AN: Oh boy. Okay fiiiine. Somehow thanks to all the egging on, I have managed to come up with a complete story. I have been writing/editing this non-stop and slept maybe two hours. I love/hate you guys. P

~o~

One month later...

Chloe Bourgeois was a mean bitch. Adrien knew this for ages. However, before he started school he'd always taken this knowledge with as much endearment as he did with exasperation. She was loud and (very) opinionated and never afraid to speak her mind. That was just the way she was. She had even, on more than one occasion, made him laugh involuntarily with her mean sense of humor.

Then when he got to school, he had to come to the horrible realization that Chloe was a bully. Her mean spirited snipes weren't reserved for private town cars, out of earshot. She wasn't indiscriminate in her opinions. She had no problem with making the most vulnerable of their classmates the brunt of her mean sense of humor, which was never funny since they couldn't stand up for themselves. She used people as stepping stones in her climb up the social ladder. To be what? Most horrible person in school? It completely mystified him.

Adrien also had to get used to the fact that Chloe was starting to treat him the same way. Ever since she realized that he had a massive crush on her archnemesis (which was obvious to everyone except Marinette), her opinion of him decidedly cooled. Suddenly, he found himself the target of her sharp tongue and narrowed eyes. He could handle it sure, but it still hurt. He probably had it coming anyway, seeing as he never tried to dissuade her in the past and wasn't sure how to even now.

The one good thing was that Chloe didn't try to publically humiliate him as she did the others. She extended at least that courtesy to him.

"Adrien, you have to get over this stupid crush!" she hissed at him after she cornered him in a more secluded part of the school courtyard. Sabrina lingered like a third wheel, clearly uncomfortable with ganging up on one person instead of defending Chloe against the great unwashed. Chloe had no such qualms. "It's absolutely pathetic and you're the laughing stock of the entire school!"

Adrien cringed. Well, she wasn't wrong. Everyday, he'd get sly smiles and knowing looks. Little smart aleck comments on whether or not he saw Marinette that day. Or he'd hear them whisper just out of earshot, giggling and mimicking his stammering around his crush. Each time, he hated the fact that his face was on nearly every street corner in Paris. For some reason, celebrity just meant that everyone in school had carte blanche permission to gossip about and tease him as if they knew him.

Chloe wasn't nearly done with him though. "You're just like some sad little three-legged dog around her, living off little scraps of attention! Trying to be so eager to please and failing at it! And for her of all people! Not even someone that's worthy of your attention! You're completely ruining your image with all your hopeless behavior, and mine!"

I deserve this, Adrien thought, his throat growing tight as the words pierced him like death by a thousand cuts. He didn't dare speak, since he didn't trust his voice wouldn't break. I deserve this. How could I not have seen how bad she was? I should have done something years ago.

It was just like Chloe to know exactly where to strike to hurt hardest.

"I can't believe I told everyone I was friends with you!" she howled in outrage with a stamp of her foot, drawing the attention of everyone in proximity in the courtyard.

Everyone stopped to stare at the confrontation. Stopped to stare at mean-bitch Chloe rip a new one into the most (in)famous kid in school. Some of them smiled, snickering to one another. They didn't see how they were just as bad as Chloe themselves, in a quieter, subtle, horrible sort of way.

"HEY!"

Adrien looked up, not realizing until then how dangerously hot and wet his eyes were.

Marinette looked at the three of them, hands on her hips, and her bluebell eyes burning with hellfire fury. Chloe and Sabrina took a step back as she approached with hands clenched into trembling fists at her sides. Even those around her spread away in a ripple. No one had ever seen the pig-tailed girl like this before.

Standing a foot apart from Chloe, Adrien could see Marinette shake with anger, as if it was taking everything in her not to explode. Then one hand unclenched, and flew up over her head in a way that could only mean one thing.

Adrien moved as fast as his Chat-reflexes allowed, grabbing Marinette's wrist before the strike connected. Chloe shrieked anyway, falling to the ground and onto her ass. Marinette's eyes, however, had snapped up to his and Adrien was hopelessly ensnared. Swallowing hard, he said, "N-no, it's not worth it. I'm not worth it. Please, M-Marinette." Mentally, he cursed in frustration. Even now his heroic feat was tainted with his stupid stuttering.

The hellfire in Marinette dimmed regardless, settling down into an angry boil. "Your not-friend just saved you from the beating of your life," she hissed down at Chloe. "You had better remember that before you open your poisonous trap again."

With that, she tugged Adrien away from the corner of the courtyard and towards the front gate of the school. It was technically break and they weren't supposed to leave the school grounds (not that Chat didn't on a regular basis), but Marinette was leading them toward the patisserie. Towards her house, Adrien realized as twin feelings of elation and terror shot through him.

With her parents busy in the shop, it was easy enough to sneak up to the second floor without anyone noticing. Adrien gaped at the interior, which was as warm and as cozy as he'd imagined. Only now his imaginings were supplemented with the smell of freshly baked bread rising from below. Meanwhile, Marinette still hadn't said a word as she sat Adrien down at the kitchen bar, then left him alone to go downstairs.

Once he was alone, it took all Adrien had not to completely lose it. "Oh my God, Plagg. I'm in her house. I'm in Marinette's house! What do I do-whatdoido?" he cried, fisting his hands into his hair.

"It's just a house, kid! Chill!" Plagg hissed from his pocket.

Adrien's panic didn't have much chance to upwardly spiral, when Marinette returned to the kitchen. She put down a plate of cookies and pastries and a glass of milk. "Here, eat," she ordered, sitting down across from him.

A blush spread across Adrien's cheeks. "Th-thanks," he mumbled, pulling the plate towards him. On it, the cremes and custards glistened with sugar and the dark-light smell of chocolate and butter wafted off the cookies. Adrien was hard pressed not to drool. This was more sweets than he'd seen in a year. Hesitantly, he took a bite of a mini-creme brulee with a sprig of mint and raspberry. That single bite very nearly did him in. He let out a blissful moan of pleasure, his whole body slouching as though he threatened to ooze into a puddle.

Marinette let out a giggle. "Good, huh? Go on, have some more." Which Adrien happily did.

That's it. I can die happy now. I'm eating sweets in Marinette's house and she's smiling at me.

Maybe this was heaven and he just didn't know it yet. Did his life flash before his eyes at any point?

Marinette watched him with a grin, propping her chin up from the kitchen counter. "You look like you're feeling better. I'm glad," she said. "I cannot believe what Chloe said to you. I was so worried that you were going to akumatize right then and there."

All at once, the happy fantasy screeched to a halt.

"W-wait," Adrien said, pointing to himself as his eyes widened. "Y-you seriously thought I-"

Marinette shifted uncomfortably, not quite able to meet his eye. "Well, we've seen people akumatized for a lot less, haven't we?"

Adrien stared at her incredulously. But I'm Chat Noir. What about you! You were about to hit her!

He didn't say that though. The model looked instead to the half-finished plate of sweets, his appetite suddenly diminished. "...Is that why," he said, gesturing to the plate. Disappointment raked through him. Great, he was just here because Marinette didn't want yet another classmate of theirs to destroy the school.

"No, of course not!"

Adrien's eyes snapped up. Marinette glared at him, almost angry. But it was an indignant kind of anger instead. "You think I'd hit Chloe anytime she bullied someone? She'd be in the hospital in a coma by now!"

...That image really shouldn't be funny. It really shouldn't. But Adrien snorted involuntarily anyway. Encouraged, Marinette's glare morphed into a smile. "For the record, you're worth getting into trouble over. We're friends. And you need them more than most."

Oh. Great. Yeah, friends. Totally friend-zoned, that's me. So much for all the so-called 'progress' he made in the past month. The blond fought through his mental sigh to give his friend a smile in return. Well, even if he and Marinette only ever were friends (even if he desperately hoped for otherwise), he was still the luckiest guy on the face of the planet.

Marinette hopped off her stool, coming up to give Adrien a tight hug. All coherent thought left the model in that single moment, as if the heated blush that took over his whole face fried them all away.

Stepping back, his schoolmate looked him over and gave him a teasing grin. "What, never got a hug before, Pretty Boy?" she laughed. The blush only got worse and he stammered something so unintelligible, even he had no idea what he was trying to say. "Don't be embarrassed! Friends give friends hugs all the time! Especially girls. You gotta start getting used to it now."

Adrien wanted to cry. That was not why he was blushing!

He was going to say something to that effect (no, he really was this time, dammit-shut up), when Marinette booped him on the nose. That single touch made him lose his mind all over again.

"I don't know why I worried that you'd become an akuma," she laughed, her beautiful bluebell eyes dancing with mirth. "You're so innocent and naive. You don't have a single dark patch in your soul."

Goddammit. Whyyyy?

While Adrien contemplated what surface to repeatedly bang his head against, his pig-tailed classmate waved him over. "Okay, Pretty Boy, we should be getting back to school. We've got two minutes before class starts. Bring the sweets with you!"

With a heavy sigh, the model did as he was bid, following his crush down the stairs and trudging back towards school.

Marinette, he thought wearily, if anyone's going to make me an akuma, it's going to be you.

~o~

Chat really wasn't planning on visiting his princess that night. Honestly, he'd been trying to avoid it since that one night he kissed her. It was just supposed to be a one-time deal. He just needed a boost of confidence, a secret weapon. An 'I-know-something-you-don't-know'. He was supposed to use it to become more confident around Marinette as Adrien.

...But Adrien was floundering again and his manhood was at stake, dammit!

Making sure that Marinette was in her room, he silently dropped down to the hatch door of her balcony. He slinked over like a panther stalking its prey, looking at the outline of light around the hatch. He swallowed reflexively, feeling a familiar and unwanted thread of anxiety. No, he wasn't Adrien, right now. He was Chat Noir. Superhero. Savior of Paris. He was not going to let Agreste infect him.

Shoving that part of him away, kicking and screaming, he sucked in a breath and rapped on the door. "Prrincess~" he catcalled through the hatch. "Your knight, Chat Noir, comes calling~"

His enhanced hearing picked up the sudden cessation of movement. Then the movement became more rapid as Marinette came up to the hatch door. It creaked open, followed by a pair of justifiably suspicious bluebell eyes. So cute. "Hello, tomcat," Marinette said darkly, peering at him through the crack in the door. "...What are you doing here?"

"Is that really any way to greet a hero?" Chat purred as he sprawled himself along the roof floor, more than a little amused.

"Hero? More like thief!" the girl cried indignantly. However, she flung open the hatch door, nearly nailing him in the process if he hadn't ducked out of the way in time. Even in the dark, her face glowed with a pretty blush. "You can't just trick girls into kisses like that without asking!"

"Girls, no. Absolutely not," Chat agreed, before his lips split into a wicked smile. "Girl, singular, is purr-fectly acceptable."

"Grk," Marinette gritted her teeth, her blush only growing worse. A rather dark part of the black cat crowed and preened at the sight of it. Revenge! Crossing her arms over her chest, the pig-tailed girl glared at him with those spitfire eyes, threatening to pierce him once again with Cupid's Bow.

Chat Noir mentally caught the arrow before it could hit. He was prepared for it this time.

"Ah, I have greatly offended milady, I see," he sighed with heavy-handed remorse, shaking his head. He took her delicate hand and knelt before her, placing a small kiss on her knuckles. "Is there anything that I can do to earn your forgiveness?"

Marinette gave him a dubious look, but her angry facade had some obvious cracks in it. It was hard to stay angry at a superhero, he supposed. Good. He was going to play that up for all it was worth. Leaning in until they were nose to nose, until they could feel the heat from each other and their breath intermingled, he spoke softly and tenderly squeezed her hand, "Prrincess, fur-give me?"

Her face went redder, as if she were about to pass out from heatstroke. "F-fine, you silly cat! You're forgiven!" she caved, wriggling in discomfort. She let out a gasp of breath when he pulled away, as if she were desperate for air.

Feeling quite pleased with himself, Chat Noir grinned at his little blushing canary. "Good," he purred. Now to get to the why he was here. "Because as your devoted knight, I have to ask about these strange men you're inviting into your home. I would be remiss if I did not do my due diligence in defending your virtue."

"Strange men?" Marinette asked, genuinely befuddled. "What strange men?"

Chat hesitated. "Er- w-well, a little birdie told me about a certain blond casanova that came to your house today," he added smoothly, recovering from a brief mental flub.

Marinette stared at him, still confused.

Chat tried again. "...Gorgeous green-eyed wonder. Famous celebrity."

"Um..." Marinette frowned.

At last, the cat said flatly, "Adrien Agreste. He's in your class."

Finally, comprehension dawned, as her mouth formed into a small 'o'.

Then, suddenly, she let out a snort. Then promptly erupted into uproarious laughter.

Chat twitched.

"Casanova?! Pretty Boy?!" she howled, holding onto her sides as she tried to gasp for breath through her laughter. "Are you kidding me?! 'Strange men'," she mocked, making air quotations, "Oh please!"

Folding his arms over his chest, the black cat growled in irritation, "He's a model and a celebrity. I have it on very good authority that those types are infamous playboys. You don't know what sorts of wicked things they might be thinking."

"Not this one," Marinette snorted. "He's completely harmless, Chat. I thought for a half-minute that he might..." she paused at the memory from a month ago, before shaking her head, "but no, I think that Alya was just getting into my head. He's just some awkward, cute kid in my class. I mean, he barely even qualifies as a man."

Honestly, Chat didn't know what happened. Not until it happened. However, it followed that he must have surprised her, pushed her down the hatch and onto her bed. Because now he straddled her on her own bed, clawed hands on either side of her startled face.

"Don't underestimate him," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Don't underestimate any boy, Marinette. You don't know what their intentions are."

...Then, Chat realized what he'd done. What he was doing. A wash of cold went through him, making his limbs turn to ice. Holy shit. What was he doing?!

Marinette stared up at him. For some reason, she wasn't scared like any sane girl ought to be in this situation. Especially one that (to her knowledge) only met him once before. Instead, the startelement eased into a strange sort of fondness. "You're right," she smiled, reaching up to pat him on the head as if he were a pussy-cat. "I'm sorry, that was really mean of me."

Why was SHE apologizing?! This crazy girl!

Finally recovering his senses, Chat sprung back from her, meekly folding up in on himself on the corner of her bed. "Th-that's okay," he coughed, looking anywhere but at her. "As long as you understand the situation."

"Oh~ I think I do," Marinette replied, her expression turning sly. She scooted closer, catching Chat's chin between her fingers and turning his masqued face towards hers. "You've got nothing to be worried about, silly boy. Adrien Agreste doesn't hold a candle to you."

...What.

His mind blanked, when two cherry lips pressed into his. It was better than last time, since this time, she was invading, demanding, and he couldn't help but respond in full. Moaning softly, he combed his clawed fingers through her hair, catching and ripping one of her ribbons. When they separated, him pressed up against the headboard, he looked up to see her framed in the night sky, messed and flushed. Like a radiant goddess.

Marinette smiled down at him. "I think-" she said in a clipped, teasing tone, "you had better go."

"I- er- wha- but-" Chat stammered, Adrien somehow surfacing with his mind completely wiped. However, Marinette pressed a finger to his lips to shut him up.

"Ah-ah, no arguing," she said sternly, even as she smiled. "I have school tomorrow and I think you do, too. You better get on home and get some sleep."

Mutely, Chat obeyed. He slinked out through the hatch door, which was summarily shut and locked behind him with a single 'See ya later.' Then he began to vault across the rooftops, heading back towards the Agreste mansion completely on autopilot.

Halfway back home, he slowed and stopped on top of a lone gable. Then the full impact of what just occurred hit him like the Titanic, as his eyes widened and he began to shake.

"WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?!"