He doesn't know how he ended up here. He knows that he quietly snapped, transformed and ran away (and ran and ran and ran until it was night and he couldn't see where he was going.) But he doesn't know how he ended up on the roof of his classmate's house, a classmate that he barely knows. (He had thought he understood her well enough, as Adrien, but then he saw her as Chat and he realized there was more than Adrien would ever be allowed to know, for some reason.)

He turns to go, but he's stopped as a noise behind him and a quiet exclamation pulls his attention. He turns to see Marinette, in a too-big sweater and clutching a mug to her chest and staring at him in alarm. Adrien wants to run again, Adrien wants to hide and stop this encounter from ever happening, but when Marinette whispers "Chat…?" he can't stop himself from grinning and bowing slightly.

"Hello there princess," he responds cheekily, locking Adrien away and allowing Chat to have control.

"Is there a problem?" She looks around, panicked, searching for a nonexistent danger and he can't help but chuckle.

"Can't a man visit a beautiful lady in the middle of the night without there being an emergency situation?"

Marinette begins to roll her eyes, seems to catch herself, and stops, staring off to the side. When she speaks, it's almost too quiet for him to hear. He thinks maybe he isn't supposed to hear it. "You have no reason to visit me unless…"

"Unless?" he can't help but ask, after a few moments of silence. Her head snaps forwards again, as if she had forgotten he was there. She shakes her head, dismissing the question.

"What's going on here?" she asks warily, finally emerging fully onto the rooftop. She approaches him, his silence not a good enough answer for her. But he has no answer, because he doesn't even know himself. She looks at him for several long seconds, coming to a stop beside him maybe a little too close as she stares at him with a furrowed brow. She seems to spot something, and the furrow of her brow deepens for a moment before she makes a decision. She tilts her head, blinks up at him, and asks quietly "Chat, is everything okay?"

He looks down at her worried face, and realizes exactly why he ended up on her roof. Because he knew from quietly watching her that Marinette would look at him with genuine concern and offer her help even if she had never met him before. That she would care even if he was only a stranger in a mask to her.

So he takes a chance, and quietly shakes his head. He doesn't say it out loud (he can't say it out loud, then it's too real and he won't be able to keep running) and she seems to understand, not asking him to say more.

She holds the mug in her hands up, offering it to him. "Something to warm you up?"

He looks down at the mug, watches the steam rising in misty wisps, and then looks down at Marinette, shaking slightly in the cold, even in her sweater, and he shakes his head.

"I couldn't take the warmth away from you, Princess," he replies, already backing away. She watches him go, brow still furrowed, and he wishes he could do something other than cause trouble for others. "I'll let you return to your night."

She stares at him as if trying to understand what is happening, but he's running away into the night before she can understand whatever that moment was.

He comes back a few days later. To apologize, he tells himself, but another part says he's lying. When he arrives, Marinette is already sitting by herself, staring up at the sky. The stars were impossible to see in the city, but she looked as if she wasn't seeing anything past her thoughts, so it didn't matter. He lands lightly on the roof, and whatever plans he had for this visit are dashed as she looks over and her face lights up. There's surprise there, but it's mostly eclipsed by her smile. She always smiled as if she had no control over her face, maybe a little too big and nothing at all like Adrien's practiced smiles, but he realizes now that they are the best smiles he's ever seen.

"Chat, I didn't think you'd come back," she says, already standing and making her way over to him, mug in hand. She's just in her pajamas tonight, wrapped in a blanket and looking positively at ease. He's about to reply but she's offering him the mug again, and he frowns just a little.

"Ah, didn't I already say I wouldn't take your warmth away?"

"It's okay, I have two," she replies and smiles again, pushing the mug into his hands.

"I thought you said you didn't think I'd come back," he replies, one eyebrow lifting. She laughs a little, slightly abashed but not nearly as shy as he's used to seeing her.

"I wanted to be prepared if you did… Warm drinks on cold nights make me feel better. Take it."

He takes the mug, and then she nods and goes back to her spot, picking up a second mug and snuggling into her blanket. He follows, not sure what he's doing, and not sure what she's doing, but he finds he wants to know more about Marinette and he knows it's not something he can do as Adrien, so he's really just taking the only opportunity he has. (Or that's what he rationalizes, later. He does it without thinking about anything except the warmth of the mug in his hands and the warmth in her smile, at the time.)

"I had started to feel kind of silly, bringing two mugs every night. But I'm glad I kept doing it," she admits, staring at her mug with a small smile. After she speaks, the smile falls away for something more contemplative, and she looks up at him, just for a second, before looking away again.

He doesn't know what it means, but he finds himself sitting by her side anyway. He quietly takes sips and dutifully ignores the small glances Marinette keeps giving him. He just sits and quietly finishes his drink, and reflects that this is the quietest he had ever been while Chat Noir, a thought that's reflected in Marinette's mind as well, though he doesn't know it. When he's done, he stands up, a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry," he says, and she looks up at him with a frown matching his own, but for different reasons.

"I… don't really get why you came the first time. And I don't know why you came back. But if you want to spend your night with a random civilian girl, you should know she's not going to stop you."

"You're not random," is all he can reply, and then they both end up confused. He sets the mug down and shakes his head, saluting and smiling as he leaves. She still looks troubled as he goes, but he doesn't know what to make of it.

He starts coming every night, falling into a routine. She's always waiting, always kind and accepting but confused and somehow troubled. He doesn't know when he starts talking, but once he starts he finds he can't stop. Their talks are full of flirting and joking and profound declarations of personal problems, and it all mixes together in a way that makes sense, somehow. His talk about his personal life is vague enough that she can't gleam who he is, but it's still deeply personal. Marinette is shocked at first, but she puts forth everything she can to support him, though she does pose a question one day.

"Why don't you talk to Ladybug about this?" She won't look at him as she asks, and he wonders if she's actually tired of hearing him talk. He had fallen into a space somewhere between Chat and Adrien with her, but in times of insecurity he still felt himself retreating into Chat again.

"How do you know I don't?" he asks, archly. She doesn't react right away, pulling her blanket around herself tighter.

"Do you?" she finally asks.

"Ah, is that a spark of jealousy I hear? Fear not, Princess, you are the only one who holds my deepest secrets." His voice is light, but it's true.

"But why find a girl you saved once instead of your partner?" she demands. He sighs, because as easily as he found she could counter his flirting, he had learned that some moments she needed him to be serious.

"Ladybug is… Ladybug is like the sun. She shouldn't be bothered by the problems of mere mortals." He tries to make it sound less pathetic than it is. He fails.

"She cares about you, Chat," Marinette states, determined to prove something.

"I know," he replies sadly, but they both know what the words really mean. (It's not enough.)

She stares at him like her heart is breaking, and he tries to smile, but for all his practice, he can't force a smile onto his face, can't lie to her like that.

Marinette leans towards him, bringing him into a hug. As he lays his head on her chest, he hears her whisper "I'm sorry". (And though he can't imagine what she's apologizing for, he finds that things are a little more okay like this.)

After that night, she's more distant at first, looking at him with such a lost look on her face every time she thinks his head is turned that he considers stopping the visits completely. But she eventually comes to some decision, some realization, and then she's closer and happier than ever and he's glad, because he knows that he would never be able to stop himself from coming. He starts living for the smiles that greet him and the look in her eyes when he says something stupid, the exasperated fondness that penetrates him and sees everything and smiles anyway.

She laughs herself breathless over a simple joke, and he can't help but join in, her happiness igniting a warmth in his chest that he can't ignore. They laugh until they're both leaning on each other for support, heaving chests trying to catch their breath and faces much too close.

Adrien knows he shouldn't do it. Adrien knows that there will be consequences to this action and Adrien knows this is probably a bad idea but Adrien is not here on this rooftop, Chat is, and Chat is tired of staring up at the girl who hung the moon and wishing, and every fiber of his being is telling him to leave that behind and take the chance to do something with someone who is with him, on his level.

So he does. He leans forward and brushes his lips against Marinette's once, twice, slowly and sensually and sweetly. His hand cups her cheek and he rests his forehead against hers, eyes closed, waiting for the rejection he's used to receiving. (But not from Marinette, never from sweet, kind Marinette who stared at him like she could see into him and saw nothing but starlight. He thinks this rejection might hurt more, somehow.)

She stills beneath him but doesn't push him away, and when he opens his eyes he sees that hers are blown wide with surprise and awe and- and desire, maybe, but he can't read her nearly as well as he wants to and he doesn't want to push her any farther, so he smiles and starts to pull away.

She stops him with a hand on his waist, her eyes suddenly burning with a stubborn determination she usually kept buried until it built up and bubbled out, but now she's channeling it into her every movement, pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his for a fleeting moment, a question that he's happy to answer.

Relieved laughter rises in his chest and his hands are on her hips and his lips capture hers, pulling her closer and closer until he can't get any closer and then trying to move just an inch more. He can barely keep his lips on hers through his smiles and breathy laughter but he perseveres, feeling the smile on her lips as well. She responds eagerly, arms wrapping around his neck and hands slipping into his hair, and even once his laughter is passed she's making tiny breathy sounds every time their lips part that make him want to hear more and more and in that moment he knows he's selfish and greedy and he finds that he can't care because he would face all the evil in the world to keep this moment alive.

She pulls back just a little, body still flush against his, face an alarming shade of red and biting a slightly swollen lip as she looks up at him, and while he knows she wants to say something he can't help but think that he wants to be the one biting that lip instead. Instead, he ducks his head and places a light kiss on her collarbone, and he can feel her entire body tense in anticipation. He grins against her skin and trails light kisses up her neck and along her jaw, never quite giving her the contact he can tell she is getting more and more restless for, judging by the muffled gasps every time he presses just a little firmer against her skin. When he finally reaches her cheek, it's warm and flushed, and he pulls back to look at her in all her glory. She's slightly disheveled and blushing deeply, and she is enchanting, everything about her glowing. Adrien thought Ladybug was as beautiful as the sun, but he could never look for too long. Marinette wasn't a sun, but she was a fire, burning steady and glowing and bringing warmth and brightness to everything around her. (And he found that while he loved the sunlight he needed the comfort of a home and hearth too, sometimes. He doesn't know when Marinette became home, but he knows it fits so well he wonders how he never saw it before.)

Her bright eyes are staring stubbornly off to the left, and he brings his right hand carefully up to her face, turning her head until he is face to face with her. She gasps quietly, seeing his expression, and stares up at him waiting for his next move, but he can't find it in himself to look away from her eyes, so he contents himself with staring at her.

She reaches up and kisses him just below the corner of his mouth, pulling back and smiling sadly and he's staring at her, confused but wanting that expression off of her face. She gently pulls his hand off of her, lacing their fingers, and holds them up, and he stares at their joined hands with a soft gaze for a moment before he realizes she's showing him his ring.

"I could stay," he whispers, offering her the world in those three words.

But she only squeezes his hand and rests her head against his chest, and he reacts without thinking, wrapping his arms around her and holding her like the most natural thing in the world.

"Not tonight," she replies, equally quiet, and he hears the rejection but when he looks down into her smiling face he sees the promise of a Later that he's willing to pursue, so he allows her to finally step away. Her body separates from his except for their hands, and she gazes at them with a pensive expression before looking up at him and letting a smile light up her face like a sunrise, warm and colorful and breathtaking.

He doesn't stop himself, can't stop himself, from leaning forward and capturing those lips one last time, but it's soft and sweet and he's the first to pull away. He grins at her, squeezes her hand one last time before dropping it, and finally takes off, darting away into the night, happy to have the last word.

She watches him go, fingers lightly tracing her lips and face slowly returning to its natural shade. She wonders if this counts as cheating, to be doing this as Marinette, but finally satisfies herself with the quiet answer of not knowing. It was Chat, and she trusted him enough allow herself to not trust their situation. They'd work it out, eventually. They always did.

((Hey guys! Because I'm reposting my fics from other sites I should make a note that's not reflected here: I wrote this a while ago! Which means there are some facts which don't really fit with canon any more. Bear with me on those. I am aware they no longer fit, but I don't wanna rewrite it! So this just slides into canon divergence territory, and that's okay.))