Sorry y'all. I have been a bit slow getting this chapter. It took me two weeks to get past the first 40 words.

Spoiler Alert- If you haven't seen Casablanca... first of all, come on it's been out for over 75 years! Second of all, this chapter totally spoils the ending as Marinette commiserates with a character.

I own as much of Casablanca as I do MLB

Day 11

Adrien stared at Plagg.

"What did I do? What could I have done? How can I get Mari to forgive me?" Tears began to flow again as the boy worried over possible mistakes he could have made.

His cat-kwami stared back, wearing his seldomly utilized look of sympathy.

"I don't know. Honestly Adrien, we haven't done a lot in the last day or so. In fact, we spent most of yesterday alone."

"Right?" He asked. A look of confusion all too suddenly shifted to one of resolution.

"Plagg--"

"Please don't do what I think you're about to--"

"Claws out!"

Plagg all too quickly found himself encapsulated in the ring Adrien -or rather Chat Noir- proudly wore.

The leather clad hero bounded to the tower of his princess, ready to battle any dragons or beasts that may lay in wait.

He flew from street to rooftop to flagpole, making his way across the ancient city. He landed at a couple tactically planned shops before ultimately landing across from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery rooftop.

He smelled the brownies before he saw them. Marinette stood on the balcony with a blue haired boy he wasn't sure he recognized, each of them munching on a deliciously chocolate goodie.

A frown covered his face as he listened to them talk and sniffle and laugh. Finally the boy, who Chat was fairly sure was Luka, gave her a hug, and left Marinette marooned on an island of loneliness. Chat watched her, counting the moments since Luka left.

After about five minutes, he leapt onto the railing, a large black blanket tied to him like a cape, a carton of ice cream in one hand, and a DVD and two spoons in the other.

"Never fear, Super Chat is here!" He smiled.

Marinette smiled subconsciously, looking at her heroic friend.

"What are you doing here Chat? I haven't seen you in years!"

Chat looked down a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry I stopped visiting Purrrincess. I had a bit of a purrsonal matter, and I may have been a bit emotionally unavailable. But I've been watching over for you almost every day for the last two years. I know about your awards in school, the red dress you're working on, the new pastry you invented for the bakery, and how your parents entrusted you to take charge of it for a whole week last week. I also know a certain Parisian prettyboy messed up big and hurt you. And boy is he sorry."

Marinette looked at Chat. "Oh no. You didn't hurt him, did you?"

Chat felt relieved by the fear in her voice. "No, no, no. It didn't get physical. We talked, and when we finished that conversation, I let him know whatever he did, he was absolutely boneheaded. And I came here to offer you snuggles, a movie, and ice cream."

Marinette smiled, wiping away tears.

"Wow. So my kitty is my guardian angel?"

"Yup."

Marinette ran downstairs to grab her laptop, came up to see that Chat had turned his giant black cape into a microfiber fortress. He beckoned her in, and she obliged.

As she crawled in, Chat handed her the DVD, "Casablanca".

"Oh, I love this one. And it's probably a good fit. The main character gets over a long standing crush on their former love. I could use some pointers from Humphrey Bogart. I bet Rick has some good advice for me."

Chat groaned internally. He had thought it was a cute story about how love involves sacrifice. And hoped it would soften the most amazing girl in the world's opinion of his alter ego.

As the video began to play, Chat naturally snuggled up to Marinette, and the two began to dig into the two litre tub of ice cream. Neither seemed to pay attention to the ice cream, as they absentmindedly munched away, holding each other tight. By the end, Mr Blaine was saying farewell to Ilsa and Mr Laslo, and Marinette was sobbing next to a cat, a laptop, and an empty tub of ice cream.

"I l-love hi-him," she sobbed.

"I know you did Purrincess. I know. What happened?"

She spilled her life's tale. How at the tender age of 13 she had fallen for a supermodel, how he had never seen her affections. She told Chat about a scarf she had made for his birthday, one he treasured up to this day, and how he thought his father had made it. Marinette dared to tell Chat every crevice of her feelings, telling him how she had broken hearts to continue to pursue him, even when he couldn't see her as more than a friend.

"And after 5 years of pining for him, he finally agreed to try things. And he told me that If I could get him to fall for me in a month, he would stay. And like an idiot I believed him."

"So what did he do?" Chat asked, attempting to sound casual.

"He decided to start seeing this slut, Chloe Bourgeois, behind my back. Or at least he's apparently in love with her."

Chat carefully pushed Marinette off of him, and ran out of the makeshift shelter. She followed him out, only to see him vomit over the railing. It landed with a splat, luckily in the gutter by the walkway, far from the bakery entrance.

"Ew Chat."

"Sorry. I've met her once or twice. No way he likes her," he said, fighting a second wave of nausea.

Marinette laughed, actually laughed.

"Well I'm glad you and your stomach don't think so. Unfortunately she showed me a video as proof," she said disappointedly.

Chat frowned, but didn't ask any more. It seemed to be hurting Marinette to talk about the details.

"Ah. I gotcha. Well, I hate to steal too much of your time. Just know that you always have people to turn to. And if things with Adrien don't work out, you'll find someone. You are the most amazing person I have ever met, Ladybug included. Any guy would count himself lucky to be your guy," he soothed, hoping she realized that Adrien had nothing to do with her value.

"Even you?" She asked, catching him off guard.

He stumbled on the fence surrounding the balcony, eventually catching his balance.

"Especially me," he said, jumping into the night.

Marinette sighed. Luka had said nearly the same thing.

"Well I guess at least I have options," she thought.