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Marinette watched Chat Noir's silhouette, dimly lit by the glow of her computer screen, currently watching some movie he had wanted her to see. His green eyes had once been unsettling to her, when they’d first met. Now the fluorescent glow just felt like coming home. His features, so noble and brave in battle, were softened here in the safety of her room, where they laid nestled together on her chaise. Since he had started visiting her over the past year, they’d never really discussed what their relationship was. At first she was confident in their platonic relationship. Chat offered a distraction from homework and she offered him baked goods, as simple as a symbiotic exchange. However, as the visits ran later into the night and their conversations ran deeper than the surface, she wasn’t so sure. It had occurred to her just 3 days ago, when he sat beside her, intently sorting his M&M's by color, just how deep her feelings ran.
“Like what you see, Princess?” Chat whispered, so, he’d noticed her staring. Does that mean he’d noticed that he completely owned her heart too?
When she didn’t answer with the typical dismissal of his teasing, he turned to face her. “you okay?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” The question left her before she realized what she was doing.
Chat blinked. “what?”
“I never asked before. I know you can’t tell me who, if you do, for the sake of your identity, of course, but I just…” she glanced at their current situation. Snuggled together on her chaise, sharing a blanket, her arm draped across his midsection. “If you have a girlfriend, I think its important that we, er, establish that.”
She knew she wasn’t making any sense. She wasn’t brave enough to confess her newfound feelings, but she knew they couldn’t couldn’t continue this way if he was with someone else.
His eyes remained locked on hers. “The other day, I was walking down the street, and I saw a cherry blossom tree. I stopped and I just looked at that tree for 20 minutes, thinking of you and how the pink petals were your favorite color, and how the branches swayed in the breeze the same way your hair dances in the wind on your balcony. Marinette, every time I realize I have a free evening, you are the first person I think about. When I have good news, you are the first person I want to share it with. When life is hard and painful, you’re my refuge. But you told me you’re in love with another boy. So, I don’t ask anything of you, I accept any closeness you’re willing to give me. In fact, I selfishly hope you never have the opportunity to confess to your crush. Because the day you do, is the day this has to end, that I have to step back and let you be with Luka, who actually makes you happy. So no, Marinette, I don’t have a girlfriend, though I very much wish I did.”
Marinette’s silent tears spilled over her cheeks in waves and she shook her head, “Chat I-”
“I don’t mean to pressure you, my dear, I expect nothing of you and cherish every bit of your friendship you allow me. I just thought it’s about time I was honest with you.” He smiled ruefully and moved to brush the tears from her bottom lashes. “You don’t need to cry for me. I know this is how it is, and its alright.”
“But chat, that’s not how it is” she felt his whole body tense when she brought her hand to cover his where it rested on her cheek. “Chat, I had a passing crush on a boy a year ago, but you? You’re different. You know me. You know I trip over my words and I suck at keeping my room clean. And I know you, maybe not your real name, but I know you in all the ways that matter. I know how your heart breaks for every akuma victim, even if they were attacking you a moment before. I know how you try so earnestly to impress your father and have endless compassion for him, even though he doesn’t deserve you. I may not know the surface level details of what’s behind the mask but I know your heart. And Chat, my brave Chat, I love your heart.” Her voice breaks with emotion with her confession and it’s barely out before Chats mouth is on hers.
Her senses are overwhelmed with him, him, him. His tail coils around her ankle, his claws graze her waist, and his lips caress hers, sending fire through her veins. She buries her hands in his hair and returns his passion with equal fervor. Between kisses, now trailing down her jaw towards her neck, she hears his barely audible whisper, repeated like a prayer. “Thank you, thank you, Marinette, thank you” Her heart surged at the honesty in his voice. This boy deserved to be loved unconditionally and wholly. Whoever his father was that made him feel like that kind of love is a luxury, he doesn’t deserve Chat. She pulls his face back up to hers and pulls him into a searing kiss, trying to communicate just how lucky she felt to know him, to be the one to love him, that she would always be there to love him. When they parted, the softness in his eyes and the secure hold of his arm, now fully snaked around her waist told her that he had heard her.