Author's note: Thanks for the review!

/

Marinette is easy to talk to. She's just someone who inspires confidence and radiates warmth. If anything, there's a danger of excess confiding in the girl. As such, Adrien's heart is surprisingly light as he approaches her a few days later. She greets him as she always does, with a wonderful smile and a gentle kiss on the lips. He feels himself breathing just that little bit easier.

If it's Adrien and Marinette who meet up, it's Cat Noir and Ladybug who settle on a rooftop. The sun is out and heats the tin roofs of the building. The golden haired teen lies there, his head resting on his companion's lap, allowing her to run a hand through his locks mindlessly. The girl watches the city. It's all quiet, just the way that both of them like it. The local authorities can deal with most of the smaller stuff, so there's no need for Paris' heroes to get involved. He even drifts off for a few moments, feeling as safe as he is comfortable.

His girlfriend isn't particularly inclined to disturb him, figuring that if anything particular is on his mind, he'll mention it.

Up here though, he doesn't want to think about anything. He just wants to be content and he is. He doesn't need anything. There's nobody to bother or pester him. He feels loved. From time to time, they might engage in some idle chatter about classmates or their future. The end of year exams are drawing ever closer after all. Adrien doesn't particularly want to think about them either though, not right now. Instead, he stretches out and lets out a gentle sigh:

"I could spend forever up here." He declares eyes shut still basking in the sun.

"You'd get hungry." Ladybug chuckles with amusement. "I give it until sundown before you were looking for a macaroon."

"Well, your bakery's not far." He can't quite remember. It's surprisingly easily to loose track of just where they are up here but it's a few blocks at most.

"Is that some kind of a hint?"

He opens one eye to look up at her. She meets him with a coy, if slightly teasing smile. As comfortable as the tin roof is, he's rather tempted to take her up on the offer.

A conversation from a few days ago comes back to mind and he hesitates. There are two options open to him: obedience and honesty or freedom and trickery. Naturally, Plagg has been pushing him for the latter. He's Cat Noir, he can sneak out if he wants to easily. All he needs is an open window. There are many in the mansion. He can do whatever he likes behind the mask, only three people will ever know it's him and more importantly, not the one that counts.

"It's not like she'd ever know." His kwami reminds him, floating nearby. "You're not some dog on a leash."

"She just freaked out Plagg." Adrien reminds his partner, engaging in a playful tug of war with Macaroon for an old piece of rope. "It happens."

"So, you're going to give up on Marinette just because your mother asked you to?!" Plagg is as incredulous as he is appalled.

"Of course not!" Adrien snaps back defensively, the very notion is insulting. "She just said that I couldn't spend the night round there, that's all."

"It starts small..." Is all the kwami has to say before returning to the seemingly far more interesting Camembert.

Plagg is a troublemaker. It's in his blood, his very being. He's the kwami of destruction after all. As such, Adrien is more inclined to ignore what he has to say about the subject.

He reasons that it's just another thing that came as a shock to the woman. She's got a lot to get used to. The fact that he's got a serious girlfriend is just another one such thing. In a month or so, maybe after his birthday, he'll bring the subject up once more and talk about when he's certain that the woman has a cool head. In the time being, he'll just have to be a little less intimate with Marinette. He's confident that she'll understand:

"Can't. Mom's not too keen on the idea..."

"Oh, okay… Hang on." It's not quite a double-take so much as an entirely new evaluation of the situation that the girl gradually partakes in. "Wait. What?!"

"When I came back from our place on Sunday, mom, she wasn't all that happy." Adrien recalls averting his gaze for a moment. "I think she'd been arguing with Nathalie about it and I don't want them fighting."

Marinette stares at him. Her concern is clear and to what he knows will be his shame later on, he turns away in an attempt to perhaps not ignore her but at the very least silently inform the teen that he doesn't want to go down this path.

It would seem that talking about his troubles only seems to make them worse. It drags up unpleasant memories, forces him to confront truths he would rather remain buried. In response, the tenderness ceases, it's Marinette's way of letting him know that she's expecting answers. He lets out a sigh but sits up, swinging his legs round so that they dangle next to hers. His shoulders are heavy again. He lets out a sigh, unsure where to begin.

"What's it to her what we do? It's our lives!"

"She's just a little overprotective, that's all… It's a lot to get through her head." Adrien struggles to find the right words to explain it. "Me and Nathalie… We're still going behind her back a lot, so… She's bound to get worked up. I know I would."

"Yeah but… I'm not sure she has a right to-" Marinette shakes her head suddenly, growing somewhat irritated. "You wouldn't take it from Nathalie."

"Nathalie would never ask me to-"

"Exactly."

Adrien averts his gaze once more. Over the years, Nathalie's been surprisingly lenient. More often that not, she lets him do what he wants. They've only ever clashed on a handful occasions and never over anything serious. She keeps out of his relationship with Marinette. He's been warned that she doesn't want to find herself babysitting for a good few years yet but asides from that, either the woman doesn't care or more likely she actually trusts him. He's grown somewhat accustomed to the freedom, almost forgetting what his life used to be like.

His mother's different, she's much more inclined to become invested in what he's doing for better and for worse. He likes the way that she takes an interest in where he is and who he's with, she actually memorizes their names which is more than his father tended to do. On the other hand, there is a slight fear in the back of his mind that every time something bothers her, she's going to try and ensure that it's rectified.

Marinette seems to sense how things are troubling him, she places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes slightly:

"Adrien, you can't let things go back to how they were." Her resolve is firm, the tone leaves no room for debate. "It'll kill you."

"I know that..." The teen's voice trails off. "It's just- I lost her Ladybug, now I've got her back. I'm afraid I'm going to make some sort of cagade. I can't lose her again..."

His companion doesn't say anything. Instead, she rests her head against his shoulder. He hesitates a few moments before leaning against her himself, taking some comfort from her presence. The city is beautiful. His heart feels heavy however and no matter how much warmth comes from Marinette, it isn't quite enough to fill the hole and to drown out the doubt which has settled inside of him. She can sense that sometimes. It's as if she can tune in to whatever frequency he operates on and realize just what's on his mind.

"Whatever happens Kitty, you know I'm here for you. Just… Don't let things go too far."