Marinette stood at the edge of the balcony, her hands gripping the cold wrought iron fence. Looking down, she could see the night was alive with people. Couples walked with linked elbows down the dimly lit roads. Starlight sparkling in their eyes. She watched as a close pair passed by on the street below her, a cone of ice cream held between them. She sighed, her shoulders slumping forward.

"I'm an idiot." She muttered quietly to herself, remembering how she had snapped. It was just ice cream, she didn't need to get so high and mighty about it. There was a woosh and a clatter behind her. Her muscles tensed as she turned around, eyes wide with surprise. That is until she saw the black cat ears peaking up above a head of messy blonde locks.

"Hey," He flashed a sheepish grin.

"Chat noir?" She spoke, her brow raised in question. He was perched on her balcony, an unusually sad look in his eyes. His usual cockeyed smile was turned down and his shoulders sagged.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He came closer, sitting on the fence, his legs dangling over the side.

"What are you doing here?" She took in his seemingly sad expression, feeling a twang in her heart. "Don't you have superhero things to do?" She asked the question, trying to sound like a random citizen and not like his crime fighting partner.

He sighed, his bright green eyes looking off into the distance. "I don't really feel like behing a superhero tonight." He turned back to look at her. His eyes flashing down to her mouth for just a second before meeting her gaze. "And… I don't really feel like being alone tonight either. Do you mind if I stay here with you?"

He had scooted closer as he spoke. His knee just now brushing her hand as she held onto the side of the fence.

"Not at all." She smiled sweetly, grateful for the company. There was another silence as they stood together. It was strange, seeing chat so...subdued. He was quiet, his voice lower than usual. None of his normal quip was there. It was interesting seeing him like this.

"Marinette, right?" He turned away from the street, now fully facing her. "We've met before."

"Yeah…" Her voice trailed off, her head cocked slightly to the side. "A few times." She thought back to the few times she met him as Marinette. "There was that time when Evillustrator fell in love with me." She spoke as she thought. "I guess my luck in love hasn't changed much since then..." She added, mostly to herself.

Chat raised an eyebrow. "I'm not too great at the love thing either." He said, glancing back to something behind him before returning his gaze to hers.

He's got his heart broken? She thought to herself. That would explan his downcast mood. But, who could have hurt him.

He looked down at Marinette. It looked as though he was contemplating something, trying to peice together a puzzle in his mind. It was an expression Marinette couldn't quite read. She pushed down the nervous thought that he was seeing through her. That she had let too much of her Ladybug side out. Instead, she looked back at him.

She looked at the face she knew quite well. The face of a partner she could always rely on. In this moment, his eyes shined with the reflection of the full moon. She also noticed how gentle his features were. Sure, she had always known he was good looking. She couldn't deny that she'd noticed the way his suit flowed along the curvature of his muscular forearms. But, tonight, there was something much more sensative about him. Something that made her pause just a little longer when looking at him.

Durning their silence, Chat Noir had slid off the fence to stand next to Marinette. He was close enough that Marinette could feel his breath on her skin as she looked up into his eyes. Were they always this green? She thought, staring into the kaleidascope of different shades of green that trailed around his dark pupil.

"Do you know what love feels like, Marinette?" He broke the silence. Again, the words he was saying and the way he was acting was so different from how he usally acted. She had never seen the sensative side of Chat before and watching it unfold before her was like watching a ballet. It was unique and new and made her feel an unusual flutter in her chest.

The question took her aback and she hesitated before answering. "I-I think so… I think it's like that feeling where you get butterflies in your stomache but your okay with it. When your heart beats a little faster and your fingertips buzz with nervous anxiety." She described how she felt around Adrian. How he made her brain go to mush whenever he was around. She tried to push off the fact that she was feeling all of that right now, but it was different. With Adrian, she can't formulate a proper sentence because she's so nervouse. It's was different in that moment with Chat. Her heart rate had picked up rapidly and butterflies made a mess of her insides but at the same time she felt comfortable. She always felt safe with Chat.

"That's what I thought." He still had that puzzled look on his face. His eyes were locked on hers, flipping back and fourth between looking into her left eye and her right eye, like he was searching for answers in her face. For the second time that night, she watched as his gaze slipped down to her mouth. He spoke again only when he returned his eyes to hers. "If that's true, then why do I feel that right now?"

He asked the question she was thinking. Marinette opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She didn't have an answer. Instead she contiued to examine his eyes. His green eyes. "Peach pink like his lips and mint like his eyes…" Andre's words came rocking back into her mind. Chat Noir continued looking at her with his mint colored eyes as Marinette felt like her mind was exploding.

What if it's Chat Noir? What if I really do love him? She thought the ice cream meant Adrien, but it's true Chat means a lot to her. She was now the one searching for answers in Chats eyes. She glanced down to his lips, peach pink.

"Is your heart racing right now too?" She asked, moving slightly forward. She could feel his bodyheat on her skin.

He nodded, his hand reaching down to grab hers. He guided her hand up to his chest. Her palm now flat on his chest, she could feel his heart racing. It matched her own erratic heartbeats. "Yeah…"

This moment felt like a math problem that she had no idea how to solve. It was uncharted territory. Her hand still lingered on chats chest, his hand overtop of hers. She could feel his suit, how it was smooth against her touch. She could feel his muscles, how they were taught under her palm. She could feel his heartbeat, how he was feeling something quite similar to her.

Marinette leaned forward, rising up to her tip toes. Her mind was dizzy and part of her was screaming to stop. To go back, crawl into bed and hide from the world. Yet another, more persuasive part told her this was right. So she continued leaning forward, closing her eyes before she could see Chat's response. She pressed her mouth against his, her nose brushing against his skin. His lips were hot against hers, like she was kissing a burning candle. She liked it though.

He took a second to react, letting her kiss him for a moment before moving into it. The hand that had been holding hers moved up to cup her cheek while the other snaked around to wrap aroung her torso. He held her close to him, her chest pushed into his.

Marinette took a moment before reaching up to entwine her hands into his hair. The kiss felt electric. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears and her entire body was on fire. If she had butterflies in her stomache earlier then they were now swarming. She was a mess, yet she continued molding her lips into his. It was like they were having a silent conversation that not even they could understand. It was confusing and new, and all Marinette knew was that she wanted to taste him. She savored the way she felt pressed against him. She could feel his muscles flexing against her. She broke the kiss only for a moment, taking in a gulp of air before returning. In the breif second when her mouth was away from his, she felt cold coat her lips. Warmth washed over her when she could again feel him on her mouth. The kiss was slow but heavy. Her mind was a toiled mess.

Chat had her pinned between his body and the fence. The cold metal digging into her lower back. She let it support her as her knees had gone weak with the kiss. A kiss that was anything but fleeting.

That's when she heard the distant screams. Her ears perked at the sound. It slowly drew her back to reality.

"Marientte!" A very loud voice echoed through the street. "Where are you?"

Chats mouth came off of hers, his eyes now wide searching the street behind her. The sound of danger seemed to have snapped him back to reality. Though he still held her in his arms.

Marinette spotted the giant beast first. She watched over Chat's shoulder as a monster made entirly of ice cream towered over the buildings. It came barrowling in there direction. "Found you!" It called, aiming it's arms as if to shoot them.

Her stomached dropped. She reacted quickly, pushing Chats shoulders in the direction of danger. "Chat, look out!" She screamed.

He turned on his heel, blocking Marinette from the weaponized ice cream blasting in their direction. He batted them away with his staff.

"Go! Hide!" He wrapped an arm around her waist, leading her back to her bedrooms skylight.

She opened the hatch, dropping into the room below. Chat locked eyes with her once more. "Stay here where it's safe." He closed the hatch and was gone.

Marinette watched through the glass as Chat Noir jumped away, leading the fight elsewhere.

"Well that was unusual." Tikkis small voice rang in Marinettes ear.

Marinette felt the blush heating up her cheeks. "It looks like we have other things to worry about right now." She dodged the topic. "Tikki, spots on!"

With a flash of pink, Marinette felt her daytime clothes get replaced with the tight material of her costume. She ignored the lingering feeling of butterflies in her stomache and lept up to the fight.

Chat's behavior was deifintaly different when she got there. He still called her M'Lady, and he still made bad puns. He was off though. She coulld tell something was on his mind and she had a strong feeling she knew who that was.

"The akuma must be in the ice cream scoop." Chat stated, still seeming very distracted.

Ladybug watched as Glaciator let a couple pass. A realization hit her. "Chat, he's letting the couples go unharmed."

He looked at her, his eyebrow raised. "And…?"

She ignored the annoyancce of having to spell it out to him. "If we pretend to be a couple, we can get close to him. Close enough to use my lucky charm and take the akuma."

That's what they did. They linked arms and got close, both to each other as well as close to the akuma. She tried to ignored the flips in her stomache when she felt his body heat on her skin. Her heart beat loudly as he leaned into her. Her palm was resting on his arm and she tried not to be intrested in the way his bicep flexed beneath her touch.

Thankfully, they weren't close like that for too long. Soon, they took their now gained advantage and used it. The fight was over before she knew it and she was left with a cold feeling on her skin.

"I'll see you another night M'lady." Chat Noir said before leaving Marinette alone on the streets of Paris. She watched as he left. It wasn't until he dissapeared behind a rooftop that Ladybug left the scene. The sounds of reporters fading off into the distance.

When she was finally back on the balcony with Tikki by her side, Marinette let out a long exasperated sigh.

"What on earth did I just do, Tikki?" She asked, holding her face in her hands.

"Started playing a very dangerous game." Tikki responded.

Marinette groaned, pulling her knees up to her chest. Tikki was right. Marinette and Chat Noir had both started playing a very risky game that night, one that put both their identities on the line.

Adrien collapsed onto his bed, feeling the comfort of his blanket.

"What was that?" Plagg question, flying around Adriens head like an annoying bug.

Adrien rolled onto his side. His lips still tingling from earlier. "An akuma." He responded, fully knowing that wasn't the answer Plagg was looking for.

"What do you think you were doing with Marinette?" Plagg continued to question.

Adrien wanted to have an answer. He wanted to tell Plagg why he went to Marinette. He wanted to tell Plagg exactly why he let Marinette kiss him and why his heart was still racing whenever he thought about it. He wanted to tell him why he almost forgot how close he got to Ladybug in that fight because all he could think about was Marinette. He wanted to tell Plagg everything but he couldn't even tell himself.

Marinette was his friend. She was the sweet girl from his class that was always looking out for others. But now, she was the reason he bit his lip and felt a blush heat up his cheeks.

"Trust me Plagg, if I knew, I'd tell you." Before Plagg could respond, Adrien tossed him a wheel of Camembert from off of his nightstand. "Here."

Thankfully, Plagg left him alone. He tried going to sleep but his mind was a whirlwind. Every time he closed his eyes he pictured Marinettes pretty blue eyes. The way they sparkled when she looked up at him and, more so, the way they looked when she closed them to kiss him.

When he finally drifted off to sleep, it was Marinettes face that slipped into his dreams.