A/N: Over 200 reviews in under 10 chapters...you guys are miraculous! Simply the best! :D

Chapter 8

That Monday, Alya texted Marinette before school to let her know that she wasn't coming in. Apparently, she got a really bad stomach bug over the weekend and she couldn't move from her bed.

The designer frowned as she zipped up her jeans. If Alya wasn't there, then it was going to be a very long, and very boring day.

When Marinette walked inside her class she found Adrien already sitting in his bench. His head perked up when he saw her come and and he gave her a wide smile. She fought down a blush and tried to return it without her smile looking too creepily big.

"Hey, Marinette!" He greeted as she was about to pass by his desk to get to her seat, thus stopping her.

"H-Hi, Adrien!" She practically squealed. Keep it together, Marinette!

"Nino told me he'd be absent today." He frowned. "Guess it'll be just the three of us today."

"Ah, actually, no." Marinette awkwardly bit her lip and looked away. "Alya won't be here either, she texted me this morning."

Adrien rose his golden eyebrows. "Really? Huh. Then I guess it's just us two for today." He winked, it was so quick Marinette found herself wondering whether he really committed the action or not. Maybe he had a bit of dust in his eye and it was irritating him.

But he didn't give any more eye twitches after that. He just kept beaming at her, until he asked, "Since Alya and Nino won't be here, want to sit next to me?"

Marinette died. She officially died and her soul went to heaven to frolic on hills of emerald green and skies of gold.

"Marinette?" Adrien raised an eyebrow, a frown beginning to marr his handsome features. "It-It's okay if you don't-"

"Yes!" She cleared her throat when realizing her answer came out a bit too high-pitched. "I mean, yes, I'll sit with you."

"Great!" He scooted down so he took Nino's usual spot so she wouldn't have to walk to the other side. Marinette held back a dreamy sigh at the kind gesture as she sat down.

Wait. Her butt is now touching the place where Adrien's butt always is.

She's never washing these jeans again.

He turned to her, propping an elbow on the desk and resting a fist on his cheek. "So, how was your Halloween?" He asked innocently, a pleasant smile stretching his lips.

Marinette couldn't help but think of how Chat Noir got so scared by the fake blood and gore, prompting a few light giggles to escape her. "It-It was g-good. Very nice."

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed at her giggling, but a tender smile played on his mouth.

"How was yours?" She questioned. "Did you go to Aurore's party?" Alya hadn't sent her any pics, claiming she didn't see him there, but that didn't mean that he wasn't.

He shook his head. "Nah. I didn't feel like going."

"Oh."

Marinette tried to find something else to say. It appeared Adrien did too, because when both of them opened their mouths, an angry screech tore through the air.

For the first time in her life, she saw a flicker of irritation pass over the blond's face. But in the blink of an eye he masked it to show a look of concern. Chloe and Sabrina stomped over, both girls glaring daggers at Marinette.

"Adrikins, why the sudden seat change?" Chloe asked sweetly, yet through gritted teeth.

The model shrugged. "Nino and Alya aren't here, so I thought it'd be nice to have Marinette sit next to me."

Her eyes narrowed and her next response was a shout. "Why didn't you ask me?!"

"You have Sabrina, I'm sure you wouldn't want to abandon her," he replied without missing a beat.

"B-But we're childhood sweethearts! I'd always sit next to you."

"We were not childhood sweethearts," he corrected with a slight scowl.

"But-"

"Good morning, class! Hope you all had a nice Halloween!" Mme. Bustier warmly greeted as she walked in the classroom. Marinette almost breathed a sigh of relief, she was honestly getting scared that Chloe would pester Adrien so much that he'd force her to move back to her regular seat just to appease the blonde.

Chloe gave one last murderous look to the designer before strutting to her bench. Sabrina followed closely behind, only she turned her nose up in the air at Marinette.

Marinette watched as Adrien rubbed a hand along his face, mumbling what sounded like a 'Thank God' but she couldn't be too sure.

She tried to pay attention to the lesson, really she did, but it was just so hard to focus with Adrien Agreste sitting right next to her. A hint of his cologne hung in the air and his blond locks gently feathered downwards as he bent his head to write in his tablet. Every now and then he'd glance up to look at the notes, then back down to copy them. They were notes that she should be copying too.

She shakily picked up her stylus and tried extra hard to focus. She copied each word on the slide, but soon fell back to her thoughts about Adrien. She cautiously peeked at him out of the corner of her eye and was surprised to see him looking at her. He offered a grin and returned to his notes.

Another slide came up, Marinette copied down the words verbatim. Mme. Bustier spoke some of her own words for the lesson then changed the slide again.

Marinette didn't hear him scoot closer to her. Instead she was aware of his presence when her nose caught more of his pleasing cologne and she saw his arm. She turned to him with wide eyes and a fierce blush on her cheeks.

Close. He's. So. Close.

He smiled warmly at her. "Hey, I missed some of the notes from the last slide. Can I copy?"

Marinette gulped, then nodded. Is it possible to die twice in one day?

His arm bumped against her own as he wrote on his tablet. His face slowly moved closer to her own as he looked closer at her notes.

She bit her lip and froze when a stray lock of blond hair brushed her burning cheek.

Too. Close. Help. Me. God.

Adrien turned to her as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. "Thanks, Marinette!"

Marinette hurriedly nodded. "Y-yeah, s-sure! No, no problem!" She whispered.

However, he didn't move back to his previous spot. No, he opted to stay there for the entire class, leaving Marinette nothing to do but inwardly panic and blush and wonder if this is the best thing that's ever happened to her or the worst.

Just when she thought she was going to die, the bell rung, signifying the end of class. Marinette let out a breath of relief as Adrien stood and began packing his things.

"Thanks again for letting me copy," he said to her as he was about to leave.

"No problem!" She squeaked.

"You know," he trailed off. He gazed up at her with a sly smirk. "I don't think Nino and Alya are really sick today."

Marinette tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Adrien chuckled, a sound that she always found pleasing to her ears. "I think they just took the day off to do other activities."

It took a minute to dawn on her at what he was insinuating. She nearly gasped and fell over at the shock that Adrien Agreste was making a...well, that kind of suggestion.

Adrien laughed at her expression and lifted his hand in a parting wave. She stared open-mouthed as he walked out the door.

...

At lunchtime she fled to her parents's bakery before Adrien could find her and possibly ask her to join him for lunch. The previous cafe trip was still fresh on her mind and Literature class didn't make things better.

She avoided him for the rest of the day. Without Alya and Nino there she'd be a mess around him, she couldn't take the chance.

So, it was after school, where she was safe in her room, that she could finally relax and sigh. She hadn't made herself look like a total idiot in front of the love of her life, she survived without Alya.

She was so happy she could get to work on making the jacket from one of her latest designs. And she'd do just that.

...

It was well into the night when she heard the familiar tapping sound on her upper trapdoor. Marinette didn't bother to get up, he was no stranger to letting himself in.

But the tapping continued. She growled in aggravation and went up to open it. That alley cat, it was obvious she wanted him to let himself in.

Marinette's frustration vanished when she took in his twisted lips and eyes screwed shut in pain.

"Chat Noir? What happened?"

He didn't answer. Instead, while still holding his lower side, he fell inside and landed on her bed. He audibly groaned and leaned his head back.

Marinette looked over him, mouth dropping when she noticed his pale face. The glove at his side was covered with blood seeping from the wound beneath.

"Chat...what happened to you?" She whispered.

The feline criminal clenched his teeth. "Bastard had a knife," he bit out. "While I was busy with the three assholes the fourth jumped me and one of them slashed at me with the knife."

Marinette's eyes bulged at his story. "Ar-Are you okay?" She wanted to slap herself for asking that as soon as the words left his lips. Of course he wasn't okay, he was just slashed by a knife!

A wry grin crossed over his face. "I will be, if you can do what I hope you can do."

She faltered for a second before asking, "what can I do?"

"This is a pretty big cut, Princess. It's not something a band-aid will take care of. You're going to have to give me stitches."

The designer balked at his idea. "Are you crazy?! I'm not a doctor!"

"Well it's not like I can go to a real one!" He snapped, then immediately relaxed and looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to yell at you."

Unbelievable. Here he was, a stab victim, and he was apologizing for snapping at her.

"It's okay," she replied automatically. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "How am I supposed to help you?"

"Get a needle and thread and sew me back together."

Marinette nearly gagged at the way he worded it.

"You're a designer, Princess. You know what to do."

"I sew clothes, not people!"

"Please," he begged, clenching his teeth. "Please, help me. I'm losing more blood than I would like to at the moment."

If she didn't help him, he'd most likely die. He saved her life three times, and now it was time to repay the favor.

"Alright," she decided. "Come on." She gently helped him off the bed, down the small staircase, and laid him on the floor. She hurriedly got him a pillow for his head and grabbed her sewing kit.

After running to the bathroom to clean the needle she would use, she sat down beside him. He tentatively removed the hand covering the wounded area and Marinette flinched at the deep gash that ran through a good portion of his lower left side.

He wordlessly pulled down the front zipper of his suit, revealing tanned skin and a six pack.

A six pack. Of muscle.

Marinette's cheeks tinted a rosy pink at the sight.

"While normally I'd love for you to admire my body," he drawled dryly. Marinette ripped her gaze away from his muscle to meet his half-lidded green eyes. "We have a more pressing matter at hand."

She nodded, fully embarrassed, and worked to wrap the thread in a knot on the eye of the needle. When finished she took a cautious look at the gash, wondering how on Earth she'd be able to do this.

"Just like your clothes," he encouraged, closing his eyes. "Just imagine I'm a shirt or something."

"Won't this hurt you?" Marinette asked quietly, tears beginning to pool in her eyes from worry. She didn't want to put him in any more pain than what he was currently in.

Chat Noir let out a bitter laugh. "Princess, no matter what happens I'm going to be hurting. Just get to work."

She nodded, swallowed away her nerves, and gently poked his skin with the needle. He bit his lip, but then had to make an effort to hold back a shout as it went through the other side of the piece of skin.

Marinette willed her hand not to shake as she guided the needle to meet with her next destination. Chat Noir brought up a hand to muffle his scream as she finished one stitch.

She froze in fear and looked at his face which was twisted in agony. "Get on with it," he growled.

A nervous whimper tore through her throat as she went to work on the second stitch. She needed something to distract him, something to distract both of them.

"Why were you fighting four guys?"

He didn't give an answer right away. He waited a minute or two before starting. "Went to rob a jewelry store, four bastards also decided to rob it. They interrupt me, I tell them to leave because I was there first, then they fight me. I can take on four guys at once...without weapons. Two, maybe three, if they have weapons. Anyway, I got stabbed. Normally I'd continue to fight, but that bastard got me good. I knew I wasn't going to win that battle. So I left, and now all that jewelry is going to be in their hands. That's the real tragedy of this story."

Marinette scowled and would've needlessly poked him with the needle, but she wasn't like that.

"Chat, you can't try to take on four guys at once."

"I did it before."

"And you said you would normally continue to fight. Have you gotten stabbed before?"

"Yes. But they were only minor cuts. This one is the worst I ever got."

She didn't look at him. "You need to be more careful."

"I know." A corner of his mouth twitched up. "If I died then you wouldn't have a knight to protect you, Princess."

"I mean it, Chat Noir. Not for me, but for yourself. You need to stay safe for yourself."

"Can't do that."

She stopped her work, which was halfway done, and glared at him. "Yes, you can. I don't matter. I want you to stay safe for yourself."

His eyes narrowed. "Don't ever say that. You do matter. Stop arguing with me on this, you're not going to win."

"Chat-"

"I'm still bleeding, in case you haven't noticed."

She grumbled as she got back to work. She was too angry and frustrated with him to be afraid to do her task anymore. Chat leaned back and tried to relax even though a needle kept piercing him over and over again.

At long last, it was done. Marinette gave a long look at the black stitching over what once was a deep gash.

"I'll clean it up."

"No need." He bit his lip, shakily standing. "I can clean it at home. Thank you, though."

Marinette grimaced at Chat's dried blood staining her hands. Chat Noir looked at his stitched up wound, a grin of satisfaction came on his face. He zipped up the suit and stepped towards her.

"Thank you, Princess." He took both of her hands, still bloodstained, and kissed them. "I am forever in your debt."

Marinette closed her eyes. "Please. Please be more careful."

He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. She slowly opened her moist eyes to meet his warm ones.

"I'll be more careful." He smirked. "Purromise."

"I'm serious, Chat. I don't want you getting stabbed again."

"You'll never have to stitch me up again."

"That's not it!" She snapped, sapphire eyes blazing in an emotion she herself didn't recognize. "It's not about me stitching you up, it's about you getting hurt. I don't want you to get hurt again!"

He paused, eyes slowly enlarging. He stared at her, mouth slightly parted, but he still kept his hold on her hands.

At last a slow smile spread across his lips. His green eyes seemed to swirl with that same emotion she had earlier, though much less hostile.

"I will be more careful." He bent his head down to deliver another kiss to her knuckles. "Promise." Chat closed his eyes and touched her hands with his lips once more, making the blackette's cheeks softly flush.

He gently let go of her hands and carefully made his way to her bed. He bit his lip to prepare for the pain before he hauled himself out the trapdoor. He made a small groan, but made no other noises to show his agony.

"Good night, Princess."