A/N- Hi it's Rainie. This is my first fan fiction ever! So enjoy! But first I'd like to explain this fic a little. The bits in italics are lyrics from a song called Ne T'En Fui Pas, by Kate Bush (you can find it on youtube). It's actually a song sung in French but I've only put the English translation in. I'll explain more about it at the end but for now, please enjoy my first attempt at a fic.

I am coming like a cat
Through the night so black
You are waiting
And I fall

Gently, the icy breeze weaved its way over the Paris rooftops, carrying the scent of the city with it. Chat Noir breathed it in for a moment, suppressing a shiver as he perched on the top of a chimney. His green eyes glinted as he looked out at the city lights as he felt the odd pang in his chest that he'd been feeling all week. He wasn't sure when this sadness inside him began, whether it had always been there and just now it had been brought to the surface. His eyes drifted back to one building in particular and another pang of sadness struck his heart.
The conflict and fear inside him made his knees want to tremble.

But the warm lights of the bakery across from the building he was perched on shone of safety and goodness, a soft promise of belonging. So much goodness and promise that it scared him. He couldn't let himself count on this; he had been hurt and abandoned and rejected for too long. The fear it would happen again was always present in his mind.

A light turned on and shone out of the top window of the building, casting a yellow glow on the half of his face that wasn't hidden behind his baton. His breath caught for a moment when he saw her. She had just come into view of the window, looking out into the black night but not seeing him. She seemed to sigh before sitting down, her raven-black hair shifted over her shoulder slightly. Her bluebell eyes cast downwards, looking at her desk where pages of paper rested.
That sigh was his fault; he was late after all. He just couldn't bring himself to go to her, instead he had stayed sat in the frosty winter night for nearly half an hour. His breath was streaming from his mouth in little clouds against the biting winter air, but the coldness he felt inside was worse.

If the big eyes of my God
Were not watching me
I would steal you away

Her face looked soft in the warm light of the single lamp she had turned on. Chat Noir felt his heart flip for a moment as he looked at her. He wished for a moment that he had no responsibilities, that he didn't have to fight akumas and save the world, that he wasn't still in love with Ladybug. Guilt pitted itself in his stomach. How could he be thinking of Ladybug when Marinette, beautiful and kind Marinette, was right in front of him? Waiting for him.

He bit his lip. Chat Noir had been visiting her for a while now. It began innocently and accidentally, only ever wanting to be friends with the oddly quiet and shy girl he knew from school. But then he began to be curious about his brave and selfless classmate, who stood up to akumas without powers and fought for what she believed in. How could someone so brave be so shy to him in school?

But she wasn't shy with Chat. She was warm and she rolled her eyes at his puns and she never once asked about Ladybug. Only ever about him. It made him fill up with warmth. She made him feel like he was accepted for who he was, when she let him cry on her shoulder about his home life and never pried.

He couldn't place exactly when the fondness he felt for her morphed into something more. But the love he felt for her burnt in his chest in times like these. Times when he could see her face almost glowing the moonlight as she stood again to check for him through the window. Her eyes seemed to scan the rooftops fruitlessly, her eyes skipping over him as he slunk back into a shadow.
Did Marinette feel the same way for him? Was it possible that she would accept him where Ladybug had always rejected him?
He suddenly felt the urge to grab her hand and pull her along the roofs. They could aimlessly explore the city, run away from Paris and all their troubles. If they were together, surely everything would be alright.

Don't fly away
You have wings
The power to leave me

Making up his mind that he'd lingered outside for too long, Chat took a step out of the shadows and leapt across to her balcony. She saw him arrive, eyes lighting up in relief, her worried frown being replaced by a bright smile. Chat felt guilt and joy mix in his heart. Everything about his heart was contradictory.

"Princess." He said simply as she joined him on the balcony. Her relieved smile slowly morphed back into the worried frown.

"Chat. Chat, are you alright? I was expecting you nearly an hour ago. Did something happen?" her voice was sweet and clear, ringing in his ears like a silver bell, soothing his troubled heart and mind for a moment.

"No, I'm perfectly fine, Princess. I must apawlogise for my lateness." He tried for a grin but must have failed by the concerned look that still remained in her eyes.

"Come in out of the cold." Marinette said with a gesture behind her to the trap door. She was shivering herself. Chat didn't want to say that the cold helped his thoughts and feelings to go numb so he didn't hurt as much. He just followed her inside her pink room, and was enveloped in a blanket of warm air. Chat watched her shoulders relax in the warmth as she walked in front of him. The image of her walking away sent a sudden spike of irrational fear through him. He had to reassure himself that she did actually want him there and wouldn't leave. She had invited him inside, after all.

"Marinette-" Chat began, but he didn't know what to say so his words trailed out. She turned to him and his eyes caught on the smattering of freckles across her nose before returning to her eyes. Her eyes that were so incredibly blue. And they were still concerned for him.

"Chat, what's wrong? I know you well enough to know something is wrong." She said with a small smile, gesturing for him to come and sit by her on the bed, like normal. Being close to her calmed him but kept him on edge. He felt so frustrated with himself. Why couldn't anything be simple for him? Why did he always overcomplicate things with his fear?

You fell from the sky
Like an angel
And I am afraid
That the sky will take you back

"Chat?" she whispered and his name on her lips made him crumple. She blinked in surprise when Chat Noir hugged her tightly, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. Her warmth seeped into his cold body, and her presence warmed him from the centre out.

"Chat, you know it's OK. I'm here for you." Marinette said softly, unsure of what Chat was so upset about, and clueless as to how she could coax the answer out of him. For now she would settle for immediate comfort, but she felt like Chat needed a long-term fix.

"Marinette? Promise you won't leave me alone, please." He muttered into her hair. Marinette stroked his hair softly, wondering where this had all suddenly sprang from.

"Of course, I promise. But why are you afraid I'll leave you?" Marinette asked, pushing him gently away so she could see his expression in his lovely green-on-green eyes. Chat Noir looked away from her for a moment, unable to meet her inquiring blue gaze.

"You- you're… you are my only safety right now, Marinette. And I feel like you could just vanish at any moment, and then I'll be alone again." Chat admitted, still not looking her in the eye. Marinette sighed for him. He had voiced concerns about being alone before but he had said that he actually did have some friends, people who cared about him. Why was he worried now?

"Chat, you aren't alone. You'll never be completely alone, you know. Your friends will always be there, and so will I. You don't need to worry." She said trying to soothe him but he just shook his head.

"But my friends don't really know me. They don't know I'm Chat Noir. What if Ladybug can't save me one day after I make a mess of things? I'll just vanish for them; they won't know I'm Chat. Maybe they won't really care that I'm gone." Chat said, finally looking into her eyes. Her eyes which now shone out with blue fire.

"No, Chat!" she argued back immediately, angry at him. He blinked at her.

"No. Firstly, you don't make a mess of things. You and Ladybug together fight evil. Together you are a team. Together you are equals. Never forget that Chat. She would be lost without you just as you feel lost without her." Marinette said, cupping his face with her hand and looking into his eyes which were so sad.

"And Chat, your friends would care, believe me. Just this Christmas, my friend went missing and we were all worried sick. I wouldn't rest until he was found and home safe. I was so afraid for him, just as your friends would be for you. You can't help that they don't know that it's you under the mask. But remember that they do care about who you really are." She continued, her voice urgent and insistent so her words would reach him. Chat's breath caught slightly. She had been talking about him -Adrien- then. She had been talking about him. Marinette really was amazing.

You have wings
The power to leave me

"And I know you Chat. I would care if you went missing. I would know. I would care. And I would fight my very best until I got you home again." Her words were fiercely said and her eyes sparked determinedly, and finally Chat began to believed her when she said she wouldn't leave him. She would never abandon him. She was Marinette. She would never abandon anyone. After that thought, Chat's mouth suddenly tasted bitter. She would do the same for anyone? It shouldn't bother him as much as it did that she might care for everyone else the same amount as him. But he wanted more from her, wanted her to feel more for him than for anyone else.

"Marinette. I need to tell you something, but I'm afraid it will make you want to leave me." Chat muttered. Marinette tilted her face curiously.

"Kitty, don't be silly. Nothing you can tell me will make me want to leave you! And anyway, you would actually have to be the one leaving me since we are in my room." Marinette pointed out, trying to coax a smile out of him but his eyes seemed too serious for that. Apprehension gripped her for a moment. What was he going to tell her? Did he somehow know she was Ladybug?

"Princess, Marinette, this isn't going to make any sense but… I think I love you." He finally said, making her eyes widen in surprise and a blush rise up her cheeks.

And I sink
And I fly
Like a feather

"And I know it doesn't make sense, and it's so selfish of me. But I still somehow love Ladybug. It's tearing me apart because I don't want to lose either of you and I don't want you to hate me." Chat said quickly, with his eyes squeezed shut, before Marinette could reply.

Marinette stared at the boy in front of her. He amazed her. He had fallen in love with her twice. Chat loved both sides of her. That thought filled her heart with joy, making her slightly light-headed for a moment. And then she came crashing back down again. Because she realised that she was hurting Chat. She loved Adrien. There was no room for Chat in her heart that way.

Even as she thought those words, she looked at Chat's terrified face and realised they weren't true at all. Of course she loved Chat. She had always loved Chat as a friend, as a comrade and a partner. But she'd never taken his flirting serious enough to consider loving him as a lover. Now that he was sat in front of her, bravely bearing his soul to her, she finally began to understand the conflict he had been feeling all this time. The joy of love, of loving two people. And the dreadful guilt of loving two people. The joy of loving Adrien. The guilt of realising she loved Chat too.

"Chaton. I know how you feel." Marinette stroked his face softly as she spoke, willing him to open his eyes to look at her blushing face.

"You do?" he asked incredulously. His emerald eyes met her sapphire ones.

"I understand because… because I love two people too." Marinette admitted. She had stuttered for a moment, unsure whether to just admit now that she was Ladybug. It would surely ease his suffering. But then, if she did that, would she be giving up on Adrien? Her heart sank at even the thought of it.

"You… do?" Chat's voice sounded hollow with surprise. Marinette nodded and it was her turn to look away. His eyes had just been so intensely green that she couldn't hold their gaze.

"I'm sorry Chat. I do really love you, you know. But I've known that I loved him for so much longer. And recently I've been getting the feeling that he might actually like me too." Marinette told him softly, thinking about how Adrien had met her eyes the other day and blushed just as much as she had.

Chat felt his heart sink, which was ridiculous because he had no right to feel that way when he was doing the same thing to her and Ladybug.
The way Marinette's eyes shone when she spoke of the other one she loved made envy run riot through him. But he had no right to feel it.

I beg you
I beg you
Don't fly away

Marinette looked back at Chat to find his eyes heartbroken, making her panic with guilt. But a second later and a lopsided grin was on his face.

"At least tell me, princess, who is the other one you love. You know the other I love is Ladybug. It's only fair." Chat smiled, the smile not reaching his eyes. He watched as guilt flashed on her face, but he didn't understand it. Marinette knew that he really had no reason for feeling bad; he wasn't being cruel and unkind as she was. He was being so honest that she felt awful. He loved the same person twice, he just didn't know yet.

"He's my friend in my class at school. You met him before, I think. Adrien Agreste." Marinette winced, not knowing what to expect from that confession. After a beat or two of silence she returned her gaze to his face. His face which now appeared flabbergasted, his eyes wide and mouth dropped open.

After a moment of blank astonishment, a beaming grin spread across his face. Marinette stared at him in confusion. He began to laugh quietly, pressing a fist to his mouth to stifle the chuckling when it grew louder.

"Marinette! Princess, I love you." He said, leaning forwards to hug her so quickly she had no time to react.

"Wh-what?" she stammered, completely bewildered by his reaction.

"Plagg, de-transform me!" Chat called out, the widest smile still on his face. Marinette jumped in surprise as there was a flash of green light blinding her for a moment. She was too shocked to even thing of looking away before she saw who Chat really was.

And as soon as her eyes adjusted and she saw his face she was too shocked to say a word. Instead she followed Chat's- Adrien's example and began to laugh, uncontrollably. She collapsed onto her back, clutching her stomach from the laughter, trying to keep it silent so she didn't wake her parents. Tears were streaming down her face once she managed to catch her breath. A tanned hand reached down in front of her, which she thankfully grabbed to pull her back up. Honestly, she didn't think her stomach muscles would survive this. Had they really been this foolish for this long? They'd been dancing around each other from the beginning!

"Huh, kid, I guess there must be something funny on your face." Said a deadpan, unfamiliar voice that Marinette deduced was Adrien's kwami. She spotted the little black cat hovering near his shoulder and smiled at him before her gaze was drawn back to Adrien himself.

"Shut it, Plagg." Adrien hissed to his kwami, giving the little cat a small poke.

"Adrien. It's you!" she exclaimed breathlessly, drawing his eyes back to her face, revealing the amusement and joy gleaming in them. His smile was bright and bursting, reminding her so clearly of the day she fell in love with him. When they had stood in the rain and his eyes had lit up in a smile. She wondered how she had missed the very same smile in her partner all this time.

"Yes it's me-ow! You love me twice, princess." He grinned at her, and there was something so wonderful about Chat's expression on Adrien's face that Marinette wanted to scream in happiness. She was so lucky. They both were. And that was the moment she realised Chat still didn't know she was Ladybug, an oversight which had to be immediately addressed. The corners of her mouth lifted into a smirk, she raised an eyebrow at his statement and leaned forward, flicking his nose lightly with her finger.

"I could say the same for you, Chaton." She smirked back, enjoying the confused expression on his face. She supposed that was how she had looked only moments ago. Ah, revenge was sweet. She let herself enjoy watching him riddle out what she had said for a moment. Then she darted a look to the spot that Tikki was hiding. They shared a nod of understanding and mirth.

"Tikki! Spots on!" She called, trying to look as graceful as possible as she went through her transformation. There was a flash of pink against her closed eyelids, and the familiar tingling feeling of energy on her skin, signalling to her the transformation was complete.

"Wh- what!?" she heard Adrien splutter. Marinette grinned to herself because she had made Adrien flustered. And flustered he was. He still could see the glowing pink silhouette of Marinette shifting into Ladybug each time he blinked.

"I'm Ladybug." Marinette said with a smile, suddenly shy under his disbelieving stare.

"I can see that." He said with a croak, the same flabbergasted expression on his face.

"Don't worry, Mari, it'll just take a little while for the kid to process it. Look, you can almost see the gears ticking in there, eh?" the little black cat kwami said, winking conspiratorially as he tapped the side of his chosen's head. Marinette stifled a giggle, looking at the little kwami.

"We haven't been properly introduced! I'm Marinette." She said to him, holding out one gloved finger so he could shake it like a hand.

"Plagg. Pleasure to meet the girl he's been drooling over since I've known him." Plagg smirked, making Marinette laugh again. They both looked back to Adrien who, in the time they'd been talking, had turned a brighter red than Marinette's suit. Plagg and Marinette exchange a quick look.

"I think I better transform back before he has a heart attack. Oh! And then you can talk to Tikki! I'm sure you know each other." Marinette said with a smile. Plagg grinned at her and nodded. Plagg was actually proud of himself for not asking for cheese yet, but to be fair, he was certain Tikki would kill him if he somehow 'spoilt' the 'big reveal'... 'again'.

"Tikki! De-transform me!" Marinette called out, catching Tikki in her palms as she fell out of her earrings. Tikki smiled up at her chosen.

"I will never get used to that. Not in a million years." Adrien finally managed to speak, smiling so widely that it made Marinette laugh. Tikki floated in front of Adrien merrily. It had all worked out like she though it would.

"I'm Tikki!" she squeaked, making Adrien chuckle and pat her head with one finger.

"You're cute, Tikki. Not like Plagg at all." Adrien said cheerily. Plagg scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I think Plagg is cute." Marinette said, stroking the grumpy kwami's head and getting a very positive reaction in return.

"See, Adrien, I am cute!" Plagg stuck his little tongue out at Adrien, which was about the most adorable thing Marinette had ever seen.

"Plagg and I are going to have to catch up together now, if that's alright with you two." Tikki said, pulling Plagg away and off down to the lower section of Marinette's bedroom.

Marinette watched them go and then blushed when she realised she was finally alone with Adrien. And Adrien was Chat Noir. And they both loved each other. Both sides of each other. Their eyes met again and elated joy bubbled up inside them both. They could see it in each others eyes. If they didn't let the feeling out now, they'd burst, probably. So, both took a breath in to steady themselves for what they were about to admit.

"I love you." they said together.

The end (for now?)

So, more about the song. I heard it a few weeks ago and it just made me think up a marichat fic for it, a bit cliché but who doesn't love a bit of cheese? (says Plagg).
You can find the song on youtube if you want to give it a listen, you could even read the fic while listening to it, (it is in French though so I dunno if it would even make sense). You'll probably be able to catch the bits where she sings 'chat' and 'noir' if nothing else. ?
Anyway, that's it! It's just a one-shot, but I do have a little extra bit I might add as a next chapter/ epilogue if people want (or if I'm in the mood).