Author's Note: This one's probably better than yesterday's. I slipped some Marichat in for fun :)

Chapter 6

-Chat Noir

Maybe she was home by now. Chat hoped she was, he wanted to talk to her, to see if she was okay. It was already hard enough that she'd seemed to disappear from class. And after she'd burst at the end of school, he'd just known something was wrong. That's why he'd chewed out Alya and Nino. As he quietly leapt across the buildings, he saw the lights on around her balcony. Hopefully she was home. He landed swiftly on the railing and bent to knock on her little hatch. Chat heard her gentle footsteps, and after a moment, she appeared out of the hatch. "Hello Chat." She smiled warmly. Chat felt a wave of relief sweep over him, she was okay right now.

"Good evening, purr-incess," Chat smiled back, "Are you doing okay? I heard you had a rough day at school." Marinette's face fell a little, but she still seemed willing to talk. "I'm all right. Doing better now. Things are somewhat improving." She avoided eye contact a little, but when she looked at Chat, she seemed as though she was looking for something. There was still sadness in her blue eyes. Chat found himself staring a little at her and averted his gaze a little before turning back to her, "I want to take you somewhere Princess," he blurted. She turned her head a little. "Where?" Chat found himself extending his hand and repeating the same phrase, "Do you trust me?" Just as before, his princess accepted his hand and he held her close as they vaulted off into Paris.

Chat brought her to the edge of the river, a quiet little bench in the moonlight on a smaller bridge. The water was shining with the faint lights of the city, and above their heads, a crescent moon lit the sky with the help of an army of stars. "It's beautiful Chat." Marinette smiled. "There we go, I got a good one out." Chat laughed. Marinette tossed his comment aside and continued to look out at the river. "Are you going to take Ladybug here?" She asked him. Chat shrugged, "That's a pretty good idea. Maybe I will someday." Marinette seemed to relax a little before she asked, "How are you and Ladybug doing? I heard you two stopped another akuma today." Chat nodded, "Yeah, we beat another villain today." Without realizing it, a dreamy look spread across his face. "Chat?" Marinette's voice brought him back to reality. "What did she say? You kind of dazed off." Chat looked at the water, leaning against the railing of the bridge, "She said I have a chance. I know it still might not happen, but she gave me an answer. There's. . ." "Hope," Marinette finished, smiling brightly at Chat. "Chat, that's great. You've been so patient. I hope she chooses you." "Thanks, princess." Chat answered, his voice trailing off a little bit. They didn't speak for a while, they just looked out at the water in silence, each distracted with similar thoughts.

-Marinette

It was starting to get late, but Marinette wasn't ready to leave. It was peaceful and welcoming here with Chat, and he was accepting of her. After a while, Chat moved a step closer to Marinette and put an arm around her. She could feel his heart beating as quickly as hers and when she turned her head, his green eyes were staring off like they were looking for something. A similar look that Adrien had sometimes in class. She wondered what had happened to Chat that made him so pained to have the same look Adrien had. Had it been her (Ladybug's) constant rejection and secrets? Was his sadness her fault? Marinette felt a sinking in her stomach. "I'm sorry," She whispered, barely speaking the words. But Chat's ears picked up her words. "For what?" he asked. "For whatever is making you hurt." She answered. He made a sad little smile. "I'm okay, Princess. I'm happy right where I am." He hugged her a little closer and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Chat." Marinette breathed, "thanks for being here for me."

It was almost 10 at night when Chat set Marinette down on her balcony again. "Thanks Chat." She smiled as he stood to leave again, "Good luck with Ladybug!" she waved as he extended his baton and took off for home. She watched him go, and as he disappeared into the night, Tiki zoomed out of her purse. "That was interesting, Marinette." She said softly. She zipped back down into Marinette's room and emerged with Marinette's diary. "I think you need to write everything down so you can make your decision." she encouraged. Marinette nodded and took the little book. She reclined on the chair out on her balcony and tried to write everything down, with Tiki helping her recall all the important details.

-Adrien-

She was okay. She was doing better. His Princess was going to be all right. Adrien exhaled a sigh of relief as he sat down to finish the rest of his homework. "You've got a serious issue, kid." Plagg whined as he scooped up another piece of cheese. "What are you talking about?" Adrien said innocently, "I just went to go comfort a friend. Don't get so worked up about it." Plagg flew over and sat on Adrien's shoulder. "You're fighting a war with yourself, Romeo." Plagg bugged him. Adrien finished the next math problem and tried to ignore his kwami's demands. "I mean seriously. This whole thing you're doing is flat out crazy." Adrien sighed and tipped his head back on the couch. "I'm fighting a war Plagg," Adrien said, "But I think I'm winning a battle."

-Marinette

School. Again. But hopefully today would be better. She got an early start for the first time in a while, and was able to walk leisurely to school. Marinette walked up the steps and didn't see any of Alya or Adrien there yet. As she started off for the library, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Chloe. "Hello Chloe," She said evenly. With Lila's oppression, Chloe had immensely toned down her bullying, and even been fairly nice to Marinette. "What is it?" She asked to Chloe's concerned expression. "Is something wrong?" Chloe shook her head, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay after yesterday, Dupain-Chang." "Oh, thanks Chloe." Marinette smiled, "I'm doing all right, don't worry." Chloe raised an eyebrow, "Because Lila just told everyone you have a form of depression or something." Marinette sighed, "If I did have something like depression, it would be because of her." A smile tugged at Chloe's mouth. "Okay, glad to hear it, Marinette. See you in class." Chloe strutted off, meeting up with Sabrina who was holding her bag for her.

Marinette sighed and kept walking toward the library. Lila was trying to cover everything up with another lie. This time about her. But Marinette wasn't going to let it get to her this time. As she started down the hallway to the library, she saw Luka sitting against a wall, with his headphones in, tapping his fingers on a book to the beat. What better time than the present to start her second test? She stepped towards him and took a seat beside him. He turned to her and gave her his classic shy smile. "How are you today, Marinette?" he asked. "Much better." She smiled back. "Thank you for yesterday, what you said and did really helped me to calm down. How's your song going?" Luka looked down at the book in his lap. "I taped the beats of the song so I keep listening to it, but not all the right words are coming through. But I'm making progress." He said still pretty vague. Marinette nodded. Luka had a peaceful aura, but it seemed he wasn't particularly chatty today. "When can I listen to it then?" She asked. "Maybe in a couple days." He answered. "I'll let you know as soon as I'm ready." He gave her his happy smile again, before an idea seemed to strike him, and he flipped his notebook open to scribble something down. "Well, I guess I'll see you later?" Marinette said. "See you." Luka answered as Marinette got to her feet and decided not to go to the library anyway.

Two tests down, one to go.

******Let me know what you think should happen next!