Chat Noir shuttered, and nearly turned back more than once. He was getting closer and closer to the Agreste residence, but it wasn't where he wanted to be.
He couldn't believe he had actually turned down Ladybug! She finally seemed to be caving in her adamant insistence that their identities remain a secret. What had changed all of a sudden to make her weaken her resolve? He skidded to a stop unable to go any further. I was the cause he thought. Ladybug thought I had abandoned her without even a word!
He had a taste of that bitter experience when some other girl showed up wearing Ladybug's miraculous. Hadn't he considered the possibility he might never see her again? Adrien was all too familiar with being left behind. The mystery behind his mother's disappearance haunted him. Had she died? Been stolen away from them? Had she simply walked away, never to look back? She had just...vanished!
Despite never being able to return the romantic feelings he had towards Ladybug, she had always trusted him, and been his closest friend. Chat Noir dropped down to one knee, and he but his head in his hands. He had just let her think he had deserted her! No wonder she was so desperate to try to make grand confessions in an effort to hold on to him. She thinks if she doesn't I'll walk away from her again!
That was not what he had ever wanted. He had never even thought of his decision to give up his miraculous (or in reality, impersonating a 'new weilder') would effect her like that. He had just felt tired of being heartbroken, and cast aside. He had doubted his Lady, and made such a monumental decision without thinking what it would do to her.
Chat Noir punched the tiles of the roof, and stood. Only now did he look back to where he had left her. He wouldn't let her give up protecting her identity from Hawkmoth just in an effort to appease him or patch things up. He wouldn't take advantage of her emotional decision to tell him she really did care about him more. He didn't want her to love him just because she was afraid to lose him. He wanted to be stronger for her this time, didn't he?
This was his first opportunity to prove to her that he could prioritize reason and strategy over personal desires. They were superheroes right? They didn't have a choice.
His resolution did not loosen his knotted muscles, or make the heavy pressure on his chest lighten. If anything the weight on his shoulders felt like he had suddenly shouldered a much heavier burden.
Again he felt the aching dread of his destination. He didn't want to go home. He knew what would be waiting there for him; A cavernous, cold room with emptiness and isolation suffocating him. He didn't want to be alone with his own thoughts. How could he be at the center of such a busy city, and yet feel so very alone?
Leaning against the ledge he scanned the city-scape. The shadowy outlines of peaked roofs, chimneys, and the odd illuminated window of someone burning the midnight oil. Paris was never silent, but in this moment it was still. Chat Noir shivered, despite the protection his miraculous suit offered. He closed his eyes, breathing in the cool night air. It was then that his enhanced cat-like senses picked up the softest sound of a girl crying. He black ears perked up, and he looked around seeking out the source of such distress. He was unnerved to discover that the cry came from a familiar balcony; Marinette's! He grabbed his baton in his hands, jumping to her aide.
When he landed softly on the edge of her balcony, he was suddenly doubtful that he should trespass on such a private moment. She sat on an overturned plant pot, and was so wrapped up in whatever had crushed her, that she didn't even know he was there. All he knew is that he couldn't bear to see her like this. He didn't think he had really ever seen her looking so devastated. How could he not try to rescue her?!
Lowering himself off the railing, he padded a few steps closer to her. Then like hitting an invisible wall, he stopped.
"Marinette?" he said softly.
His voice made her head snap up in surprise. She looked at him wide-eyed like she wasn't quite sure if he was real.
"Marinette," Chat Noir dared to take a couple steps closer. "It just rips me apart to see you so upset! If someone has hurt you..." he said, feeling an overwhelming urge to protect her from all of the bad in the world.
"Chat Noir?" she asked, wiping the cuff of her sleeve across her eyes. "You're here?"
"You know I'm always here for you!" Chat Noir said, realizing just how determined he felt to make good on such assurance. He cut through the invisible barrier holding him back and knelt down beside her, "always."
At that single word repeated, she couldn't help but burst into fresh tears, and he pulled her into his arms, and held her. He didn't ask her if she was okay or what had happened. What difference would those idle questions make? He knew what was needed in this moment, because he needed it too. The two of them sat together, holding onto each other like a lifeline in a storm. Neither was sure how long they sat like that, until Marinette sniffed, and started tracing the curve of the bell at Chat Noir's neck distractedly.
"Did you miss me? " Chat Noir tried to tease to break the tension.
Marinette snorted, with a laugh at how close to the mark he had unknowingly come. "You have no idea," she replied, making him raise his eyebrows in genuine confusion at her response.
"You know I'm not joking about making whoever hurt you back down," Chat Noir searched her eyes. "Was it Chloe...or Lila again?...Did someone else hurt you? They'll wish they'd never..." Chat Noir gripped her shoulder tighter.
"No, no...it's not that," Marinette assured him (his protective tone gave her goosebumps. Chat Noir could be intimidating whenever he got protective). "I just realized tonight that I've been my own worst enemy." She looked up at Chat Noir, "I didn't realize how much I cared about someone, and now it is too late. I just made a mess of it all."
Chat Noir moved his arm, so it rested over her shoulders, and slide her down beside him. "I've made a mess of thing too," Chat Noir commiserated, but I still hope there is a chance I can do better each day."
"You never give up. I don't know if that is determination or stubbornness," she elbowed him in the ribs teasingly.
"Oh absolutely stubbornness!" he winked with a classic Chat Noir grin.
"What about you? You're still out here this late?" she asked watching his eyes carefully.
"Cats are often restless at night," Chat Noir tried to brush her inquiry off with a touch of humor.
"Um hmm," Marinette hummed, not letting him keep her at a distance. "You've got a lot on your mind too."
Chat Noir gripped the nape of his neck, and glanced away from her. "Well, I..."
"It's okay," Marinette patted his arm affectionately. He looked at her, and she could sense the apprehension in his eyes, and his distraught emotions in the way his jaw clenched. Just like her Kitty, she thought to herself. He had clearly been so distressed...enough to even consider abandoning his miraculous, and yet here he was encouraging and comforting her. She rose, drawing his hand up with her. "Come with me," she smiled tenderly at him, and she propped open the skylight into her bedroom. "I think we could both use some double chocolate chip cookies right about now!"
"You mean it?!" Chat Noir couldn't restrain the eagerness in his voice. "Cookies?"
Marinette giggled at the way her Kitty's face lit up over a simple offer of cookies. "You know I'm a baker's daughter right?" she teased. "In this house cookies are basically therapy. My Dad always said it was a lot harder to be sad while eating a cookie."
"Well, I'm certainly willing to test out that theory," Chat Noir followed Marinette with his eye's reignited with his typical spark.
Marinette dropped down onto her bed, with Chat Noir pouncing down next to her. Her face reddened, noticing how his eyes scanned her loft, coming to rest on the photo collage of her friends (primarily dominated by candid pictures of Adrien).
Marinette whirled her hands in front of her in a frantic effort to distract Chat Noir from her doubtlessly obvious obsession with her classmate. "I...um...hey, let's just go down...No need to wait around here...nothing to see...just some friends of mine...Why don't we just..." In her panic Marinette leaned back toward the ladder, and precariously tipped back about to fall. Chat Noir was fast to grab her waist to pull her back from danger, but the counter measures resulted in her tipping over on top of him. The press of her body against his brought them face to face in shock and alarm. Trying to untangle their limbs, they scrambled to right themselves. Chat Noir breathed out apologies, and Marinette was quick to brush the whole situation off as swiftly as possible. Marinette evacuated the scene of ultimate embarrassment descending the steps of her ladder, (missing a couple rungs, prompting Chat Noir to offer a helping paw, to which she reddened further, and declined his assistance).
She called up to him, while he was stepping down to the main floor of her bedroom that he could have a seat, and that she'd return with cookies. With that hasty excuse in place to allow her to retreat to cool off, Marinette went 'thump, thump, thump," down the stairs.
Chat Noir stood in the middle of her room, and drew a clawed hand through his blonde hair. Now he had embarrassed Marinette again. Somehow that always seemed to happen between them while he was Adrien...not usually around Chat Noir he noted in puzzlement.
He backed up, till he had propped himself down on her chase lounge that had a oversized pink crocheted blanket draped across it. He poked at the thick yarn that wound together to interlock each section of the intricate design of the quilt. Clearly Marinnete's handi-work. It was sooo soft! Chat Noir pulled at the corner of the blanket and it slid willingly of the shoulder of the chase. He couldn't resist holding it close and rub his face against its fluffy warmth.
This is how Marinette found him, returning with two glasses of milk, and balancing a plate of cookies on her forearm. She burst out laughing, and his eyes moved up from the blanket to her face.
"You're such at cat!" she said through her giggles.
Chat Noir's face flickered from guilty embarrassment, to mischievousness in a matter of seconds seeing the smile on Marinette's face. He defiantly swung the rosy blanket around his shoulders, snuggling up into the blanket. "James Harriot once said cats are connoisseurs of comfort!" he declared unabashed.
"I'm sure you are," Marinette set down the snacks in front of him with a smile, "and are you quite comfortable now Monsieur le Chat?"
"Quite!" he assured her with a smile. "It is kind of you to take in a stray."
"You're no stray," Marinette said next to him holding out a cookie with gooey chocolate chips. "You're my Kitty, and you're always welcome here."
ooooooooooooo
Some more Marichat to come! Thank you for reading my story so far! What are your favorite Chat puns? What are your favorite moments of Marichat? I'd love to know in reviews or pm to help as I am writing the next chapter. Thank you so much for those who have favorited, followed, and especially to the amazing readers who take the extra time to write me encouraging reviews. Even a line or two can inspire me to write for hours!
