A big thank you to my beta CalicoAndLace on AO3. Hope everyone enjoys!

Marinette bit back a smile at Chat as she sat on her chaise, watching as he fascinatedly poked at some of her leftover yarn. He batted at it with one hand, letting it get tangled in his claws before furiously tugging at it with the other.

She must have let out a giggle because Chat looked up sharply. Marinette had to quickly pretend as if her attention was on her work to not embarrass him into stopping. She loved seeing him happy and having the chance to goof off.

Sneaking one last quick peek at his adorableness, Marinette turned to sort out the papers on her desk. Her amused smile became fixed when she found a photograph of Adrien hidden beneath her papers.

Marinette thought she had gotten rid of all of these photos ages ago when she'd begun the long process of moving on from the blond model. It was an edited photo, with all the additional hearts to boot.

For a moment, Marinette let herself feel a pang for what could have been, as her memories of her daydreams flitted through her mind. Her friends had all thought of her as dramatic for describing moving on from Adrien to be as difficult as a breakup. What they didn't know was that she'd already lived a lifetime with him in her imagination.

That last thought made her snort. No wonder she was never able to make any progress with Adrien. The version of him in her mind would always take over in their interactions.

"Princess? What is it?" Chat Noir called, tilting his head to the side to indicate his curiosity. Marinette felt a wave of panic wash over her as she shoved the photo away, scrambling her papers to hide it from view.

"Oh, nothing!" She waved off, fighting to keep panic out of her voice. She didn't want Chat to find out about how intense her overwhelming feelings for Adrien had been. They were a relic of the past that were better off forgotten.

Chat was frowning but he didn't push her. Instead, he came up to sit on her lap and fold her into a hug. Marinette let out a sound of protest for the sake of her abandoned work, but she had leaned into his embrace and had a hand absentmindedly petting his hair.

"It's so soft," she murmured.

Chat Noir preened. "I take good care of my hair."

"It's better than my hair. I should be using whatever you use," Marinette said in awe as she played with his hair. One of her fingers got caught in a tangled lock, causing her to give it a tug. In response, Chat let out a whine, which sent a peculiar warmth to Marinette's stomach.

Impulse made her give his hair another tug, causing him to make that delicious sound yet again. Marinette could feel her throat go dry as she resumed her prior stroking. The third time she gave his hair that tug, he let out a growl along with the whine which made Marinette warm and tingly inside.

He pushed himself off of her, making Marinette blink up at him in surprise. Laying a hand on her cheek, he gently stroked it while forcing the lip that had found its way between her teeth free.

Marinette opened her mouth to call his name and at that exact moment, Chat descended upon her, taking advantage to slip his tongue inside her mouth. Marinette gasped as Chat only melded their mouths closer together, his other hand working to pull her pigtails free.

"Look so good," he gasped in between kisses, "with your hair down." Marinette made a mental note to wear her hair down for him more often when he gave a sharp tug on her hair. The moan she released in response was positively filthy, even to her own ears.

Chat gave her one last desperate kiss, before tearing himself away. He was panting just as hard as she was. Marinette didn't quite want to stop but she was well aware that if they didn't stop now, there was no stopping them at all. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that or if Chat was the person who she wanted to be with when she was. They weren't even dating yet!

She gave herself a tiny shake, realizing that she had used the word 'yet' to describe it. Almost as if she wanted to be dating Chat Noir.

"Well Princess, it has been a paw-leasure as always, but it's past this tom-cat's bedtime." He gave her a mock salute before climbing up to her balcony. He winked at her as he closed the hatch and Marinette could hear the thump indicating that Chat had vaulted away.

Just to be on the safe side, Marinette waited a few extra moments to be sure he was gone. Slowly, she pulled out the picture of Adrien as she walked over to her bed.

A part of her wanted to throw it away, just like she had thrown away all the others. Another part of her wanted to keep the picture as a relic of how old Marinette expressed her feelings. She laughed dryly remembering how tongue-tied and embarrassed she used to get.

She was still trying to make the decision when she felt a drop of water hit her shoulder. She glanced up to see that Chat Noir hadn't fully closed the trap door leading to the balcony. It must be raining, Marinette thought idly, and then her eyes widened.

"Tikki! The clothes!" Marinette called frantically as she pushed the trap door open. Marinette had been experimenting with painting logos on new shirts for Kitty Section and had left them outside to dry. If they got soaked with rain, they would be ruined!

Marinette gave a sigh of relief as she saw the clothes were still dry, safe thanks to the umbrella Marinette had set up. She had completely forgotten about the umbrella.

A sudden gust of wind had Tikki blowing backwards and Marinette leapt to catch her. "We'd better get out of the rain!" Marinette sighed in relief.

Tikki nodded, her eyes suddenly widening. "Marinette!" She pointed towards a piece of paper that was flying away. Marinette realized with a start that the paper was the picture of Adrien. She must have let go of it when she went to catch Tikki.

Marinette tried to reach out and catch it but the wind changed direction and the photo landed into a puddle on the ground. Even if she were to run out and get it, all the picture would be was a soggy mess.

"It's okay, it was for the best," She said out loud to Tikki, trying to convince herself of the same. This was the catalyst she needed, to move on from Adrien completely. She owed it to herself anyways, so she could give Chat Noir the chance he deserved. The time they spent together may just be mutual comfort at the moment, but if this evening had proven anything, it was that they definitely had potential for more.

Once upon a time she had fallen in love in the rain. It was fitting that the rain was what helped her fall out of it.