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All Adrien had to do was patrol at night. Once a week maybe. Twice at most. Make sure everyone in Paris is safe, and to get to battling an akuma before half of Paris is destroyed, or something.
This was supposed to be easy, especially if nothing ever happened.
But he couldn’t help himself from patrolling his way to Marinette’s—almost every night.
Sometimes she wouldn’t be there, and he’d move along. Usually when he wasn’t talking to Marinette, Ladybug would show up at some point and they’d be able to spend some time together, though she always remained aloof in conversations. Other times, though, he’d spend the night alone, wandering through the streets of Paris until he couldn’t take his loneliness any longer and head home.
And that’s what made talking to Marinette at night so addictive. Having a companion in general was nice, yes, but the fact that it was her made it all the more special.
He knew it was dangerous to spend time with her as his superhero alter ego, considering he saw her every day at school. There were also times he nearly slipped up and said something that would’ve for sure revealed his identity. He justified keeping up on regular visits by telling himself that he was getting better at hiding his civilian life from her.
Besides, there was something so beautifully intimate about looking up at the stars with her, watching her fingers dance along the sky as she pointed out constellations to him, never really seeing them until she got really close to him and drew them out with her finger so he could see. There was even the time when he visited her balcony at nearly three in the morning because she had gushed to him the night before about a total lunar eclipse taking place. He was more than happy to see something so incredible, with someone so incredible.
He found himself wishing the days would go by faster, getting out of his scheduled daytime life so he could spend the late hours as Chat Noir. Or rather, spending the late hours with Marinette on her balcony. Looking at stars, reading to each other, telling stories and jokes. She would talk about her day and he would listen in awe. She’d mention her good friend Adrien, and Chat would have to suppress a blush.
Love comes softly. Fear does not.
Adrien woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, his heart pounding in his chest. He ripped the blankets off of him to try to cool down. He read 1:18 on his bedside clock, and only then did he notice the tear streams down his cheeks.
He had cried in his nightmare too.
He’d watched Marinette get held hostage by Hawkmoth, whose evil laugh echoed through his dream world. She had screamed his name, but he couldn’t move. She had begged and pleaded for him to help her, but he couldn’t do anything. Hawkmoth had laughed, and a black butterfly hovered above Marinette before darting toward her, only a second before he finally woke up.
Plagg was able to help him calm down, but Adrien finally blurted out a thought that should’ve come to mind a long time ago.
“Hawkmoth could use her against me,” he said, “and I wouldn’t be strong enough to stop it.”
Adrien called on his transformation after a few minutes of silence. He knew what he had to do, and he couldn’t think about it any longer.
He made his way on the familiar route to Marinette’s, stopping when he saw her in the distance.
His heart fell. He wished it was one of those nights where she actually went to bed at a decent hour.
No, he assured himself. I have to do this now.
He greeted his friend by hopping onto her balcony, but stopping himself from stepping closer to her. She looked up from her book and beamed.
“I wasn’t sure I’d see you tonight,” she said. “I was about to go inside.”
Chat gave a weak smile in response. Marinette, ever observant as she was, noticed he wasn’t himself. She stood up and walked over to him, his heart pounding faster with every step she took.
“What’s wrong?”
He couldn’t take it anymore. He hadn’t recovered from the nightmare yet—it felt like he was still in it. Tears pooled in his eyes, pouring out when he blinked.
Marinette’s expression turned from a little worried to extremely concerned. It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten emotional in front of her, so she pulled him into a tight hug, burying his face into her neck.
Marinette took deep breaths, and Chat tried to synchronize his own with them.
But he pulled back abruptly, causing the girl in his arms to stare at him quizzically.
“I can’t come back,” he finally confessed.
She didn’t react for a few seconds, until she muttered a weak “oh.”
“I’m sorry,” he whimpered. “I realized I’ve been putting you in danger, and... I can’t do that anymore. It would destroy me if something happened to you because Hawkmoth found out how much I care about you.” He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. “It took a nightmare for me to realize it, one that felt very real. Please don’t hate me, Marinette.”
Marinette nodded ever so slightly, still processing everything he said. Finally, after an agonizing amount of time for Chat Noir, she smiled softly at him.
He loved that smile.
“Of course I don’t hate you,” she said. “I understand. We’ll no doubt see each other again soon, anyway.” She flushed a bit, but talked through it. “Th-the truth is... I don’t feel like I’m in danger, but I don’t want you to feel like you’re putting me in any. It’s okay if you can’t visit me at night anymore, but... please don’t forget about me.”
Chat smiled, for real this time, and leaned in slowly. Marinette could feel herself turning pink as he got closer. He stopped, for just a second, before moving to her right and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. When the few seconds of bliss was over, he moved his lips to her ear.
He whispered softly, “I could never forget you.”
“Good,” she said. “Now, if this is our last night together, we’re stargazing.”
The two of them stood side by side, her right arm wrapped around him, and his left arm wrapped around her. This time, Chat pointed out constellations and drew them out with his finger. Sometimes Marinette had to move his hand to another point in the sky if he was way off, and he would pretend that’s where he was going anyway. Her laughing only reinforced this charade.
Maybe, Chat Noir hoped, just once, the moon would forget to fall down tonight.