Caged

Change of Perspective

Author's Note: Note that two scenes happen simultaneously in the beginning of the chapter, with the -~- breaks. After that, normal --- breaks. For art of the first scene, visit my Tumblr their-destinys-writer.

---

This wasn't supposed to happen.

And yet, there they were, lips pressed together, and neither moving away. Marinette would argue that she didn't dare to make sudden movements, and that that was why she didn't pull away. But even she knew that was a lie. The truth of the matter was that she didn't want to pull away. She didn't want to stop what she was doing.

She didn't want to stop a kiss with Chat Noir.

So instead, she squeezed the gloved hand she was holding, and moved her lips in a slow rhythm. A rhythm Chat Noir immediately followed. It was soft and tender, with an emotion Marinette couldn't make out at the moment. But it felt important. Too important to simply dismiss.

Until, after what felt like days, their lips broke apart.

As her daze started to clear up, the reality of what happened started to sink in. What she did. Her previously lidded eyes now grew wide, focused on Chat Noir's equally surprised ones.

It only took one second for both of them to jerk away from each other in shock. Their hands released from one another and took hold of the railing instead, all the while they stared away towards the lights of Paris.

"Did...did we just—"

"Yeap," Marinette interrupted, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence.

"Sh-should...should we..."

"Nope," Marinette intervened again, but Chat Noir had already trailed away before she spoke.

They stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do next. She chanced a glance towards him, just in time to see him do the same. The moment their gazes connected, their cheeks turned red and their eyes averted once more.

Should they talk about it? I'm not sure if I'm ready for that.

Should they kiss again? Definitely. Marinette gulped at how quickly that response came into her mind.

Should they ignore it and pretend it never happened?

...

I can't, she thought to herself, the memory of the kiss already seared into her brain.

"Ahem." Marinette jumped at the reminder that said boy was still standing next to her. "Maybe I-I should just, um...you know...go?"

Her gaze finally snapped towards him, just in time to see him starting to climb the railing.

"No!" she blurted out, grabbing his wrist.

Chat Noir looked back at her, eyes the size of saucers. Yet Marinette didn't let go. She wanted to at least say something. Anything. But couldn't find the right words.

"I-I..." she tried. "I mean...you, me...we...this..."

Oh, this is a disaster, she thought miserably. She took a deep breath, and Chat Noir turned to her fully. He opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure.

"We don't have to talk about it now," he said at last, eyes softening. When Marinette's hold loosened, he slipped his hand into hers. "Honestly, I'm not ready to talk about it."

"Right," Marinette breathed. "It's...complicated."

"Yeah," he whispered.

It then occurred to her that what was probably going through his mind was the same thing that was going through hers. Not only had they both said to like different people, but they had just done exactly what they had been denying for weeks to the press.