The Black Cat and His Princess

Chapter 24

Hey, loves! We are getting there!! To the reveal, I mean lol

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Marinette was fine. She seemed like it. Yeah, she was totally fine! Nothing AT ALL was stressing her. She was on her merry way all day. She was in class, talking to her friends, talking to Adrien when she ran out, figuring out Adrien was chat, fighting an akuma with Adrien—no, chat, and being totally fine and completely composed. Her brain was NOT punching her in the face multiple times.

....except it actually was.

As soon as Marinette stepped foot into her room, closing the trapdoor gently as she sent a greeting to her mom, she kicked her slippers off and flopped her entire self on her chaise. Meanwhile, Tikki, being inside Marinette's purse, was flung over to the desk with a thud. Tikki squeaked, and all Marinette could do was moan in awkward, embarrassed pain.

"You haven't done that in awhile," Tikki sighed, her eyes closed as she rubbed the bump on her forehead with her nubby hands. With a little giggle, she flew over to Marinette, setting herself down next to her burning, red head.

"I'm done, Tikki," Marinette mumbled into the cushion. "From this day forward, I'm not going to look at Adrien—I mean Chat—n-no—"

Marinette hoisted herself with her arms, her pigtails loosening at how fast she was. Sitting on the chaise, with her hands slapped onto her face, she groaned incoherent things as her frustration began to spill out.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Her sweet voice in Marinette's ears, Tikki gently patted her head. "I'm beginning to get confused... very."

"I know who Chat is, Tikki." Marinette uncovered her face, looking back over to Tikki, whose eyes were getting bigger. "I know."

"How?"

Marinette's legs started to shake with nervous energy, and she stood up, walking over to the ladder of her bed. She fell down onto the bed, closing her eyes as she held a cat plush to her chest. When she opened her eyes, she was face to face with a picture of Adrien, his bright, gorgeous smile making a blush make its way back to her cheeks.

Here she was, fighting along side someone who has done everything to show his love for her or to have her love him, too, the way he does. But she has turned him down beyond many times until now, realizing how much she's already loved him. Yet, now, she finds out that he's been her crush the entire time. All these years. She has turned down her crush a bazillion times, and she wanted to punch herself in the face as hard as she could. She wanted to knock some sense into herself.

She's never felt so dumb in her entire life.

"I figured it out," Marinette finally answered, Tikki floating beside her. "It all just clicked for me, and all because of something Adrien said... that he already said before as Chat Noir."

"Well... what are you going to do?" Tikki asks, resting herself on Marinette's pillow. Marinette sighed, holding the cat plush closer to her heart. She didn't look away from Adrien's picture.

"Tell him."

"Tell him what?"

"Tell him everything." Marinette turned over, setting her eyes on Tikki's, and a big, determined smile donned her face. "I'll tell him I love him, all of him, and tell him who I am. I want to tell the truth. No more secrets—and no more hurting him. I don't want to hurt him. Never again."