Author's Note: No one will be seated during the mandatory Marichat scene. Required in all ML fics.

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It had been a couple weeks since the photos of Ladybug and Chat Noir had surfaced. Now it felt like Chat Noir and Ladybug couldn't go anywhere without paparazzi trying to take incriminating pictures of them to only further the rumor that they were dating. Nadja Chamack even tried getting the two back on her Prime Time show about this topic. The two heroes shot her down, refusing to contribute to what was going around. Sadly, that backfired on them. Everyone assumed it was because they knew they'd be called out on their relationship.

The only place the two felt they could talk was in the closet on top of the school. They had grown to have frequent meetings there. They would de-transform and usually just talk. It was just the two of them, alone, in the dark. Sometimes things would escalate, but they never went further than the first night, the rumor having Ladybug self-conscious and angry. Which of course Chat Noir understood. He never made her feel like her feelings were invalid.

Chat Noir tried to get Ladybug to talk to him about the rumor, but she wouldn't budge. She said she just wanted to act like she never saw the photographs online and planned to ignore anyone who asked questions on the matter. She had even ignored Alya for a Ladyblog interview, and that was unheard of. They were unsure of the Ladyblog's stance on the topic. There seemed to be times when there were articles on both sides; debating on whether the superheroes were dating or not.

Chat Noir just felt so useless. He couldn't make Ladybug feel better about this. It was all he wanted. He hated seeing her like this. She was his best friend, he loved her. Since they were news Ladybug had been more careful about what she said and how she said it, and nothing felt genuine from her anymore. Even in their own personal conversations. It wasn't that what she said felt fake, it felt manufactured. As if she planned out conversation topics in advance to avoid the rumor topic. So Chat Noir couldn't get any clarification on what their relationship status was.

Of course they weren't dating, but there was an odd middle ground they were stuck in. While Chat wanted to discuss this with Ladybug she turned him down. She said she didn't feel ready. Not understanding Chat felt ignored and disregarded. He was a part of this rumor too. While it wasn't bothering him as much as it was bothering Ladybug it did bother him to see her like this and not being able to help. Also a label of some description would help him whenever the press would run up to him and start questioning him.

Ladybug told Chat Noir to say something among the lines of "We're not taking questions on the matter." And he listened, telling whoever asked about him and Ladybug that. It wasn't like he actually had an answer to give them anyways. He didn't really know himself.

Feeling lonely Chat Noir makes his way to Marinette's apartment. The two had talked about some rather personal stuff before. Marinette was the first person he confessed his love for Ladybug to. It felt so freeing talking to her, and she always gave the best advice. He assumed it was just because she was a girl and if he was going to get advice about girls from anyone it should probably be a girl. Nino always gave some pretty vulgar advice, but it came from a good place. And Alya just wanted to get to the bottom of who he was talking to. He could never just get some standard advice from her. It didn't matter if he was Chat Noir or Adrien Marinette was a fantastic friend to both of them.

The boy looks through her window, trying to see if she was awake. He sees some lights and a little movement. Happy he knocks on the window lightly, hearing some stirring he smiles, patiently waiting for her response.

After some waiting Marinette opens the window and chuckles, "I knew it was a bad idea to feed a stray cat. You keep coming back."

"Very funny, Mari," Chat Noir laughs, "can I come in? I-I need to talk to someone."

"Of course, Chat, come in," Marinette exclaims, opening the window further for Chat Noir to come through. He enters, sitting on her bed next to the head of Marinette's large cat plush. He can tell she notices something is off. "Chat is everything alright?"

"I guess," Chat Noir shrugged. "Technically? Yeah, everything is fine."

"Fine doesn't sound alright," Marinette argues, sitting next to her friend.

"It's just- ugh this stupid rumor about me and Ladybug dating," Chat Noir groans, allowing his back to slam against the bed. He looks up at the ceiling, arms crossed now.

"W-what about it?" Marinette asks confused.

"It has Ladybug so upset," the super hero explains, "I've never seen her like this. Not even when we were on live television. She's angry and sad and just, I don't know. And now she won't talk to me the same."

"I'm sure this is just hard on her, and it's not directing it towards you on purpose," Marinette says awkwardly. Chat took this to heart, but regardless he was still angry.

"And she has every right to be mad! To be upset! I'm upset!" Chat Noir yells, throwing his arms into the air. Marinette hushes Chat, reminding him of her parents just down the stairs. He apologizes, turning to his side to face the cat plush's face. He takes his hands to its' cheeks and squishes them, trying to calm down a little.

"You're mad about the dating rumors?" Marinette asks surprised. Chat Noir nodded, still looking away from his friend, almost pouting.

"Yeah, weird I know," Chat Noir admits, booping the cat's nose before sitting up. "It is messing up the relationship between me and Ladybug." He stops for a moment before frantically correcting himself. "N-not romantically or anything! Just in general! No romantic relationship is being messed up! T-that's not what I meant either, shit wait."

"Okay, I get it," the teenage girl laughs as Chat Noir stuttered, clearly not trying to spread the rumor that anything was going on between him and his partner. "What is she doing that's messing up your platonic partnership?"

"Ah, good way to put it," Chat Noir hums, taking note of how Marinette had phrased his relationship with Ladybug. "Well, she just can't seem to relax anymore. I feel bad, like I'm responsible. She was trying to comfort me and I just put my arm around her and now because of me everyone thinks… I don't want her to feel bad, that's the last thing I want."

"You're very sweet, Chat Noir," Marinette sighed, wrapping her arm around Chat Noir herself, bringing him into a comforting hug. "Ladybug doesn't deserve you, you know that?"

"Oh no, no, no, I don't deserve her," Chat Noir argued, "She's perfect, Marinette. I know you sort of know her, but not like I do. She's funny, smart, caring. Marinette, I really, really love her." Marinette chuckles, running her hands through the super hero's hair.

"And you're sweet. Don't sell yourself so short, Chat. Okay?" In turn Chat Noir nodded, offering Marinette a weak smile. If Chat Noir wasn't so dedicated to Ladybug, especially now, he would swear he was falling for Marinette. The girl sighs, resting her head on Chat Noir's shoulder. She takes a deep breath, "You know, for the record, I think that rumor is total bullshit."

"Well you seem to be the only one," Chat Noir sighed, practically purring as Marinette ran her hands through his hair. The girl was able to feel the rumble in his chest. "You and Ladybug anyways."

"Chat, what is your relationship with Ladybug like? What I mean is, what do you think it's like?" Marinette asks curiously.

"We're partners," Chat answers. Now he felt obligated to carefully think about how he could answer Marinette. It wasn't like he could tell her about their intimacy. He couldn't tell her about how they were in this sticky gray zone that neither of them knew what to label. One thing was for sure, he knew Ladybug didn't think they were dating.

"That's it?" Marinette persists. Wanting to tell Marinette wanted more details Chat Noir thinks carefully about what he was going to say next. How could he put his relationship with Ladybug into words without revealing too much? As much as he trusted Marinette he didn't want to say too much, this was Ladybug's privacy too.

"No, it's much more," Chat Noir sighed, thinking about his partner. "I love her, you know that. I trust her with my life. With or without the mask. I don't even know who she is without the mask but I feel like I'd be able to trust her regardless." A smile creeps onto the hero's face before realizing he was talking to Marinette. Just a normal girl with a normal life. "Gosh this must sound so stupid and not at all relatable, huh?"

"Not at all," Marinette laughs, "I mean, I can't exactly relate like this but I get trusting someone with your life like that. It makes sense." Chat Noir nodded, of course she did, Marinette was so empathetic. A part of him wondered if she was saying that to just make him feel better or if she did really understand. Either way, he was glad he had someone to listen to him.

As Adrien he didn't have anyone to talk to about issues like this. He couldn't openly talk about his crush on Ladybug, it wouldn't make sense. Of course, everyone liked Ladybug. But no one did like him. He was glad he had this almost second friendship with Marinette. His friendship with Marinette as Chat Noir was very different than his friendship with her as Adrien. It always continued to amaze him how different a mask made things.

"You're a great listener, Mari," Chat cooed, "You're one of my best friends."

"What an honor," Marinette jokes, "To be friends with the illustrious Chat Noir."

""Hey, I'm serious," Chat Noir laughs.

"I know," Marinette said, laughing with her friend. "And so am I. It's such an honor." Sarcasm vivid in the girl's voice. This causes Chat Noir to push Marinette a little. He then receives a rightfully earned push back. Though Marinette does not hold back and he is practically pushed off the bed. He would have fallen too, if Marinette hadn't caught his tail.

The boy's face was only a few inches from the floor, he had his eyes clenched shut expecting the worst. Turning his body to face the girl holding him up he looks up at her, asking for a little help (not that he really needed it). Instead a smile spread onto Marinette's face.

"Long live the king," Marinette exclaims, officially pushing the superhero off the bed. They laugh as Chat Noir settles himself back on the bed.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng I cannot believe you just let me die like that," Chat Noir joked. "Who would protect Paris without me?"

"Oh I imagine Ladybug could get the job done," Marinette says matter-of-factually, poking Chat Noir's nose.

"Without any help?" the boy teases.

"Dang, you're right," Marinette sighs. A triumphant smile spreads onto Chat Noir's face before Marinette speaks again. "Rena Rouge would probably help out a lot more, Carapace too I'd wager."

"How rude, Marinette, don't you care about a poor cat's feelings?" pouts the superhero.

"Awe you poor kitty," Marinette continues to tease, running her hands through his hair, practically petting him again.

The cheerful manner soon dissipates as things settle down, "Do you think my platonic relationship with Ladybug will ever be the same?" Chat watches as Marinette thinks. He felt bad dumping all this emotional drama on his friend like this, but who else could he go to? Sitting in silence as Marinette thinks the boy begins to grow nervous.

The two were a lot alike in a lot of ways. They were both very caring and sympathetic, putting others first. Famous singer Clara Nightingale even acknowledged her pure heart. Not that he needed a famous singer to point that out for him. He'd always known and admired that about his friend.

Chat watches Marinette's facial cues trying to figure out what she could be thinking. This was a problem he didn't think she'd be able to understand on the same level as him. How could she? It wasn't like she had experienced the same complexity of loving someone who you didn't truly know. (Their identities of course, Chat felt as though he knew Ladybug better than anyone.) After appearing to compose a proper sentence Marinette looks to her friend.

"I don't think it will ever be the same, Chat," Marinette starts.

"That's it, I knew it," Chat Noir groans as he drags his hands down his face pulling at his skin. "I messed up. We never should have-"

"No Chat, I don't mean it in a bad way, exactly," the girl clarifies waving her hands in front of her face. "Your relationship will always be different now. Everyone is going to ask you guys about your relationship more frequently. It's already been happening."

"Yeah… even the Ladyblog has taken up the subject and that's a little low for Alya," Chat mumbles, now twiddling his thumbs. He couldn't believe it when he saw Alya's post about the rumors and pictures. He expected Alya to snuff at them but not this time. Now everyone who read the Ladyblog, which was a large portion of Paris, was exposed to Alya going through the two heroes' interactions in the past to back up this rumor (or in some cases shooting them down, her stance wasn't very clear). The Ladyblog had ignored these kinds of rumors, even shutting them down at points. He didn't know why Alya chose now to indulge in this phenomenon.

"This makes Ladybug uncomfortable, anyone can see it, but everyone ignores it. So even when this gets dropped or dealt with she's going to think about this for a while at least," Marinette explains, "She's probably trying to map out every way her actions could be misconstrued as some romantic gestures or how everyone think about how she's interacting with you."

Chat Noir was taken back. Of course that's what Ladybug was doing. How could he be so blind? He didn't even think to consider how the public was picking them apart even when protecting Paris and not just out on Patrols. Everything was being monitored now, everyone wanted to be the one who proved that Chat Noir and Ladybug were dating without question. Of course Ladybug had already thought of this.

"Damn, Marinette."

"W-what?"

"You're so smart," Chat chuckles.

"No it's not that I'm smart I'm just not a jerk," Marinette says, rubbing the back of her neck. "If it is making her uncomfortable people should stop. It isn't helping that famous people are sharing the rumor too."

Instantly Chat Noir feels bad. He had shared a few articles about the matter so that he wouldn't raise suspicion. He figured he would blend in with the crowd of people wanting to know his relationship with Ladybug and to his knowledge it was working. Maybe a little too well, but then again Marinette could be talking about anyone.

"They're just riding the trend," Chat Noir shrugs, desperately wanting to change the topic.

"I just thought some of them were better than this," Marinette continued, looking deeply into Chat Noir's eyes.

"Anyone in specific?" the boy asks now growing nervous.

"Well- no… no one in specific," Marinette sighed, looking away now.

"Are you sure? You sounded like you were talking about someone," Chat doesn't know why he is prying further. He supposed it was just because he had spent a large amount of time venting to her about him and Ladybug. It was her turn to get something off her chest if she wanted to. He wanted to be as good of a friend to her as she was to him.

"Adrien Agreste," Marinette breathes, "The Model?"

Of course, who else would she be talking about? Feeling a tad hurt Chat Noir just nodded, "Yeah I know him. Er- know of him. His perfume ads were everywhere for a long time."

"He's never been the type to spread rumors like this, it's just surprising I guess," sighs Marinette. Chat Noir couldn't think of anything to say. He couldn't defend himself. If anything he just nodded along with Marinette.

"Aren't you good friends with him?" Chat Noir asked.

"Yeah why?"

"You're not mad at him are you?" asked the blonde hero, giving almost puppy-dog eyes. In turn Marinette sighed, which made Chat Noir scared until she shook her head.

"No. I'm not mad at him," the girl confessed. That made Chat Noir feel better at least. "I could never be mad at him." Chat Noir lets out a small sigh of relief. The thing he wanted was for Marinette to be mad at him. He could tell there was something more that Marinette wasn't telling him, but he didn't want to push her too hard.

"Good, I'd hate to see you lose a friend over something that's my fault," Chat says with a small smile.

"It's not your fault, Chat Noir," Marinette says confused. The blonde gives Marinette a weak chuckle. If only she knew, the boy thought. It wasn't like he could apologize on Adrien's behalf. And if he out of the blue apologized as Adrien for sharing articles about himself and Ladybug to Marinette it would be totally random. Sometimes being a superhero was too complicated.

Though Marinette never seemed to need too much context to give Chat Noir great advice, whether it was about his own insecurities or about Ladybug, Marinette always knew what to say. He almost felt bad coming to her so often for advice but she was always so good at it, and from what he could tell she didn't seem to mind. And she treated him like a person, not some famous superhero or supermodel like almost everyone else did.

"I suppose it's not, but I'm still sorry," the boy says, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really," Marinette sighed, "It isn't that big deal. I'm making something out of nothing, really."

"No no no! If it upsets you you're completely valid!" Chat Noir exclaimed, looking to his friend as she shrugged. "I think you should talk to your friend about this. I bet he'd be super understanding about it."

"You're probably right," Marinette agrees, making Chat Noir give a big smile. He was glad to be of some help to her for as many times she has helped him. He would have to admit, though, it was easy to give advice regarding himself. "And you definitely need to talk to Ladybug. I- uh- I bet she doesn't realize she's hurting you."

"No, I bet she doesn't," Chat Noir agrees as well. Though he wasn't quite sure what to say to her he knew somehow he'd figure it out. "Well I should get going, it's getting pretty late. Thanks for everything, Marinette, I mean it."

"Of course, Chat," Marinette says with a smile, "Anytime. Don't hesitate to come back if you need to talk, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

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Author's note: I really want to get all sides of the love square in this fic at some point. Though trying to figure out how to work Ladrien in will be difficult for sure. We'll see how it goes. If any of you have suggestions be sure to drop them in the comments!
Thanks for everything you guys, it all means so much to me!