Twenty-Four: Wrapping Up, Moving On

"I'm moving in with Chat."

My parents were sitting on the sofa opposite from me and I gauged their expressions as I dropped my little bombshell on them. Maman just smiled, but I could see Papa's face cycle through all of the normal fatherly emotions; I wasn't surprised that he was the first to speak after a long silence.

"You don't know who he is," he objected.

"I do," I smiled. "He's Chat Noir."

"That's not what I meant," he continued. "You're seriously thinking of moving in with a stranger?"

"He's anything but," I replied. "I know him inside and out. Whoever is under the mask is beside the point. I love him."

Papa looked to Maman. "This is insane. You're welcome to stay here until you can afford—"

"I'm splitting the expenses with Chat," I said, which wasn't strictly true. He was aware that my gig at Chateau Le Blanc was as an entry-level designer and had made the deal that he'd pick up the expenses on the apartment until I was ready to share the load. The fact that he'd even purchased the apartment for us, close to where I'd be working, was something I felt I should tactfully avoid telling my parents.

"But he's keeping secrets from you!" my father objected, stronger this time.

That made me smile. "We all have secrets," I said, catching my mother's eye. "And we've made it work this long."

"But—"

"We're happy for you, dear," Maman said as she put a hand to my father's thigh. "Both of us," she added with a meaningful glance at Papa. "You know how we feel about Chat. The two of you are a good match, even if he has to spend his nights keeping the city safe."

"That part won't be forever," I said with more assurance than I felt. Hawkmoth had proved to be rather resilient; more than ten years now and we'd only come close a few times to shutting him down. "When it's over, he'll be able to tell me who he truly is."

"Good," Maman said.

The three of us stood and hugged, though I could feel Papa was still unconvinced. But Maman had winked at me as we pulled apart, so I knew as I climbed the steps back to my bedroom, she would continue to work on Papa such that he'd be completely on board by moving day. Back in my bedroom, I stood just beyond the trap door and looked around at the space that had been mine from the first moment I could remember.

There were so many memories, first of family and friends, then later, of course, with Chat. My eyes went to the partially packed up computer desk, and the bump on the head that had caused – and the first of many times when Chat had been there to see me through the pain. Or the computer itself, where I'd beaten my boyfriend too many times to enumerate, though lately I'd started to wonder if Chat had been holding back; I made a mental promise to ensure he played to the level moving forward.

For one of the last times, I heard the rubbery thump on the roof above me, and I smiled with just a touch of melancholy. Graduation was in a day or so, and after that I'd be at the new apartment. Despite how wonderful our new spot was, I had to admit I'd grown quite fond of listening for my kitty to arrive. I was sure we'd come up with some new traditions, but for the moment, I committed the memory to my personal archive to be replayed later.

I climbed the ladder and pushed open the skylight; to my surprise, Chat wasn't perched on the railing or atop the chimney. Instead, he was lounging on my chaise, claws laced behind his feline mane and cat-ate-the-canary smile plastered on his face. Two steps and I'd slid into his waiting arms.

"What did you do?" I asked as I snuggled into him. The two of us had grown enough that there was little space for us on the chaise, and it groaned a bit beneath us.

"My alter-ego had his first day at work today," he said, smiling.

I looked at him, for I was reasonably certain his alter-ego was walking with me at Graduation. Still, I'd kept my own personal promise to keep my suspicions to myself until we were both ready for the next phase of our relationship. Moving in together would be a healthy test for us. "Really?"

"Yep. It was... exceptional. And I am looking forward to the challenge."

"Good, I think," I said, snuggling my head back down into his black-leather-cladded chest. I had to admit, the texture of his costume was strangely alluring; despite knowing what he was going to be demanding of Plagg in order to pull off our new living arrangements, I was rather guiltily looking forward to more moments like this on that new love seat of ours.

As soon as it was practicable, I'd figure out some way to allow Chat to let Plagg rest. It would be my first order of business, in fact.

"That calls for a celebration," I said. "How about some Belgian chocolate croissants?"

"Absolutely!" Chat purred.

"Enjoy it while you can," I pointed out, "for they won't be as easy to obtain once we are at the apartment."

Chat looked at me askance. "You forget, Purrincess, how quickly I can get here via rooftop."

"I hadn't," I laughed. "I was rather refurring to how I will be commanding your feline attention so fully, you'll not have time to escape for baked goods."

His purring ratcheted up another notch. "That's a tall order, Purrincess," he laughed. "Are you sure you're up to the task?"

Leaning into some Ladybug skills, I flipped around and straddled his chest, pinning his paws over his feline ears. His masked eyes shot wide open, and though I was well aware he could easily throw me across the rooftop patio, he instead opted for happy resignation as I lowered my lips to his.

"This is just a taste," I said in one of the brief moments I pulled away from him. "What do you think?"

He answered by leaning up and rubbing his masked nose against mine. "I'd like to order the whole meal, then," he breathed somewhat heavily. His masked eyes danced merrily. "With all of the trimmings."

I smiled wickedly I slowly moved my lips back to his. This relationship – this man, really – was my entire world; I didn't exactly know how it would all play out, but I was comfortable in my certainty that I wanted to be nowhere else but by the side of this overgrown kitty. He held my heart in his paws, and I couldn't be happier.

"I believe we can accommodate your request, Monsieur Chat."

"Purrrrrfect," he breathed as he closed his masked eyes and gave himself over to me completely.

Author's Note: Thanks for following along on my first Marinette POV story! If you want to find out how it works out for these two in that new apartment, check out my other story, Roommates.