Notes:

Back from a bit of my hiatus and working on multiple pieces in multiple phases. Getting back up on that bicycle again is sometimes quite the challenge.

Thanks again to Enberlight for beta reading and cheerleading during this crazy past few weeks.

Chapter Text

Marinette sighed, pushing her food around her plate aimlessly.

She'd barely been aware enough to notice her parents peering over at one another for a moment, before her mother dared to break the silence that had fallen over the meal. "Are you alright, Marinette?"

She flinched, letting her fork slip down onto the table with a noisy plink. It was hard to feel hungry when half her stomach had fallen prey to the anxious churn of her belly at the thought of the tough conversation she knew was ahead of her.

Sighing again, Marinette forced a smile onto her face. "I'm just tired. And I've still got a lot of homework."

Her homework was hardly done, but she was unlikely to be able to accomplish much until she had the talk she'd spent all day simultaneously dreading and fearing with Adrien.

With Chat Noir - she mentally corrected. The high pitched chirp of her conscience sounded a little too much like Tikki. But it didn't change the fact that she was right.

Her toes tapped anxiously under the table. It was - after all - her loyal, trustworthy, and utterly ridiculous partner she had been mooning over for so long.

Which meant that it had really been Adrien who she'd been pushing away all along.

Marinette swallowed heavily, before stabbing a stray bit of greens with the tines of her fork.

She'd been so giddy at the initial realization of who had been hiding behind her partner's mask - at the sudden, surreal reassurance of her hand in his - that she'd only been processing the whole of the situation in fits and starts. She'd missed what was really important.

She'd been just as guilty of keeping Chat at arm's length as she had in jealousy wanting his affection as Adrien.

No one else knew just how lonely Chat Noir could be. How often he would show up even on his off nights for Patrol, just to get out of his house. Just to see her.

It was unfair how the masks that could keep them both safe could leave them both so unhappy.

Marinette blew out a heavy breath. Of course that didn't change the fact she still had no idea what to do about it.

Tom quirked his lips, eyes darting back and forth between his daughter and his wife. "Did you want to eat upstairs then?"

"No!" She shouted a little more forcefully than she'd intended. Before blinking, and slowly easing herself back into her seat, a tight smile pressing her lips a bit thinner than usual. "No. I'll stay down here to finish. I'm just trying to make a mental game plan, so I can be sure I can finish it all tonight."

Marinette stalled for as long as she could before trudging up the steps her attic room.

Tikki flitted around her, far more energetic. "Are you ready, Marinette?"

"Not really?" She fidgeted anxiously, slipping the hatch to her room securely back in place before answering. "I'm still not sure that I have all my thoughts in order where...he is concerned."

She was far too tempted to pace around her bedroom until she'd made sense of the maze of thoughts in her head.

But it was hard to ignore the clatter of his baton against the rooftop. There was no doubt in her mind that it could be anything else.

Chat Noir was there, much much earlier than she'd expected. She'd only just finished dinner and he was already darkening her balcony.

Marinette flinched, digging her nails into the soft fabric of her desk chair, peering at the slim beam of moonlight that slipped through the glass.

She wasn't sure if she was ready for this.

If she ever would really be ready for this.

But Tikki practically pushed her over to the ladder.

Chat Noir paced across the short rooftop. He'd barely eaten before he headed over. Not that anyone would miss him. Or notice if he hadn't eaten a whole meal.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. Of course, if he'd cleaned his plate and asked for more, suddenly there would be questions to the kitchen.

But it had just been so hard for him to eat. He could barely keep still all afternoon. He'd finished his homework, but his mind hadn't been entirely into it.

He just needed to be done, to be here.

Only, Marinette hadn't come up yet. He spun the baton around between his claws, to keep his reflexes sharp while he paced the few feet of space.

Had she changed her mind about meeting up for tonight?

Maybe she was just busy trying to finish up her homework, but then again, she had been skittish earlier today. Maybe he was pushing a little too hard.

As Ladybug, she had always been firm about maintaining clear lines between their civilian and superhero selves.

Maybe Marinette was having second thoughts about them knowing.

Maybe she was having second thoughts about him...

The baton slipped out of his grip, clattering to the stone floor.

He winced, stooping down to pick up the metal rod, stowing it into its holster at his back before he strode out to the rail, his claws gripping around the decorative metal.

Maybe it was a bad idea for him to even be here at all. It still might put her and her family at risk…

"Chat?"

Blinking, he peered back over his shoulder, spotting Marinette's head popped up through her skylight window.

He bit his lip, barely stopping the 'Princess' that was poised to slip past his lips.

That all-too-familiar blue gaze was trained upon him, assessing him as easily as she did every threat they wrangled together. "You're a little early."

"I got through my homework and wanted to stretch my legs for a bit."

She blinked. "Didn't you eat dinner?"

"I had a little. But my Father is away again..."

Marinette sighed softly, ducking back down the stairs.

But only for a moment before she re-opened the window. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Marinette came back up with a thermos and a pile of pastries - leaving one for Tikki as she passed through her room. It had taken a bit of time and a little more stealth than she usually needed to sneak past her parents as they prepared for bed.

"Thank you," he smiled up from the lounger as he accepted the pastry. Adrien's long ingrained manners and sweetness shone through Chat's more playful guise, as if his mask had never even been there in the first place.

She nodded, leaning against the brick as she picked at the second croissant she'd pulled from her parent's day-old stock.

They ate in companionable silence. Marinette just nibbled at her own helping, but Chat made quick work of his. And perhaps she should have seen him a bit better. That was her job as Ladybug after all. To spot the weaknesses. To find some creative way to fix every problem, no matter the obstacle.

Clearly, Adrien and Chat Noir weren't nearly as different - nor as separate - as she'd ever expected.

She shook her head, slipping away from the brick wall. "You didn't need to rush over here without eating dinner."

His eyes slipped closed as he laid back against her lounger, one claw drifting satisfied over his stomach. "I did have some food. But with the house so empty, I was just a bit more anxious than usual…I needed to get out."

She tilted her head, watching him carefully. Trying to put the pieces of these two boys she thought she knew so well together. Because it turned out she didn't know either nearly as well as she'd thought. But the pieces made more sense when assembled.

In so many ways, Adrien had been a bit of a mystery. She didn't really know what had happened with his mother, but his father had always been distant for as long as she'd known him.

It easily explained why Chat Noir so often needed reassurance. Why he'd always lingered so close, even when it hadn't been necessary in the situation. He had a real and profound fear of abandonment.

She could feel that the warmth had settled firmly onto her cheeks, but her partner clearly needed the comfort.

Resolved, Marinette pulled away from the wall, intent on sitting beside him on her lounger.

But even if she was borrowing a bit of confidence from her usual mask, the grace she wanted to borrow eluded her.

He caught her in his arms, before she'd crashed into him entirely. The blush burned ever brighter, as she buried her face into his neck.

"I swear, I am such a klutz…"

"That's not exactly anything new, you know?" Chat Noir chuckled, cuddling her a little closer. The soft laughter rumbled through his chest. "We got tangled up the first day we met, after all. And I've seen you trip before in school."

He beamed as she pulled away, righting herself to sit beside him as she'd originally intended. "It's actually kind of a wonder I wasn't able to put the pieces together before."

Marinette blinked, pulling away just a few inches to puzzle his expression. "Tikki said it was the magic protecting us."

"Tikki?" Chat Noir blinked. "Where is your Kwami?"

"She's giving me a little bit of space to try to talk to you privately."

He snorted indelicately. "That must be nice. The minute I want some privacy, Plagg is dogging my shadow and demanding as much Camembert as I can manage to sneak away into my room."

"Camembert?" She wrinkled up her nose, finally able to place the scent that had always clung to the leather of his suit.

"By the truckload, I swear." His eyes narrowed. "Why? What does your Kwami eat?"

"Cookies."

"Of course she does..." He grumbled loudly, elbowing her side lightly as she giggled. It only made his claws itch to tickle her sides, to coax a bit more of that lilting, unrestrained laughter from her lips.

He shook his head, nicking his claws against the rails of the lounger. "You really do have all the luck, don't you?"

Her blue eyes shot up to meet his, a wave of emotions -ones he would be hard-pressed to identify, even with the advantage of his night vision - meeting his in the soft glow of the string of lights.

"Well, Chaton." Marinette murmured softly, a soft smile curving her lips as she accented the familiar endearment. She tilted her head back towards him, her gaze assessing him in consideration, without the heat they carried in battle, but somehow just as intense.

Chat Noir's eyes widened.

He had literally held her in his arms just minutes before. He had thought it wasn't possible to feel any closer than to her than that, with as close as they both had been already - in battle and out.

But the warmth in her gaze was threatening to undo his long-practiced composure entirely. For all that he was her shield in battle, she would always be his weakness.

Her secret little smirk curved her lips upwards as she'd tucked one knee to her chest. The small of her lower back was a soft reassurance, pressing a little more insistently against his leg. "At the moment, I can't very well disagree…"