I'm Enjoying Myself

Chat Noir didn't show up last night, and Marinette couldn't help but feel disappointed. She knew that they hadn't made plans to see one another tonight, and maybe Chat had decided seeing her twice, two nights in a row was rather risky, but she still couldn't shake the bitter feeling of rejection.

She was gonna tear herself apart the more she kept thinking about everything that was going on in her life this much. So much of her mind was being occupied by the Soul Link. By Chat Noir. By Adrien. By other things she had barely paid any attention to. She wasn't even aware if there was supposed to be homework done for today, but at this point, she didn't even care. She'd take the consequences of not having done the work. She just couldn't care less right now.

There was a large part of her that felt like she was being a massive traitor. She felt like these feelings, these emotions that she was having towards Chat made her betray Adrien. Like she was doing something forbidden behind his back. It wasn't the same feeling she would get if she was cheating on him, not that she knew what that felt like... But it felt like she was just being unloyal. How long has she wanted that blond boy to see her?... And now she was falling for Chat?...

But her heart still pounded to think about Adrien Agreste...

Her heart was being torn between two different boys, and she felt like she was betraying both of them. Of course, she knew she was being irrational. She had never entered any sort of relationship with either of them... Despite her longing to, but she still couldn't help but feel guilty as hell about it all.

Thinking about all of this before going to bed wasn't helping her get to sleep at all. All it did was hinder the poor girl's efforts at getting to sleep. Was it wrong of her to like Chat Noir as well as Adrien? Did she like Chat more than she did Adrien?... Was that because Chat had always been there, loyally stood by her side when the Akuma had attacked, always having her back, and making sure she was safe, recklessly charging in like a lunatic to ensure her safety above his own. Was it how he had taken an interest in the more wild side to her personality, the more confident and brave part of her persona, or was it how he had taken an interest in her regular persona, the flawed, clumsy, stuttering one? Or was it that he had taken an interest in both?... That he'd been interested in the full picture

She wasn't getting anywhere by thinking about it this much... But it was impossible to stop thinking about all of it. Like it was set to remind her every second of her conscious state. No matter how much she tried, no matter how much she wanted to, she could never shake off these thoughts.

Dealing with a crush on Adrien Agreste, handsome, smart, intelligent and kind model, was difficult enough... Dealing with a crush on him and on the other half of the hero of Paris duo, Chat Noir... Dealing with double the emotions wasn't doing any good for her.

She sighed to herself, for maybe the hundred-and-fiftieth time that night alone. All she wanted was a simple solution... That really was the only thing she could ask for at this point.

Not the solution she was looking for, but she'd take it.

She moved her head to the side and saw two glowing green eyes staring back at her. To anyone else, it would have been like something straight out of a horror movie, but Marinette had seen these sparkling emerald eyes a thousand times before. They gave her a certain feeling of comfort and warmth, like a guardian angel was watching over her and protecting her.

He had come tonight?

Throwing her covers off herself, she jumped from her bed and onto her wooden floor, not making a noise with her light landing, and practically skipped her way to her window, to fling it open for the dark clothed hero.

"Princess." Chat says with a smirk. He was in a good mood, she could tell just from his voice. "You look happy to see me." With that, he climbed inside, allowing himself to shiver ever so lightly due to to temperature difference from inside Marinette's room and the cold outside air.

"I thought something had happened to you, you dumb cat." Marinette informed him, shutting the window once he was inside her room. Once shut, Marinette realized just how warm this room had become.

"So you were worried about me?" A grin appeared on Chat Noir's face. "How touching."

There was something about Chat right now that would have normally sent out danger signals to Marinette. He seemed like he was on a hunt, more smug than he normally was. Every action he was making was deliberate, careful, and Marinette felt, rehearsed. He had planned this - No, he was making sure he enjoyed himself here. He knew something Marinette didn't.

Yet she was putty in his hands. She was just answering with her emotions, not with logic or knowledge. "Against my better judgement..."

"You were the one who asked me to return, if I recall, Princess." Chat Noir reminded her with yet another smirk. He stood up tall, maybe a half head taller than the blue haired superhero in front of him. "Did you have a -ticular reason for that?"

"I can promise it wasn't to hear those puns..." Marinette muttered with a groan, looking away from him.

"What a shame. Ladybug seems to like my puns."

'' Marinette thought to herself.

"So - Did you have a reason to ask me to come back here?"

"Not specifically." Marinette sat at her computer chair, swirling it around to face the worst possible choice of a crush she could have made. "I just... Wanted to talk to you, that's all."

"You called Chat Noir from his daily patrols to have a chat?" The miraculous holder chuckled to himself. "I'm not sure if it's more amusing that you asked, or it's more amusing that it worked - Here I am. I must be drawn to you, My Lady."

Under a normal conversation and circumstance, Marinette would have caught this particular phrase, but right now, she was focused on her blazing hot skin. The fact she was in her pajamas's in front of the hero didn't help matters once she realized that that was all she was wearing, sending yet another wave of embarrassment throughout the young girl. "I - I guess, so?..."

"You're acting all shy, but you like that you have that power over me, don't you?" Chat asked, taking a step closer to her.

The air shifted all of the sudden, and Marinete found herself closer to Chat than she had been before. Sure, they'd been closer than this as Ladybug and Chat Noir, but that was only ever when they were fighting Akumatized villains. Where they got close to each other and never had time to really think about it. This was different. This screamed intimate vibes. The moment was tender enough, and Chat wasn't doing anything to lessen it. He practically was thriving on it. "You can call this cat from anything, at any time, and you like that you've got that power, don't you?" He added on, with a particularly happy grin.

He wasn't wrong either. He was reading her like a book, specifically the chapter of her emotions, namely, embarrassment. He had hit the nail right on the head. The idea she could call upon Chat Noir whenever she - Not Ladybug, - Needed him, and he'd arrive... she liked it. And she was using this power to just... Talk to him... "Maybe I do..."

"So, let me ask you something, Princess." chat smirked in his victory. "I'm... Let's say, observant. I notice you when you don't notice me when I'm on my regular patrols. That boy, Adrien, right? The celebrity crush you've got?"