Tap tap tap.

Marinette raised her head from the math homework she had been working on to the now-familiar sound of claw-meets-skylight. She had really begun to enjoy these visits from Chat Noir. Typically, he would talk about the triumphs and struggles of super-hero life, and she would vent about school… never the other was around so as not to reveal too much about themselves, with lots of laughing and joking mixed in. He was so light-hearted and carefree, he could always cheer her up, and having a friend who knew what it was like to be both a high school student AND a super hero gave them a unique bond… even if he didn't know it.

She had made good progress on her homework so far, and figured a quick visit with a certain friendly neighborhood stray couldn't hurt. Grabbing a scone from the plate of snacks her mom had prepared, she climbed up the ladder in her room out to the balcony.

The evening air had become slightly cool over the past few weeks, but that didn't stop the hustle and bustle from the Paris streets below. The Seine reflected the illuminated lights of the nearby buildings, which remained mostly aglow despite the twilight hour. She turned on the decorative string of colored lights as she climbed up for an extra bit of illumination.

Chat perched on the railing as only a feline superhero could, one knee up to his chin while the other leg dangled over the 3-story drop as he gazed off into the distance, the just-visible moon outlining his silhouette. Marinette smiled. She wasn't a painter, but her artistic mind could appreciate a great picture when she saw one.

"Hey there, Chat Noir! Out on patrol today?" She asked innocently, knowing full well there was none.

"Hiya, Princess!" he said, turning to face her and hopping gracefully onto the balcony. "No patrol today, just needed to get out… and prowl, you know?"

"Already with the cat puns? You must have had a heck of a day! Care for a little treat?" she said, offering him the sugary confection.

"You have no idea," he replied, accepting the snack and taking a large bite.

"Hmm… no hesitation, no remorse despite being clad entirely in skin-tight black leather? Feeling adventurous today I see!" she joked.

"Oh I'm sure there will be remorse," he replied drily, taking another large bite and leaning against the railing.

She paused. There was something in his eyes… a distance that wasn't usually there. Their evening banter was always light-hearted, teasing, and (unfortunately) full of puns, but today he didn't seem in the mood to chat. "Hey Chat, are you OK? Did you… actually have a bad day? I was just kidding around…"

"Yeah I'm fine," he replied curtly, then quickly changed the subject. "What about you, how did your project go? That presentation on famous Parisian women in history was today, wasn't it? Did your classmate actually do a presentation about herself?"

"Heh yeah, she did! It was about as awful as you would imagine," Marinette said, walking to stand beside him. She offered him a smile, but when she met his gaze, she saw his bright green sclera lacked their usual twinkle of mischievousness.

"Chat, seriously. Are you alright, did something happen?" she asked, her tone still light but now pricked with worry.

"It's nothing, really," Chat insisted, turning again to look out over the city, arms resting on the railing as he stood nonchalantly, legs crossed at the ankles.

Marinette knew this for a lie immediately. She had known her partner for along time, both ad Ladybug and as Marinette, and something was eating at him. She lifted a hand and, after a moment's hesitation, placed it on his arm. She thought she saw his eyes momentary flick in her direction, but when he refused to outwardly acknowledge her, she dipped her hand into his and gave a reassuring squeeze. She was slightly surprised at how large his leather-clad hand felt in her delicate, bare one. Even though she had always thought of them as partners, as equals, it suddenly seemed silly to think she could be strong where he faltered.

Her doubts evaporated when the clawed hand closed around hers, causing the cool points to press gently against the back of her hand. He turned to face her with an uncharacteristic sigh. His face had fallen, the hint of a grin that permanently lifted the corners of his mouth undetectable, his mask taking a noticeably different shape now that his eyes had lost their mirth. Her Chaton was almost unrecognizable, suddenly appearing several years older, and she had the sudden realization that perhaps his dauntless joviality, even in the face of gravest danger, had been intentional. To keep me calm, to keep things manageable, to keep me protected from fear of the danger that we both know is there… She thought.

He shook his head, his lips twitching again into the smile that he wore as a second mask for a moment but faltering again. "Ladybug would not like it if I discussed details of my personal life with a civilian. She doesn't even want us divulging anything to each other… to protect our identities, you know. If anyone learns too many specifics, they may be able to figure out who we are. And of all the people I shouldn't talk to—" he cut himself short. It should definitely not talk to someone who knows me very well! He internally concluded. With a humorless chuckle that sounded like a huff, he shook his head again and the soft smile finally returned. "Thank you, Marinette, I appreciate your concern, but I'll be alright."

She felt him start to pull away but she held firm. "Oh no, no way. I'm not letting you off that easy!" she declared.

His raised his eyebrows at her, surprised at first by her forcefulness but then amused. "Oh?" He beckoned, turning to face her fully. "And what are you going to do about it, Princess? Hold down Chat Noir, hero of Paris, by force until he confesses? How villainous!" He grinned at her.

Even though the grin was perfect and appeared genuine, Marinette knew better. Something had plucked a delicate string in her heart, and it continued to vibrate its mournful, lonely tone inside her. She had a knack for empathy that way, and the pain she had briefly sensed in Chat had been deep. His suggestion had given her an idea. Maybe a stupid one, but it felt right.

"Something like that," she said, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close, tucking her head under his chin to rest against his chest. Her embrace had pinned his arms to his sides, and she felt him stiffen, uncomfortable.

"Mari, I… what are you…?" he fidgeted a little, wriggling.

"Nope." She said matter-of-factly. "Stay, kitty. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. Just stay."

He stopped resisting and considered this. He looked down at her but could only see the top of her pigtail-ed head. He felt awkward, just standing there while his classmate hugged him. But why should he? They were friends, weren't they? Friends are supposed to be there to comfort each other. Then again, what did he know about friendship. Marinette had been his first real friend… not counting Chloe, who had certainly never shown him any real tenderness or affection. Besides, it felt… nice.

She felt him relax against her, his restrained arms bending at the elbows to encircle her. Sensing that he would no longer resist, she softened her grip to rub his back with her palm in slow, smooth circles, repositioning the other to wrap around his waist. He arched his back slightly into her touch, allowing his shoulders to sag and more fully resting his head atop hers.

"I guess I'm just… tired of being alone."

His voice sounded deeper, more gravely with her ear pressed against his chest. Although she wanted to remind him that he always had Ladybug, and her (by default of course, but the Marinette side of her), she stayed silent and allowed him to continue.

"Growing up, I only had one friend, and we were only friends because our parents wanted us to be. We were pretty close when we were younger, I guess… because we never saw anybody else. But then we moved to…" he paused, remembering to omit as many details as her could to minimize the chance that Marinette would realize the similarities between Chat and her classmate. "Well we moved away for a while. By the time we returned, it was just me and my dad."

She nodded her head against her chest to indicate she was listening, allowing her hand to move up his back to rub some of the tension from his neck.

"He does his best, I think… he works so hard, but he's so strict. Every moment of every day was planned out. Sure, we travel a lot… I've seen the world, and I have everything I could want, except… I don't know, I guess I got lost somewhere along the way. Trying so hard to be perfect, I never got to be myself. Explore what I want to do. Do you know, I have a half-dozen hobbies, and I'm not sure I really like any of them? And the worst part is, I don't think my dad's even noticed."

"Oh Chat… I had no idea." Marinette felt her heart swell with gratitude at the love in her own life: her parents, her classmates, Alya… even her silly crush on Adrien. Her life was full of love, both receiving and giving (even if sometimes unrequited), and she wouldn't trade it for the world.

"It's a little better now," he continued. "And most days I can say I'm actually happy. But then sometimes, I think I'm just fooling myself. That I'm pretending to be a normal high-school kid, with normal friends… for a while, I even thought about asking yo-ahh" he sputtered a bit, as if tongue tied, but recovered quickly. "No names, sorry, I forgot."

Marinette couldn't help but let her mind wander to any girls she knew whose names started with "Yu." Youki? Yumi? She forcibly halted that train of thought. No peeking into identities, she scolded herself.

"Anyway," he continued, "I wanted to ask out this girl from my class. We're already friends with all the same people, and even if it didn't work out I know we could still be friends. She's just that type of person." His voice took on an airy quality, and Marinette knew he must be imaging what it would be like when he said "I've never had a girlfriend before." A moment passed. "Someone who-" Until his voice cracked, Marinette hadn't noticed he had begun to tremble slightly. Holding him tighter, she ran a hand through the back of his tousled hair, scratching gently at the scalp. He swallowed hard.

"Someone who was mine, and I was theirs. Us against the world. Inseparable no matter what. Someone who would be happy with just me, and didn't need anything else. So long as we had us, things would be OK… great even."

She felt a warm spot on her scalp as one of his silent tears fell on the part-line of her hair.

"And I think… I think I might have messed up my relationship with Ladybug because of that. Because I want it so badly. She's all those things: my partner, my friend, my trusted ally. We know we can depend on each other, and my feelings just get all jumbled up…"

Marinette continued running his fingers through his hair as he hugged her tightly in silence as minutes passed, his shoulders shaking at first but slowly calming. After some time, he suddenly took a deep, shaky breath and stood up straight, backing away from her and forcing her to release him. Chat's face was a deep shade of crimson she had never seen on him before.

"Oh… wow…" he said, avoiding her gaze as he reached behind his head to scratch his neck awkwardly. This only made him blush more fiercely as he was reminded of her doing the same thing only moments before, in a moment of intimacy he had never expected. "That was… really embarrassing. Thank goodness for this mask." He attempted to say the last line in jest, but it rang with truth.

She poked him in this shoulder playfully, accidentally allowing a bit of her Ladybug nature to show. "Oh kitty, it's not embarrassing to feel emotions. It's called being human. My mom says you shouldn't try to keep all that bottled up inside, or it'll eat away at you."

He cocked his head to the side and met her eyes, his expression reading, Ya think I didn't figure that out?

She allowed herself to laugh lightly, seeing that he was already feeling better. "Alright fine, if you insist, I'll share something embarrassing about myself too, OK? Something nobody else-, OK one other person knows. Then we'll have each other in confidence!"

He blinked at her, then grinned. "OK fine, but it better be good, cuz I like… poured my kitty soul out back there!" His voice had regained its brightness, and her joy at seeing him happy overwhelmed her shyness about her (second) best-kept secret. Besides, who safer to entrust with secrets than a stranger who is also your best friend?

She grinned conspiratorially, as if spilling to Alya for the first time. "OK so, I have a huge crush on this guy at my school."

Chat's masked eyebrows peaked in interest.

"Now don't laugh," she said accusingly, as if he already was. "But… It's Adrien Agreste. You know, the Adrien Agreste, the model? He goes to my school and—he's just the sweetest, most caring person. The day we met, even though I was rude to him all day, he gave me his umbrella and walked to his car in the pouring rain. He-" Chat's expression was unreadable, and Marinette realized she was babbling. "I know what you're thinking, no chance right? But… a girl can dream." She smiled whimsically.

Chat's lips turned into a smile. "It's not that, Princess, it's just…" he adopted the seductive smolder that he knew the photographers loved so much. "I'm sweet and caring, too."

She laughed, throwing her arms around his shoulders, and he hugged her back, laughing too. It was a friendly gesture, and this time, Chat felt entirely comfortable with it.

"Sure," she giggled, "in between saving Paris and your extremely hectic real life, we can go out on dates with a bag over your head."

"Awe," he pouted. "What a waste of a perfectly handsome face! Maybe we should rethink our relationship."

They released each other, smiling. "I happen to make an excellent friend, I'll have you know," Marinette said with a wink.

"I know that for a fact," he replied, taking her hand and kissing it gently. Looking her in the eyes, he added, "Seriously Marinette, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

Still smiling but with a softness to her eyes, she replied, "Actually, Chat… I think I do."

Epilogue

After Marinette and Chat had said their goodbyes, she descended back to her bedroom with a smile on her face. She certainly would have called Chat a friend before, but after tonight, she felt closer to him than ever. Now he was right up there with Alya. The connection that they shared was real, and obviously ran deeper than their partnership as demon-fighting super heroes. Maybe sharing our real identities wouldn't be so bad, she thought.

Just as she pulled the ties from her hair in preparation to finish off the last of her homework and make her way to bed, there was a knock at the front door below. She glanced at her clock: 8:15. Not extremely late, but later than they usually get visitors. She glanced at the cellphone on her desk as she heard her parents open the door. She had left the phone inside when she went out to meet Chat, and supposed she could have missed a text from Alya regarding her latest theory on Ladybug's true identity. Or 30 texts, knowing her! Marinette thought. Sure enough, Sabine's voice floated up from downstairs.

"Marinette, honey! You have a visitor! Just don't be too long, it's a school night!"

"Coming, Maman!" she called as she bounced down the steps.

Rounding the corner at the bottom of the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Adrien standing just inside the front door.

Adrien is here, at night, in my house! She did a mental self-check: hair was a bit of a mess, but clothes (and bra) were still on. Oh thank God.

"H-Hi Adrien! What are you doing here?" she blurted. Too harsh! Her inner voice said. "I mean, you're welcome, of course, but.. it's late and… " Her mind went blank. A moment passed as Adrien, and her parents who had remained in the room but did their best to look like they weren't prying (which was a terrible effort), waited for her to finish her sentence.

Adrien glanced briefly at Mr. Dupain, who gave him an encouraging (knowing?) smile.

"Hey, Marinette!" he said brightly, maybe a little too brightly thanks to the tinge of nervousness that had suddenly appeared in his chest. "This, uhh… isn't the way I ever thought I'd do this, but, I was wondering…." He met her eyes and smiled warmly. "Would you maybe want to go out sometime? Like on a date? Friday night, if you're free?"

Marinette's jaw hung open in disbelief, while Marinette's parents held their collective breath. One second passed. Two. …Five.

"Y-you don't have to decide right now, if you want to-" he started.

"YES!" She nearly screamed the word, and she could have sworn her heard her mother giggle at this. "I mean, yes, I would love to!"

"Great!" he beamed. "I'll pick you up at 6:30 then! I'm already looking forward to it!"

The twinkle in his eye as he grinned at her reminded her of someone… but who on Earth could compare to Adrien Agreste!?