Chat Noir landed with an almost inaudible thump on the roof directly across from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. It wasn't unheard of for him to visit Marinette but he had already been over twice this week and he wondered if he was overdoing it.
Across the way, Marinette watched her kitty staring at the bakery with a smile. This happened a lot, he got self conscious about visiting too much and spent far too much time crouched, watching the bakery with a face full of trepidation.
She popped through her skylight as silently as she could manage and approached the railing of her balcony.
'pspspspspsp' she held out her hand. 'Here kitty kitty' she whispered, knowing his sensitive ears would catch the sound.
His head cocked to the side and she thought she heard him snort before he landed with a thump next to her.
'You know I'm not an actual cat, right princess?' He said, ruffling her hair as he straightened up next to her.
'It worked though, maybe you're more cat than you think you are' she scrunched her nose up at him.
'Do I smell pastries baking?' He said, lifting his nose to the air and sniffing theatrically.
Given that it was well gone 9pm and her parents were asleep, ready for their early morning baking, she was pretty sure he could not in fact smell baking but she smiled anyway.
'You're shameless. C'mon kitty I'll grab you something from downstairs' turning on her heel she made her way back to the bedroom, assuming he would follow.
He did, landing on her bed and basking in the warmth it offered, a welcome change from the frigid air outside. He loved Marinette's room, the pink walls had become something of a sanctuary for him in recent times. The pictures of his civilian self on her wall always made him smile and the pretty blush she got when he asked her about them made him smile even more.
Marinette appeared with a plate full of various treats. Handing them to him as he shimmied down to help her, she ducked down and reappeared again with two glasses of milk.
Helping her juggle everything they made their way across her room, settling on the chaise. She grabbed her laptop and her black and green blanket (NOT Chat Noir themed no matter how much Chat liked to claim it was) and settled in next to him, ready to fire up a movie like they did so often.
Chat instinctively turned the plate to offer Marinette the side with the cookies on it and she passed him his milk without looking. They had settled into a routine of sorts and much of their communication happened silently, an understanding between the two that didn't call for chatter in the silence.
Chats favourite part of the night, though he would never admit it, was when Marinette got tired enough to curl in next to him, using his body for warmth and a pillow as she got closer and closer to sleep while fighting to stay awake for the movie.
Marinette would also never admit it, but Chat's shoulder had become her favourite pillow. She especially loved that on the odd occasion she completely succumbed to sleep, she would wake up the next morning tucked into her bed knowing the Chat had put her there.
So yeah, they had a routine. Nothing would happen if they stuck to the routine, Marinette was sure. Chat on the other hand, did not get the memo exactly.
Adrien was upset.
Report cards were out and despite perfect grades all round, glowing reviews from his teachers and even recommendations from some of them for more advanced classes, his father barely offered a well done. Nathalie looked at him in pity when his father immediately jumped into instructions for next weeks shoot, completely disregarding the achievements of his only child.
Once his father had finished, Adrien excused himself and went to his room.
Plagg was certainly not the most sensitive of kwami's out there, that was more Tikki's area of expertise, but even he felt bad when he saw his chosen with tear stained eyes, his hands trembling.
'Whenever I feel sad, I find my nicest, stinkiest Camembert and go to town on it' he offered helpfully.
Adrien gave him a watery smile. 'Thanks Plagg but I don't think Camembert would help this situation'.
Before Plagg could pipe up and defend his wonderful smelly cheese Adrien sat up poker straight. 'Maybe not cheese, but I bet something sweet would help'
He looked at Plagg expectantly.
Plagg rolled his eyes, 'are we talking about pastries or pigtails?'
Adrien blushed bright red. 'I… of course I meant… not that Marinette isn't because she IS.. but I meant…' he trailed off and frowned at Plagg's loud laughter.
'Shut up and get ready' he sighed before lightly scratching Plagg under the chin. 'CLAWS OUT'
Marinette was not expecting to hear light tapping on her skylight at 5pm. Chat never really came over until the sun had gone down and she assumed that was how it would stay. Worried, she opened the window and the leather clad boy landed softly on her bed.
'Well hello Princess, how are you on this fine eve?'
He was smiling at her but Marinette was no fool, she could tell he wasn't himself.
She moved down the ladder to sit on the chaise again and beckoned him to follow her, which he did. Instead of sitting, Chat paced in front of her, his tail swishing in agitation.
'Everything ok Chat?' She said softly, vividly aware everything was not, but not sure why.
'Hmm? Oh yeah. Everything is pawsitively perfect!'
His voice was full of pep he didn't feel and Marinette saw through it immediately.
'Chat? Talk to me kitty, what's up?' She stood up and placed a hand on his cheek so his eyes would meet hers.
He was going to brush it off, he really was, but looking into her big eyes so full of understanding and care he found he didn't want to. His lower lip trembled slightly as he fought to contain himself. Marinette cared and if she wanted to know he was going to tell her.
'It sounds stupid if I say it out loud, just … my Dad, he's like the furthest thing from a warm, proud father as you can get. Normally it's fine but I got- ' he cut off before he could say about his grades, best not to tempt fate since he knew hers had come out today too. 'I got some news today that would make any parent happy but he just .. didn't care'
He looked so sad, his kitty ears drooping and everything about him just screaming dejection that Marinette's heart broke for him. She knew from conversations as Ladybug that he didn't have the best relationship with his father but he'd never really gone into detail and she'd never really thought it was anything past the usual parent/child arguing. She was aware not everyone was fortunate enough to have parents as loving as hers but the way Chat made his father sound, there was no love there at all.
'I'm sorry Chat' she whispered softly because really, what else could she say? 'You deserve better. I hope you know that'
His lip trembled again and he pulled Marinette closer, burying his head in her shoulder as she ran her hands through his hair comfortingly.
There was a stillness to the room for a few moments, both of them standing still with Chat drawing comfort from just being near Marinette.
The quiet was broken from the loud THWACK of the trap door opening.
'Marinette! Your mom said I could-' Alya's voice broke off abruptly as she took in the pair springing apart from each other, shock on Chats face and dread on Marinette's.
'Well hello.. I didn't realise I was interrupting something' she said slyly as she pulled herself into the room. 'You're looking awful cosy there'
Both parties looked at each other and then Alya. Chat rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly while Marinette's face turned an alarming shade of red.
'Alya it's not LIKE that. Chat was just… was just..' Marinette stuttered out.
'Just what? Stopping in on his giiiiirlfriend for a quick smooch? The LadyNoir fans will be devastated'
Chat's face turned as red as Marinette's.
'No! Aly- uh Alya was it? You're misunderstanding. Marinette is just a friend! A very good friend!' Chat tripped over his words. 'A great friend, you can't say anything about this ok? It could put Marinette in danger and oh god.. My Lady is gonna kill me' he sunk his head into his hands.
When he finally looked up, Alya was regarding him with suspicion. She had a strange look on her face, like she was working out a puzzle.
She glanced at Marinette. 'Mari, I forgot to say your mom wanted you, something about a delivery order or something'
Marinette looked between Alya and Chat uneasily.
'Don't worry, I'll keep catboy company while you're gone'
'Ahh, I should really be-'
'We'll have a nice … chat' Alya interrupted him, grinning at her own pun.
Marinette looked at Chat helplessly and shrugged. She stopped to whisper to Alya as she descended to speak to her mother. 'Be NICE, Alya'
As soon as Marinette had disappeared, Chat started awkwardly shuffling around the room. He tried to come up with an escape plan.
Alya stared at him dead on, a smile playing on her lips like she knew something he didn't.
'C'mon sunshine, let's have a seat on the chaise'
Chat jolted a little at the familiar name, usually bestowed on Adrien. He followed her nonetheless, pacing in front of the chaise just like earlier except with Alya sitting there instead of Marinette.
'So… Adrien Agreste huh?'
Chat swore he stopped breathing.
'Ah! Yeah .. Um.. the model yes you um.. I've seen him during a-akuma attacks and stuff. You a-and Mari, you know the um.. the guy yeah? N-nice guy I hope. Ha.' He ground out pathetically.
'He's a great guy. Kind of oblivious but we won't hold that against him right now.' Alya grinned a megawatt smile at him. 'He's also standing right in front of me'
Chat stared at her in shock. 'Ah! What! No, I'm not.. see you don't have it right.. b-because' he trailed off at Alya's raised eyebrow.
'Let's not waste time pretending it's not you Adrien, because I know it is'
He put his head in his hands again. 'Oh GOD Ladybug is going to KILL me. You can't tell anyone about this Alya. Not Marinette. Not Nino. Especially not the Ladyblog. This is bigger than us.'
Alya took pity on him and patted the seat next to her.
'I have no intention of telling anyone sunshine. Relax, it's okay. It's gonna be our little-' she cut off to scrunch her nose. 'Well not so little, more like absolutely huge secret. But still, just ours. You definitely owe me SO many interviews though, and Ladybug intel, oh my GOD so much Ladybug intel'
Something occurred to him as she rambled on.
'But Alya.. how did you know? You've met me as Chat lots of times and you've never figured me out?' '
She started laughing. 'This is probably the stupidest reason ever but.. you do the exact same thing as Adrien'
He gestured for her to go on.
'The "Mari is a very good friend" thing? You do the exact same thing when anyone brings Marinette up to you.'
'But Marinette is a very good friend' he said in disbelief.
'She's my best friend dork, of course I know what a good friend she is. But it's the way you say it. Like you're trying to convince yourself more than you're trying to convince anyone else.' She took a breath out, air blowing her hair up in a tussle. ' I honestly have no idea why but it just clicked, everything fell into place when you said it. I've never noticed before how much you look like Chat, Akuma attacks are always at our school, you're never around when they happen. Just felt like a veil lifted or something'
'Well sane people tend to run away from the danger Alya' he sighed loudly. 'You didn't notice because of the magic but I guess when you properly figured it out you'd be able to see, the veil would lift or whatever you said' then something else occurred to him. 'What do you mean convincing myself, I don't have to convince myself? Marinette is a good friend'
'Yes she is. A very good friend. A friend you apparently visit in your superhero form, fairly regularly I'd bet, given how comfortable Marinette seemed with you here.' Alya grinned at him slyly. 'I've never gotten a visit from Chat Noir before. I'm willing to wager Nino, your very best friend or Chloe, your oldest friend hasn't either. Just Marinette. I wonder why that is.'
Chat had never really considered before why it was only Marinette he sought out when he was transformed. He could have said any number of things then. Marinette had her balcony so she was convenient to visit, she had pastries on hand whenever he needed them, she had the most privacy out of all of his friends. All valid reasons, all lies.
Alya watched him as he put it together in his head, restraining herself from clapping with glee.
Chat sat down on the chaise next to her, his head still going a mile a minute. Why did he visit Marinette so often? Why was it only her he visited? Why did the pink walls of her room make him feel so safe, why did her big bluebell eyes make him feel so warm?
Marinette made an appearance then, entering the room quickly and wringing her hands together nervously.
'Sorry, I was as quick as I could be, there was-' she was cut off by Chat standing up and walking over to her.
He gently placed his hands on both her forearms as he spoke. 'I have to go Mari, thank you for listening to me earlier. I- I feel a lot better now.' He wrapped his arms around her tightly in a hug and she let out a little eep!
After a second she hugged him back.
'I'll see you soon' he whispered for her ears only.
He turned around to look at Alya. 'I'm sure I'll see you next time there's an Akuma on the loose. Maybe this time you'll surprise us and run away'
'No chance of that catboy, the people wanna see action!'
He gave her a meaningful look and she could see the fear in it, fear for his secret.
She mimed zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key as Marinette looked on in confusion.
He nodded and his shoulders relaxed in relief, for all Alya's flaws he knew she was loyal and honest and if she said his secret was safe with her, he knew he could believe it.
He made his way out of the room, stopping once more to cast his gaze on Marinette. She was looking at him leave, pink still smattered across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks, a little smile and a wave when she saw him looking.
He smiled back and exited the room, ignoring the fluttering of butterflies in his stomach.
Adrien had a lot to think about.
A/N: this was just a little cute oneshot that wouldn't get out of my head. The 'she's just a friend' thing is like famous in the fandom so I thought it would be funny if someone recognised it. Hope you enjoyed it!