😘😁

"Marinette!" My father called. "Your friend, Adrien, is waiting,"

I slipped on my flats and nearly fell down the stairs doing so. I quickly ran down the stairs but managed to maintain 'my cool'.

Adrien was looking around at our family pictures. He picked one of them up and studied it very closely.

"I'm here," I told my father. He watched Adrien with a bit of interest. I took a deep breath to compose myself.

"Have fun," My mother wished me. She came right beside my father and hooked her left arm with his right arm.

"Don't worry, Mr and Mrs Dupain-Cheng. I will bring Marinette back safe and sound," Adrien put the picture down and he walked towards me.

They nodded. Adrien held out his palm to me. I stared at it for a few seconds before giving him my hand. Our fingers interlocked and we began to walk out.

Talk about swooning. Adrien's hand was warm against mine. His hand was also very soft. Probably because he is a model.

I took one last look at my parents before leaving. They were holding each other, smiling at both Adrien and I. I found myself smiling, too.

I shut the door. "Where are Alya and Nino?" I half asked and half wondered out loud.

"They're in the limo," Adrien answered. Sure enough, the limo was parked at the front and Alta waved at me from inside of Adrien's car.

Adrien opened the door and gestured for me to get in. I did. He followed me and shut the door.

"Thanks again for inviting us," I said to Adrien and Nino. I removed my fingers from Adrien's hand. This made me realise that I entered the limo while still holding Adrien's hand.

Once again, cue the squealing.

Nino was at the left side of the car, followed by Alya, then by me, and finally Adrien who was at the right hand side of the door.

"No problem," Nino smiled.

"I'm glad we did. These two were talking to each other the whole time when we were coming to your house," Adrien lowered his voice so that I was the only person who could hear what he was saying. "I need company,"

I chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't bail on you," My awkwardness came into the conversation. "Not that I would ever bail on you. Who would do that?"

Marinette! This is the one chance you actually have Adrien without Chloé around. Now is not the time to mess it up!

Nonetheless, Adrien cracked a small smile.

_________________________________________

"Let's sit here," Nino said. We plopped into the movie seats. I've been to the movies frequently these days.

We sat in the same order that we sat in the limo: Nino, Alya, me then Adrien. The bad thing was that we were not watching a lovely-dovey movie like I would have wanted to.

It was a comedy, but I didn't hate comedies. They are my second favourite genres of movies. Adrien distributed the drinks while Alya distributed the food.

When the movie started, Nino and Alya were focusing on the movie than Adrien and I were.

I rested my cheek on my palm and chuckled once in a while. However, there was a point where I was very bored, I felt something tap my arm.

I turned to see Adrien press one finger to his lips. "Shh. Come with me," He extended his hand again. This time, I didn't hesitate to take his hand.

We snuck out of the dark room successfully. We headed towards the food court and sat at one of the tables.

"Why did you want to leave?" I had to ask. I wanted to leave, too, but I thought Adrien would love this movie.

"Because I was bored," He shrugged. My eyes widened. "And also I am Nino's wingman for tonight. He's got a massive crush on Alya,"

"Alya has a huge crush on him, too. I was her wingman tonight, too," I chuckled softly.

"They were made for each other," Adrien said. I nodded. "Anyways, the movie is finishing in an hour. Let's kill some time, shall we?"

"Sure. What do you want to do?" I asked. This was perfect. Not only was Alya staying with Nino, alone, I was staying with Adrien, just the two of us.

"Let's get to know each other better," Adrien ran a hand through his hair. "I think the only time that we've talked is when you thought that I put gum on your chair,"

My mind replayed the incident. I was walking to class and I saw Adrien on my seat, putting gum on my chair. Only, he wasn't putting it. He was trying to remove it.

Chloé was the one who put it there. However, at the time, I thought that it was a sick joke planned by Chloé, Sabrina and Adrien.

Adrien tried to talk to me but I ignored him. I didn't even care that he was the son of Gabriel Agreste, or the fact that he was a model. He put gum on my chair, and that gave me a very bad first impression of him. I thought that he was like Chloé. I didn't let him explain what happened.

Then, after school, it was raining and I had to walk home. I didn't have an umbrella and Alya had already gone home so I didn't know what to do.

Adrien, however, was there. He explained what happened in class earlier on and how it was Chloé who put the gum on my chair. Well, it was Sabrina, but Chloé made her do it.

He saw this and tried to remove it before I came in. That changed everything. He offered me his umbrella. After much hesitation, I took it, but I stared at him.

Then the umbrella snapped closed and I was trapped in it. As I fumbled to open the umbrella again, I heard Adrien laugh, and his laugh is the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

He gave me a wave before leaving and I was left in awe. That's when my crush on him developed.

"Yeah," I answered. "Can I ask you something? How come Chloé was the only person you knew when you came to our school?"

"We've been childhood friends," He said. "I've known her since I was little. Before, I never really used to go to school, and she was my only friend that I had,"

"What made you come to school?" I asked.

"I was sick and tired of staying home all the time. So I ran away to go to school," He shrugged with a smile.

I chuckled again. "You don't see that every day. I don't think anyone in their right mind would run away from their luxurious home to come to school,"

"You don't know how it was like to stay at home all the time. It was boring and I didn't have anything to look forward to. I didn't have people my age to talk to," He defended himself. "But when I went to school, I met Nino and we've gotten really close,"

"I thought you two were friends from when you were little,"

"Nino and I? No. We met on the first day of school. Chloé gave me a seat at the front, right in front of her. She used to sit at where you and Alya sit. Nino was already there. I tried to say hi but, just like you, he was a bit hostile,"

Now I felt bad. "I'm sure that we didn't mean it. It's because everyone thought that you were friends with Chloé,"

"Why don't you like Chloé?" It was his turn to ask questions.

"Well, it's a very long story. I'm sure you'll fall asleep listening to it," I rubbed my neck.

"We have the time. And I promise that I won't fall asleep," He raised up three fingers. "And if I do, you can pour icy cold water on me,"

I chuckled. "Okay. If you say so. I hope you fall asleep though. It would be interesting to try to wake you up,"

Adrien laughed. The beautiful sound of his laughter made my heart melt.

He rested his cheek on the palm of his hands and locked his green eyes with my blue ones. He gave me a smile. "I'm all ears, Marinette. Tell me the story,"

______________________________________________

As I swung my yo-yo to the roof of a building, I thought about the previous night that I had with Adrien.

Last night was a success for both Alya and I. She was mad that I left her with Nino, but was very glad that I did so.

It meant that Nino and her could talk by themselves and Adrien and I didn't have to interfere.

Adrien and I talked and laughed. We got to know each other better. He now knows that I am half Chinese. I now know that he takes Chinese (Mandarin) lessons.

When he asked me if I knew anything in Mandarin, I was blank. I tried to speak it, but I sounded terrible. Adrien couldn't hold his laughter.

A smile crept on my face as I remembered the gorgeous smile that he had. Last night was the best night that I've ever had.

Of course Tikki was there the whole time. She wouldn't stop teasing me about Adrien and I. She was confident that we would end up together. I told her not to be silly.

"What's got you smiling, Bug-a-boo?" Chat Noir's voice reached my ears.

I nearly got a heart attack. "You scared me half to death. Why do you like to do that?"

"Because I like your reaction. I find it amusing," Chat Noir grinned. We went to the park instead of Notre Dame. We sat on the grass instead of the park benches. The grass seemed like a better option.

"I was thinking about what happened last night," I answered his question.

"What happened to you last night?" He asked.

"I went to watch a movie with 3 other friends. I didn't watch the movie actually," I replied.

"Really? How coincidental. I was at the movies last night, too," Chat Noir turned to stare at the night sky. "I had one of the best nights of my life with this girl,"

"I thought that I was your only girl," I teased.

"You keep rejecting me. I have to keep my options open," He shrugged. "Was the movie a comedy?"

"I think so. But I never watched it. I was talking to a friend the whole time," I laid my head down on the grass staring at the sky. My left leg was relaxed but my right leg was propped up.

"So we were watching the same thing," Chat Noir joined me. "Don't you ever wonder who I am in real life?"

"I do," I admitted. "But I like to play cat-and-mouse games. I'll find out who you are at some point, just like you'll find out who I am at some point,"

"I'll wait for that day," He grinned. "By the way, you didn't finish your story about your girl drama," He turned his body to face me. His chin rested on both of his hands and his stomach was on the ground. His tail began to move left to right.

"How does it feel to have a tail?" I asked him. I found it very weird. What if I had something sticking out behind me?

"You're avoiding my question, my lady," He raised an eyebrow. "So in return, I will ignore your question,"

"Okay. I'll tell you what happened," I chuckled. "It was April Fool's day and I went for a sleepover at my best friend's house. We decided to prank this girl called Chloé,"

"Chloé?" Chat Noir repeated. "The daughter of the mayor?"

I nodded. "That's the one. Do you know her?"

"Yeah. We go to the same school," Chat Noir explained.

"I also go to the same school as her. That means we go to the same school," I put two and two together.

"Really?" Chat Noir took a good look at me. His green eyes and my blue eyes gazed at each other. "You can't be Chloé since you're talking about her. There's someone else who I know has blue eyes. I just can't put my finger on it,"

"Just keep an eye out for me," I winked. "Anyways, my best friend and I snuck into her house at night and switched her shampoo for honey and her make up powder as itching powder,"

I stopped to snicker at the memory. "Bees couldn't stop flying into her hair. She got stung several times. And her face," I fake gasped. "It was a mess. It's like she had red polka dots on her face,"

Chat Noir bursted out laughing. His laugh - it sounded very melodious. Very beautiful. Very familiar. Why can't I remember anything today?

"That's hilarious. I wish I was there to see it," Chat Noir finally commented after he stopped laughing. "Did she ever find out that it was you?"

"No. She didn't. If she did, she would have ratted my best friend and I to her father and we would be taken to juvenile," I replied. "That means you would have to find a new Ladybug,"

"Nonsense. I would bail you out of jail immediately," Chat Noir argued. "But I wouldn't know your identity. So I wouldn't know who to release. This is why you have to show me your identity,"

"You and I both know that we can't show our identities. I will think about telling you who I am but don't pester me about it. I will tell you in the form of a riddle," I sat up. My legs stayed in the same position. My hands were stretched out behind me on the cool green grass.

My eyes took in the beautiful view on not only the night sky, but on the main tourist attraction - The Eiffel Tour. As usual, it was lit up with several bright lights. It acted like the light to the world's darkness. The use of symbolism was very powerful.

"In the day time, I'm a clumsy and shy person. But you know me as one of Paris' most famous celebrities," I said.

"Really? You? Clumsy and shy?" Chat Noir looked at me in disbelief. "Are you Sabrina?"

"No," I shook my head. "But every day you get to guess one name. One name only. Today's name was Sabrina," I grinned.

"Okay. It's my turn," Chat Noir's tail flickered left and right. "I am very introverted actually,"

"Hmm," I pretended to stroke my non-existent beard. "Max?"

"No. Try again in the next 24 hours," Chat Noir said. He mimicked my position. A long silence fell upon us before Chat Noir spoke up again. "Tell me something that I don't know,"

"I have kissed you," I blurted out.

Chat Noir turned to face me. His eyes shut and then opened again. "What?!"

"I've kissed you before," I repeated again as the memory played in my mind.

"When?"

"Do you remember Dark Cupid? When this guy called Kim got akuma-tized? Well, he sort of turned you against me,"

"What?"

"And you teamed up with him and Hawk Moth so that you could take my miraculous,"

"What?!"

"You said hate conquered all, but I remembered something that I had been told before - love conquers hate. So I kissed you but when you got de-evilized, you couldn't remember a thing,"

"What?! Why?"

"I guess it was because you were evilized. Once you're de-evilized, I guess you don't remember what happened to you,"

"Can you kiss me again? I can't believe something like that happened and I don't even get to remember or cherish it,"

"Maybe some other time," I winked. I got up and dusted myself of dirt. "I'm sorry to cut the introduction short but it's past my curfew and I like my sleep more than almost anything. My father will kill me if I don't go to school on time tomorrow,"

"I guess my father is also worried about me by now," Chat Noir said. "I'm supposed to be at a friend's house. I hope he covers me. If my father calls, he says that I'm in the bathroom or something,"

"You never answered my question about having a tail," I told him. I can't believe that I forgot that question.

"It's weird, to be honest," Chat Noir made his tail move left and right again. "It usually moves depending on my mood. If I'm intrigued, it will move left and right. If I am happy, it will stay on one side. I'm not sure which one. If I'm sad, it will go the opposite direction of when I'm happy. If I'm mad, it goes straight up,"

"Huh," I wished I had a tail.

"Also my ears move, too," Chat Noir added. He made his ears go down and up. "But that's a story for another day. I can't wait for the next time that we meet,"

"Me too," I admitted. Even though Chat Noir can be pretty annoying, he isn't bad to talk to.

"Well, now that you've brought up sleep, I've got to go and get my beauty sleep," He stretched his arms and closed his eyes.

"Beauty sleep?" I echoed.

"Yeah. Can't you tell that I don't do any ordinary sleep? I'm too attractive for that. Beauty sleep is what I need. This," He motioned to his face and body. "Doesn't just happen,"

"Oh really? What does it take?" I tried not to snicker very loudly. Chat Noir can be too cocky at times. Cocky and proud.

"It takes a lot of things. It takes a lot of things that I don't have time to tell you right now," Chat Noir smirked. "But how about tomorrow?"

"We'll see," I said. "Goodbye, Chat," I waved goodbye. Chat Noir held my hand and kissed it. I gave him a small smile, before kissing his cheek.

I caught the glimpse of his reaction as I made my quick getaway.

I found myself smiling for the second time this week.

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