Hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? Don't worry, I haven't disappeared. Just got a bit of writer's block and wasn't sure where I wanted this story to go. I never made an outline on it, I had only started writing it for fun, but I reread it and realized how much I hate the way I wrote the first 3 chapters. Chapter 4, however, I love very very much. I might turn this thing into 3rd person instead of 1st- I prefer writing that way. I also created a (kind of) outline for this story, at least for the next few chapters, so the writing should be less messy! Promise :) I've gained a lot of inspiration in these past weeks, not only for this story, but I've had plenty of ideas for new stories I could write as well ;) This summer is gonna be one full of writing, that's for sure. Anyways, I won't bore you for any longer… here is the long awaited chapter 5 :)

"You can't ignore this forever, you know."

Marinette groaned and fell back on her bed. These past two days had been antagonizing - her mind whirring with thoughts of Chat Noir and their kiss and, most importantly, what kind of affect this would have on their partnership and their ability to work together.

And her thoughts definitely did not keep drifting to how soft Chat's lips felt against hers. Nope, not at all. Not in the slightest.

"I know I can't, Tikki. But I can't even keep my thoughts together at the moment. How am I even supposed to look him in the eye right now?"

Tikki gave her a knowing look. "Marinette, you know you have to talk to him soon. Very soon. Before Shadowmoth akumitizes his next victim and you're forced to see him in battle. Would you rather that be the case?"

Marinette sighed and shook her head. "No. Not at all. I need to talk to him before that happens, for sure. But god, it's not gonna be easy." She covered her face with her hands.

Tikki sat herself on Marinette's shoulder. "I know." She said gently. "But sometimes the most important things to do are the hardest."

"You're right. I can't let my emotions overtake my duties as Ladybug." Marinette muttered, but she still felt unsure. She didn't feel ready to talk about what happened with Chat just yet. She knew that the kiss meant a lot to both of them, even if it came as a surprise to her. She didn't want to be having any serious conversations until she was sure about what she wanted to say. And obviously, pacing her room like a maniac like she had been for the past couple days wasn't going to get her anywhere.

Marinette felt a grin begin to form on her face. There was only one person in the world who could talk her out of the worst fixes.

She clammored down the stairs off her bed and grabbed her phone off the desk almost frantically.

Marinette: I need you to get me out of this room. Immediately. I think I'm gonna go crazy if I don't figure out this situation, and fast.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief as she pressed send. Sometimes it felt like as long as she had Alya by her side, everything would be okay.

Her phone dinged almost immediately.

Alya: Meet me at the park in 30. And bring macaroons.

It was a beautiful September afternoon; the clear blue sky was stunning and a light breeze grazed Marinette's skin, signaling the beginning of fall. She relished in the thought that this was probably one of the last nice days of the year before the cold weather would abruptly take over. She was grateful for the outdoors; she probably should have tried going out instead of locking herself indoors.

Marinette was enjoying her stroll through the park, but abruptly stopped at the sight of her best friend in the grass a few feet away. Alya sat on a picnic blanket, smiling and waving at Marinette as she pulled finger sandwiches and bubble tea out of a picnic basket, and Marinette couldn't help the smile that grazed her lips. She definitely lucked out in the best friend department.

"Oh my God, Alya, you're amazing." Marinette said as she sat herself on the other side of the picnic blanket.

Alya smiled. "Anything for my amazing, but severely stressed out best friend." She handed her a thermos. "Thai boba tea?"

"You know me too well." Marinette said as she took the cup. "Where'd you get all these sandwiches anyways?"

"Leftovers from the hotel. Mom always takes home the stuff she thinks we'll like." Alya shrugged. "But enough small talk, Mari. I'm assuming the frantic text from earlier was regarding a certain black cat?"

Marinette sighed as she took a bite of her sandwich. "Yeah. I need to talk to him about the whole kiss situation soon. I've been avoiding him. You know, not showing up to patrols and such…" Her voice trailed off and Alya stared at her blankly.

"And what have you been doing instead?"

"Um... figuring out what I should say?"

Alya gave her a death glare. She knew better than that.

Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse and sat on her lap, at an angle where only Alya would be able to see her. "She has not been trying to figure out what to say." She exclaimed while shaking her head. "She's basically been having an existential crisis."

Marinette laughed. "That's a stretch, Tikki."

"Yeah, right. I definitely trust Tikki's judgement more than yours, Mari. Is that why you've basically disappeared these past couple days?" Alya said accusingly.

"Yeah."

Alya shook her head. "Marinette, you usually don't let things like this mess with you all that much. I mean, unless it's about Adrien or something, but-"

Alya stopped talking suddenly, and Marinette could practically see the wheels in her head turning.

"What?" Marinette asked frantically. "What's going on in there, Cesaire?"

Alya's gaze met Marinette's as a slight smirk played on her lips. "Have you ever considered that maybe you're reacting like this because you have feelings for Chat Noir?"

Marinette couldn't help the bubbling laughter that escaped her. "Feelings? For Chat? No way. Nooooo way. That might be the craziest thing I've ever heard, and I'm a superhero who fights villains turned evil by magic butterflies, for God's sake."

Alya raised a knowing eyebrow at her. "Whatever you say, girl." She singsonged. "But this just reminds me of about a million other conversations we've had in the past regarding a different blonde boy."

"Sure." Marinette scoffed while her best friend shook her head. But she knew that Alya was always the voice of reason, and she also knew, deep down, that Alya wasn't that far off.

Honestly, Marinette thought that Chat would come and see her the night after their almost death. She had even gone outside and waited for him for a few hours. He didn't know that she was Ladybug, of course, but she noticed that he seemed to drop by after particularly difficult akumas or when something else was troubling him. She often found herself wondering about his personal life; he must not have that many people he trusts around if he comes in superhero form to some random girl's balcony to talk about his problems.

Not that she would ever complain though. She liked the fact that she could comfort her kitty, and he wasn't bad company either.

Marinette stared at her history textbook blankly. It was Sunday, and of course she had left all of her homework for the evening, but it was hard to focus when Alya's words kept replaying in her mind over and over.

Feelings? For Chat Noir? It was a ridiculous thought.

But… then why did it not feel wrong?

Marinette shook her head. Let's not get crazy here. These crazy thoughts need to stop. She needed to be thinking about history.

Right. History. She and Chat had plenty of history. Three years worth of memories, two years of him coming to see her here. That is a lot of history.

Wrong history, Marinette! Her brain screamed at her, and she slumped in her chair.

She was fucked, wasn't she?

It was then that she heard three light taps on her trapdoor, and she felt herself shoot up immediately.

Chat was here.

Oh god oh god oh god oh god her mind seemed to scream at her as she climbed up the stairs to her bed before climbing up out of the trapdoor to her balcony.

Chat smiled immediately upon meeting her gaze. "Hey, princess." He walked over to take her hand and help her up, kissing it as he did so.

Marinette could practically feel her brain short circuit.

"Hi. It's been a while." She said, feeling suddenly out of breath.

"Yeah." He smiled. "Sorry about that. You know I like to visit my princess as much as I can. Who else could be her knight in shining armor?"

Marinette scoffed. "You're ridiculous." Before she had time to think, she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the railing.

"Sit with me?"

"Of course."

Marinette could feel his gaze burning into her skin as she sat down. She tried to ignore it, because she can't possibly be in love with him. It was crazy! Just some stupid thing Alya said-

"I was gonna come over here a few days ago." Her thoughts were interrupted by his words, barely a whisper. "But I think I needed to be alone for a while, you know?"

Marinette nodded. She knew he was referring to the kiss, but she couldn't say that. Not now.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. Just wanted some company."

He smiled at her so sweetly Marinette could feel her insides melting. She was beginning to lose her ability to think rationally.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, as the sun began to set in the distance. The auburn light made his golden hair glimmer and his eyes shine even brighter than they usually did. He really is beautiful, she thought.

"Got something on your mind, princess?" Chat had seemed to notice her gazing off.

"Um… yeah. I do." She said hesitantly. She was treading dangerous ground, she knew that, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"Talk to me." He placed a strong arm around her reassuringly and Marinette felt her heart skip a beat.

"Okay." She let out a shaky breath. "Have you ever felt like… you started to see someone differently? Someone who's so important to you. And… you feel scared to admit it to yourself, because it could change everything? And maybe if you ignore it, it'll go away. But… your heart isn't letting up?" Marinette wanted to curse herself for letting that out. She really wasn't thinking anymore.

Chat studied her. "I mean… in a good way? Or in a bad way?"

"A good way." She nodded reassuringly. She could feel his body heat, sitting right next to her, his arm held protectively around her waist now. When did he even move it there? Her mind was moving a million miles a minute.

Chat stayed silent for a few seconds. He was staring at her softly. "I guess… I'd have to hear more, princess. To know for sure."

Marinette shifted out of his grasp, to sit right in front of him. The sky was absolutely brilliant; hues of pink and golds and purples and blues and oranges, right out of a painting.

"Well… I don't know." She sighed, staring off into the view. The butterflies invading her stomach grew more persistent as each second passed. There he was, Chat, her partner, her friend. The most amazing person she's ever known, probably. Right in front of her, all this time.

Her gaze suddenly dropped to the floor. "I guess it's kind of like…"

She lifted her head to meet his gaze to see that he was already staring at her softly, with all the care in the world, like he was trying to soak up every little syllable she was saying. And maybe it was the brilliance of the sun setting behind them, or maybe it was the way his eyes pierced into hers in that moment, so perfectly, or maybe it was the way Marinette could feel her heart beating in her ears and her face flush red, or maybe it was all of that and more. But in that moment, all the sensibility that Marinette previously had gone, she grabbed the bell on his collar, pulled him down and kissed him.

The ferocity of the kiss surprised Marinette as she crashed her lips against his. He froze for a split second in shock, and Marinette's head screamed that this was such a bad idea, a terrible one, but she couldn't bring herself to care as he began to kiss her back with the same ferocity, the same passion. Her hands were tangled around his neck, then in his hair, and she could feel his arms pulling her up into his lap. She couldn't tell where each kiss ended and the next began but it didn't matter because she was kissing him and the rest of the world could float away and die in that moment and it wouldn't have mattered because Marinette was kissing him.

Marinette broke the kiss before she could get too carried away, and placed her forehead against his. She let herself stare into his gaze for a second, his eyes bewildered.

She tilted her head downwards, her breath grazing the side of his neck.

"I think it's something like that." She whispered into his ear before standing up and slipping back into her room.

Okay. I know I promised Ladynoir in this chapter, but I gave you guys a Marichat makeout instead. I hope you all can forgive me.

Also! I barely ever get any reviews. Don't be shy.

Yes, I changed things from the story, just a little bit. I needed some details to change for the story to make sense in the future. This is my first fic I've ever written, so bear with me :)

Love you all! See you for the next chapter :)