Chapter 2: Cat and Mouse.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, except the plot. The show and the characters belong to Jeremy Zag, Thomas Astruc and Nathanaël Bronn.

Adrien glared at Plagg. This was the third time he had gobbled up the entire mini fridge filled with camembert.

"Plagg!" Adrien said. "This was for emergencies. Your snack pile is on the bedside table!"

Plagg huffed. "But I finished those. Why do you think I raided the fridge?"

"Already?! But I just refilled it! God, Plagg! Why do you eat so much of it?"

"It's a survival instinct."

"You call eating stinky cheese a 'survival instinct'?"

"Don't talk about my beloved camembert that way. She's more than just cheese. She's the love of my life. She's my—"

Adrien rolled his eyes so hard he thought they would get stuck on the top of his head. "I need to find a better hiding spot for this."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Although, I would like to see where you'd manage to hide an entire mini fridge."

Adrien glared at the kwami. I bet Ladybug doesn't have to deal with an annoying, cheese-obsessed furball. "Come on. We have patrol tonight. And since you ate up all this stinky stuff, you won't get any once I transform back."

Plagg's eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, yes I am."

"Can't you just sneak into the kitchen and get some more?"

"Nope. Not in the mood for all that hassle."

"But I can't live without it!" Plagg wailed. "I'll—I'll die. Or worse, I'll—"

"Claws out."

Plagg screeched as he was sucked into the ring and Adrien had to stifle a laugh. As annoying as his kwami was, Adrien was really grateful to have him, and even he knew he would be sneaking into that kitchen later tonight.

Adrien opened his window and jumped off into another night of patrol. Another night of freedom.

Adrien loved being Chat Noir. Being Chat Noir gave him the sort of thrill and freedom he never had in his civilian life. Aside from school, photoshoots or other public events his father organized, Adrien never really left the house. He wasn't allowed to. He wasn't allowed to leave the house without his bodyguard—or his father's consent. He wasn't allowed to plan his day. He wasn't allowed to hang out with friends or invite them over—unless it was for schoolwork. He wasn't allowed to be late or messy or anything short of perfect. He wasn't allowed to disappoint.

But Chat was.

Chat was allowed to do all the things Adrien wasn't. Chat could run around rooftops, or be late, or be messy. Chat was allowed to do anything he wanted as long as it wasn't harming anyone. And no one would question it. No one would bat an eyelash or point a finger.

And he loved it. He loved every second of it. Plus, he also got to meet Ladybug. That always lifted his spirits up. He adored her friendship, even if it wasn't the type of relationship he wanted with her. His Lady liked someone else. And that was okay. That didn't mean he got over her though.

His life as Adrien wasn't really restricted until his mother disappeared five years ago. He was different then. His father was different. His life was different. Adrien still missed her.

He leaped across the rooftops, eyes wide for anything that was happening that shouldn't be happening. Theft, assault—or an akuma.

After he deemed the city safe—for now—he started to take the long route back to his house; he didn't want to reach too soon.

As he turned the corner, his eyes caught sight of a lone figure on a rooftop. He froze. Wasn't it his turn to patrol tonight? What was Ladybug doing up on that rooftop? He started to vault towards said rooftop when he realized that it in fact wasn't his Lady, but—

Multimouse?

He stopped a good two rooftops away and observed. She seemed to be looking out at the city with a sad expression. Sad. She was sad. He didn't think the expression suited her much at all.

For as long as he knew Marinette, she was always happy and bubbly. He'd seen her angry, and disappointed at some occasions, but he never typically saw the expression she had on her face now. A heartbroken one.

He wanted to wipe it off.

He wracked his brain for anything that could make her so unhappy but came out blank. He vaguely remembered her running away from school this afternoon, but his bodyguard had shown up before he could dig deeper into it.

She stood up and swung away from the rooftop. He stood stunned for a moment before taking off after her. A voice in his head—that sounded suspiciously like Plagg—warned him that this was borderline stalking. But he needed to make sure his friend was okay. He doubted she would open up to a superhero, but he was more likely to get something out of her as Chat Noir than as Adrien. He thought Adrien still intimidated her. That would certainly explain why she would stutter every time she saw him.

She landed on her balcony and de-transformed. She took out a piece of chocolate and fed the little mouse kwami.

"You know, you really shouldn't transform in the open like that" Adrien said.

Marinette jumped about two feet in the air and spun around to face him. He watched in amusement as her face changed from fear to relief to irritation in a matter of seconds. "Chat Noir! You scared the hell out of me!"

"I can tell." He smirked.

She glared daggers at him, but he only gave her a huge grin. "Did Ladybug give you the miraculous again?"

She looked like a deer caught in headlights. "U-Um...yeah. I needed it to clear my mind. Can I help you with something?"

"Well, I noticed the Princess out on a rooftop, but before I could talk to her, she vaulted away. So, I, naturally, followed her to keep her company."

He watched as a smirk spread across her face. "Didn't peg you as a stalker."

"Meow-ch. You're cruel. Absolutely cruel."

"I try."

Adrien grinned. He loved it when she would talk to him confidently. The most he could get out her as Adrien were a few incoherent stutters. The grin left his face though, as he remembered her expression on the rooftop. "Are you okay?" He asked softly. "You looked really disturbed on the rooftop."

"It's nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing. It could help if you talk about it. It's okay if you don't want to though."

Marinette seemed to be having an internal debate. She sighed at last and wrapped her arms around herself. "The boy I like likes someone else."

Oh. Oh. He knew what that felt like. He knew only too well.

"I've liked him for over a year now," she continued, "and it sucks."

"Yeah, it really does, doesn't it?"

He watched Marinette freeze up, although he didn't know why. "Ladybug?" She asked.

''Yup." He replied sadly.

"Did—Did you ever get over her?"

"No. I think I just learned to accept that she likes someone else, I try to be less forward with her because of it. But it still hurts though."

"I'm sorry."

He chucked sadly. "It's not your fault."

She grumbled something under her breath. He didn't ask her to repeat herself though. He paused for a long moment. "Have you talked to him? Told him you liked him?"

"No. I never get the courage. I've tried—many times. But either I back out at the last minute, or something goes wrong. Always."

"We've both got rotten luck, huh?"

She smiled cheerlessly. "Yeah, we do."

"So…what now?" At her confused expression, he added, "you said he likes someone else. Are you going to try to tell him you like him again?"

She sighed. "No. I think I'll try to move on. It's not going to be easy, but I think that's better for the both of us. He seems happy. I don't want to spring this on him."

Adrien looked at her in awe. She always put others before herself. And she always tried to make people around her happy, even if it broke her own heart in doing so. He wondered who the idiot was, who couldn't see that he had such an amazing girl willing to love him. Maybe he could smack some sense into said idiot. He admired her will too. It wasn't easy to move on from someone you liked for over a year. And it would only become harder every time she saw him. He still couldn't do it. "That's really thoughtful of you."

"It still sucks though."

"Hey," he smiled comfortingly, wanting to put a smile on her face, "I may not be that experienced in the love department, but I know that people could move on if they tried. And frankly speaking, if he doesn't notice you for the amazing girl you are, then he really doesn't deserve you."

"'Amazing' is a bit of a stretch, but I'll take it. Thank you, Chat Noir."

"I'm not joking Marinette, you're a really cool girl. You always bring out the best in everyone. If he doesn't see it, then it's his loss."

Marinette looked at him and smiled. Genuinely this time. "Thank you, kitty."

Adrien grinned playfully. "Want me to go beat him up?"

She laughed. "No. Absolutely not. I don't want the headlines for tomorrow to read 'Chat Noir arrested for attempted murder.'"

"Bold of you to assume I'd be tacky enough to get caught."

"Yes. You're tacky. You're really tacky."

He spluttered indignantly. "Hey! I'm a superhero. I'm extremely smooth, thank you very much."

She smirked a smirk that could put the devils to shame. "Says the guy who slipped off a rooftop and then tried—and failed miserably—to play it cool in front of Ladybug."

He felt his cheeks heat up. "You saw that?!"

"It was on the Ladyblog."

He huffed. "Whatever. I'm smoother than you!"

"I think Multimouse is a better superhero." She said, but he could tell she was joking.

His cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much. "I beg to differ. Cats are always better than mice."

"Cats are lazy."

"Mice are annoying."

"Hey!"

He laughed out loud at the annoyed expression on her face. She tried to keep said annoyed expression, but she eventually caved in and smiled. It was nice to see that smile back on her face. Looks like my job here is done.

He didn't want to leave, but his absence would definitely be noticed when Natalie came to check on him. "Well Princess, it was nice Chat-ting with you. But I need to get going. I hope you're feeling better."

"I am. Thank you Chat, really."

"No purr-oblem Princess."

He hopped onto the railing of her balcony, ready to vault away.

"And Chat,"

"Yes?"

"You're an amazing guy too."

He smiled at her before a smirk spread across his face. "Why thank you. You could say I'm cat-astrophic."

The smile left her face, though her eyes still glinted playfully. "Get out of my sight."

He laughed as he leaped away.

"I knew you'd sneak into that kitchen." Plagg said, munching on a piece of camembert.

"Yes," Adrien smiled. "I snuck in to get the stinky thing. You're welcome."

Plagg rolled his eyes. His Chosen didn't understand the importance of the gooey delightfulness. Stupid humans. "So…Ladybug finally seems to have gained competition." Not really, seeing as she is Ladybug. But this doofus doesn't know that.

"What?"

Plagg rolled his eyes. Again. "The bakery girl. You seemed to click with her really nicely."

Adrien sighed. "I've said it before, I'll say it again. Marinette is just a friend. I was only trying to cheer her up."

"Whatever you say kid."

Plagg snorted inwardly. Just a friend, yeah right. Bet you wouldn't be saying that if she suddenly showed up in a red suit one day.

Hello readers! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. A huge thank you to all those who took the time to review, favorite and follow, you guys are the best. Do let me know what you think of this chapter. Have a wonderful week. Until next time!