Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Chapter 19,
"Oh! This sweater is so soft!" Cat Noir said, holding it up to his face and nuzzled it in a very catlike manner.
"I swear Cat Noir, you're treating that sweater like a blanket." Marinette said.
"Then I better treat this blanket like a sweater." Cat Noir said, picking up the blanket and wrapping it around his shoulders. This simple act made Marinette laugh.
"If I didn't know any better, I would think that you love these gifts more then Adrien ever could." Marinette commented and Cat Noir paused.
"You know, I think it's rather sweet that you made all of these presents for Adrien." Cat Noir said and Marinette blinked.
"You do?" Marinette asked and he nodded.
"Well, you guys are still in high school. It's kinda nice to know you genuinely expect to spend the next 50 years by someone's side." Cat Noir said. Marinette tucked some hair behind her ear to help hide the fact that she was blushing a little.
"I'm surprised to hear that reaction from a guy." Marinette admitted.
"Guys and girls are a lot alike, you know." Cat Noir said and Marinette shrugged.
"Yeah, no, I know. It's just, when guys see their guy friend obsess over a girl, they see it as normal. When girls see their girl friend obsess over a guy, we see it as normal. It's just, when a girl see a guy obsess or a guy sees a girl obsess, signals get crossed and they think it's creepy." Marinette said.
"Well... I guess that happens more often then not... but I don't think these gifts are creepy." Cat Noir said and Marinette sighed softly.
"Well, I have 500 pictures of him I need to throw out, and I have a projector sized version of his schedule I can retract from the roof there, I also make him a passion fruit macaroon once a week just in case I get the opportunity to give it to him... I don't suppose there's a chance you like passion fruit?" Marinette asked, pulling the carefully wrapped macaroon from her little purse.
"Actually I do." Cat Noir said and Marinette handed him the dessert.
"Here, I hope you like it." Marinette said with a small smile and Cat Noir blinked.
"It's beautiful; but are you sure I can have it?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette nodded.
"I'm sure, Cat. I don't think I'll be making them for a while. I would like this one to be enjoyed instead of thrown away." Marinette said and Cat Noir smiled warmly. He gently unwrapped the macaroon and took a bite.
"Mmm, wow." Cat Noir said and Marinette exhaled in relief.
"Oh thank goodness. I was worried that it wasn't very good." Marinette said and Cat Noir rose an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Wait, you've made this macaroon for how long, and you're worried it wasn't good?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette rolled her eyes.
"Well, of course I thought it was good and my parents thought they were good- but it's not the same. Adrien has a personal chef who could probably make him great passion fruit macaroons. His chef could probably have fresh passion fruits plucked from the passiflora edulis plants deep in the tropical forests and flown directly to his kitchen, to make the world's greatest macaroons; while I try to do my homework and work on my fashion designs and help my friends and fight... er..." Marinette froze as she struggled to say anything that didn't involve Hawk Moth.
"Germs and diseases. I mean it's hard to become the world's greatest fashion designer when you're sick all the time." Marinette said and Cat Noir smiled at her.
"I suppose that's true. At least you're in a great town for fashion. I mean you get to live in the same city as your favorite fashion designer." Cat Noir said and Marinette smirked.
"Sure I do, but do you remember his name?" Marinette tested, sitting beside Cat Noir with eyes that challenged him.
"Easy, Gabriel Agreste." Cat Noir said with a smirk, and he turned his head towards Marinette.
"You told me that yesterday, did you think... that I... forgot?" Cat Noir blushed when he noticed how close their faces were. They were so close that they could feel each other's warm breath on their skin.
Cat Noir glanced down at Marinette's soft lips; and when he looked back into her eyes, he saw that she was looking at his lips as well. Both teens sat there, too nervous to lean in for the kiss they both wanted. Heartbeats grew louder and harder until it's vibrations physically rocked their bodies, ever so subtly. It's unclear if one or both moved forward, but somehow their noses caressed each other and their warm fog was replaced with panic. They quickly looked away from each other with cherry red faces.
"Forgot? Who you? No, I didn't expect you to forget." Marinette said, standing up.
"Not to say I expect you to remember everything I tell you. I mean it happens, you are human after all- Not to disregard you as a hero or anything, because you are important- Not to imply that people think you aren't important! Though some see you as a sidekick instead of a hero- Not that I do! I-I think you're- Woah!" Marinette tried to walk away, but she tripped over a present and fell over. When she fell, she knocked over a tower of empty boxes they piled up and they toppled over and buried her. Cat Noir gasped and picked the boxes off her.
"Marinette, are you ok?" He asked and Marinette giggled nervously when she sat up.
"No- I mean, yes, I mean... heh, I'm ok." Marinette said as she felt herself calming down.
"I think this is the last gift." Cat Noir said, picking it up off of the ground and opening it. It was a very nice looking watch that had a symbol in the face of the watch. He saw this symbol on a few of the gifts, but he didn't focus on it until now. I was a large capital A, with a small capital G in the middle. At first he though the G was a C because it lined up so perfectly with the A.
"'A.G.' is for Adrien Agreste?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette nodded.
"I know Agreste starts with another A, but I thought A.G. was better then A.A., you know." Marinette said and Cat Noir nodded.
"I guess that would be less confusing." Cat Noir said.
"I was thinking that Adrien might want to run his own business one day, and he could use this symbol for his company. Of course, if he was happy and content with staying a model, then I would use this symbol to create an Adrien fashion line." Marinette said and Cat Noir smiled.
"You know... I think you should give this one to Adrien." Cat Noir said and Marinette hesitated.
"I don't know. That was his present for his 40th birthday, I don't know if he would like this now." Marinette said and Cat Noir shrugged.
"I think he would like it more then the kids." Cat Noir said. Marinette took the box out of his hands and gazed at the watch for a moment.
"I'll think about it." Marinette said, when she realized Cat Noir was right. She put the watch on her desk and she glanced at her desk chair.
Suddenly she remembered telling Cat Noir about how she fell in love with Adrien. But then she realized something very important about that conversation that she didn't notice before. Yesterday she said 'I was still upset about the gum'... she never expanded on that. And yet Cat Noir responded with 'it wouldn't be ridiculous to think he put the gum on your seat'...
How did Cat Noir know that the gum was on her seat if she didn't tell him? Unless... he was in the room when it happened. But that could only mean that Cat Noir was one of her classmates!
"Are you ok, Marinette?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette whipped around and smiled.
"I'm fine, Cat Noir." Marinette said, trying not to think about it. She didn't want to figure out Cat Noir's secret identity, only to be his friend. Besides, she's probably mistaken about Cat Noir being a classmate of hers anyways. The odds of Ladybug and Cat Noir attending the same school, in the same grade, and the same class were so low, the notion was almost laughable.
"When are you gonna take this stuff to the kids, then?" Cat Noir asked.
"As soon as you help me pack it all up and give me a lift." Marinette said, just barely biting her lip. Cat Noir blinked at the subtle flirtatious way she said this and smiled.
"Well, all you had to do was ask." Cat Noir said as he started collecting the gifts.
"I knew I could count on you." Marinette said. She reached over and lovingly scratched Cat Noir's chin until he purred softly.
"Thanks, kitty." She half-whispered before grabbing a basket. Cat Noir gazed at her with half-lidded eyes, simply trying to memorize how beautiful she looked.