I wanna hold you when I'm not supposed to

When I'm lying close to someone else

You're stuck in my head and I can't get you out of it

If I could do it all again

I know I'd go back to you

I know I'd go back to you

I know I'd go back to you

- Back To You, Selena Gomez

Marinette's hand hovered over laced doilies and fabrics in the fancy pink stands. Pretending to examine the fine fabrics she tried not to think too much about Luka; who was looking at antique instruments on the other side of the shop. He certainly did not look too happy - his upper body was stiff and rigid, and both he and Marinette were circling each other, trying not to be conscious of the uncomfortable tension.

The whole room radiated 'awkward', but both had no such courage to break the ice. Marinette's brain whizzed with desperate attempts to think of things to distract her mind, but she had no such luck.

10 silent, uncomfortable minutes of shuffling around the room passed, and finally, Luka turned back, hesitant, his eyes glued to the floor. But his voice was steady as ever.

"You want to head home now?"

Marinette turned back as casually as she could, looking back at him with glassy eyes, nodding, her hands clutching her cross bag tightly. She blinked multiple times, as if she was trying to prevent herself from shedding tears.

Of course, Luka noticed her nervous behavior and stared at Marinette with a sad expression – kind of like how a father would look at his daughter walking down the wedding isle. He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly his face morphed into a look of determination.

He swiftly took Marinette's hand, squeezed it once, and pulled her out of the store; the door closing behind him and Marinette with the small chime of a bell.

His strides were big and steadfast as he walked along the asphalt road. Marinette's small hand encased in his, they passed by petite shops lining the streets of Champs Elysees, (averting pedestrian's curious glances,) he then led her to a narrow corridor – not spooky of any sort, but private enough.

"Where – where are we going?" Marinette stumbled as she looked over her shoulder to the underground subway station stairway. Her head spun with confusion. "Luka?"

Luka was quiet as he reached out and took both of her hands, his eyes full of desperate willpower – the need to know, to get over with something that had been tugging at his mind for quite a while. He did not lose eye contact with Marinette until he slowly lifted his right hand and gently cupped her chin.

Marinette's eyes widened as she realized what Luka was trying to do. His bright eyes stared right into her blue ones – as if her was daring her – asking her.

'Are you going to do it?' he seemed to say.

'Will you let me be your first - very first kiss?'

His nose was and inch away from hers – and in one swift movement, their lips would meet and it would be the stamp to start off their love. The snip of the ribbon; into a gala called an actual, real relationship.

He did not move first. He was asking her to make the first move. He had already confessed his feelings – what was hers?

The only thing Marinette Dupain-Cheng had to do was lean a tiny, tiny bit further –

Her breathing quickened with sudden panic, not knowing what to do. A small part of her heart wanted to know how Luka Couffaine's lips tasted. But another huge part of her heart was screaming that she would be a liar to Luka if she did. She knew, that what she really wanted was just to be loved and to love. Be loved and love at the same time, instead of losing her heart to someone that would never return the same feelings. But Marinette was not a kind of person that kissed anyone when she felt like it. She knew what do.

She bowed her head slowly away from his gaze, and expected the worst. A glass wall of emotions seemed to form between the two.

The stamp was now sealed.

Luka let go of her hands and bit his lip. A ripple of emotions flashed from his face, but he quickly schooled his expression into a somewhat way too passive aspect and calmly backed away. He then sighed and looked up at the bright blue sky, despite the depressing aura between her and Luka.

She had rejected him and there was no turning back. Tears leaked out of Marinette's eyes.

"Luka – oh, I'm sorry – I didn't mean – to hurt… I tried to tell you - But…" droplets rolled down her cheeks as she edged slowly towards Luka. She tried to touch his arm, but she just simply couldn't, afraid that she'd hurt him more.

He looked down into her eyes. They were sad – but kind of nonchalant, like he'd seen this happening. He then took Marinette's trembling palms in one hand and wiped a tear from her cheek with the other.

"Tell me Marinette. Do you like me? In that way?" Luka asked softly into her ear. He met her teary eyes. "I want the truth, please, and don't worry – I'll understand. Whatever you say. Just… no more pretending or lies."

A beat passed.

The corner of his mouth crooked up. "I know you hate lies, Mélodie."

Marinette wiped her eyes and shifted her feet. "I - I don't. I'm so sorry…"

Luka nodded understandingly and smiled wistfully. "That's OK, Marinette. A human has a right to care for anyone they'd like. I don't want to burden you or anything. I've got my chance to charm you into liking me, and I couldn't win you heart…" There was a moment of silence before he sighed and chuckled. "I kind of saw this coming."

Marinette frowned, confused - and sniffed. "Then why did you ask me out?"

Luka smiled. "I guess I just thought I'd try – like as in 'what if I actually won Marinette's heart?'. But here we are. I knew I couldn't stand a chance when I saw how you looked at Adrien."

Marinette blushed and looked away. She sighed.

"Look – Luka – I'm not the girl that you think I am. I'm just a weird dorky teenager that stalks their crush, you know. I'm immature – hate people like Chloe or Lila – revengeful in some ways. You only know the good parts of me…" Marinette mumbled, staring at the floor.

Luka raised his eyebrows and smirked. "You stalked Adrien Agreste?"

Marinette nodded, embarrassed. "He's probably on his way to school for fencing right now. After that, he goes home and has an hour of Chinese…." She then blushed bright magenta. "See? I'm hopeless, Luka."

Luka stared in surprise, getting Marinette to turn into the shade of her Ladybug costume. But then he snickered and shook his head. "Nah, it's kind of weird to be honest – but It's okay. I have some not-very-good sides too; you know? I'm a bit… too overprotective?"

Marinette nodded. "I noticed… but usually, it's not bad, Luka. It's a very good trait for someone to have."

Luka chuckled. "I guess I'd be an awesome daddy… that won't let his daughter kiss a boy before she's married."

Marinette was tempted to laugh, but she was too upset with herself to laugh at the moment.

He fiddled with the handle of his leather case and looked up. "Listen, Mari. I want you to remember that you're still my friend. You can tell me anything and I swear I won't judge or tell anyone."

Marinette smiled for the first time in the last few hours. "Thank you."

Luka sat down on a wooden bench and gestured for her sit beside him. She obliged, and carefully took her seat. Luka looked over at her still-gloomy face, and tilted his head.

"Let me tell you a story, Marinette." He said, shifting his body to face her.

"Yes?"

"A few years ago – maybe when I was about your age, there was this girl who had this massive crush on me. And by massive – not to brag or anything – I mean massive."

Marinette raised her brows and faced him, a bit more interested. "And what did you do?"

Luka hesitated. "I… I just couldn't like her back. She wasn't mean or weird in any sort of way – she was an awesome friend – but I couldn't."

"…Oh." An image of Adrien popped up in Marinette's head but she quickly shooed it away.

"I still can't forget her face when I said no… It was one of the most painful sights I've ever seen…" He went on, staring at the blue sky. "And today I am in her position – and yeah – to admit, it kind of hurts…"

Marinette bit her lip. "I'm sorry – "

"- No, no, no, no! Don't apologize – "Luka ran a hand through his hair. "I just wanted to know that I totally understand you."

"I believe," he continued, "That there's someone there or me out there. A soulmate for everybody. And sure, I'm kind of sad that you're not her – but I'm okay. You know that, right? So don't go home and feel all guilty."

Marinette nodded gratefully. "Okay," She wiped her eyes again and smiled. "Okay."

Luka beamed, stood up and stretched his arms. His face did look quite bittersweet – but also relieved, like a big weight was lifted off his shoulders. He then averted his gaze onto the restaurants lining the street across from them. Soon his eyes lit up dramatically when his gaze landed on a fondue shop down the corner. He grinned hungrily.

"Now – I'm hungry! Want to check out that place, Mari?"

Marinette, finally relaxed, beamed. Luka may not be her endgame, but their rather short time together had taught her a big lesson. We love, we might not be loved back, but that was OK, because there were people that cared for her. And that's all we need.

She laughed; such a beautiful sound, traced of the tears she had shed were nowhere to be heard.

"I'm starving, guitar boy."

Marinette was back at home, chilling in her PJ's, lazily watching the peachy sky fading gradually into darkness. After the fondue party with Luka, they had parted ways – both in good moods with final hugs of 'goodbye'. Marinette felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she truly relaxed for the first time in days. It was also a Friday night; so, in short - she was in a very good mood. She munched on leftover pasties from the bakery downstairs, grinning with no reason, (maybe it was just the sugar,) and humming along to the latest Clara Nightingale song blaring from the apartment next door.

Nothing was there to stop her now, and even the daily akuma attacks had reduced to 4 to 5 times a week. Hawkmoth was probably getting tired of losing, and she had absolutely no problem with it.

The highlight of the song was now coming up in a few more moments, and she grinned to herself, sitting up.

"Miraculous, simply the best –" she sang softly along with Clara, thinking about the 'incident' she had to go through when shooting the music video. It was a quite dramatic day, and thinking back; it was kind of funny. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, letting the whole day run like a film through her head -

" – The power of love always so stong…"

Marinette's eyes shot open and almost screamed as a male voice sung softly behind her back. In panic, she jumped up, grabbed an empty cookie plate and swung back at the mysterious man's voice that came from behind her. Cookie crumbs flew through the air to spray all over the place. A dark figure was lounging on a ledge over her balcony, and she couldn't make out his face, but a pair of ears… cat ears were on the man's head.

Wait a second.

Cat ears?

Marinette edged closer to the mystery man and gradually she made out the face of her annoying, feline, pun-loving partner; Chat Noit.

He was nervously picking cookie crumbs out of his platinum blond hair, all messed up stylishly. He watched Marinette cautiously out of the corner of his eye, but he was obviously not meeting her eyes.

Marinette lowered her weapon, exasperated. "Chat Noir, you almost made me scream!" she hissed, jabbing a finger in his face. "Why the hell are you here in the first place?"

"Sorry, Marinette – I – I wasn't trying to spy or anything…" his eyes darted to her colorful table of sweets and pastries and smiled nervously. "But I was wondering if a pretty lady would give a lone kitten some treats?"

Marinette glanced at her table full of colorful bakery treats.

"Are superheroes allowed to ask pedestrians for this kind of stuff?" she placed a hand on her hip as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Chat Noir sulked as his face fell. "No, actually." He murmured, as if he was ashamed for asking. "Sorry for scaring you, Marinette."

He stood up, dusted off his thighs and took out his baton, getting ready to leave. There was an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

Marinette's eyes widened. The normal Chat Noir would probably just answer with some witty comment and pester her until she gave him a macaron. Was something wrong with him?

She grabbed his leather tail just in time, stopping his from taking off into the sky.

"Hey, hey, Kitty!" she said, meeting his eyes. They were somewhat emptier than usual. The twinkling eyes of a jokester cat was not to be seen. "I'm joking, come have a seat."

He raised his brows. "Really?'

Marinette gave him a smile and nodded. "Sure. Come and have some sweets."

She leaded him to a chair and watched him swiftly land on her balcony. He watched like a puppy waiting for his mother as she filled a small plate of delicious pies and tarts and muffins… and macarons.

Chat Noir's eyes widened as he stared as his full plate of sugar and calories and absolute heaven. He gulped hungrily. Mariette snickered as she examined his expression.

"Eat much?" she asked playfully as she sat down and watched him bite down on a croissant. For a moment she watched his face morph into an expression of absolute euphoria.

Chat Noir smiled ruefully and gulped. "Well, Father," he took another big bite. "He doesn't like me having sweets because I need to stay fit… for personal reasons."

Marinette nodded. She felt bad for her partner. "I see…"

Char Noir shrugged. "I got used to it quickly. Chicken breast isn't that bad with enough barbecue sauce."

Marinette smiled. "And I guess we're rebelling against your father?"

Chat Noir grinned. "I guess we are."

Marinette picked up a piece of toffee. "I guess you'd better eat up then, kitty cat."

He nodded. "Thanks, really. If it wasn't for you, all my taste buds would be in Heaven right now."

He grabbed an orangey tinted macaron and took a bite. A second later, a wide smile spread from his lips.

"Is this passionfruit, Mari?" He asked excitedly. He closed his eyes and savored the flavor spreading along his tongue. "Mm, this is so good!"

Marinette gave him a look. "Are you sure you haven't been starving?"

He opened one eye and tilted his head. "My dessert tummy certainly has."

Marinette plucked an orangey macaron from a tray. "I mean; these aren't bad macarons – but most people aren't a fan of passionfruit. There are always leftovers of them."

Chat Noir stared at her, horrified. "Are you serious?" he nearly yelled. "Passionfruit is the best thing in the world mother nature created!"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."

He stared glumly at the rows and rows of macarons. "And these are the leftovers?"

Marinette gestured at the pasties. "Yeah, these are all leftovers. I usually eat them with my parents and give them out to friends and family, but passionfruit macarons always end up in the waste bin. I tell Dad to stop making them but he won't stop ever since I started to make them for Adrien Ag –"

Realizing what she had said, she shut herself up, turning into a bright shade of magenta. She fiddled with her fingers, hoping Chat Noir wouldn't notice who she was talking about.

Of course, Murphy never tended to have a liking to Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"Adrien? You mean Adrien Agreste?" Chat piped, staring at her with an expression like he'd been smacked in the face with a frypan.

Marinette groaned and looked away. "Please just forget what I said – it's nothing and I'm totally over him."

Chat Noir blushed. "Oh. Okay." He gulped. "Sorry if I was being… nosy."

Marinette's face was red hot as they both sat in awkward silence. Why did she have to blabber like an idiot? Now Chat Noir knew her big fat crush on a celebrity! He probably thought she was a creepy girl that had had crushed on celebrities and made gifts for them. She wanted to slap herself. But first, she needed to break this awkward-ness.

"Soo…" She mustered, eyeing Chat Noir. "How's it going with you and Ladybug?"

She immediately regret saying anything as soon as she said it. Why did she ask that particular question out of all questions? She screamed internally, frustrated at her stupid self.

She hoped she hadn't hurt him.

Chat's face was flaming from the ends of his roots, and he opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, without saying anything.

"You don't need to answer it!" Marinette said quickly. "I was just curious, and I was being nosy, I'm sorry if you're offended – it's totally my fault…"

Chat Noir looked at the ground sadly. "No, it's okay. I… it didn't work out really well, actually."

Marinette cringed inwardly. Why was she so stupid?

"I – I'm sorry," She stammered along her words. "I shouldn't have asked…"

Chat raked a hand through his hair. "No, no, it's fine. I actually needed someone to talk about it, since, I have no one to talk about Ladybug without revealing my identity."

Marinette stared at him with worried eyes. "Are you going to be okay?"

Chat smiled, bittersweet. "Yeah, I think so. We drew a line with good terms. I think I actually got closer to her after everything."

"That's… very nice." Marinette said, scooching back to sit Criss-Cross Applesauce.

He chuckled half-heartedly. "I'm… kind of pre-dating another girl…" He continued, slouching forward. "I don't know if that's going to go very well."

Marinette scrunched her face. "Pre-dating?"

Chat smirked as he noticed her confused face. He feigned surprise. "Are you serious, Marinette?" He gasped. "You don't know what pre-dating is? Man, I know you're quite the innocent type, but that's a bit too far."

Marinette flushed. She glared at him. "Just answer my question, or else you'll soon become a stray cat."

Chat laughed. "Oh, you really are innocent, Marinette." He snorted. "Pre-dating isn't a word, you dummy."

Marinette grabbed a pillow from her side and slammed it into Chat's face.

"Oh, you are so dead, Noir!" She yelled as she pushed the fluffy pillow harder into his face.

Chat laughed as he struggled against her. "Geroff, Mahinette!"

Marinette giggled and pushed harder. "Say 'I shall be your slave forever, Lord Dupain-Cheng!' or I won't ever let go, you measly Cat!"

Chat struggled harder. "Never!"

Marinette grinned smugly. "Well, you're never leaving this balcony, then."

Chat laugh-choked. "You'll kill me before I say it!"

Marinette didn't back down. "Say it!"

"No!"

"Say! It!"

"Ughhhhh!"

"Say it and you're forgiven!"

Chat seemed to give up as his struggles reduced. "Whatever, cruel human!"

Marinette whooped victoriously.

"I shall be your slave forever, Lord Dupain-Cheng." Chat whispered the words so quickly like Ishallbeyourslaveforeverlorddupaincheng, but she let her go.

Chat was smiling, though somewhat red in the face from the pillow shoving. "You'd make an excellent hawkmoth, Marinette."

Marinette crossed her arms in a triumphant manner. "Maybe I would."

He laughed. "This is nice, Marinette. Thanks for letting me visit your excellent balcony party."

Marinette beamed, glad to help Chat have a good time. "I had fun as well, Kitty."

She then hit him again with the pillow. "So… what does pre-dating really mean? In your personal kitty-dictionary."

Chat scrunched his nose. "It's like going on dates… getting to know each other but not 'officially dating."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Chat sniffed. "It's not going very well."

Marinette shifted. "I… hope it goes well?"

Chat sighed, devastated. "I still can't get over LB. She set the standard so high that I can't seem to like… other girls."

He half glanced at a furiously-blushing Marinette. "No offence to you, Marinette. You're really awesome."

She nodded, her face still hot. "But what's so good about Ladybug… that she's so different?"

Chat Noir stared at the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower, towering over the small buildings. "On our first akuma… when I saw her on the Eiffel Tower, shouting to Hawkmoth about how she would do anything to keep Paris safe… she literally glowed with power and beauty. You can't not fall in love with a girl like that, Marinette."

Marinette stared down at her hands. She was such a clumsy girl in real life. Would Chat Noir still love her after he found out that in real life, she was just a wired girl that got bullied by girls like Chloe and Lila?

"But… what if," Marinette stared up at Chat. "What if Ladybug isn't like that in real life? Like, she's a different person…"

Chat raised his brows. "What a question, Mari!" The corner of his mouth quirked up. "But I know, since I have a Miraculous…" He held up his hand and examined his ring. "This little guy may give me some powers, but it doesn't change the person." He chuckled. "I don't love Ladybug because she can do backflips in the air, I love her. All the Miraculous does for us is that it gives us a reputation that we don't need to take care of."

Marinette covered her face to hide her deepening blush. His words touched her heart in a way nobody had before, and she had to breath a few times before saying anything in fear her voice would be shaky.

"W-well, you seem to love her a lot." Marinette breathed, glancing at her partner who was staring at the sky dreamily.

"Yeah, I'm pretty smitten…" He sighed, and Marinette's heart squeezed with guilt. What had she done to him?

He unconsciously ripped open a croissant and handed half a piece to Marinette. Marinette took it with a murmur of thanks.

"How am I ever going to get over her?" He groaned as he buried his face in his hands. Marinette pat his back as her rubbed his face, hunched over.

"You'll be fine, Chat, I know it." She whispered as he sniffed. "You're going to find a girl that can love you better than she ever could…" She blinked quickly as her own eyes started to water, seeing what she'd done to this boy.

"Marinette, I wonder if I can find any girl that I could love as much as her…" He trailed off, choking. "Even if I had a crush on some girl, it can't ever compare to her…"

Marinette pulled him into a warm hug. "Here Kitty…" She whispered in his ear. "You know you'll be alright."

Chat Noir didn't reply and hugged back tightly. He smelled of designer perfume (was that perfume Adrien?) A few beats later, he murmured, "Thank you so much, Marinette. This helped so much."

Marinette pat his back softly. "There, there, Mr. Kitty."

He pulled back, but there was a mischievous smile on his face. "Payback time!"

He snatched a pillow from Marinette's back and threw in on her face, just enough for him to pin her on the wall, and enough for her to breath.

Marinette thrashed around. "CHAT NOIR!" Her muffled screams seeped out of the pillow as Chat watched her, laughing like a devil.

"I wasn't going to let you get away with that, Dupain-Cheng!" He yelled, grinning to his ears.

Marinette stopped thrashing and her shoulders sagged. A muffled sigh came from under the pillow. "Whuh. Ooo. You. Wanh."

Chat tilted his chin high into the air. "Say 'I shall be your slave forever, Lord of the Cats.'"

"Nooooooo!" Marinette wailed. "Oow 'an oo be soo mean?"

"It's payback, evil woman!" He yelled, and Marinette could literally hear the evil smile in his voice.

"Ugh – Ishallbeyourslaveforeverlordofthecats."

Chat lifted the pillow and found a pouting Marinette. He poked her nose and winked. "That's a nice slave."

Marinette slapped his arm, but she was grinning widely. "Shut up, you measly Cat!"

He burst into laughter and doubled up. "Oh gosh, teasing you is fun!"

Marinette huffed and crossed her arms.

"Aw, you angry Marinette?" Chat leaned over her shoulder and tugged a pigtail. "You mad at a kitty?"

Marinette reached out and pinched both of his cheeks. "Well, yes I am – you terrible monster!"

"Ow! Ow, ow…" Chat yelped and rubbed his cheeks. He grinned as he watched Marinette double up.

"Okay, okay… I lose, you win." He sighed and plopped himself back on the chair. "Soon we're going to strangle each other to death with pillows, aren't we?"

Marinette snickered. "And I'll be going to jail for murder."

"Oh?" Chat's eyes widened. "I think the stronger one here is the superhero. Who says I won't be the one murdering you?"

Marinette smiled, shaking her head. "You don't know what I can do, Chat."

Chat leaned back and placed his head back on his hands. "I guess I don't. Ok, you can go to prison. I'll be going to heaven, you stay here and rot in the cells."

Marinette placed her chin in her hands. "Who says you're going to heaven? I don't think pushing pillows on girl's heads aren't things a nice Kitty would do."

Chat miffed. "I'm nice to nice people."

Marinette shook her head, giving up. "Whatever you say, Cat. We'll just have to wait until we find out who ends up in jail and who ends up in heaven."

"I'm a nice Kitty!"

"If you're nicer than Adrien Agreste, then I'll admit that you're a nice Kitty."

Chat held out his arms. "What's so good about Adrien Agreste anyway? Other than… his face. Or family."

Marinette's eyes widened. "I didn't like him because of his looks."

"Then tell me," Chat said, frowning. "What's so great about him?"

Marinette shifted in her seat. "Well… first of all, he has a pure soul. Purer than anyone I've ever met."

"How?"

"He really cares for people, and he believes in people. He doesn't judge people easily. Even bullies… he's so pure that even bullies like him. I couldn't ever be like him."

"…Oh." Chat murmured. Did Marinette really think that highly of him?

"You see, on the day we first met… I kind of… there was a... misunderstanding. And I was really unfair to him for days. But he didn't give up on me… and we became friends."

"I guess he saw that you were just misunderstanding?"

"But that doesn't excuse my faults!" Marinette stared at her blank wall, where all the photos used to be. "But… it's never going to work out between us."

Chat scratched the back of his neck, a habit of his. "I'm sorry…"

Marinette shook her head. "So I tried to start something with this other guy… but we ended it today. I guess I'm not ready to move on yet."

Chat stared at Marinette. Had she cut it with Luka? Why?

"Why would you cut it… with a guy like Lu –" He stopped himself, knowing that Chat Noir wasn't supposed to know about Luka. "Was there a fight… or something?"

Marinette shook her head. "No… we're still good friends. I just figured out I didn't really like him, I was just lonely. I didn't want to use him as a tool."

Chat stared at the floor. "Are you alright…?"

"Yeah!" Marinette smiled brightly. "Actually, I feel better than ever. I was feeling really guilty about something, but I didn't know what it was. A big weight on my shoulders is lifted. So I was having this balcony party here." She gestured at the cookies and pasties on the small table."

"I'm glad you feel okay." Chat nodded, glad that Marinette was not going through a massive heartbreak. He didn't want to be a reason that Marinette would be depressed over.

Marinette chuckled sadly. "I guess love isn't really working out for the both of us."

"Yeah." Chat breathed. He thought about Kagami and Luka. Was he doing the right thing? Was this weight in his heart guilt?

A voice rang from under Marinette's trapdoor. "Marinette, honey?" Sabine's voice called. "You really need to cut the sugar! I hope you didn't eat the whole tray!"

Marinette gulped, as she looked down at her nearly-empty tray. She couldn't have eaten it all by herself, but her mother didn't know Chat Noir was visiting.

"I didn't eat the whole tray, Maman!" she called, since it was the truth.

She groaned. "You'd better go, Chat."

Chat Noir, who'd been extremely still, nodded nervously. "Yeah, I'd better."

He stood up and took Marinette's hand. "It's been a pleasure, Miss. Dupain-Cheng."

It was weird not to hear 'M'lady' from his lips, but still, she'd missed it.

He pecked her knuckles and placed his foot on the balcony ledge.

He's just going to go like that?

You're just going to let him go like that?

A second before he leaped over the railing, Marinette grabbed his tail. Chat looked back, confused.

"What's wrong, Mari?"

She was breathing hard, cheeks flushed. She had no idea why she was doing this. But the bottom of her gut was screaming at her to.

"Come again sometime. At this time."

Chat stared at her. "Really?"

She smiled. "We need someone to help us finish the passionfruit macarons."

Chat grinned widely. "And tomorrow is okay?"

Marinette nodded.

Chat leaped to the building where she had first found him. "I'll be here. Thank you for this lovely evening."

She beamed.

And so it all began.

Author's Note:

Hi guys! It's me. Sorry for the long author's note but please read if you can. :)

First of all things... I apologize greatly for the really late comeback. Even if it is Quarantine, I still am a bit busy and I was too tired to write. Inspiration was really not hitting me these days as well. But a blank space for this long is unacceptable to my terms, if I was going to continue this story. I am really sorry.

I have quite alot to say today but first - I've reached 50 followers! Thank you all so much. Actually, I'm just a kid, (I'm 13, a huge miraculous fan,) and this was the first time I posted my writing in public. I thought it would be buried under all the other AMAZING fanfiction that I could never write - but 'miraculously' this small story actually reached 50 followers, (though it is not very much), it is such an honor, and I'm not sure if I deserve it. I guess my prayers were answered. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

In this chapter, we saw Marinette and Luka having a hear to heart conversation, and it was really fun to write. I gave Luka some personality - (The Miraculous team really need to work on his character... he was a bit hard to write with because it was so hard to have any idea what he was feeling or thinking about.) and he's a really nice guy. But I needed to put some fire in him, because in the actual episodes, the only 'characteristics' that I can find is that he's just this punk guy who loves music, is protective, and says cheesy stuff to make Marinette blush. I'm being truthful, not taunting him. I like 'my' version of Luka more, honestly. But... not even my Blueberry can beat our Kitty Noir in my opinion!

And another confession... I didn't beta read any of my work. "Back To You" was supposed to be an experimental one-time story, just to see how people would react and for my own experience. And I guess I just continued, and it grew bigger than I imagined? All your reviews have made me feel really proud of myself, so thank you all once more.

Yes, it still is full of spelling mistakes and so many other mistakes as well, but please note that I'm just a little girl with big dreams who loves to read, write, and watch Miraculous Ladybug.

But I swear, I'm always trying my best, all the time.

-estherjoy0525