I know this chapter took me longer to get out than the others, but it wasn't for lack of trying. The next should be out sooner, but I'm going to strive for no more than a week between chapters. Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Four: Distractions

At school the next day, Alya and Nino announced the official casted parts for the play.

"Obviously, we have Marinette and Adrien as Ladybug and Chat Noir," Nino said. Both students gripped their styluses a little tighter at the words. "As our akuma victim, Storyteller, we've decided on Nathaniel."

"Our publisher, who Nathaniel will be after, is Chloe," Alya said. She looked towards the girl triumphantly, daring her to question her authority. It looked like she might, too, but when she looked over at Adrien she just hunkered down in her seat, pouting. "And Hawk Moth is going to be played by Kim."

"Max is tech, obviously," Nino said. "Rose and Juleka will be our primary costume and makeup people. Mylene will be the main focus for props, though our side characters - Ivan, Sabrina, and Alix - will be helping her."

Marinette was glad to see that everyone but Chloe seemed okay with their roles.

As the day progressed, she noticed everyone peeking at their scripts when they had the chance. Every time she saw someone do so, her anxiety rose. So much of the pages were something Ladybug had to say. So many lines were things she had to memorize.

All of her many responsibilities flashed through her head. She had all of her regular schoolwork, helping her parents in the bakery, babysitting Manon, her duties as class rep, fighting all of the akumas, and even the patrols she went on with Chat Noir. She had one of those today. Now she had to add not only the scheduled practices but time to memorize and practice on her own. Not to mention she'd still like to get some designing done if she could.

I'm going to have to maximize my time. Maybe I should memorize at lunch.

That's exactly what she did. At lunch she sat on a bench in the courtyard, intent to spend the time until next class memorizing. That idea was quickly dashed when Alya approached her, bringing with her Nino and Adrien.

"Do you mind if we sit with you, Marinette?" Alya asked.

Marinette looked up, ready to explain that she needed peace, but her brain short-circuited at the sight of Adrien. "I- uh, o-of course," was all she managed to say. She made to move over, but Alya stopped her, giving her friend a sly smile. She sat on Marinette's left and Nino sat on the opposite end of the bench.

Adrien smiled awkwardly, taking the last seat. The seat directly on Marinette's right.

"Don't you normally leave for lunch?" Adrien asked, looking at the small snack Marinette had on her lap.

Alya looked down as well, frowning. "Yeah, girl, don't you normally go home? I thought your parents made you lunch."

"Well, they do. I, just, uh, decided to stay today," Marinette said. She smiled shyly. Alya gave her a strange look but didn't comment. Instead, the small group started discussing the homework they had due next period.

"It took me forever to do. I swear, these assignments are nearly impossible sometimes," Nino said. Alya and Marinette nodded in agreement.

"I don't know, it wasn't too hard," Adrien said. Marinette, along with Alya and Nino, stared at him in shock. Adrien winced at the looks.

"Sorry. I learned a lot of the science stuff from my tutors. It's just kind of a review for me," he said. "I can help you guys sometime if you need it."

They spoke for a few more minutes, the conversation mostly between Nino, Adrien, and Alya. When they reached a pause in the conversation - it couldn't have been more than 30 seconds - Alya brought an end to it.

"So… I just remembered something about the play. Nino and I need to talk about it, but we don't have to bore you guys with the details. It might take a while, so I guess we'll see you in class." Before Marinette could protest, Alya had grabbed Nino's hand and was towing him away across the courtyard. Marinette was left with her arm partly extended and her mouth open a fraction.

"That was weird," Adrien said.

The sound of his voice made Marinette yank her hand back towards her as if a snake had been about to bite. "Y-yeah. Very weird."

"Were you working on the play?" Adrien asked. He pointed to her lap, where the script lay under the snack she'd been slowly eating. "I can't blame you. Finding time to memorize it is going to be a nightmare."

"Tell me about it," Marinette said dejectedly. Before she could say more, Adrien's phone started ringing.

He smiled an apology at her, taking it out. "Sorry, I have to take this. It's my father." He stood up and walked several feet away, where no one would be able to overhear him.

Marinette did her best not to watch him, but it was hard for her not to notice how his shoulders slumped only a few moments into the conversation. The conversation didn't last very long. When he returned to the bench, he didn't say anything. Looking up at him, Marinette was shocked by the look on his face.

She had always known Adrien to be a very happy, upbeat person. He was always the first to smile, the first to find the good in every situation, the first to offer encouragement for other people. She had always seen him as someone who always stood tall, always stood up for himself and others. The person she now looked at was one who had been beaten down. Defeated. It was nothing like the Adrien she'd built up in her head. He was so much more.

Marinette placed a hand gently on his arm, easing the coldness he felt with a touch of warmth. He looked up at her and was surprised to see only kindness. There was no shadow of pity like he would have seen with Nino, or confusion like he would have seen with Chloe. Her bluebell eyes only showed kindness and worry.

"You okay?" she asked.

He shrugged in response, looking back down. "Just stuff with my father. Nothing I shouldn't expect." That doesn't make it suck any less, though, he thought.

"Do you wanna talk about it? I'm a great listener," Marinette said. She smiled at him, then a bit of color rushed to her face. She pulled her hand away suddenly as if just realizing it had still been on his arm. "U-unless you don't want to, of course."

The return of her stutter made the corners of his mouth turn upwards in a small smile. It was strange to be on the receiving end of her comfort. Adrien had seen her work her magic on other students in their class, but she hadn't yet turned it on him. At least, until now.

"Thanks, Marinette. You're a good friend," he said. "My father just doesn't know how to sugar coat things, is all."

That wasn't a lie. His father had been very blunt when telling him the news that would ruin Adrien's entire winter break.

"Whatever he said, I'm sure he has your best interest at heart," Marinette said. Her smile was so genuine, Adrien was tempted to believe her words. Everything in his heart wanted to believe them, wanted to believe that his father didn't realize what he was doing.

"You're right," Adrien found himself saying. "Sometimes it's hard to remember that."

"I'm sure you're great. Er, I mean, I'm sure he's great. Your father might be strict, but it's clear that he loves you," she said. "I mean, he makes sure you have all of your lessons, he pays for you to have a bodyguard. To me that says he loves you."

This made Adrien's small smile widen. "I guess it does."

Before they could say any more, the bell rang. The sound shocked Adrien. He'd almost forgotten that they were still in school. He stood up from the bench, and Marinette quickly followed. His gaze was drawn to the script she had in her hand.

"Sorry if I got in the way of your memorizing. I appreciate you helping me after... that." He waved his hand vaguely to where he'd gone with his phone call. "If there's ever anything I can do to repay you, let me know."

He walked with her to class, oblivious to the color in her cheeks the entire time. When they got to the classroom, Alya and Nino were already in their seats. Alya seemed overly excited to talk to Marinette, who's cheeks became a deeper shade of red. Even Nino was smiling more than he should have.

"You look happy. How was lunch?" Nino asked. It seemed like he was asking a question behind his question, but Adrien couldn't figure out what.

"It was fine. What did you and Alya have to talk about?" he asked, glad he could finally ask what had been so important it couldn't wait.

"Just some ideas about sets and props, nothing to worry about," Nino replied. "Did anything interesting happen after we left?"

"Not really," Adrien lied. "Marinette and I were just talking. Why? What are you wanting me to say?"

Nino sighed, shaking his head. "If you don't know, there's no point in telling you."

Adrien gave his friend a perplexed look. He opened his mouth to ask more questions when Ms. Mendeleiev called the class to order.

Chat Noir sat on one of the beams of the Eiffel Tower, waiting for Ladybug to show up. It had been some time since they'd gone on patrol together. When they weren't fighting akumas, they only saw each other when they were patrolling.

Since Dark Owl, they had only been dealing with akumas. Being overcautious, Ladybug had insisted on postponing patrols after the close call they had. Their kwamis knew who the other was, and they couldn't risk discovering it themselves. Or at least, that's what they said. No matter what, he would respect her wishes, but that didn't stop Chat from fantasizing. He could picture the two of them spending time together outside of their masks. Going to the movies, drinking coffee, maybe even spending his suddenly bleak Christmas together.

If he knew who she was, he might have more of a chance with her. If she could get to know the facets of Adrien that didn't bleed through as Chat, maybe she would actually start to like him. Enough of his fans seemed to like him as Adrien. If only she knew that knowing her identity wouldn't hurt. No matter who she was, he would fight tooth and claw to protect her. Maybe that was her problem.

"What are you dreaming about, Kitty?" Ladybug said, her melodic tones light.

Chat turned his head to look at his partner. "Just your beautiful face, Bugaboo," he teased. She was sitting on the beam above him, and he had been so lost in his thoughts he'd failed to notice her arrival.

Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around her beam and dropped down to sit next to him. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"I'm just glad that you finally agreed to start patrolling again, Milady. My evenings have become rather boring."

"You know why we had to postpone, Chat. We were so close to discovering each other's identities," Ladybug said. "We're friends, and I don't want to risk that friendship."

Friendship. The word was like a dagger in Chat's heart. However, much like she glossed over his jokes, he chose to ignore her unintentional jab like he always did. Instead, he stood up and looked out over Paris. She stood up next to him and for just a moment they stood in silence.

"We should get going. There's no point in scheduling a patrol if we're just going to sit here," she said. She swung her yo-yo, wrapped her arm around him, and they were yanked from the tower.

He reveled in the feeling of her pulling him so close to her. But all too soon, the closeness was over. They landed on a rooftop and she moved away from him. They started moving from roof to roof, watching the streets below. Chat listened hard, using the enhanced hearing granted by his powers to locate anything suspicious. The main point of their patrols was to look out for akumas, but they had managed to help with less magical things as well. It could be helping an old lady cross the street, or stopping a robbery when the police wouldn't risk going inside.

"Do you hear anything?" Ladybug asked.

Chat shook his head. "Nothing. Paris is quiet tonight."

After another half hour of wandering, mixed with occasional conversation, Ladybug stopped. Chat stopped beside her, following her gaze. His eyes widened when he saw the Agreste Mansion. "Is something wrong, Milady?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain even. Why would she be interested in my house? Didn't we decide Father wasn't Hawk Moth? Did she find more evidence?

Ladybug started, turning away from the building. "Just lost in thought, is all. Let's keep going. We can cover a lot more ground before I need to get home."

"What's at home that has you so captivated?" Chat asked, following her as she continued on with the patrol. "There's certainly nothing at my house that would make me want to spend less time with you."

"Some of us have things we have to do, Chat Noir," Ladybug said sternly.

"I've got plenty of things to do, but that doesn't mean I want to. Sometimes it's easier to forget your responsibilities for a while." Chat was already expecting her response.

She turned to him incredulously. "Forgetting your responsibilities just makes things worse. You can't ignore things just because you don't want to face them."

"You don't have to forget them forever," Chat reasoned, jumping to the next rooftop. "You have to admit that it's nice to get out and be a hero. We have a perspective up here that no one else has. We can do things no one else can do. It's nice to have the chance to come out here for a little bit and clear your head."

"Don't you have things as a civilian that clear your head?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sure I do, but none of them are quite so effective."

Ladybug watched him carefully while they moved. The intensity of her gaze made him uncomfortable. Normally he would have welcomed her staring, but the scrutiny with which she did it now was too much.

"Is everything okay, Chat?" she finally asked, stopping.

Chat spread his mouth in a smile. "Everything is fine, LB. Just trying to lead a conversation." He avoided looking directly in her eyes, instead continuing to look in the direction they had been traveling.

Ladybug walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened, the feeling of her hand sending a wave of electricity through him. He couldn't help but wonder if she knew that his heart rate increased at just her touch.

"Someone once told me that when times are hard, we need to find things that make us happy. 'Cause those things can make the world of difference when you need them." She spoke quietly, though it wasn't quite a whisper.

He turned to her, an idea formulating in his head. "That person knows what they're talking about, Milady."

She removed her hand, bringing up her yo-yo to look at the time. "I have to go, Chat. I'll see you next patrol. Bug out!" Ladybug gave him one last worried look before she swung her way through the streets of Paris.

Chat watched her go, then started home, smiling. His father's news that he would be on a business trip during Christmas, and that Adrien would not be permitted to leave the estate, wasn't so bad. Between Marinette and Ladybug, things seemed brighter. After all, just because Adrien couldn't leave the house didn't mean that Chat Noir was trapped as well.