Chapter 1

Being a superhero can certainly be a rewarding experience. Unfortunately, it's just as possible to be completely drained of energy. This was definitely the latter for Marinette at the moment since she had a long day of homework and studying coupled with an akuma attack in the middle of lunch today. Thankfully it was a Friday so she could get some extra rest in. But that didn't stop her current feeling from taking over.

"My brain hurts," Marinette moaned as she rested her head on her desk.

Tikki was quick to fly up next to her chosen and say, "Don't worry Marinette. At least you have some down time."

"With my luck, it'll probably be consumed by Alya wanting to show me another video of Ladybug saving the day," Marinette groaned without even moving her head.

While she loved her best friend, Alya did have a tendency to be over-eccentric. The praise for her superhero persona was awesome, but when it came from Alya, it was also tiring. Then again, that was something to expect from the creator of the LadyBlog. Though it did feel weird how she was continuously trying to find out who Ladybug really is. Not that it was really surprising since she also had to deal with her partner constantly pushing an identity reveal.

"She can't bother you today," Tikki said as she pointed toward the window.

When Marinette looked to see what her kwami meant, she noticed that it was raining heavily. So it was probably a good idea to hold off on patrol until it cleared. Thankfully neither hero had to deal with the experience of patrolling in poor weather conditions before. And usually since Hawkmoth's Powers would typically need a day to recharge, patrolling on the same day as an akuma attack seemed pointless for the most part. They use to patrol even after an akuma attack already occurred but the attacks have actually caused a decline in crime overall so things have been more peaceful the past few months since Hawkmoth's arrival.

Eventually, Marinette's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a clatter on her balcony. She made sure to grab a coat since only the trapdoor was covered, and protected by the rain. When she got out to the deck, she expected to find something that was blown over by the wind. Instead, she found a familiar black silhouette hiding under a chair in a feeble attempt to stay out of the rain. The silhouette looked to Marinette with green eyes, and said, "Hello Princess. Hope you don't mind me stopping by."

She wanted to chastise him for showing up at this time and at this hour, which was later than when he'd usually stop by. But any and all thought of doing so was immediately replaced by her attention on the fact that Chat was acting like…well…a real cat. He looked like a cat who was trying desperately to stay out of the rain. And while she did feel bad about it, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight. When she noticed the sour look he gave her, she settled down and said, "Sorry. You just look so funny."

"Glad I amuse you princess," Chat retorted, "But can we please carry on this conversation inside?"

Marinette eventually opened the door for him to enter her room, which he ended up doing rather hastily. When she followed behind, she noticed that he was shivering slightly, and rushed to get a towel for him. For a second, she thought it was a little weird that he didn't take much time to dry off his suit, but then she remembered that last time they were stuck in the rain, the suits dried from the water faster than their hair and skin. On the subject of hair, she found it very amusing when Chat began drying his hair. In between giggles, she voiced her thoughts, "You look like a cat just came out of the wash."

Chat initially gave a deadpanned look until he countered with another flirtatious remark, "Whatever I have to do so that I may hear that heavenly laugh of yours."

"Down kitty," Marinette replied as she rolled her eyes. While his flirts weren't enough to affect how she felt towards him, she would admit that they make her feel good about herself. She won't admit that deep down she did feel a little something towards him because of the flirting. Mostly because it has the potential to throw the biggest monkey wrench of all time in their lives. She decided to move on from that train of thought, and continued conversing, "So what exactly are you doing here?"

"Can't a humble knight visit his princess?" Chat asked as he grabbed Marinette's hand and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

"While the gesture is appreciated," Marinette led them both to her bed where they sat down on the edge, "I don't think showing up now is a good idea."

Chat eventually dropped the gentlemanly demeanor, and let out a sad sigh, "It's just…I've been having issues with my home life, and I feel like the only way to escape…is to come here."

Marinette felt sorrow for her partner take control of her heart. Chat did mention before that there were frustrations in his life that made him wish he was Chat Noir full time. But he never explained what those frustrations were before. And she didn't want to pry open whatever can of worms that would bring between them. This time though, she didn't have to intrude since Chat began going into more detail about his home issues.

Chat began discussing how much stress that has been put on him lately. He started with his father who was always controlling his schedule from his studies to his free time. Then he moved on to how secluded he felt from his friends because they hang out with each other more than him. And what's worse is even without the mask, he struggles to find people who only want to be with him for him rather than for fame. Once he finished, Marinette spoke up, and said, "Kind of funny that you'd come here then."

"Well you make me feel the most welcome," Chat replied.

He spotted the confused look, and began to elaborate a little more, "You actually take the time to listen to me, and to be honest, it's really refreshing to be with someone like that."

Marinette felt warm from the comment until another thought crossed her mind, "What about Ladybug?"

Chat simply shook his head as he smiled, "Nah. She has bigger things to worry about than my issues."

"That's not true Chat," Marinette said as she felt a pang of guilt begin to rise in her, "You're her partner so it should be fair for you to unload your problems to her."

"It's better that she worries about others rather than me," Chat said before placing a hand on Marinette's shoulder, "Besides, this way I can talk to a regular person."

Marinette couldn't say anything back since her only argument died in her throat. Instead she pulled her favorite alley cat into perhaps the tightest hug ever. Any tighter, and she would've turned this black cat into a blue cat. At first Chat wanted to detach her from him and say that everything was fine and that she had nothing to worry about. But before he could try, he felt tears from her face on his cheek as she said, "You can always come to me for any problem Chat."

And with that, Chat's heroic resolve had immediately crumbled to nothing. He began holding on tightly to his one true ray of sunshine and let his tears go. All of the pain that he'd been holding in, and the stress which he had just discussed, felt released as he sat with her and cried with her. They stayed hugging for what felt like an eternity, but was actually three minutes, and when they released each other, Chat felt something that he never got to feel in a while.

For once in a long time, he felt relief.

"Thank you for listening to me princess," Chat said, "And for helping me through this."

"Anytime you goofy cat," Marinette said as she ruffled his hair a little.

Chat looked at the clock and began to walk towards the window once he noticed how late it was getting. Marinette began to stop him before he froze on his own. The rain had actually gotten much worse and developed into thunder and lightning. The rain bothered Chat but he wasn't the one who was unsettled by the lightning. Actually it was Marinette who clung to him at the sound of thunder and lightning almost immediately. Chat noticed this and turned to face her as he asked, "Are you Okay?"

Marinette looked up at him, looking like her fear was subsiding, and answered, "Sorry. I'm not a big lightning fan."

Chat definitely understood that. He and Ladybug patrolled once before in thunder and lightning which already wasn't a great idea. However, the pair almost got hit by lightning several times based on how high up they were. One bolt even managed to strike Chat's baton but thankfully, he wasn't holding it when it happened. That was the point where they decided that patrols during a lightning storm would never be a thing again.

Eventually Chat broke the silence and said, "Do you mind if I spend the night here? I doubt this will let up until the morning."

"Sure, I don't mind at all," Marinette answered as her demeanor instantly shifted, "You can sleep in the bed and I'll get a sleeping bag."

"You most certainly will not," Chat said as he grabbed Marinette's wrist, "I'm not kicking a princess out of her own bed. I can sleep on the floor."

"The floor is hardly comfortable for you to sleep on."

"Which means you should still take the bed, and I can have the chaise."

"You could roll off and hurt your head. You're better off using my bed to sleep tonight."

Chat glanced over at the bed, and felt a thought enter his mind, since he knew that they were both stubborn enough to argue until morning, "What if we share the bed?"

At first Marinette began contemplating the idea, but then her face went as red as Ladybug's suit when she processed what Chat had just said. Chat echoed her actions once he processed his own words as well. It was obvious to both him and Marinette that he meant platonically sleeping together, but the phrasing was easy to misinterpret. Either way, it silenced them both for a few minutes, though neither could find the words to say. Eventually Marinette felt a pinch from her pocket, obviously Tikki kickstarting a conversation, and the bluenette broke the silence, "Uh sure. If you don't hog the blankets."

"Hehe, yeah," Chat replied with a slightly awkward chuckle, "Not much of a problem."