"I like you."
This wasn't exactly how she planned it to be. Admittedly, whenever this situation occurred, it was rarely ever planned. But Marinette hadn't even meant to bring it up, let along blurt it out unfiltered. She had the newfound feeling of wanting to jump out the window in shame, or at the very least hide her face but, 1. She couldn't even move and 2. Chat's expression held her in place.
"I- sorry, no, uh, just. I mean not no, but like no. Don't, just ignore… everything. I'm just, uh sorry. Well- I did mean but not to blurt it out or like, yeah like that." Marinette wanted to actually zip her lips. God did it have an off button today? The black-haired girl went full on red as Chat Noir gave no change in expression.
Originally, they had been looking at pictures Alya had posted on the LadyBlog. Bad news was that the pictures were the ones taken weeks back of them at the park. Good news is Alya made the pictures really blurry so no one knew it was her. Chat Noir had mused over the fact they really looked like a couple and Marinette, who was increasingly getting nervous, blurted out those three words. She truly had no idea she was going to say them. Not for nothing, Alya had been encouraging her to tell him something but more so in a gentle way, not just dropping it like a bomb and then running away, which she was so considering right now. God, if her best friend could see her now, she'd groan and melt into the ground. Unsurprisingly, Marinette's life had taken a turn to disaster.
"You...do?" Chat Noir finally said. Marinette didn't know what to say.
"Um, yeah." She said way too quickly.
A wide smile grew on his face. "I like you too!" He said excitedly. Wait, wait wait...what? Well, this was unexpected.
"Re-really?" Marinette asked, feeling the deadweight lift off her chest. He nodded enthusiastically.
"I thought it was obvious!" He lamented with a laugh.
Marinette blinked once. "Obvious?" She repeated.
"Yeah, I mean I hugged you at the park. And said you loved me. And that we'd be great parents. And I like being around you. And I literally just talked about how we look like a happy couple." Chat explained.
Marinette almost stumbled back. Okay so maybe he wasn't being subtle, but Marinette had not picked up on those cues. Alya probably did, those smirks everytime someone brought up Chat Noir were sneakily directed towards her. "Well, I guess I'm oblivious. I mean I've been told I am." Marinette said, a bit uneasily. Quite honestly, her brain was grappling with the fact that someone actually liked her back. And that someone being Chat Noir.
"So do we start dating or something?" Chat asked bluntly. Marinette wished she had some water so she could spit it out the way people do in movies.
"Uh, well some people do that." Marinette said, feeling her face getting warm. Chat however, seemed to have no shame. Though, she already knew that.
"Okay, so we're dating!" He announced happily, rushing up to her and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
As much as this made her giddy with joy, Marinette did not want to be moving this fast without a plan. "Yeah, sure. But we need to talk about it first." Marinette said, not even trying to hide her grin when seeing Chat's excited expression when he pulled back.
"Talk about what?"
"Us dating."
"Why? Movies don't do that."
"Those are movies Chat. You're a superhero with a secret identity, that's going to be an obstacle.
Was Marinette about to admit that she was also a superhero with a secret identity and the superhero he had been in love with for quite some time now? Actually, it nearly came out of her mouth. She'd probably have to talk to Tikki and see to what extent they can push it to. There was no way Marinette was going to hide such a huge thing from her now boyfriend, cue Marinette's internal screaming, without fighting to make it right.
"How are we going to do this?" Marinette asked. Chat Noir had let go of her but stayed by her side.
"Uhhh, no idea. Are you okay with this being, like public and all?" He asked, scratching his neck and looking down towards the ground.
Marinette thought for a second. She had nothing against everyone in the world knowing, but like he had told Alya, publicly being involved with a superhero with an active nemesis? Not the smartest idea in the world. And if she was captured, there would be no Ladybug to keep Chat Noir from doing rash things.
"As much as I would love it, I don't think telling everyone is a good idea. Hawkmoth is still out there, w-you guys have yet to find him and right now I doubt you guys can afford a civilian link." Marinette wanted to scream when she nearly tripped up on her words.
Chat didn't seem to notice though, thank god. "Right. That would be a bad idea." He said. "So, we just keep it quiet then? Like how it is now?" Chat Noir asked. Marinette nodded.
"Sure." She didn't really know what to do either so lowkey was totally fine with her.
Marinette climbed up onto her bed, followed by Chat. "You know, Alya said you were basically my cat." She said with a laugh. Chat Noir didn't seem to disagree.
"Technically, I am now." He said almost smugly.
Marinette blushed, right. They were dating. Oh my god, why did those words sound so foriegn? Probably had something to do with the fact that she'd never had a boyfriend before. "You seriously act like a cat sometimes. Remember when you started hissing?" Marinette teased him playfully. Chat Noir buried his face into one of her many pillows.
"Don't tell Alya." He said, sounding muffled.
Marinette giggled and patted his head. "Not unless you make me mad." She promised. He groaned into the pillow.
"What are your parents going to say? To us dating again?"
"Um, well I think my dad is going to scream. And my mom is probably going to be chill."
"Hopefully we don't repeat history."
"Yeah let's not."
They fell into a comfortable silence. Marinette scrolled through Instagram while Chat Noir decided to take a little cat nap. His limbs automatically drew in and his eyes closed, head lulling nearby Marinette's shoulder. Softly he began to purr, the noise was low and wouldn't have been audible if it weren't for the quiet room.
"You're purring." Marinette said softly, a fond smile appeared on her lips. Now this was a cat thing she'd witnessed before, years ago as Ladybug. She knew he purred when he was content.
"I am?" He asked, completely embarrassed. Marinette nodded and laughed a bit. "It's adorable." She promised him. That seemed to be an answer that satisfied him. His eyes were allowed to close once more and the purring resumed. To her, it sounded like a white noise machine and Marinette was getting sleepy too.
Yeah, maybe she hadn't planned on getting a cat, or gone to a pet adoption center. Or did anything normal to get a feline house pet. But here she was, with a cat, albeit they were actually a human. But that didn't matter. As cat-like as Chat Noir was, his heart was as human as can be. And that was also Marinette's.