Request by @B00100806 P.s. sorry for taking so long to write it. I hope you enjoy it <3

Named after a lyric in the song Fix You but this is not a song fic.

Set after truth and lies in season 4, but before Gang of secrets. The gap between  lies and gang of secrets is a few weeks. Y'all know this is my favourite part to make a reveal. It has so much potential. As usual they are 18. 

..........

It was supposed to just be a normal day. One where he had his classes and then his extracurricular. On today's schedule, it was fencing and then he would have a photoshoot and then he would go home for his piano lesson. 

It was supposed to be a normal day for Adrien Agreste, but he didn't expect his ex girlfriend, who he hadn't seen in quite a few days, to be quite aggressive in her attacks today. 

He knew, of course, that she didn't mean it- they had been able to speak about their breakup a few weeks ago and the both of them had felt happier after talking about what went wrong, why they didn't work out- that what happened was entirely an accident and she had apologised multiple times as she had taken him straight to the nurses office where the nurse had told him that the damage was very minimal, just that he had to be careful for a few days.  

It was supposed to be a normal day with photoshoots after school but, somehow, Nathalie had persuaded his father to give him a few days off as the nurse had put it into his prescription, courtesy of Kagami glaring at her if she didn't. If there was one thing Gabriel Agreste respected, it was professional opinion (well, most of the time). He was even allowed to forgo his piano lessons.

Kagami had accidentally hurt his hand during fencing, and he was lucky he didn't need a cast. He was lucky that it didn't hurt as much as he expected. But he should of known. He should have realised that his luck was stretched thin and he should have noticed that there was something else. Something even worse that had happened than his hand having to be used as little as possible.

He was a fool.

...........

It was easy to sneak out as Chat Noir. He had been doing it for three years. It was easier for him to make the decision to go to a certain bakery, especially when his stomach was yearning to be fed some actual flavour after the less than satisfactory plain meal his father had ordered their chef to make.

What wasn't easy was actually getting there. His hand, even though it wasn't harmed too much, did not want to co-operate today and he had to, ultimately, use only his left hand and his legs to move over the rooftops of Paris. He was fortunate enough to have a baton which could act as a second hand and launch him to and from buildings. Still, trying to minimise the damage he felt was a challenge. And for some reason, he was not as top of a shape as he usually was.

He hadn't even noticed that his sudden lack of enhanced stamina at random timings correlated to the faint green flickering of his suit that came and go all over.

Marinette was already on her balcony presumably just taking in the night breeze as Paris slowly fell asleep. It was quite late.

"And what is a young lady like you still doing out when she should be asleep?" As he jumped onto her balcony floor, he took note that under the moonlight, her eyes were rimmed with red and looked slightly swollen. He immediately frowned at the sight, "Everything okay Marinette?"

She was already wearing her pyjamas, seeing as it was rather late outside. And because it was slightly chilly, she had worn a pink wool cardigan that reached just the top of her knees. It had large brown buttons down the front of it but she opted to keep it open. 

She gave him a weak smile and nodded, trying to put up a façade that she wasn't just crying, but he knew better, "Yeah, I'm okay Chat. Are you here to get some food because Maman and Papa gave me a plate of treats before that I haven't had the chance to touch. There are too many anyways so I might as well share."

His cat-like eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything about her evading his question, instead opting to rub his belly lazily and grinning, "Of course Princess. You know what they say huh. Sharing is caring. And I know mew care for meow!"

She snorted and rolled her eyes telling him to stay put and that she would be back. 

He smiled as he watched her go in, glad he could make her feel even a hint of amusement. He knew that she was going through a bit of a hard time, having just broken up with Luka and he had noticed how even in class, she had become a bit withdrawn from participating in several activities. But he had an inkling that it wasn't just her breakup with Luka that had taken a toll on her as she had a knack of looking disheartened when she thought no one was looking. He had caught her face many times as she dissociated from the world around her and had started thinking about something, only to start frowning in a rather depressing manner before quickly switching back to her normal cheerful demeanour whenever she realised someone was looking at her or trying to talk to her.

A lot of the class was starting to take notice of it as well.

He plopped onto the floor and sat crossed-legged as he waited patiently for the girl, his thoughts on her state of mind still swirling around his head, as he absentmindedly played with the ring on his finger, twisting it as he always did when he was deep in thought.

And that was when he noticed something extremely wrong with the miraculous.

"What the-" he whispered, completely in shock.

His hand was flickering between the black of his suit and the peach of his bare skin, and soon he could feel the weird sensation of the power of the miraculous coming and going all around his body in different areas at different times and he could see pieces of his pyjamas peeking through as his suit continued to alternate with his civilian clothing. He realised that this sensation wasn't just something that had just happened, but all throughout his journey he had been feeling similar tingles that he ignored due to the adrenaline that was pumped through him as he got out of his home and made his way to Marinette's.

Quickly, not knowing what else he could do, he said the words to release Plagg from the ring and the kwami screamed as he was flung out of the ring and bashed into the wall. Adrien winced and quickly rushed to where the kwami was and scooped him up into his hands.

"Ugh. What in cheese's name happened?"

"I'm so so sorry Plagg. I have no idea. The suit, it just started going out of control and I had to take you out of there before something happened," then he scrunched his face up and said, "You didn't do anything that could have caused this huh?"

"What? No!"

"I'm just throwing it out there," he threw his hands up in the air, forgetting that Plagg was in them and if the kwami hadn't been quick enough to take flight, he would have been flung in the air for the second time that night, "Sorry, sorry. Let me just transform again and see-"

"Adrien?" The soft voice of Marinette- and he had forgotten he was on her balcony- caused him to jump in shock and drop his arms quickly before turning slowly to look at her. 

There was no denying it (though how she recognised him even though he was in his pyjamas and it was rather dark out, he didn't know) and he gave her a sheepish smile as he waved at her, "Uh... hi?"

She took a deep breath and placed the plates she was still surprisingly holding onto the small table she usually kept on her balcony, "Okay," she breathed, "Okay."

She looked close to hyperventilating as she tried to breathe in and out in order to attempt to calm herself down. He watched her, wondering if he should go to her and do something, but he knew that a lot of the time when Marinette was panicking, she needed a bit of space unless she let someone in to help her. 

When he had first known her, he had assumed Marinette was the happiest person he knew. However, and this year especially, he had come to realise that she dealt with a lot more than anyone around her could understand and quickly, either he, Alya or Nino had found themselves witnessing a panic attack from Marinette and had become adept to talking her down from them.

"Marinette?" He shared a look with his kwami who, for some reason, didn't look as wary as he had expected. He looked back at Marinette who was looking rather calm and steady, which meant that it was likely she may not actually have an attack today. Still, he wanted to be cautious. 

"I'm okay. I'm fine. It's just Adrien. Who just so happens to be Chat Noir. Okay. I'm okay. I am not going to freak out," she kept on muttering. 

"Marinette," he stood up and rushed over to her, "You can freak out. It's okay. Let it out. I'd rather you freak then silently panic," it always saddened him when he had seen her panic. Because she didn't say much, she couldn't. She'd just stare into space as her negative thoughts infested her mind and tears would silently stream down her face. And she wouldn't make much noise until one of the three of them came up to her and she let them hug her. 

Her sobs after that could be heart wrenching.

She looked at him and shook her head, "No. No. I can't. I won't," she wouldn't panic today. Not again. Not now. She closed her eyes and took a few more puffs of fresh air before opening her eyes and bringing her hand up to wave back, albeit a little late, "Hi. Adrien. Chat. Hi."

Plagg flew in between the two and spoke up with his scratchy voice, "You're taking this better than I thought you would."

She ignored Adrien's bewildered look at how Marinette didn't even flinch when she heard Plagg talk and said, "I sort of have to Plagg."

"Wha-uh what?"

Marinette placed her hands on her hips and finally looked at him again, "So. Is there any particular reason you detransformed right here on my balcony even though you knew I was coming back?"

"Uh... I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say..." he trailed off.

"Don't worry kid," Plagg turned around so he was now facing his holder, "You are allowed to say it to her."

"Really?"

"Yup," and then he turned back to Marinette and gave her a mischievous grin that she had seen on him multiple times before, "But only if you tell him what you need to."

Adrien watched with fascination as Marinette raised a challenging eyebrow at the kwami and declared, "Anyone who literally inhales cheese like it's the only way they can breathe has no right to tell me what I can and cannot do."

Adrien burst out into laughter as he listened to their conversation, even though he was confused as to how Marinette even knew that Plagg liked to eat cheese. Still he laughed as Plagg huffed in protest that his advice was very valuable and that Marinette should listen to him since he was the Godly being, not her. Unbeknownst to Adrien, Tikki, who was hiding in Marinette's pocket of her cardigan, was this close to flying out and throwing the second cookie she had been just about to eat, at the stupid cat!

"Believe me when I say this. Plagg never gives good advice."

"Hey! I do give good advice." The kwami shouted, "Which is why, for your own good Marinette, you should tell him," he gave her a look that she was glad Adrien could not really see and then came up to whisper in her ear, "I know how hard it has been for you since Fu left. You guys need each other now, more than ever."

Marinette sighed, knowing that the little God was right, "I know, Plagg. I know. But at least tell me what is going on before I decide to tell him or not."

Adrien, who was just standing on front of them, in just his shorts and pyjama top feeling a bit cold now, shivered, "Is anyone going to tell me what is going on, or can we go inside because it's getting rather chilly right now."

She looked like she was debating whether or not they should go inside just yet as she was unsure if the kwamis had all turned in to the miracle box in order to sleep, "Just tell me what happened and then we can go inside."

Wanting to be inside before he died of hypothermia (you're exaggerating Adrien!) he quickly blabbed out, "There's something wrong with my miraculous. It keeps on flickering."

"Flickering?" Marinette frowned.

He nodded, "Yeah. I don't know what happened or what caused it. But my guess is it may have somehow gotten damaged today when Kagami almost broke my hand."

"I'm sorry- what?" he felt his heart warm at how concerned she honestly looked for him but quickly tried to quench her worry.

"Don't worry. My hand is fine. Really. And I'm guessing it is thanks to the miraculous. It may have taken the brunt of the force."

Her head tilted as she looked between Adrien and Plagg, "Can you show me?" He lifted his hand to show her his ring and it was then when he finally noticed that he might have been right. There was a small crack on the miraculous, "It looks like you may be right. The miraculous would have tried to protect your hand and maybe that's why it cracked."

"I sometimes forget that at one point in time, you were able to use more than one miraculous," he mused, letting his thoughts wonder back to the fateful day Multimouse had become a permanent fixture in his mind, "And you've always been pretty smart. I should have known you would understand stuff to do with the miraculous."

She blushed but also snorted at the same time, "That's not the only reason why Adrien. Do you think you can show me it actually happening? I may be able to find a way to fix it."

Before Adrien could say anything, Plagg denied her request, "Sorry pigtails. But it's better if we don't. Whatever it is, it could be an impurity and it could damage the miraculous forever if we use it too much."

She deliberated over his words for a few seconds, "Sorry Plagg. I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay kid. You know you don't have to be prepared for everything," for some reason Adrien just knew that there was another meaning to Plagg's words, especially when Marinette looked down sadly, seemingly remembering something that she could not have planned ahead for.

Plagg knew what it was about and once again flew to her face, this time to nuzzle her cheek as a silent apology for his words but also an act of comfort for what he knew was going through her mind. Plagg knew that Marinette had taken Master Fu's action to make her guardian very hard and that it had been stressing her out. He had watched as her panic attacks grew in number and couldn't help but feel sorry for the little bug, who at such a young age had so many burdens she didn't even need to carry. But still he knew that he and Tikki would never change them as their holders (unless it became absolutely necessary). And he hope that once Adrien knew, he would be able to help relieve that burden and bring back some of Marinette's confidence as Ladybug, as Marinette, as Guardian of the mother box.

She sniffled and Adrien raised his left hand towards her, putting it on her shoulder and causing her to look up at him again. He could see, even in the dark (which was probably a perk of wearing the cat miraculous for three years) that her eyes were beginning to tear up but she hastily blinked them away and grabbed his hand from where it had been resting on her shoulder. She grasped his hand with both of her small ones and bit her lip.

"There's something I must tell you. No- I think I need to tell you. For both of our sakes."

"You don't need to Princess," he let the cute nickname slip out and she smiled, her heart fluttering violently as he spoke to her. She almost inwardly cursed as she realised that her feelings for Adrien were still strong and, perhaps becoming greater now that she knew he was her partner. But she realised that maybe this time, she should let her feelings for him grow again. She shouldn't do what she did with Luka and stop it from happening. Not when she knew Adrien was the only person she wanted to know about who she was.

"I do Adrien. And it's not just because I think you deserve to know. You are going to need to if we want to fix your problem."

At his quizzical look, she dropped their hands, still using one of them to hold onto him, and lead him inside her room and off of her bed. He waited for her to go down the ladder of her bed before he followed after her and he stood awkwardly on the pink rug placed in the middle of the room. She too stood on the rug, looking around for something- he did not know what. And then her eyes lit up as she remembered where exactly what she was looking for was. 

In reality, Marinette was just wondering how she should reveal her identity to him when she looked straight at where her vanity was sitting and her eyes widened as she realised she could just kill two birds with one stone. She manoeuvred all the way to where her vanity was and then looked at him and contemplated whether or not she should ask him. 

She looked at him and then the chair she usually used to get what she needed but she decided to take a leap of faith and ask him instead before she chickened out, "Can you help me Adrien?"

"Huh. With what?" he came to where she was and she pointed up. When he looked up, he realised something he had never noticed before when he had been in her room, "What is that?"

It was barely noticeable unless someone was specifically made aware of that it was there. On top of her vanity, and on one of the wooden panels that structured her room, was a hidden keyhole which could only be seen in one certain angle, an angle which rarely anyone would even want to move their head into.

She reached underneath her vanity and moved her hand around for something and she exclaimed in victory as she found what she needed. She took her hand out and revealed to him that she was holding a small, intricate black key which matched the hole on top of the vanity.

"Okay now. Hold me up. There's a specific way to do this and you need to keep me steady so I don't fall. We both know how clumsy I can be and I don't want to wake my parents up," she didn't want to mention that if her parents found the two of them sprawled across the floor together late at night, they would definitely be asking embarrassing questions that Marinette did not want to answer (at least not until they had actually established that they would be together- still she wouldn't get her hopes up).

"Uhhh.... I still don't understand. What are we doing?"

"Just do what she asked kid. And call me back when you guys are done."

"What? Plagg! Where are you- Marinette!" His face whipped to Marinette, who was already trying to climb the vanity, placing her foot on one side of the sink that was attached to the table and he quickly forgot about where Plagg had flown off to as he, without thinking grabbed Marinette by the waist and pulled her off, "Are you crazy?" He cried out, holding her in his arms for a few seconds before settling her back on the floor.

"Yup," she said simply, popping her lips together to enunciate the last letter, "But I also need to get up there and do this so if you could just, uh, I don't know. Keep me steady? Then we can hurry up and fix your miraculous."

He sighed, wondering how exactly she would be able to do that but she didn't give him time to respond as she once again stepped onto the table. This time, he helped her up, or actually it was more like she used his shoulders to hoist herself up, and she turned herself a bit so she was facing the right way to put the key in. One of her hands stayed on his shoulder, and he did his best to help her by, after hesitating, gently holding onto her calves. When Marinette protested that he wasn't holding onto her well enough, he became more firm with his grip, whilst also trying his best to remain unperturbed by the smoothly toned shape of her legs.

"Get a grip Adrien," he thought to himself, and decided it would be better to look up to see what she was doing.

She was twisting the key into very specific directions that may have seemed random but, knowing Marinette, it was very deliberate. He admired that in her, how she was able to come up with very creative things that not even his father would have thought of. He watched as she turned the key a few times before it clicked and for a second, he thought it had done nothing. 

But then, like magic, a small part of the frame holding Marinette's bed together popped open and he almost jumped in surprise. Almost. 

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a genius?" He was in awe as he looked up at her and she giggled in response, her face feeling flushed at the compliment.

"I know your hand is hurting, but do you think you can use the other to lift me up. It will only be for a few seconds, I promise."

He smiled up at her even though he was still confused about what all of this fuss she had made was about, "Hop on my shoulders. It will be easier."

She nodded, although slightly wary, and soon she was on his shoulders, reaching for the compartment she had built into her bed frame. She grabbed what was in it and tapped his head with her other hand in order to tell him that he could put her down and they both ignored just how close they were through it all, trying to focus on what was in her hands, rather than the overwhelming heat that engulfed both of them as she was on his shoulders.

When she was safely back on the ground, the both of them were a blushing mess and it was easier to see that with the unnatural lighting of her room. 

"This- uh- this is," she felt like she was back to even just two years ago, where she was always a blubbering disaster on front of him. She closed her eyes and counted to three in order to calm her nerves down and when she opened them again, she typed in the password on the tablet she was holding, "This is what's going to help fix your miraculous."

She swiped through to a specific app which was also password locked with a completely different pin to the one that unlocked the tablet- she was paranoid okay- and she all but shoved the tech into his hands. 

She watched closely as he took the tablet in a perplexed state which he had been in since they had entered the room. She patiently observed as his eyes widened when he realised that the tablet held details of every miraculous in the mother box as well as the translations Master Fu had put in, and her own work of decoding everything that he couldn't do once he had transferred guardianship over her.

"Okay," he mimicked her reaction to finding out his identity and he blinked slowly as he tried to comprehend what she had shown him.

"Adrien? Do you want to sit down?" 

"No," she could hear his voice breaking as he looked at her but she didn't expect his next words, "I think... I think I want to give you a hug."

"Wha-what?" Her mouth dropped open in shock.

"Can I hug you Marinette?"

Even though she was shocked at his request, she nodded because she knew that she needed it. Still, as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and brought her head to his chest, where she could hear his heart beating just a tad faster than what should be normal, she asked, "Why?"

"Because," he expressed with so much care in just one word, "Because I am sorry I didn't see it sooner. And I am sorry I didn't do anything about it once I realised. Even before today, I think I knew."

"Knew what?"

She felt him caress her hair which had been out of her pigtails even before he had jumped onto her balcony and she had never felt so utterly blissful and safe anywhere else, "That you are breaking Marinette. That you have been crumbling under the pressure of everything that has been put on top of you. But no more, I promise."

"You promise?" Her voice cracked as she realised what he was trying to say. She couldn't help the tears that were welling up again.

He rested his chin on hers and even though she couldn't see his face, she could still hear the sadness in his voice, "I promise Marinette. I will pick every single piece that you have unwillingly dropped one by one, and together, we will fix everything that has caused my sweet and confident lady to be the shell that she is today. And I promise that I will be by your side, always."

She sniffled as she moved her head to look up at him, "Can you stay here with me tonight please? I don't want to be alone anymore," she admitted. 

All it took was someone telling her that they could be there for her. All it took was Adrien, her partner, her best friend, and maybe even something more, to tell her that she didn't need to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders only. That she could share it with him and that he would help her with her role as Guardian. Because that's what he was there for, as her partner and her other half and as her equal. It was all it took for Marinette to finally break down in his arms and let everything she had felt since she had become Ladybug, since she had become Guardian, out.

They would both sleep on her bed, cuddling after crying (Adrien couldn't hold back the tears once her own had started) and comforting each other only to be woken up early the next morning by Tikki who told them that Adrien had to go home before his father noticed he was gone. They decided it would be best to exchange their earrings and ring so Adrien could quickly go home as Marinette started on looking for the solution to fixing the ring, before starting to get ready for school.

Mister-Bug left through her trap door, but not before he gave Marinette another hug and a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead with a silent promise for more.

As she inspected the ring, she couldn't help but genuinely smile as she realised, everything would be okay. If not now, soon.

And I was going to do a bonus part but I decided against it. 

Also, let's just not think about the completely forgotten plate of treats that they left out on her balcony. Let's just not.

@B00100806 I hope this was as you wanted and possibly even better.

Soon I will be posting the miraculous fantasy au I have been planning on writing for a month now- I have already finished the first 13 chapters and will start posting sometime this week, but as a treat, I will be posting the prologue here for you guys just a little early. 

Just scroll to the next chap and get the first sneak peak into my new miraculous story.

Bug out lovelies<3