Appreciating Chat Noir

Chapter Eight

Marinette was just putting her fabrics away having narrowed down her options to a few she was satisfied with, when she heard a thud on the roof. Unless there was a really big bird up there, she was certain it could only be one person – Chat Noir.

She dropped the fabrics on the ground absentmindedly and scrambled to make herself look presentable. Was she... actually nervous? She works with him all of the time. What was the problem? Taking, a few deep breaths in, she steadied herself before climbing up to the roof.

When Chat Noir had jumped on Marinette's roof, he had a swirl of butterflies that had decided to move in his stomach on the way over. He didn't understand why that was, he didn't like Marinette, did he? Well, he did – does sort of, but not really, right? Right?

Marinette opened the hatch to her balcony and felt the nerves intensify. "Chat Noir, why don't you come inside?"

He turned around to look at her. Even though he had seen her at school a few hours earlier he still felt like it had been a million years since the last time they'd spoke. "Why of course Princess." He said slipping into Chat Noir speak effortlessly.

The two of them climbed down the hatch pausing a moment as they both realised, they were on her bed, starring at one another. 'Oh gosh' Marinette thought to herself looking away. 'Why was this so awkward?'

They both climbed down.

"Why don't you sit?" Marinette said overly politely, gesturing to her chase.

"Alright Princess. Why don't you join me?" He patted the seat beside him with an endearing smile.

Marinette stood there with her arms crossed with a certain look on her face. Glaring at him she starred him down indicating for the first time exactly how she felt. "Why did you tell everyone we are dating? You and I both know that isn't true!"

"Oh, well what if it was?" He said awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck with a grimace on his face.

"You have no idea how awkward school was today! Everyone was questioning me and I had to answer and pretend not to be just as shocked as they were! You said you would explain, so explain!"

He hesitated. He wasn't aware Marinette would be angry about the situation. He hadn't thought she cared at all – she had seemed indifferent. And on the other hand, he did know how awkward school was today. He knew exactly how awkward school was today, because he had been there too. Not that she knew that though...

"Well? Go on!" She said, hands on hips, channeling all of her fierceness from her time as being Ladybug.

Chat Noir starred at Marinette for a moment, nearly seeing his partner there. He hadn't noticed before how similar they looked. He shook his head, trying to focus. Did he, like looking at Marinette?

"Okay so I hadn't actually told people that we were dating per say..." He began. "It was just a huge misunderstanding. At the time I was just trying to get out of an awkward situation. I hadn't realised this would blow all up in my face like this – not to mention yours."

"What do you mean you hadn't told anyone we were dating? You said you were with your girlfriend Marinette!"

"So, you've seen the video then, great."

"Who hasn't? Everyone has seen the video. Focus Chat, you said I was your girlfriend?"

"No, I didn't, I said I was with my girl friend Marinette."

"What's the difference? That's the same thing!"

"No, you said girlfriend. That's what everyone assumed. I said girl space friend. I meant my female friend Marinette! I realise it sounded misleading, but I told her not to post the footage! I-

Marinette realise the mistake and blushed bright red realising she had assumed – wrong. She rubbed her forehead and sighed deeply. Whoops. "So, you mean you are telling me you told everyone that you were hanging with your friend Marinette and choose to use the words; 'girl' and 'friend' together and didn't think it would be a problem? Why didn't you just say I was your friend?"

"I know! That's what blew up in my face! I knew if I told Nadia what she wanted to hear that she would go away. I thought she would delete the footage like I asked. Obvious that didn't happen." Chat Noir looked rather ashamed for the first time that evening.

Marinette's face softened and she approached him carefully. He was still her friend after all and she couldn't stay mad forever. She sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand."

He looked up, surprised. "You do?"

"I'm Marinette! I make verbal and physical blunders all of the time!"

He smiled through the embarrassment. "Oh yeah, that's true."

"So, I guess that leaves one more question then." Marinette said, smiling at him.

"What is it?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"How are we going to get out of this mess? There must be something we can do. Everyone thinks we are dating right now. What if we –

"Staged a break-up" Marinette finished saying at the same time Chat Noir said,

"Started a fake-dating relationship"

"You wanna what?" Marinette said in confusion. He wasn't actually serious about this, right?

"Started fake-dating. People already think we're a couple, right? Why not milk this for all it's worth?"

Marinette frowned, "I don't know, Chat. Why bother? If we stage a break-up, we can just go about our regular business without any of the drama. A win-win situation."

Chat Noir's heart sank. He didn't want that. He wasn't sure why but he was certain that was how he felt. "Yeah, but if we 'break-up' then we can't just hang out anymore like this without people asking questions. What if someone notices?"

She considered this counter-argument. "Fair point."

"If we go through with this, people can finally stop bugging me about 'dating' ladybug, and you can make sure your fashion submission is accurate. I mean you'll be hanging out with me all of the time. Maybe I can even get Ladybug to show one of these days..." Chat Noir trailed off, hoping she'd take the bait. He tried smiling in what he hoped was a charming way.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, playfully tapping his bell. "Well, I guess you've got a fair point. I guess it's for the best, right?"

"Exactly!" He said a with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Chat Noir, you aren't serious, right? I mean think about how much attention this would get. You dating a civilian. People – for some odd reason – would flip! They'd never leave us alone. Are you sure about this?" Marinette looked concerned in his direction. He seemed so dead-set on her saying yes. She wondered why.

"I'm certain. This would be for the best, like you said, right?"

She thought about it. He did show her a different side of himself with Marinette then with Ladybug, perhaps she would like to get to know that side of him a little more. Maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to convince him not to leave Paris.

She sighed resolutely. "Alright. Let's do it. But- we have to set some ground rules. Like what to tell people. How did we meet? When did we start dating? And when are you taking me out on a date?"

Chat Noir would have nearly spat his drink out if he had a drink that is.