"Ladybug, slow down!" Chat shouted as he chased her across the rooftops. She was extra enthusiastic today. When he had asked she had said that "she was perfectly fine" with a very wide smile.

Surprisingly she was too eager to spend extra time patrolling. They had recharged their kwamis almost three times now. Even though he loved spending time with her, even this was getting way out of hand.

Chat Noir extended his baton on the roof and tipped it at the right height. He landed just a few feet ahead of Ladybug's path. Because of her speed and the short distance left between them, she collapsed into him. Chat was expecting this and so he had braced himself. Though he rocked back, he balanced both of them.

"Oof. You have a heavy head." Chat winced at the pain coursing through his chest.

"Chat! Sorry." She looked up, her eyes full of worry. Her thoughts immediately went to his arms tightly wrapped around her causing her body to be fully pressed to his. Chat opened his eyes after the pain subsided. Had his eyes always been so….green? So…entrancing? So…beauti-

Ladybug broke out of her trance as she heard her name being called.

"Ladybug. You ok?" Chat asked as he retracted his arms.

Ladybug mourned the loss of those protective arms. Those arms, they could protect her from anything. She shook her head. What was wrong with her?

"I am ok. Great." She moved past him. "Let's go. The swimming pool won't be open all day." Just as she was about to sling her yoyo and jump off, Chat caught her wrist.

"Hold up." Chat sighed. There was obviously something bothering her and he didn't know how to address it. He had no idea how to deal with such fragile situations which required good communication. "Look, there is something definitely bothering you. I am not sure how to say this but I am here if you need a listening ear."

"What are you talking about, Chat? Everything is fine. Nothing is bothering me." She said furrowing her brows. She noticed that he was still holding her wrist but it didn't matter to her. Nothing mattered to her anymore. Nothing happening in her life could ever faze her. Nothing mattered. Not her happiness, not her dreams, and definitely not her love life. She wasn't allowed to feel love or bask in someone's love.

"Ok then. How about a race?" Chat finally said, not really knowing how to get through her with words. "If I win, I get to do what I want."

Ladybug narrowed her eyes before asking, "And if I win?"

See, that right there was the issue. Normally she would suspect him for trying something mischievous, but she didn't.

"You choose what you want, Bugaboo." Chat waited for an eye roll or an angry pout at the use of the nickname but it never came.

Whatever she wanted? What was it she wanted? To mend her relationship with Luka? A happy relationship with Adrien? Freedom from her responsibilities as Ladybug? A normal life? There was too much and none of it was possible to gain just by defeating Chat Noir in a race.

"Have you decided yet, Bugaboo." Surely at some point she will get tired of hearing that nickname, until then he planned to use it to his heart's content.

"Huh." She looked at him confused. Why was her mind sidetracking so much? "If I win, we just go to the pool instead." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You have lost your charm, Bugaboo." Chat muttered, saddened at her lack of creativity. "All the more reason for me to win."

And with that they sprinted off to the decided finish line, the top of Eiffel Tower.

Ladybug landed atop the tower, to find Chat already there, twirling his cat tail.

"Looks like I won." He said walking towards her. "Let's go." In one swift move, he picked her up in his arms and jumped off. Chat ignored her scream and the way her arms wrapped around his neck with a death grip

"Chat, what are you doing?" She shouted after she was done screaming from the shock.

"What I want to." He grinned at her. He extended his baton until they were high enough to see almost the entire city.

"Oh come on, at least tell me where we are going." Ladybug huffed, not really having the energy to retaliate against him. Truth be told, it didn't matter where he was taking her, she trusted him and so she decided to relax. She tightened her hold around his neck and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. For once it felt good to not care about anything and to let it all go, to let him take her wherever he wanted, because she trusted him.

"There." He said as he tipped the baton and landed in an….amusement park?

When they landed, he grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd like an excited child, towards a hot air balloon.

"I always wanted to try this, but my father never allowed me." He said as he jumped twice with a giddy smile.

"Careful, you look like you are about to shoot off to the sky." Ladybug said with a grin. She was about to cross her arms over her chest but then noticed that he was still holding her hand. Since he was busy talking with the man about the balloon ride, he didn't notice that she had tried to free her hand, and so her hand remained in his grasp.

Ladybug smiled as her gaze trailed from their joined hands to his blond hair. Had he always had such a muscled back? Had his hair always been so soft? Why the hell was she wondering such things? Ladybug was brought out of her reverie as he started to pull her towards the balloon.

"He is gonna let us go for free." Since she hadn't objected to holding hands, he hadn't let go. Afterall, it only added to his delight.

The balloon fired up and started to fly up. Chat noticed that her grip tightened as the balloon gained height.

"Are you scared?" He asked, a bit amused.

"A little." She admitted, biting her lower lip.

Was it possible for her to be any cuter?

"Don't worry. The brave Chat Noir will protect you." He smirked, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, all the while maintaining eye contact with her. To his surprise she giggled. She didn't pull away or retort at his obvious attempt at flirting.

She giggled. She actually giggled at Chat Noir's attempt at flirting with her. Though it came out naturally, deep down it was surprising. The way he had looked at her and the soft kiss, it felt… mesmerizing and the giggle came out before she knew it.

Chat gave her a calculating look before sitting on the seat and turning to face the view.

"You know, my father can be strict sometimes." He let out a dry chuckle. "Well most of my friends think he is very "uncool"." He smiled at Ladybug when she sat down next to him on the seat. "With the way my father is, everything can be really frustrating sometimes." Since she wasn't objecting to him talking about his personal life, he continued. "Can you imagine how it feels to come home from a tiring day only to find an empty dining table, a lifeless house. No one bothers to ask you about your day. No one bothers to ask how you are feeling. No one cares." Chat took a deep breath and swallowed heavily.

A hand squeezed his shoulder. Chat turned to the source of the warmth. And there she was with that soothing smile of hers. His balm to all his problems. His anchor to hold onto. He smiled as he squeezed her hand at his shoulder.

"I care, Chaton." She said as she moved her hand to his cheek. She had no idea he was facing this. And here she was mourning about not having a boyfriend.

Chat just smiled and leaned into her hand. "So what's been bothering you, M'lady?"

He whispered. Her hand dropped and Chat mourned the loss of the touch.

Ladybug looked away. "I-I don't think you would understand."

"It doesn't matter if I understand or not, I just want you to let out. It helps." Chat gave her an assuring smile. "I said all those things about my home life, and it felt good to finally say it because I never spoke about it to anyone, not even my friends. So, go ahead. Let's let it all out."

"I don't remember signing up for therapy." Ladybug smirked.

"Can you blame me for trying? You were acting weird the whole day." Chat shot back.

Ladybug beamed at him, who was all too eager to listen to her. What had she done to deserve him?

"I recently broke up with a guy," she began. "And I just realised that I can never have a healthy relationship with anyone when I have so many secrets which can't be shared no matter how much I trust him."

"Was this the guy you rejected me for?" Chat asked, a twinge of jealousy and protectiveness overcoming him.

"No. That guy just seems more and more out of my reach. And even if by some miracle he develops feelings for me, I can never be in a relationship with him, especially with my new responsibilities as guardian." She sighed as she stared at her lap. "Its like, if you cataclysm my heart right now, I would not feel it, because," she paused and shrugged hopelessly, "its already broken. And its something no magical ladybugs can fix." She raised her teary eyes to look at him with a sad smile stretched on her lips.

"Well, you just cataclysmed my heart." He muttered. He knew it, he knew exactly how it felt to have your heart broken due to love. His hands moved on their own and pulled her into a hug.

Ladybug buried her face into his chest and took a deep breath. His presence was so relaxing. His fingers caressing through her hair, so gentle, so soothing. His warmth, so comforting. She needed this. She needed him. She felt the tightness in her chest slowly easing. It felt like he was the only balm to her wounds.

"It's ok. I know how it feels."

"You do?" She said incredulously as she looked up at him.

Chat cleared his throat and pushed her head back to his chest. "Yes but it doesn't matter." This was really not the time to be telling her about his heartbreak caused by her.

"Come on, kitty. Tell me who broke your heart. We are sharing after all."

She really had no idea, did she. All the more reason not to tell her. But maybe it was the small bubble of comfort they had created or the pent up frustration just wanting to come out that made him blurt out his next words.

"It's…you." Chat tightened his arms, glad that she could not see his face.

Ladybug stiffened with shock. The one who broke his heart was her? She was well aware of his advances and attempts to woo her, but she never thought about how much she had hurt him. Was he really that deeply in love with her? She looked up but he refused to look at her. She placed a hand on his cheek, causing him to face her. But he still avoided eye contact.

"Will you at least look at me, mon chaton." Oh darn it, how can he resist that sweet voice and that equally sweet nickname? Giving up, Chat looked at her.

"I guess we both have cataclysms in our hearts." She said with a rueful smile as she stroked his cheek with her thumb. Her face was so close to his, their noses were almost touching.

"That's so corny." He scoffed to which she giggled. He took one look at her and made up his mind. "I never got to say it to your face but," he leaned into her hand and whispered, "I love you, I have been in love with you since I met you, Ladybug."

Ladybug considered her next words very carefully before uttering them.

"What do you say we give that rooftop dinner a second try?" She asked sincerely.

Chat's eyes widened at her implications. "You are not gonna stand me up are you?"

"No, chaton. Not this time. You mean a lot to me and I couldn't do something to break your heart even more." She said, placing a soft kiss to his nose. She could feel Chat's breath hitch as he tensed up.

That was all Chat needed to hear as he slowly brought his lips on hers. He just brushed his lips upon hers and pulled back, waiting for her to give him a signal that she was ok with this.

Ladybug chased his lips and closed her eyes as their lips met each other halfway. Chat cupped her face in both of his hands as he deepened the kiss. A moan escaped his lips as Ladybug stroked his hair, her fingers smoothly gliding on his scalp.

After placing a few more fervent kisses on her lips, he rested his forehead against hers.

Ladybug brought her arms to his neck, as she started playing with his hair. She placed a kiss on his nose.

"I love you, mon chaton." She whispered.

They were lost in their own world, the balloon long forgotten. Said balloon swayed and Ladybug fell on Chat.

"Let's maneuver this thing, before it throws us off." Chat chuckled as he steadied Ladybug on her feet.

They maneuvered the balloon with smiles on their faces and their fingers intertwined.