"Dress," Chat suggested, pointing toward her room. "We had a nice break, but I think someone has to get back to work." She nodded and led the way back upstairs. She saw the blanket she told him to use and couldn't stop the smile growing on her face.

"Thanks for that," she said, "I didn't really mean for it to be this much of a surprise, but now we're so close and I don't see a reason to show anyone beforehand at this point."

"I get it," he said. "As always, I'm just happy to help my favorite civilian."

Marinette got a few more details done on her dress, but at 17h, she decided it was time for another break from working. While she was working, he transformed from Sourix, back into Chat Noir. "What should we do for dinner tonight," she asked Chat, "I assumed you were planning to stay for dinner."

"I would love to, if I'm invited." She nodded.

"You're always invited, Fé." She leaned over to place a comforting hand on top of his and he bit his lip.

"Could we have something like… pizza? I don't get to have that very often."

"Would you want to make it, or get it from somewhere?"

"You can make pizza at home?" He was genuinely surprised by this information. After he said it, he was immediately embarrassed by the question. He blushed bright red at his own excitement.

Marinette looked at the clock. "Dough for pizza needs to rise for a while. How about, we make the dough tonight and we can make the pizza tomorrow? How does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful," he admitted. "We still need to figure out something to have tonight, though."

"Let's go see what my parents say then if they're okay with it, we can start on the pizza dough." She stood up and stretched out her back then extended a hand to Chat. He took her hand and stood as well. She led him to the bakery and neither of them particularly noticed they were holding hands.

Marinette approached her maman and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Do we have any plans for dinner tonight," Marinette asked.

"I was thinking I'll make dumplings," Sabine suggested, "unless the two of you have something else in mind."

"Not for tonight," Marinette clarified. "Well, kind of. I was thinking of teaching Félix how to make pizza tomorrow, so we'll probably make dough after we're done with dinner tonight."

"You're always welcome, Chat, but your père won't mind you staying here for dinner again, right?" Tom placed a kind hand on his shoulder while speaking.

"No, Tom. I actually learned today that my father won't be back until Thursday, so as long as I finish everything I need to, there shouldn't be any problems." Tom nodded. Sabine looked up to meet Tom's eyes and after a moment, she spoke.

"Would you like to stay until he's back. We don't have a lot of room, but we'd be happy to have you."

He smiled at their offer. "I don't want to impose more than I already have."

"Félix," Sabine said quietly. "You're not an imposition to us and if you ever accuse my son of imposing, I won't have a choice but to throw you out until you show him the respect that he deserves."

"You're her son," Tom clarified. He was learning that those clarifications help Chat and Tom's happy to make them if they end up making him more comfortable overall. A tear tried to escape Chat's eye, but he blinked it back like he was raised to.

"Cloche men don't cry," he whispered to remind himself.

"Dupain-Cheng men do," Tom said, "as soon as you want to be one, you're welcome. Not legally, but emotionally." Chat took a deep breath to try to calm down his emotions. They hadn't seen an akuma in a little over a week, but he knew that didn't necessarily mean anything. Hawk Moth can attack anyone, any time, anywhere and he wasn't invincible just because he's a superhero.

Marinette gently squeezed his hand to offer any reassurance she could. He smiled at the small show of affection.

"Thank you, Tom. Is there anything that I can do to help around the bakery?" Chat let go of Marinette's hand so that he could follow Tom around, learning the ropes of how to clean the bakery at the end of the day. While the two boys set about cleaning downstairs, Marinette and Sabine went upstairs to make the dumplings.

At around 17h40, Tom and Chat walked into the family apartment, laughing and talking. They were both a little covered in what looked like a combination of dust and flour.

"What happened to you two," Sabine asked. She considered taking a fake stern tone with them, but figured it would be better to make Chat comfortable before making him worry again.

"Chat is strong enough to move the displays by himself. The bakery has had it's most thorough deep clean in a while. Our boy is a cleaning machine." Chat looked away with a nervous smile. He wasn't used to receiving genuine compliments.

"You two should get cleaned up before we eat. We'll be done making everything in just a few minutes. Chat, you can use the main bathroom, Tom can use the one in our bedroom." The boys went in their separate directions and Marinette heard a faint call of 'Claws In' from one direction before the sound of the shower drowned out everything else.

"Get squeaky," she heard once he was (assumingly) all cleaned up. Sourix walked into the kitchen to offer assistance to Sabine and Marinette.

"Do you want to set the table, dear," Sabine requested and he did so.

"Does your uh… not mullo, what's the word, need anything to eat?" Marinette tried to make it seem like she, the guardian of the Miraculous Box, didn't know the word kwami. Based on the second it took him to figure out what she meant, it worked.

"Kwami," he corrected politely, "yeah. Do you happen to have any spare cheese that he can have?"

"You can give him anything in the fridge," Marinette said, "we can always get more cheese before we make the pizza tomorrow." He smiled thankfully and crossed the kitchen to get some cheese for Plagg. He found a small slice of brie and took it over to the counter. He placed Plagg next to the slice of cheese.

"I can't believe you, kid. First you starve me, then you team up with Mullo. My kitten! A mouse! Oh, the humanity!"

"Hush, you. I like brie, you know. I can just eat this slice that the Dupain-Chengs were so polite to offer for you." Sourix moved his hand as though he was going to pick up the cheese to eat it, but Plagg was faster to pounce on the slice.

Marinette went over to the counter. "Hey Plagg," she greeted, giving his head a little scratch between his ears while he ate the chunk of cheese. "Taking good care of Félix."

"I'm doing my best, pigtails," he said, "there's only so much a 7 cm god of destruction can do when so few of his problems are because he's a holder."

"Good. Want me to take you upstairs to nap in my scrap pile," she offered. He nodded, feigning exhaustion. She picked up him and his slice of cheese, then brought both upstairs to spend time with Tikki.

"You spoil him," Sourix teased when she returned. Marinette rolled her eyes in reaction.

"Maybe you're just mean to him," she teased in response. "He's not too bad if you just give him what he wants. Sort of like someone else I know. I mean, we've offered you food and a comfy place to stay and I don't think there's anything legal you wouldn't do for this family."

He opened his mouth to argue, but there was nothing to oppose what she said. She was right, he was figuratively putty in their hands.

"You're probably right," he said, "you guys are pretty lucky. Having a superhero at your beck and call." Marinette smiled at the joking lilt to his voice. She was always happiest when he was willing to joke around with her. It was something she found brought her more joy than she expected it to. She missed their normal interactions when he was sad and she was disappointed to find out his father would be back soon.

"I suppose we are," she said with a smile. "Can you believe I got Paris' greatest hero to feel bad enough for me to go to a silly lycée dance as my date?"

"Nope." He crossed his arms.

"No," she questioned. That was meaner than she expected from him. His mouth dropped open and he blushed brightly. He started furiously shaking his hands in front of him.

"No- I- That's not what I meant." He rubbed the outside of his eye sockets with his thumb and middle finger. "If I'm not allowed to belittle myself, you're not allowed to belittle yourself either. Of course you'd be able to get a hero to go to a dance with you. Even if we weren't friends, or if you'd wanted to go with a different hero, anyone would be crazy to turn you down, princess."

"Félix," she whispered softly.

"No. I'm sorry. That was probably too far. I didn't mean to embarrass you or something. You were probably joking and I took it too far. I care about you, Marinette. I don't want you to think anyone who caught your eye isn't the luckiest person in the world." The words came out before his brain could catch up with his mouth and his brain immediately told him to run, but he couldn't, they wouldn't want him to.

"Maman, can Chat and I eat a little later? I think we need to talk about some stuff before we can have dinner."

"Of course, dears," Sabine said. "You know how to heat them, in case your papa and I are asleep when you're done?" Marinette nodded. She extended a hand toward Chat to lead him upstairs. He didn't accept taking her hand, but still followed her up to her room.

"I need you to tell me what you think of me," she said, "all cards on the table."

"Nino suggested I not do that. He said I should wait until you've had time to recover from your feelings for Buttercup before I try to pursue anything with you." He sat on her chaise, the same spot where he had been sitting for weeks, since she started working on the dress.

"He might be right," she said, reluctantly. "I think I like you," she admitted, "and that scares me because of him. I really don't want you to be a rebound, or just someone I'm dating because I feel like I'm supposed to because that's dumb, and you mean more to me than that. Do you want me to call you Félix or Chat right now?"

"Félix, I think."

"You'll let me know if you change your mind?" He nodded in confirmation. "Félix Minou Cloche, you're one of the most important people in my life. Not because of who you are to Paris, but because of who you are to me. I care about you so much and I want to be ready to date you. I will do my best to move on from Buttercup, but I don't want to accidentally lead you on. I have feelings for you, but I need to figure out exactly which feelings they are." She placed a hand on his cheek. "Are you willing to wait through me figuring myself out?"

"I'll wait as long as you need," he said.

"Don't say that," she responded. "If you think you'll be happier with someone else before I get it together, I won't blame you. I want to be happy with you, but your happiness matters so, so much to me and is more important to me than the idea of you and I being happy together. No matter what happens between you and I, my parents are yours to borrow whenever you need them, okay? They love you."

He was tearing up from her declaration and he let a few of his tears fall. "Looks like you're a Dupain-Cheng now," she said, nudging his elbow gently, "whether you like it or not, you've been sworn in." She kissed his cheek, just under the line of his mask. "If that's not something you want, you don't really have to, but the offer is always there."

"I don't want to be a Cloche anymore," he whispered. "Being a Dupain-Cheng is so much better."

"Come here," she said, patting her lap.

"Princess. I don't know how to tell you this, but I will crush your bones with my weight if I try to sit on your lap."

"So don't. Just put your head in my lap and let me play with your hair." He did as she instructed and she ran her fingers gently through his hair.

"What 3 things do you want more than anything."

"To stop being a Cloche… Or maybe to start being a Cloche. I want to give up my last name and current family so I can have something that would involve a real family with people who care about me."

"A good start," she said quietly, "that's one."

"Figure out what I want to do with my life, once I leave my family," he admitted in a whisper.

"That's two," she said, "you're doing great, kitten." She continued to run her fingers through his hair.

"Am I allowed to ask for you to be happy as my third thing?" He swallowed nervously at his own claim and she bit her lip, considering it.

"What about if your third is 'figure out how we work together,'" she offered. "I want you to keep being in my life, but I think we need to figure out how to best achieve that, minou."

He wiped away his tears, because he wanted to, not because he had to. "So, for your first goal. When do you turn 18?"

"August 17," he said, making playful eyes at her. She bopped his forehead.

"You're a lying liar who lies," she joked. "I don't even know how you know about that, but I'm trying to help you, so I need you to be honest with me about this or I can't help you."

"What if it could put my identity at risk?"

"We're trying to get rid of your current identity," she reminded him. "I won't go snooping with the information you give me, but I can't do much without it."

"October 13," he said. "I turned 18 on October 13 of last year." She nodded and resolved to never think about the implications of his statement.

"That's a fun birthday for a black cat," she tried to joke instead of focusing her attention on it. "Do you have a job that would give you enough money to move out of your house?"

"I think so," he said quietly, "he wouldn't let me, even if I do."

"That's the joy of being 18, minou. After you turn 18, you don't need his permission. You probably need a guarantor for an apartment, but it doesn't need to be him or anyone from that life. You could even ask my parents and I can almost guarantee they would agree, no questions asked."

"You think so," he asked quietly.

"Of course, either they'll sign or try to insist you move in here." She kissed his forehead as best as she could from her spot with him on her lap. "Now, what does Félix Cloche, not whoever he is behind his mask, like to do in his free time."

"Hang out with people," he half joked, "that's not a viable career, but spending time with you and your parents and your friends this week has been the most fun I've had in a very long time. I haven't had a lot of chances for free time before this."

"Do you think you'd want to work at the bakery," she asked quietly, "no pressure. You can even just do some of the opening stuff with papa to see if it's something you like. We aren't deciding your entire life right now, minou."

"Would he let me," Chat asked quietly, "just try things and see if they work out?"

"You want to know a secret," she asked. "Trying things and seeing if they work out is pretty much the entire point of being a teenager. Do you know how many things I tried before I designed anything for the first time? Baking with my parents, cooking with Alya's maman, zookeeping with her papa, miming with Mylène's papa. I was bad at almost all of them and I hated it. I still don't know for sure that I want to design, but I like it, so I'm doing it unless I find something better for me." She scratched near where the cat ears would be on his head, but they weren't there in his Sourix form.

"I think I want to try the bakery," he said quietly. "I want to try baking and eventually, I want to be at the front of the shop, being the cashier, but I think we need to wait until all this is done before I can do that." He gestured vaguely at himself during the last part of his statement and Marinette couldn't help but to giggle.

"We can't fix 'us' in a day. Really, we can't fix any of this in a day, but I don't think we can come up with a next step on where we should go in our friendship right now. If you start openly communicating with me about things, I'll start doing the same," she said. She held her pinkie out in front of his eyes, "deal?" He linked his pinkie with hers, pinkie promising honesty about their relationship.

She looked at the time. 19h30. "Are you willing to go downstairs to talk to papa about your first shift at the bakery tomorrow? Or do you want to do that another day?"

"Let's do it," he said with a smile. He sat up from Marinette's lap and followed her down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Today's the first day in my new life as Félix Cloche," he announced excitedly when he stood in front of Tom and Sabine. "May I join you in the bakery tomorrow to see if it's something I like doing?"

"Of course, Félix," Tom said with a kind smile. "That means you'll need to get to sleep earlier tonight. No staying out until midnight if I need you ready and downstairs by 5h. I require at least to be in bed by 22h. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Tom," he responded, excited. Sabine smiled.

"We're proud of you, dear," Sabine said. She approached him slowly and stretched on her toes, he met her in the middle to receive a kiss on the cheek. "In that case, you should sleep on the couch instead of Marinette's room so she won't keep you up with her work..

"Yes, Sabine," he agreed. "I completely understand."

"Are you still planning to teach this cat how to knead tonight," Tom asked Marinette. She nodded.

"Same recipe as usual for the dough?" Tom nodded.

"Clean up when you're done. And don't forget to eat dinner tonight. That goes for both of you. Félix, you need to make sure you eat enough tonight so you have plenty of energy when you wake up in the morning."

"I'll make sure he eats," Marinette confirmed. Her dad leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek.

"We know you will," Sabine said. "I think it's about our bedtime now, though. Félix?"

"Yeah, Sabine?"

"Is that the name you want to use?" He nodded. "What time are you going to be in the bakery in the morning?"

"4h45," he said with a smile.

"Good answer," Sabine said with a gentle laugh. "We'll see you in the morning. Behave yourselves, love you both."

"Love you," Marinette said in response. He didn't but that was fine. He was getting used to everything and he wasn't accustomed to that level of affection.

Marinette took him over to the kitchen to show him how to make pizza dough. It took them until 20h45 to get the dough made and have it covered to rise.

"I'm going to clean up the kitchen," Marinette told him, "you're welcome to help, but it would probably be a better use of your time if you go get your things to spend the next few days here so you can still be in bed by 22h."

"Are you sure," he asked, "your papa said I'm a cleaning machine." She cupped his cheek.

"I'm certain, Félix. Go get whatever you need from the stupid Bell house and come back to being Félix Cloche as soon as you can."

"Bell house," he questioned with a laugh.

"I needed an old last name," she said with a shrug. "Now, hurry. I'll see you soon."

"Thank you, Mari," he whispered, leaning down and giving her a swift kiss on her cheek, "for everything." He went up through her trapdoor then went off into the night, planning to return with Félix Cloche's new life.

She cleaned up quickly, used to the task of cleaning up dough and flour after the years she spent helping around the bakery.

"You're good for him," Plagg said, flying out to Marinette while she cleaned. "Thank you for talking with him tonight. He needed a kick in the pants and that's something you can do a lot better than I can. I'm proud that he seems to be working toward goals."

"While I appreciate it, Plagg, that's something you should tell Félix. Not me." She placed another piece of brie on the counter for him and he ate it. The two of them talked while they waited for Sourix to come back.

He returned to the apartment at 21h30 and Marinette was once again standing in the kitchen, talking to Plagg.

He brought some solid colored shirts and blue jeans in a bag with his toiletries. He also brought the garment bag that had his outfit and mask for the ball. He had left the garment bag upstairs in her room, but brought the bag of his immediate items to the living room with him.

"I have something for you," Marinette said when he came closer to her.

"First gift for the one and only Félix Cloche?" He looked at her, heart filled with joy and excitement. She lifted her hand, showing a piece of fabric around her finger. He took it from her hand gently.

He picked it up to look at it more closely. "A mask?" She nodded and he stepped in to give her a hug. It was a soft, cotton mask, not plastic like the ones they'd gotten for the dance. "Can I?" He pointed in the direction of the bathroom and she nodded with a grin on her face. He practically sprinted to the bathroom to detransform and put on his new mask.

When he came back out, she saw that he was in a pair of all black joggers and a green t-shirt. Neither had any branding visible. His hair was messy in typical Chat Noir fashion and the mask sat perfectly on his face.

"It's perfect, princess," he said when he came up to her. Without either of them thinking, he lifted her into a hug, spinning them both around twice. "Thank you. This means so much to me. Really, I don't know that I can put into words how much this all means to me."

"It was worth it to see how happy you are, Fé," she said with a smile on her face. "I love you. I'm still figuring out what kind of love exactly, but I know that I love you, at least platonically."

"Can I spin you again," he asked. "It was fun and I really liked expressing myself like that." He bit his lip and she nodded. He lifted her once again and spun her in a few more circles.

"I love your smile," she admitted when he let her back down. She placed her hand on his cheek, trying to memorize his face at the happiest she'd ever seen him. She looked at the clock. "It's your bedtime, Félix. I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed her forehead then turned toward the couch to go to bed.

Marinette went upstairs and saw the garment bag on her chaise. She placed it into her closet and went back to working on the final details of her dress.