Marinette saw the next note surprisingly sooner than she'd expected to. Last time they'd met up, she hadn't gotten a follow-up until it was in her locker a few days after. This time, though, it was given to her by her mom again and after so long of the letters coming through her locker and showing up at the internship, something felt wrong with having her mom give it to her.

'Hey,

I know I just saw you last night, but something happened. It isn't a good idea for me to talk too much about it like this, so I need to see you. If you could meet me by the Ladybug statue in the park near your house, anytime after 17h00, I'll be waiting for you.'

The letter made her feel unsettled. It was him. After weeks of exchanging letters, his handwriting had become as ingrained in her knowledge base as Alya's. She knew that it was from him, but that didn't explain why it was so abrupt. She immediately went through a few worst-case scenarios she'd come up with.

After deciding that the idea that 'he'd been taken hostage and the only way to release him was for her to go to the statue' was too unrealistic, she managed to rein in her thoughts. It was still early when she got the note and she was dreading the fact that she'd have to wait hours before she could find out why he needed to see her.

She read the note a few more times, trying to see if there were any hints or clues for what they needed to talk about, but there was nothing. She took a deep breath and looked at her plans for the day. She needed to go get some fabric for a design she'd been working on, and she had been planning to go to Alya's for homework earlier in the afternoon.

Marinette took a glance at her clock, 11h17. ' Did you still want me to come over? '

' Definitely! Give me a heads up whenever you're on your way! ' Marinette put her sketchbook, homework, and tablet into her bag. She changed into a green, oversized sweater and a pair of black jeans before she left.

Since she'd lost her partner, she'd been spending less and less time as Ladybug. She'd still transform for Akuma attacks, but she could barely remember the last time she'd gone out as Ladybug to travel around the city. She knew how much the citizens liked to see her and Chat around, but she couldn't bring herself to go out without him.

She sent Alya a text as she walked to the Césaire's apartment. The air around Marinette was still as she walked there. There were hundreds of people she walked past on her way, but there was no one who stood out to her. Everyone in the city was going about their lives, paying no attention to just another civilian.

When Marinette got inside of their building, she was reminded of the fight against Sentibubbler. She remembered that she could have taken the Miraculous that day, but she didn't. This could have been over by now. She could have had her partner with her, if she had just taken the butterfly Miraculous from Shadow Moth, instead of the cup of coffee.

She took a deep breath as she arrived to the landing of their floor. She knocked on the Césaire's front door and was greeted by Ella. "Al," she called out, "Marinette is here!" Alya closed her small notebook and stuck it in her pocket on the walk to the door, leaving Marinette curious about what she had been working on.

"Salut," Alya greeted her friend with les bisous. "What's the plan for today?" Marinette wished she'd had a plan when she walked in, but she didn't.

"Well, I need to pick up some fabric, if you're down for an adventure. I do also have a decent amount of research to do for a project, if you want to hang out here." Marinette shrugged a bit, catching Alya off guard. Alya had known her best friend for years and this was the least certain she'd ever seen the heroine.

"What will be the most helpful for you?" Alya knew that Marinette had been overwhelmed for months, even though she wouldn't admit it. She did her best to not draw attention to Chat Noir leaving Ladybug's side, but there was only so much she could do to help Marinette if she wasn't going to open up about how she needed help.

Marinette knew that there wasn't anything that would specifically help, beyond just spending time not looking at the clock, waiting until it was time to meet Chat. While the two talked over their plans for the day, Alya led Marinette into her bedroom, hoping to get information about why she seemed more overwhelmed than usual.

Alya knew that Marinette was keeping secrets from her. She was acting like she did before Alya had known she was Ladybug, but Alya knew that trying to make Marinette tell her things never did her any good in the past. Marinette wouldn't tell Alya what was going on until she was ready to share what was going on.

Their day together was nice. Marinette bought the fabric, Alya told Marinette about the article she'd been writing for one of her classes. It was about the akumatization levels of different age groups and demographics. Marinette was just happy to find out it wasn't about Chat Noir, Cat Walker, or Ladybug specifically. The article made Marinette aware that she was in the peak akumatization demographic, but she decided it would be best to not think too much about that.

Around 17h30, Marinette knew it was time to say bye and head over to the park across from the bakery. She wanted, so badly, to tell Alya what she was doing, but she knew she shouldn't. If Alya knew she was meeting Chat, the reporter may attempt to tag along undercover and Chat didn't deserve to have his identity outed to her.

Marinette gave Alya a long hug before leaving. The hug left her feeling warm and comforted, the exact opposite of how she felt a few minutes later as she grew closer and closer to the statue. She knew she shouldn't expect him to be there immediately when she arrived, but she was hopeful that he'd be there soon.

She sat at the base of the statue, cool copper helping to keep her anxiety in check. She knew if she was there too long, she'd be wishing she'd brought out a coat when she left her house that morning. After only a few minutes there, though, she saw someone from her peripheral. They sat down on her left side and held out their right hand, palm side up where she could see the black ring on his thumb.

It looked like what she'd felt when the two of them were at the movie and she was happy that he knew her well enough to provide the evidence he could when he first arrived. "Thanks for coming to meet me," he began quietly. He took a breath and didn't know what he should say. He'd been trying to come up with something all day, but nothing felt right.

"Of course, chérie," she agreed. This time, the decision felt purposeful unlike last time when it was just a slip of her almost saying his 'name'. She moved a bit closer to him, wanting to absorb his warmth as best as she could. He'd always been naturally much warmer than she was, as Marinette or as Ladybug.

"I talked to him this morning," he began quietly. From the choice, she could tell he meant Monarch and that made her skin crawl. He audibly swallowed and she placed her hand in his, not knowing what he was going to say, but desperately hoping to offer him whatever support she could.

"He," he breathed. He practically whispered when he managed to find his voice again, "he asked me how long we've been dating." He felt his heart pound in his chest, not expecting to have this conversation with her. He knew it was his choice to tell her, but he'd wished Gabriel had never brought it up.

" He thinks we're dating? Why would he think that?" Marinette, ironically, didn't register that they'd been holding hands when she asked that. She gave his hand a quick squeeze which made him smile despite the circumstances.

"He noticed we've been spending time together." He bit his lip, wondering if he should admit to the most damning piece of evidence. "He's been… passively keeping an eye on you. He noticed that you've been getting the notes I've been writing. He doesn't know what they say, but apparently, 'princess' and 'my knight' aren't the most auspicious names we could put on them." He chuckled and Marinette let go of his hand.

"This isn't funny!" Her claim was abrupt. She started to panic. If Monarch was watching her , how long was it going to take him to figure out her identity? "I can't have him keeping an eye on me. I knew this was a bad idea." She felt betrayed. Had Chat known that Monarch was watching her before? What if she had been transforming more? Did he already suspect that she was Ladybug?

"I don't think it is, princess," he immediately attempted to clarify. "Of course, I don't think it's funny. I know it's awful. I'm sorry you've been nervous about all of this, but it will be okay." She let go of his hand.