Author's Note: Whatever. I'm possibly snowed in for the next three days. Have a chapter. More are coming of course since I'm going to have to fight off cabin fever. *Tosses out the chapter and waits for the complaints to roll in.*

Chapter 10

"Girl, you are going to knock this mystery boy out of his socks."

Marinette sat in her rolling chair, tugging on the sides of her hood. She was wearing the black cat-esque hoodie she'd purchased some time before Chat Noir was even a superhero but if he didn't know that, she could just play off being a major fan. The ears sat nicely on either side of her head, two black pieces of cloth with tiny pink triangles. The sleeves were a little long, flopping over her hands, which was all part of the design considering that there were patterned paw-prints on the inside and a hole just large enough to slip her thumbs in and give herself "paws." She swallowed nervously. "Do you think this will work?"

Alya folded her jacket over her arm and grabbed her purse. "Did you wear the matching bra and underwear?" Mari's face flamed. She nodded. Alya gave her a thumbs up. "Then yes. Yes it will work." She looked at her phone and let out a hiss. "I gotta go. Mom's got me on baby-sitting duty tonight. Text me with updates!"

Marinette waved her best friend off. Tikki came out then, sitting down on the desk with a cookie from her secret stash. She decided to keep herself busy for a bit by finalizing the sketch design of her dress; Alya's was already finished since she'd spent a majority of her Sunday getting it done. The other girl had been thrilled when she'd called and had come immediately to try it on and take it home to show her parents and boyfriend. Tikki eyed the notebook. She made a bold line going down the outside of the skirt. The dress was pretty simple in design compared to say the bejeweling she'd done on Alya's. It was an A-line princess style with the top being a silk pink, sweet-heart corset design, a belt of silver between it and the skirt, which flared out almost immediately into a wide circle before touching the floor. It was made of sheer pink and silver fabric. It would not only flow as she twirled on the dance floor, but it would sparkle as well. She held up her notebook for the kwami to see.

"What do you think?"

"It's beautiful Marinette!" She giggled and turned it back around to face herself.

"Thanks. I was thinking of wearing some simple glass costume jewelry with it. Diamond like ones. Maybe a wristlet, necklace, and oh, Mama can curl my hair and I can do an accent piece to hold it up."

"You really put a lot of thought into this didn't you?"

"I did." She paused. "Now that I think about it, I almost forgot about earrings. Don't worry," she added before cutting her off, "I'm not taking off these earrings. I'll just use my hair to cover them so no one will be the wiser." Tikki let out a sigh of relief. Marinette rubbed her forehead assuringly. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice."

"I'm glad," the kwami beamed. "You really are perfect to be Ladybug."

"Thanks."

A soft knock from above interrupted them and both looked up to see a gloved hand tapping lightly on her hatch. Tikki smiled, whispered a few words of encouragement, before disappearing, even though it probably wasn't necessary because of what they suspected he knew. Marinette took a steadying breath. She climbed up to the outdoor hatch before joining him outside.

The sun had set a couple of hours ago and once more Paris sparkled with life. It was a gentle glow that came from below but she could still see the distant orange haze of most of the city and the Eiffel Tower lit to its brightest at night. The air was much cooler than it had been the previous week. She was glad she'd allowed Alya to talk her into wearing the hoody; it shielded her enough against the gentle breeze that danced over them.

Chat Noir smiled. His mouth dropped when he realized what she was wearing and she silently thanked Alya for the advice. She could visibly seem him swallow nervously and wring his hands behind his back. A seductive smile crossed her lips, "Good evening Chaton." She sauntered over to him, tugging lightly on the sides of her hood. I'm in charge. Marinette is in charge. This is going to work. Chat Noir is going to fall so hard for you. You wore the matching bra and underwear for this exact reason.

He knew that this was part of what she'd been laughing about early in the day. He knew this. Yet his best to guard against it, to come prepared with his own plan, was immediately destroyed by the adorable, nearly-sexy way she came at him.

She was going to be in charge and he didn't care.

"Good evening purrincess," he breathed. He pulled his hand from behind him where he'd been hiding a small bouquet of flowers. "For you." She took them, breathing deeply. Looking up at him, she cast him a bright smile, clutching the bottom of the pink roses.

"They're lovely Chat!" He rubbed the back of his neck. He adverted his eyes as a light blush appeared under his mask. If this was being led by the nose, then he was happy to be.

"You're welcomed."

Marinette placed the roses on her table. She had a small CD player already there, something Alya helped prepare beforehand, and she hit play, allowing the waltz music to start softly. Chat smiled, offering his hand this time. She accepted it. As he had last week, he pulled her closer, before leading her into the dance. Both of their confidence levels soared. Marinette smiled knowing that he was there for her, her not Ladybug, and that she had managed to gain some powers over his emotions prior to their dance. Chat relished in the feel of her. She fit against him like a puzzle piece; everything was perfect and he was constantly assaulted by the smell of sweetness that came off of her even though she was still mostly covered by the hoodie. He lead her into a couple of spins. She smiled confidently each time. As she did, she could see Chat, wearing a tuxedo instead of his suit, smiling at her in return, and her in her dress, twirling magnificently each time; all eyes would be on them of course because it would be hard for anyone to miss how perfect they were together. It amazed her that she'd missed it for so long. He pulled her back in and continued to the right.

At one point, he silently reached up and pushed the hood off of her head, allowing the gentle breeze to cool her face and brush her hair a little bit forward. She had it down to accommodate the hood. His face blushed again. She'd never worn her hair down in front of him before; ever since he'd met her, it had always been pigtails. She chuckled at his expression.

"What's wrong Chaton? Cat got your tongue?" He grimaced.

"Waltz the matter is your paws-itively horrible pun." A gentle gloved finger reached up as they continued to move to brush some of her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Mari's face heated up a bit as well. "I've never seen you with your hair down before. You always have it in pigtails."

"My mom's doing. She started putting me in pigtails when I was younger. We tried a couple of other hairstyles along the way but pigtails were just easier to do so, I kept them."

"You should do the other ones. I'd love to see them." She smirked up at him.

"Be careful Chat. You might accidently give yourself away if I start making changes." He swallowed. She didn't need to explain. Adrien was going to lose his shit if Mari showed up with a new hairstyle and automatically rat himself out. At that point, he would be pretty sure that he'd say to hell with the rules, and kiss her furiously, even if it resulted in a slap or worse. The first song came to an end and they stopped with it. Chat bowed to her while she curtseyed. Another song started but Mari stopped him from taking her in another dance. "I know I need to build my stamina but let's have a snack first. Wait right here." She turned and went back to her room. She and Alya had stashed a cooler there with two quiches inside of it which she now pulled out. Tikki shot her a smile before she disappeared outside again. Chat helped her up this time. He cleared her hands and sat the food on the table, his mouth watering instantly. She chuckled at his expression, motioning to a seat. He wasted no time in sitting and picking one up to shove in his mouth. He nearly purred.

"My Lady, you know me so well! These are my favorite!" Both of them flinched and Chat appropriately looked abashed. "Ah- I guess the cat's out of the bag now." Marinette sighed but smiled softly at him.

"I already knew Chat." He blinked.

"You- you knew?"

"Yeah. I kinda figured it out after you- well, after you started acting weird when we danced on the viewing platform." He flinched again. His ears drooped and he looked like a genuinely sad kitten.

"I'm sorry Mari. I…."

She laughed. Reaching out a hand, she ruffled his hair, scratched an ear, before leaning back in her seat. He blushed scarlet. Staring at her offered him no answer for her sudden behavior. Mari pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them, and tucked her chin onto her knees. She looked off into the distance as she said, "I'm not… I'm not mad Chat. I know why you started talking to me. As Ladybug, I was really… not distant but professional? Yeah, professional. I pushed you away a lot for the last year. I mean, sure, I was worried when I figured out you knew who I was but I eventually came to realize that I was actually alright with it. In fact, I feel better knowing that you know." She lazily drew circles on the table next to her. Chat watched as her face got redder and redder. "I-uh- well, you see, I had someone I liked and I felt guilty about you liking me when I liked him which I guess would be the other reason I kept a strong line between us."

"So what happened?"

"Uh?"

"What happened? Did he break your heart?" She smiled but shook her head.

"I'm not using you as fall back Chat." He blinked before chuckling. Of course she would be able to pinpoint exactly what he was starting to worry about. He heard her words but there was still a tiny, painful tickle near his heart. A quick swallow dosed it for a bit. "Look, I put him on a pedestal and I would be completely lying if I said it didn't hurt for a bit when he admitted to liking someone else but… but what it really did was free me. I've liked him for so long but I realized that all I was doing was putting him on this impossible pedestal."

"Did you talk to him?"

She chuckled darkly. "No. I couldn't. I always seemed to turn into a stuttering mess when it came to him." A sigh escaped her lips. "I'm sorry Chat. This wasn't how this was supposed to go." He eyed her.

"How this was supposed to go?" She turned scarlet before nodding.

"I wanted this night to be a good night for you." And me. Really, for both of us. I wanted this to work with all my heart but I messed it up didn't I?

He swallowed, reaching out to grab the hand that still made circles on the table. It stopped her. Mari's eyes turned to meet his and he could see the signs of wetness in them. She was trying so hard to hold herself together. At that moment, he saw the truth: she really had wanted this to work. He wasn't a fall back for a broken heart. She wasn't a broken, injured damsel in need of a new knight to save her. She was a warrior princess looking for an equal warrior prince to be with her. She wasn't so easy. She had standards. She respected herself, and him, enough to not let that happen. The full force of how much he liked her smacked into him hard. It took all of his energy to control himself.

"Marinette," he breathed, "I believe you. This night has been amazing. I've had fun and I respect you so much for being strong. I know- I know rejection isn't easy but you've been doing it and showing just how strong you are." He pulled the hand he held to his lips. A gentle kiss on the back resulted in her nearly falling out of her chair. Her heart was pounding and she didn't know if he could hear it. "We'll… let's take it slow. We don't have to make any decisions tonight." He stood, pulling her up as well. "For now, you should go to bed. School starts bright and early in the morning. Don't want to be late." She bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Good night, Marinette."

"Night Chat." He released her hand and pulled out his baton, taking off into the night. Marinette ran to the edge of her balcony, watching him disappear into the darkness of the evening, before crumpling to the ground and crying.