"Woah, is that Chat Noir?" Alya said, her eyes widened as she leaned over to peer through the branches of the tree above her.

"Yeah, it is!" Nino exclaimed, scrambling up to his feet.

Marinette still had no idea what to do; she sat there staring up at the black cat as he moved to the chimney of the last house on the block, lifting himself up and standing on top. It took only a few seconds before Alya ran off, her phone in hand.

"Wherever Chat Noir goes, Ladybug follows! Catch you at school!" She waved goodbye as her boyfriend continued packing up everyone's lunch. Marinette thanked him before thinking of an excuse for herself.

"I t-think I go-gotta go-too. Thanks for taking care of b-lunch for me. I'll see you at s-school." She grabbed her backpack and took off the opposite direction Alya had. She ran to the nearest alleyway, running into its corner and opening her bag. Tikki popped out automatically and looked around in concern.

"What's going on, Marinette?"

"Chat Noir is transformed and prancing on the rooves of houses. Is there an akuma?"

"Let me check," Tikki said, closing her eyes in thought.

Marinette stared at her impatiently.

"I can't sense an akuma." She said in conclusion.

"Well, it's abnormal for Chat Noir to be transformed in the middle of the day. I should go check." She said determinedly. Her red kwami shot her a wink.

"Tikki! Spots-"

"Hello?"

The sudden voice boomed throughout the alley and Marinette dove behind the nearest dumpster, Tikki flying into her purse. She tried to be quiet and held her breath.

Meanwhile, Chat Noir had jumped into an alley after hearing a girl's voice. He looked around the empty alleyway, but with his cat-like senses, he was able to listen to her breathing from behind a trash bin. He crept up and looked around it.

"Marinette?" He asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. The blue-haired girl jumped and backed away before letting out a struggled breath.

"Chat. You scared me." She said, holding her heaving chest.

"What are you doing back here?"

"Uh-" Marinette stuttered trying to find an excuse.

"I-I was looking for-"

She looked him in his bright green eyes. His shadowy figure blocked the sunlight coming from the entrance.

"You."

Crap! Nice one, Marinette.

"Really?" Chat Noir asked, cocking an eyebrow. He extended his baton and leaned on it, his chin against his wrists and his hands against the cold metal.

"You were missing me, weren't you purrincess?" He smiled at her, showing his pearly whites. Marinette rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Out of luck, silly kitty." She rejected his flirtatious advance and crossed her arms.

"Aw." He said, a pout forming on his bottom lip. Marinette turned back around to face him.

"But what are you doing out here in the middle of the day? You do have school, don't you?"

"Yes, of course. I just-I..."

Chat Noir thought for a second. He wanted to talk to somebody about his dad. Recently, he had offered his friend Marinette to come to meet with his dad about staying with them while her parents are away. Now, standing in front of her, not as himself, he finds it hard to get the words out without making her suspicious.

"I needed someone to talk too."

Even though it wasn't wholly why he transformed, since all he wanted to do was get out of his modeling gig, but Marinette was sweet, kind, and honest. He could surely talk to her about something quick and then transform back without causing any more worry to the people of Paris.

"That's why you transformed?" Marinette questioned, not sure of his response.

"Well, kinda. I just wanted to get away from my life for a little bit."

"Well, I don't know much about your superhero life...." she lied and continued "However, I don't think you should be transforming into your hero ego in the middle of a school day. You obviously caused some panic."

Chat Noir shrugged his shoulders. "I was trying to see if Ladybug would come out. I really needed a friend like her at the moment."

Marinette thought for a second. It wasn't like she could transform right now. Although, she felt honored that Chat Noir wanted to talk to her about something personal. She always wanted their friendship to be healthy. He was her partner and her best friend after all.

"I'm not Ladybug...but I think I can listen."

"Okay, well..."

Chat thought of how to express his feelings without risking his identity.

"There's this girl."

The first words struck Marinette hard. She thought of Ladybug but realized that Chat most likely wouldn't have made a move on Ladybug in this sense. Marinette nodded her head and gulped to coat her dry throat.

"Go on..."

"She's one of my best friends. And recently I've discovered that she's in-"

Think, Adrien, Think.

"A sort of trouble."

Marinette raised her eyebrows. "What kind of trouble?" She asked.

"It's just that, she needs somewhere to go and my family isn't so fond of having guests."

Marinette scrunched up her nose suspiciously. His situation was almost identical to hers.

"But I guess, even if my family says yes, which I'm not sure if they will, I don't want to ruin her reputation with my family. Like, for instance, I don't want my family to think bad of her because she's asking for help. You know?"

Marinette nodded and leaned against the brick wall, biting the inside of her lip. She was deep in thought but instead drowned herself in the words that came out of her partner's mouth.

"And if they do say yes..." He paused, feeling his face heat up at the thought of what he was going to say. Thank goodness, the black mask and alleyway shadows had blocked his face enough, or Marinette might have noticed. He cleared his throat.

"I don't know how I'll handle living in the same house as a girl that I'm not related too."

He felt awkward talking about her to her, without her knowledge. It was the most he could do. It had been bothering him all day. The meeting this afternoon was putting even more pressure on him.

"Oh, I understand," Marinette smiled and nodded reassuringly.

"Just keep your reasonable distance if she moves in, yet build a comfortable relationship with her. And boundaries are important also. Make sure you respect her privacy but allow her to consult you if she ever needs anything."

Chat Noir was amazed at how good at giving advice the quiet girl was. He decided that if she were to move in with him, or with Adrien, that he'd do all these things she told him to do. But still, something bothered him.

Marinette placed a hand on the black cat's shoulder, causing him to tense up. She leaned up and gave him a quick hug.

"Just don't be nervous. If you don't have feelings for this girl, then it shouldn't bother you too much."

He nodded reluctantly.

"Right."

"You don't have feelings do you?"

Chat shook his head rapidly.

"No, of course not."

"Good, because that would be awkward."

"Yeah, you're right." She punched him on the shoulder playfully and picked up her bag that sat against the wall. She made her way out of the alley.

"Bye, Chat Noir. See you soon!" She waved at him cheerfully before exiting and disappearing into the distance. Chat stood there, staring after her for a good minute.

The sound of his ring beeping knocked him out of his daydream, and he began rushing towards the studio he had been modeling at. He had told his photographer he needed to freshen up in the bathroom, so he hopped through the window and detransformed.

As he made his way back into the room and his usual pose, his thoughts drifted once more towards Marinette. He claimed that he didn't have feelings for her, to her. But was that really the case?

Or were their feelings there that he didn't know he had?

.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.

A/N: Hey dreamers! Sorry for the short chapter (again). I've been super busy at school, but I wanted to make sure I get a few out for you before going MIA still. What do you think about the Marichat scene? Comment down below.

Song Choice: Hide Away by Daya.
I think Marinette and Chat's relationship brings a little flair to this one...

Word Count: 1420

Bug Out!