Author's Note: Feel free to leave comments/criticism, I need it y'all. Anywho, I've been avoiding homework by writing this so I guess it's time to go / r/

Chapter Two

Ladybug returned home after another uneventful patrol. Chat had ignored her the entire time, just like he had at that first awful patrol a month ago. Emotionally exhausted, Marinette slunk down in her bed. It had been weeks since she had gotten more than three hours of sleep—because Hawkmoth had been suspiciously inactive all month, she made the painful decision of having patrol every night, but she decided against asking Chat to go with her. Instead, she had been patrolling alone except for on Thursday nights, which was their normal patrol night. She smiled bittersweetly as she remembered Adrien's reaction to her sleepy demeanor the day after that first bad patrol.

Marinette trudged into class and slumped in her seat behind Adrien, whom she hadn't even noticed waving at her. He turned around before the bell rang, trying to get her attention. "Uh, Marinette? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired is all. I stayed up really late last night talking to a friend." She hadn't stuttered at all, even though she was lying. Adrien smiled widely at her.

"You must be a good listener. I already know you're a great friend. What friend are you talking about?" he asked. Thankfully, the bell rang, leaving Marinette baffled at Adrien's smile and cryptic question.

And then later that day, he had offered to walk her home. She had sleepily complied, leaning on his shoulder a little as they neared her house. He said his goodbye but watched her meander through the door, giving a secret smile that she wouldn't have noticed even if she had been watching him—that's how sleepy she was.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud rap at her window. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. When she saw Chat Noir at her window, she internally groaned. She was way too sleep-deprived to handle this.

She remembered the first time he had knocked on her window. She opened the window. "What is it, chaton? Are you hurt? Is there an akuma?"

He laughed lightly, nose crinkling. "Why would I come here if there was an akuma? I'd be out fighting it. And no, I'm not hurt. I just wanted to see you." He muttered the last part, looking down at her assorted pillows with a light blush.

Now, when he asked to come in, she blanched. "Oh! Yeah, I, uh, okay!" Crap, WHY was she stuttering? "Come in…"

His leather-clad feet made a padding noise on the floor. He sat in her desk chair, spinning lightly as she lay down on the bed. "Are you sleepy?" he asked, giggling.

She closed her eyes. "No. I'm hyped up on caffeine. I can't even—" she cut herself off with a yawn, bringing a smirk out of the black cat. "I can't even sit still."

He laughed, leaning his head on his arms, which were crossed over the top of the desk chair he was sitting in backwards. "Can I talk to you?"

She sat up, giving him her full attention, no matter how sleepy she was. "Sure, minou. You can tell me anything."

He smiled up at her before looking down at the floor in deep thought. "I still haven't told Ladybug how I feel, even though I know I should…"

"Chat," she scolded. "That's just going to make things worse!"

He perked up. "Really?"

"Yes," she muttered. "What if you're the one hurting her feelings now?"

"If anything, that's just payback," he joked. When she didn't laugh, he mumbled, "no. I don't ever want to hurt her."

"Then listen to me, chaton. She doesn't want to hurt you, either. Maybe she's been…insensitive, in the past. But she cares deeply for you. She is dying to know what she can do to fix things." Marinette sucked in a breath at her last words, which came out a little too matter-of-factly.

"How do you know?" Chat murmured.

"Uh—she talks to me! Yep, that's how she knew to bring you here when you were hurt. We talk sometimes. I don't know why a superhero would talk to me, though. That's just crazy!" she rambled, face reddening.

"I do," Chat said, taking her hand in his own. Still, there was the barrier of his costume between their hands. "You're amazing, Marinette."

Once again, the blue-haired girl remembered her crush's words, from when they played video games in her room. "You're amazing, Marinette." But Adrien always meant that as a friend.

"Well," she said. "At least you think so."

"What do you mean?" Chat seemed concerned for her.

"Oh, nothing." She lay back down, hands over her eyes.

"Is there someone who doesn't think you're amazing, Marinette?" He pried her hands off her eyes.

"Yeah," she said flatly, "some people from school."

"Like who?" He scooted closer, eyebrows lowering angrily.

"Like Chloe and her friend Sabrina and this guy—"

"There's a guy? Who is it?" He leaned in to look at her.

"I don't mean it like that, kitty. I just mean he doesn't think I'm amazing."

"Well, what's his name, princesse?"

"It doesn't matter," she muttered. "He only thinks of me as a friend." She had taken down his pictures a few days ago, no longer optimistic about having a chance with him. But it was okay; she was glad for his friendship, even if that was all she would ever get.

"What? Why would someone reject you?" Even as Adrien, he had been hanging out with Marinette more. She no longer stuttered around him and even made jokes back to him when she wasn't exhausted. He was starting to have feelings for her as well, and he wondered what was keeping her up at night, so he had started visiting more frequently, but he only ever caught her just as she was falling asleep.

"Because he's a model and he probably doesn't even have time for a girlfriend," she muttered.

"Are you talking about…Adrien Agreste?" Chat asked incredulously. There was no way she missed his signature lovesick smile in class every day.

"Ugh." She pressed a pillow over her face. "It's dumb; I know."

"It's not dumb—" she groaned into her pillow. "Okay, fine, we won't talk about that then. Just take the pillow off your face before you suffocate." He gently pulled it away from her, expecting her grumpy face but seeing her fluttering eyelids. She had fallen asleep, as she always did when he visited. And just as he always did, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, because this was the only time he could.

The next week, she was so sleepy that she forgot her own birthday. Alya was absent for a dentist's appointment, so Marinette slept through class in peace. After school, when everyone else had left, she dragged her feet to her locker and placed her forehead against the cool metal. She didn't even notice her missing lock when she opened the locker, staring into Chat Noir's green eyes. Her own eyes widened, and she looked around nervously. "Chat! What are you doing here?" She whisper-yelled. He stepped out of her locker, and several cards and gifts fell out. Nearly all of her classmates had bought their class president a card. She embarrassedly shoved the cards back into the locker and caught Chat's eyes again.

"I'm here to take you on an adventure." He held out his hand.

"What? Why?" She bent down to pick up another stray card.

"It's your birthday, purrincess. We have to celebrate. Come on."

She squinted at him. "How did you know it's my birthday, chaton?"

"It's marked on your calendar!" He said cheerfully, referencing the calendar in her room. He picked her up and jumped through the window.

"Where are we going?" she shouted over the wind.

"You'll see." He flashed a sharp tooth at her and kept going. Eventually, they landed in the middle of some trees in the park.

"Uh, Chat? Isn't this kind of a dangerous place for a birthday party?" She looked around nervously.

"What do you mean?" He frowned.

"Well, it's kind of obscure from view and there's nobody else here."

He laughed a little. "Princess, I'm not a bad guy. Besides, this isn't the actual place. Follow me." He pointed her toward a clearing. Strung up all around were fancy lights, and in the middle of the clearing, there was a table set up with a cake and a radio manned by Nino. Alya was sitting down, wrapping gifts. The rest of her class was also there—minus Chloe and Sabrina—all dressed in pretty clothes and smiling. Alya jumped up.

"Marinette! How did you know about the party? You're here early."

She turned to look at Chat Noir, but he was nowhere to be found. "I was just out for a walk," she said nervously. "I can leave, if you w—"

"No, girl, come on! Let's have fun," Alya yanked on her friend's hand, pulling her into a dance as Nino turned on a fast song. A few songs later, Alya grinned at her friend. "You'll thank me for this later," she said, shoving Marinette backwards.

"Woah!" she yelled, falling back. Thankfully, someone caught her under the arms. She looked up into the green eyes of…Chat Noir? No! Adrien! They're nothing alike, why did she even think that? "Oh!" She was stuttering with him for the first time in weeks. "Uh—hi, Adrien!"

He smirked down at her. "Hey, Marinette."

Just then, Nino switched to a slow song, giving a thumbs-up in their direction. Marinette slowly stood up and turned to face Adrien. "Sorry about that! Sometimes I—my feet—they—I trip," she finally finished, face burning. He giggled…just like Chat Noir. No, Marinette! Stop thinking about him!

Adrien bowed in front of her. "May I have this dance?"

Her face reddened even more. "Uh—sorry! I just remembered I have to go—do something!" She turned and ran back into the copse of trees where she had last seen Chat. Nathanael chased after her, but she hid behind some trees and transformed into Ladybug. Walking back out to the party, she came up to a few of her friends.

"Has anyone seen Chat Noir? My sources say he was most recently spotted here."

Alya squinted up at her favorite hero. "Wow, what sources? My Ladyblog hasn't even updated that quickly."

"It—it doesn't matter. I just really need to talk to him," she could feel herself having a meltdown. She looked around the crowd to see if she could find him in there, but her eyes kept going back to Adrien. He looked irritated.

No, Marinette. He couldn't possibly be Chat Noir.

Fearing that he was upset enough to be akumatized, she sat down on the bench next to him. "Hey, you're that model, Adrien Agreste, right? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, still sad. "Why do you want to see Chat Noir anyway? I heard that you hate him now."

"Where did you hear that?" Her breath caught in her throat.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get to answer that question, because at that exact moment, a booming voice shouted out over Paris:

"WHERE IS LADYBUG?"