It had taken a few hours, but finally, she'd managed to convince Alya and Nino to go home. She'd even gotten Adrien to leave, telling him that she needed some time to get her thoughts together and shower.

"Can I…" He'd asked, hesitancy lingering in every syllable that hung between them as he lingered there on her doorstep. It was so strange to have him there, she didn't know what to do with herself, and yet still, she wasn't stumbling over herself, as she would have even a few months ago.

In lieu of flicking the bell that usually hung about his neck, she'd gently tapped his nose, startling the both of them at how casually she'd done it. With both of them pink-faced, she smiled.

"Come back later," She'd said, and she hadn't entirely been sure of what she'd meant to imply in saying it. But this way his eyes had widened had certainly not made her blush go away, and her embarrassment had finally gotten the better of her, making her shut the door sharply in his face and then slide down the other side of it, groaning at the agony of it all.

After a few nerve-wracking minutes of listening to him walk away, she hauled herself up to go shower, hoping that the icy chill of the water would do something to cool her touch-seared skin. She could still smell the warmth of him on her clothes, and Alya had sent her the photograph she'd taken of the two of them cuddled together.

It looked so natural.

You can't do this to yourself, Marinette. She chided, though the voice in her head sounded less sure than before, less forceful as if it weren't sure anymore just why she couldn't. Bunnyx had told her in no uncertain terms that she couldn't let the future with Chat Blanc happen, but… Hadn't she already stopped it? Who was to say that her actions hadn't already subverted that future? Maybe Adrien is right, Maybe…

The image of him looming over her as he tipped her face up to meet his flooded into her mind and her face burned anew. Marinette stumbled back with a gasp, grabbing onto the shower curtain for purchase and nearly tearing the thing off of its rings as she slid painfully down into the basin of the tub, landing with a wet thud on her rump.

Graceful as ever, Marinette…

Marinette had taken an unusually long time in the shower, and she was glad her parents were out of the house still to not have witnessed it. She now sat on her bed in her pyjamas, towel-drying her hair, when she heard the telltale rap of cat claws against her window. Turning, her heart leapt into her throat when she saw too-green eyes staring back at her, a small smile playing on the lips of their masked owner.

She scrambled to her feet and unlocked the hatch door to the patio above. Moments later, Chat Noir's lithe, black-clad form slid down through the entrance, closing the door behind him.

"Hello again, Purrincess," he crooned, grinning at his own joke as he caught her hand to brush his lips against her knuckles in greeting. She rolled her eyes automatically, but smiled in response, extricating her hand just a little too quickly. Was it just her, or did his ears droop just the slightest bit..? "Today was quite something; how are you holding up?" He asked her, his gaze focusing on her face.

Marinette sighed, bringing her previously captured hand to her face to scrub some of the stress away. "Honestly, Chat? I don't know," she replied, looking back at him with a tired smile. "Ever since that day, everything has been… It all feels like it's been moving so quickly, and I haven't had time to catch up, you know?" She pulled some of her tousled hair over her shoulder, playing with it idly, just to keep her hands busy. "I still don't know if us knowing about one another was the best course of action, and now Alya and Nino know too. What if Hawkmoth finds out, and uses it against us?" She looked up at him, and yes, his ears were actually drooping. "Chat?"

"Do you… Regret knowing that it's me, Marinette?" He asked in a soft voice. Marinette stared at him, trying to figure out why he could possibly sound worried. Reaching over, she clasped his hand between both of hers and shook her head.

"No, of course not," She said, focusing on him with far more courage than she was currently feeling in the moment. "If anything, if… If I weren't so worried about everything else, I'd be worried that you would be let down that Ladybug is, well… me." Now she broke their gaze, and looked down at the bedspread, realizing too late that they hadn't moved from where they'd sat down on her mattress. Don't blush, don't blush, maybe he didn't notice!

"Marinette, why would I ever be disappointed that it's you?" Oh, the sincerity in his voice nearly made her want to start crying right then and there. She looked at him and there were obviously tears in her eyes, or were about to be, because he was suddenly very concerned. "Marinette?"

"Silly kitty," She choked on the words, and then the tears came. When wouldn't she be crying in front of him? "I'm s-sorry," She managed, scrubbing at her eyes with the heel of her palm, "I'm h-happy, I swear!"

Chat's eyes softened and he tugged her toward him again, for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She fell against him gratefully, curling up against his chest to just be for a while.

"Stay with me, Chaton?" She asked softly, once her tears had subsided and her limbs had grown heavy in the warmth of his embrace. "For a little while longer?"

"For as long as you need, Princess."