In which Ladybug needs to think things through better and Chat Noir experiences a rollercoaster of emotions.

…..

From what she could tell, the akuma victim was a construction worker, more specifically, a demolition worker, which would explain the dynamite he was throwing at buildings. She didn't know what had brought him to the point of akumazation, but she rarely ever learned their story until after they were healed. He also had a large cigar between his lips, which was releasing an alarming amount of smoke into the air which only added to the scene of destroyed buildings.

She and Chat Noir trailed him from the rooftops, waiting for an opening to make their move.

"I'm thinking the akuma is in that cigar." She informed him quietly, despite the fact that they were at a great enough distance that the man in question couldn't hear them. She hadn't really needed to say it, they'd been doing this long enough that they both were in sync and could get the job done with literally no words. But she said it anyway, not only to remind herself that they were in fact on a mission, but also to try and break some of the tension by bringing up their goal.

There was a time and place for everything, and when they were on the tail of an akuma that was blowing up buildings, it was certainly neither the time nor place for them to be distracted by sexual tension.

They both felt it, and they both knew that the other felt it too. When they looked at each other, when they accidentally (or not so accidentally) brushed against one another, Ladybug decided that the sooner they defeated this villain, the sooner she could fully turn her attention to her leather-clad partner. Whereas she was trying to inconspicuously steal glances at him, he was openly watching her. Knowing she had his attention made her want to take advantage of that, and she grew frustrated because they were still on a mission, after all.

She decided to ignore him, to the best of her ability, and focus solely on freeing and purifying the akuma.

She leapt and landed on the pavement below, Chat at her heels. Ladybug wasn't nearly as concerned about all the destruction as perhaps she should've been. She knew that she could fix it with her Lucky Charm. The thick smoke in the air was becoming a much bigger concern, as it stung her eyes and throat and she had to will herself not to cough and give them away. Chat seemed to be having a similar problem as he swatted at the air with his hands as if he were shooing a fly in an attempt to create a small head space of breathable air.

The streets seemed to be more or less abandoned at this point, save for themselves and the akuma victim, all the civilians having fled by now. The akuma victim's main goal was still a mystery, he seemed to be blowing up buildings randomly. He was shouting as he did so, but the explosions were so loud that they couldn't make out what he was saying.

She stopped when the akuma stopped, he took a long drag on his cigar and looked like he was going to turn towards them, she prepared to take cover. Her abrupt halt caused Chat to bump into her, nearly knocking her over. She quickly steadied herself and swatted her hand back to smack his thigh. "Watch it!" She whispered.

"Sorry!" He whispered back, though there was a hint of mirth in his voice, and placed a hand on her hip to give himself an idea of how close they were. "I can't see anything." He was standing directly behind her, if she had leaned back even just a tad, she would've been pressed against his chest. "Any ideas, Bugaboo?"

Her lips twitched up in a brief smile upon hearing the nickname, but she didn't allow herself to dwell on it. The reason she had leapt when she had was mainly to get away from Chat for a second and she thought that putting herself right in the soon to be battlefield would help her ignore the tension between them and would force her to engage the villain without being distracted. In hindsight, she should've waited. They should've got closer before leaving the rooftops. Not only to wait for a more opportune time to strike, but also because the smoke was much thicker down in the streets than up on the roof.

"Well, sneaking up like this isn't going to work." She thought out loud, as she usually did when working out a plan. "You go that way, I'll go this way. If I could distract him, and if you could manage to get one good hit to the face, you could knock that cigar out of his mouth."

Chat still stood behind her, but she could hear the cheeky grin when he spoke. "For once, I'm not the distraction? You must be starting to like me." The hand that was already on her hip gave a sudden squeeze and she felt his breath against her ear as he spoke, also briefly feeling his chest on her back.

The contact, though simple, sent a shiver up her spine and she took a step away before he could notice. "Just don't fuck it up, or I'm demoting you again." She chanced a look over her shoulder at him. "I'll see what I can do about this smoke too. Give me a signal when you're ready."

"Aye aye, Captain!" He gave her a two finger salute and they both took off in opposite directions.

As he prowled, looking for a spot where he could get close to his target and then hide without being seen, Chat mentally scolded himself. Aye aye, captain? Seriously? Could he honestly think of nothing else? He had an endless arsenal of jokes and puns, but that's what rolled off his tongue?

God, Ladybug always managed to get a reaction out of him, but since when did he get so nervous in the middle of a fight? He was usually pretty good at knowing when it was time to flirt and knowing when it was time to get down to business. Despite what Ladybug might claim, he knew there was a time and place, and he usually knew when it was not a good time.

The sexual tension in the air was thick enough to rival the smoke around them. He couldn't keep his eyes off her, and he was having a devil of a time keeping his hands to himself. It had never been like this before. Usually, the atmosphere around them was playful, sometimes warm and tender, other times it was just friendly, but it had never been like this.

He felt it, and he knew that she felt it too.

And he planned on addressing it, as soon as they were done with this akuma victim.

He used that as motivation to focus on his primary goal, because the sooner this was done, the sooner he could give his Lady all of his attention.

Ladybug was pretty confident that she could remain more or less in the open and it wouldn't matter, the smoke was a thick enough cover for her. She ducked behind a car, just to feel like she was somewhat concealed, and waited. They didn't specify what the signal would be, but she knew that she'd recognize it when she saw it.

Soon enough, she heard three taps, quiet enough that they weren't too alarming, but loud enough that they echoed through the smoke filled street and it was impossible to determine which direction they had come from. The akuma victim noticed this as well, and his head whipped around towards her, though she was sure he still couldn't see her.

"What's that?!" He shouted angrily. "Show yourself!"

She stepped out in the open street. She drew her yoyo and proceeded to swing it around over her head, hoping to create a sort of wind vortex that would clear some of the smoke. "You know, all this smoke is bad for the air-"

She didn't expect to be violently side-swiped. The akuma victim, she thought she heard him proclaim himself as 'The Demolitioner', had charged and tackled her, still under the cover of smoke. She had managed to clear a decent size amount of smoke in the short time she had been trying, but it wasn't enough and she hadn't anticipated his movement to be so fast. It took not a moment longer for the smoke to once again flood the air around them.

She bounced painfully against the pavement, the weight of the man on top of her doing her no favors. She could barely see anything, but by some stroke of luck, she caught his wrists in her hands as he attempted to grab at her face, no doubt after her earrings.

They struggled against each other, the cigar firmly between his bared teeth, when suddenly he was thrown off of her. She scrambled to her feet and looked around her, still unable to see anything. A hand pressed against her lower back and she spun around with the intention of attacking, but stilled when she met eyes with her partner, whose hand remained on her hip.

"You okay?" There was an edge to his voice that was not there before.

She wanted to retort back with something, but the possessive look in his eyes quieted her thoughts in an instant. So she settled for, "I'm okay."

"Good." His mouth curled upwards into a smirk before he looked away from her, trying to locate the man amongst the smoke.

In an effort to hide how flustered she'd suddenly become, she did the same, but found that she still could see nothing. She could, however, hear footsteps, but determining their direction was damn near impossible. "Well, that was a bust."

She heard him chuckle behind her. "Not the distraction I was expecting, but hey, now you see it's not as easy as it looks."

She scoffed. "I guess we finally found something that you're better at than me."

She heard him let out a breath that wasn't quite a laugh, but sounded like it was trying to be one. "If it's any consolation..." He took a step backward until she felt their backs brush against one another. When he spoke again, he's voice was much lower. "I think you are very distracting..."

There it was. The spark in the air. The electricity in the atmosphere. The tension between them. And he acknowledged it. There was a fire that was lit in her chest, and it had nothing to do with the smoke in her lungs. A chill ran up her spine and she feared he could feel it, there backs so close together. She'd been scolding herself for feeling this way in the middle of a fight, and had vowed to ignore it until the job was done, and he just went and spoke it into existence. And part of her was glad. Because now it was out there. Speaking of it made it real.

She leaned back, pressing her shoulders against his, and turned her head to speak lowly against the side of his neck. "Down, boy..."

He let out a growl and she felt his hand reach back to grip her thigh.

This shouldn't be happening. They had a job to do. Despite the fact that his hold on her leg sent a pleasant shock through her body, she also became painfully aware that this was neither the time, nor the place. As if to confirm her thoughts, she suddenly heard the footsteps stop, and then restart with added speed and she knew they were being charged.

"Get down!"

She turned around and tackled him, they rolled a bit, and she then proceeded to swing her yoyo over her head as she had done before in an effort to clear the smoke again. The resulting wind cleared just enough large of an area that she was able to spot the akuma victim straight ahead of her. He brought the string of a stick of dynamite up to the lit end of his cigar and shouted something unintelligible before rearing back and throwing it at them. Ladybug panicked, not quite aware of her surroundings, her focus zoned in on the dynamite hurdling towards them. The string looked long enough. She'd have one shot and if she messed up, it would cost her an arm, or maybe even her life.

Where was Chat? Eyes still on the dynamite, she reached a hand down and felt something warm beneath her. Good, he was accounted for.

The world around her became blurry as she blocked out everything except the dynamite. She prayed that she was lucky enough that this would work.

She caught the stick in her hand, ignoring the shouts beneath her, and then threw it back towards the akuma as hard as she could.

"Watch out!" She curled her body downward, throwing her arms over her's and Chat's head as she buried her face in his shoulder, in her best effort to shield both their faces. She felt him go rigid, and then quickly, he threw his arms around her waist to pull her tighter against him.

The dynamite exploded and she thanked whatever powers at work that they were out of range of said explosion. They both tensed up in each other's arms, she heard him release a slight whimper, as they waited for the dust to settle. Ladybug was the first to move, as she was still in hero-mode and had not yet registered the position they were in.

She sat up, placing her hands on the ground and pushing herself up. She observed the scene before her and couldn't help but smile. The dynamite hadn't hit the akuma victim, but had landed (she assumed) close enough to him that he was caught in the blast without it seriously hurting him. What's more, the cigar lay a few steps in front of her on the ground.

She was lucky, but that was insanely lucky. She hadn't even used her lucky charm.

She had to, though, to fix all the damage caused by the akuma victim, and she knew she should probably do so quickly, as he was starting to collect himself.

She looked down at last and was finally hit in the face by her current position. She was straddling her partner. Her clearly flustered, red faced, sprawled out partner. Her partner who still had his hands on her waist. Her partner who was looking up at her with such a nervous look in his wide eyes, lips parted, his chest heaving, golden hair fanned out on the pavement.

She knew she didn't really have time to spare, but she couldn't help herself.

A playful smirk made it's way to her lips. "You look amazing like that."

A glint of excitement shown in his eyes and he spoke, voice breathless and desperate. "Like what?"

She made no attempt to hide the fact that she was looking him over, and the color on his face grew three shades darker. Her voice was sultry and low and like music to his ears. "So vulnerable..." She looked away, almost shy. "... under neath me."

He was done for. He couldn't take it. Had she really just...? He flirted often, sometimes straying into suggestive territory, but he even flustered himself by making such comments. To have Ladybug be the one to say something like that, so shamelessly... he was going to burst. He hadn't a clue how he was supposed to respond, so true to Chat Noir fashion, he put on an over exaggerated display.

"Ohhh, my Lady..." He threw his head back, arched his back to puff his chest out, and opened his arms wide and tried to make his expression as submissive looking as he could. "Take me!"

Knowing she had mere seconds until her confidence was replaced with shyness, as well as no time to spare before the akuma was on his feet again, she quickly swooped down. Chat tensed up, clearly not expecting her to actually follow through. She pressed her lips to his cheek. A tingle of warmth flooded her chest at the familiar action, and hearing the helpless gasp slip passed Chat's lips made warmth flood other parts of her as well.

And acting as if she had absolutely no self control, which she was sure she'd get a scolding for later, she nipped at his jaw, causing an actual moan to escape him.

The sound went straight down to the pit of her stomach, causing a sudden rush of moisture to pool between her thighs, and she knew she wanted to hear him make that sound again. But she also knew she had already pushed it too far. Before he could react properly, as well as before she lost her nerve, she rose up again and launched herself forward and snatched the cigar off the ground. The akuma victim was already barreling towards her through the smoke and she mentally scolded herself for allowing herself to become so distracted in the middle of the fight. She torn the cigar into pieces without a moments hesitation.

The black butterfly fluttered out of it, which she wasted no time in capturing and releasing. She watched the akuma victim slow his assault, drop to his knees and become engulfed in a black smoke, which subsided and left a confused looking man in it's wake.

Shoot. She'd forgotten one very important thing. She threw her yoyo into the air and summoned her Lucky Charm. A tube of lip balm fell down into her open hand.

She couldn't hold back the snicker. She knew that whatever it would be, it wouldn't have to aid in her fight, as the fight was already over. She simply needed to throw the charm to fix all the damage caused by said fight. She eyed her yoyo with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow, as if the object itself was responsible. She replaced the yoyo on her hip, popped open the lip balm and ran it over her lips innocently. Her vision had gone black and white, as it always did when she summoned her charm, and she was very curious as to what would light up in her Lucky Vision.

She looked over at her partner, who had pulled himself up and was standing awkwardly a few steps away, stealing glances at her but avoiding making eye contact. His cheeks still burned from their little exchange. When he noticed what she was doing, he finally met her eyes and seemed to shake off whatever nervousness that had plagued him.

"A sign, purrrhaps?" He said with a smirk and took a step towards her.

She hummed in response and rubbed her lips together before puckering them out with a popping sound. In her eyes, his lips had gone red with black spots for a moment before color returned to her vision. She offered him the tube. "Some?"

He took it without a word, eyed it carefully with an unreadable expression, and brought it to his lips as well, clearly trying to seem as casual as possible. His cheeks tinted pink ever so slightly as he did so, and she knew exactly why, but she pretended to not be paying attention as she surveyed the surrounding area. The now freed akuma victim was still trying to gather his barrings, and she planned to check on him the instant she fixed all the destruction he'd unwillingly caused.

She heard Chat make a popping sound with his lips, as she had done. He handed the tube back to her and she threw it in the air, watching as swarms of glowing ladybugs cleared the smoke and restored all the buildings.

Her countdown had already started, her earrings already beeped once, but she ignored it. She wanted to test her lucky mask theory.

After making sure the victim was alright and learning his story (apparently he was in fact a demolition worker who had gotten into a disagreement with his superiors when they wanted to destroy a building that meant alot to him, as it used to be a homeless shelter where he volunteered), Ladybug and Chat Noir stayed only long enough so that they could confirm with the police that he had been akumatized and as such, was not to be held responsible for the now fixed damage. Poor man clearly felt terrible and the first thing he did was ask if anyone had been hurt.

They slipped away from the scene, avoiding the reporters and growing crowd of on-lookers. They landed on a nearby rooftop, and as soon as her feet hit the hard surface, something akin to a panic set in. Not quite a panic, but an intense feeling of anticipation and also a realization that this was the moment that she'd been waiting for, and now that it was here, she found herself incredibly nervous. She'd said some things in the heat of the moment, things that she didn't really have to answer for at the time. She'd never been quite that bold, and she'd certainly never made comments that alluded to anything suggestive before.

And what's more, at the time, she didn't consider the fact that she'd have to face him again, outside the heat of the battlefield, knowing that she had said such things.

As an awkward silence set in, her earrings beeped again. It sounded very loud compared to the silence between them. Again, she ignored it.

Chat was the first to crack under the tension. "Well... that was interesting..."

She didn't know if he was trying to hint at something specific, or if he was simply trying to start up a conversation and break the silence. They hadn't quite made eye contact yet. She responded just as vaguely. "Yeah?"

"Yeah..." She looked up met his eyes. She saw something in them. Fear? Anxiety? A look that told her that he had alot he wanted to say, but was afraid to say it. She knew him well enough to know when he was holding his tongue (as he so rarely did).

She looked away, out towards the city which was beginning to light up as the sun began to dip below the horizon. He watched her as she brought the tips of her fingers together and then pressed her hands until her fingers bent back and her knuckles cracked. She then went around and cracked each individual knuckle of her first joint, and then the second. She then brought her hands apart and rolled her wrists, and he heard them crack as well. After that, she interlaced her fingers together and stretched her arms over her head, leaning back and arching her torso in a full stretch.

What a very specific way for a person to crack their knuckles, he pondered. He felt like he'd seen someone else do that very same thing.

She was started to understand what it was that she was feeling. It wasn't Chat Noir that was making her nervous. No, she was well past that. It was the fact that she'd been waiting for an opportunity to like this, and here it was. But now that she stared it in the face, it felt so much more intimidating than she anticipated. But time was not on her side, her window of opportunity was getting smaller and smaller, which did not help her anxiety. She was killing time on purpose, hoping the answer would become clearer if she just gave it a moment more.

She had to make a decision, and she had to make it fast. Either buck up, and do what she intended to do, or run.

"Chaton..." She heard the edge in her own voice and it only added to the pressure she felt.

He heard it too.

He knew her well enough to know when she had something to say, but wasn't saying it. She often bit back her words, usually wanting to scold him for flirting or something of the like, but this was different. He saw the look in her eyes. She was on the brink of panic and he couldn't understand why.

He felt his heart drop. Was she upset over what they had said to each other? Was she angry? Was she just now fully realizing what had happened, and was regretting it? He understood, sometimes comments like that could just slip out, he had been guilty of that before. There were plenty of times that he'd say something and it wouldn't really sink in until later. But...

Wait. How many times had her miraculous beeped?

"Milady...?"

He watched as she squeezed her eyes shut, inhaled deeply, breathed out, and then opened her eyes again. "Teasing and joking aside..." His chest tightened in anticipation. "There is something..." She trailed off.

Oh God. How was she supposed to do this?

She looked to him, and nearly jumped back at how close he had gotten. He stood mere inched from her face with a hungry look in his eyes. Not a lustful look, like she'd half expected, but a truly desperate look. She sensed a sort of buzzing energy radiating off his body, like it was everything he could do to keep still. When he spoke, his voice was hopeful, and barely above a whisper.

"There's something...?"

The beeping of her earrings sent a jolt through her. She was out of time. It was now or never.

An impromptu idea came to her. She needed him to look away for only a moment. Unfortunately, he showed no sign of doing that on his own. He watched her expectantly, desperation dripping off of him, especially in the way his eyebrows were beginning to knit together under his mask.

She panicked.

"L-Look at that," she stuttered and pointed to a random spot behind him.

His expression steeled and whatever excitement he had over what she might've said instantly vanished, replaced by a cold, sinking feeling. She was going to run away as soon as he turned his back, he knew it. And while he usually just accepted whatever rejection he received, he couldn't handle all this unspoken tension between them, especially after what had just happened during their fight, and especially after he'd spent the last week pondering if maybe there could finally be something more between them. They needed to talk about this. He didn't know if he'd survive another week like this.

"Ladybug-"

"Please."

He stopped. Maybe it was the fact that Ladybug was always so confident, but the sudden look of pure terror in her eyes sent a white-hot iron rod right into his heart and he wanted nothing more than to promise her anything she wanted if it could ease that fear away. He didn't know why, but he wouldn't question it. His Lady never asked him for anything, she certainly never begged for anything. If she really wanted him to turn away so she could escape, he'd do it. For her, anything.

He closed his eyes and let out a defeated sigh. He felt his whole body deflate, as if gravity had gotten stronger for him alone. His head, shoulders, even his synthetic ears and tail, dropped down in submission as he slowly turned on his heel and took a step away from her, knowing she'd no longer be there when he turned back.

He stared out into the city, focusing on nothing. He knew damn well she hadn't pointed at anything specific. He felt a twinge of anger boil up in his chest.

A twinge that he quickly smothered back down.

He was frustrated, and that was fine, he allowed himself to be frustrated. But he really shouldn't be angry. Everything aside, he knew she had precious few moments until her transformation wore off and he knew how much keeping her identity a secret meant to her. He supposed he should take this as a hint that she hadn't changed her mind about that, even after all this time. He had no right to be angry over that. He would respect her wishes.

He was no doubt alone at this point. Ladybug had probably fled already, leaving him to his own devices. He hated being alone, especially when he had so much he wanted to say and no one to listen. Knowing he'd been abandoned by his Lady just made him feel even lonelier. He had to talk to someone about this, he needed a friend to lean on right now. He wondered if Marinette was home yet...

His heart nearly stopped when two red-clad arms wrapped around his waist and he felt a hot face nuzzling against the back of his neck as well as a warm body being pressed against him. And not a moment later, he watched as a pink energy pulsed over the two red-clad arms, leaving white sleeves and bare hands in it's wake.

Not only had Ladybug stayed...

She just detransformed... right behind him.

"Don't freak out." Her voice broke, barely above a whisper, as if her unmasked voice would give her away. She clung to him harder as she spoke. He felt her breath tickle the hair on the back of his neck and he couldn't resist the shiver that went up his spine. It happened again when she continued. "Please don't freak out."

He swallowed hard. "T-that's... That's a tall order, My L-Lady." His voice came out strained and mechanical sounding as he did his best to keep his composer.

She tensed against him, which sent another chill through him. "What is?"

He forced himself to breath, releasing one he didn't realize he was holding. "Y-you can't just drop this on me, and expect me not to react..."

When she spoke, her voice was alittle more relaxed. "I didn't ask you not to react, I asked you not to freak out."

"Same thing!"

"No it's not."

"Why?"

She huffed. "You can react without freaking out-"

"No." His voice was serious all of the sudden. "That's not what I meant..."

He stood still as a statue and secretly reveled in the feeling of his Lady's body pressed against him. The sinking feeling he had at the thought that she had left him was now gone, replaced with raw excitement, for more reasons than one. The heat of her body melted away all the coldness that had started to build up in his heart, but he had a much more important thing in the forefront of his mind.

"I meant... why... why did you let your transformation wear off here? You had time, you could've gotten away-"

"This was the 'something'." She interrupted quietly.

"W-what?"

"I had started to say there was something I wanted to..." She trailed off when she felt him take her hands in his. A jolt of panic went through her, as she feared he would try and untangle her from him so he could spin around and see her, but he didn't. It was innocent enough, all he did was hold her hands up slightly so he could, she assumed, look at them. This was not the first time he'd seen her bare hands, but he didn't know that.

He knew these hands.

But for the life of him, he couldn't place them. He was so suddenly over whelmed by the fact that he did recognize them. He couldn't get past that fact long enough to try and recall from where. He was so sure he'd seen that scar running up her index finger before. And of all the frustrating things that had happened that day, this was probably the most frustrating.

"Do you..." His head twitched toward the sound of her small voice, he had to resist the urge to turn and look at her. "Do I... seem... familiar?"

It was subconscious, but he slowly started to turn his head to the side, but froze when he felt her tense and rebury her face against his neck. He didn't know if he should tell the truth or not. His mind was still trying to process the fact that, not only was Ladybug standing unmasked behind him, but now he was sure he knew her as someone other than Ladybug. If he turned and saw her bare face, he wouldn't be meeting someone for the first time. He'd be seeing someone he already knew.

But who was she?

To buy himself more time to think, he turned her question back on her. "Does this mean... you changed your mind? About us keeping our identities from each other?" He brought both her hands up to his lips and kissed each of them. "Do you want me to know who you are?"

Yes.

Now that she was actually being faced with the reality of it, in the form of his question, she felt overwhelmed. She shouldn't have improvised like this, she should've come up with a better plan. But of course, now she was stuck because her transformation had worn off, Tikki was exhausted (the kwami having zipping into her sweater immediately upon emerging from the earring and seeing what was happening with Chat), and she couldn't get away if she wanted to.

Chat let out a breathy chuckle. "Nervous, Milady?"

She slowly nodded, knowing he would feel the action against his neck and shoulder.

"I can feel your heartbeat." He whispered. He guided one of her hands to lay flat against his chest, interlacing his fingers through her's as he did so. She felt the hard pounding of his own heart, and didn't know whether or not it was comforting to know that he was just as nervous as she was.

"Do you want to know who I am?"

She hadn't expected the question, and honestly she hadn't even pondered the answer. She supposed she should've guessed that he would feel, at least to some degree, obligated to return the favor if she revealed her own identity. But was she ready for that?

She didn't know.

She didn't actually answer either of his questions, as she was too absorbed in pondering it, and he took her lack of response as a no.

He sighed, unable to hide the feeling of disappointment. He could feel how tense and anxious she was, she was obviously uncomfortable. She probably wanted to try this and see what happened, but was now regretting it and panicking because she had no way out.

Some part of her must want him to know who she is, why else would she risk it like this?

Even if that was true, she clearly wasn't as ready as she thought she was. It was a gutsy move on her part and he wanted nothing more than for her to know he was here for her, no matter what she decided.

They were partners before anything else.

"It's okay... if you're not ready, Milady." He said quietly, trying and failing to not sound saddened. "I won't look. I can help you down-"

"Yes."

"Y-yes...?"

"Yes... I did change my mind."

His heartbeat increased.

"B-but... I am... n-nervous." She stuttered out, resting her forehead against his shoulder. He could see strains of blue-black hair flutter down his arm. She continued. "Answer my question."

"Which question?" She had only asked one, but the pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears was throwing off his train of thought. He still wasn't convinced this wasn't a dream.

"Do I seem familiar?" She lowered her voice, speaking against his shoulder blade. "Familiar as someone other than Ladybug..."

She was being honest with him, he supposed he should be honest with her. For good measure, he brought the hand that wasn't laying against his chest up to his mouth to lay more kisses on it.

"Yes."

He expected her to react somehow to the knowledge that they must know each other outside of their masks, but she stood still. Her hold on him tightened ever so much, her forehead still laying on his shoulder.

Either he had somehow spent enough time looking at her hands to know what they looked like, or at least enough to know that he recognized them, or she had been right. It was the luck of the mask that kept people from realize who she was.

She thought that he knew her, as Chat Noir knows Marinette. She didn't even consider that the man under the mask would be the one who was recognizing her hands.

When she spoke again, her voice was steady. "I wanted to... to test out a theory of mine."

She felt him smirk against her hand. "And what theory is that?"

"I've interacted with alot of people as both Ladybug and... and as myself... including you-" (Chat took a moment to try and remember every girl he'd ever come in contact with while in costume without Ladybug being there) "- and no one ever recognizes me. I thought... it had to be something about my mask. Be it magic or luck or something. We've fought alot of akuma victims who are alot better disguised than me and we can always identify them..."

"You've met me as Ladybug when I was out of costume.." He spoke against her hand. "You didn't recognize me either."

"I have?"

He nodded.

There was a period of silence. Neither said anything, and neither felt the need to say anything. Marinette took the time to allow herself to calm down and think about all that had been said, and also to plan her next move. Chat Noir was just enjoying being held by her, even if he couldn't see her face.

Marinette decided on one thing.

This was something that should be taken in baby steps. She was on her way to revealing her identity, but in that moment...

She knew she wasn't ready yet.

"Milady...?"

He spoke when he felt her start to loosen her grip on him. She locked her eyes on the rooftop door that lead into the building they stood on, and she was mentally plotting her escape.

"Hmm?" She responded.

He tightened his grip on her hands, fingers interlaced, he held them both against his chest. He could tell she was preparing to do something, but he wasn't ready for her to go.

"You know I adore you, don't you?"

She froze, her heart hit the floor. She wasn't expecting that. If he said that two years ago, she would've made a comment about how 'Ladybug' was the one he adored, but she was long past that. She was Ladybug. She found that she wanted him to keep talking. He did.

"I..." His words came out in a shaky whisper. "With or without the mask, I think you're amazing. I always have. You're my partner, my best friend, I don't know what I would do without you. I've literally spend the past week waiting until I would see you again. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I couldn't stop thinking about the last time I saw you. It's been different between us, I know you felt it. But I don't want you to think I'm just some tomcat getting worked up, there's more than that..." He paused, as if to work up the courage to continue. "I really am serious about... about you. You are..."

He stopped to draw in a deep breath and she almost burst with anticipation of what he might say.

"You are my everything."

His sudden sincerity hit her right in the chest, the force being enough that she felt physical pain. This was the last thing she expected when she decided to do this. Granted, she didn't know what she expected, but seeing this soft and serious side from her normally goofy and teasing partner... On top of how shaken she already was from everything else...

She became overwhelmed.

She couldn't take it.

"You don't even know my first name."

Her voice was not angry, not spiteful, or anything like that. It held little emotion at all. She wasn't contradicting or arguing with him.

She was stating a fact.

He stiffened up as she pulled away from him, regret washing over him. Suddenly forgetting about not looking at her, he spun around to try and catch her, but all he caught was a glimpse of raven hair before the door shut behind her.

He knew better than to try and follow her. Although he'd never admit it, he'd tried before. She had a talent for eluding him.

He collapsed to his knees, a clawed hand gripping down on his heart. He didn't know what possessed him to say all that, his intention was to reassure her that he'd love her no matter who she was under her mask, but he'd obviously said too much. He came on too strong. He'd scared her off.

The sinking feeling in his chest returned, the cold lonely once again creeping up on him. Only this time it was worse, because this time, it was absolutely his own fault.

He couldn't be alone right now. He just couldn't. Pulling himself to his feet, he set out back toward the school. His mind was reeling, but he attempted to put all thoughts on hold. If he broke now, he'd never make it to his final destination. He wasn't a stranger to holding in his emotion, a skill he was now grateful for. He reached the school in no time, the damage caused by the akuma attack was no longer there, and neither were all the students. It was nighttime now, and even if it wasn't, the school always sent students home either when there was an attack.

He entered the building with ease, not having to worry about being seen. He stood in the open courtyard and his eyes found what they were looking for.

Marinette's sketchbook was still on the ground.

He remembered her dropping it when the first explosion happened, and apparently, she hadn't come back for it. That was advantageous for him, as he now had a good excuse to go see her.

He never really needed an excuse to visit her, but he already felt like he'd been rejected once, he needed insurance that it wouldn't happen again. She couldn't send him away, because he had a reason to be there. Not that she would send him away, he thought, as Marinette was a very sweet girl who was surprisingly perceptive to when he was feeling some type of way and needed companionship.

Besides, returning her sketchbook to her was the least he could do, considering the God-awful display he was sure he was about to put on.

...

More Chapters Coming Soon!