Sunday night came around quickly, and Marinette could not wait to see the blonde who had 'purromised' to pop over to watch another film with her. Her polka dotted self was not due to meet him until the next night for patrol, and even though it had only been a day since she had seen him at the shoot, the ravenette was missing the blonde.

With the way Adrien struggled to get his words out after she gave him her kiss of thanks, Marinette was feeling confident about how their relationship was developing. Seeing her own blush mirrored in his cheeks was refreshing, and watching Adrien trip on thin air on their way out, gave the ravenette hope that he was changing the way he saw her. Of course her Ladybug reflexes kicked in, allowing her to catch his fall, but that only seemed to make him more flustered: Marinette found it adorable. Since separating outside the studio, countless texts and memes were exchanged between the pair: but it was not even close to being an adequate substitute for physically being with him.

Apart from wanting to see him, Marinette really wanted some reassurance too. With everything that had transpired since, Marinette was desperate to talk to him in person, the whole 'Lila' incident was playing on her mind. In true Marinette form, the ravenette let her panicking thoughts run away with her during quiet periods, even though she had seen Alya that day, Marinette still worried irrationally. What would happen if Lila managed to twist it so the girls all believed her? She knew Alya was wise to the lies now, but what if even she-

Thump.

Her internal ramblings were brought to a halt as Marinette relaxed upon seeing a familiar blonde mop sway when Chat tilted his head down at her through her open hatch. "Up for some company, Purrincess?"

Marinette could not help the fond roll of her eyes with his term of endearment, 'it's obviously just an 'Adrien' thing…' "I thought cats come and go as they please."

"Not this cat," he bowed after landing gracefully, "this cat's a gentleman."

Marinette skeptically hummed and eyed him with amusement, "gentlemen always call this late at night do they?"

The blonde playfully deadpanned, "I can leave y'know?"

The ravenette sighed with mock exasperation, "no~ you're here now, you may as well-"

Thump.

'Well this is new.'

Green eyes widened at Marinette who was glancing quickly between her blonde partner and the trapdoor where she was sure Rena Rouge was currently waiting for Marinette to invite her in.

"Mari," Chat whispered, "I don't think that was a bird."

The teen sighed with defeat, "Part of me really hopes it is…"

"I can hear you, y'know!"

"And everyone out there can hear you," Marinette muttered to herself and Chat snorted into his fist before casually covering it with a cough. Alya had already been around that day to help with deciphering the book, and Marinette neither confirmed or denied the presence of Adrien in her room: the nosey blogger had obviously taken it upon herself to gain the identity of Marinette's gentleman caller. "I'll be back in a sec."


Chat was not a happy kitty.

The blonde had never had a problem with the occasional hero, but he knew that her relationship was becoming stronger with Ladybug, and that had begun to irk him. The fact that she was now visiting Marinette, when the ravenette was his friend, gave the blonde reason to be pissed; he did not hide his feelings very well either. Standing there with his arms crossed while the fox heroine smugly assessed him, he was having to reign in his need to mark his territory.

Alya may have lay under the mask, and part of him wondered if Marinette knew that, but that did not mean that she could start to wiggle her way into their nights together. Alya was able to come around whenever she wanted, Adrien was not: which was why it was so awesome that Chat had this with the ravenette.

"…so when I saw my fellow hero head in through the trap door," Rena smirked between Marinette and her fellow miraculous wielder, "I thought I'd best check that everything was okay. Do you need help with anything, or should me and Chat Noir leave you to it?"

Chat was happy to note that Marinette seemed just as annoyed by Rena's intrusion as he was.

"Everything is fine. Thank you, Rena Rouge," Marinette replied pleasantly, "but I do need to speak with Chat." The fox heroine pursed her lips and did not seem to get the hint so the ravenette added with purpose, "privately."

Chat watched as Rena tapped her foot with frustration, "girl, whatever you can say to Chat you can say to me t-"

"No, I can't." Marinette interrupted bluntly, "so if you wouldn't mind," the civilian teen began ushering Rena out of the room towards her rooftop terrace, and Chat was required to strain to hear what they were saying.

He caught words and muffles which did not make much sense, but figured that if he needed to know, Marinette would tell him. Waving pleasantly, as Rena disappeared out of sight, the blonde sat down on the chaise and waited for his ravenette classmate to return. Five minutes went by, and while twiddling his thumbs in Marinette's room was better than twiddling his thumbs in his own, he became very bored: a bored Chat was never a good thing.

First he stood up and stretched out his back, tilting his head from side to side as he did and extended his arms out in front of him. While he did so, the blonde noticed her sewing machine and the little items pinned next to it ready to be made up, then his eyes travelled to the cork board above her desk. The pictures of their friends staring back at him caused a smile to spread his lips, and as his gaze wandered from the people he met when he first escaped the mansion and roamed over the new additions to their friendship group, Chat decided he needed a board just like this one. He was surprised to see a lovely picture of Marinette and Zoé recently pinned to the collage, but it just stood as a testament to how welcoming and inclusive the teen was. Marinette had really opened herself up to him, and the hero was happy to see a picture of himself mixed in with the candid shots; the ones adorning her walls were not real in his eyes, but the one of him, Marinette, Nino and Alya, was a wonderful reminder of the friends he now had.

Even if one of them was encroaching on his territory, 'she's probably just looking out for Marinette.'

Chat wanted to do something nice and unexpected for the teen, and spotted her sewing box sitting neatly on her desk, 'I wonder if she needs any new threads?' He knew that she had set up a little safe place for Plagg in there, so thought that there would always be room for more bits and bobs. Reaching to open it and peek inside for any new additions he could add to thank her, his gaze was suddenly brought to another pink box which was considerably smaller.

The baby pink, semi-circular box with small black polka dots was very appealing to the teen hero, and part of him really wanted to know what was inside. Upon picking up the item, he felt something slide with the movement, and was just debating how to open it when a throat cleared from behind.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Marinette sassed, and Chat had the decency to act sheepish when he turned to see her crossing her arms and cocking a hip, "and don't you dare say that satisfaction brought it back."

He smiled guiltily, "hehe, sorry." The blonde put the box back down gently, and faced her fully, "I got bored waiting."

"I bet you did," Marinette commented amusedly with an eye roll while Chat stepped towards her.

"Purrlease forgive me Purrincess," he held out his hand with a dramatic flair, "but what was a lowly cat purrposed to do when his fair maiden left him to his own devices?"

The ravenette eyed him with teasing skepticism, "I thought you said you were a gentleman?"

"Will you purrlease accept my most sincerest apologies?" He bowed and took her hand, the teen snorted in an attempt to hide her blush when the blonde kissed her knuckles.

"Fine~ I forgive you," he smiled brightly up at her and Marinette twisted her lips to try and hide her smile at his antics, "but don't let me catch you again."

Chat winked and stood up, "oh I'll be much more careful next time." The scowl on her face was playful, and the black clad hero twirled the teen causing her to squeak adorably as she landed softly on her chaise. "What are we watching then?"

As he strode enthusiastically to her computer, Marinette's voice stopped him. "Actually Chat," the blonde turned to see her suddenly looking rather demure at her tapping pointer fingers, "it's probably best if you go."

"Is this because of Rena?" He sighed with annoyance and made his way to sit next to her, the blonde could not work out why it would be an issue. "I know this is selfish but I've just-"

Chat was cut off by Marinette placing her hand over his mouth, and her eyes darting upwards helped him realise that someone could still be listening. With Marinette being so close, with her hurrying to stop him from talking, he could clearly see all the different shades of blue in her eyes that morphed into each other so seamlessly. It was mesmerising.

Marinette mouthed at him with conviction.

"What if she knows me out of the mask like you do?" Her panicked orbs conveyed just how anxious she was, "what if she sees me and Adrien acting like me and Chat? We are getting noticeably closer, and what if she puts two and two together?"

Chat nodded in understanding and Marinette released his lips from under her hand but did not move away, instead she put her forehead on his shoulder and the hero wrapped an arm around her. With his free hand, Chat unsheathed his baton and flicked the screen open. Tapping the device a few times, he brought up the tracking feature and gestured to where it clearly showed Rena Rouge's icon less then ten metres from his location. Sighing, he turned it so Marinette could see it clearly and the hero felt her deflate.

Chat whispered, "why is she showing such an interest?"


Marinette knew the answer to her unknowing partner's question, but it was not as though she could tell him. Tikki watched her with worried eyes from her desk and Marinette looked for any sign that the Kwami thought it was time. The red being shook her head slowly.

When Rena quizzed her on the balcony, the fox heroine was frustrated that Marinette was having a late night rendezvous with Chat Noir, especially since she had been making progress with Adrien. The way Chat had given Rena the stink eye for her blatant interruption did not help matters either, and now Alya was convinced that Chat harboured a crush on her civilian self.

It was not like Marinette could come clean with Alya and tell him that the two boys she was getting close to were one in the same… even if the blogger had her back: Chat's identity was not her business to share. Now the teen, in her need to know which blonde Marinette had been hosting, had unintentionally put a major spanner in the works.

Marinette had no idea what to do, so the secret heroine spun a lie in the hopes that she could explain her way out of it later.

The ravenette spoke in barely a whisper, and looked at her nervously fumbling fingers. "M-maybe she's just trying to help in whatever way she can, and uh, thought that was why you were coming here… because I needed help with something."

Chat's voice came out laced with suspicion and disappointment, "I feel like you're lying to me."

Marinette's eyes immediately cut to his, pleading with him not to press for the truth that she would eventually give to him. She mouthed, "I am," and the blonde shook his head with how hurt he was plastered all over his face.


Chat almost blurted out that he knew who Rena Rouge was.

He was hurt that Alya's interference had caused an issue for their hangout and he really wanted to give the teen a piece of his mind. Calming the way Marinette was wringing her fingers by placing his hand over hers, he nodded in acceptance that this situation was out of Marinette's control. He strained a smile which the ravenette parried by twisting her lips sympathetically in a resigned way, and the blonde squeezed her hands and stood up.

Marinette snagged his hand before he could move away and looked up at him with her lips slightly parted as if there was something she needed to tell him. Nothing came and she simply closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the back of his hand. Chat checked his baton in his other hand and sighed, "give me a minute."

Before Marinette could reply, the black clad hero jumped up to her hatch and disappeared into the night, landing on her railings and spotting Rena Rouge staring at him with wide eyes.

"Follow me."


Curiosity killed the cat, or could it be fox in this scenario? I wont leave you guessing how this conversation will pan out for too long, as I'll be uploading the next chapter in a few days =^.^= I hope you're enjoying this story so far, and I really appreciate the reviews, follows and faves! Thank you for reading.

Take it easy!

Lady Rhi X