movie night | marichat

"Marinette!"

Marinette turned around, smiling at her best friend. "What is it, Alya?"

"Girl, you are never going to believe it."

Alya was grinning. She had one hand on her hip and her phone in the other. "I got us into a group movie night. And guess who's going to be there?"

Marinette almost didn't dare to get her hopes up. "Adrien?"

"That's right! Am I the best or what?" Alya chuckled.

Squealing, Marinette threw her hands around Alya's neck. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

As she patted the ecstatic girl's back, Alya explained. "One little problem. Chloé overheard and insisted on coming along."

Marinette groaned. "Of course. Chloé can be such a brat."

"I know, right? Now get home, you should probably do your homework so we can stay out a little later," Alya instructed and sent Marinette off with a grin.

~

Marinette had just finished the last of her homework. She collapsed on her bed, letting out a joyful cry. "Finally!"

Her phone vibrated. Marinette sighed and picked up Alya's incoming call. "Hey."

"Hey, girl. I have some bad news for you."

"What? Oh no!" Marinette cried. "What happened?"

She could hear Alya's somewhat sheepish tone through the phone.

"Well... Adrien said he couldn't make it. Something about his dad again, I think. Sorry Marinette... I know you really wanted to see Adrien tonight."

Marinette frowned. "It's okay. It's not like there's anything you can do about. I might just not go... I mean if I don't see Adrien, what's the point?"

Alya tsked over the phone. "Marinette, come on! Don't cancel because of Adrien! We're watching a movie and it's supposed to be a good one!'

"But Chloé..." Marinette piped up.

"Whatever, girl! Since when has Chloé ever stopped you from being awesome? Now stop moping and get ready, because I'll be at your house in fifteen minutes!"

There was a click as Alya hung up. Marinette relented with a soft sigh and grabbed everything she needed.

When the doorbell rang, Marinette was already downstairs. She waved goodbye to her parents and left with Alya. Normally, she only went to the cinema with her best friend, but tonight she would make an exception.

~

Adrien groaned. "I can't believe Father cancelled last minute again. Why'd I think tonight would be different?"

Plagg made a face at him. "Sorry, kid. But didn't you do the exact same thing?"

At that, Adrien paled. He checked the clock. "There's still time! I can make it!"

Plagg snorted. "Barely! It started ten minutes ago! Are you just gonna show up? They're probably in the theatre already, so it's not like you can text them."

With a sigh, Adrien slumped. Suddenly, he jumped. "Actually, yeah! I can go as Chat!"

"What? No no no, wait! Kid, think about-" Plagg tried to say, but was interrupted.

"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien shouted.

~

Marinette excused herself from the trailers playing before the movie. She walked out into the hallway carrying a bucket of popcorn, not wanting to have left it at her seat.

She tossed one up into the air and caught it in her mouth. "I can't believe I got stuck with the seat separate from the group," she grumbled, crunching down on the piece of popcorn. "Why can't Chloé sit by herself? She doesn't want to talk to us anyway!"

Unfortunately, Marinette had to sit in a seat two rows behind the rest of the group. Max and Kim were still in the same row as her, but they were on the other side. Alya was sitting between Nino and Sabrina, and wasn't able to sit beside Marinette.

Marinette groaned and almost dropped her popcorn. She suddenly realized the movie was probably starting. Hurriedly, she ran back in and took her seat.

Just as the introduction to the movie was playing, she saw a dark shadow of a person rush in and sit down right next to her, taking the aisle seat.

Marinette squinted in the darkness. As bright words illuminated the massive movie screen, she realized that the person sitting beside her was none other than Chat Noir.

Her mind was instantly sent reeling.

Why is he here? Why is he in costume? Why is he sitting next to me? What's happening?

Meanwhile, Chat felt her stare and turned to face her. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it was Marinette. He had randomly taken a seat when he rushed in, hoping not to draw too much attention to himself. He didn't bother changing back because he didn't want to miss any more of the movie, and if he showed up as Adrien, his friends might question him.

"Hey princess," he grinned, whispering. "Can I have some popcorn?"

Marinette gaped at him. He was here unannounced, and now he dared to ask her for popcorn?

"Are you crazy?" she asked. Marinette had to refrain herself from acting too much like Ladybug. "What are you doing here?"

Chat smirked at her. "First, maybe I am crazy... crazy for you."

He high fived himself (rather loudly, too) for the pickup line, eliciting a few angry glances from other moviegoers.

"And second, watching a movie. What else would I be doing?"

Marinette couldn't help looking at him like he had four heads. "Why are you in costume? Is there an akuma here Ladybug doesn't know about?"

Momentarily, she panicked inside, hoping she wasn't uninformed.

Chat chuckled and winked at her. "Don't stress yourself out, princess. There's nothing to worry about."

He was still smirking at her. The lights from the movie danced across his face. Marinette realized with a start that her partner was actually much more handsome than she liked to give him credit for. If Adrien weren't in the picture, well, she'd probably like Chat.

Pink crept onto Marinette's cheeks at the thought. She quickly turned back to the movie, hoping Chat didn't notice her slight blush.

For some reason unbeknownst to him, Chat was still staring at Marinette. He couldn't help but notice that she was quite pretty now that he gave it a little thought. He saw a pink tint on her face and couldn't help but smile to himself.

I did that, he thought, surprising himself.

Chat glanced at her once more before reluctantly diverting his attention back to the movie, which he had missed a part of already because he couldn't stop staring at his classmate.

He was absorbed into the movie for a while when he suddenly felt added weight on his shoulder. Carefully, he turned to see that Marinette had accidentally fallen asleep leaning on him.

Chat's mouth twitched into a smile. "Cute," he whispered.

Marinette didn't wake up for the rest of the movie. As the credits started to roll, Chat realized he would have to wake her up. He really didn't want to- she looked so peaceful sleeping.

Hesitantly, he reached one hand over and gently shook her awake. "Princess," he whispered.

Marinette stirred. "Mmm," she murmured. "Adrien..."

Chat's eyes widened. Did she say... Adrien?

He began to turn red. Quickly, he tried to wake her up. "H-hey, princess, you should, uh, wake up?"

Slowly, Marinette's eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him sleepily.

Suddenly, she jolted upright and began apologizing profusely for falling asleep on him. Chat smirked and told her it was fine.

Just then, there was a shriek. Alya was standing there, hands covering her mouth, eyes wide. "Marinette? Chat Noir? Explain!"

Marinette bit her lip. There was no way out of this... she was definitely in trouble with Alya now.

Luckily, Chat read her mind. He grinned and rested his arm on Marinette's shoulder. "We just ended up sitting next to each other. You're Alya, right? The founder of the Ladyblog?"

Alya nodded mutely.

Marinette gave Chat a sheepish smile. "I'm going to clear this up with her," she whispered.

He nodded.

Marinette got up and began to lead Alya away. When she turned to look at him, she was somewhat surprised to see that Chat was already looking at her.

"You better tell me everything!" Alya practically shouted.

"He just ended up sitting next to me, that's it. Really."

Alya was unconvinced, but after several minutes, gave up in trying to get Marinette to tell her. The two joined the rest of the group and went to the mini arcade outside in the cinema's lobby. Alya went to go find Nino while Marinette wandered off towards a machine where you had to line up two things so one could push a prize out.

Marinette set her eyes on a watch. Just as she was about to put in a quarter, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Surprised, she turned to find a smirking Chat Noir.

"Hey princess," he greeted, his green eyes shining. "What do you want? Well, besides me, of course," he joked.

Marinette couldn't help but smile at that. "In your wildest dreams, kitty," she responded.

"How'd you know?" he grinned.

Laughing, Marinette shook her head at him. "I need a new watch. I accidentally dropped my old one in the sink when I was taking it off."

Chat squinted at the prizes. "That one?" he asked, pointing to a silver one.

"Yeah," Marinette replied. "Why?"

He put his hands on his hips and put on a determined face. "Because I'm going to win it for you, of course. Just sit back and watch, princess."

Marinette giggled. "Okay, kitty, whatever you say."

Winking at her, Chat inserted two quarters. He tried to line it up, but didn't realize how fast the timer was, and before he could line it up right, the timer ran out. He growled and tried again.

Marinette watched as he tried again and again, fruitlessly attempting to win her that watch. Concerned, she put a hand on his arm. "Chat?"

Chat's tongue was peeking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. He looked up. "Yeah?"

"You're spending a lot of quarters. Are you sure you want to keep going?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

His heart was beating faster. Chat looked her in the eye and smirked. "I'm going to win this watch for you, no matter the cost."

Marinette pulled out her phone, realizing that it was already ten minutes to her curfew. "I have to go... Chat, please don't waste so much money on me."

Chat winked at her. "Guess time flies when we're together," he flirted.

Marinette just sighed. "I guess I'll see you around."

"See you around, princess."

~

When Marinette woke up the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky. She rolled over and checked her phone. It was ten on a Saturday... a fine time to wake up.

"I wonder where Chat was last night," she thought aloud. "He even missed patrol."

Not bothering to change out of her pajamas, Marinette hopped out of bed, pushed open the door, and climbed onto her balcony. The sunlight was warm and it was a beautiful day. Suddenly, Chat Noir dropped out of the sky and onto the railing, scaring her half to death.

"Chat Noir?" Marinette asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

Chat stepped onto her balcony and bowed. He kissed her hand. "Good morning, princess," he greeted good-naturedly.

"What are you doing here?" Marinette repeated.

Grinning, Chat opened his other hand. He was holding the watch Marinette had wanted yesterday. "I told you I'd win it for you, no matter the cost."

Marinette gaped at him. He saluted her, turned around, and flew away. Tikki flew out. "He's sweeter than you give him credit for."

Still staring at Chat Noir's tiny, retreating figure, Marinette replied. "I guess he is."