Marinette was sitting outside on her balcony, deep in thoughts. She knew she was supposed to be working on her designs, or homework, or sleep, or really anything other than standing outside while being gloomy and unproductive, but she couldn't help herself. Today's last event left a bitter taste in her mouth and bad memories in her mind. She truly hated Chat at the moment. Okay, that was a lie. She only hated how he made her feel when he kept sacrificing himself for her. Did it never occur to him how deeply it hurt her? How her insides clenched, bile threatening to come up when he was hit by an akuma just so he could protect her.

But why was she thinking about Chat? Why did Adrien make her think about Chat? It was insane but that was just how she felt even when she herself couldn't understand why one blond's actions made her think of another. It was just infuriating to the point she couldn't sleep or do anything really, constantly plagued by all the memories of her partner getting hurt. It has been hours now but these images had a firm hold on her mind, sticking to it like hot tar to your skin. Burning it, tainting it, suffocating it with no relief.

Her thoughts were only interrupted when her ears picked up on almost inaudible footsteps on the rooftop behind her followed by a soft thud on her balcony's wooden floor.

"What1s a fair princess like you doing outside in this fairly late hour?" Chat Noir's cheerful voice sounded from behind before he leaned on the railing beside her taking his usual place. It wasn't the first time he paid her a visit when he saw her outside in a quiet night like this. He routinely checked the neighborhood during his patrol night rarely missing a chance to interact with her if an opportunity was presented. It was just a little out of ordinary because it wasn't patrol night. Given that the two previous nights were spent with crime fighting and considering their busy schedules during this week both of the heroes agreed to take a break and resume patrols the following weekend the earliest. Patrols were more of like an extracurricular anyway. Public affairs were still mostly handled by the police they just thought their presence could reassure citizens and put some fear in criminals. It was also an excellent opportunity to work on their battle plans and skills when they weren't in a hurry to recharge or get back to their frequently interrupted daily lives. Not to mention they could spend some quality time together. It gave them a little solace when they couldn't spend time together with intact secret identities otherwise.

Any other night Marinette would have taken his playful advances with a warm smile and an open heart, but not today.

"Not now, Chat." She said curtly not even turning around.

Maybe if she wasn't tired or filled with those plaguing thoughts she would have noticed her partner's unusual reaction.

He winced feeling guilty, momentarily forgetting why he came in the first place. He did something that angered Marinette like nothing else he ever seen before. But he did it as Adrien so why was she angry with Chat Noir? He didn't even know what upset her so much from Adrien. That was the very reason he came, to find out so he had a chance to make it right. That meant he couldn't back down and had to push forward even when his initial plan - using his alter ego's charm to get answers - seemed to be experiencing more resistance than he anticipated.

"Ouch, Princess, what have this cat done to earn your harsh words?"

Marinette sighed. He wasn't the one who pissed her off but he was the one who pissed her off at the same time. Overwhelmed by frustration instead of an answer she grabbed onto her hair pulling it with a growl. Chat had to intervene.

"Careful Princess." He put his own hands on hers slowly entangling her fingers and lowering them to a safe distance from her scalp. "If you have to release the tension please use me and spare your poor hair roots. I'm well equipped to withstand even an akuma's wrath after all." He finished with a grin trying to ease the mood.

She said nothing and still avoided looking at him no matter how much he was searching for her gaze. She knew it wasn't his fault. Nothing at all was his fault. Even now when she was being rude to him despite him only showing concern for her he was nothing but kind to her. She felt like the worst.
After a long uncomfortable silence following his question his smile fell along with his cat ears. "If you want me to go I'll leave. I don't want to impose on you uninvited."

"Don't." Her voice was almost inaudible but she knew her partner well enough to know he could hear her.

Chat placed back his elbows on the railing, taking his earlier position beside her again and patiently waited for her to continue.

Marinette had a hard time putting her thoughts into words considering she couldn't really voice her real issue without revealing her identity. Even so she had to say something and after a few more attempts to form a believable explanation the next words rolled off her tongue.

"I have a close friend. I care about him a lot but he doesn't seem to care about his own safety much and it drives me crazy."

He hummed but didn't add anything prompting the girl to go on.

"It's not like I need him to protect me all the time! He just... acts like its his job to protect me!" Marinette's hands were back pulling on her hair, frustration evident on her face.

The boy listened carefully taking in everything she had to say then spent a few moments weighing his words before he spoke. "Do you feel like he thinks you are helpless?"

"No. I mean yes. I mean-" She started blabbering but then cut herself of with a sigh. "I don't know. It's probably part of it. I might be clumsy but I'm definitely not helpless."

"No, you're definitely not." Chat gave her a soft smile. "I'm sure your friend doesn't find you helpless either."

"Then why does he keep doing this?" Marinette cried out. The blond was a little taken aback by the agony in her voice. He didn't remember having this type of conflict as Adrien with Marinette so many times it should evoke a reaction like this. He did protect her - if you could call that - many times throughout the years, but she always seemed to be happy or at least neutral about it. It was really the first time she blew up on him for taking a hit for her. It only made him want to pry into her mind even more.

"Maybe he just has an urge to protect you. An instinct, second nature if you want to call it that."

The girl gave him a unconvinced side glance. "Why would he have something like that? It makes no sense."

"You told me he's a close friend." Chat supplied without missing a beat. Because this must be the reason right?

But Marinette's answer came just as fast and it surprised him. "He has plenty of other friends. I think some of them are even closer to him than me, but I'm the only one who is getting this overprotective treatment from him. It can't be our closeness so it must be that he thinks I'm less capable than the others."

The leather-clad hero's eyes went wide. Because while her reasoning sounded sound and logical he was the person she was talking about. He knew better than anyone his inner thoughts and he sure as hell didn't find Marinette incapable. Not even for a moment. Then why? Now that he thought about it his behavior really didn't make sense from her point of view, but what's more than that it didn't make sense from his point of view either. Why was he so protective of Marinette again? Sweet, kind, amazing Marinette wasn't helpless or weak the slightest. Then why? The only answer he could find in his heart was a loud, unapologetic and fierce instinct commanding him to protect her no matter what. He didn't think about it until now. It never needed an explanation. Protecting her seemed self-evident. It came to him naturally like breathing. He never questioned it, there was nothing to question about it. Or was it? After what she just told him he almost started to think it was in fact weird for a moment but that fleeting moment passed as the mere thought was pushed out of his very being by the voice within his soul saying 'no, it's not'. It wasn't weird. It just sounded weird.

The only other person he felt this way about was Ladybug. It was obvious why it was a must protecting her. She was the brain. The only one having the ability to purify the akuma and restore the city. She had to be kept out of harm's way to perform her duty without a hitch. Maybe he didn't know the reason in Marinette's case but his instinct couldn't lie and to be honest he didn't really need a reason. He was completely content with protecting her anytime it was even remotely needed. However, while all of this was good and enough for him it was certainly not the explanation - or the lack of it - she was waiting for so he had to come up with something to get her and his civilian self's relationship back on track.

"Maybe you're just special to him like that?"

For this Marinette let out a laugh that somehow felt like mocking to him. "Me being special? To him?" She let out a few more laughs before her partner's unhappy and somewhat stern look registered to her prompting her to stop. "For real, Chat. I'm his friend, but nothing more." At last a sardonic smile rested on her lips. "I wish I could be special to him to be honest, but if it meant he would throw himself in the way of danger for me then I would rather pass."

He looked at her in bewilderment. What was she even talking about?

That last statement had a lot to unload for him. First of, she thought she wasn't special to him and that on its own was a huge bull crap and to be honest, kind of insulting. Second, she seemed uncharacteristically annoyed by his protectiveness, something he still didn't get. Okay, it might be weird from her point of view - not his - but that still didn't explain why she had so much negative feelings towards it. Did she think he was dishonest in his attempts? Had some ulterior motive? He wanted to unpack both issue but had to pick one. Maybe if she believed she could be special to him it would solve the second problem as well.

"Why do you think you aren't special to him?"

"Why would I be?" She arched an eyebrow.

Chat was taken aback again. Should he really state the obvious? "You're wonderful, caring, smart, generous, kind, amazing, talented and the list goes on. I could tell you about all your amazing qualities but I believe you're way behind your sleeping schedule so let's save it for another night." He finished with a playful wink that earned him a small laugh and a genuine smile.

"Well, thank you, dear Chat Noir." The smile faltered a bit as she continued, however. "Let's say I believe you. Even if all those things were true they wouldn't necessarily make me special to him or anyone else. Those qualities can make you well-liked by your peers but not special. Being special is a deeper, much more personal connection than those character traits can provide."

This type of thinking started a new train of thoughts in him as well far from the previous one and before he could stop himself the words rolled off his tongue. "Is he special to you?"

He instantly regretted his question. That wasn't something he should pry about and based on her earlier statement he probably couldn't expect a positive response and frantically, he didn't want to hear it. He wanted to take back those words and was about to do so but her answer was too instant, not leaving him any opportunity.

"Yes." She smiled. She genuinely smiled that sweet, soft smile full of warmth that made his heart skip a beat. "Yes, he's special."

"...Why?" Chat couldn't help but ask. If the qualities that made everyone - especially his father - value him as a person weren't enough to make him special in Marinette's eyes than what could have earned him this mighty status?

"He showed me a side of him that was raw and vulnerable. It was real and genuine. I think it made me feel for him and he just became this special person I wanted to get to know and be closer to." That sweet, genuine smile remained on her face but with the last bit she added it became a tad sad. "Not like I really managed. Sometimes I thought we got closer then we drifted apart again just to the be put together by circumstances yet again when I was about to give up."

While the feeling was mutual - feeling the bitterness of getting close only to be pulled away - the thought never crossed his mind that Marinette felt it as well. Maybe it should have. Sometimes she came out of her stuttering only to fall back into the habit the next time they met. It was a weird tango they were continuing for years now. Then his mind laser-focused on the very last part. "Wait, why did you want to give up?"

She didn't meet his eyes. It looked like she was searching for an answer on the starry night sky far away from them. There was no trace of her smile left by now, only that somberness casting a dark shadow on her face. Oh, how much time she has spent talking to Tikki or Alya about not just her unrequited love but also all the missed opportunities of getting closer to Adrien. Apart from her romantic desires she really wanted to be part of his life. Things just never went her way until now but after many past experiences she was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Sometimes being close to him is hard. I think I'm finally over my nervousness around him as of recently but there are so many things that can impact our friendship. It's kind of complicated."

This made Chat sad. "Has he done anything to make it hard for you?"

The response was instant this time coming to the boy's defense. "No! He was absolutely nothing but kind and understanding to me ever since I know him!" She was flailing her arms around in her passionate attempt to defend him. Then something seemingly came to her mind and her eyes narrowed while she placed her hands back on the railing again gritting them just as passionately. "Well, until today."

Oh, they were back at topic the boy thought to himself. "So again, why does it anger you that he is so protective of you?" He wanted to be nonchalant about it but his ears perked up and his eyes were intently focused on her face not daring to miss even the smallest bit of her answer.

Marinette huffed crossing her arms now in front of her chest. "I told you, I don't need his protection, I'm fine without it so he should look out for himself instead."

"Was it so bad he wanted to protect you?" Just as he said this her eyes snapped at his face in irritation only to meet with big cat eyes peering down at her shining with so much curiosity she had to avert her gaze.

"I never asked him."

Her curt reply didn't satisfy him however.

"Maybe it's his instinct to protect you."

"Doubt that."

"Why? Maybe when he made it on your special list you made his too, meaning he sees you as special as well and wants to protect you."

That caused a momentary conflict in her but the resurfacing pent-up anger pushed her through. "Even if that's the case I don't care. He's special to me I should have the same right protecting him, he can't just monopolize it!"

"Maybe he thinks you're more important." He started to get annoyed with her as well.

"Maybe he should mind his own business then." She raised her voice this time, frustration evident.

"You're important to him! He wants to protect you! Why are you so stubborn?" Her mood was infectious because now Chat was getting more than frustrated with her antics, too.

"Why can't neither of you get it?! I'm not more important!" She snapped at him.

"Yes, you're important! You're the most important!" He snapped back at her.

"I don't want to be the important one for once in my life!" At this point she was shouting. Chat wanted to continue and get through her but he stopped instantly when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"Marinette..." He reached a tentative hand towards her, at loss of what to say, but before he could make contact she took a step back.

"You and him are the same. You both only think about how you feel disregarding your partner's emotional burden of seeing you get hurt or even worse." She was so quiet yet her voice was so clear. Her eyes were looking away from him but when she finally raised them to meet his gaze he was met with several emotions. Hurt, fear, guilt... He knew them well from the many times he looked into the mirror, boring his eyes into his reflection's after a fight with his father or an especially hard akuma attack where he came close losing his lady.

...but how did he come into the equation?

"Are you angry with me, Marinette? Did I upset you somehow?" He felt like the obvious answer was yes yet it didn't make sense from his point of view.

Marinette knew this as well. How could she tell him she was upset with him for constantly sacrificing himself to save her alter ago and also upset with Adrien because she could finally be the one protecting her partner - even if the two wasn't even close to comparable - but he took away from her even this little chance and made her the protected one yet again.

"No." A necessary lie she needed a great amount of willpower to say. "You should be more careful during akuma attack though. Ladybug must be worried sick."

"I'm always careful." Chat puffed out his chest with confidence.

"Yeah, right." Her voice was laced with sarcasm and she gave him a flat stare.

"For real!"

"Anyway..." She was too tired to continue with the subject so she thought it would be wise to get back to their original discussion. "I'm playing the role of Chat Noir, so I should be the one protecting him. It's even in the character."

Now that he thought about it she was right. As Chat she should be the one protecting civilian him. The revelation still didn't sit well with him.

"It's not necessary to stick to the role that much." He concluded.

She raised an eyebrow at his statement. "That's the whole point, Chat. We're supposed to be impersonating you. You can't fault me doing the best imitation when it's literally my job."

"I'm sure people would be more relaxed if you were kept out of harms way." He argued back.

"One, with Adrien having his own fan club I doubt I'm the public's priority out of the two of us, and two, I want to make people see Chat Noir when they look at me and for that being saved all the time wouldn't cut it." She finished with pointing straight at him poking on his chest. "And that means I have to do all the brave and bold and stupid things you do!"

"What?! You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can and you don't have any say in it. If you want to blame someone blame yourself for being the heroic role model you are."

She didn't expect for the conversation to go this way but getting to lecture her partner for his reckless behavior really improved her mood.

"Don't be ridiculous! A stupid play isn't worth risking your safety!" He couldn't believe her right now.

She rolled her eyes. "We're talking about high school gym level of dangers here. The worst it can get is a sprained ankle or a few bruises. Which one of us is ridiculous here?"

Chat Noir felt as a pressure was building up behind his eyes as he kept glaring at her. "Even if it's just some minor injuries you shouldn't even experience that."

"So Adrien should in my place?" Marinette thought he can't be real.

"Maybe." But he just dig further into the rabbit hole.

"How can you even say that?!" She growled at him.

"How can you not want to be protected?!" He lost his cool.

"Why does it matter to you and Adrien so much if I'm hurt?!"

"Because we're right to be worried about you when you have this little regard towards your own safety"

"That's rich coming from you and now what he thinks matters but not his safety?!"

"Why can't you just accept our kindness?!"

"Because you matter to me, can't you see it?!"

Their screaming match came to a halt with her last retort leaving them both huffing heavily with welled up tears in their eyes threatening to spill. So much pent-up stress, worry, self-blame and other emotions were flying around with no way of resolving the issue with secret identities in the way that both realized this wasn't leading them anywhere only making matters worse. They remained silent until their breathing and heartrates were back to normal but they never looked away from the other's eyes, fiercely holding each other's gaze.

They knew the other.

They knew neither of us would back down.

It was stupid really on both part. There was no way Marinette could convince Chat to be less prone to sacrifice himself - because that was what this was all about even when she couldn't say it - when it was his job to protect her as her partner, and he had no chance at persuading her to just accept being protected when it wasn't a big deal and wasn't working character-wise.

She wanted to say something along the lines of 'let's just stop here and agree to disagree' to make things less tense between them but before she got the change both her phone's and Chat's baton's akuma alert went off signaling that the city was, yet again, in disturbance.

The blond quickly checked the time on his staff, noticing it was almost midnight and let out a tired sigh.

"Get some sleep, Princess." He told her before vaulting himself to the next rooftop in the akuma's direction.

She herself clicked on her phone to check the time...

...and screamed.