Chapter 17 – Catch/Fall
"Sorry," he said, loosening his grip again and waiting for her to slide her hand away.
Except she didn't.
She merely frowned at him while she kept her hand resting on his chin. Their fingers were still intertwined.
"Um," he said, confused, "did you want me to stop doing this?" He lifted up their clasped hands, wiggling them.
She turned away and whispered, "I don't know."
She... she didn't know?! How could she not know? Did that mean- What did that mean? That she kind of wanted him to?
"Are you-?"
"We're lucky to see this many stars tonight, aren't we?" she said loudly, turning to face the sky.
She sounded nervous, which was a reaction he'd never gotten out of her before. If a change of topic was what she needed to feel comfortable, then he'd let her change it. He shifted their hands close to his face again, experimentally. She said nothing.
"I think that might have something to do with you, Lady Luck," Cat Noir said. He kissed her hand quickly.
"You think so? In that case-" she cleared her throat and addressed the sky- "I wish we could see more stars."
A streak of light sailed through the sky. Ladybug oohed as it passed, and Cat Noir pretended to snatch it out of the sky, then closed his fist tightly around it.
"Your wish is my command," he said, opening his hand in front of her face.
She giggled, a lovely sound. "Why, thank you!" She plucked nothing off of his palm and held it up to admire it. "It's beautiful!"
She kind of wants me to.
"Almost as beautiful as you."
"Shameless flirt." Ladybug nudged his shoulder with hers.
"Only with you."
Instead of brushing him off, she hummed, and went back to admiring the sky.
So... she wants me to?
"If your wish doesn't work, I promise to get you more stars," he said.
"I'd like to see you try."
"Oh, a challenge! You wish to test my love for you? So be it."
Ladybug pursed her lips at the word "love."
"So do you want me to do this or not?" He kissed her hand again, letting his lips linger over her this time.
She shifted uncomfortably, but her grip on his fingers tightened. "I haven't decided."
"I think you want me to." He kissed her fingertips. One by one.
"I just said I didn't know yet!"
"Then why haven't you asked me to stop? If the answer was no, you would have told me so a long time ago." He emphasized his point with a kiss on her palm, then met her eyes, daring her to push him away. She just stared back.
Where there had once been doubt and confusion in Cat Noir's mind, there was now growing certainty and joy. "You're falling for me," he whispered. "Deny it."
"Kitty-"
"Deny it." He waited ten pounding heartbeats in her silence, then asked, "You can't, can you?"
She shook her head, eyes closed.
Had he ever known happiness before this moment? Every other good thing that had ever happened to him faded next to the euphoria that little movement caused. "I promise I'll be there to catch you."
"I still don't know. I... I can't give you an answer yet."
"So don't." He'd been waiting for so long. He could wait a little longer, if that's what she needed. "But know I'll be here for you, whatever you decide."
Author's note: You would not believe how bad this and the previous chapter were before I fixed them. They were so bad. Like, embarrassingly bad. But as the saying goes, "There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting," so I guess that's okay. Anyway, this chapter should be the last of the short-chapter-that-should-actually-be-one-scene chapters. Almost every one after this will be a normal length, I think. So tune in next week to read about Marinette brushing her hair! Very exciting.