So this is it, that's how it ends... I'm so happy I got this prompt for the last day, because it's just a perfect send off for the series.                                                                                       -Colorado

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Ladybug placed Adrien down in his room. The akuma had been hard on both of them. Nathalie was a good fighter, even when she wasn't akumatized. She had been after Adrien, which meant that Ladybug had to put her best effort into protecting him.

She was never against spending time with him, but fighting akumas was stressful. Especially because Chat Noir just seemed too busy to show up, so Ladybug was working all on her own. The only thing she wanted to do was go home and nap.

She's supposed that was one way to start off summer vacation.

"Thank you, Ladybug, for saving me." Adrien gave her a blinding smile. She felt the pleasant butterflies come to life in her stomach.

"Anytime, Adrien." She smiled right back at him. 

The akuma raged throughout the streets of Paris. It needed vengeance! How dare he get fired from his flower shop? Tulips were the only good thing left in his life!

Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around his wrist, pulling his attention towards her. The akuma sent her an angry glare, a pest was the last thing he needed in his life. He grabbed the yo-yo string, and tore it off of him.

Ladybug's eyes widened, her body stiff with surprise.

"Ladybug, watch out!"

Something tackled her, narrowly missing the akuma's blast. When the smoke cleared, Ladybug saw none other than Adrien Agreste standing above her.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

She could only nod.

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Patrol was quiet. Chat Noir had decided to not crash her, for once. If Ladybug was being honest, she wouldn't have minded the company. But no, he had left her alone with only her thoughts for company. How rude of him, honestly.

Ladybug stared off into the distance. The city of light was always captivating, making her believe that magic could be found as long as you looked for it. It was so romantic, she couldn't help but begin to daydream about green eyes and a kind smile.

"Ladybug!" A friendly voice called from below.

Speak of the devil and he will appear, isn't that how the saying went? Although Adrien Agreste was far from the devil.

"Hi, Adrien!" She called back, giving him a wave. He returned the gesture, giving her another one of his award winning smiles.

Ladybug spent the rest of patrol in a happy glow.

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Summertime was easily Ladybug's favorite time of the year. The flowers were in bloom, and they didn't have to deal with the nasty wind. The sun was warm on her face, and she felt ready to take on the world. Summer was the chance of opportunities.

Ladybug was so caught up in her happiness, she didn't see the other person join her in the garden.

"Ladybug? I didn't expect to see you here." Adrien Agreste stood behind her.

"Oh, hello Adrien." Her surprise wore off to a kind smile. "This is one of my favorite gardens." She said softly.

"What a coincidence, it's my favorite too. Shall we explore it together?" Adrien offered out his arm. Ladybug beamed.

"We shall."

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Galas were never something that Ladybug liked to attend. She was a superhero, not a celebrity, and she stood by that mindset clear as day. However, when it was a gala hosted by Gabriel and she had a chance to interact with some of the biggest names in fashion... who was she to say no?

However, the stuffiness of the room and the stiffness of the laughs had gotten to her. She needed a break from the shining fakeness of a rich person.

The balcony was her oasis, cooling her face.

"Oh, I didn't realize this balcony was already taken." Adrien said, already turning to leave.

"Wait! You can stay." Ladybug caught his arm.

"Oh, okay." He relaxed under her grasp, and they walked over to the railing.

"Paris really is beautiful." Ladybug murmured, gazing out at the sunset.

"Yeah, it really is."

She didn't notice that Adrien was staring at her instead of the view.

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"Ladybug! Thank goodness I found you." Adrien ran up to her, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"Adrien? What's going on? Is there danger?" Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo, readying it for the task.

"No, but there might be soon. One of the cafes nearby is giving out free ice cream and no one is on crowd control. It's nothing short of mayhem." He explained.

"Alright, lead the way." Ladybug shook away the fantasy of helping herself to ice cream on a hot summer day.

If her and Adrien had indulged themselves in two scoops of strawberry after the crowd had thinned out, that was between them and the parlor.

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The night was quiet... too quiet for Ladybug's tastes. She had been patrolling as Chat Noir had to quit. His summer job was really picking up the pace, she hoped he was okay.

As if on instinct, she had found herself looking down over Adrien's latest set. She tried her hardest not to slap herself. Even when she was Ladybug, Adrien was still popping into her head. She was supposed to be focused on patrol! She wasn't stopping any bank robberies while she was standing there.

But when Adrien walked out, sporting Gabriel's clothes that looked so good on him it should be a crime, Ladybug found she really didn't care. There would be time to stop bank robberies later. Adrien must have felt her staring, because he looked up, locking eyes with her.

Instead of looking confused, like he should have, he had the audacity to wink at her! He walked back over to his photographer, and Ladybug could tell he was laughing by the shake in his shoulders.

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She really hated fangirls sometimes. Gabriel Agreste's summer line release had gone well. Unless you were a certain Adrien stan, too heartbroken over the fact that he wasn't yours. Ladybug hated akumas, but she always tried to bring them to justice fairly. Hawkmoth was the villain, not them!

But as the akuma shrieked about how Ladybug was stealing Adrien from her (carrying him bridal style away from her), Ladybug wondered if she should change that mentality.

"I'm so sorry about this, again." Adrien apologized for what seemed like the millionth time.

"And as I've told you before, don't worry about it. It's my job to keep you safe. Besides, I really like hanging out with you." She looked down, giving him a kind smile.

When he blushed, she had to hold back her squeal. Adrien Agreste was blushing, because of her!

"I really like hanging out with you too." Adrien whispered, his grip on her tightening.

It almost seemed like he was hugging her, but that seemed way too foolish. 

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"How could you?" Ladybug shouted, angry tears boiling up in her eyes.

"I didn't have a choice, he was aiming the knife right at you." Adrien shouted right back at her.

Ladybug ignored her earrings beeping. There were more important things to worry about right now. Like Adrien Agreste being the ultimate idiot and taking a knife for her.

"It didn't even go that deep, okay? I probably won't even need stitches. And it was just on my side, I'm going to be alright." Adrien reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

Against her better judgment, Ladybug melted at the touch.

"I can't lose you, Adrien." She choked out, pressing the ladybug patterned rag to his wound. "I just can't."

"And I can't lose you, either. I've already lost everyone else, I can't lose you." Adrien rasped.

"I'm about to detransform. Keep pressing this on your wound." Ladybug muttered, standing up.

The rational side of her yelled to stay put, but she was too angry to listen. Did he not know how much she cared about him?

She left without a word.

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"I'm sorry." Ladybug sobbed into Adrien's shoulder two days later. "I should have never left you like that. What type of superhero am I?"

"A damn good one." Adrien brushed her hair. "And I'm sorry too, I should have let you take the hit. You're the superhero, it's your job to protect us."

"And I failed to protect you when I left you in that alleyway. I'm so, so, sorry Adrien, I was just so mad." She said again.

"But why?" He whispered.

"Isn't it obvious? It's because I care about you, you dolt." Ladybug wanted to smack him over the head, but she supposed she had already done enough damage.

"I care about you too. I won't take a hit like that again, okay?" Adrien whispered.

"Okay, and I won't get as mad next time." Ladybug promised.

"Friends?" He held out his hand, eyes pleading with her.

Ladybug pushed down her disappointment at the word. It haunted her, even when she was masked. Still...

"Friends." She agreed, a smile coming to her face.

...It was better than nothing.

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Ladybug nervously stepped into Adrien's room. He was doing something on the computer, scanning some sort of article. The print was too small for Ladybug to read from the window.

"Adrien?" She cleared her throat.

She watched, partly amused as Adrien panicked and closed out his tab, jumping in his seat.

"L-Ladybug! What are you doing here?" He whirled around in his chair, a nervous grin on his face.

"Well, I uh," She looked down at the ground, embarrassment suddenly hitting her full force. "I thought we could maybe hang out? You know, like friends do? I guess it was a stupid idea, forget I said anything I'm just gonna go and-."

"I would love to hang out!" Adrien suddenly cried.

"You would?" Ladybug's face shot up, noticing his gleaming grin.

"Absolutely! How does Disney sound?" He winked.

"Sounds perfect."

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"And you win again, how are you this good at Ultimate Mecha Strike?" Adrien fell back against the couch.

"What did I say? You just can't beat a champion." Ladybug stuck her tongue out at him.

"There's only one other person that I've played against that was this good. Here I thought I was amazing, but nooo." He pouted.

Ladybug felt a twinge of guilt.

"Hey, you're still really good! You nearly got me last time. What do you say, best 13 out of 25?" She gave him a grin.

"You're on!" Adrien sat straight up, preparing his character for the next round.

Which Ladybug totally did not let him win (they both knew she was lying when she denied it).

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"Ladybug! Have you heard?" Adrien was a ball of energy, jumping all over his room.

"What?"

"Taylor Swift is releasing a new album, this is the best day of my life!" He cheered, spinning around.

"Taylor Swift? Oh, she's that American pop singer, right?" Ladybug smiled, but her confidence fell when she saw Adrien looking at her, slack jawed.

"Do you not know who Taylor Swift is? Aka the music industry?" He wheezed.

"No, I know who she is! I just haven't listened to her music." Ladybug huffed, crossing her arms.

"I cannot be friends with you unless you listen to Taylor Swift." Adrien said, only half-joking.

"Wha-bu-I!"

"Cue the karaoke!" Adrien cheered, grabbing her by the arm and going straight to YouTube. "We are listening to all of Taylor Alison Swift's music, you don't have a choice." He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Fine by me." Ladybug grinned, Adrien was way too cute when he was excited.

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Ladybug was visiting far later than normal. She dropped down into Adrien's room after a harrowing patrol. She had two different run-ins with criminals, both deciding to pick a fight. She was left unscathed, but man was she exhausted.

The sight of Adrien Agreste in a Ladybug onesie was more than enough to wake her up.

"L-Ladybug!" He sputtered, making a desperate attempt to cover him.

Ladybug tried to stop it, she really did! Adrien was red enough as it was, but she was too tired to have full self control.

She fell to the floor laughing, clutching her stomach.

"Ladybug!" Adrien squeaked, suddenly more concerned than embarrassed.

She took in a deep breath, finally calming down.

"Thanks Adrien," she wiped away a tear of laughter. "I needed that."

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Adrien Agreste was crying. Ladybug thought she would never see the day! But there he stood, sobbing.

"I didn't realize it ended like that!" He sobbed as the credits to A Silent Voice played.

"Adrien, you're more into anime than I am and you still didn't know it was sad?" Ladybug asked incredulously, dabbing at her eyes.

"Look, I didn't realize that this was that same movie!" Adrien bawled.

"Hey, it's okay." Ladybug chuckled to herself, remembering her own reaction the first time she saw the film. "Come here." She spread her arms in a hug, which Adrien fell right into.

It was only after she left when she wondered why he didn't hesitate.

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"Hey Ladybug," Adrien finally worked up enough guts to ask her.

"Yeah?" She looked up from their Monopoly game, halting her decision to buy Park Place or not.

"Have you ever thought about hanging out somewhere else?" He asked. There, the question was out in the open. The worst she could do was say no.

"Oh! Um," She tapped her finger to her chin, which was just adorable. "Yeah actually, a lot. I just never thought it was practical."

"Sure it is! We never hang out unless it's super late at night, so no one is going to see us, especially if we are disguised." Adrien winked.

"I think I'd be pretty recognizable either way." Ladybug deadpanned. "Seeing as it would be my yo-yo we use as transport."

"Well, yes, but we could disguise me. Please?" He pulled out his secret weapon: babydoll eyes.

"Ughhh, alright, fine. But tomorrow, because tonight all that's on your agenda is me beating your ass." Ladybug taunted, revealing her 500 Monopoly dollar bill. "Park place, please."

Adrien was too happy about Ladybug agreeing to even care how easily he lost.

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Paris' sunset was always a sight to behold, but there was something extra special about it in the summertime. Ladybug landed the two of them on top of a rooftop garden.

"I found this place on one of my patrols." She said, training her eye on a tulip. "I thought you would like it."

Adrien took off his sunglasses and baseball cap. No one was going to see him up here. He took in a deep breath, relishing in the smell of the flowers. For once he could just... be. No expectations of which persona to play, no worries about who was going to spot them, he could just exist and be himself.

Funny how it was Ladybug who brought him that inner peace. But then again, she always seemed to do that.

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Fast food, Adrien had thought, wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

Ladybug seemed to have no reservations about her colesterol, as she stuffed her face with McDonalds fries. Adrien nibbled on a chicken nugget, or sorry, a McNugget, trying to ignore his dietitian's advice. Adrien was a model, he was supposed to stay far away from fast food.

However, if other fast food was like this, then Adrien had seriously been missing out.

"I still can't believe you've never had McDonalds before!" Ladybug laughed as Adrien chugged down a Coke.

"I didn't even realize they had these in France."

"They have McDonalds everywhere." Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"I'm never listening to my dietitian ever again." Adrien hummed, stuffing his face with fries. "You're a bad influence on me, LB."

"Shh, I'm a great influence, excuse you." Ladybug smirked, pushing a plate towards him. "A little McDonalds has never hurt someone."

Adrien gave her a look, but when she giggled, Adrien felt all annoyance evaporate. He would eat 100 McNuggets just to spend time with her. 

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Adrien stiffened as he felt something cold and wet hit his back. He turned around on his rooftop, glaring daggers at Ladybug. She reached into a bucket that had definitely not been there before, and launched another water balloon at him. This time square at his chest. Adrien watched as the balloon drew closer, as if in slow motion. Ladybug landed the blow where it was intended, drenching his undershirt as well.

"Oh," he narrowed his eyes at his companion. "It is on."

"Oh really? How are you going to get me if the balloons are all the way over here?" Ladybug hummed, trying to hold in her laughter.

"Like this!" Adrien rushed forwards, grabbing as many balloons he could carry and pelting them at her.

The Great Water Balloon War had begun.

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"Hey Adrien," Ladybug whispered to the boy on the other side of the couch.

"Hmm?" He asked, not opening his eyes.

The credits to their latest anime rolled on screen, and Ladybug's yo-yo told her it was past two in the morning.

"I should go home, but I don't want to." She murmured, her sleep deprivation finally getting to her head.

"I don't want you too, either. Everything is less happy when you're gone." Adrien leaned over, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You're my happy place, Ladybug." He whispered, looking up at her with stars in his eyes.

"You really mean that?" She whispered.

"Of course I do. You're my absolute favorite person, there's no one I'd rather be with than you." Adrien's words were slurred with sleepiness.

"You're my favorite person too." She giggled, although she wasn't sure what was so funny.

Adrien looked up at her then, and his eyes flickered down to her lips. Ladybug returned the gesture. They leaned in closer and closer until Ladybug could feel his breath on her lips and then-!

"Kiss, kiss, fall in love!" The intro to Ouran High School Host Club blared, interrupting the moment.

The two sprang apart.

"I uh, I should get going." Ladybug said, fanning her face.

"Y-yeah! You really should." Adrien stood up from the couch, pressing his hands into the pockets of his Ladybug pajamas.

"B-bye!" Ladybug waved, not daring to meet his eyes.

To her credit, she didn't start screaming until she was at least two blocks away.

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It was awkward. And Ladybug was livid that it was so awkward. She had tried to get back to some sense of normalcy by challenging him to a foosball game. However, it was quiet, too quiet. She was winning, but she felt like she was losing. If that's what got Adrien to talk to her.

"Hey, Ladybug," he said suddenly, after she had shot the winning goal.

"Y-yeah?" She tried to calm her nerves.

"About... the other night." Adrien hissed, regret coloring his features. Ladybug felt her face grow pale.

She had been wrong about his feelings for her, oh so wrong. She couldn't handle rejection, she couldn't risk ruining the best friendship she's ever had! She was finally close with Adrien, she couldn't lose that! So she panicked.

And like most do when they panic, she did something stupid.

"The other night?" She tilted her head, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"You don't remember?" Adrien blinked, taken aback.

"No. Am I supposed to?"

"No uh, never mind. It's nothing. You wanna play another game?"

Ladybug nodded. Was it bad to lie to Adrien? Yes. However, it worked!

The next game was much lighter and even though he won, Ladybug felt like the true winner. 

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If Andre recognized the two of them, he didn't say anything. They had ordered two scoops of strawberry and lime, after a somewhat awkward encounter with Andre. Neither of them had said anything about how he just assumed they were a couple, both too flustered to bring it up to the other person.

At least this ice cream didn't have a whole lot of special connotations that Adrien didn't even want to think about. Ladybug didn't seem appalled at the idea of them together, but her face had gone blank when Andre had mentioned it.

Adrien wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. He hoped it was good, God he hoped it was good.

For now, he would feed Ladybug ice cream off of his own spoon, trying to avoid any and all paparazzi. Focusing on the romantic undertones would be for later that night, when he could safely scream in his pillow without being heard.

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Ladybug laughing was the sweetest sound he ever heard. It was angelic, even when it was directed at a crappy romcom.

They had managed to sneak into the theater this time, and had gotten tickets for the sappiest movie on the roster. They had assumed that it would be entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Adrien was always down to make fun of bad romance movies.

However, when Ladybug leaned her head on his shoulder, Adrien thought he had flat out died and gone to Heaven. What was this? What was happening? Was he dreaming? Probably, and he really needed to wake up.

He remembered all too well what had happened last time. He needed to stop fooling himself that she liked him.

After all, summer wouldn't last forever.

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Adrien wanted to scream.

Ladybug had the brilliant plan to go shopping, that way he could pick out some clothes he actually liked. It was a terrific idea in theory, but in practice? If one more shopkeeper commented on how cute of a couple they were, Adrien was going to cataclysm something.

It didn't help that Ladybug just smiled and nodded when they said it. It was making Adrien's brain run rampant with different theories. One side of him thought she was doing it just to be cordial, but another side, the side that almost kissed her that night, told him it was for another reason. He shook his suspicions away as Ladybug handed him another outfit.

"Go try this on." She gave him a smile, her sunglasses covering her mask perfectly. "I want to see how this looks on you."

Adrien nodded, switching into model mode. He walked out posing as if he was on the catwalk. Ladybug wolf whistled, which did incredible things for his self esteem.

"Looking good, hot stuff." She winked, straightening the shirt's collar.

"H-hot stuff?" Adrien sputtered, his face turning bright red.

"It suits you don't you think?"

"Listen to your girlfriend, honey, that does look great on you." The shopkeeper, a woman in her early 70s, smiled.

"See! Listen to me." Adrien could hear the wink in her voice.

This girl was going to kill him. 

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Adrien cheered at the top of his lungs as the countdown began. Summer festivals were always a highlight of summer, and Adrien couldn't wait for the fireworks to begin. Ladybug stood next to him, cheering along. She had seemed on edge all night, and Adrien was glad she was getting a little bit of fun in.

"1!" He yelled, as the first fireworks exploded into red, white, and blue. France's colors. Suddenly, his face was trained on a different shade of blue: Ladybug's eyes.

She pulled him in, her lips meeting his in a sweet bliss.

She let him go, smirking as she watched Adrien grow bright red.

"I love you!" She shouted over the fireworks. "And I need you to know that!"

Adrien gasped, taking her hands. He pulled her into a hug.

"I love you, too." He whispered.

Ladybug's grip tightened on his back.

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First date. It was his first date, and with Ladybug no less!

She looked beautiful (technically she looked no different), glowing with happiness as she intertwined her hands with Adrien.

"Do you remember this garden?" She turned to him, a smile on her face.

"Of course I do, it's where we really first got to spend time with each other this summer." Adrien sighed.

"Hard to believe it's already almost over." Ladybug murmured.

"It's only mid August." Adrien laughed.

"I know! It's almost over! Which is so not fair." Ladybug pouted.

"You're adorable." Adrien laughed.

"T-thanks." Ladybug turned away, hiding the dumb grin on her face.

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Adrien was on a mission of revenge. Ladybug had flustered him time after time. It was his turn to make her brain melt. How did he do it? Simply by inviting her to a modeling shoot.

A swimwear modeling shoot.

As he grew into a teenager, his father had him modeling more teenage aimed outfits. Which included shirtless shoots. It wasn't his fault that he didn't warn Ladybug beforehand (it was, it totally was, that was part of the fun)!

When he walked out in a sleek black and red swimsuit, Ladybug's jaw dropped.

"Look, love bug! We're matching." He hummed into her ear.

Ladybug only squeaked back, hiding her face in her hands. Adrien let out a laugh.

Revenge really was so sweet.

"So let me get this straight, you've always had a bit of a crush on me, but you fell in love over this summer?" Adrien asked, whispering Ladybug's confession into the dead of night. Ladybug nodded next to him.

"Yeah I mean, you were always very attractive to me. And whenever we interacted you were nothing but kind. Of course now I know how much a dork you are." She bopped his nose, turning over in his bed to face him.

"Yeah, but I'm your dork." He gave her one of his shit-eating grins that he loved so much.

"Hell yeah you are. And I'm yours." She yawned, cuddling closer to him.

"Hell yeah." He repeated, kissing her forehead.

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Adrien broke down in Ladybug's arms, sobbing.

"Adrien? Honey, what's wrong? Please tell me." She looked over him, checking for any sorts of physical damage.

"I-it's my father." Adrien got out through his tears. The memories came rushing back.

"What did he do to you?" Ladybug growled. "I swear to God, if he hurt you, I'm going to kill him. I'm actually going to kill him."

"No! He hasn't hurt me... yet."

"What do you mean yet?" Her eyes narrowed. Adrien looked away. "Adrien, what's going on?" She asked, her voice softening.

"My father... he's Hawkmoth."

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The summer had come to a close. Adrien had a rough road in front of him, his father and Nathalie's trail, the announcement of Hawkmoth's identity, planning his mother's funeral. It was a lot for him to handle. And yet...

"Adrien, Tikki stole the last piece of cheesecake." Plagg whined.

"I did not! He's a liar, don't listen to him, Marinette!" Tikki protested.

"Am not."

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

Marinette giggled in his arms, leaning up to peck his cheek.

"I'll be right back." She whispered, getting up from her chaise to go and make more cheesecake for the kwamis.

...His heart had never felt so full. 

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I am so proud of how this turned out! Also it seems all too fitting that this was longer than the rest of this years one shots. Thank you ALL for following this series, I appreciate everything!                                                                                                                    -Colorado