Chat gracefully leaped from building to building, thinking of what he would say to Marinette. It's not like he could go up to her and ask her how she was holding up. Like "Oh hey Marinette, I was just out patrolling the city and saw a guy man-handle you, are you ok?" Chat sighed, that sounded dumb, even to his ears. If he was honest, Chat did go patrolling during the day, if just to get away from his duties from modeling and his father. He knew his father knew well but sometimes, Adrien wished he could step away from the fashion world, like he used to when his mother was still around. Oh how he missed her, especially when he needed someone to talk to. Sure Nino was a good listener but how could he talk about his life with him and it not result like his birthday? Adrien sighed.

He looked up and saw that he was nearing the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He loved passing by the bakery, smelling the wonderful pastries they made. He wished he could eat there more often but he never had the time to go inside. He didn't care for the diet he was suppose to be on because as Chat, he burned off the extra calories as energy. It helped when he had to maintain his transformation for long times, especially when an akuma was stubborn and kept throwing stuff at him. Plagg had even told Adrien that the act off repeatedly transforming was more tiring on Adrien and improving his will power would help in the long run. Adrien saw it as a challenge and worked out harder. Sure it was difficult finding time to work out but even his father saw it as a chance to make sure his son was fit enough for the camera.

Pulling away from his thoughts, he looked around the street to see if anyone was out and smirked when he saw no one and the bakery closed as well, the only lights on were on a floor beneath the terrace. Chat looked at his baton, well it was getting pretty late for someone to be up. It was probably Marinette, which worked out for him. He stood on the roof of the school, judging the distance between the school and the terrace, making note of the plants and chair on Marinette's roof. He hoped his landing wouldn't make much noise as he vaulted off the school roof, aiming for the space just before the little door leading to her room, if he was right. He had noticed the window the time he had come over to practice playing video games.

He also knew that it was above her bedroom, so not to be a bit of a creepy kitty, he lightly tapped on her window. He waited for a bit, restraining himself from looking in. The worry that he put to the back of his head as he was traveling as Chat, suddenly came back. Did she have bruises? Was she sore from being rough housed? Chat tapped his foot against the roof, very impatient. He knocked again, this time a little louder and he was rewarded with footsteps. He smiled as Marinette slowly opened her window and bowed,

"Good Evening Princess."

Marinette rolled her eyes and disappeared, leaving the window open. Chat was confused until he heard her voice,

"Well aren't you coming in? Or is the amazing Chat Noir gonna stay there?"

He didn't need to be told twice as he dropped down onto her bed, making sure he didn't dirty her sheets. He watched her walked over to her desk, closing some books and shoving them into her backpack. Chat noticed a large sheet of fabric pinned to Marinette's walls over her desk and wondered what it was for.

"Doing homework?"

Marinette nodded and sighed, "Yeah. If I didn't get any done tonight, I was going to be behind. But thank to god I did a lot."

She looked at him, eyes piercing. She glanced over to her computer before turning back to Chat, leaning against her desk.

"So what did I do to have the Chat Noir in my bedroom. At night. Alone."

Marinette smirked as Chat Noir grew flustered from her words and watched him wave his hands around. Adrien on the other hand, was shocked and couldn't stop blushing. It did sound bad the way Marinette put it and he coughed. He didn't think Marinette could be so sassy.

"My my Princess, I didn't know you had a dirty mind."

Marinette rose an eyebrow before chuckling. "Oh you think that's dirty? Should I show you dirty?"

Chat Noir coughed even louder and Marinette laughed, "Cat handle it? I'm sur-purr-ised."

Adrien laughed at the puns and put a hand on his chest. "I'll admit defeat for right now Princess but just wait, I'll have the better puns next time."

Marinette smiled, "Sure. Now what brings you?"

Chat straighten up, biting his lower lip as he tried to think of a way to ask how Marinette was. She didn't look to ruffled from earlier but he knew from experience that it was easy to hide emotions from others. For all he knew, she could wait until he left and then cry herself to sleep from the fear. He scratched the back of his head and tried to be subtle.

"I just wanted to see how my Princess was doing. Just wanted to chat."

Marinette cocked her head to the side, "Really? It's been months since the thing with Nathanael and you just wanted to talk now?

Chat pouted, "Yes is that a crime?"

Marinette shook her head, "No but I'm a bit busy right now. I...had a bit a problem earlier in the day and some friends helped me out, so I plan to make them some sweets."

Chat perked up. Here was the opening he was looking for!

"What kind of problem?"

He watched Marinette sighed and rub her temples, her right hand waving into the air.

"There was this guy today who decided he wanted to ask me out and he wouldn't take no for an answer."

Chat had to bite his tongue, he knew that it was more than that but he didn't want to push her.

"So what happened?"

Marinette smiled weakly, putting her hands behind her on her desk for support.

"My friends Adrien and Nino came by and helped me out." She gestured to a sheet of paper on her desk and Chat came closer to look.

"So I'm making them cookies. I know Nino loves gingersnap cookies and for Adrien, well, I don't know what he likes so I'm making him a bunch of different ones so I can see what he likes."

Suddenly tomorrow couldn't come faster for Adrien. He looked at the paper and saw all the cute shapes and colors of the cookies and smiled when he saw the Ladybug and Chat Noir themed cookies.

"I see you're making a cookie based on me. Would you like more inspiration? Because I can paws for you like a french girl."

Chat struck a pose and winked at Marinette, who chuckled and nodded. "Why not. Come on, Mom said I could use the oven tonight as long as I didn't touch the new cupcakes she made for her friends."

Chat saluted and waited for Marinette as she gathered her supplies into a small box and then followed her downstairs, marveling at the decorations. He had seen them before but now, he could really look around. The kitchen was cute, just like Marinette's family. Chat sat on one of the stools and put his hands in his head as he watched Marinette pull ingredients out of the refrigerator.

"So what shape do you think I should make Nino's cookies? I was thinking about stars for him."

Chat nodded. "Sounds nice. What shapes are you making for Adrien?"

Marinette turned away for a minute, using the excuse to get a spoon in order to hide the big blush over her face. She took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn't stutter.

"I was going to make hearts, diamonds and moons for him."

Adrien was surprised. So many different shapes and all for him? He hummed, "Why so many Princess? Is he something special?"

Marinette coughed, waving her spoon around. "N-n-now why would you think that?"

While Chat Noir smirked, on the inside Adrien was freaking out a bit. Did Marinette like him? Is that why she acted so flustered around him?

"Oh? Am I wrong?"

Marinette fixed him a look and pointed her spoon at Chat. "We are not talking about my love life. Adrien is a nice guy."

Chat held up his hands. "Ok got it. Moving on." He suddenly thought about the fabric over her walls.

"What's up with the fabric over your computer? Project?"

Marinette nodded. "Don't tell anyone this but I'm trying to start on online boutique. I've been taking pictures of my outfits and I don't need people to see what's on my walls. I like being professional."

Chat was amazed. He knew Marinette was talented and knew that her clothes would sell. "Well Princess, good luck. I know you're going to do well."

Marinette smiled, "Thanks Chat."

The conversation died down as Marinette focused on shaping Nino's star cookies, not even wasting a bit of dough as she made a baby star. In total, 15 cookies for Nino, a lot for sure but she knew that Alya was going to steal at least 5 cookies from Nino. Marinette moved on from the gingersnap cookies and onto Adrien's cookies, which were going to be a mixture of sugar, chocolate chip and butter cookies. She opened a cabinet and pulled out some food coloring and white icing for the sugar and butter cookies. She quickly made her dough, having made them so many times that she knew the recipes by heart. She glanced over at Chat and smiled at how entranced he was watching her bake.

She added food coloring to small portions of dough that she made, making sure nothing touched each other. She cut the sugar cookies as diamonds, the chocolate chip as moons (some just a normal round cookie and the others, a nice crescent moon) and the butter cookies as the hearts. She stood back and slightly winced at the moon cookies. They looked so thin but she knew they would grow in the oven. She washed her hands and wiped her forehead with a towel.

As Marinette started to clean up, Adrien stopped himself from purring. Marinette had brought back memories of when he watched his mother back. As Marinette had been cutting the cookies, Adrien had realized that she felt like home. Warm and comforting and oh so kind. God he missed his mother. He was between crying from the memories and getting up and pulling her into a hug when her voice cut though his thoughts.

"Want to watch some tv while we wait for them to bake?"

Chat looked at Marinette and pushed his thoughts aside. "Sure Princess. What should we watch?"

Marinette grabbed the tv remote from the couch and started browsing the late night channels, being mindful of her parents. She ignored the news and selling channels and almost pasted by a weird looking cartoon when Chat held up his hand.

"Hold up! I love this show."

Marinette raised an eyebrow at all the random girls and their colorful sailor outfits before shrugging and setting down the remote. Adrien on the other hand, was already on her couch and watching the tv intently. She shook her head in amusement and sat down next to him, thinking about how weird this was. Her partner, Chat Noir, was watching cartoons late at night while waiting with her until the cookies finished baking. Marinette pulled out her phone and checked the time. 12:34 am. She winced, it was getting really late and the cookies were only just beginning to bake. She wondered if Chat was getting sleepy. She didn't think her parents would like it if he sleep over without their permission. She could already see how that conversation went if they found him.

And...she didn't want to accidentally find out his identity. Marinette knew that they would have to reveal themselves but she didn't feel like it was the right time. She knew that she needed to work on her self confidence and to stop doubting herself. She wanted to reveal herself when the time was right and when she was ready and she hoped that was what Chat wanted too.

She didn't know that 28 minutes had gone by until Chat poked her shoulder.

"You in there Princess? Or do you need a knight's kiss to wake you from your trance?"

Marinette snorted, "I'll take a rain check on that kiss oh knight Noir. But I need to check on the cookies."

Marinette got up and went to the oven, briefly looking at the cookies. Chat, on the other hand, was dazed from Marinette's response. A rain check? Knight Noir? Chat couldn't help but blush from the thought of kissing Marinette. Would her lips be soft as they looked? He glanced over at her lips before turning back to the tv, feeling guilty. He was in love with Ladybug and even though she rejected his advances, than didn't mean that he could think about someone else. But...Marinette felt so much like warmth and home. He sighed and decided to just chill out and see how things would go. There wasn't much sense in worrying about love when he struggled to make friends.

He watched Marinette start preparing the icing for the cookies, smiling when she started to hum. He got up and made his way to her, hoping to sneak a cookie when they came out of the oven. Marinette finished the many colors of icing she was making and from what Chat could see, blue and yellow and maybe some green? He wasn't sure but as Marinette put on her oven mits, he straighten up, ready to steal a cookie. Marinette put the cookies on a cooling rack and looked at Chat.

"No touching the cookies. I don't need you to burn yourself."

Chat put on his best smirk and held up his hand, "I promise to be a good kitten."

Marinette pursed her lips, not believing him before opening a kitchen cabinet and pulling out some sprinkles. Personally she didn't like sprinkles but they made a nice decoration for cookies. She went ahead and grabbed the round chocolate chip cookie on the right side of the baking tray, a bit bigger than all the others and still very warm but she worked fast. She covered the cookie in red icing and drew nice thin black lines, drawing a cute smile in white icing. She held out for Chat and winked,

"A special cookie for Chat Noir, as a thanks for staying up with me."

Chat looked at her in amazement. He didn't have to steal a cookie (shame) and instead she had already planned ahead and made him a Ladybug cookie. He took the cookie and watched as she went back to checking if the other cookies were cool enough. He smiled at the cookie and took a bite, eyes closing at the wonderful taste. He always had to sneak sweets behind his father back, never being able to really eat sweets on his free time. But right now, this cookie was magical. The chocolate chips just melted into his mouth. He held back the small purr he had and winked at Marinette.

"Princess, this is simply delicious~! You must bake for me more often!"

Marinette giggled. "We'll see but I'm glad you like it."

Adrien more than liked it but he kept that thought to himself. He polished off the cookie, making sure he got the crumbs off his fingers before eyeing the other cookies. He really couldn't wait until tomorrow, which as he looked at his baton, had already begun. He bit his lip at the time, not really worried since he and Ladybug went on patrols later than this but Adrien hadn't planned to stay this long. He suspected Plagg would be extremely hungry later. He decided he would wait until Marinette was in bed before leaving, making sure she went to bed ok.

He turned to look at Marinette, except he got a face load of icing to the cheek. His confused face made Marinette burst out in laughter.

"Oh my god I'm sorry! The icing bag burst!"

Chat looked at the icing bag in Marinette's hands, indeed it had. The icing hadn't gotten anywhere except her hands, clothes and unfortunately, his face. He swiped at his face with a finger and licked off the icing.

"Delicious."

Marinette snorted and put the icing bag down, going to the sink to wash her hands. She looked over her shoulder and nodded her head to a kitchen drawer.

"Open that and pull out a little hand towel for me, would you?"

Chat did as she asked, giving the towel to Marinette, who wet it and gave it back to Chat.

"Here. Clean up. You can't go home like that."

Chat nodded and wiped himself off, embarrassed from the fact he felt like grooming himself clean. He put the towel down on the counter and looked at all the cookies. Most of the cookies had been decorated before the bag had burst and all that was left was round cookies that he guessed were going to be moons. He watched Marinette put the decorated cookies in a container and the undecorated ones in a bag.

"I'll let the icing on the cookies set and I'll decorate the rest later since it's getting a bit late."

Chat hummed, "That it is Princess. Would you like me to tuck you in?"

Marinette gave him a look,

"Unless you can magically lock my balcony door after you, I'll be fine."

Chat laughed, "True, true."

They went back to Marinette's room, Chat smiling at how cute her room was. He climbed up her ladder, being mindful about her bed. He went out into her balcony, waiting for Marinette to come out. She poked her head through the door and shivered,

"It's cold. I think I'll stay right here."

Chat Noir smiled, "I can make you warm." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her shake her head in amusement.

"No thanks. Stay safe while traveling."

Chat pulled out his baton and nodded, "Good night Marinette."

She smiled, "Have good dreams Chat."

And as Chat jumped off her balcony, making his way home, his last thought as he briefly looked back at her: I will.