Chapter Six

Chat Noir was wondering if he was having that dream again. The one where Ladybug confessed her feelings and they finally got together. It was a fantasy he'd repeatedly had over their entire partnership, but the frequency of said dream ebbed and flowed. Yet he was pretty certain that he was steeped in reality. Surely, he wouldn't feel the cool breeze ruffling his wild locks in a dream. To further cement the legitimacy of the situation he wet his lips with his tongue, feeling the moisture dry in the wind and again it felt too real to be a dream.

The rampant thundering of his heart ratcheted up a notch as his eyes raked over Ladybug's beautiful face. Chat opened his mouth to speak, but a complete sentence seemed to elude him. "You…me…"

A smile tugged at Ladybug's lips as she waited patiently for him to say more.

The blonde cleared his throat, closed his eyes briefly then focussed on his lady. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Kind of," she admitted as she toyed with one of her ponytails. "Well, probably." She inhaled deeply as she took half a step closer to him. "I was thinking that maybe we could go on a single date and see what happens."

Again, Chat Noir opened his mouth then closed it as he considered how to respond. "While I'm more than willing to go on a date with you, I'm not convince that you're as onboard with the whole idea."

Ladybug looked away. "It's just that, well…" she let out a sigh.

"You're not really attracted to me," Chat Noir said, deflating internally as he filled in the blank with his assumption.

"What? No! That's not what I was going to say."

"So, you are attracted to me." He couldn't help confirming with a smirk, feeling a renewed spark of hope.

His partner gave him a playful slap on the arm as she shook her head. "Will you let me finish?"

Chat gave a lazy shrug of his broad shoulders, "I guess so."

"What I was going to say is that I'm hesitant because of the past. You probably won't recall, due to Bunnix changing things, but there has been circumstances during akuma fights where our future relationship has come into question. Where we have been…together and it's meant that Hawkmoth wins."

A deep crease settled between Chat Noir's masked eyebrows. "What do you mean? Us being a couple somehow dooms us?"

"Yes, apparently each time it happened it wasn't the right time."

That had Chat Noir cocking an eyebrow, "How many times has this happened exactly?"

A most intriguing tint of pink coloured Ladybug's exposed cheeks. "Um, a few."

"Hmm," Chat murmured as he crossed his arms and looked to the skyline then back to his partner. "Is there a particular circumstance which leads to this downfall which we could avoid?"

Ladybug swallowed, "We would have to continue keeping our true identities secret."

"That old chestnut," Chat grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"I know you've always loathed that rule, but it's there to keep us safe."

"And separate. We're adults now, surely we're old enough and mature enough to keep things purely between us without endangering each other."

"Maybe, but Tikki is still firm about this rule."

Chat Noir let out a frustrated huff as he raked his fingers through the sides of his hair, lacing his fingers together at the back of his head as he stared up at the stars. "Tikki, the bane of all fun as Plagg would say."

An amused snort sounded from Ladybug and she quickly covered the lower half of her face with her gloved hand. "You didn't hear that."

"I absolutely did," he grinned as he tapped his right cat ear while leaning towards her.

"Pretend you didn't."

"Where is the fun in that?"

Ladybug shook her head with a dry smile. "Forget it, I suppose we should get back to patrolling."

"Uh, no. We have not finished this conversation," Chat stated as he sidestepped across her path and took hold of her shoulders. "I accept your offer of a date, even if you haven't swept me off my feet with utter romance. Just tell me when and where."

A sly grin spread across Ladybug's face which Chat Noir didn't understand. She padded slowly towards him, closing the slight distance between them, raising her gloved hands and placing them on his chest as she inched ever closer. Her voice was a sultry rasp as she tilted her head, lifting up on her toes so her nose was almost brushing his. "Chat Noir, I want to see you tomorrow night. Same time, same place and then I'll lead you to where we need to be."

Somehow, he managed a guttural "Okay."

Those hands on his chest smooth up over his suit collar to hold his jaw as Ladybug moved in, and then she kissed him briefly on the tip of his masked nose and stepped back. "Excellent. Do you feel sufficiently wooed now?"

Chat Noir pouted, "I would have liked more wooing or a kiss on the lips but I suppose that'll do for now."

Ladybug gave him a cheeky grin as she reached for her yoyo, however he noticed that her hand was a little shaky as she latched onto it. Perhaps she was more affected by their close proximity than she'd been letting on. That had Chat Noir smiling wolfishly as he extended his baton.

Before Ladybug could toss her yoyo, Chat Noir wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed her side to his as he vaulted off the rooftop. "Hold on tight, milady. Let's take the opportunity to enjoy the night together before we have to go play hero."

Much to his delight, Ladybug encircled him in her arms as they travelled across the rooftops. A comfortable silence fell upon them as they moved effortlessly in tandem. For a whole blissful 11 minutes they enjoyed simply being together. Then of course, Hawkmoth spoiled everything as usual.

Alas my weekly schedule has been slayed. Let's face it I'll post when I can. It's also disheartening that the websites traffic stats haven't been working for me since mid September so I have no idea how many people are actually reading this. Anyhow, please give the review box some love - it always helps motivate me. Thanks for reading! :)