A/N: I haven't updated in a while! Hope you guys like this chapter! Plz vote and comment! Thanks for reading!

Four years ago, Alya had left and Marinette didn't even get to say goodbye. She didn't like Paris anymore, it wasn't charm without her friends and only seemed to come with worse and worse happenings every time something good happened to her.

Luka and Marinette had grown closer and closer, but Marinette had always felt there was something in between them that kept them from getting closer. Marinette stepped up onto her balcony and felt Chat Noir nearby, "Hello, Kitty."

He chuckled from the shadows and slid out, twirling his belt around his pointer finger. Chat Noir had been coming daily now, it wasn't a surprise anymore to hear him coming any closer, for a black cat you could say he wasn't even that good at sneaking around. "Princess! You seem happy~"

Marinette sighed and leaned on her elbow, "Mm...I'm not too sure about that." Chat leaned on the rooftop and smiled, "Oh well do tell." Marinette rolled her eyes, "Nuh-uh, Kitty! First spill the beans."

Chat Noir scratched himself behind the ear and gave out a nervous chuckle, "Sure...Marinette...?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a girlfriend!"

Marinette was silent, she couldn't get herself together. Chat Noir, of all people, had a girlfriend?  Well, this was surely something the news would find both hilarious and disturbing to some of his fans. Marinette knew a few girls at her university already who had fallen head over heels with Chat Noir after the announcement that Adrien was dating-

Marinette couldn't think of the name any longer, she felt herself losing her footing and being dragged into Chat Noir's arms. "Chat Noir!" She shouted, standing on her feet and getting out of his lap where he had dragged her into.

"Oh um...sorry Princess. I thought after all this time you'd be okay with that-"

"Not at all, Kitty! In your dreams!"

She crossed her arms and harrumphed, turning around and catching the railing. What was she thinking again? She couldn't remember, all she could see was the Eiffel tower's bright lights spilling across the Parisian night sky.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah...for four to eight years or something like that. We've dated...for a while, but I'm 27 now, practically 28. I should be married off like all my friends."

Chat Noir sighed, "I know, it's that feeling that you should be somewhere but you're not there. It's the worst. Trust me." Marinette sat up on the railing of the balcony, "I don't trust you, though." Chat Noir shrugged, "Fine by me." Marinette twisted her palms around the thin, cold railings.

They were becoming red and creating some friction on her poor palms. She kicked her legs in and out and felt her hands slowly lift off the rail, she felt like she was flying every time she did this. "Marinette...? What are you doing?"

Marinette smiled, "Flying." A second passed and she lowered her hands back down to the railing.

Chat Noir's eyes grew big, he lunged for Marinette as a ray of black light hit her square in the back, she fell backward, feeling nauseous, and flew through the air, right off the railing. Slipping and feeling the impact in her thoughts.

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to- 'Transform, Marinette!'

'Tikki! I can't-'

Thump! Marinette felt Chat Noir's arms around her and sighed in relief as he pulled her around the building and hid her in an alleyway, "You stay here, out of trouble, Marinette! I'll catch the villain and hopefully, Ladybug will show up to purify the akuma in time-"

Marinette wrapped her arms around Chat Noir and smiled, "Thanks, Kitty. I thought I would die..." Chat Noir blushed slightly and smiled, "No problem, Princess." Marinette inched away into the shadows, waving to Chat Noir and smiling.

Chhat Noir flung himself into the air and off the ground with his stick, landing safely on the top of another building and chasing after the akuma. Marinette felt her cheeks getting hot but slowly let go of the feeling.

"Tikki, transform me!"

~xoxoxo~

Ladybug zoomed in from behind, catching up with Chat Noir in the process and racing down two streets of long lines of buildings. 

"Hey, Chat Noir-"

"Oh...hi."

Ladybug smiled, he hadn't been much of a nuisance now that he had a girlfriend. She decided it was nice to hear some silence from him. Chat grabbed his belt and twirled it around his finger, "Be careful M'lady." Ladybug groaned. Nope! Nevermind, he hadn't grown out of his "you're my pretty princess" phase whatsoever!

"I have a boyfriend, Chat."

"And I have a girlfriend," he frowned, "But I like you."

Ladybug rolled her eyes, "Let's just capture the akuma and get this whiny parade over with." Chat shivered under her cold breath and for a second he thought the moment he would find Ladybug's fair suitor, he would destroy him-

"Chat?" Ladybug stopped for him, Chat Noir smiled and grabbed his stick, flinging into the air and soaring above the white clouds, "Race ya to the akuma!" Ladybug rolled her eyes and smiled back, it was back to their teenage years.

"Chat!"

~xoxoxo~

Ladybug flew into an alleyway after purifying the akuma and detransformed. Chat Noir was down the road, sniffing the concrete and hanging from street lamps like he always did when he was bored after they were done. Now that they could stay longer after using their powers, it was nice to watch him play around longer.

Marinette returned to her balcony and spotted Chat Noir down below, he was staring at a brick wall, watching thick graffiti paint dry. 'Marinette? What're you looking at?'  Tikki said, glancing down at Chat Noir, 'He is pretty funny...'

"Tikki, I don't think I'd fall for a guy just because he was funny. If I fell for a guy I'd...I'd want him to have fallen for me back."

'But that didn't happen with Adrien.'

"Exactly! I learned my lesson from that and hope we can grow as friends in the future," Marinette exhaled and sat down on the floor of the balcony, "I don't really want another love life apart from Luka. I think Ladybug's doing great already without Marinette."

'But Marinette you are Ladybug!'

"I don't feel like her. I'm a clutz and a total furbrain, no pun intended." Tikki sighed, 'Ladybug and you are the same people,'

Marinette shook her head and looked down to see Chat Noir below fiddling with his fingers and turning back to her, he hopped on her balcony and smiled, tipping around the place with his silent paws, "Thanks Chat Noir."

"For what?" He said, confused.

"For saving me from death," Marinette chuckled, it was funny to see him so clueless at times. He leaned back on the rail and sighed, "Yeah." Marinette leaned on her elbow and groaned, "I wish this was easier."

Chat Noir nodded, "Yeah. I don't like my father keeping me home all the time."

"What? But you're an adult!"

Chat Noir shook his head and frowned, standing up and balancing gracefully along the thin metal balcony railing, "Not in his eyes." Marinette frowned, "Oh Chat, I didn't know." Chat Noir shook it off and returned to smiling, "It's no problem, I just wish Ladybug would love me back." Marinette shook her head and reached for his shoulder, gripping it and soothing him quickly.

He stopped shivering and let down his guard. Marinette let him pull her into his lap this time and she played with a strand of stray hair, "But I thought you were happy because you had a girlfriend." Chat Noir shook his head and sighed, "I don't know. I feel like...I don't like talking about my feelings."

Marinette smiled and he pushed a stray end of hair behind her ear, she blushed furiously and jumped up from her spot in his lap, "Agh! No more flirting!" Chat Noir laughed, "Mhm, and you were the one who jumped into my lap in the first place."

Marinette groaned, she didn't want any more of this stupid "yay me" talk, she felt beaten down to the core the moment she heard of Adrien's first girlfriend. And the fact that her name wasn't announced made her a bit jealous-

But she let those feelings slide away as quickly as she could, breathing in an equal amount of air and feeling her legs again. Kagami Tsurugi was bound to be his girlfriend anyway, she wanted him to love her and Marinette was sure he had to have loved her back at some point and that kiss...

She would've thought of herself as the worst friend ever if she hadn't gone to the ceremony and their announcement, after all, he came to all her parties and it was hard not to miss the party anyway. 

Chloé, no doubt, had missed the party, she was furious and came pounding on Marinette's door later, Marinette found the courage to say no to her over and over again and Chloé made her rant.

"Marinette?" Chat Noir waved a hand in front of her petrified face and she sighed, "S-Sorry." "Are you alright?" "No." Marinette felt tears strike fire down her face, Chat Noir caught the first one with his finger, a silver dollar on his finger.

"I don't know. I guess this is," she sniffed and moved away from Chat Noir, trying miserably to hide her tears, even though he had already seen her like this. "This is just what we were meant to be, right? Lost...dead...dumbfounded...I don't know..."

"It's okay, Marinette, you can cry, we'll talk it out..."

"But we can't...I look so innocent right now, sorry, sorry, I'm useless right now-" She felt Chat Noir touch her shoulder, but she didn't remove it, she let him squeeze her shoulder and felt a pang of happiness soar through her for a split second that Chat was there.

~xoxoxo~

Chat Noir didn't feel so hot the moment Marinette started spilling out tears, and here she was again, for almost the third time all night, crying out on his lap. I hate this, Chat Noir admitted to himself, Marinette never cries! What was I supposed to do when she did?

Marinette felt Chat's warmth and teared up a bit more, "I don't know...is it okay to be...jealous of your crush? Or to call him stupid and mean? Is it okay to even call him your crush if you have a boyfriend already?!" Marinette felt a bit surprised that she was crying to Chat Noir and not Luka.

Stop crying over spilled bologna, she repeated in her head, but it was okay, right? It was okay to cry when you felt your heart being wrenched out of your very body, heart, and soul. No, it wasn't...it would be a miracle if she could do something actually miraculous for once.

Chat Noir smiled, he was happy to be next to Marinette, he had to admit she smelled fairly like Ladybug, but they had never been close enough before. He hugged her and noticed her earrings, his eyes grew wide and he pulled away, "Marinette I-" She cocked her head, the earrings were pure black from a distance but he could swear he could see red and dots...

She had to be just a big fan of Ladybug, after all, he had seen those earrings before several times in school and he had even worn the Ladybug miraculous himself once before, he would've known if those were the earrings.

"Chat?"

"It's not wrong." He said, quickly.

"What?"

Chat Noir nodded and held her shoulders tight, "I love someone too, I call her my crush, I don't know her identity but I love her. She's what makes me get up in the morning and what I fall asleep with at night." Marinette blushed, she hoped Chat Noir didn't see her and take pity.

"She's my sun and my moon, my polar star. I love her with all my heart and I have a girlfriend who I'm sure isn't-" Chat Noir stopped, was it possible that Kagami Tsurugi was Ladybug? No, he thought, thinking of the dragon miraculous, "She isn't her. I've called Ladybug everything you can think of."

"Idiot?"

Chat Noir thought, "Yes...I've thought of her like that before." Marinette blushed harder, trying to hide it, it wasn't the same when you knew who the person he had a crush on really was on the inside.

Tikki was right, she was Ladybug from the moment she was born to the whopping 27 years old she was today. Marinette hugged Chat Noir, "Thanks, Chat. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

And that was how the night went. Marinette fell asleep and Chat Noir detransformed, sliding into his room and plopping down on the bed, Plagg shrieked shortly and hid beneath the bed as a dark figure made his way into the room, "Adrien?"

~xoxoxo~

Adrien panicked, his father could never know that he was Chat Noir, especially because- Adrien couldn't think, his father's eerie stare was getting closer and closer, he could feel the heat beating down on him from four feet away, "F-Father?" Gabriel sat down next to Adrien and the lights clicked on, "Adrien."

Adrien helplessly felt petrified, "Father," he sighed. In with the cool, he thought, Out with the hot- "ADRIEN!" Adrien jumped and felt his cool wither away, he was shivering right now. Gabriel touched his arm and patted it, "We're getting security cameras for once."

"But father, I'm old enough to go off on my own!" Adrien stood up on his knees on the bed. Gabriel's expression darkened, "Natalie!" Adrien clenched his fists, it would be okay, he tried not to fight back. Now wasn't the time to, "STOP!!"

All eyes were on him. He stood up on the bed, looking taller than his father now, even though he had always been, nothing about his height would affect him though. Gabriel left the room and shut the door without paying any attention to his rebellious son, straining against Gorilla's strengths.

Security cameras?!?! He couldn't transform and the only place there wouldn't be cameras would be in the restroom. There were no windows in the restroom but one very small, a circular one, hardly big enough to slide through.

Natalie grabbed his hand and yanked him down to the bed, she had become more and more of a mother. She had disciplined him hard in between high school and the moment he became an adult she made sure he stayed home.

And this time she had convinced his father very efficiently that he should add a stubborn pair of security cameras. Adrien beat down on the bed and sulked, it was practically the middle of the night and it seemed as if everything had changed in a heartbeat, or two heartbeats. There was no mention of when it would all end, just a continuous wreckage powering down on his heart.

"I..." Plagg zoomed out from beneath the bed and touched Adrien's hand, "Look on the bright side-" Adrien shook his head, "There is no bright side, Plagg."

"Oh come on, Adrien! You're just being a pessimist right about now!"

"SHUT UP, PLAGG!"

Plagg stumbled away and harrumphed, crossing his tiny arms and flying into the cheese cabinet, he didn't say anything to Adrien. Adrien was flat against the bed, thinking about the cameras his father had stored around the room, it might look funny for him to be talking to an imaginary critter.

Perhaps it was for the best that Plagg wouldn't be talking to him for much longer.