She had kissed him. She, Marinette, had kissed that damn alley cat, Chat.

Shit. 

And here he was petting her hair and smiling at her, like nothing ever happened. Like he didn't have a care in the world. Like she wasn't blushing so hard she may have a permanent pink tinge. Like he didn't just kiss her. 

And she had let him. She had let him twice.

Although, she wasn't really sure if the first one could be even called a kiss. It was sloppy and awkward, and was really just Chat crushing his lips on her. But the second...the second was a kiss, one with feeling behind it. It wasn't impulsive or careless. It was emotional and sweet and...loving. Chat poured his heart and soul into that kiss, trying to let his feelings reach her and they had. And she reciprocated the kiss. She reciprocated.

Oh god. What was she going to do?

She didn't have time to think about it because Chat laid his forehead lightly on hers, fingers still running through her hair, effectively distracting her. She looked up a bit, knowing that her conflicted feelings were practically pouring out her eyes.

He smirked.

He had the audacity to smirk. Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to spew out a threat about wiping that smirk right off his face when he distracted her with a tender kiss to her forehead, his hand pausing at the back of her head, bringing her closer.

"Mari?" Chat whispered.

"Yeah?"

"May I kiss you again?"

Well, at least he thought to ask this time, Marinette thought. She knew that she should say no, she knew she should shut this whole thing down. She should stop now, while she could. After all, her life was complicated enough, she really shouldn't add another complication, no matter how enjoyable that complication was. But that was the problem, she enjoyed Chat. And she didn't just enjoy kissing him, she enjoyed being around him, she enjoyed the feelings he caused, she enjoyed him. Should she really sacrifice this one bit of enjoyment, this one indulgence in her happiness, because it  was the right thing. Was it really the right thing? Was sacrificing her happiness really contributing to the greater good, just because she was Ladybug? And she really, really wanted him to kiss her again. She wanted to kiss him back. She wanted him close...was it really that selfish of her?

Chat was still cradling her gently, patiently waiting for her answer. Marinette looked up to meet his eyes and saw his patience, his kindness, his...attraction. She bit her lip, already knowing that she made her decision, even though the logical side of her brain was screaming and arguing. Looking into his eyes, she nodded. Completely and totally, walking into this complication.

His lips pressed on hers seconds later. His hand still cradling her head, pulling her deeper into the kiss. His other hand ran up and down her arm, sending little shocks to her heart. Speaking of her heart, it felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. The softness of his mouth over-ridding her senses, his lips tasting sweet like sugar, his touch filling her with warmth, his lips moving against hers, softly and slowly, mesmerizing. But she wanted more, she wanted to taste, to feel, more. She shifted against him, bringing her body closer, she whimpered a bit as pain flared at the sudden movement. She didn't care, right now the pain was nothing compared to pleasure his mouth was providing. She felt Chat start to pull away, most likely worried about her but she needed him to keep kissing her. She needed him. She placed her hands in his hair, pulling him closer, sealing her lips on his. He responded to her rough behavior with surprise before lightly lifting her onto his lap. Her whimpers of pain were luckily lost in his mouth, as she learned of the new control that came with this new position. And for the first time that night, she kissed Chat. She initiated the kiss, she controlled it and at this point, all Chat could do was reciprocate(not that he was complaining.)

Marinette could not say how many times they pulled back for air, she could not say how many times they kissed, how many times his hands moved up and down her back to her waist, how many times his lips kissed hers, making her feel breathless and giddy, and if you asked, she could not in a million years tell you how she was going to deal with this.

This thought made her pull away. Chat looked disappointed but didn't protest, looking at her and waiting. Marinette took long shaky breaths, trying to calm down her ragged breathing and pounding heart. She was still sitting on her knees in between Chat's legs, his face cradled in her shaking hands. She leaned her forehead against his, their noses bumping together. Marinette closed her eyes and groaned softly.

"What's the matter, Mari?" He asked her as he rubbed his nose against hers in affection. "Are you in pain? Was I too rough?"

She groaned again, shaking her head against his, indirectly returning his Eskimo kiss. She took another deep breath.

"That's not it, Chat." Even though her body was starting to ache because to all the stress that she put on it and her ribs were burning with hatred, directed towards her activities. But that wasn't the issue. The issue was that she had just kissed her partner, she had kissed Chat, multiple times, which was going to lead to things getting messy, she knew. And there was the small problem of another blonde boy who had captured her affections. True, she had given up on Adrien, but that didn't mean that her feelings were gone. Her crush was still there, but she had given up on chasing him. But that still wasn't fair to Chat. He didn't deserve that.

"Chat, look. I have feelings for another guy."

She felt him pull away.

"Oh."

He looked so crushed but as he looked up at her, he looked accepting. That sent a jolt of pain through her heart. Marinette realized that the entire time, from the first time he crawled through her window until now, that Chat expected rejection, because that was all he had ever known. He was used to being rejected from Ladybug, and from what little knowledge she had gleaned from his home life, he was used to being rejected there as well. He was used to this. Oh god, she couldn't stand it.

"Chat, that's not all I wanted to say." She sat back on her heels, so that her eyes were level with his. She lightly touched his cheek as she continued.

"Its' true that I have feelings for this guy, but I've given up on ever being with him. It's never going to happen. And its not that I don't have feelings for you, Chat, because I do." Marinette paused a minute, did she really just admit that out loud? When just a little while ago, she couldn't even admit it to herself? Huh, okay.

"Chat, you deserve so much more than to be a rebound and I'm afraid that that's what I'm unconsciously making you. Oh kitty, you deserve so much more than me." She saw Chat's mouth fly open to begin protesting but she starting talking again before he could. "And besides, I thought you liked Ladybug?"

He stayed silent for a few minutes, looking at her pensively. She looked up at him waiting for his answer.

She, somehow, had settled into Chat's lap, with his arms and legs wrapped loosely around her. Suddenly he tightened his body around her, bringing her closer, and Marinette looked down in surprise. Chat's fingers found their way to underneath her chin, lifting her face up. He leaned in, making sure to hold her face in a position to where she could easily see his eyes. And she saw them, boy, did she see them. Dark with emotions, glimmering and sparkling with longing and desire. Hues of green twisting and shifting with hurt and confusion. Haunting and beautiful, the sight took her breath away. He leaned in close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin. He started talking, his voice heavy with emotion;

"It's also true, that I still have feelings for Ladybug just like you have feelings for this other boy, but like you, my feelings are not reciprocated and probably never will be. So right now, all I want is you. And I swear to you, that if this ends up going anywhere, that I will be entirely committed to you. I'm not going to suddenly run off if Ladybug changes her mind.  I want to explore whatever we have. And I'm asking if you would like to, too." He finished softly as he pulled back. 

Marinette thought about it for a minute. Every logical part of her was screaming no, but her heart was fluttering, a steady whisper beating out; yes, yes, yes, say yes. Oh what the hell, she thought, if I wanted to stop this I should have done it the first night. But now I want to, I want to try whatever this is with him. It's too late to stop this, I've already fallen for him.

She looked up at him, and sliding her hands up from where they rested on his chest to wrap around his neck. She hauled her aching body up into a sitting position so that they were eye level.

"I'd like to try whatever this is. I want to try this with you."

Chat grinned happily at her.

"Seal the deal with a kiss?" He asked her cheekily. She silenced his ever-present smirk by pressing her lips against his. He sighed in contentment , settling back and tightening his arms around her back, pulling her closer.

Let's try.

Author's note: So this is the chapter I figured out that I can't write kissing scenes. Haha, well okay.