After their bout Adrien tried to spend all his free time around Marinette. He would wake early so he could walk over to the bakery before she left for school. At first, she had been nervous and stuttered through every sentence, but lately he thought that he was making progress with her. She had even begun teasing him as he wistfully had watched her do with everyone else.
He didn't realize that his feelings were so engaged until Ladybug called him out. "You seem a million miles away, Kitty. What are you thinking about so hard?"
He blushed furiously, realizing that he had been thinking about the way Marinette laughed at a dumb joke he had made earlier that day. He was hoping to play it off, but Ladybug was annoyingly observant.
"Oh my. That is adorable, Kitty. It seems to me that you are thinking about a girl."
He glared at her and tried to ignore her tone but ignoring her only made her tease him more.
"You ARE! Who is the damsel who has caused my Kitty's distress?"
"Ha ha. Like I would tell you…" he paused sighing at his lapse. "I meant, there isn't a damsel, and I'm not in distress."
"Ooo, you've got it bad! I've never seen you like this. You really like her, huh?"
"I can't talk to you about this."
She looked stricken at that, and he felt like a heel. She tried to backtrack with, "I didn't mean to…"
"No, Milady, you didn't do anything wrong. I don't mind the teasing, I just don't…" He sighed in frustration. "I can't explain it right. Just give me a couple more weeks, and I'll be able to breathe fully again."
"You have a plan to sweep this girl off her feet?"
She sounded worried. He looked up at her finally. Yeah, worried. "I do. Is that a problem?"
"Of course it isn't, Kitty. You deserve happiness. I mean that with my whole heart. Just don't forget your friends, ok? They would miss you terribly if you just stopped talking to them because you are busy with your girlfriend."
"Umm, ok? I promise to keep up with my other friends. Now can we please talk about anything else."
Ladybug still looked unsure, but she allowed the subject change.
He had left soon after. The conversation had coursed over multiple subjects, but none of them could keep his interest for long. His thoughts continued to be drawn to the bakery across town where his Marinette might still be awake.
He landed on the balcony without really noticing the time, but Marinette was still awake. When she popped her head up, he was confused by her expression. She looked relieved. "Good evening, Princess!"
"Kitty! I'm so glad to see you. It's been awhile, you know."
He scrubbed his hand on the back of his neck. Ladybug was always right, he thought annoyed. It hadn't occurred to him that he had been spending all his time with Marinette, but she would only think that she was spending time with Adrien.
He smiled sweetly. He desperately desired this beautiful, sweet girl, and it broke his heart a little at how concerned she was. "Sorry, I've been distracted lately."
"Distracted, huh? Who is this 'distraction'? Anyone I know?"
"Superhero secret, obviously. I couldn't tell you about my fair beauty without giving away my secret identity. So, uh, what have you been doing lately?"
"Just spending as much time as possible with my friends before I get busy again. I'm in between commissions, but as Fall edges in, I'll start getting requests for Christmas. It can be a little overwhelming, and it can get a little lonely, but I've almost saved enough for University… well enough as long as I continue living at home." She ended on a nervous laugh. Does she think I would judge her for having to live at home through Uni?
"Well if you ever need company while you are working on projects, just text me. I'll come and bug you while you work!"
"Is your distraction going to be ok with you spending time with me? Especially this late at night and alone no less!"
"That might be a good point, but I really don't think she'd mind. She doesn't know who I am yet, of course, but I am planning on telling her soon. Then I'll be able to tell her that we are friends."
"She's not the jealous type, I hope. I imagine that telling her who you are is going to bring up a lot of questions about your relationship with Ladybug. I hope you are prepared to answer those."
"Oh, I actually hadn't thought about that." Crap, how do I explain that? I might as well start now. "I know it's hard to tell from the outside, but my relationship with Ladybug has changed a lot over the last year. She and I are just friends, best friends, but it won't ever be more." He looked deep into her eyes, a gesture he wasn't sure would register for her, but it was a promise that he needed to make. "I have found someone who makes me feel whole, almost like a piece of me was missing that she held all along, and I will protect that no matter what. I think she'll understand that I will always have to protect Ladybug, I don't think I could physically stop myself from trying to protect her. But, my heart belongs to her."
Marinette looked stunned and almost like she was going to cry. "Kitty…" she hesitated while she collected her thoughts. She cleared her throat a little and said, "That's beautiful. I know that Ladybug would be touched that you consider your friendship to be vital."
He thought through the words, but it just seemed weird to him. "And you? You know how important your friendship is to me, right?"
She smiled and replied easily, "Yes, I'm touched that you consider my friendship to be vital too."
This is too serious for this late at night! "What about you? I heard that Boy Wonder was impressed at your fencing skills."
She blushed prettily. "I think so. We've been hanging out a lot lately." She became thoughtful again. After a moment, she continued delicately, "I hope you know that wasn't why I asked you to teach me."
"Not to impress a boy? Really, Princess! I know you better than that. Though I never really stopped to think about your motives." He raised his eyebrows expectantly.
"Yeah, well… I want to be able to protect myself," she said with a slight emphasis, "and a friend of mine suggested fencing. Actually, you know her: Kagami. You know, Ryuko?"
"She suggested that you ask me to teach you to fence." He repeated carefully. "Does she know you and I are friends?"
"No no, nothing like that. She actually told me to ask my friend Adrien, but I wanted to really learn, not get distracted like staring at my teacher or something."
He smiled slyly. "Oh really! That's interesting."
She rolled her eyes at him, and he was a little disappointed that she hadn't blushed. Though he was glad that she was comfortable around him as Cat Noir. "ANYWAY… a friend and I are going to start taking combat slash self-defense classes. There are a lot of them to try out since Akumas are constantly interrupting everyday life."
"Ooo, I'd pay good money to see that!" He pretended to think for a second, tapping his finger on his chin then snapping his fingers as if he had come up with a brilliant plan. "You should ask the Boy Wonder to join!"
"Why? I mean, I'm doing a women's only class anyway, but why would you suggest I invite Adrien?" She seemed suspicious of his motives, and he had really given her too many hints. It was time to go home before he ruined his 'master plan for wooing Marinette'.
"Oh obviously, only if you wanted to. I'm pretty happy these days, and I want all of my friends to be this happy too." He winked at her (mostly to distract her from thinking about it too hard) and walked towards her balcony stairs. "Well, I'm off to have a cat nap before school. You obviously don't need beauty sleep, but I hope you will get some rest anyway!"
"Flirt!"
He chuckled and winked again. "Goodnight, Princess!"