[Marinette's POV]

It was currently the middle of the night, and Marinette found herself lying awake at 1am with aching limbs. She wanted to move, but every time she did, it really hurt. She tried to scoot up and check on Tikki. She was sleeping like a little angel. She dare not disturb her.

With all this time she had right now, in the middle of the night, she was alone with her thoughts. Usually when this happened, her mind was written with thoughts of her amazing crush, Adrien~. Though tonight was different... She was thinking about her partner, who was currently lying on her chaise, in her room.

She couldn't lie, she still thought of Adrien...sometimes, but not in the same way she used to...All she could do right now, was think of Chat.

She thought about how he got kicked out of his house, and how he always talks about his father being so harsh and strict. Kinda reminds her of someone. She thought about the fact that in his time of need….he decided to come to her. When he got kicked out that night, he came to her.

Why? Why did he decide to come to her? They barely know each other. He only visited a few times after akuma attacks that she was slightly involved in, like The Evillistrator and Puppeteer and when her grandma got akumatized too. Every time he did come...he did spend some time at her place, but it wasn't really anything special.

He had only been staying with her for two days so far, and he had suddenly made her feel differently. The way he rushed to her aid when she was in the geyser room and how concerned he was about her wellbeing. He really seemed to care about her…

All of a sudden, she got snapped out of her thoughts by the very person she was stuck thinking about.

"Princess?" The soft voice came from where the hero himself was lying.

"Chat? You're still awake?" Marinette said, in a soft voice, trying not to be too loud

Chat chuckled, "Uhh heh, No Princess, cats have sensitive ears. Your movement woke me up. Why are you awake?"

Marinette looked down, "Sorry...I didn't mean to… I've just been a little deep in thought, that's all. My burns kinda woke me up." 

Chat stood up and made his way to Marinette's bed, with his new blanket in hand. He sat down on the edge of her bed, "Hey, it's fine. I was really already awake. I had a hard time falling asleep. Are your burns hurting you? I can help if you want..." Chat said, looking a little concerned.

Marinette smiled at him sweetly."Kitty, stop worrying about me so much. Seriously, I'll be fine,  I promise. Go back to bed, you need rest." She said, and lightly touched his hand. 

That's when Chat's concerned look turned into a cheeky grin, "I'm not going to bed until you let me take care of you. Cats are nocturnal, Princess. I could sit here all night." He said as he crossed his arms proudly

Marinette facepalmed, "You really are one of a kind Chat. Okay, since you say you could sit here all night, and I'm having a hard time sleeping, why not play a game? Truth or dare perhaps?"

"Sure, who's going first?" Chat said

"You are!" Marinette giggled, " I choose truth"

Chat thought for a second, and glanced around the room, he noticed that right next to her bed, she had a frame with lots of pictures stuck to it, but it was mostly filled with pictures of a certain someone. How had he never seen it before?, "Okay... Who is that boy, and why do you have so many pictures of him" Chat said with a sneaky smile

And now Marinette was blushing. So red, she could out red Nathaniël's hair, "U-um th-that..that i-is….." She kept on stammering, and the hero's smile only grew, "I-it's…...Adrien Agreste…..my crush..." she sighed in defeat.

The Hero'seyes grew wide,"O-oh!" Chat sputtered out, rather shocked at what he was hearing. Play it cool Chat, you can't let her know that you're Adrien. "I-isn't he that famous m-model boy? Everyone in Paris has a crush on him. He can't be that special" Chat said, starting to calm down. He was trying his best to act casual.

Marinette had a look of minor disgust at what the hero had just said, "What? He is special, I mean...I thought the same way about him when we met,  'just a stupid model/daddy's boy, right?Why would I fall for him?'  But...that day, i realised that he was actually a really good person. He always seems so happy around everyone, but what not many people realise, is that most of the time, it's actually just a mask…. If you look closely, you can see the true emotions behind that fake smile...how lonely he feels. And I don't blame him either. His father is so cruel and demanding. The poor boy gets so overworked, and…..sorry...I-I'm rambling aren't I…" Marinette said as a light pink blush dusted across her cheeks, and she lifted her hands to cover her face.

Chat looked utterly speechless, not knowing what to say next, "w-wow…"

[Adrien's POV]

His hand came up and found a resting place on the back of his neck. He felt his throat get dry and let out a small cough. WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!?

"H-he seems r-really special to y-you Princess. H-he's lucky to h-have you" He said, but wasn't lying. He really did feel lucky to have someone who didn't fall for his looks or his bright smile. Instead...she fell for his insecurities. His flaws. His personality. Wow… why was his heart beating so fast….

Marinette peeked through her fingers at the nervous boy, "He is very special to me" she said, smiling with her blush still on her face

They were both looking down at their hands, one with a loving smile, and the other one clearly overthinking everything he'd just heard

The Hero's face expression changed though….it changed to sadness, maybe even jealousy. He'd had the sudden realization that...sure, she was in love with him...but not him. Adrien. Not Chat. A boy of perfection, but loneliness. Being Chat was the only time he got to be truly free, and that feeling of loneliness vanished for that small amount of time while he was under the mask and costume.

"Truth or dare…" suddenly was heard. It snapped Chat right out of his thoughts and he was brought back to Earth

"O-oh…." He tried to regain himself, "Dare" he said, finally feeling himself again. He smiled a big Cheshire grin and awaited his dare.

Marinette hummed in thought, " Hmmmm….. I dare you to….. say the alphabet backwards!" She said with a big, cheeky smile

Gosh, Her smile was going to be the end of him.

"Wow princess. Really! Okay. Time for you to get blown away by my mastery" he said with a proud look. "Z….Y… X…..W…..V….." he continued and after a few minutes of laughter, he made it to, "…..A!! There I did it!" He said, joy written in his voice.

"Chat," Marinette started, trying to hold in a laugh, "You swapped around K and L" the girl bursted out laughing

Chat laughed along, "Whatever! Truth or dare?" 

"Uhhh…...Dare?" Marinette said, hesitantly 

"Okay Princess….since you are kinda restricted from moving much, this will be difficult… how about … Sing me your favourite love song" Chat said with a look of anticipation 

"Oh boy…..okay. Please don't judge…" Marinette said shyly 

Chat smiled back, "I wouldn't dream of it Princess. Knock 'em dead!"

"Okay…" Marinette sighed and started softly singing.

"It's not that easy with you here, but I know I want you to stay" Marinette took a breath, "see, this could be us in a few years,  but just admit you like to play."

"It's like everyday I'm kicking rocks. I could fly away, but you've got me at a complete stop"

"How do you manage to keep me going, but somehow you keep me from going"

Chat was speechless. He never knew Marinette could sing. Especially like that. She had the voice of an angel.

"See you distract me, but I'm distracted without you.  I don't know how to focus, baby teach me how to, 'cause I'm standing still again"

Chat's heart was beating wildly in his chest. If it got any faster, it would jump out of his chest

"But if you love me, just like the way that I love you, I wouldn't mind a little comforting from you. Why do I let you in my head." 

Marinette stopped singing, "Okay...I'm done… How was it…?" She asked, covering her face with her hands, trying to hide the growing shade of dark crimson spreading across her face.

Chat's eyes were wider than saucepans, his jaw hanging open, "When I said 'knock 'em dead' I didn't mean it literally" The hero fell back onto the bed, "Princess, that was beautiful!! You need to sing way more often!" He said, throwing his hands in the air dramatically 

"Chat, stop being so over dramatic," Marinette giggled with her hand over her mouth. "Truth or dare"

"I am no scaredy cat Princess. I choose dare." Chat said confidently

"Okay Chat. I dare you to go down to my makeup drawer, take out my red lipstick, and apply it to your lips!" She laughed wickedly

Chat put both hands over his face, "Ugghhhh Princess." He sat up and headed to the drawer holding Marinette's makeup, grabbed the reddest lipstick he could find, and climbed back onto the bed,  "Your wish is my command" he said with a sigh and started applying the product to his lips.

Marinette couldn't stop laughing "Chat!! Don't you want to use a mirror?!" She said as she pointed to one laying on the floor below her bed.

"Nope, I'm a purr-fessional" The hero said as he applied the red lipstick all over his lips...and around his lips.

Marinette just facepalmed "Wow mr. Professional. You got the lipstick on your lips at least, but lipstick shouldn't end up touching the skin around it" she giggled 

Chat rolled his eyes, "no, no, no, you've got it all wrong Princess. This is a Masters method. Makes your lips look ten times bigger" He said and proceeded to make duck lips and take a fake selfie with his arm extended along with a peace sign.

"Wow~! I've been doing makeup wrong my whole life!" Marinette put the back of her hand to her forehead for dramatic effect. "It's your turn to ask Kitty."

Chat scooted back and leaned himself against the wall, a little closer to Marinette, "You know what? Mari, why don't you take another go, I can't exactly think of anything for a truth, or a dare. " Chat smiled, motioning for her to ask.

"Okay… truth or dare?" She asked, sitting up a little.

"Truth"

Marinette thought about it for a second or two,  then she got reminded of what she was thinking about earlier that night, " Okay. Chat...if you don't mind me asking...why did you decide to come here when you got kicked out? You had so many other places to go, but you chose to come here…. Why?"

Chat looked up in surprise at what she asked. He didn't expect her to ask something like that… "Uhhh… Well-"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that, it's obviously a sensitive situation and I should have guessed you probably wouldn't want to talk about it. Just forget I asked okay!  I'm sor-" Marinette quickly rambled, apologising profusely, but got cut off

"Marinette! Calm down, it's okay. You did nothing wrong, I'm happy to tell you." Chat tried to calm the girl down,  "the night that i got kicked out, I was in a really sensitive state, needed someone I could trust more than anyone. I knew I had visited you a few times already, and we were already kind of friends, so I decided to drop by. Quite literally actually," Chat chuckled a little bit before continuing, "Anyway. I really trust you Marinette and I knew that you would understand me better than anyone. You're just amazing like that...you truly are an amzaing, caring girl."

Marinette had a light pink blush spread across her face as her eyes opened wide and she stared into his emerald ones, "Really? I had no idea you felt that way…"

Chat slowly made his way closer to the girl "Y- yeah..." he said softly, now inches away from Marinette's face. 

Chat looked down at Marinette's lips and moved forward, but She stopped him before their lips had the chance to meet.

"Chat…I..." 

"I know...I'm sorry...You like that other boy, I shouldn't do this." Chat said, moving back slightly, avoiding eye contact by looking away.

"No…, that's not it. What about Ladybug. I thought you loved her." Marinette looked at Chat with wide, unsure eyes, desperate to hear the words she so badly wanted to hear

Chat was silent for a moment, but lifted his gaze to meet her eyes, "Princess...I've tried to confess to her so many times, but she never...I never truly believed we ever had a chance together. I gave up on trying to win her heart, though I stayed by her side nonetheless, and carried on trying to show her, but it never worked. Princess...You make me believe again."

"But…"

" Listen, I don't love her Marinette, I love you. After spending time with you these past few days.. I realise that now…."

Marinette smiled and lifted her hand to cup the boy's cheek. 

"Silly kitty" She smiled and pulled his face closer and before Chat had time to react, they were kissing. Her soft, warm lips ,touching his. After a few seconds, they pulled apart.

Their heads leaned on each other as they looked deeply into the other's eyes with wide smiles spread across their faces.

"I love you Princess"

"I love you too Chaton"

[2391 words]

A/N: WOWWW Such a long chapter!! I've spent like...3 days more or less on this chapter and I'm pretty darn happy with it. I mean, me being me, I'll never be completely satisfied with any chapter i write and hey, KiSs ScEnEs ArE hArD!!!!!!! But now Mari has Red lipstick all over her face thx to her previous dare😂 hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to leave any criticism or tips on how to improve the story or my writing etc. Love you all and see ya in the next chapter!!

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