Chapter 37

Chat Noir spun around, sitting on Marinette's desk chair. He rested his chin on its back as he thought about the confrontation with his father. He was proud of the way he handled the situation but there was something his father said that really got to Chat. As much as he tried to shake the thought from his mind, it lingered in there and made him feel worse about it.

Marinette, in the meantime, scrolled through her phone anxiously. She hadn't heard from Adrien since he left with his father and was worried for him. She had thought that he'd be in contact long before now, even if just to say he was fine. She regretted telling him to go. She knew he didn't want to go but she still pushed for it anyways, as she believes family is important and that if there was conflict then it should be resolved immediately. But now she realized Adrien must have had his reasons for not wanting to go and she probably made things worse for him.

"I hope he's alright." she said, sliding her phone across her desk so that it was out of reach. She let out a large, frustrated groan and slammed her forehead on her desk. "I shouldn't have told him to go!"

"I'm sure he's fine Princess." Chat said solemnly. "They're businessmen. It probably takes a while for them to get their issues resolved."

"I guess." Marinette let out a sigh and raised her head, not wanting to sulk about Adrien much more and trust that he'd be in contact as soon as he can. She looked over to Chat and noticed how down he was looking, which made her shift her concern over to him. "Chat, is everything alright?"

"Yeah… I guess…"

She walked over to him and grasped onto the chair so it'd stop spinning constantly. She grabbed the seat and spun it around so that her and Chat were face to face with each other. "Chat, you know you can always talk to me about anything. So what's up?"

Chat's frown intensified, feeling reluctant to talk to Marinette about his thoughts. He didn't know what would the end result would be if he did share his concerns. He didn't have a choice now though. Marinette knew something was up. He could lie and make something up just to divert the topic, but there was a part of him that needed an answer.

"Princess… Marinette… why do you love Adrien and not me?"

"E-excuse me?" Marinette asked, being taken by surprise from Chat Noir's question.

"Why do you love him and not me?" Chat repeated himself again, feeling even more reluctant now that he heard Marinette's question. "You know how I feel about you Princess and I'm just… I'm just wondering why you love him and not me."

"What happened to Adrien and I being your 'OTP'?"

"Self-ship before OTPs!" Chat Noir quickly replied with a bright smile on his face. "Seriously though, why him?"

"I-… I don't know how to answer that Chat."

Chat's grimace grew even more. The answer was starting to become apparent to him now, and it was exactly as he feared. "It's because I'm a demon, isn't it? You can only love humans like Adrien…"

Marinette's eyes narrowed at Chat. She was feeling offended by his words but she didn't want to tell him off just yet. "Where did you get that idea from?"

Chat Noir turned away, not wanting to answer Marinette. It was enough of a response though for Marinette to clue into what was going on. "You had a talk with your father recently, haven't you?"

He remained still at first, but when Marinette called out his name, he nodded in response.

"I thought so." Marinette held her head and shook it, unable to believe that Chat Noir fell for his father's mind games once more. "Do I need to put you in a carrier when I'm away or something so you don't end up in these predicaments?"

"Put some anime in there and I won't argue about it!" Chat joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Yeah, that's exactly what you need." Marinette said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. She let out a sigh and began thinking about how she wanted to talk to Chat about the topic. She decided to grab a spare chair from the other side of the room and pull it up beside him. She took his hands and looked into his eyes. "Listen to me Chat. These words may sting but they're truthful. I just… I just don't see you in that way. That's all."

Chat's cat ears drooped, hearing Marinette's words. He was about to speak up to protest but Marinette raised a finger to stop him before he could. "But it's not because you're a demon. I'll admit, you and Adrien are similar. Both of you are truly kind to me and have my best interests at heart. I just learned recently too that the both of you are very protective over me too. But there are differences between the two of you. But you being a demon and him being a human have nothing to do with it at all."

"R… really?"

"Yes Chat. You could be anything; a demon or a human, a guy or a girl, or even a fictional character in an anime and I still wouldn't see you the way I see Adrien. The same applies for him as well. To me, it doesn't matter what you are. When I develop a romantic attraction to someone, I develop a romantic attraction. Adrien just happened to be the one my heart chose."

"I see…" A small, warm smile grew on Chat's face. He was relieved by Marinette's answer. It may not have been the answer he was looking for, but it was one he could respect at the very least.

"If it's any consolation Chat…" Marinette continued. She began biting her lower lip, becoming a bit nervous to tell Chat what she wanted to tell him. She knew it'd be comforting to him but it also held the risk of making him feel worse. She decided to take the risk anyways, for the sake of her friend. "If Adrien wasn't in the picture, there's a chance that my heart could've fell for you."

"R-really?" Chat's eyes grew wide with surprise and he perked up quite a lot. Marinette quickly became worried seeing this response from him. "Don't you get any ideas Chat! Adrien's happy and I'm happy and if something happens to him or our relationship now that I've told you that, I'm holding you responsible!"

Chat couldn't help but laugh, finding Marinette's concern cute. "Don't worry Princess, I won't do anything. I purromise."

Marinette glared at Chat upon hearing his pun, not finding it funny in the slightest. "You know Chat Noir, I'll tell you something. There is actually one big difference between you and Adrien, and it's one of the reasons why I'm attracted to him and not you in the first place."

"Oh? What is it?"

"The puns." Marinette stated blankly. "Adrien doesn't make puns."

"Oh."

"Yeah... I can appreciate a good pun every now and then but the extent that you use them, it's a major turn off for me."

Chat rested his head against the back of his seat and began to sulk. Marinette sensed that she had hurt his feelings by telling him the truth. She felt bad so she began petting the top of his head and stroked his head to try and cheer him up. Despite the way he was feeling, he did appreciate her honesty. Although, he couldn't help but wonder what would've happened between them if he didn't make so many puns...

Author's Note: Hey there everyone~
Just wanted to give ya a head's up~ The next few chapters are going to be oneshot chapters that may not contribute much to the bigger plot ^^; Reason why is because there's only two or three big story ideas/plotlines that I have left for this story and there's still some short stories I want to tell so I figure now would be the best time to put them in~
It's pretty much fluff before the angst storm~ And trust me, I'm not using the term "angst storm" lightly~ Hehe~
Hope you all will like them ^o^ And that you like this chapter too~

(Also, sorry that this is late. Every time I tried to submit this chapter I kept getting the "Error Type 1" message ^^; )