So I wrote basically this entire chapter, then lost it so that's great. Sorry this took so long. It was a long chapter to begin with, and now I have to rewrite it. To the reviewer that apologized, no, you're absolutely okay, I just didn't know if you were the same person who had been messaging me. You're obviously not so you are 100% okay! Sorry about that!

###

Chat Noir knew well enough to hide in the back. He gritted his teeth. Kagami looked so sad. Was it the guilt… Or…? Was it his fault? Was it because of what he-

He heard the jingle of the door opening then heard Marinette's voice,

"Kagami? Are you okay? It's cold out here, come on in."

Kagami replied, "no, no Marinette. I don't deserve our forgiveness. I really hurt you, Marinette."

He couldn't see Marinette's face, but he knew she was biting her lip, "Kagami, no I'm fine. I mean, I'm up and I'm working today."

Kagami looked around, "are.. are you alone here today?"

Marinette didn't want to lie to Kagami, "m-my parents are taking care of my uncle this weekend, so I'm in charge of the bakery."

That was completely honest. Marinette smiled to herself, she loved it when she wasn't forced to lie,

"Do you want me to help you this weekend?"
Shit.

Marinette thought up an excuse, "no, it's okay, Kagami. I'm only staying open until we're sold out today, and our regulars already know the situation. I'll be okay."

Kagami looked at her shoes, "oh, okay. I'll let you work then."

Marinette bit her lip, "I still have some time. Here have a seat."

Kagami sat down and began to speak, "I'm really sorry I believed that girl yesterday, Marinette. I should've known it was a lie… I just.. Adrien had just… and she told me something, and it was just so much easier to believe."
Marinette placed a fresh hot chocolate in front of Kagami and sat across from her, "Kagami, what happened? Are you okay?"
Kagami shook her head, "it's just, Lila told me that you and Adrien were actually dating and… I…. then she told me that you two were doing all this stuff to make fun of me… it just made sense at the time…"

Marinette took one of the girl's hands, "Kagami, no. Adrien really likes you. He chose yo-"

"He broke up with me."

"What?"
Chat Noir bit his lip. He didn't need to hear this part. He turned to find the stairs, but in his haste he knocked a cooling rack off the table.

Kagami was up in a minute, she took a broom in her hand, "I think you have an intruder."

Marinette stood and quickly put herself between the door to the back and Kagami, "n-no! There's no way! It has to be…. It has to be the stray cat!"

Kagami pulled a face, "you let a stray cat run amuck in your bakery?"

Marinette panicked and shook her head quickly. She huffed and decided to enunciate her words in an attempt to reach Chat, "no! No, of course not! He usually stays upstairs or in my room! He never comes down. I mean unless he wants to be attacked by a broomstick. I'll go get him upstairs though! You just drink your hot chocolate! I'll be right back!"

Kagami arched an eyebrow, but sat back down with nothing to say. Marinette retreated to the back. She whispered her next words,

"Kitty! Where are you?"
Chat Noir popped out from behind a stool with pleading eyes, "I'm sorry."

Marinette smiled and shook her head, "it's okay kitty. But another noise and she may come back here. You might have to stay upstairs."

Chat Noir's bottom lip jutted out, "but it's so boring without you."
Marinette bit her lip, "maybe… maybe you should go home for now, kitty. Kagami won't take you being here lightly…"

Chat Noir sighed. He didn't like it, but she was right. He needed to go home and appear in bed to keep up appearances. She'd said she would be done by lunch… A wicked grin spread across his face, "I do owe my princess and ice cream, don't I?"

Marinette smiled back, "silly kitty. No-"

"I'll be back at lunch time with the best ice cream you've ever had, okay?"

Marinette raised a brow but kept her smile, "ice cream for lunch?"

Chat Noir bent down and kissed her hand, snatching a left over macaron from the table, "and cookies for desert."

He began sliding out the back door, "see you soon, Princess."

Marinette rolled her eyes, "see you soon, my silly kitty."

She stared after him for a few moments, wishing he didn't have to go, before she left and sat across from Kagami again. She collected herself, happy that the blush had gone from her cheeks,

"sorry about that. That silly kitty knocked over something. But I got him out."

"Cats in the bakery isn't a great practice."

Marinette smiled, "it was an accident. Usually he stays in my room." She almost blushed again before she remembered, "but we were talking about you, Kagami, what happened?"

Kagami sighed, "it was amicable, I suppose… But it did still hurt. After the coffee shop.. Adrien said he wanted to go for a walk… he got to talking and he said that he liked us better as friends. I agreed, and watched him start to walk back to your college… but then Lila… she… and then I…. Oh, I'm so sorry."

Marinette shook her head, "Lila caught you at a horrible time, and she lied to you. I don't blame you at all Kagami… I hope you know now that I wouldn't do that to you…"

Kagami nodded, "I always knew, a part of me just wanted it to be true… I wanted him to have another reason to break up with me than he just didn't love me… I just…"

Marinette bit her lip, "do you want me to talk to him?"
Kagami shook her head ferociously, "no! No! Not at all. A… a part of me knew. I mean you had to suggest he ask me to the coffee shop… we hadn't gone on a date… in months… A part of me knew we were better off as friends."

Marinette wasn't sure what to say to make her friend feel better, "if you want you can cut in front of me in the 'get back at Lila' line'"

Kagami laughed, "I may take you up on that." She took a sip of her hot chocolate, "this is very good by the way, thank you."

Marinette smiled and nodded.

There was a comfortable silence between the two for a while, listening to the cold wind that shook the windows every once and a while. Marinette felt the bruises on her begin to ache already, and her heart ached for the girl across from her. It was hard to believe that Adrien just broke up with her. He had seemed so excited to invite her for coffee. It didn't make sense to her.

"I… I obviously don't mean right now… but if you and Adrien start to… date I wouldn't be mad at you, you know."
Marinette looked taken aback, "what?"
"Please don't ask him out, like tomorrow, or anything like that… but eventually… I'm not going to be mad at you."
Marinette bit her lip, "I… I don't really want to date right now… I don't think… Adrien at least."

Kagami almost spit out her hot chocolate, "there's someone else?!"

Her excitement shocked Marinette, "I-I don't know… I just… Adrien is a friend right now. And I like that. You know?"
Kagami nodded but bit her lip, "he's been really worried about you, you know?"

Marinette let out an empty laugh as she thought about her college friends, and Kagami's eyebrows shot to her forehead, "Marinette?"

Marinette shook her head, "I've just been more of a loner lately. A lot of people are inclined to believe Lila."

Kagami looked down, "while I'm sorry I did."

Marinette shook her head, "she went after you while you were hurting, and I will never forgive her for that, but my friends just believe her. They just believe her over me. That's… harder to forget."

Kagami nodded.

Marinette hated to admit it, but that conversation had taken her back. Back to how she felt before last night. Empty. Alone. Tired. She had put everything she had for today, every ounce of energy, into trying to cheer Kagami up. She was a husk again.

Kagami took the finishing sip of her hot chocolate, "thanks… for cheering me up today. And I am really sorry about yesterday."

Marinette shook her head, "please don't let it bother you anymore. I don't blame you at all."

Kagami nodded and looked down at her shoes, "I hate to do this, but I have to go. My mother will be expecting me… and…"

Marinette offered the best smile she could, "it's really okay."

Kagami pulled out her wallet but Marinette put her hands up, "it's on the house. Just keep warm."

Marinette cleaned up the mug and waved goodbye as Kagami left the bakery. She let her hand drop heavily to her side as soon as the door shut.

###

It hadn't been a busy day, by any means. In fact, it hadn't even been a full day. It wasn't even noon yet. But still, Marinette sat on a stool in the bakery completely defeated. She'd cleaned everything she'd needed to clean, and prepared everything for the next day that she'd needed to prepare. She was done. Tikki popped on her shoulder, Wayzz not far behind,

"are you okay, Marinette?"

Marinette nodded, "I'm just… tired… and sore… I want to go back to bed."

Wayzz looked at Tikki with concerned eyes then turned back to Marinette, "you absolutely can if you want. We'll wake you up if anything happens."

Marinette nodded again, and began the tedious task of dragging herself back to her room. She ached everywhere. The stairs seemed like an impossible task, but she began anyway. Every step seemed to rob her muscles of energy. She opened the trap door, threw off her jacket, climbed the steep steps to her bed, then collapsed on top of the covers.

She closed her eyes and drifted off for what seemed like only short moments. Then she closed her eyes forcefully and tried to ignore the concerned whispers of the kwamis. Kaalki and Trixx sat on the bookshelf talking in what they thought were quiet voices,

"but she was so happy this morning!"

Kaalki's snorted her next words, "it's because that cat was around!"

"if you think I'm above throwing a pillow, you're sadly mistaken, I love you g-" Marinette opened her eyes, but the kwamis were gone. In fact, all of them were gone, and the sun was much lower in the sky and hidden behind grey clouds. She was about to call out for them when a stay cat answered for her,

"well it's nice to hear you love me but… woah it's dark in here." She felt a new weight on her bed as he dropped from the sky light, "were you… were you sleeping?"
Mariette bit her lip an flicked on the lamp on her bedside table, "I-I guess I did. I don't remember falling asleep."

The room lit up, and Marinette could clearly see Chat Noir's excited face, and an ice cream cone in each hand,

"well, that's okay! I'm here to bring you a sugar rush!" He handed her a large pink cone, "I couldn't find Andre! But that's okay! I know strawberry is your favorite!"
Marinette took the ice cream but gave the hero a look, "how?"

Chat blanched as he sat on the bed, "what?"
"How did you know it was my favorite?"
Oops. Chat's mind raged as he tried to think of a reason Chat Noir would know Marinette's favorite ice cream. Adrien knew because it's what she always got at ice-cream shoppes, and because Alya told him Marinette always had a pint of it in her freezer. Why would Chat Noir know? She hadn't had ice cream in a while, probably because it's been so cold. The last time her saw her have ice cream was probably… the day most of the class went and got ice cream from Andre. That seemed so long ago now.

"H-how did the day go at the bakery?"

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "don't try to change the subject!"

Chat booped her nose, "don't avoid the question!"

Marinette took a small lick of her ice cream, "if anyone's avoiding a question… the bakery was fine."

Chat stared at the girl. Why did she drop it so quickly? He was thankful, but it went against the recent spukiness he'd been seeing in the girl. He took a closer look at her; there were bags under her eyes again, a certain loss of spark, even the rose in her cheeks seemed to have faded.

"What happened?"
Mariette shrugged her shoulders, "nothing, why?"

Chat Noir put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "you're gone again."

Marinette shook her head, "I'm right here. What flavor did you get?"

Chat Noir moved his hand under her chin, unaware of their closeness, "no you're not. Come back."

Marinette couldn't meet his eyes. She let out a small sigh, "I'm okay, Chat… I just… HEY!"
As she was speaking, Chat Noir had leaned over and taken a bite of her ice cream.

She looked at him as his head fell to the bed, "what kid of moron bites ice cream?! Are you okay?"

He held up a finger, "I have some major brain freeze, give me a sec."

Mariette desperately looked around for a kwami, hoping that someone else had witnessed the madness with no avail. She was disappointed but thankful for their hiding abilities. She began rubbing Chat Noir's head, "I don't know if you know this, but ice cream is cold, very few people can bite ice cream."
Chat Noir continued to keep his head on the bed, "I saw an actress do it on some talk show, it made everyone laugh."

Marinette smiled to herself. He'd done this just to make her laugh? Chat Noir turned his head to peek at her, "it kinda worked, you're smiling."

She scratched his head and rubbed her lips together, "well now you owe me some ice cream."

She leaned forward and sank her teeth into the chilly dessert. Her eyes widened and chills ran up her spine. Her head fell to the bed next to Chat,

"oh, Princess, no."

###

Marinette crunched on her waffle cone. She wasn't sure how Chat knew it was her favorite, and she decided against asking again. She watched him carefully as he finished his chocolate peanut butter concoction. He'd torn into his ice cream as if it had been the only thing he'd eaten all day,

"do you know how long you were asleep for?"
Marinette looked into his eyes at the question, then shrugged, "I'm not sure. I finished up around eleven thirty…" she looked around her room for her clock, "I'm not sure what time it is now."

"It's almost three thirty. So, you got a nice little nap in. Did we stay up to late last night?"
Marinette shook her head, not wanting Chat to think that she wanted him to leave earlier tonight, "no I do that kind of thing all the time."

He looked at her with sad eyes, "then what made you so tired?"

Marinette bit her lip. Well, Chat, none of my friends have any faith in me and they all think I'm the monster Lila says I am. On top of that, I've been charged with a duty that puts the fate of Paris, if not the world, in my clumsy hands. Oh, also, the boy I once loved is single now, but he dumped my friend. Also, if I date him, you get hurt. Also, I might really like you. But I don't know what that will do to you, and I really would rather not see Chat Blanc again. Also, I have a magic box filled with tiny gods under my bed. Also, I want coffee. Also, I want to cry. Also, I really liked your ice cream and I wanted more but you ate it. "Just a lot of running around with customers."

Chat bit his lip, "was it that bad? Should I have stayed?"

Marinette shook her head, "no, Kagami would have eventually come after you thinking you were a stray cat that got into the bakery."

"But I am a stray cat that got into your bakery."

"Shh-" Marinette put her hand over his mouth, "don't say shit like that, it's bad for business."

Chat chuckled, but it was muffled by her hand. She removed it so he could speak, "oh, I'll tell La Fourchette! I'll even take pictures."

"Are-are you going to selfie in the bakery and tell them I let a cat in?"

Chat Noir gasped, "no! That would be a misuse of my power! I can't do that! You'd take the picture."

Marinette put her head in her hand, "I..I'm not going to take a picture of you for that."

"Oh, then, yeah, it would have to be a selfie."
Marinette moved her hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. What was her kitty doing here? Why did he keep coming back?

"I… I don't know if I will every be able to tell you just how much these visits mean to me, kitty."

Chat Noir bit his lip. He nervously put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed, "likewise, Princess."

Marinette laid her head on his shoulder. Chat was hopeful that she couldn't hear the way his heart sped up.

She liked his visits. She liked them a lot. She liked him. At least a little bit. Chat gritted his teeth. Why couldn't he have asked her out as Adrien? Why didn't he know that she could be this sassy, amazing, absolutely beautiful girl? Why had he been so oblivious? Had she liked him as Adrien? Even a little? What did Kagami say to her? Did they both hate Adrien now? A large part of him wished he'd stuck around and eavesdropped like Plagg told him he should've done. But he could tell the kwami had been tired and needed a break. And he'd been right, his dad did send a servant into his room to remind him of his responsibilities while his father was on his next trip. He had a least two press conferences where he would be asked all kinds of fashion questions he either didn't know the answer to, or couldn't answer due to his father's upcoming release. So, it was wise that he'd gone home to organize himself. But a part of him, a large part of him, wished he'd stay in the back of the bakery. Just near her. Even if she couldn't come visit him. He'd come back as soon as he could. As soon as it was safe. And he wished it'd been much sooner. Even for those few hours they were apart, he'd missed her. And he felt like she missed him. The smell of her hair was clouding his mind, and he felt totally at ease.

The only thing that brought him back, was her handing him her waffle cone, "would you want to finish this for me, please?"

He took it with his other hand so he could continue to hold her, "sure. You really don't want it?"

She shook her head, and he ate it with vigor. He regretted not having any lunch. He knew Marinette would offer him some sort of sustenance so, it was only a matter of time and how long it would take for his stomach to growl. The cone was gone almost as soon as she handed it to him.

He felt the girl sigh under his arm, he booped her nose with his now empty hand, "whatcha thinking about?"

"Do you remember my prince?"
Chat nodded and tickled her sides, "obviously not by name, you won't tell me."

She laughed for a moment before biting her lip, "well… he just broke up with his girlfriend."