Author's Note: Here's the second part of the 7th chapter. If the events depicted here are not clear, I advice you re-read at least the beginning of the previous chapter – which in fact is chronologically the ending of this one ;)

It is a total coincidence, but as it happens this chapter (which is probably the last I'll be able to post for this story this month) is 100% MariChat, just purrrrfect for MariChat May, don't you think?

Enjoy!

Chapter 8

The girl slowly reached up to take a piece of the apple pie from the makeshift table and caught a black gloved hand instead.

Had Marinette been just a normal teenage girl, she would probably have fainted or screamed. This would be an understandable reaction and one that Chat was expecting on getting caught. But unbeknownst to the feline hero she was nowhere near a regular girl and neither were her reflexes. He was dragged down in one swift, freakishly strong pull, his chin connected with a rising knee and suddenly there were more stars in view than the evening seemed to hold a moment ago. The kick sent Chat in the opposite direction but his flight was abruptly stopped when he hit the railing. Any usual mortal would be severely hurt after a welcome like that, yet thanks to the resistance provided by his superhero suit the boy was merely stunned, and even that mostly out of shock.

'Geeeeez, Princess,' he groaned rubbing his jaw and shaking his head to stop the ringing in his ears. 'That's animal cruelty, you know!' he sent her a reproachful look.

Marinette stiffened trying to assess the situation. She knew Chat wasn't really harmed, he took worst blows during their battles. And if he managed to knock out a half remark like that, he was already on his way to full recovery. That's when the initial guilt Marinette felt turned into exasperation almost in an instant. So much for her plan to rest. She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot meaningfully zeroing her gaze on the intruder.

'What. Are. You. Doing. Here.' She drawled through gritted teeth raising her brow.

Chat Noir looked up at her and suddenly an image of a Valkyrie popped into his mind. Hitherto he had faced hundreds of criminals, tens of supervillains, and occasionally a vexed Ladybug, but somehow all those encounters paled in comparison to an exasperated Marinette. And the fact that she was wearing a pink woolly jumper with a crown in front somehow made her even scarier.

The boy decided to play it cool. He flashed her an impish smile, picked himself up from the floor and started to walk towards her with the usual swagger. He stopped mid step when Marinette's eyes narrowed.

'Oh, I was just patrolling the neighborhood, you know, after today's attack and all,' he desperately tried to put as much smoothness to his voice as humanly possible, but found that really difficult when she stared at him like that. 'And suddenly I smelled this beautiful aroma I simply couldn't resist.' He made a show of inhaling loudly and let out a contented sight. It looked like she didn't buy it.

'It's the cinnamon we add to apple pies.' Marinette said gravely picking up the plate and holding it out of his reach. She was still unimpressed which was unnerving. His previous encounters with the girl when he was suited up had gone much better and Adrien was sure she had been impressed by his superhero identity, hopefully even a bit intimidated. This time she wasn't impressed. At all. To be honest on the inside he was already intimidated by her as hell. Somewhere at the back of his mind a small voice was scolding him, reminding him he was supposed to be making friends with the girl, not get beaten and startled. He summoned every bit of the feline charm he had left and soldiered on.

'I wasn't talking about the pie, Princess.' He murmured casting her an amused glance, that took much more effort than it should. However that last line finally got to her as she flushed and fluttered her lashes suddenly very interested in the state of her feet. Chat took that as his cue to come closer.

Marinette no longer seemed crossed, but she still stood firmly in front of her deck chair and held the plate close to her. She was biting her lip and not meeting his gaze. The boy used the moment to watch her more closely while she wasn't paying attention. Once again he pondered on how unique this girl was and how much he felt drawn to her. He recalled how wonderful it felt to hold her close earlier that day, to feel the warmth radiating of her. Adrien was sure his racing heart would soon rip out of his chest and in that instant all his befriending plans were about to go out of the window. His head filled with pink haze as he realized the only thing he wanted to do was to reach for her and… He didn't actually got to the next part, as Marinette's voice brought him back from his own musings.

'Um… Chat? Can I ask you something?' she said in a much more gentle tone, that sent shivers down his spine.

'Sure, Princess,' he shrugged trying to cover up his giddiness.

'D-do you… do you call every girl a princess?' Marinette sent him a curious look. As Ladybug she hadn't really seen him doing that, although he was always chivalrous towards other girls, even if in an exaggerated fashion. But the image of Chat as a giant flirt just wouldn't leave her alone, especially now that she knew the unbelievable - that it was Adrien under that mask doing the flirting. She decided she needed to know.

Well, Adrien thought, there was only one thing he could say to that, wasn't it? And after yesterday it was even more obvious.

'Of course not. What kind of douchebag you take me for?' he entirely dropped the sass, sounding more concerned and serious than anything else. Marinette was about to let out the sigh of relief, but her breath hitched as the boy locked his endlessly green eyes with hers and concluded, 'There's only one Princess in Paris and she's holding a plate of delicious looking apple pie right now.'

Suddenly Adrien felt extremely self-conscious when his ears told him what Chat's mouth just said, and he would probably lose it, if he didn't notice how Marinette's cheeks reddened momentarily, and how she barely audibly gasped. His outer Chat took over and finally his trademark bravado kicked back. He leaned closer with a mischievous smile, acting as if nothing happened. 'Speaking of which, may I have some of that?' He pointed a finger at the plate.

Marinette snapped out of the previous stupor – this was her Chat after all, she told herself. She could handle Chat all right. Or at least Ladybug could, but as it happened she kind of was Ladybug already. How convenient.

The girl put on her usual cheeky smile with just a tad of Ladybugness. 'Didn't you get some already in the afternoon, Chat?' she asked teasingly and let out a giggle, a music to his ears.

The blonde straightened up and waved a hand dismissively. 'Ah, yes. But that was from your parents. I don't remember you thanking me for saving the day,' he accented that with a wink. Contented he watched Marinette's eyes lit up, when she asked cockishly. 'What about Ladybug?'

He put on his best Cheshire Cat grin eyeing the plate, 'Tell you what. If she comes around before I'm finished with that pie, I'm willing to share. Otherwise it's her loss and more pie furrr me.'

Of course, if there was anything Chat liked more than sweets, puns were a pretty safe bet. The girl laughed out loud shaking her head. She hit him playfully on the shoulder and passed him the plate saving a piece for herself. 'You're impiesible, Chat!'

His hand stopped half way to the pie and he looked at her searching for any signs that this didn't just happen, that all four of his ears just lied to him. But he was met with an amused and slightly daring stare.

'Did you just…' he started, his tone unwittingly husky. He cleared his throat. 'Furrr sure you did, Purrrrincesss,' he drawled in a low purr that made Marinette's toes curl, took a piece of pie from the plate and slammed it into his mouth.

After that things got a little fuzzy for Marinette. Later she recalled that she had to go downstairs twice for another helping of the apple pie and lemon meringue. The two of them sat on the deck chairs, wrapped in the blankets, and talked about everything and nothing while pastries disappeared like snow in July.

At one point when they started talking about Cereal Killer Chat's eyes darkened. 'That was really brave of you rushing to your parents' rescue today,' he said. 'Dumb, but brave.' Marinette scowled at that, but he didn't let her interrupt. 'As much as I admire your courage, Princess… Don't you think facing an akuma without even an ordinary weapon is rather foolish?'

Marinette pouted and crossed her arms in a stubborn stance. 'I've done it before,' she stated before she could stop herself. Admittedly there were quite a few times when she couldn't transform and yet she was still able to gain them some advantage against the akumas. Once she even singlehandedly rescued Chat from Antibug. But it wasn't a point that would get her win this dispute, so she shut up hoping Chat wasn't expecting her to elaborate. Thankfully he indeed wasn't.

'Yup, you've done it. With Nathanael.' He said smugly and snorted amused with her resentful look. 'Tell me, after accepting that akuma did Nathanael demolish any stores? Destroyed public property? Threatened, kidnapped or brainwashed people maybe?' Chat leaned closer to her clearly having fun at her expense. 'Nope. He asked you on a date. It's hardly an event that qualifies as combat experience, wouldn't you agree?' He sat back wolfing another piece of apple pie with all the signs of enjoyment.

Marinette really wanted to wipe that shit-eating grin of his face, but she wasn't exactly in a position to argue. Chat was referring to the only experience civilian Marinette could have with an akuma that he was aware of. Still the competitive streak she was cursed with wouldn't just let her keep quiet. 'I totally could face an akuma,' she rebuked and sticked out her tongue. 'I got you stunned and flying in what – half a second?'

For a moment Adrien hesitated. It was true, she got him and he didn't see that coming. Still, if it had been an akuma instead of him, her assault would only slow them down a bit, not inflicting any permanent damage. The sheer thought of Marinette being stubborn enough to fight a supervillain made him sick. And she looked exactly like someone who might try that, if she felt she wasn't taken seriously.

'Yup, and I was up in what – two seconds? What would you do then, pray? If I was an akuma?' That got her silenced, her lips pursed. Chat supposed he made his point and decided to lighten the mood.

'Tell you what, Princess. If you're so eager to kick some akumass, I could arrange a workout session at your leisure… Your fighting skills are very promising and I suppose me and Ladybug could use some civilian sidekicks, and as kicks go I can definitely vouch for yours,' he rubbed the faint bruise on his chin. 'You could even design your own suit.' He winked at her and was glad to see her smile.

'Thanks, but no thanks. I think I'm fine with what I've got,' she replied suppressing a yawn. She was getting tired but it felt so nice just talking to him she didn't want it to end. Besides, a thought was nagging at her mind and she was working up the courage to do something about it.

Marinette looked at Chat, noticing how relaxed and lighthearted he seemed. She couldn't remember ever seeing him like that be it as Chat or as Adrien. She doubted she would feel confident enough to ask any other time. 'Chat? Why exactly do you call me princess?' There. She finally got the question out.

Surprisingly the boy didn't seem in the least perturbed about her inquiry. He gave Marinette an uncomfortably long stare and she tried not to get lost in the green.

'Because you are one.' he finally declared, as if stating the obvious.

'Right, Chat.' She scoffed, regretting she brought up the subject at all.

'You don't believe me?' Chat asked, and there was no smugness in his voice. He took her hands in his. 'Well then, let me update you on the state of your princesshood.' He was serious although there was something else in his emerald eyes, almost… adoration?

'You're wise, kind and brave like a princess. You're unassuming like one. You're fair like a princess. You have your own tower and a balcony… hmm, should I check your room for any cursed spindles?' he chuckled. 'And last but not least you have yours truly as your knight. Surely that should be enough to grant you the title?' he concluded raising her hand to his lips and brushing it with a feather light kiss.

Marinette was… shocked she wasn't a pile of goo on the floor already. Not only that, but she actually had enough coherent thought left to banter. The only possible explanation was that her disoriented consciousness didn't catch up on the turn of events yet and would be presenting the check later on (*'Knock, knock, I'm your consciousness, remember me? I just dropped in to remind you how Adrien Agreste in a tight black suit gobbled apple pie on your balcony and complimented your civilian self. He's gone now. Go ahead and freak out all you want. Bye.'*)

'Well, if I am a princess, that must mean you are at least an earl. If your high praise is anything to go by I definitely deserve more than a mere knight.' She teased with a giggle. She noticed he didn't let go of her hands. And he still was looking at her with that gleam in his eyes that made her knees weak.

'Pfff, earl? Please, I'm definitely a prince material.'

'In that case, my Prince, you need a title.' Marinette decided taking her hands back and taping her chin with a finger. She casted a glance at Chat only to see him beaming with pride. 'Let me see…' She raised a quizzical brow at him. 'Prince Charming? True, but not quite,' She winked. Then her eyes widened as she had the most important revelation of her life. 'Got it!' She ran inside her room once more, leaving a flabbergasted Chat alone. In a moment she came back with a broom.

'Heading back to Hogwarts already, Princess?' Chat snickered.

'Kneel down, please.' She said in a stern voice, ignoring his chuckles.

Chat reluctantly sunk down on one knee in front of her and Marinette tapped each of his shoulder with the broom's handle.

'Arise, Sir Punsalot!' she announced, barely holding her laughter.

Chat didn't rise however. In fact he didn't even move. His eyes got bigger and bigger and his cheeks got redder and redder, and Marinette wondered if she overdid or offended him. But then the banana smile was back and Chat floated to cloud ninety nine. He slowly got up, took the broom out of her hands and pulled her in for a bone crushing hug. Marinette squeaked but hugged him back.

'Thank you,' he whispered in her ear and right then she knew she made a friend for life.

AN: Once again thank you for reading this story, for your reviews, favs and follows. They keep me going and inspire me.

Now please, please, tell me what you think of this chap.

Also: I don't really have much time to write these days, but I've managed to write a one-shot for MariChat May. I'll be posting it here, on AO3 and on my tumblr (perditaalottachocolate-blog. tumblr .com). It's for Day 19 - Identity reveal. Sooooo when the time comes, check it out if you're into MariChat! (and even if you're not, still read it, it's funny =^,^= )

PS. For those of you who also like to read 'The Party' - in case you haven't noticed yet, I updated the story last week (first chapter after the hiatus), but for unknown reasons FF wasn't sending any notifications.