A/N - Thanks for reading my story, I'm kinda just uploading as I go so I can't tell you exactly when the next chapter will be but I'll try to have it out by next week. BTW words in italic are either puns or thoughts.

All characters belong to Thomas Astruc. I'm not making any money from this story.

Marinette never expected her Friday to end up like this. She had woken up at her usual time - 20 minutes before school started - and had her typical day: hanging out with Alya and Nino, fighting an Akuma and being absolutely in love with Adrien. Yet here she was, standing outside in nothing but her pyjamas at nearly 11 pm, allowing a stray cat into her house. Not a literal cat, but Paris' second favourite superhero, Chat Noir. He had landed not so quietly on her balcony, knocked on her window and dragged her away from her designing. After all, how could she say no to her superhero counterpart that was outside in the cold?

Outside, however, Marinette was starting to wish she had just stayed in her room. The cold night of mid-November was much less appealing than her warm pastry-smelling bedroom. "What are you doing here, Chat?" Marinette grumbled. "I would really rather not be standing outside when I could be warm."

"Sorry purrincess," the black cat grinned sheepishly. "I just came here for a sweet snack and a midnight chat."

Rolling her eyes at his annoying puns, Marinette replied grumpily, "Couldn't you have gone to anyone else's balcony to get snacks? You could have woken me up from my precious beauty sleep."

Chat smirked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "You really don't need it." A light blush dusted Marinette's cheeks until she shook her head and hit him in the shoulder.

"Oww! You are stronger than you look." Chat rubbed his shoulder in pain. Ok, maybe she put a bit too much power into that.

"You deserve it! You can't just go complimenting me like that," she countered angrily. "And besides, don't change the topic. Why are you on my roof?"

Chat rubbed his chin thoughtfully as if he was in deep thought. "Firstly, I came to your roof because everyone knows your family has the best bakery in all of France." Her cheeks reddened again at this but the superhero took no notice. "Secondly, I saw your light on so I knew you couldn't be asleep. And lastly," he leaned into her face with a toothy grin and winked flirtingly, "There's no one else I wanted to talk to." Marinette's face immediately went red and Chat laughed, clearly the only one amused by the situation.

"Stop it, Chat!" she protested weakly.

"Just teasing princess. I'm very much mistaken," he chuckled and then leaned in once more and said huskily. "You're clearly the sweetest snack your parents have ever made." If Marinette's face was red before, she looked like a tomato now. She groaned loudly and dragged a chuckling Chat down her stairs and into her bedroom.

As Chat Noir took in his new surroundings, it was very clear that Marinette's room had drastically changed since he was last there. It was much less pink for starters, but that was expected. Her walls were now midnight blue, matching her striking hair. Her mat, bed and chaise, once baby pink, were now royal blue and white. Her bed was also royal blue with multiple white pillows but her giant white cat was surprisingly not there. He was amused to see that her photos of Adrien were also missing. That space was now filled with photos of friends and family. His eyes rested on a photo of her parents hugging her after she had won one of many fashion competitions. The joy and love in their eyes filled Chat's heart with that familiar longing to be part of a loving family. His father had grown colder and more distant as the years went on and after Hawkmoth's defeat, Adrien had lost all contact with him. Like a coward, Gabriel had fled the country for fear of the public backlash after being revealed as the cause of Paris' Akuma attacks. One of his father's executive directors took over the company so while he didn't have the same packed schedule, Adrien still had to model pretty often. He still lived in the Agreste Mansion but spent as much time as possible with his friends or as Chat Noir, trying to escape the house that was never home to him. Although he had more freedom now that his father was gone, he still had a hole in his heart that was yet to be filled by a warm family that loved him.

"Chat? Are you ok?" Marinette questioned worriedly.

Chat tore his eyes away and replied distractedly "Yeah I'm fine." He then continued his scan of her room and was ecstatic to see trophies, medals and many certificates from her past competitions. Mannequins and design posters were scattered around walls, showcasing her gifted skills in fashion. He had always known Marinette liked to design but he had never realised just how talented she was at it. All in all, Adrien was extremely proud of Marinette - she had grown into an independent and amazing young woman. "Eww, I sound like her dad," He cringed internally. The cat turned back to the subject of his thoughts and made his way over to her.

"So, what sweet snack were you searching for, Chat? And don't you dare say anything inappropriate or you won't be getting anything except frostbite tonight." Marinette said threateningly.

Chat, clearly horrified, sighed heavily and answered, "Fine. I don't mind, as long as it's sweet." He noticed that Marinette was absorbed in her designing and hadn't heard a word of his reply. Grinning fondly, he decided not to bother her and snuck silently downstairs to forage for his food.

"There we go," Marinette declared, satisfied with her sketch and beginning another one. She hadn't even noticed that Chat was still in her house and had been downstairs for over 10 minutes. She was in the zone. Until she heard a crash loud enough to wake her parents. Thank the stars that they were in Normandy, delivering baked goods for a wedding. "Uhhh...Marinette?" Chat's voice rang out.

"What have you done now, you silly kitty?' she asked exasperated.

"Would you mind a lot of I told you that I...well.. finished all your cookies and croissants?"

Marinette froze mid-sketch. "Ok. Deep breaths. Calm down. He's probably kidding," she tried to reassure herself. It didn't work. At all. She took the deepest breath possible.

"CHAT NOIR, I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN YOU'RE GONNA WISH YOU KEPT YOUR SORRY ASS INSIDE YOUR HOUSE TONIGHT! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO MAKE THOSE? THAT WAS NEARLY 50 OF EACH! HOW CAN YOU EVEN STOMACH THAT MUCH CARBS AND SUGAR!"

Downstairs, as Marinette continued to scream blue murder, the alley-cat in question visibly shuddered and immensely regretted his feeding frenzy. "Ok Chat. You can do this. Besides, you've faced tons of evil Akumas. How scary can one 17 year old be?"

When he arrived upstairs, though, Chat realised how mistaken he was. Marinette's bluebell eyes that once held love and compassion now held a fire that could burn someone to a pile of ash. She looked homicidal, murderous, bloodthirsty and every other synonym for 'prepared to stab a bitch'. And today, Chat was that bitch.

"Uhh…" Chat mumbled nervously. "Sorry, princess."

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to stop herself from kicking Chat where it really hurts. "I just don't understand how. Why haven't you got a tummy ache? How can you eat that much food and still be so….." she gestures wildly with her hands.

Chat, taking advantage of her lack of wording said impishly, "So devilishly handsome?" At Marinette's death glare, he chuckled nervously. "I really am sorry, Marinette." At this, Marinette looked worriedly at her partner; it was the first time all night that he had called her by her name. She thought back to when he was looking at the photos above her computer. Maybe he was upset about something. "I don't have many chances to indulge in sweet snacks lately. I guess I got carried away. Just like I do with Ladybug." Marinette barely heard the last part but her heart ached terribly for her friend. She knew from their conversations when she was Ladybug that he had a very stressful life. After the defeat of Hawk Moth, however, Chat was more distant during patrols and when they were battling Akumas. She guessed that he was a fan of Gabriel and was taking his defeat very badly. The one time he had been his usual flirty self, she snapped at him and rejected his feelings once again. He had left the battle without even bumping fists and she immensely regretted her actions. As much as she despised hurting him like that, she couldn't return his feelings.

Pushing her thoughts aside, she turned to the despondent cat and grabbed his shoulders. "Hey," she spoke so fiercely that Chat looked up. "Don't worry about it. If you ever need anything, including snacks, you know you can come to see me, right? You mean a lot to me, Chat." He blinked once and smiled, his white teeth gleaming.

"Thank you, Mari. I really needed to hear that."

"No...problem." It was then that Marinette realised just how close she was standing next to Chat. Though she was sure she would never feel that way about Chat, she had to admit that he had filled out quite nicely. He had defined jaw muscles and stunning green eyes. Chat had also grown quite a lot and was nearly a whole head taller than her. His hair was still blonde and spiky but he had grown it out so it touched the middle of his jawline. His body, once lean and skinny, was now quite muscular. Her eyes slowly drifted downwards. She could clearly make out his biceps and pecs in his skintight suit. She could even make out his 6-pack, down to his-

"Earth to Marinette?" Her eyes snapped up at the sound of his voice. "Are you checking meowt, princess?" Chat mischievously asked and began flexing his muscles. Blushing furiously, Marinette sat in her chair and continued her sketching. "Whatcha drawing?" Chat asked.

"Didn't curiosity kill the cat?"

"Yes, but satisfaction brought it back."

"You know what, Chat?" Marinette closed her sketchbook and stood up. "I don't think my parents will be very happy if they come back and find all the snacks gone. Why don't you come and help me bake some as punishment for your crimes?" Chat's eyes lit up at this and they went downstairs to begin the task of baking 50 cookies and croissants.

For the rest of the night, they chatted amicably about anything and everything and Chat began to realise just how amazing Marinette was. She was so smart and kind and downright terrifying - he had feared for his life when she caught him trying to lick the batter. A couple of times, he tried to tell himself that he was still in love with Ladybug but as time went on, he realised that his love for Ladybug had been blinding him from seeing how much he liked Marinette. As Adrien, she was more comfortable with talking to him and wasn't as nervous as when he had first met her but she still didn't show her full character. Adrien has always thought she was cute but now, he saw her beautiful. Deep down, Chat knew he would always have a special place for Ladybug. He just couldn't stand the rejection anymore. He had dated Kagami briefly but they both agreed that they were much better as friends. Maybe things would be different with Marinette.

After an hour, they had finally finished. Both were glad that it was a Saturday, or they might not have made it through school. Marinette walked Chat Noir to her balcony and murmured tiredly, "I guess this is goodbye, kitty." Chat yawned like his namesake and nodded in agreement. He held Marinette's hands and there was a noticeable blush on both their cheekbones.

"Thank you, princess. For everything. You have no idea how much I needed it."

"N-no problem, kitty. As I said, you can come by anytime. By the way, you might want to land a bit quieter. Next time, my parents might not be away."

Chat smirked and stepped into her personal bubble. Marinette nervously looked up into his emerald eyes. He enveloped her in a hug and after a moment she returned it, wrapping her arms around his back. Chat then pressed a kiss to her forehead, which made Marinette's blush intensify by a thousand. Before she could comment, he stepped away, wished her a good night and jumped out into the darkness, leaving Marinette standing alone, dumbstruck, on her balcony. As she went inside and flopped on her bed, she knew that things between them had definitely changed. But, right before she fell asleep, a small smile appeared on her face and she knew it was a good change.