Chat hesitated, perched on the balcony of Marinette's home. He frowned as he debated on bothering her. He leaped painfully down and limped over to the glass door. He raised his hand and knocked quietly, as to not alert her parents.
He gritted his teeth as a painful surge flew down his leg. He tried to ignore it and knocked again.
The door opened and Marinette sleepily rubbed her eyes and squinted at him with a scowl."Chat?" She muttered. "What are you doing here?" She asked, shaking her head to clear her sleepiness.
Chat ignored his pain and tried to put on a charming smile. "Hey, I uh, I was kinda wondering if you could maybe help me out a little?" He asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke.
Marinette stared at him with confusion and slowly looked down at the blood dripping from his leg and onto the floor. Her eyes widened and she cupped her mouth in shock.
"Oh my God! Chat! What happened to you? Get in here!" She stammered on as she grabbed his arm and tugged him inside her room.
"Sit here, I'll get the first aid kit." She said, pushing him onto her bed.
He nodded and watched her go into the bathroom. He looked around at the dim light in the room showing pictures of his smiling face. He paused and blinked in shock. Why was he, Adrien, on her wall?
He was snapped from his thoughts as Marinette came rushing back into the room holding the first aid kit. She set it down and starting rummaging through it. She pulled everything she needed and looked up at him in concern.
"This is going to hurt." She warned. Her blue eyes reflected her true feelings of fear and worry.
He smiled at her and cupped her face gently. "Don't you worry, Purrincess. I'll be okay. I'm used to getting kicked around from the Akuma. This'll be a piece of cake!" He beamed at her, trying to sooth her nerves.
She lightly smiled and shook her head. "I don't know why you're being so calm when you're bleeding. What even happened?" She asked as she pressed some disinfectant on the wound.
He winced and instead focused his eyes on the wall. "Well, funny story on that one..." He gave a chuckle.
"It was after LadyBug left me for the night. I was running along a rooftop when I kinda stepped on a loose shingle and slipped. I slid down the roof and fell onto a sharp pointed fence. Needless to say, it hurt. Guess it was just my bad luck again. You know what they say about black cats and all." He laughed.
She looked up at him with a amused smile. "Of course that's how you got hurt." She said with a light eye roll. "Just because your costume is black doesn't mean you have bad luck, you know." She teased.
He looked at her with mock hurt. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I have bad luck. It's quite pawful if you ask me." He said.
"Much like your puns." She muttered as she wiped the dirt from the cut. "Almost done." She said as she wrapped gauze on it and sat back on her feet. "There. All done!" She said, closing up the first aid kit. "You're lucky it wasn't bad." She said.
He examined it with a bright smile and gave her a thumbs up. "Purrfect! Thanks Purrincess." He purred at her. "So, can I ask you something?" He asked.
She frowned then nodded. "Go for it." She said.
He smiled shyly and stared at his lap. "Why do you have pictures of Adrien on your wall? Do you like him or something?" He asked awkwardly. He glanced at her quickly, seeing if he over stepped.
She turned beet red and slowly looked at the wall of photos. "Oh! Um..."She stuttered. "I um...yes." She squeaked out, not seeing any way out of it.
Chat looked up at her with wide eyes. "Really? Why? What's there to like about him?" He asked in shock.
She looked at him like he'd just grown three heads. "Well," She started, "He's really cute and he's also really kind. He has a good heart and he's always so polite to everyone. He never steps out of line and he seems always eager to please others. He's so nice and dreamy." She finished, clasping her hands together while she was lost in her thoughts.
He frowned. "What if that's not the real him? Would you still like him?" He asked after a moment.
She looked at him with a raised brow. "What do you mean? Of course that's the real him. Why would he fake that? You wouldn't understand, you've never met him." She said. "If you had then you'd understand what I'm talking about." She said, confidently.
He looked at the pictures on the wall once more and frowned at the forced smiles on his face. He'd remembered how unhappy he'd been the day those were taken. How he was forced to wear that sweat shirt and he was told to smile.
"What if the real him liked a certain spotted girl and told silly jokes?" He asked, glancing back at her with a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck at her odd look. "You know, just in theory?" He said, covering his mistake.
She thought for a moment. "Well, then I'd have to tell him that I sorta admire a black cat and that I'm not really a stuttering mess." She joked with a giggle, looking into his green eyes.
He blushed and looked down. "Yeah. Why do you get into a stuttering fit when you speak to me?" He asked quietly. He looked at her after a moment when she didn't answer him.
She was staring at him in wide eyed confusion. "Me?" She asked.
His eyes widened and he held up his hands. "I mean, um, not me! Um, you know, I meant around him." He stumbled, cursing his slip.
She stared at him. "Chat, who are you really?" She asked as she looked right into his eyes. "I know you, don't I?" She asked quietly.
"I um, gotta go. Thanks for the first aid help." He said, standing up with a grin. "It was lovely, Purrincess. Have a nice night." He said, stepping towards the window. "But I gotta go and meet Ladybug. She's, uh, waiting for me." He lied.
She stood and crossed her arms. She raised a brow and latched onto his arm. "You're not going anywhere, Kitty." She shoved him back onto the bed. "Ladybug isn't waiting for you." She said with a scowl.
He frowned. "How would you know that?" He asked with confusion.
She rolled her eyes. "First answer my question. Who are you?" She asked as she stood in front of him.
He squirmed under her relentless gaze and he let out a held breath in surrender. "Fine. Plagg claws in." He said in defeat.
The room was filled with green light and then it cleared, leaving Adrien sitting there awkwardly. He slowly looked up into her shocked face.
She just stared at him with an open mouth. "It was you this whole time?..." She mumbled as she stumbled backwards. She shook her head. "Oh my God, I was right next to you for years. I kissed you!" She said in horror, cupping her hands over her mouth.
He was thoroughly confused.
"I called you Kitty! Holy...I can't believe this." She keep chanting as she plopped onto her chair and sagged down into it.
"Why would you call me Kitty? Only Ladybug does...that..."He slowly said and paused. He looked at her with careful eyes, taking in every detail of her. He noticed the same colored hair and how it was in pigtails. He looked into her eyes. The same eyes he'd looked into for years and had fallen in love with.
"Ladybug?" He said in disbelieve. He stood from the bed and stared at her. "Are you really Ladybug?" He asked.
She rolled her eyes and looked at the floor. "Quite the disappointment, eh?" She said with a mirthless laugh. "Sorry to let you down.." She said.
He slowly walked over to her and knelt down next to her. He took her hand into his and met her eyes. "You are not a disappointment to me. In fact, you are just as beautiful as I always pictured you to be." He smiled at her and raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
She looked at him. "You don't mean that." She said.
"Of course I mean it. The first time I laid eyes on you I told myself I was in love with the girl under the mask. I didn't fall in love with a spotted suit. I fell in love with you. The girl under the suit." He smiled at her. "I fell in love with you, Mi'lady." He said.
She smiled at him. "You said that?" She asked.
He nodded. "I did. I just wish I'd figured this all out sooner. I mean, it's not like I didn't try. It's just I didn't even think of someone in the same class as I. Kinda stupid huh?" He chuckled.
She shook her head. "I never even looked at Adrien as being a silly pun making cat." She giggled at the thought. "I was so close to you and I didn't even know it!" She laughed.
"I don't know how I didn't see it. I must be so thick. You have the same hair in the same style and you have the same eye color as LadyBug. Plus you always disappear when danger comes." He shook his head at the thought.
"Yeah yeah, you're both stupid. Can we get this over with already? I'm hungry." Plagg whined.
Marinette's eyes widened and she looked behind Adrien, spotting Plagg floating there with his arms crossed.
"Who's that?" She asked, pointing to the Kwami.
Adrien looked at Plagg with a bright grin. "That's my Kwami, Plagg. He's the cat god of Bad luck and Destruction. Fun huh? Bad attitude to go with it. Oh, and he likes to eat stinky cheese too." He teased, earning him a glare from Plagg.
Tiki then flew out and tackled Plagg with a tight hug. "Oh I've missed you so much!" She said warmly. Plagg pushed her off and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Mari pointed to Tiki. "That's my Kwami. Her name's Tiki. She's the Goddess of Luck and Creation. She's super nice and she loves cookies." She said.
Adrien frowned. "Lucky! Not fair that you get the pleasant one." He whined with a playfulness that made Marinette giggle.
"You're lucky I even stick around kid!" Plagg hissed, flying over to Adrien's coat and sticking himself inside. "Lets go home. I'm starving!" He yelled.
Adrien grinned. "We'd better be going. I'll see you tomorrow then, Mi'lady?" He asked as he gave a mock bow.
She nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow!" She beamed at him.
"Great. See you then. Plagg, claws out!" He said as green light filled the room and he was once again Chat Noir. He flashed a charming smile and gave a bow as he left.
She could hardly contain the excitement at finding out Adrien was her partner. Then it hit her. Adrien was her partner! The boy she was in love with for years was the cat that flirted with her on a nightly basses. She cringed at that and how dumb she had been.
"Oh Tiki, I'm a fool sometimes." She laughing as she fell back onto her bed with a thud and let out a sigh. "Adrien is Chat Noir and Chat Noir is Adrien. That'll take time to get used to." She said as she rolled over and turned out the light.
"But I can return Chat's feelings now." She smiled at that and went to sleep, looking forward to their patrol tomorrow.