They were both pacing. Adrien had been too scared to go back and confess what he knew, and Marinette had no idea who Chat Noir was. Of course, their situation was beyond complicated, and neither of them knew how to fix it.

Unfortunately, they both still had to report to school the next day. As weird as Marinette usually acted around Adrien, today the roles were switched.

Adrien seemed nervous and panicky, while Marinette seemed more distanced and relaxed.

"I'm sorry about our date yesterday, Adrien," Marinette said when school began. She smiled at him from her desk. "I think that I've got some things to clear up some feelings with someone I care about before we try this again." Adrien nodded.

"I understand," he nodded. Adrien was silently hoping it was Chat Noir. Heck, he was nearly to the point of hoping out loud.

School seemed to drag on forever, and Adrien found himself almost wishing for an akuma attack to have a reason to see Ladybug (Marinette?). It was still confusing to think of them as the same person.

Finally, the bell rang, and Adrien ran out of class to head to patrol as quickly as possible. He paced around their platform on the Eiffel Tower until Ladybug arrived.

"How did you figure it?" she asked after a moment of silence. Chat Noir smiled at her.

"I don't know how I could've missed it. Honestly, it was when you told me that Volpina took your date," Chat Noir admitted.

"How would you...? That doesn't make any sense," Ladybug protested.

"It makes a whole lot of sense...if you know who I am," Chat Noir grumbled.

Marinette sighed and ran her hair through her hair. "I can't believe I'm asking this, but who are you, Chat?" Chat Noir just laughed.

"It's a secret," he smirked and wiggles his eyebrows. Ladybug groaned.

"That's not fair! You know me, so I should get to know you too!" Marinette shouted. Chat Noir shook his head.

"I think you should figure it out before I tell you. We could make this a little game," he offered and spun his tail around in his hand.

"You get one guess per day, and only try to guess if you think you've got a clue. If you get it right, then I'll tell you."

"You should at least give me a hint," Ladybug sighed. Chat Noir smiled and shrugged.

"Alright, I'm not heartless. You get two questions a day to try and figure this out," he offered. Ladybug laughed softly.

"You're too difficult, Chat," she chuckled. Chat Noir slung an arm around her shoulder carelessly.

"That's part of my charm, bugaboo." The two of them laughed, and it was one of the few times Marinette didn't mind laughing at how silly Chat was being. Honestly, she couldn't deny that she might be developing feelings for the boy under the mask.

"What's your first question, milady?" Chat Noir asked. The two of them walked around the circumference of the platform they were on and scanned the streets for any sign of danger.

"Oh, uuuuuum, how about favorite color," Ladybug panicked. Chat Noir shook his head in mock shame.

"That's the best you've got?" he asked teasingly. Ladybug rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully.

"Just answer the question, furball," she ordered. Chat Noir shrugged.

"It changes. Some days it's green, some days it's blue, and some days it's every color," he answered. "Do you want to ask your second question now, Marrrrinette?" Chat Noir rolled the r to sound like a cat purring. Ladybug nodded and stopped walking. Chat turned around to make a joke, but he stopped when he saw the look on her face. It was lined with worry, and he stopped to stand in front of her silently.

"What do you think of me...behind the mask, that is?" Marinette whispered. Chat's eyes widened and he took her hands in his. He didn't have a clue about all of the worries Marinette had about herself when she wasn't being Ladybug. Yet, he could see all of them etched on her face.

"I think that you're even more purrfect with this mask off than you are with it on," he whispered back. Ladybug simultaneously groaned and laughed at his pun.

"Thank you, Chat," she smiled. "Now, it's time to actually get some work done tonight. Even if there aren't any akumas, we should survey the whole city." Chat Noir lightly grabbed her wrist before she could take off to go scanning the city.

"Actually, I've been curious about something," Chat Noir stopped her. Ladybug tilted her head.

"What is it?" she asked. Chat just took them over to one of the support pillars and sat them down on the ground.

"Just out of curiousity, close your eyes and stay silent for a few minutes," Chat Noir directed.

Ladybug looked at him suspiciously. "Why? What do you have in mind?"

"Just humor me," he prodded. Ladybug scoffed, but she releuctantly complied.

It had barely been half a minute before her breathing evened out and Ladybug fell asleep. Adrien knew how little sleep he got, and he was right to assume that it was around the same for Marinette. He managed to maneuver so that he could carry her and used his baton to go back to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

"Tikki, can you, uh, detransform her?" Chat Noir asked awkwardly. It was a long shot, but Tikki detransformed her and floated above the sleeping Marinette.

"Giving us both more sleep? I don't care what Marinette says, you're a real hero," Tikki said appreciatively. Chat Noir nodded and did his signature bow like an admission of his service. He carried Marinette off her balcony and into her room. Gently, he sat her down and looked up.

That was a lot of his face. Like, a lot. The sheer amount of pictures on the wall was absurd.He knew he didn't typically like girls who liked him for his fame, but seeing his modeling pictures on her walls just didn't see as weird to him.

"Goodnight, Tikki," Chat Noir whispered. "Goodnight, Marinette."

With that, the young superhero took off back to his house and detransformed. This was going to be a fun game to play.

Thank you guys sooooo much for sticking with me! I'm sorry this chapter took forever to upload, but I'm working on them whenever I get the time. Your comments and support mean the world. Thank you! ~Magine