The warm breeze filtering in through the window was a pleasant change after a day full of nothing but ice and snow. Frostbite had taken a longer time to eliminate than she had originally anticipated. She had expected the older she got, the easier the akumas would become as she grew more and more accustomed to the power her body possessed, but recently that had seemed to be anything but true. The akumas were just as frequent, and seemed to be getting more powerful. It was taking up more time than she had to spare these days. School was taxing enough as is, and what little social life she had was becoming slimmer by the day.

A large sigh escaped as she stretched out over the railing of the balcony, her bare arms pleasantly warm. If things could just stay like this for a little while, life would be perfect.

Well, mostly perfect. There was the still the issue of Chat that had been swirling in her head almost nonstop since they'd parted ways after the battle. Both were a little worse for wear, and rather than parting with her usually sassy remark, she had found herself wrapping him in a hug that made him gasp out for air amidst a chuckle. He'd responded enthusiastically, and she almost hadn't pulled herself away when the warning beeps began to sound.

But she had, as she had for so long now. Marinette had escaped back to the façade of normal life, and somewhere, so had Chat. There was a part of her the really wanted to be wherever that was, wrapped in another embrace without the weight of battle on it. She found she suddenly hated that feeling.

"Ugh, Tikki, what's wrong with me?" she groaned, descending the steps and plodding her way over to her bed. She fell back heavily on top of the covers.

"You have a crush?"

Marinette rolled her eyes as the kwami, pursing her lips. "Well duh. That's not new."

"But maybe the crush is new!" Tikki replied, settling in beside Marinette's ear.

Marinette found herself giving a forced laugh. "A new crush? On Chat?"

"You said Chat, not me."

Marinette's cheeks were starting to rival Tikki in shades of pink, and she quickly rolled over to plant herself face down in the pillow.

"It's not a crush," she mumbled back. "It's just… for the first time, I think I feel like I want to actually know who he is. What does he do in his free time? What's he doing now? Would it be so bad if we actually hung out in everyday life? He's a regular person, too, just like me, right? And it might be nice to have someone know…and understand, you know?" Marinette glanced back up at Tikki, who was looking at her with thoughtful large eyes.

"Makes sense to me. I know his kwami, Plagg. You guys have a strong partnership. If you feel like you're ready, I support your decision. You could always talk to him."

"I guess you're right." Rolling over, Marinette pushed herself into a sitting position. "Let's go for a walk."

Paris at night was what romantic dreams are made of, and Marinette certainly knew a thing or two about romantic dreams. She had settled down on a rooftop no more than five minutes before the familiar purr of a greeting sounded behind her. She felt her heart stutter against her chest, but she kept it reeled in.

"My Lady," came out a seductive purr as Chat allowed himself a seat next to Ladybug, following her gaze out across the city.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"I never sleep," he responded in a cool tone, laying back against the roof, arms crossed.

"I thought all cats did was sleep," she mused, turning to give him a hesitant smile.

He blinked, but didn't hesitate to flash a giant grin right back. "I'm part boy, too, as you know by now, My Lady. I have a life to attend to outside of costume. As do you," he replied, his voice unusually serious. "Which leaves me to wonder why you're out so late. Is my Lady unwell? Does she need a purr-amedic?"

He yelped as she poked him hard in his side, the laugh he gave in response sending shivers she wasn't accustomed to down her spine. She knew full well by now that he was just a boy under that leather. "She doesn't really know what she needs right now, to be honest," she sighed, drawing her knees up to her chin.

"I know what she needs," he crooned, sitting up and bumping his shoulder against hers.

"Oh, and what's that?" she said with a roll of her eyes, already expecting the "Why, me, of course," the came from his lips in response. She turned her head to shoot him an evil glare. The glare soon faltered against his teasing smile, and the question tumbled out before she could stop it. "Do you think we know each other outside these costumes? Do you think we've ever spoken?"

"I'd like to think so. I'm sure you'd know as soon as you saw me, I'm so devilishly handsome under all this adorableness."

"You're such a conceited little cat," she sighed, giving him a push to his shoulder.

"I'm your obedient little kitten," he quipped, rubbing his tousled hair against her shoulder.

"You're also a good friend," she laughed, running a hand through his hair, somewhat frustrated she couldn't feel the softness through her gloves.

"That's new."

"I'm serious! No one else understands what I go through. And you do. I've been thinking a lot about earlier today. It was way too close of a call.."

"Don't worry, I'm a big boy. I can handle it. Still got all 9 lives!" He held up nine fingers to cement his point. "Thanks to you."

She hesitated, then scooted the short distance over to rest her head against his shoulder. He stiffened a moment in surprise, but soon relaxed against her. "If near death experiences get me affection, then I'll be sure to have them much more often."

"I don't want you to have them at all!" she snapped, once more finding herself tackling him in a strong embrace. However, this time there was no beeping to cut short her emotional outburst. He simply allowed her to crush him in her overwhelming bear hug, his arms draped loosely over the small of her back.

"I wasn't serious, you know that, right?" he said softly, and she was surprised at his conscious effort to not take advantage of the situation. Did she want him to? "I'd never try to coerce you into affections. I'd much rather earn your love fair and square, with my dashing wit and charm."

She sighed, relaxing her grip but not releasing her hug. She let her face rest against his chest, going over her thoughts.

"Chat?"

"Hmm, my Lady?"

"I….I think you've earned them." She felt his heart beat increase.

"When!?"

"I'm not exactly sure when, I just…think I finally realized how much you mean to me. In the elevator. When the idea that I might lose you really hit me." She pushed herself back into a sitting position, and he quickly sat up, his eyes bright and excited. "But!" she quickly retracted, clutching her fist to her chest, "I don't want to do anything rash. We're friends, partners. We're a team!"

"We could be lovers, too, right?" She wanted to slap the mischievous grin off his face.

"No! I don't want to mess anything up between us! We can't…have a relationship like this, if that's what you're thinking. We can't just stroll down the street holding hands, and doing normal couple things. Like this, we aren't normal people."

"Then let's do this as normal people," he babbled in excitement, reaching out to clasp her hand in his own. "Let me show you off to people, shower you with gifts, flowers! Everything! I'd do that for you!"

"Chat…"

"You wouldn't regret it." His voice was excited.

"What if we actually hate each other as our normal selves?"

He laughed. "I couldn't hate you in any form, my Lady."

"Just…not yet," she said in a measured tone. "I need to think this through. Like this, just this one part of us… I can only do one confession at a time." She pressed her fingers to her temples, massaging in small circles.

"Then how about a kiss?" he teased, his smile so wide she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Who said anything about a kiss?" she retorted as she had earlier.

"You did earlier today, something about your undying love me, me being adorable, all that sweet stuff," he purred, winking as he leaned toward her, causing her to lean back against the small wall area behind her.

"I think your ears are deceiving you," she said as she reached out to tweak his ear.

"And yet your face is as red as your suit," he continued, relentless.

"One kiss, and I don't hear anything out of you the rest of the tonight."

"For one kiss, I'd do anything you asked me to."

"Just stop talking for once," she laughed, welcoming the warmth of breath against her lip as he gently slid a hand across her cheek. He hesitated, his eyes darting up to meet hers to make sure this was actually alright with her and not some cruel prank.

"Don't be shy, kitty," she teased, enjoying his momentarily shy state as she flicked the bell on his neck. "Cat got your tongue."

"He'll have yours," he muttered, his voice deep as he pulled her toward him, his lips rough against hers, wanting as if he'd never get another kiss. And he kept kissing her with this intensity, she wasn't sure he ever would get another kiss because she'd be damned if they'd break this one.