Marinette looked at the door, then back at her mom.

"That's not Adrien," She said, thinking that her mom had messed up the name.

"I know," Sabine nodded. "But Chat Noir told me to lie to you that Adrien has come, so you can come down to greet him."

"But you don't exactly need to lie. I'd still come down." Marinette frowned, then shrugged it off. "And why pretend to be Adrien?"

Chat Noir smiled at her. I was trying to see if she had come down when Mrs. Dupain-Cheng said it was Adrien. But she came down without looking mad or upset. Is it that she's finally forgiven Adrien?

"Adrien is a really close friend of mine," He answered. "And I heard he was going to your school."

"Ah, yes," Marinette nodded. "So why did you come here?"

"Can we go for a walk?"

At the corner of her eyes, Marinette could see her mom snickering, and she sighed at that. How could she say no anyway?

"Sure."

"Great. We'll only be out for a while, not too long," Chat Noir promised, taking her hand and leading her out of the bakery. "Just wanted to talk."

This made Marinette frown harder, but she followed him anyway.

They got to the top of a roof, which consisted of Chat Noir carrying her up there.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Marinette sat down and turned to him.

"I felt lonely. Haven't seen Ladybug for a while," Chat Noir shrugged.

"Maybe it's because there hasn't been an akuma attack for a while? And besides didn't you guys go on patrol yesterday?"

Chat looked up. "How would you exactly know?"

"Are you trying to say that she didn't show up?" Marinette asked, trying not to release her secret. Little did Chat Noir know that he was actually talking to Ladybug.

"She didn't show up, but she left early, and she seemed... Upset about something," Chat Noir sighed. "It makes me worried."

"I assure you, Ladybug is fine," Marinette smiled. "It's nice that you care about her. She's just going through... Stuff for now... "

"Again, how would you know?"

"Uh... Well... Ladybug told me... Yes, we're great buddies..." Marinette let out an awkward chuckle.

"She told you, but didn't tell me?" Chat frowned at her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Marinette smirked. "Trying to say that just because you two fight crimes together, she has to tell you everything? I'm a special girl you know. Not everyone hangs out with Ladybug."

"Wait... So you know who Ladybug is without her mask?" Chat gasped and got closer to her.

"What?! That's not what I'm trying to say! When I said we two hang out, she doesn't release her secret," Marinette quickly said, trying to find the right words to say. "She comes over as Ladybug."

"That's cool. Do you think the next time I can come and the three of us can hang out?"

"I don't think so," Marinette backed away. "It's a secret hang out. Only me and Ladybug are in it."

"Why?"

"Stop asking!" Marinette urged. If Cat Noir showed up, he would either see Marinette or Ladybug there. Those two couldn't be in the same spot at the same time!

"Now, if there is nothing else... " She stood up to leave, but then remembered that she was still at the top of a building. She turned back to Chat Noir.

"Wait!" Chat Noir stood up as well and lifted her up. "There is something else I want to tell you."

"Which is?" Marinette asked as Chat Noir started jumping from buildings to building. He landed on her balcony.

"You're a pretty and nice girl, Marinette... " Chat Noir looked at her. "I think I might be falling for you... "

And he flew off...