Sorry for the short one guys, I know how I want this to go, I just can't seem to get it out of my head sometimes! There are so many possibilities! I hope you enjoy it and look forward to the next one!
Marinette POV
"You've done it again, M'Lady! Purrfectly executed!" Chat grinned at her. They had just beaten an Akuma that started up right after school. It had been taken down so easily that he didn't even need to use his Cataclysm. But Ladybug didn't mind using her Lucky Charm – it just didn't feel like an Akuma fight without it. Once she had reverted the rest of the city back to normal and fixed all the damages, she turned to him and gave him their signature fist-bump.
"Pound it!" They said in unison.
"You really laid it on thick with the puns today, Chat. You must be having a good day!" She giggled.
Or just a really bad one. He thought.
They were standing on top of a tall building, leaning against the guard rails watching the city for a moment. Her earrings started to warn her that time was almost up.
She started to say, "Well, Chat, it's been fun…" when he interrupted her unknowingly.
"You know Ladybug, sometimes, I think you're my only true friend. The only one who knows the real me." He didn't look at her, just stared out at the city and the setting sun. Her beeper was going off in her ear. She looked over at him curiously at the drastic mood change she could feel coming from him.
"Chat… you can't mean that. You have friends other than just me." She sighed. Here we go again.
"Not really. I mean, sure I do, but they don't know me as Chat Noir. This is who I want to be!" He looked at her seriously. "I just always want to be Chat Noir and for you to be Ladybug with me. I wish it could be like this forever." She could tell he was not joking. Red flags and warning signs went up in her head.
"You know that's not possible, Chat. We have responsibilities as our real selves. Our civilian selves. People who need us outside of Ladybug and Chat Noir."
"Maybe you do." He said, practically a whisper.
"Listen, Chat, I know it's real fun to do this and to help people the way we do, but you can't be so personal with me like this. Trust me, I wish that I could be there for you for… whatever it is that's going on with you. But we can't let any clues out to our true identity." She stood up straighter, standing her ground. She felt terrible saying these kinds of things to him, knowing he was probably hurting under the mask, but what could she do? As Ladybug, she had a responsibility to uphold. To keep the citizens of Paris safe. And that included herself as Marinette and all her friends, and whoever Chat was under his mask too. She couldn't let him slip out of his mask, and he couldn't know who she really is.
He looked hurt, but said, "I know, Bugaboo, it's just…. I don't have anyone else."
"Well, you need to find someone else. Find yourself a real friend who doesn't wear a mask, who can be there for you when you need it and who you can contact whenever you need someone. I can't be that person, Chat." She looked down at her feet, the sun was almost set, and her earring was at it's last spot.
"Aren't we real friends…?" he asked, sounding more like a hurt child than like the cheeky Chat she knew.
"Ladybug is Chat Noir's friend." She said, "but… you don't even know me." She turned away, not wanting to look at his face. "I've got to go, my time is up. See you next time Chat Noir." And with that, she leapt off the building and off into the twilight of Paris.
Adrien POV
He couldn't believe what his ears had heard. He knew Ladybug was strict about their identity, but this had been his last hope. His last chance at having someone who would know him as the person he truly felt he was. He belonged with Ladybug – how could it be any other way? If he couldn't know her secret identity, who could? Who could understand the life they lead? Who could put up with the lies and the secrets he had to uphold? How could anyone want to be a friend to him, when he would have to hide a whole other side of his life from them?
He leaned his head forward on his forearms that leaned on the rail of the building. The sun was fully set and it was dark in the city apart from the lights from windows and street signs. He felt like he might cry, for lack of any other kind of response coming to mind.
What do I do?
"Just because you can do it by yourself, doesn't mean you have to."
That's it!
He remembered the conversation he had with Marinette in class earlier that day. She had offered to be a good friend to Adrien, maybe she could do the same for him? He had always known Marinette to be the kind of person who would open her heart up to anyone in need, no matter if they were her best friend or her worst enemy. Maybe she would listen to a poor kitty and let him get this off his chest and be friends with Chat Noir, rather than Adrien. It was worth a try.
He felt his heart flutter in his chest. This idea could really work!
Please, please Marinette. Please be the person I know you are. I need you.
Last hope: take two!
He leapt from the building and off toward the best bakery in town. His nose would lead the way.
He found himself coming upon an unsuspecting girl in her pajamas, watering her plants on the balcony and blissfully unaware of his presence until he sat himself upon her balcony rail, perched like the Chat he is. Her back was turned to him as she hummed to herself, sounding a little sleepy but not unhappy.
"Hey, Puurrrincess." He said, his velvety voice shocking her into turning around, dropping her spray bottle to the ground and yelping unattractively.
"AAAH!" she turned, saw him, and sighed with relief. "Chat Noir? What are you doing here? You scared me half to death!" she held her chest as if her heart was truly about to burst. She picked up her spray bottle and aimed it at him. "You had better have a good reason for hopping up to a girl's bedroom this late in the evening, you scoundrel of a kitty cat!"
Her look of determination had him a little flustered. She must truly hate Adrien. If this is how she is all the time, and yet she can't even have a normal conversation with him as a classmate? He wondered what he had done to make her so uncomfortable but shook his head. That was a question for Adrien later, and right now he was a Chat on a mission.
"Sorry to frighten you, I just happened to be passing by and noticed you over here looking paw-sitively bored and thought I might come brighten your evening!" he smiled. She sweat-dropped.
And sprayed him in the face.
He nearly toppled backward off the balcony but caught himself quickly and wiped his face. That was unexpected. And rude.
"What? That wasn't a good enough reason?" he asked indignantly, removing the water from a few strands of hair with a quick shake of the head.
"The reason was fine; this – "she gestured with the spray bottle and he reflexively flinched. She giggled, "– was for the pun." He blushed as he watched her freckled nose crinkle up as her tittering jingled in the night air.
Maybe hanging out with Marinette wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. He was right, she really could make friends with anyone.
And for the second time today, Marinette Dupain-Cheng had made him laugh.
