19. Flowers

Chat wasn't going to give up on trying to sneakily tell Marinette his identity, but he was temporarily putting it aside and doing damage control.

Hence why he was hauling a bouquet of flowers over to Marinette's house.

He knocked on the skylight and waited.

Nothing.

Again, he knocked.

Again, nothing.

He knocked a third time in five minutes, growing more worried by the moment that she'd lock him out. She had seemed angry enough last night.

Thankfully, she did answer. She wasn't wearing her usual grin, rather instead, a frown. "Are you going to try to convince me to let you reveal yourself?"

He shook his head. "I'm here to say sorry and these are for you."

She looked at the flowers a moment before looking back up at Chat.

"And…" he continued. "I want to ask, why are you so adamant about me not telling you who I am?"

She sighed, reaching out to stroke one of the petals of a rose. "Because, I just feel like if I know you then I'll feel like I'm more attached to you and that will muddy my decision."

He froze. "What if I told you it won't."

"It will. I know it," she said. "I want to be as fair as I can, and it's still tearing me up because I know you're waiting and then Adrien at school… I don't know, he's become more friendly with me lately and it's throwing me off and confusing me and—"

"Hey," Chat interrupted, giving her an apologetic smile. "Take a breath."

She did, her shoulders relaxing. "I'm sorry I'm being difficult and all."

"No, I'm the one who's sorry," he said, now knowing he really needed to back off a little bit. He just wanted to make her life easier, but it seems he was making it more complicated.

This was Marinette. Marinette who could make a hypothetical mess out of anything. This was Ladybug. Stubborn, independent Ladybug who thought through things thoroughly.

She was such a contradiction but so amazing, and Chat wouldn't have her any other way.

He extended the flowers. "Here."

Finally, she took them. "Thank you, Chat. They're beautiful."

"They're some of your favorites, right?" he asked, shooting her a smile before standing. "I guess I'll leave you to your thoughts now."

She frowned. "You're not staying?"

With a pained smile, he shook his head. "No. I won't bother you for now. I'll give you your space. See you later, my lady."

And with that, he was gone. It wasn't exactly how he wanted to be spending the day, but it was for the best.

20. Pranks

"You've really pulled your act together."

Chat looked over at Marinette. Together, they were sitting on a rooftop while Tikki was recharging. Their battle had been a close one and her timer had been screaming seconds after they finally got away from the paparazzi. Tikki had held on long enough for Marinette to hide behind a chimney. Now, Chat was staying by her side because a detransformed Marinette on a slanted rooftop made him a more nervous than he cared to admit.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "I've always had my act together."

"No," she said, reaching out to rest a hand on his shoulder. "No, not like that. Of course, you've always taken akuma fighting seriously, but… I mean… Ever since you found out I was Marinette, you've really… toned down your jester attitude. Like, you used to act like that one guy known for pulling pranks and cracking jokes and puns with every opportunity. But lately… it hasn't been like that."

His brow furrowed. "I…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I just… grew up a bit, you know? Like, Hawkmoth is getting worse. He's sending stronger akumas more frequently and I just…" he shrugged. "I don't feel like I can take things as lightly as I have been. This is serious business. And with you nearly falling off a building and getting hurt, I can't be that jester guy anymore. The stakes are too high. One wrong move and we're pancaked on the sidewalk with Hawkmoth doing a victory dance over our dead bodies."

Marinette's expression fell in sympathy.

"So, yeah. I haven't even noticed I stopped, to be honest. I just started taking everything more seriously."

Marinette sighed before reaching over to grab Chat's hand. "We'll get through this." She said, giving his hand a squeeze.

He gave her hand a squeeze back before pulling it up to his lips to press a kiss to her knuckles. "I know we will, bug. It just sucks in the meantime."

21. Cold Night

"Princess?"

Marinette groaned. Upon hearing the one voice she did not want to hear.

"What are you doing out on such a cold night?"

"Thinking," she simply answered. "And it's not that cold." She was wrapped in a blanket, curled into a ball on her chair on her balcony.

"It is that cold. And what are you thinking about?"

"You and Adrien." Particularly how both of them were twice as distant lately and how much it hurt.

He sighed, but then appeared from behind her and picked her up from her chair.

She squealed. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer and instead plopped down in her seat and held her in his lap against her chest. "You're going to make yourself sick, Marinette," he said. "If not from the cold of the night, then worrying so much over Adrien and I."

She frowned. "I just… it's so confusing."

"If you have to chose now, who'd you pick?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah. If you have to chose now, who'd you pick?"

She felt her face heat up as her heart picked up its pace. "I don't know."

"Okay, you have ten seconds to answer," he said. "Or I will assault you with tickles until you scream for mercy."

Her face flamed. And considering his smug expression, he wasn't kidding around.

"Condition: You never get to see the other again. If you had to pick one of us between of me or Adrien, who'd you pick?"

Her heart went double time. "Wait—"

"Ten," he began. "Nine."

"No! Not fair!"

"Eight… seven…"

She froze. Never see the other again. Could she live without both boys? Could she live with only one?

"Five…"

She'd never see Adrien's smile or his model photos. She'd never have a life with him.

"Three… two…"

She'd never be with her partner again.

"One—"

"You!"

He stiffened out of shock, but slowly, relaxed into a warm smile that chased off the cold night.

"I…" She swallowed. "If… I can't see one or the other," she said. "I… I can't…" She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "I need you."

Slowly, his embrace tightened until she was fully cuddled against his chest. "There's your answer."

"You're only saying that because you're the winner," she grumbled.

"You said yourself, princess," he purred. "You need me."

She wanted to curl into a mortified little ball somewhere not in his arms. "You don't have to be so smug about it."

"Why wouldn't I be? When I get the most incredible woman in the world admitting she needs me? That's enough to boost any man's ego."

She didn't say anything.

"So," he said. "Now that that's out of the way, you can go back inside and curl up in your warm room instead of out here in the cold night, and get some sleep."

As much as she wanted to argue that she wasn't tired, she couldn't. "Fine," she relented.

He hummed, then leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead before letting her scramble from his lap. He stood up once he was able to, and hugged her from behind. "Good night, my bugaboo," he said, his voice soft and warm and sweet. "Sleep well, and don't fret over it. Settle into your decision, and don't let it tear you up. Okay?"

She leaned back into him, turning so her forehead brushed against his chin. "I'll try."

"I'll take it." He pressed one more kiss into her hair before slipping away. "Good night, bug."

"Good night, Kitty."

With one last salute, he leapt from her balcony and out into the night.

From there, she slipped into her room, only then realizing just how cold it had been outside even despite her blanket.

"What do you think of what Chat said?" Tikki asked, appearing out of nowhere.

Marinette spun to look at her kwami. "Were you listening?"

She nodded. "To be fair, I've been a little worried about you since you started obsessing between Chat and Adrien. It's not healthy. But what Chat said, making you choose quick between the two… what do you think about that?"

Marinette turned away, her vision soon drifting away as she got lost in her thoughts. If she had to leave one behind…

She would have to chose Adrien. Leaving Chat just wasn't an option. She couldn't. Not when she needed him as her partner. Not when she craved him as her support. As the guy who was always there, ready to cheer her up, even before he knew her name.

She'd have to leave behind Adrien, even though she didn't want to. Thankfully, she didn't have to, but she did have to make a choice.

"I think… I think he was right, forcing me to choose like that."

"And are you happy with your choice?"

She thought about what Chat had told her about what he wanted for a future, and even though it hurt, she started taking Adrien out of her dreams and started putting Chat in his place. Would things change that much? Now that she thought about it, there were a lot of similarities between Adrien and Chat. The biggest difference was how unrestrained Chat was. How much more often he smiled and joked and punned.

Oh, the puns.

But the image of seeing Chat playing with kids that were their own…

She could live with the puns.

"Yeah, Tikki," she finally answered. "I think I am."