It was raining so much that Paris almost looked foggy and it was hard to see through all the raindrops on the windows. The noise of the downpour was inexplicably calming though and the music that was playing did the rest. Adrien lay sprawled on Nino's bed while the two of them listened to his demo. Nino to spot mistakes, Adrien to just enjoy the music.

'Enjoying' was too small of a word for it though. Songs to him were like water to a thirsty man and the longer he had to cope without them, the deeper he could fall into them. And it wasn't like he was deprived of music—when worst came to worst, he still had a grand piano at home. It was just that it was even better when he could share it with other people. Singing was risky though, even with rowan berry bracelets and necklaces or other charm-deflecting trinkets around. And he'd never even dare to dance with someone.

That was part of the reason why he loved being Chat Noir so much. Barely any rules that applied to him in his civilian life applied to him then. Plagg deflected all the fae magic, so Chat Noir was free to break out into a song like a Disney princess whenever he felt like it.

Adrien couldn't though. Instead he had trouble to smother the purr that always threatened to rise up in these situations. At the same time, he felt like that one time he and Félix had tried out if catnip affected them—it did.

While it was often annoying to be part fae—especially when it came to being stuck in between two worlds—Adrien couldn't say that he entirely hated it. There were nice things too, beautiful things. Things he would never be able to share with his human friends.

It's better like this, he thought as he kneaded the blanket. They're already in too much danger as it is.

"So, what do ya think, dude?"

Adrien had to blink a few times until he could even process the question. Midsummer might be over—thank Danu for that—but that was no reason to be reckless. He had let himself get lost a little too deep this time. As if waking from a slumber, he stretched and looked around the room, resituating himself with his environment. No trees, no wisps, no mountains, no endless meadows. He had no idea why his mind always wandered to those. Either it was a fae instinct or the Otherworld just looked like that around these parts and he had gotten small unintentional glimpses of it.

"It's amazing," Adrien said plenty late.

"But?" Nino prompted, having noticed his hesitation.

"But nothing! I just…zoned out there for a bit, sorry." He smiled sheepishly

"Dude, I need you to work with me here! I can't just deliver some half-baked product later!" Nino lamented and ran his hands through his short hair in frustration.

"None of your stuff is half-baked. You'll be fine!" Adrien tried to reassure him.

"It has to be better than just fine though! This show is a super big thing and I have to make a good impression!"

Later that day, Nino would be at the TV studio where he had gotten a place in a show called 'The Challenge'. That he had been invited there was no coincidence, though, but a birthday gift from Adrien and Félix. Nino had absolutely lost it when they'd told him and not stopped thanking them for months. No wonder he was bursting with nerves now.

"Nino, you've been preparing for this since March. You're ready. There really is no reason to freak out," Adrien assured him.

"Oh, apart from the fact that I'll be live in front of thousands of people?!"

"Well, it might actually be around a million when you count the re-runs and—"

"Not helping, dude!"

At that moment, both Adrien's and Nino's phones dinged with a new message.

Princess: sorry can't make it today my parents grounded me for my absences :c

Adrien liked Tom and Sabine, but he couldn't help but frown at the message. It wasn't Marinette's fault that she had to fight Akumas on a regular basis and Nino's appearance on live TV was a very big thing. It seemed unfairly strict of them to ground her exactly then.

"Man, that sucks," Nino said and Adrien could only agree.

KitKat: WHY?! ;A;

Princess: …I just told you

KitKat: Yes, but why would your parents do that to you?!

Princess: no idea

it sucks

DJ N: sorry Nette

wish they'd at least let you come with today

KitKat: can you sneak out?

Princess: I'm not you -_-

"Dude, how is she supposed to sneak out? Climb over the roof from her balcony and find a fire escape?"

Adrien adopted a quizzical expression at Nino's sarcastic tone. "Yeah, why not? There's a fire escape only three buildings over and the roof connects them all, so it's pretty straight-forward."

"…Please tell me why you know exactly how to get on and off Marinette's roof."

Adrien noticed his mistake way too late and froze. His mind was trying its best to work out a believable excuse that was anything but the truth. Because 'I used to visit her as a cat until almost a year ago' wouldn't go over well at all. Luckily, he found an explanation that would hopefully deviate Nino's attention.

"After the number of times I've snuck out of home, I'm always looking for escape routes. For instance, the way I'd sneak out of your house is…"

"Dude, please tell me you're not planning to end up in a situation where you have to sneak out of my house."

"I don't plan to, but if I ever have to, I don't want to have to stop and think about it."

The ding of their phones saved him from further embarrassment. Or so he had thought.

Princess: besides that route didn't seem safe last time you climbed it

and no need to be sorry Nino. I'M sorry for not being able to be there :'c

"Wait, what does she mean with 'last time'?" Nino asked and Adrien looked away. It was the one truth he could have told, or at least half of it, to really explain how he knew the way around Marinette's roof. He still felt ashamed of it though.

"Remember last year when Félix and I were still homeschooled? When Marinette and you were working on your homework, I sometimes went up to the balcony. When it was just Félix, Marinette and me one day I got bored and decided to see if I could climb up to the roof."

The only lie with that one was that he had not been the least bit uncertain about his ability to climb on the roof.

"It…didn't go as well as I thought it would…"

"Adrien?" He heard her call him and he was about to trot back when he froze. He couldn't come back like this. He was a cat in broad daylight and he couldn't just shift back on the roof where anyone could potentially see him. With no other choice, he turned tail and ran until he found a gap between the buildings.

The alley he landed in was dirty and offended his sensitive nose, but it was also empty and away from prying eyes. Adrien shifted and threw the rusty fire escape next to him a glare. There had been a reason he had rather jumped down a three-story building than climb down said structure. But if he wanted to get back up there as his human self, he had no other choice.

Iron bit into his hands and more than anything, he wished for gloves in that moment. The weather had grown too warm for them though and he had become too reckless. He once used to carry some with him at all times for exactly those types of situations. In this day and age, it was almost impossible to not touch something made out of iron after all. Now he paid the price for his thoughtlessness.

By the time he was on the roof again, his hands ached horribly and were terribly red, the skin burned. He gritted his teeth and put them into the pockets of his hoodie. Marinette's calls for him were bordering on desperate now, so he needed to hurry anyways and not cause her more worry. Unfortunately, he needed his hands to climb over the wall that separated her balcony from the rest of the roof.

"I'm here, I'm here, no worries," he said as he climbed over the wall and did his very best to not grit his teeth or otherwise show that he was in pain. Marinette noticed though. She always noticed.

"What did you do?" She asked at the same moment as he landed on the balcony and put his hands back into his pockets.

"Nothing," he said and started to sweat under her probing stare. There was no way he could show her his burned hands and have a good explanation for them. "I mean, I climbed around the roof a bit."

Her stare hardened. "And…I slipped, but I'm fine!" He said the last part with emphasis to erase the shock from her face. Without thinking though, he had raised his hands in a placating gesture, which only deepened her shocked look. Before he had a chance to pull them back she grabbed his wrists and pulled them up to her eye level to examine the burns. Adrien winced.

"This isn't nothing," she whispered and only then did he notice that she had tears in her eyes. He tried to pull his hands back, but her hold on his wrists didn't budge. "Those are burns, not scratches. What did you do?"

He couldn't tell her.

"Nothing."

"Adrien, what did you do?"

"I said it's nothing," he said a little more forceful than strictly necessary and looked away.

Her hold slowly loosened until she dropped his hands entirely. "O-okay then," she said and the strained sound of her voice made him look at her again. She was crying.

She was crying because he had deliberately lied to her. He had lied to her and they both knew it. He had made her cry.

"Marinette, I—"

"It's okay. It's nothing after all." She said and her smile didn't reach her eyes. It was the saddest and most broken smile he had ever seen.

She hates liars and you're supposed to be her friend, you asshole! His inner voice scolded. And it was right.

They never spoke about it again.

"I slipped and scared her quite a bit," Adrien said, the understatement of the century.

"Man, that would have scared anyone! Why didn't you tell me?"

Because I made her cry.

Adrien shrugged. "You didn't ask."

Adrien hadn't thought about this occurrence for months now. Even though it lay more than a year in the past already, it haunted him throughout the day. Even at the TV studio where he was supposed to cheer Nino on, he couldn't tear his thoughts entirely away from that very shameful memory.

There were things he could never tell her, an entire part of his life he could never share with her, and all discussions about his bad excuses would always inevitably end up in heartbreak and distrust.

Unseelie means unhappy, misfortunate, unholy. It had been a naïve assumption of him to think that any of this would end well. All he could do was to enjoy the little bliss he had while it lasted. If Mélusine was right, then things such as happiness were fickle.

"Just wait here," someone said, which tore Adrien out of his thoughts again. Nino was still on stage, concentrating on his music and the challenge to get the mayor of all people to dance. Someone had stepped up next to Adrien and his bodyguard though, probably the next contestant for the show. Adrien gave a friendly wave in greeting but the man in the very garish pink jacket was stopped from offering a handshake by the Gorilla.

"No, it's okay," Adrien quickly intervened, as this was really not necessary. He had never found out if the Gorilla—Félix and he didn't know his real name, a precaution set by Nathalie—knew something about the fair folk or if he just took his job very seriously, but whenever there was just the tiniest bit of danger, he would go on the defence.

Through the tiny commotion, Adrien almost missed Nino winning the challenge.

"Awesome, dude!" Adrien said and fistbumped Nino when he came back to him.

"Next up is a hypnotist. That's gonna be cool," Nino said after bowing dramatically. Adrien wasn't sure if he agreed. After all, hypnotism was just another word for charming someone. This man didn't seem to be a fae at least, so it should be harmless in comparison to what was possible with magic.

Adrien had just managed to convince himself that it would at least be interesting, when his father suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Oh no," he muttered silently. He didn't need to be a Cat Sidhe to feel the incoming disaster.

"Dude, it's your dad," Nino said, obviously excited, and Adrien did his best to at least smile. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? Oh, who was he kidding!? This was his father. If anything, he should be on the lookout for black butterflies.

"Let's see if you can bring Monsieur Agreste here with your powers," Alec, the moderator, said and Adrien winced quietly. Even if the hypnotist could really make people do what he wanted, he couldn't succeed. His father was, after all, cursed to not be able to leave the house. Or…was he? It had been around this time last year, hadn't it? Maybe the curse was broken by now?

Well, it didn't matter much anyway, because it was at this moment that his father forcefully ended the video call, making Adrien wince again. "That's my dad, alright," he said to a frowning Nino.

"Looks like Monsieur Agreste turned down your challenge. Game over," the moderator said and Adrien could feel his fur stand on end at the injustice.

"But…that's not fair. I didn't even get time to…"

Adrien was about to go after the man, but he was once again held back by his bodyguard.

Iron bells!

Should he stay with Nino or should he go to the failed hypnotist and comfort him before he'd become an Akuma? Actually, the chance was quite low. There already had been an Akuma just two days ago when they had filmed the short film at the school. Hawkmoth probably had better things to do than to go after every single Parisian with negative emotions. Because, by Danu, there were quite a lot of those to pick from.

"I shouldn't have tempted fate," Chat Noir muttered to himself as he tried his best to fight off his now animalistic bodyguard.

"Ya think, kid?!" Plagg sneered from inside his head. "We'll have to go over this whole jinxing thing again when you don't get it after almost sixteen years of living it."

"Alright, no more hoping for the best from now on. Got it!" Adrien said as he blocked another swing of his bodyguard's muscular arm with his baton and dodged another by rolling to the side.

A head-on swing ended up being a bad idea as the Gorilla grabbed the weapon and threw it behind him. Now with only his claws and magic as his defence, Chat Noir faced his opponent with a smirk.

"Better watch out," he said, even when he was suddenly taken into what he could only describe as a very painful hug. The fur of his angrily lashing tail stood up in discomfort as a response.

"You know, I'm a natural deliverer of karma," he said with a weak smirk. Fortunately, the universe gave him small blessings from time to time, as the elevator dinged at exactly that second, letting out a woman that was probably just coming back from a coffee run.

"Hey there, Ladybug," Chat Noir said, and as expected, the Gorilla was distracted for just long enough to be kicked back. Now free again, Chat Noir didn't waste time. He pushed his mind-controlled bodyguard into the elevator.

"Enough already," he muttered. "Cataclysm!"

Before the bodyguard could flee, the elevator controls were broken and the elevator itself fell down the shaft.

Chat Noir winced. "Karma delivered?" he asked no one in particular. The universe perhaps, not that it ever gave him any answers other than just urgent warnings of it being sleeping time for the fair folk during the day, just like a very annoying nanny.

He picked the baton back up and upon hearing footsteps approach him, swung it around and got into a fighting stance once more, ready to take on more opponents. To his relief, it was only his partner and Nino though.

"Nice seeing you too, Chat Noir," Ladybug said, while Nino just looked at him with a slack jaw.

"Sorry, I thought you were the Akuma or his minions," he said and held his baton in front of him.

Do not freak out now, he told himself as he gripped the weapon a little more strongly than necessary. He had been thinking about Marinette way too much during the day to be in any way, shape or form prepared for an encounter. Alas, the universe despised him after all.

"I saw him. He's got a whole army!" Nino said, interrupting the awkward moment.

"I hate it when they have armies," Chat Noir muttered and thought back to Stoneheart and Dark Blade. "He's looking for Gabriel Agreste. We should better get to him fast," he said more loudly. His main concern, however, wasn't his father, but rather Félix and Nathalie. Well, his brother would probably be alright. If worse came to worst, he could just shift and escape the house—no one would pay attention to a cat after all. Nathalie wouldn't be so lucky though.

The beeping of his ring stopped his train of thought and he internally groaned. Right, he had used Cataclysm.

"You're about to change back. I'll have a look for Nino's friend," his lady said, which set off another reason for panic. The quiet snickering inside his head was undoubtedly Plagg who was enjoying this whole mess way too much.

"Forget it, he's probably hypnotised." If they wouldn't look for him, then he'd have an easier time being Chat Noir. After all, he hadn't yet found a way to be two people at the same time. Well, unless Félix covered for him, but Félix was back at the mansion. Wait…they were headed to the mansion! A plan quickly formed in his head.

"But he's my buddy!"

Bless Nino, honestly.

"You're right, he's probably hiding," Chat Noir said, quickly changing his strategy. "I'll leave you to look for him. Let's meet at Gabriel Agreste's place."

He ducked into the stairwell, not waiting to find out how Ladybug and Nino would react to his sudden change of heart and following hasty departure.

"This is an awful idea," Plagg said as soon as the transformation ended. "Your father gets targeted so Adrien Agreste is a likely target too."

"Yes, but Adrien Agreste is also a magic cat. I'm sure I'll find a way out of it," Adrien said and started running down a random hallway, attentive to the noises around him in case the Akuma himself or his minions were still in the building.

"Your brother won't like this."

Adrien snorted humourlessly. "I know."

After some back and forth between the hallways and dodging the occasional minion—the supposed soldiers were walking around like zombies, what was up with that?—Adrien eventually heard steps that were too light to be those of adults.

Found them!

And then came the acting. Again. Needing to pretend like he hadn't known that Nino was safe and sound with Ladybug was luckily not as hard as he had thought as Nino promptly smothered him in a tight hug.

"Dude, you ok?" He asked which was frankly a very good question.

Let's review: My father is persecuted by an Akuma, my brother and Nathalie are probably in danger too, the love of my life—who I almost kissed just a few days ago (!)—is staring at me with those worried bluebell eyes, she is also a freaking superhero and BY DANU I don't know if I can survive this as just Adrien!

"I'm fine."

Adrien was absolutely unable to look away once his eyes met Ladybug's. He had never met her without being transformed and it was a very surreal experience. For one, he knew who she was, but he couldn't just treat her like he'd treat Marinette. That said, he also couldn't slip into the easy camaraderie he had with her as Chat Noir. This technically was their very first encounter after all!

Oh, the irony had returned! At this point he was convinced that he was at the butt end of a cruel joke from the universe. Time to make a fifth first impression to the love of his life.

His sudden frozen state of panic must have looked like a miniature heart attack or something because the worry in her eyes deepened.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

Absolutely not!

"I'm fine, really," he lied and finally managed to look away awkwardly. If that was how the rest of the day was going to go, then he was doomed.

Adrien had witnessed many surreal things in his life—being a fae inevitably brought that burden with it. This, however, would most likely make it into his top ten.

"So, what was someone as pretty as you doing at the TV studio? Were you going to perform something as well?" Ladybug asked, her cheeks tinted with a blush and her eyes glinting with Marinette-levels of confidence. Meanwhile, Nino was screaming bloody murder as they swung from building to building and Adrien just tried his best to hold on to both Ladybug and Nino as best as he could.

Surreality at its finest.

"I—uh—what?" If his ears weren't as good as they were, he would have sworn that the rushing wind was messing with his hearing ability.

"I mean, I'm sure you're very talented," Ladybug said. Adrien stared at her and then looked at Nino for confirmation that he had heard correctly. His best bud, however, was much more concerned with mere survival at that moment to pay attention to what Ladybug said.

How was this reality? Had he somehow slipped and was now living in an upside-down parallel dimension? If that were the case, he wouldn't even be surprised. After all, why in the netherworld would Ladybug flirt with Adrien Agreste?! On that note, why would Marinette want to flirt with her arguably best friend?! It just…didn't make any sense. Then again, she also had leaned into the almost-kiss two days ago. But that had been acting, nothing more!

Or had it?

No! Bad Adrien! Don't follow that train of thought!

"N-no, I…I don't think so," Adrien eventually got out and was glad that she had to concentrate on where to swing. One look at his face would have told her how utterly flustered he was by those simple questions.

Was this Ladybug's idea of keeping it cool and professional? If yes, then she and Chat Noir would have to talk! Well, maybe she was just nervous that he would find out who she was—a little too late for that—and that was the reason she was acting like this. Yes, that had to be it. Any other explanation was just too confusing or at best even utopic to be considered as a possibility at this moment.

Nino screamed like a little girl when they swung down from an especially high building and Adrien tightened his vice grip. And being this close to his love while she was in a skin-tight suit was problematic, to say the least. Yes, they often got pretty close while fighting Akumas or even on the rare occasions when she would pet him, but he was Chat Noir then! This time he was Adrien and to his eyes she was superhero-Marinette which did strange things to his heart.

He was starting to regret showing back up as Adrien and not just feeding Plagg and transforming into Chat Noir again. Sure, it had given Nino some peace of mind, but at what cost!?

"You're an idiot," was how Félix greeted him as soon as Adrien entered his room, closely followed by a gasping Nino.

"Dudes, I've seen stadiums tinier than your room," he said while he looked around.

"Fé, did you stay here just to tell me that?" Adrien asked and leaned on the back of the couch on which his brother sat. He needed a moment. Just one minute to breathe and process the happenings of the previous half an hour. For some reason, his brain had trouble to keep up.

"Perhaps."

Adrien frowned and then threw a look to Nino who was eyeing the cat playground on the ceiling in confusion. Perhaps Félix had stayed to keep him from finding out anything incriminating. That would make sense. Not that he could admit that out loud while Nino was present.

"Just help yourself to the arcade games, Nino. I'll have to talk to Félix in private for a bit," Adrien said and pulled his brother with him to the bathroom. Once inside, he sighed.

"Okay, you'll have to pretend to be me."

Félix arched an eyebrow. "And then I am suddenly impossible to find?"

"Come on, Fé! I can't be Adrien and Chat Noir at the same time."

"What's the big deal? Just let the Akuma take your dad, send Nino home and then transform," Plagg said, thoroughly unconcerned.

"I agree with that plan," Félix said, earning nothing but disbelief from Adrien.

"Are you two nuts?! Listen, Fé, we don't have time for this. Pretend to be me, explain the cat playground to Nino and then just keep him from finding anything suspicious like your gemstone collection."

"Different plan: I'll just be myself and say you wanted to take a shower."

Adrien growled in irritation when he heard a loud noise from the front gate. He didn't have time for this. "Fine," he hissed. "Plagg, Claws Out."

Chat Noir had barely climbed the roof when he already heard Nino's voice from inside.

"Hey dude, everything okay?"

"Yes, Adrien just wanted to take a shower," Félix said. Chat Noir hissed quietly. Why was that the excuse his brother had to use?!

"Now?" Nino asked, appropriately bewildered.

"It's the model in him."

"Plagg, remind me to hang Félix out the window by his tail once this is over," Chat Noir growled as he took his baton to call Ladybug.

"Will do."

"You know," Félix said after a period of silence. Adrien looked up from his brooding. "You managed to keep your friendship with her on the low for an entire year. If you're being smart about it, you could do the same with a relationship."

"Fé, I already said that it's too risky! What if the Court finds out?!"

"It would not be much worse than it is currently. Besides, do you really have the heart to reject Marinette if she confesses to you?"

That rendered Adrien speechless. He had been about to deny any sort of attraction his best friend could have towards him, but hadn't this day been proof enough? She had definitely flirted with him. It had been as Ladybug, but that counted too!

What if she would confess?

Félix was right: he wouldn't be able to reject her. With all the lying he had to do, he couldn't break her heart on top of it. Especially not when he felt the same.

Adrien looked out the window to the darkening sky with a forlorn expression.

"It's not fair to put her in that kind of danger," he said.

"You should have thought about that before becoming friends with her. Now it's two years too late."

He glared at his brother but Félix wasn't even looking at him. Instead, he was concentrating on an assortment of different gemstones and herbs while Plagg sat on his shoulder with a piece of Camembert.

"It's still too dangerous," Adrien muttered, more to himself than to the other occupants of the room. He should have known that since the room was solely occupied by cats with incredibly good hearing, nothing he said would remain unheard.

Plagg sighed deeply. "Kid," he said but didn't move from his perch on Félix's shoulder. "All I hear from you so far are excuses why you can't move forward with your relationship. Your brother is right. Whether you're friends with her or you're dating her, both are equal to the Court. Since you can't stay completely away from her and since she's under Tikki's protection, I'd say go for it." The kwami gagged. "Can't believe you forced me to say that."

Adrien stood up and started pacing while trying to sort through his thoughts. He quickly realised though that both his brother and Plagg were giving him annoyed looks.

"I need to think this through, okay?" He tried to defend himself.

"Well, do it outside, will you?" Plagg said.

"You know what? I will," Adrien said and shifted. "I'll be back in a bit."

He hadn't realised how much he had missed this. Just running around as himself on the rooftops at night with the wind brushing through his fur. Sure, being Chat Noir was amazing, but being himself was pretty cool too. While his mind wandered, his body automatically found the path he had walked so often he could find it in his sleep at this point. A path that had saved him on Midsummer all these years ago and a path that lead him to happiness.

When he was perching on the wall that separated Marinette's balcony from the rest of the roofs, he intentionally kept to the shadows. He hadn't visited her as a cat since they got their Miraculous, mostly because Tikki would kill him and also because further possible attention from the Court was always bad. What did it matter now though? They were practically always together anyway, at school and in their free time! If the Court wanted to draw a connection, then it would be blatantly easy to do so. Visiting her as a cat was no more incriminating than talking to her in his free time was.

There was still Tikki though, and he feared and respected her enough to keep his distance. Speaking of the goddess, she was currently deep in a conversation with Marinette over a design. Through the occasional glances his way though, he was sure that she knew he was there. He wouldn't approach, wouldn't risk angering Danu herself.

Adrien watched the two for a bit and enjoyed the warmth of Marinette's voice as she excitedly talked about possible fabric choices. Just for the fun of it, he let his mind wander, remembering all the times she had talked excitedly about something to him. Every moment of her angelic kindness passed his mind and all the times she had comforted him when things had been rough. Even when she hadn't understood what was going on, she had been there for him. He couldn't help the dopey grin the memories drew on his face. Good thing she didn't know he was there, as he was probably looking like the Cheshire cat right now.

Some idiot he had been. A relationship wouldn't doom her. They had both been doomed from the moment he had fallen onto her balcony. Which didn't mean he had needlessly worried, but as long as he stayed careful, he could make this work. A future with the one and only girl he had ever fallen in love with. It sounded like heaven on earth.

When Adrien threaded back home over the rooftops, he finally made a decision.

He was done running away.