible. You don't need to give any names. I'll be willing to listen and trust me, I won't judge you." He cared about his friends too much.

"I-I- "The shiver of her voice spiralled into her body. He felt uncomfortable looking at her stand like that. Adrien budged over his seat, making room for her to sit down.

"Sit down please." He insisted patting on the empty space beside him. She hesitated. Unsure of her choices, "please, it'd be easier for you."

She sighed and gently sat on the other end of the seat, gazing down at the keys of his piano as if fascinated by them.

"Are you okay talking about it?" He asked her.

"I-I-alright." She stated, her fingers anxiously brushing against the keys of his piano, "So, there's this boy."

"Mhm." He nodded. Who was she talking about? Is it Luka?

"I've been in love with him for months now." She said breathily, her finger pressing against one of his keys, as high-pitched melodic note sounded into the air.

"Yeah and..." She had a problem with Luka? They looked at ease with each other.

"The thing is that I've always hesitated with confessing my feelings for him. I wanted to. I've tried again and again. But I was scared. I was never able to tell him how I feel. And..." her voice grew meek as her finger tapped against a low-pitched note. "It's too late now. He's in love with someone else that's perfect for him and reciprocates his feelings. I feel like such an idiot." She banged against a couple of keys, as she buried her face into her hands.

"Hey...no...wait...you're not an idiot." He rested a hand on her shoulder.

"How can you know that? You don't know me." She huffed. That wasn't true and she knew it.

"You're right. I don't. But I can say that you're not stupid for loving someone. It happens to everyone."

"Thanks." She beamed a genuine smile at him for a second but then it shifted back into a hopeless expression again as she faced forward, "I don't know what to do. I'm trying to get over my feelings for him and focus on being his friend, but every time I do so, those feelings keep coming back."

"You know feelings can't go away in one night, right?"

"I know but...the thing is that...the girl he likes...I know her...she's my friend. And if I were in her shoes, I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that one of my friends was hitting on her boyfriend."

"Well...you're not exactly 'hitting on him' anymore, right?" As far as his knowledge, Luka wasn't dating anyone, who was she talking about then?

"Yeah...but I don't know what to do about my feelings for him. They're still there and it hurts. I mean I could avoid him but then he'd feel inconvenienced and I wouldn't like it, I wouldn't like him to feel bad?" She rambled on. Ah...she was just so thoughtful like that. Whoever she was crushing on was so lucky, "What I mean is that...we've had plenty of misunderstandings in the past and I don't want things to become awkward between us. I still want to be friends with him. But at the same time, I'm scared my feelings for him will mess everything up like they always do." Her head drooped as she looked at her feet. It was painful. Seeing Marinette upset was mental torture. Especially when she was wearing a cute mouse costume.

"Look. You say he doesn't know about your feelings, right?" He asked her as she nodded.

"Why don't you just tell him about your feelings then? If he knew about them, maybe things would become easier for you, like a burden lifted off your shoulders. You might not be able to pursue a romantic relationship with him, but you'd at least feel more comfortable knowing that it's all out."

"Valid but..." she dramatically leaned back and gazed up, "I've tried so many times before! What if I'm not able to do it?"

"Hmm...wanna bet?" he asked quirking his brow up.

"I bet that I won't be able to do it." She said moaning.

"No...what I mean is...do you actually want to bet? Cause I have officially placed a bet between the two of us to encourage you."

"What?" Her head turned to face him.

"If you don't confess to him in the next 14 days, you have to do something that I'll ask you to."

"That doesn't seem all bad." She said with a smirk.

"Uh...trust me...it'd be a punishment, so it won't be all that great for you." He said casually, "If you do confess then I do whatever you ask me to do. And trust me, in whatever way it is, I'll make sure you meet me again here in 2 weeks. I'll literally hunt you down, ask Ladybug and Cat Noir for help maybe? But yeah...I hope our bet is sealed."

"Uhhh...I'm not sure." Multimouse said rubbing the back of her head.

"Multimouse." He placed his other hand on her other shoulder to face her towards him, "It's now or never. And I'm sure you can do it, just trust yourself. You have nothing to be afraid of. So, come on now! Is our bet sealed?"

"Yes, I'm ready. You're right. I'll have to do this. Our bet is sealed." She smiled her real smile, he reciprocated it. Her bluebell gaze met with his emerald orbs. There was this thrill of electricity in the air. It carried a strange sort of intensity. An intensity of something new?

They stared until what seemed like forever until someone cleared their throat behind them.

"Hem, hem." The sound of the voice sent Multimouse crashing onto the ground as Adrien stood up to glance at their intruder.

Nathalie stood near the doorway. Her eyes bouncing between the two skeptically.

Adrien felt his breath caught in his throat. What should he do now?