Marinette lay on her stomach, her legs stretched and her hands resting on the bed as she drew. Slowly dragging her pencil along the paper, she bit her lips, donning her full focus on the work she was creating.

She had an early dinner, early shower just so she could be ready for whenever Catnoir would come. It was already late evening and she was just waiting patiently. Waiting for that sweet sound of when he'd knock.

24 hours was a long time and missing him that much was only normal. So while waiting, she was drawing something that had been on her mind for a long time.

She smiled as she looked at the almost finished work. She took time to add the subtle details she'd only come to notice in a few days.

It was a little while longer and she was adding the finishing touches to the drawing when she heard the sound. Her eyes immediately darted up as three knocks followed after. Her smile widened. He was here.

She quickly folded the paper and hid it in her sketch book. Then she kneeled up to open the hatch.

Her whole demeanor softened as she saw the cheeky grin on his face, the soft nightlight highlighting the edges of his mask and the dark city making his eyes stand out. Unable to help herself, she pushed herself up high enough to reach him and wrapped her arms around him.

He chuckled, "I guess you missed me?" Although he had a sly smirk on his face when she pulled back and let him slide in, he was feeling hot at the fact that she missed him just as much as much as he'd missed her. He couldn't help but brew himself with pride.

"You can't imagine." Immediately the words left her lips, Catnoir dived in for another hug. His hands on her waist pulled her in closer and her buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Gosh, he'd been waiting to just get a whiff of her scent for 24 hours. Yet being embalmed in the scent was barely enough. Marinette giggled as he snuggled more into her neck, willing himself to get more of her.

"That tickles."

Finally pulling away, he put his hand to the side of her face, "I missed you so much too."

"That's good to hear." She smiled.

Somehow he let his fingers brush slightly against her chin as he took the time to stare at her. He needed to soak in her features. And that he did. "You know, I spent the whole day looking forward to when I see you."

A pink blush dotted her cheeks and she looked down, feeling bashful, "Really?"

"Yes..." He whispered breathlessly, "I always miss you when you're not around." His voice dropped a pitch that made her dare to hope he meant that in the way she was thinking.

She tried to brush it off with a small chuckle, "I'm not really that important, kitty." Her eyes looked everywhere but on him, as she felt more flustered than usual. There was just something more intense with the way he was looking at her.

Moving his hand further, he brushed her bangs away and then lifted her chin to meet her gaze properly. "You are to me. You're special to me."

She didn't reply, she just stared up at him. For the next minute, the rest of the world was vague to her as she let her self dive into his inhuman and warmly stare. Then she tilted her head backwards.

The moment was immediately ruined when she heard her dad call out her name. She stiffened for a moment then immediately climbed off the bed. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

She quickly hurried out, not wanting her dad to come in to find Catnoir. When Catnoir was alone on her bed, he looked around and then repositioned himself to rest on the wall.

He fell her sketchbook in his movement and immediately picked it up. Then he noticed the folded paper next to it. He was guessing it might have fallen out of the book.

Curious to take a peek, he carefully unfolded the paper to see it's contents.

Catnoir's jaw dropped as he took in every bit of what he saw in the piece of paper. It was what she had been drawing earlier. It was a picture from they ice-skated. Her legs were on his, their faces buried in each other's necks exactly like it had happened that night.

He trailed his hand along the paper, and then he looked closer to see that she drew his tail around her ankles. He could feel his body grow incredibly hot, his chest tightening unbelievably. Somehow the emotions he was feeling choked him so much that he was breathing.

He dared to hope as he ran his fingers along the paper. Could she really feel the same way he did or was he probably misreading it.

He didn't even hear when the hatch opened. Marinette walked in with a tray full of macarons and then placed it on her desk, "Sorry, I took so long, I br-"

She stopped talking as she looked to her bed to see Catnoir staring at her paper. The one thing she did not want him to see. Her eyes widened and she quickly ran up the stairs and rushed to pull it out of his hands.

Still feeling slightly stunned, he didn't say anything, just stared at her.

"You shouldn't have looked at that, you weren't supposed to see it." She turned away from him, her skin flushed and cheeks red hot in embarrassment.

When he didn't say anything, she felt even worse and she clutched the drawing to her chest, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, you must think I'm crazy now or something." Not hearing a response for the next few seconds, she breathed again, " Sorry.."

She felt her heart stop when he held her back from walking away. He stood up and turned her to face him. He carefully slipped the drawing out of her grip, so not to ruin it. "Can I keep it?"

Marinette's eyes widened and she looked up at him, shocked at the requests.

"Well, even if it's only for a few days, I could bring it back for you, if you want." She saw the gleam in his eyes as he spoke, somehow it made it more enticing for her to stare. "W..Why do you want it?"

"I want to think of you whenever I see it." He brought his hand up to rub her cheeks. "I want to think of you all the time." The hear in the air around them felt charged. It was suddenly incredibly hot.

She lowered her gaze, "I'm sure you have other things to think about, not me." Her tone dropped.

He smiled, "No, just you."

She looked at him, slight confusion in her features, "Not even Ladybug?"

His face went straight for a moment then he slowly drawled his fingers on her face as she leaned into his hand. "You know, I haven't seen her in a long while and for the first time, it doesn't even hurt. She's my partner, I do miss her, but I haven't really thought about her like...like I used to."

Marinette furrowed her brows, her confusion concreting. That was hard to believe. His face softened as he kept his eyes locked with hers, "Ever since you." He leaned down to whisper.

Catnoir was too scared to breathe to ruin the moment. With her flushed cheeks, her eyes fluttering as she looked up at him through her lashes, she was beautiful. Unable to control himself, be continued to lean down.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head back then she felt his lips on her cheek, awfully close to her lip. She didn't even breathe, scared that she would lose the warmth of his lips.

She dreaded the moment he finally had to pull away and opened her eyes to meet his staring at her. Some part of her wished that he didn't mean all that in a platonic way but it only could be wishful thinking.

Sucking in a breath, she lowered her gaze desperate to the things she knew she had absolutely no courage to say to his face. "You're important to me too."

She whispered so much so that if it weren't for his cat ears, he wouldn't have picked it even if there were extremely close to each other. His smile widened, "That's good to hear."

Eager to dissipate the tension in the air, Marinette stepped away from him and smiled.

"My dad called me earlier to give me some macarons. He's testing a new flavor. We could try then together."

"I would love that!"

He followed behind to the chaise and she placed the tray between them. He popped the first macaron into his mouth and he moaned when the sweetness melted on his tongue. He made muffled sounds trying to speak with his mouth full and she giggled. It was kinda cute.

"I didn't get what you said, but I'm thinking it's something good."

Finally swallowing, he beamed. "That was delicious, princess!"

She laughed and picked up a macaron, "It's peppermint. And he even put sprinkles within. It's for Christmas and all." She gestured to the tiny red and white sprinkles in between the white macaron.

"I love it!" He gushed.

They spent a while eating and talking till they finally exhausted the macarons in the tray. She moved to place the now empty tray back on the table before walking back to sit next to him. This time she sat a lot closer.

To which he was extremely grateful for. He loved the warmth of her body.

"So I haven't asked, but how's your dress going?" He asked willing to stretch the conversation between them. "Yes, but no. Just a few more touches and I'm done."

Catnoir was even more grateful when she leaned down to rest on his shoulder, the closer the better. "I can't wait to see you wearing it, I'm sure you'll look beautiful as always, the dress would just be a bonus."

Not wanting to read too much into his casual flattery, she laughed to brush it off, "You're too much, really."

He moved his hand to snake around her waist and was beyond ecstatic when she didn't complain. Instead she snuggled more into him. She yawned, her eyelids drooping. He understood that she might have been sleepy from their late out the previous night so he didn't say anything more si she could actually rest.

After a while, he felt her drop completely against him along with her tiny little snores. He looked down at her to find her asleep. He couldn't tear his eyes of her. She was still beautiful even when she was asleep. Her brows relaxed and her whole demeanor looked peaceful. He almost did not want to ever move from that spot. He would gladly send forever staring at her.

After staring at her for what would be fitting to call forever, he finally carefully removed her head from his shoulder and carefully let her rest on the chaise.

Then he stood up so he could properly loft her up in his arms. When he carried her, she stirred lightly and leaned into him even more.

He tried to control the rumble that she was about to draw out of him. He climbed up the stairs to her bed and as carefully as he could, placed her on the bed. He took of her shoes and then spread the covers over her. He took an extra minute to stare at her as she slept. He really didn't want to go.

He really really didn't want to go. So he decided to sit for a moment longer to just stare at her, occasionally brushing her hair out of her face so he could see her face properly. Gosh, she was too beautiful.

After what seemed like another eternity, he finally decided it was time to go, he didn't want to be too creepy. He leaned down 5i place a kiss on her forehead before finally standing up.

He could see a smile form on her lips and her cheeks slightly tint. How much more adorable could she get?

Before he could change his mind, he turned away to leave. Not wanting to disturb her, he decided to go out through the window. He opened it and felt the cold breeze blow in and after an extra second, he jumped out into the night.

The window he left behind did not stay closed.