Recap

"...so please, help me welcome Chat Noir!"

Upon hearing those words, the world stopped around her. The thundering applause was muted as she raised her head slowly to meet Chat Noir's gaze. Alya and Nino's smiling faces were blurred as she struggled to stand. Her head swam, and the bright decoration in the ballroom felt like it was blinding her.

Why was she feeling this way, you ask?

Because, at that moment, nothing hurt more than hearing his name come out of her father's mouth and seeing him again.

He looked at her from across the large ballroom, hoping to see her face looking back at him with some kind of pleasant surprise. Maybe he would have a chance to apologize to her and she would see that he wasn't such a terrible person after all. He'd said the worst thing at the worst time, but he never got the chance to formally apologize, which made him a worse person than he already was.

He looked at her from across the large ballroom, heartbroken to see such a dejected look on her face. His heart nearly stopped when she slowly raised her head to look at him. Even from such a far distance, he could see that there was an emotion in her eyes that he couldn't quite place his finger on. He'd known her for so many years, but he still couldn't tell what she was thinking, other from being obviously disappointed.

What he definitely didn't expect to happen that night even in his worst scenarios was her turning and running away.

He went looking for her for what seemed like a very long time until he found her in her balcony. He should've known she would've been there. Her back was facing him as she sobbed, her knees tucked close to her chest. She must've sensed him approaching because she tensed immediately, wiping her eyes furiously.

"What do you want?"

He hesitated slightly. "I just wanted to apologize." His voice sounded small, even to himself and he hated it.

"What?" She wiped her eyes furiously with her bare arm and got up to face him. Her otherwise blushing face was flushed and tear streaked, hair a little frizzy and undone, dress wrinkled slightly, but to him, she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

"Stop staring." She grumbled as she continued to wipe the remaining tears.

He snapped out of his reverie. "Huh?"

"I might look like the ugliest person in the world right now, but you didn't have to rub it in." She crossed her arms across her chest with a stern expression on her face.

He blushed at the allegation that he'd been discovered and started to stammer. "I wasn't-I mean I...you know...w-well…"

"Save it."

Well, that effectively shut him up.

"What I want to know is why you suddenly decide to show up after so long? You can't...you don't just leave! And then showing up out of the blue when your father announces that you're gonna be my bodyguard...you don't ever do that! What were you thinking?"

"If I'm being completely honest, Princess, you were the one who told me to leave that night." He tried to smile and make it seem like a joke, but she only frowned. "I thought you hated me and never wanted to see me again. So I thought...if I left...you'd be much happier."

He raised his head to look her in the eye and found it surprising that her expression was completely flabbergasted. "What?"

Not knowing if she understood what he said, he repeated, "I thought you hated me, so I-"

She smacked a hand on her forehead. "Are you seriously that big of an idiot? Ugh, didn't you know that girls are really complicated? When we tell you to leave, it doesn't always mean that. Sometimes we want to be comforted."

He stared at her, confused. "How was I supposed to know that? You looked so upset. I almost thought I was going to be murdered that night by the look on your face."

She huffed, and a pouty expression took over. "Okay, I guess it was partly my fault. But still!"

He didn't know what to say next so he just stood there, looking at her. He didn't want to say the wrong thing, particularly something that might get him hanged the next day. Her voice brought him out of his daze. "What are you looking at?" She asked, a questioning look on her face.

The next words he said just erupted out of him from nowhere. "You're just so beautiful." He heard himself say and instantly regretted it. Not because he didn't think so himself, but because her shocked expression spoke too many words, but none at the same time. He felt his face turn hot and nervously ran a gloved hand through his hair.

He saw something shift in her eyes and she shook her head. She cleared her throat. "Um...I guess I'll have to talk to my father, then. About this bodyguard thing." She was purposefully avoiding his gaze, he could tell that much.

Great. They were back to square one.

"Are you going to tell your father that you're fine with me being your bodyguard?"

She pursed her lips and nodded. "I don't fully trust you yet, but I think you're an okay choice."

"Just okay? I'm sure many would say that I'm the cattastic choice, wouldn't you say?" He joked around, half expecting her to kick him out of her room.

However, she just glared at him, her eyes saying many things at once, too many of them for him to understand. There settled a small moment of silence. Suddenly, she broke the quiet by saying in a small voice.. "I don't know if this is true or if it's just me, but...you...remind me of someone I know. And...I can't exactly place it and it's frustrating." She looked up to face him, eyes filled with unshed tears. "That's why I'm deciding to put my trust in you."

She spoke firmly, her voice wavering slightly. "I don't think I fully trust you...but something about you...it's just…don't let me down, okay?" Blue eyes shimmered in the darkness and he found himself being even more captivated than he already was. A line tear fell from her eye and he lifted his finger to catch it, but she swiped it away before he could do anything.

"...Because if you do," He looked at her eyes again, "I will make sure to end you. Mark my words, Chat Noir. You will not live to see another day. So...please, for your sake...I hope that nothing like that happens."

He gulped. Even though he would never even think or dream about hurting her, he hoped there would never be any instance where he gave her an opportunity to lose faith in him.

He stood up and nodded, holding out his hand for her to take. Her soft, but calloused fingers gently caressed the palm of his gloves hand and he almost shivered at the sensation. He pulled her up so that she was standing in front of him. He looked down to meet her gaze.

"I will never hurt you, Marinette. I'd rather hurt myself before I even think about hurting you and even that will never happen. You mean the worl-...I mean…" He mentally cursed himself for almost saying what he was going to. Yes, she did mean the world to him, but that was only to Adrien. Chat didn't have any connections or fondness for her as far as he was concerned.

He looked into her eyes and found a shocked, curious, and dare he say…amused expression? There was a strange flint dancing in her eyes and she looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue his statement.

"Err, what I was going to say is that you're the Princess. And I um...could never hurt you without facing the consequences." Cursing himself for making the statement sound like a question, he bit his lip, trying to be quiet as he waited hesitantly for her to laugh at him.

But she never did.

Instead, she averted her gaze. "You don't too sure of yourself...Kitty."

Oh boy. He wasn't expecting her to take that route. He wasn't going to complain though.

Marinette snuck a glance at him while he was temporarily distracted. His face was so solemn and genuine, that it was hard not to believe him entirely. But even she knew that the best deceivers were the ones who used their emotions to make people trust them. In the end, they left your soul and heart shattered in pieces and you wondered what made them so believable in the first place.

She definitely wasn't going to be able to trust him completely. But there was just something...something she couldn't explain. Something that drew her to him. Even when he left her that night, she couldn't help but wish he was still there and he hadn't ended up leaving. There was something about him that was genuine and kind. His eyes held a childlike innocence and his smiles (though rare, he smirked much more often) were sweet and charming.

She didn't want to compare him to Théo and she could tell he was completely different from him. The only problem was that however much she wanted to believe him, there was that one stray thought that asked her 'what if?'

What if he was just like all the others?

Because God knew her heart wouldn't be able to take it anymore if he ended up being the same as all of them.

She sighed, turning back to look at him once more. She had made up her mind and mentally put up walls around her. She would not let anyone get to her this time.

Marinette just hoped she was making the right decision.

"Okay." She couldn't help but whisper, but it sounded loud in the quiet of her room. "You can be my bodyguard."

Glancing at him, she pretended not to see Chat Noir's surprised triumphant grin and the pumping of his fist into the air as a sign of victory.

Ah, what should I say?

It's definitely been a while and I'm kinda disappointed in myself by giving you a short and unsatisfactory chapter after being gone for so long. This was a filler chapter though, and it was needed for the next part of the story so I hope you'll bare with me this time and stick around.

There were so many things that happened in these last few months. I just finished my junior year of high school and it truly the toughest year. If you're going to be a junior soon, then all I can say is good luck because you're gonna need it. Chemistry was super hard and it didn't help that my teacher didn't know how to teach. I had to put aside all the other things I was working on to focus on doing better in Chemistry. It's all good though because I finished the school year with high As and Bs.

I also found BTS during this time and they helped me so much during those days. If you're part of ARMY, you know what I'm talking about. I'm truly grateful for them because I realize how positive of an impact they made on me and my life. I highly recommend their music to anyone who has avoided listening to their music or learning more about them, because I was that person a few months ago too.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for the support I got during my short break. The amount of love I get for writing is so tremendous and it inspires me to work harder each and every day. I'm truly thankful to all of you guys who have continued to support me all this time. I love you guys and look forward to many more interesting chapters!