Part 6

Earlier that day...

Chat Noir decided to head home soon after he had seen Marinette, to give Plagg a chance to rest. After all, Chat Noir had a busy night planned.

He leapt though the window and released his transformation.

"Plagg, Claws In!"

Despite not being as drained as usual, the first words out of Plagg's mouth were

"Adrien. Gimme cheese"

Adrien rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep the grind off his face. He tossed half a wheel of the stinky cheese at his kwami. Plagg's mouth fell open in horror.

"Half?!" he yelped, his little ears drooping in the most adorable way possible.

"You don't fool me" said Adrien with a smirk. "I never used Cataclysm, you should still be bouncing around full of energy"

Plagg narrowed his eyes at Adrien, then shrugged his little shoulders in defeat.

"It was worth a shot"

Adrien decided to kill some time by looking through tomorrow's schedule,and turned his nose up in disgust at the sound of Plagg devouring his cheese. He heaved a sigh as his eyes flicked across the columns. Chinese, piano lesson and fencing practice. He tossed the piece of paper on the floor and almost howled in annoyance. Just when he was getting used to having some time to himself, a day jam-packed full of things he'd rather not be doing awaited him.

Plagg looked lovingly at his last piece of cheese before turning his head towards Adrien. He almost howled too, seeing how depressed and lonely the boy was. Plagg's thoughts turned back to Chat Noir and Ladybug's rooftop encounter that morning. He had known exactly what Chat Noir was thinking, and had felt all the anger and self-hatred that coursed through the boy.

"Hey kid" Plagg spoke cautiously.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, k? Everyone makes mistakes, even superheroes."

Adrien's eyebrows shot up in astonishment. Plagg had almost never spoken to him in such a caring way before. He grinned and scratched the little kwami behind the ears, and decided to chalk Plagg's strange behaviors up to a cheese overload.

Plagg shook his head in mock annoyance and looked back down at his cheese.

"At least you don't have any silly problem like humans do, my lovely" he murmured to his cheese before gulping it down whole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, Chat Noir found himself on Marinette's balcony. When he had first thought about visiting her, it had seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea. But now that he was actually standing on her balcony, he felt ridiculous. He couldn't quite explain to even himself why he came. He just felt inexplicably drawn to Marinette, curious by the side of her that he never saw as Adrien.

He had planned to try and catch Ladybug afterwards, while she was out on patrol, and keep her company as she finished up. He felt a light blush begin to creep up his neck at the mere thought of seeing his lady again.

He extended his baton slightly so that it hovered just next to Marinette's window. He gulped. Now or never.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The evening had turned gloomy and it had begun to drizzle outside. The lights of Paris were hazy as a light fog set in.

The first time Marinette heard the tapping, she tried to ignore it. The second time, she had cautiously opened her window. The third time, she had slammed her window shut with a loud bang and by the fourth, she flung open her trapdoor feeling very irritated.

A rather damp Chat Noir tumbled into her room. Marinette frowned in disapproval at the intruder.

"Why is there a mangy alley cat on my doorstep?" she demanded, a hand on her hip.

She is so cute when she's mad. Wait no, bad Adrien. Think Ladybug. Ladybug ladybug ladybug.

Chat Noir got to his feet and dusted off his shoulders theatrically, before giving her a little bow.

"Good evening to you too Princess" he paused and added indignantly "And I am not mangy!"

Marinette quickly offered him a blanket to wrap around his shoulders, which he accepted gratefully. She sighed to herself, wondering why in the world her silly kitty cat had come to visit. Her annoyance quickly faded with the pouty face Chat Noir was giving to his feet. The irritation was replaced with a certain playfulness.

"Well then, what's a stray cat like yourself doing without his lady?"

Chat Noir's expression turned dreamy as he thought about his lady. Marinette raised one eyebrow at him, and he tried to save himself from embarrassment

"You know Princess, you're my lady when Ladybug's not around" he said smoothly.

Marinette, who had settled back into her chair, couldn't help but laugh at this comment. She flashed a dangerous smirk.

"Hard luck for you kitty, but I have someone else in mind, who is far better groomed than you are might I add"

"Meow-ch Princess, you wound me" he said, placing both hands on his chest.  "So who's the lucky Prince Charming?"

Chat Noir waggled both his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner, and earned a blush from Marinette. She had thought long and hard about Adrien, and had decided to talk to him as Marinette. Maybe he had a good reason for rejecting Ladybug, she'd never know. But clumsy Marinette was the real her, and that's who she wanted him to care about, not some flawless superhero.

"Oh, he's in my class" she replied to Chat Noir
"Doesn't know I exist, but I love him all the same. I meant to give him that today" she said, pointing to her top shelf at the box of chocolates she'd retrieved on her way home. "It was a Valentines day present, and I wanted to confess to him today, but I chickened out"

Chat Noir glanced up at the little red box of chocolates that he could see were handmade. "How sweet" he thought, and mentally high five himself at the pun. But then his eyes traveled down from her shelf to her walls and the rest of her room. He was greeted with dozens of pictures of his own face, staring at him. He jumped back in alarm.

Marinette noticed his surprise and cringed.
"Oh look, you've found him."

Chat Noir took a moment to digest this new information. This was why Marinette was always so shy around him, and always stuttered. She had a crush on him! He sighed in relief because this meant she didn't actually dislike him still. But then he frowned. Not her too. Another fangirl, just after him for his looks?

"Why do you like him? Is it just because he's a model?" he asked, a serious edge to his voice.

"No, of course not! He's just a sweet and caring person." she hesitated before continuing "On the first day of school, I had mistaken him for another one of Chloe's minions trying to pull a mean stunt on me. But then, later on, we were standing at the door of our school and it had started raining. He then explained he was actually trying to diffuse the situation earlier, and was not doing Chloe's dirty work. Then, he gave me his umbrella. Such a simple thing, but at that moment I fell for him. He's all I think about, ever since"

Chat Noir sat in deep thought. He remembered that day, and thinking that he had just made his first friend.
Marinette continued

"I also just admire him for how strong and selfless he is. His mother isn't around anymore, and his father is probably rarely around because I know he's a very busy designer. I can see every day, Adrien tries and pretends to be happy for the sake of everyone else. He doesn't slack in his school work and is kind to everyone around him even though he is so sad. I'm just so amazed. But I don't think he has anyone looking after him, besides his friend Nino. I want to be there for him, to be someone he can talk to, to lean on when he needs it. Not because he's weak or anything. But everyone needs someone to love them. I want to be that person for him, get to know him better, and to see him really smile." Marinette's eyes shone with passion as she spoke. But then something dropped inside her.

"But that will probably never happen"
She finished.

Chat Noir was on the edge of his seat, drinking in every word she said. She knew him. She really knew him. She saw right through his facade as Adrien. And better yet, she liked what she saw. Despite all of his flaws, she still wanted him. He felt something tugging in his chest.

"But why not?" he asked, "What's stopping you?"

"The same reason I never confessed today. I always stutter and muddle up my words around him, and make a complete fool of myself." her voice went quieter "and I'm scared he'll say no"

She got up and cradled the little red box of chocolates in her arms
"This will be the second failed present attempt. Well, sort of" she laughed, but there was still a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Second?" he questioned in surprise.

"Oh, well I made him a scarf for his birthday, but for some reason he thought it was from his father"

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"He just looked so happy for once, thinking it was from his dad. I didn't want to take that away from him"
she trailed off.

Chat Noir was amazed. Awed. Filled with admiration for this selfless girl he had not really noticed, that sat behind him every day. He got up and enveloped her in a bear hug, he couldn't think of anything else to do.

Marinette smiled, her partner being supportive and caring even for someone he barely knew.

A laugh rang out into the room, easing the tension that filled the air. Chat Noir smiled evilly. So his princess was ticklish.

A wrestling match ensued, that ended with the participants lying on the floor gasping for breath. Chat Noir butted his head against Marinette's hand, asking for attention.

"Silly kitty" said Marinette, running her hands through his hair.

They sat for hours talking, about everything and nothing. Words flew between the two as though they had known each other for years.

Puns and jokes were traded, much to Chat Noir's delight. He watched in wonder at Marinette's eyes that lit up when she spoke about her designs. Much to Marinette's surprise, Chat Noir was very well informed on the latest trends, fashion and designing, though he refused to reveal why.

They only realized how late it was when Chat Noir's ring let off its first beep. They groaned simultaneously, Chat Noir realizing he had missed his chance to see his chance to see Ladybug, and Marinette realizing she had missed her usual time slot for patrol.

Chat Noir rose to leave, his eyes meeting Marinette's bluebell ones.

"That's my cue to leave, goodnight Princess!"

"Goodnight my silly kitty, I'll see you around?"

"Oh, definitely" he replied, winking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once he was gone, Tikki flew from her hiding place. She gave Marinette a stern look.

"Okay, I know, I'm a little late. I completely lost track of time"

"Well I guess I  can't blame you for that. You had good reason to be so... distracted" Tikki grinned mischievously. 

"Tikki!" Marinette squeaked, blushing furiously.

"I'm only teasing" Tikki said with a big smile. But she knew something was potting between her and Chat Noir. She'd talk to Marinette about it later. Right now, they were late for patrol.

"Tikki, Spots On!"

Her room was filled with a pink glow. Ladybug hesitated, listening for the sound of rain, and was relieved to find that it had stopped. Then she was off, off to make sure Paris was safe.

As she started her normal route, she caught a glimpse of a familiar, shadowy figure on a rooftop in the distance. Then,  a mop of golden hair came into view.

Chat Noir spotted his lady on a rooftop and froze in his place. He saw her come to a stop too, and gave her a little bow. He blew her a kiss too for good measure.

Ladybug ignored the kiss, but did a half-curtsey while rolling her eyes. She knew he couldn't stay and was running out of time, so she waved goodbye and swung off, still smiling.

Chat Noir hear his ring beep again, and watched his lady depart. Something, something was different. He glanced unconsciously in the direction of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Something was very different. And he wasn't yet sure if he liked it or not.