Standard Disclaimer Here (you all know the drill by now)

Miraculous: Le Balcon (The Balcony) – Cat Noir & Marinette

Marinette stood leaning over the rail of her balcony looking over the Paris skyline. She smiled at its beauty. She was looking for inspiration for her next design. She was hoping that it would impress Adrien. She felt it was especially important after the last couple of days she'd had around him. She took a deep breath and turned just in time to see Cat Noir land on her rooftop.

"Cat Noir?" She asked concerned. She hadn't heard anything about another akumatized person attacking.

"Oh hi, um, Marinette, right?" He asked.

"Um, yes. Is something wrong? Are you looking for Ladybug?" She asked and then quickly added, "Will I get a chance to meet her again?"

"Oh, no, don't worry. I just needed to clear my head a little, although I wouldn't mind finding Bug-A-Boo." His smile was as wide as the Cheshire cats. Marinette frowned. Why does he keep using that nickname?

"So I don't have to worry about any stone people, or crazy cupids flying around?" She asked instead as he jumped down to her railing.

"Nope, not even any reverse Bug-A-Boos, either." He smiled back. Marinette had to admit he had a charming smile. Normally she didn't notice that, but since there was no danger, she had a chance to just look at him. She just shook her head and smiled at him. "You know, while I'm here, can I ask you for an opinion, maybe advice?" He asked sounding a little more serious.

"Um, sure, but I think your costume is fine, well the bell might be a little much, although why doesn't it actually jingle?" Cat Noir looked confused for a moment and then laughed.

"No, not that." He paused and did a little spin for her on the rail, "Although do these pants make my butt look big?" He joked.

"No, no, your butt looks fine in those." She replied. "I mean, not that I'm looking at it or anything like that, you know, just you showed me." Her voice was full of panic and Cat Noir laughed again. He was taking a great deal of pleasure out of her discomfort.

He squatted down on the rail and looked serious.

"I just need the opinion of a girl. I can't really ask Ladybug about it, partially because I'd be uncomfortable with that, but also because I can't find her."

"Oh, is it about Ladybug?" She asked, clearly interested.

"No, it's actually about a different girl that I know. A friend of mine, at least I think we're friends. " He signed softly again looking serious and a little upset.

"Oh, are you cheating on Ladybug?" She asked with a little grin.

"I would never." He stammered. "It's not like that." He looked at her. "You're laughing at me, aren't you?" He asked.

"No, not laughing, maybe giggling, but not laughing. " She replied. It was weird how easy it was for her to talk to him like this. She never got to personal or really made jokes with him as Ladybug. His smile returned, and even seemed a little relieved. "So, seriously, what's the problem?"

"Well, like I said, I have a friend, and she seems to get mad at me all the time. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye on things, but I thought she'd gotten over those issues, but lately. . .", he trialed off.

"Let me ask you a question, are you with other girls when this happens?" She asked, "Especially ones that are flirting with you?" He paused and looked up like he was picturing previous conversations in his mind.

"I never thought about it before, or even noticed, but yes, I guess they were." He commented a little surprised.

"I would like to share something a little personal with you, can you keep a secret?" She asked. He just gave her a look. "Sorry, forgot who I was talking to." She smiled in a slightly embarrassed manner. "The girl you're talking about reminds me a little of myself." She admitted. Cat Noir looked a little surprised, although he wasn't actually surprised at all.

"You see, there is a boy in my class that I know, and boy did I hate him when I first met him." She started as she leaned over the rail again, not wanting to face Cat Noir as she spoke. "In fact, I thought he teamed up with this my arch nemesis to pick on me. I realized later I was wrong, and we became friends." She smiled. Cat Noir himself smiled knowingly.

"The thing is, as I got to know him, I fell in love with him." She stated. Cat Noir actually slipped and fell off the rail onto the balcony floor. "Are you okay?" Marinette asked as she went to help him up. His face was bright red, and hers matched a little. "I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet?" She asked to break the odd tension that surrounded them..

"Mostly we do." He commented, but sounded a little embarrassed. She smiled to him. "But I'm confused, um, so you don't really sound like the girl I'm talking about. I mean there is no way she's in love with me." He added.

"Well, that's why I asked you about the possibility of girls flirting with you. You see, sometimes that happens with him, and I get mad. I try not to, because I don't want to be the jealous girl with the unrequited love. It's just sometimes I can't help myself, especially if he takes her side against me." She added. "Then I get jealous and angry. I hate myself for it, and I'm trying to get better, but it's hard." Once more she wasn't looking at him.

"I'm sorry." Cat Noir apologized to her.

"It's not your fault I can be such an emotional mess." She laughed a little.

"No, but it's my fault that I brought this up." He replied kindly. Marinette turned back towards him, wiping her face on her sleeve as she did so.

"Thanks. You know, I never thought it would be this easy to talk to you." She smiled. "It's a lot easier then talking to the boy I like." She laughed. "I wish it was this easy with him. If you ever saw me, I sound like a complete spazz when I talk to him. I can never get the words out."

"Maybe you should close your eyes when you talk to him next time and imagine you're talking to me." He suggested.

"Maybe. If I do hopefully I wont call him kitty cat." She replied "But aside from my love life issues, I was trying to make a point. I think it's possible she likes you, a lot, and that's why she ends up acting that way." She suggested.

"I honestly never thought of that possibility." He admitted. "I've always been concerned that she disliked me. I never considered the opposite end of that spectrum."

"You know, you sound so much more intelligent when you're not running around with Ladybug." She joked. "Maybe you should do that more often."

"Thanks, I think." He deadpanned.

She sighed. "Honestly, I think the question you need to ask yourself is, how do you feel about this girl?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so worried that she dislikes you?" She paused. "Do you have feelings for her?" Marinette asked in a new seriousness. "If you do, maybe you should consider talking to her about it. Not to upset you, but do you really think you'll get together with Ladybug? She doesn't seem to be interested in that kind of relationship with you."

"I, um…" He looked so lost to her in that moment.

"Not that I think Ladybug dislikes you or anything, I'm pretty sure based on what I've seen, that she considers you to be a great crime fighting partner." Marinette added hastily, then a little more softly. "I think she really does care about you, just not in the same way you care about her."

Cat Noir sat on the railing next to where Marinette was leaning and sighed softly.

"I know." He remarked. They pair were quiet for a while before he spoke again. "I want to thank you, Marinette, you've given me a lot to think about." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. She blushed and smiled.

"If I wasn't in love with someone else, Cat Noir, I could easily fall in love with you." She said to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He copied her blush and smiled.

"Thank you my lady." He replied before doing a black flip off her balcony.

"That was sweet of you Marinette." Tikki commented as she came out of hiding.

"I feel like I should do more for him though. Maybe I should change and talk to him. He deserves a chance to find happiness, and he's not going to find it chasing after Ladybug. I should let him know that she's in love with someone else."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Tikki shook her oversized head.

"Spots on Tikki." She cried out ignoring the Kwami.

BREAK

Ladybug jumped from rooftop to rooftop looking for Cat Noir. He was still rushing about, but he appeared to be thinking. She smiled a moment thinking about him kissing her hand as Marinette. Sometimes she wished she wasn't in love with Adrien so Ladybug could accept his advances. It wasn't right to keep toying with his heart, and that's what she felt like she was doing by not telling him the truth about her loving someone else, but it always seemed to personal in a way they weren't. When he opened up to Marinette though, she never thought about how much he was hurting, but the look on his face and in his eyes was all she needed to see.

"Where did he go?" She asked herself aloud.

"My Lady, were you looking for me?" He asked from behind. Ladybug jumped. . . right off the roof. She let out a little scream before Cat Noir extended his staff to give her something to grab. "Sorry about that." He apologized as she climbed across and back to the roof.

"That's okay." She smiled a moment.

BREAK

"I didn't tell him." Marinette confessed to Tikki after she got home and changed back.

"Why?" Tikki asked hoping it was because of what she'd said.

"I realized that if I told and rejected him like that, it would probably send him into the arms of that girl he was talking about."

"Is that a hint of Jealousy?" Tikki asked.

"No, nothing like that. I think it's more important for him to decide on his own to figure out his feelings. If I rejected him, and he did decide to choose her, it would be like he was going to her as a rebound, and the relationship would probably suffer for it. I want him to be happy, not cause him more pain, you know what I mean."

"I think so." The Kwami replied.

BREAK

About a Week later, Marinette was in school and doing her best to not get mad when girls, especially Chloe flirted with Adrien. Her talk with Cat Noir had had an affect on her when she thought about her own actions. She didn't want Adrien to start to think she hated him.

"Fencing has been cancelled today." Adrien said to Nino. I think I'll still go, and then sneak out. That should give me a couple hours to hang out. That's if you guys want to get together at the park?" He suggested including Alya and Marinette into the mix. Marinette's moth opened but no words came out.

"Of course we will." Alya agreed for the pair before Marinette could come up with a cohesive thought.

Once they all arrived at the park, Alya grabbed Nino and suggested they get drinks for everyone. She wanted to give Marinette a chance to spend time alone with Adrien. As much as she wanted to watch her friend fumble her words trying to talk with Adrien, she actually did drag Nino to a cart that was far enough away that she couldn't spy on them.

"Hey Marinette," Adrien started. "Can I talk to you about something important?" He asked with a smile.

The End... Sort of.

Cat Noir jumped onto the Balcony of the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. He looked through the skylight and saw Marinette dancing around hugging a pillow to her. He laughed loud enough that it got her attention. She looked embarrassed but smiled as she stopped and climbed out to see him. He stood out of her way and as soon as she was out, she jumped at him and gave him a hug.

"Cat Noir, I'm so happy to see you." She exclaimed quickly. "You won't believe what happened to me today and it's thanks to you and our talk." She giggled a little and Cat Noir smiled again, but a little confused.

"Adrien, that's the boy I've been secretly in love with, asked me out. He want's to get to know me better." She added practically dancing around him. Cat Noir looked confused. She saw the odd look on his face and stopped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have asked, did you make a decision about that girl we talked about?" Cat Noir's confusions turned into a realization. I guess it's because it took me a week to figure out my feelings, that she didn't make the connection. I mean she's not that much of a ditz.

"Oh, yes, I did talk to her, and we're going to try dating." He admitted with a smile. "I guess now I need to decide if I want to tell her who I am."

"Oh yea, you're secret identity. I never really thought about that." She remarked thoughtful. He laughed.

"No, I mean I would need to tell her I'm Cat Noir. I spoke to her as my secret identity."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't really thinking about it, I don't usually concern myself with your identity." She admitted. He smiled again. This is kind of Fun. "So are you afraid she'll reject you as Cat Noir?" She sounded concerned for him.

"Not at all, to be honest. She already admitted to me once that she could fall in love with me, if she wasn't already in love with someone else." He added as he closed the gap between them. Cat Noir's hands were on her shoulders. Marinette looked confused as she cocked her head slightly like she was seeing him for the first time.

"A. . ." She started. As he moved his lips to her, he whispered "Claws in Plagg." He kissed her deeply as she kissed him back, his Cat Noir Costume slowly dissipating. Once it finished, he broke the kiss with her. As Adrien looked at her, Marinette starting laughing, bending over and putting her hands on her knees to stay mostly upright.

Did I just break her? He wondered to himself concerned.

"Oh kitty, I'm about to make your day." She stated confidently as she stopped laughing and caught her breath. She stood up and brushed her hair back with one hand exposing her earing and the largest smile Adrien had ever seen on her face. His eyes widened with the realization of what was about to happen.

The Real Ending

Notes:

While I was researching characters (mostly full names and spellings) working on my previous posted fic, I saw a big deal being made about a leaked image of Cat Noir and Marinette on her balcony. Since then the episode has been available to watch, but I always had in the back of my mind a story around it. This was mostly that story. It evolved more as I wrote it as most things I write do.

I think I'm going to leave this one open, like I did my Monster Service Announcements story so I can add to it if I come up with another Balcony Story. I have one in mind already for Ladybug and Adrien, although that might be more like a windowsill story. lol. If people enjoyed this and want to see more, please let me know with your reviews.

Peace and Love!