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Chat Noir stared up at the night sky, posture relaxed and held together by a collapsible lounge chair on Marinette’s roof, resting his chin in her hair as crickets sang their usual song below.
He didn’t want to disturb her or the moment as Marinette too looked into the stars speckling the dark, but oh the love he had for this girl was limitless.
The airy, dreamy sigh that slipped from his mouth nearly made Marinette stir, but Chat’s arms were still wrapped around her and she hadn’t moved, so he took that to mean it might’ve been okay to speak.
“This is nice, but, Mar…?”
“Mmh?” She didn’t move, but she was awake…
“Aren’t you getting cold? It’s nearly 1 am now…”
Marinette only nestled closer to him, and Chat readjusted his position accordingly, a message shared without the need to voice it. They both couldn’t sleep that night, and Marinette had heard him arrive on her rooftop garden. They’d both underestimated the other’s persuasive effort to get them to sleep, and now, here Chat was. Snuggled closely with the love of his life on a late night, and full of warmth and gentleness without the need for a blanket.
Although, she didn’t know it was him, of course… but did it matter? He was here, they were close, and if he stayed here any longer he may fall asleep for real. Chat watched the stars reflecting off Marinette’s eyes as they began to flutter close again, making them shimmer in the most beautiful of silvers, and for a moment he wished the rest of his life could be like this. Sweet and warm and smelling of strawberries and vanilla like she did, a shelter from the stormy gray days with his father and brother…
Felix would see her tomorrow in class, but part of him railed against it being what he wanted. He wanted this kind of time with Marinette, he wanted this kind of moment, soft yet intimate without any prying eyes on them at this time of night… but he couldn’t. Not as himself. Not as Felix.
This mask was an escape in more and more ways, and the longer Chat protected Paris from extorted and manipulated wishes manifested, the more he realized just how much his life before had been suffocatingly lacking.
He loved her. He loved her so much, but didn’t have the heart to say it, not yet…
Perhaps he would, one day, when his duty to the city was over and done with. Perhaps Chat would confess to Marinette in the future, but… not now.
Not when the city still needed him and when his father’s shadow still hung low over his life without the mask…
But that wasn’t right now.
Right now, she was drifting off to sleep in his arms, and as much as his more rational train of thought wanted to protest it, he didn’t even think about getting up. This night air was cold, but he wasn’t even close to feeling its chill, not when she was this close.
How he wished he could drop the mask and feel all the same, but the vultures of guilt would continue to bite at him if he did, yet the ember of his own desires wanted nothing more than that.
“Hey, Chaton…?” Marinette’s somewhat drowsy voice cut through his daydreaming haze, and he looked down at her.
“Hm..?”
Marinette pulled herself up and out of his arms, and Chat yearned to pull her back into the embrace as the cold hit his cheeks and dusted them pink as a consequence. “This is nice, but you know what would make it better…?”
“Pastries at 1 am?” He asked, standing up shortly after she opened the trap door.
“No time like the best time, right?”
“For sure. You know I won’t complain about having any pastries from you.”
“Well, come on then! I’ll make sure we don’t wake up Maman though.”
“Good call.”
With that, they went down to the kitchen and indulged in the recently baked strawberry cookies that only cemented Chat Noir’s wishes further.
Some day, he’d confess.
Some day, Chat would tell Marinette he loved her.
Some day, but not today. Not now.
Now was enough. Now was just as soft and lovely and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
This moment, this night, it was perfect. It tasted of strawberries and sugar and felt like gentle sunbeams in the spring.
Chat Noir could wait to confess for as long as he had to, despite the attack on his heart from keeping his feelings in. He could keep his love under lock and key, as long as it meant the nights with stars in Marinette’s eyes and sweets after dark would become a frequent occurrence.
As long as he could continue to spend this time with Marinette and be this close to her, he’d keep on waiting. Yeah. With her by his side, the right time to confess would come soon enough…