"Another beautiful night would have not have been complete without a beautiful person."

Ladybug was approached by Chat Noir as she sat on a bar of the Eiffel Tower. He leaned against the length of it, his legs crossed at the knees, his arms crossed at his chest, his green eyes glowing in the moonlight.

"Mind if I join you?"

Ladybug let out a smile as she patted the space beside her.

Chat's smile widened and he joined her, sitting a little too close for Ladybug's liking, but she disregarded it.

"Regarding today's..." Ladybug opened her palm and pretended to draw on her hand to demonstrate what she meant. "I apologize. I was in class and the teacher was droning on so I started doodling."

Chat shook his head with a smile. "It's all right, I don't mind. I like it when you draw. It's rather beautiful to see the flowers bloom over my arm with the delicate strokes and detail you put to it." Chat passed his index and his middle finger from his palm down to his wrist in remembrance of the art she had done.

Ladybug watched his expression turn soft, glowing with admiration.

"Don't ever apologize to me again my lady. If you get bored again, draw to your heart's content. I would be more than happy to be covered by your masterpiece." He looked over at her, his voice soft and his eyes gleaming.

"Chat?" She asked, her voice just as quiet.

"Yes?"

Ladybug gave a small gulp, watching as his eyes flicked down to her lips and he was slowly leaning in closer.

"Do you... Do you ever wonder if we have other red strings tied to other people?" Ladybug's question was met with silence and Chat's eyes closed, his eyelids fanning beautifully over his mask.

He let out a sigh and he pulled away. "My kwami... He told me that there's more than just one red string of fate. My red string of fate ties me not only to you, but to him as well and probably a handful of other people. However," he took Ladybug's hand and brought it to his lips. "Your red string is the only one I'm focused on."

Ladybug gave a weak smile, gently pulling her hand away from him. "Don't you... Don't you get frustrated about not knowing my true identity? Don't you get worried that one day I might fall in love with someone else that's not you? I like someone else,

Chat and it's hard to find myself settling with you, when I don't even know the real you."

It all slipped and Ladybug had said some things she hadn't meant to say. She gaped for a few seconds and looked over at him.

A sad smile had possessed his features and Ladybug felt horrible for having dumped all this on him. Just as she was about to say something, Chat's miraculous beeped. He stood, his back facing her.

"I understand what you mean, my lady. It's hard when our kwami's forbid us to find out our true identities. Whenever there's other people who effect our lives and our hearts, it's hard to choose what we want."

Ladybug stood up, trying to approach Chat. "Chat, I-"

"I'm sorry my lady." The black cat jumped off of the Eiffel Tower and with his baton, he extended over the sleepy skies of Paris, leaving Ladybug alone, until she had to head back home as well.

"I like someone else Chat and it's hard to find myself settling with you..."

Adrien just stepped out of the shower, laying down in his bed for the night. It had been a patrol night and he was more than happy to see his lady today, but a bomb was dropped on him.

Ladybug had no feelings for him whatsoever and on top of that, she had feelings for someone else. He didn't know what to feel and he didn't know how to respond. Should he give up on her? Should he try to find love with someone else?

Whatever did run through Adrien's mind, it had him tossing and turning throughout the whole night. In the dead hours of the night, several messages in messy, runny pink ink traced his arm.

"Chat... I'm sorry, please..."

In one end, he was happy to hear from his lady in the middle of the night. It meant that she was thinking of him. On the other end, she was one of the last people he wanted to talk to in the middle of the night.

Adrien ran two fingers across his forearm, erasing the message before settling down into a fitful sleep.

Marinette was a mess. She had gotten home after she had left the Eiffel Tower and checked her phone, seeing she had received a message from Alya.

"Marinette, you would never believe it! I found who my red string is tied to! And guess what? It's Nino!" There were many more messages that explained exactly how they found out and what they're planning on doing tomorrow after school, to commemorate their finding each other.

Marinette didn't know what it was, but she broke down in tears after reading Alya's message. She was happy for her friend's happiness, but deep down, Marinette was jealous.

She was a high school student and many people have started to find who their red strings were tied to. Myléne and Ivan had found out their strings were tied years ago, whenever she first became Ladybug. Not so long ago, Rose found that her red string tied her with Prince Ali, a prince from the Kowar Kingdom. And now Alya found who her red string was tied to.

"She's just going to end up an old lady, all by herself with a bunch of cats."

Marinette remembered the horrible words that Chloé told her earlier that day. Usually whenever Chloé bullies Marinette, she ignores her commentary, going on about her day.

However it was on this particular night, that her words hit her and they hit - hard.

The next morning, Marinette had been late to school. She overslept because after her emotions got the best of her, regret ate at her as she remembered the words she told Chat the previous night.

Seconds after she finished writing, her ink disappeared from her arm and her sobs racked her body. She waited for a response from him the whole night, eventually, crying herself to sleep.

When Marinette entered the classroom late, all eyes were on her, but she didn't want anyone to look at her. Not even the green pair of eyes she loved to look at. Professor Bustier was barely taking attendance and she scolded Marinette for being late, but Marinette only bowed her head and apologized quietly, before shuffling to her seat.

Adrien noticed that Marinette's eyes were pink and swollen, bags under her eyes. He wondered if she had been crying. He wasn't the only one who noticed though.

"Aw, look. She's late because she stayed up all night, looking for the red thread that lead her to her true love... Only to find it lead to no one!" Chloé laughed arrogantly, Sabrina joining into her banter.

Marinette had barely sat down and Alya was about to retort something back to Chloé, when Marinette stood up abruptly, walking out of the classroom, a fresh set of tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Chloé Bourgeois! Bullying will not be tolerated in my classroom! Go to Mr. Damocles' office, at once." Professor Bustier spoke after Marinette ran out of the room. Chloé gave a shocked gasp, standing and slamming her fist on the table.

"Excuse me? Wait until my father hears about this!" Chloé crossed her arms and huffed, grabbing her purse and swinging it dramatically as she exited the classroom.

Professor Bustier then asked Alya to go find Marinette, to see if she was okay and Alya nodded, leaving the classroom.

Adrien remembers the day when Ladybug had sent Chat to protect the midnight black blue haired girl - Marinette was going to go on a date with the Evillustrator, who had been the akumatized Nathanaĕl.

She seemed like a very sweet and bubbly girl, whenever it came to being in the classroom with her, Chloé always bullied her. Usually, Marinette never let it get to her, as far as Adrien knew, but it looked like she was having a particularly hard day today.

After Professor Bustier had started class, Alya came back alone, looking upset. Alya said that she went all over the school and she didn't find her anywhere.

During lunch, Adrien, Nino and Alya were sitting at a lunch table, Alya holding her phone close to her ear as she tried to phone her best friend. After several phone calls and text messages with no response. Alya put her phone down on the table, sighing.

"Nothing?" Nino asked.

Alya shook her head. "Nothing. I'm worried about her Nino."

Nino rubbed her shoulders comfortingly. "Maybe we should go looking for her after school?" He suggested.

Alya nodded, looking over at Adrien. "Want to join?" Alya asked.

"I wish I could, but I have something to attend to." Adrien apologized.

In reality, he had nothing to attend to, he just wanted to transform into Chat Noir and it would be much easier trying to find her that way.

The school day passed and Alya hadn't received any response from Marinette. Towards the front of the school, Adrien, Alya and Nino were talking about their plans for the rest of the day.

"Nino and I are going to Marinette's house to see if she's home."

Adrien nodded. "Let me know if you find her." He wasn't that close to Marinette really, but he worried about her wellbeing. Ill feelings led to an akuma attack.

As soon as Adrien was able to get somewhere where there wasn't any people, he opened his satchel, finding Plagg pigging out on a wedge of camembert.

"It's interesting, to find you interested about someone that's not Ladybug." Plagg spoke, mostly teasingly but it struck a nerve on Adrien.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Plagg, transform me." Chat Noir ran his gloved hand through his hair, passing his hands over his ears as he pulled his baton out of belt loop. His baton extended him up above the buildings and he began to jump from building to building, towards the bakery that Marinette's parents owned.

Once there, he stopped by a nearby roof, finding Alya and Nino standing outside with Marinette's mother.

"No, Marinette isn't home... She called me to tell me that she was with you..." Her mother had a worried expression on her face as she looked towards the inside of the bakery, calling her husband. Alya and Nino exchanged some worried glances and said they would look for her.

"Marinette is missing?" Chat spoke, mostly to himself. He decided to scout the area, looking for the girl. He was jumping from building to building and as he passed the park, he noticed a familiar figure gently swinging the swing set.

Chat landed quietly behind the swing set and placed his hands on the chains of the swing she was sitting on, his hands just above hers. "Need a push princess?"

Marinette jumped out of swing and stumbled forward, tripping on her own feet as she tried to turn.

Quickly, Chat stepped forward and caught Marinette by wrapping his arm around her waist and bringing her flush against him.

"C-Chat."

"Careful princess. Wouldn't want you to get hurt." New tears stung at Marinette's eyes and she found herself hugging the boy.

Chat was surprised, but held her back, relief flushing through him as he was glad he found her.

"W-What are you doing here?" She stammered, pulling away from him.

"I was on patrol and I happened to pass by your house. I think I saw two of your friends asking if you were home and Mom said that you said you were with them." Chat made hand motions between Marinette and two imaginary figures.

She nodded slowly, remaining silent. He looked down at her, noticing that her eyes were still swollen and pink.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

Marinette couldn't reply, new tears streaming fresh down her cheeks. "I don't know anymore Chat." She said between sobs.

This caught Chat completely off guard and he had no idea what to do.

Marinette had no one else to vent to and she was glad she was able to even talk to him after what happened last night.

Chat took her hand and brought her to a nearby bench, where they were hidden from the public eye.

"What's the matter?" He asked her in a soft voice.

She brought her hands to her eyes, rubbing the tears away. "Everyone is finding their end to their rest string. My best friend found her other half. I-I'm happy for her, b-but... It just got to me last night. Slowly but surely, all my classmates are finding their ends and then there's me." She swiped her nose with her sleeve, giving out a small sardonic laugh. "It's funny. There's this girl who makes fun of me in class. She always says that I'm going to end up like a loner, crazy cat lady. Honestly... I'm starting to believe she's right."

Chloé. Adrien had been present when Chloé had bullied Marinette today, but he never knew that she said all these harsh things about her. It made him mad that she would say these sorts of things to such a nice girl like Marinette.

"That's not true at all." Chat reassured her as he put his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure you're old enough to write a message to them."

"I've tried, but I get no response." Marinette lied, sniffling. "I probably am going to end up as a crazy cat lady." She said, her voice cracking as she started to cry again.

Chat gave a sigh and pulled her down, bringing her head down to rest in his lap. She looked up at him questionably, but he brought a finger to his lips.

"I don't usually do this, but will you listen to me as I rant?"