Panorama | Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 8 - "Oh, hell no"

"Plagg! Transform me!" Adrien called out from the dark janitor's closet. In a flash of green light, his ordinary clothes were replaced with a black leather suit. Carefully poking his head out the door to ensure there were no spectators, Chat Noir stepped out into the hallway. He knew that he would have to wait a while so it didn't seem suspicious, so he used his staff to jump through a nearby window.

He patrolled the city for a while, keeping his eyes open for akuma attacks. However, Hawkmoth had just created a villain the day before, so it was unlikely there would be anything. That, though, wasn't the only thing that caused his mind to wander. As he watched the sun sink into the distant mountains, he thought about what he'd say to Marinette. He didn't exactly know what her poem had meant, but he held his hopes high in his heart that they were, in a complicated way, saying that she missed him and much as he missed her.

After he completed his patrol, Chat Noir sprung himself back towards the college dorms. Instead of going through the front doors, though, he decided to take a more Chat Noir type approach.

Marinette heard a knock on her window and nearly fell out of her chair. "Hang on, Alya. There's uh, someone at the, ah... the door!" Marinette lied, setting her phone against her stack of books on her desk. Hurridly, she walked over to the window and opened it.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, immediately locking eye contact with the black cat. 

"I had to see you... Can I come in?" He was perched on the windowsill, perfectly balanced, and hopped in gratefully when Marinette took a step back.

"Chat, it's been over a month since that whole... thing, whatever it was, happened between us. Why now?" She asked. Marinette genuinely wasn't sure how she felt about him turning up again. She knew that she had missed him, that's for sure. Sure, she got to fight alongside him and patrol with him almost daily, but when she was Marinette, and only Marinette, things were different.

"I- I'll be honest, I don't know. I just wanted... I needed to apologize. I -"

"Chat, please-" Marinette started to interrupt him but he put a gloved finger to her lips. 

"Princess, please let me do this." When she didn't say anything in response, he continued. "Marinette," her name flowed from his lips, his warm breath against her cheek. "I am so, so sorry for what I said. I can't lie to you, I don't regret telling you that I lo-" He paused, picking his words carefully when he saw the look on her face. "I don't regret saying what I did, but I do regret when and how I said it. I shouldn't have just thrown that at you so suddenly and carelessly. I haven't been able to live with myself knowing that you were mad at me. Can we please just start over? Can you ever forgive me, princess?" 

Marinette's hand was clenched in a fist down at her side as she did everything she could to focus. She had been in love with this man for years and there he was, begging for her forgiveness and love. She did everything she could to resist him, to hold her ground.

"Fuck it," she muttered after a long moment of silence. Chat Noir started to say something but he was cut off by lips on his as Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was startled at first but quickly regained his composure and took the lead from Marinette.

He let one hand pull her waist closer to his and the other move up to her hair. With expert precision, he undid her messy bun and tossed her hair tie onto her desk. He gently bit her bottom lip as he caressed her chin with a leather claw. She started to back away but before he could pull away, she grabbed him by the bell on his suit and pulled him with her until she was backed against the wall under her loft-bed. With his hand in her hair, he was easily able to pull away after about a minute. 

"Does this mean that you forgive me?" Chat asked breathlessly. Marinette smiled wide and nodded with a giggle.

"Yes, but I do think we should do a bit more talking than..." she motioned to their position against the wall, "this, at some point." 

"Do you mean right now?" He asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Oh, hell no," She laughed, gently kissing him again and leading them back into another passionate kiss. Chat Noir eventually started planting gentle kisses onto Marinette's neck when the pair heard someone clear their throat. Chat Noir froze in his spot and Marinette stiffened under him. In almost perfect unison, the two turned their heads to the source.

The blood drained from Marinette's face as she made eye contact with Alya, staring at them through the video call up on her phone. She had a perfect view of all the events that had just unfolded and no doubt had both seen and heard everything.

When Chat turned to see his roommate's best friend looking at him skeptically, he immediately leaped back away from Marinette and nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Hey..." He squeaked, his voice smaller than he had ever heard it.

"Alya, I- I c-can explain!" Marinette stammered, still shrunk against the wall. Alya's squinted eyes shifted between the two before she burst out laughing.

"Girl, this isn't exactly what I expected when I said 'get out of your comfort zone.' But hey, go big or go home." She laughed. Marinette and Chat Noir both let out a long breath that neither of them knew they were holding.

"You're not mad at me for not telling you?" The blue-haired girl asked, relieved.

"No, I am, but I totally get it! Once super boy leaves, you are giving me the whole story." As if on cue, Chat Noir's staff rang off an alarm that he had set so he'd know when Adrien needed to return.

"Speaking of which, I should go. " He mentioned. He started towards the door but Marinette grabbed his tail. 

"Let me walk you out," she offered, throwing a glanced back towards Alya on the phone to indicate that she wanted to talk to him alone. He smiled and nodded before saying goodbye to Alya and walking out.

Once the pair were alone in the empty hallway of the dorm building, Marinette grabbed Chat's hands in her own and smiled at him. "Sorry about that, I completely forgot that she was still in the call," She apologized. 

"It's fine, I shouldn't have just shown up unannounced." 

"I'm glad you did, though. I'm so sorry for how I acted back then. It was horrible of me to get so upset. It just caught me off guard, but there's no excuse for how I acted." She said, her gaze falling to her feet as the toed the cheap carpet.

"It's okay, I understand." Chat started. Before he could finish, another alarm rang in his staff. "I have to get going now, purr-incess." 

"Wait, Chat. I think we should get together again, soon. But this time, I think we should do something other than..." She nodded her head towards her door. "That. Deal?" He laughed.

"Deal." Marinette planted a gentle kiss on his cheek before letting him dash off down the hall and through a window. After watching his figure disappear into the moonlight, Marinette took a deep breath and went back into her room to face Alya.