Amnesia [MARICHAT]

36

DAY 3

   Marinette had never been an impatient person, but today her nerves were buzzing with longing.

   Today - she would see him today. She would meet Chat Noir as he was without the mask, as the boy who could not be himself.

   She would see his eyes as they really were, be able to touch him without any barriers. She could be with him every day for the rest of her life, hold his hand in public and never be afraid of Hawkmoth using Marinette Dupain-Cheng as a hostage. Not again.

   She sat down in her desk that day, eyes bright and beaming, leaving her best friend wondering what happened.

   When Adrien walked in, Marinette hardly noticed him until he stopped at her desk. He wore all black today, too, and Alya whistled beside her before slipping away to talk to Nino.

"Good morning, Marinette," he said. She didn't notice that his eyes were as bright as hers.

"Hey, Adrien."

   He leaned on her desk. "I wanted to ask you something."

   His serious tone made her blink. "What is it?"

   "Have you ever been in love?"

   It was an odd question to ask, and a personal one, though Marinette didn't mind answering. She knew immediately what that answer was: yes, two times.

   Adrien, and Chat Noir. She knew she loved them both, but now in different ways. Marinette was in love with Chat Noir, and she loved Adrien as a friend. She had loved Adrien once, romantically. He had been her first love. She would always remember the happiness she felt when he smiled at her, the nervousness, the butterflies.

   "Yes," she said. "I have, twice."

   He eyes widened as if she had said something he hadn't expected. "Twice?" His tone was chilly. Almost...jealous? A small part of Marinette liked it.

She nodded.

   "Who are they?"

   She definitely couldn't say Chat Noir, because he and Ladybug were going to be together by the end of tomorrow - they would have to kiss or something in a very public place, to get the message across to Hawkmoth. And that would make her seem shallow when she got together with whoever his civilian self was.

   But she decided it wouldn't hurt anybody to tell Adrien that she had been in love with him, once. She remembered being so shy around him, always wanting to tell him her feelings but never gathering up the nerve to do so. She decided she owed it to herself to let go of that secret.

   One less secret to keep, right?

   "One of them was you."

   "Me?"

   "When I first met you, I thought you were just like Chloe, like you were a snob. But then I got to know you and you were - are - the kindest person I've ever met. You sacrificed little things for other people. You never said anything mean to anyone else, you always looked at both perspectives, you never judge anyone for the things they say or do. You're a good person. I admire you, and I loved you before - before I got amnesia. But then I met someone else...and I love him, too. He's everything to me now."

   She looked at her hands, shaking a little. It was still difficult to tell him that, like she had overcome an instinct to forever hide the fact she had liked him. But now it was a relief, a weight off her shoulders. It had long plagued her, and now she was free of it. She looked up and saw that his eyes were filled with tears.