"Psst! Hey, girl!"

Normally when a disembodied voice beckons someone from a dark, deserted alley they ignore it. But Marinette, intrigued by its high pitch and childish tone, paused in her walking to investigate it. Blinking, she stepped closer.

"Get over here!" Something fluttered in the shadows, revealing itself to be a small, floating black cat. Marinette blinked again, recognizing the creature as a kwami. Her hand flew instinctively to the bag at her hip, and she stepped forward.

"What, eh bien..."

"What am I? Starving! You got any cheese?"

"I... do at home."

"Great! Come on, kid!" He waved his hand in a circle, gesturing to someone behind him. A cat - fluffy and yellow and with big green eyes - padded forward and sat, prim and proper, on the sidewalk before Marinette. Her eyes flicked from it to the kwami, and its ears drooped in what she assumed was embarrassment.

"Euh..."

"Oh! Allow me to introduce us! This here-" he flew around the cat's head, "-is the one and only Chat Noir! My name is Plagg." Marinette narrowed her eyes and parted her lips, eyeing Plagg with suspicion. With a panicked rush, he assured her. "I promise! He is Chat Noir!"

"He looks more like Chat Doré right now," she said with a smirk. She scooped him up and held out her jacket for Plagg. "I expect an explanation later, ok?"

"Fine. But cheese first!"

"Ok, so there was an akuma that targeted celebrities because they didn't return her crush?"

"Yep! I just don't get the romance stuff you humans go through. Seems rough to me." Plagg sat on the island in her home's kitchen, and she sat on a stool.

"It is." Marinette cut another wedge of cheddar from the block in front of her and handed it to Plagg. She sighed, trying to think of how to get away from him and Chat Noir, but the big (and usually cheese-filled) mouth on Plagg kept talking her ear off.

"You sound like you speak from experience." Marinette blinked as she realized her sigh was mistaken for lovelorn instead of thoughtful. He wasn't wrong, though. She remembered all the mistakes and blunders she'd made because of Adrien and sighed again.

"Yeah, I guess I do." She absently cut herself a slice of cheese to nibble on. A fuzzy head rubbed against her hand and she looked down to see Chat Noir staring at her, an oddly concerned expression on his cat face.

"Mrrp?" It sounded for all the world like an offer to talk, even though he couldn't at the moment. Marinette laughed.

"It's nothing, Goldilocks. I just turn into a huge mess when I try to talk to my crush." The cat cocked his head as if to tell her to go on. "You see, I like this boy in my class. He's kind and thoughtful and I want to talk to him, but every time I do, I get tongue-tied and turn into even more of a klutz than normal."

A sympathetic purr came from Chat Noir's throat, and Marinette reached out to scratch beneath his chin.

"So what's his name?"

"Hm?" Marinette glanced at Plagg.

"His name. Who is it?"

Skeptical, she frowned. "You probably don't know him."

"Pbbt!" Plagg laughed. "Please! Do you know how many akuma victims are members of your class alone? We keep close tabs on the people at Collège François Dupont!"

"Are you serious?" Marinette bit her lip. "I guess there's no harm in telling you, then. His name is Adrien. Adrien Agreste."

Plagg burst out laughing, a horrible cackle that had him rolling across the island, almost falling off if not for Marinette's quick reflexes. He continued to giggle in her hands, halting every few seconds to take in a gasping breath. Flushing, she glared at him, ignoring the way Chat Noir's fur puffed out in surprise.

"What's so funny about that?" It took Plagg a minute to regain control of his body, hiccuping the last chuckle off.

"The pretty boy that half of Paris is in love with? That's your crush? And you thought I wouldn't know him!" He continued his laughing fit.

"Well excuse me. I didn't know that five thousand-year-old gods kept up to date with current events!" With a Hmph! she dropped him to the counter and put the cheese away, much to Plagg's despair. She ignored his pleading, choosing to chop up some sandwich ham for Chat Noir instead.

"Wait! Please! I'm sorry! Just a little more! I need some to recharge!"

"Recharge?!" Marinette scoffed, setting the plate in front of Chat Noir. "You need to recharge?! You-"

"It's imperative that I remain at full energy! If I don't, Chat Noir can't become Chat Noir!" Marinette froze. It hadn't occurred to her before, but with his kwami outside his Miraculous... It meant Chat Noir hadn't been Chat Noir when the akuma struck him. He had been in his civilian form.

"So," she licked her lips, "when Ladybug defeats the akuma..." Her voice shook. "Then it won't be Chat Noir, will it? It'll be... Whoever he is normally."

"Oh, yeah. Did I forget to mention that?"

Marinette dropped her head into her hands and cursed her luck - or maybe it was his luck. She didn't know. But then she realized this was an opportunity to separate them. Sighing, she took the rest of the cheese and led Plagg and Chat Noir to her room.

"Here. I'll go help my parents down in the bakery. But I want you gone - or at least transformed - by the time I come back. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!" said Plagg as he bit into the cheese.

Marinette was able to slip away, and the akuma was easy to defeat. She cleansed it, headed home, and wasted an hour in the bakery to make sure Chat Noir had plenty of time to leave.

She was hoping he would be gone by the time she climbed the stairs to her room. But when she opened the trapdoor he was sitting at her desk, legs crossed and smile wide. It dropped the tiniest bit when he saw her, but she paid no attention to it.

"Thanks for the save today, Princess!" He winked. "Although, I'm afraid you may have spoiled Plagg a bit."

"No problem! Anything for the great Chat Noir!" she giggled, feigning enthusiasm. "What are you still doing here, though? Has it really taken Ladybug this long to stop the akuma?"

"She needs my help more than she lets on, no?" He wiggled his eyebrows and it took Marinette all of her willpower not to roll her eyes. "So... Adrien Agreste?" He smiled mischievously.

Marinette's face turned bright red, and she remembered the Adrien wallpaper on her computer and his pictures on her wall. She could only hope that he didn't discover her pull-down planner with his schedule on it.

"H-half of Paris, remember? Plagg said that. I'm just one of many, you know?" She sighed. "There's so many other people he could choose from. I thought I'd have an advantage, being in his class and all, but..." She looked to the open magazine on her desk, flipped to a two-page spread detailing Adrien's date with another model. A column along the side also had pictures of Nino and Alya, adding gossip to their lives as well.

Chat Noir cleared his throat. "Maybe you should talk to him. These are your friends, too, right?" He tapped the pictures on the side of the page.

She groaned. "Easier said than done."

"Get used to being around him. You'd be amazed at how I acted around Ladybug when we first met. I was... Well, to put it simply, a mess. I couldn't walk two feet without tripping, I was so amazed by her." He sighed, placing a hand over his heart. "Almost six months later, here we are. I'm still utterly amazed by her, but it's easier to handle now." He spun around in her desk chair, then looked out the window to the darkening sky. His face was soft, but his voice softer when he said, "I love her, you know."

Marinette swallowed, opened her mouth, then swallowed again. "I didn't know you felt that way." Her throat was dry and her cheeks were flushed. She walked up the steps to her bed, partly to grab a bottle of water, but mostly to hide the blush.

"I've tried to tell her before, but I was interrupted by Dark Cupid."

"You took the arrow for her. And when Timebreaker almost tagged her, you jumped in the way. And-" Marinette sat on the steps and rubbed her head, thinking of all the times he'd put himself in harm's way to protect her. She looked at him. "You really love her?"

He met her eyes, burning a brilliant green that made her soul both swell with anticipation and wilt with fear. "I love her," he said in an all-too-serious tone, "I cannot - and will never - imagine a world without her."

"That much, huh?" she mumbled. Her mouth was dry, her tongue sandpaper. She opened the bottle and took a long sip, avoiding the intensity of his gaze. She tried to think of something to say, some way to lighten the mood, but words failed her. The oppressive atmosphere weighed upon her, pressing against her ribs and limbs and neck, begging for relief.

It was only by the call of her mother that she found an excuse to leave.

"I better see what she wants," she said, sliding to the floor. "Um, do you want-"

"I'm sorry!" She blinked at his sudden apology. His ears drooped and his cheeks were red. He studied her rug, afraid to look at her. "I made this awkward. I'm so sorry about that."

Marinette smiled gently. "It's fine. I just... Didn't know you felt so strongly." She walked over to him and held his shoulder until he lifted his eyes. "It's just - you can't be much older than me, and you have such deep emotions. I must seem so immature to you." He opened his mouth in rebuttal, to tell her she was wrong, but was interrupted by her mother calling again. "Is there anything you want, while I'm downstairs?"

"No thanks. I think it's best that I leave now." He slid from the chair in one languid movement and stretched his arms above his head. Twisting his torso, he stretched his muscles, and Marinette heard his joints popping. "It is so nice to be in my own body again. Your hospitality was amazing, but I'd rather not go through the whole 'cat ordeal' again."

"Speaking of that, you must be some hot-shot celebrity, right?"

Chat Noir startled. "What makes you think that?"

"The akuma. She only targeted 'models and movie stars' according to Plagg. So which one are you?" She poked his chest.

He snatched her hand and bowed. "Marinette, please. I am but a humble knight in the service of my Lady and my Princess." He kissed her knuckles, then winked up at her. "Although you may have seen my face on a few billboards recently."

Giggling, she pushed him away as Sabine called for a third time. "I have to go, kitty. Come by again sometime. I'll save you a cookie."

"Will do," he said with a two-fingered salute. He scrambled out her window and into the night, disappearing in the shadows.

Adrien was glad he didn't have far to go to get home. He was glad Marinette was so close by. He was glad he could sneak out at any moment to see her.

He was especially glad she'd even invited him back after that fiasco - he really needed to get away from his father's boring lecture about how he had a responsibility that day, monster attack or not. ("Father, I was turned into a cat. I couldn't do much." "Why didn't you come back after Ladybug made you human again?" "Uh...")

"Adrien, please be more careful with your time. You had the photographers worried into hysteria." With that, Gabriel Agreste ended the call. Nathalie lifted the tablet to her chest and walked out. When she was gone, he sighed and picked at the rest of his dinner.

"The photographers. Not him," he mumbled. "Maybe if you would actually show up sometimes, I'd feel more inclined to obey."

"Don't let it get you down, Adrien." Plagg whizzed out of his pocket. He took in Adrien's disappointed pout, then smiled mischievously. "So... Marinette?"

Adrien looked at Plagg, shocked. "What about her?"

"She was really nice."

"She's nice to everyone."

"And she has a crush on you!" Plagg sang. Adrien blushed. "What were you doing, telling her to talk to you, then telling her you love Ladybug?"

"It's not like she knows I'm Chat Noir!"

"But don't you think it's a little unfair to her? She gets closer and closer to you, one day she confesses, and what will you do?"

Plagg had meant for it to be teasing, something to take the boy's mind off his father. But Adrien plopped his head against the table with guilt surging through him. "I shouldn't have done that. How can I face her tomorrow?"

Plagg sighed. He could only help so much.

"Tikki! What do I do?! I didn't know he actually felt like... That!" Marinette paced her room, biting her nails. "He was so serious when he said it, too! What do I do?"

"Calm down, to start with. It won't help you to be in a frenzy the next time you see him."

Taking a deep breath settled her nerves, but she still paced. "I need to talk to him. As Ladybug. But what should I say?" She sank face-first onto her lounge.

"You'll think of something. You always do."

"I must've hurt his feelings so much! I always thought he was just a flirt. But he really does... Oh, no."

Tikki floated up to her. "It's late. Go to sleep. You'll be able to think better in the morning." Marinette nodded.

"Maybe I should give him a chance," she muttered to herself as she drifted off.

A/N: It started out with a cat how did it end up like that it was only a cat it was only a cat

From then on, Adrien is super awkward around Marinette and Ladybug finds herself tongue-tied around Chat Noir.