Chapter 31 – Promise

It was a quiet cry, soft and delicate, but Ladybug's tears still sent Cat Noir into a panic. Did he do something wrong? Was being Adrien wrong? Had she not wanted to know his identity yet? He tried to pull her in, tuck her into his chest, and give her the same comfort she'd given him, but she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned him back until he could see the smile below the tears.

"You really are the man of my dreams!" And then she was hugging him, burrowing into his arms. "I can't believe I fell in love with you twice!"

Her words were hot on his neck and shot straight through to his heart, and suddenly he was the one pulling her closer.

"Actually," she said, "I can believe it. You're amazing. Can we be together now?"

Of course. Definitely. Absolutely. But all he could manage was a weak, "Yes."

"Promise?" She squeezed him tighter.

It was like his mouth wouldn't work right. Words wanted to spill out of him so fast he had to fight to keep them in order. "I promise. Together forever." His voice broke on the last word, and he realized with a little embarrassment that she wasn't the only one crying.

"You're just as bad as I am," Ladybug teased, even as she wiped at his cheek with her thumb.

"Further proof that we're made for each other."

"Like you needed any more reasons." She flicked his bell.

He kissed her this time – forty-two, forty-three – slow and steady, until the kisses melted into each other, without beginning or ending. His lips hardly left hers before he was kissing her again.

It was several more minutes before they parted. Cat Noir felt as calm and quiet as the night around them. "I'd be honored to walk you home," he murmured into her hair. "In fact..." He pulled back suddenly, watching with delight as Ladybug's arms reached out after him. "I can do better than that."

In one fluid motion, he extended his baton over the road and created a rail-thin bridge to her balcony.

"May I?" he asked, holding out his arms for her.

"You're such a goof." Ladybug giggled again, blushing, and slipped her arms around his neck. When he picked her up bridal style, she snuggled into him with her head on his shoulder. Ladybug would never behave that way, but Marinette would, and was amazed all over again that this was Marinette, and that she felt this way about him.

He waited until no cars with curious drivers were passing by beneath them, then stepped off the roof and tiptoed across the gap. Ladybug closed her eyes, trusting him to get her home safely.

It was easy to hop over her railing, and difficult to let her go, and almost impossible to stay upright as he watched Ladybug transform back into Marinette for the first time. He barely registered a kwami diving through a skylight to give them privacy. The girl in front of him held his entire attention.

And yet he was still caught off guard when she pushed up on her toes and kissed him suddenly. "I love you, Adrien."

Cat Noir hummed happily as he ran his fingers through her pigtails. "So, I'll see you at school on Monday?"

"Can you come by sooner than that?" she asked. She tilted her head, a coy smile creeping across her face. "I don't want to miss my boyfriend for the whole weekend."

At the word "boyfriend," it really was impossible to stay upright, and his hands flailed until they found the railing to support him.

Marinette started to grin, obviously delighted with this newfound power to knock him off his feet, and she pushed forward. "I don't want to be lonely without you," she said, leaning into his space. Cat Noir knew he had to regain some control over the situation before she wrecked him. Well, wrecked him even more than she already had.

"Well, you won't have to be," he croaked. He'd meant it to come out smooth and confident. "There'll probably be an akuma tomorrow. I'll see you then." And suddenly, his feet were on her railing and he was getting ready to jump away, when he felt a tug on his middle. Turning around, he saw the end of his tail looped around Marinette's fist, holding him in place.

"Don't go yet!"

"But it's late and I need my beauty sleep," he complained. "I don't look this hot on accident, you know."

Her eyes flicked down and just as quickly up again, and then away as soon as she realized she'd been caught. As soon as he hopped off the balcony, Marinette shifted her hold, releasing his tail in favor of locking her arms around him. "Good thing I like you for more than just your looks then." She was still staring at a spot on his shoulder, cheeks red.

"How long are you going to keep me prisoner?" he asked. Not that he minded in the slightest. A blushing Marinette squeezing herself around him, encasing him in her affection? He didn't mind at all.

"Until you lose count of how many kisses I've given you," she said, finally looking at him. Well, at his mouth.

"I hope you're ready to be out here all night then, because I'm going to count very, very carefully." Cat Noir leaned in.

"I'd better get started then." And she closed the gap.

Author's note: He definitely lost count before he went home, but he kept making up numbers as an excuse not to leave. Marinette saw through this charade almost immediately but didn't call him on it because she wanted more kissies.

This was actually the last Ladynoir July prompt, but you're getting one more chapter to tie everything together. :D