A/N: Miraculous Ladybug is back and so am I! Spoilers for S2E3, "Prime Queen".

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.

Remember This

"Chat Noir?"

Most days, Chat Noir would have given anything to spend some extra time with his Lady. Her playful banter, her smile, her expressive face all lit up his life in a way that not much else could, and every time they were forced to part in a rush, his heart ached with longing. He'd assumed tonight would be one of those nights; Ladybug had run off so fast after purifying Nadja Chamack's akuma that he hadn't even been able to bid her farewell.

But now she stood about a stone's throw away from where he sat moping on a rooftop, the lights of the nearby Eiffel Tower casting strange glows on her red suit. And for once, Chat Noir didn't feel like talking to her.

Ladybug approached him. "I kind of hoped you'd still be out and about," she said. Her careful tone made his costume's ears droop. She sat beside him, close enough so she wouldn't have to raise her voice, but far enough that he couldn't feel her body heat. "Are you okay?"

Chat Noir shrugged. It was the best answer he had.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Ladybug pull her legs up to her chest and wrap her arms around them. A defensive pose. "Look," she said, "it's not like I didn't want to tell you about the kiss. I mean, I didn't, but not for mean reasons. Trust me, I had the opposite of mean reasons."

"Ladybug."

"I'm serious! When I said I was saving you, I… meant that I was saving you." He heard the cringe in her voice. "You're my partner, and my friend, and you know I would do anything to rescue you from danger," she said. Her fingers curled into fists, and the motion drew Chat Noir's gaze to her hands. Had they always been that small? "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

Chat Noir sighed. Though he couldn't remember anything about the kiss or the akuma attack that led to it, he'd guessed as much about Ladybug's motives for keeping the incident from him. She liked him, maybe even loved him—but not like that. Never like that. And as bad as he felt about the whole thing, he knew it was his turn to comfort her, because he did love her like that, and he couldn't stand to see her upset.

"It's all right, my Lady," he said. "I understand. You probably thought that if you told me, I might become obnoxious about it. And I really didn't help myself by proving you right."

Ladybug looked at him. "You weren't obnoxious."

"I was obnoxious."

"Fine, you were a little obnoxious, but you reined it in and I appreciate that." She scooted closer to him and nudged his shoulder with her shoulder. "Are you mad at me?"

Chat Noir smiled. "No," he said. Hurt, but that was in no way Ladybug's fault. He leaned back on his palms and stretched his legs out in front of him. "Can't say I'm not disappointed, though."

Ladybug arched an eyebrow. "Disappointed?"

"The one time my Lady kisses me of her own free will, and I get memory-wiped of the whole thing!" he cried, then threw her a playful smirk. "You can't blame me for being upset, buginette. I don't get kissed very often, and never by someone as amazing as you."

She snorted. "Oh, stop it, you big flirt. If you're feeling this well, I'm going home."

"We really should get ice cream sometime, though," Chat Noir said. He'd been keeping track of places around town that he thought she might like. "We can wear bad disguises over our suits and everything."

Ladybug tapped his nose with her index finger. "Only if you're buying. I'm short on allowance money this week, but I'll be sure to treat you next time."

Now it was Chat Noir's turn to nudge her shoulder with his shoulder. "Deal," he said. After all, they didn't have to be boyfriend and girlfriend to enjoy each other's company. At the end of the day, what mattered was that they were a team. A perfect team. "Thank you for saving me, by the way. That time and any other time I may have forgotten. I feel like I don't get the chance to say that enough."

Ladybug's eyes widened, but her surprise turned into a smile that took his breath away. "You've saved me more times than I've saved you, chaton."

"It's not a contest, Ladybug."

"No, it's not," she agreed. Then, before he could speak, before he could think, before he could even understand what was happening, she lifted her hands to his face and pulled him into a kiss. Three seconds of lip-to-lip contact that left Chat Noir stunned and staring, eyes wide and cheeks warm as Ladybug drew back, grinned at him, and jumped to her feet. "You're not getting another so try and remember that one, got it?" she said.

Chat Noir watched helplessly as Ladybug ran across the rooftop, wished him good night, then cast her yoyo and swung off into the darkness. He lifted clawed fingers to his just-kissed lips and fell over backwards.

"N-No fair!" he howled at the sky. He hadn't even gotten to kiss her back! But he smiled, and couldn't stop smiling, and would probably still be smiling when he woke up the next morning because Ladybug had kissed him and everything was beautiful.

And maybe, he thought, just maybe it was too soon to count himself out for good.

The End

A/N: Because literally everyone wanted them to talk after that interview fiasco, including me.

This idea woke me up at three in the morning. Please chatter in the review box so I can convince my brain it was worth the lack of sleep.