Paris glowed in the night. A million golden lights sparkled for miles in all directions, the sky above was cloudless and a crescent moon smiled like a Cheshire cat. It was a lazy summer night. Everything seemed muted somehow. Below them fewer cars drove past, there were less people on the streets and even the Eiffel Tower itself seemed to shine sleepily. How utterly jarring it was for the city to be so at peace when its two saviours were anything but so.

Ladybug wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them tightly as she stared at the city before her without truly seeing it. She couldn't stand to glance to her side and see Chat Noir's curious, confused expression again. They'd come to the end of their patrol, resting atop the building of one of Paris' many famous restaurants. Although they were fairly certain Hawkmoth wasn't going to attack that night, both were reluctant to leave in their current state of…whatever the hell this was.

Awkward Ladybug decided with a sigh that barely passed whisper levels, but Chat had heard it and she fought not to cringe as the strangeness stretched on that's what this is, awkward.

Truth be told, Marinette had the urge to run. Run fast and far from this new found attraction, deny she felt it. But the confrontational Ladybug side of her told her to face the situation somehow. Neither side of her won completely so she was stuck, frozen in a wordless limbo which seemed to expand into a painful eternity, all the while knowing she was attracted to Chat Noir and all the while having absolutely no clue what to do with the fact.

Chat, meanwhile, was having his own nervous breakdown. Ladybug had been acting strange throughout their entire patrol. He'd tried to keep things normal at first, flirting, joking, challenging her. Nothing worked. She seemed to withdraw, stammer, look away. He hadn't caught her eye once since their encounter on the roof where they'd met for patrol. I was too weird earlier, I freaked her out. Damn it Agreste! He mentally kicked himself.

"H-hey, Ladybug," Chat swallowed, leaning back on his hands and allowing his legs to swing over the edge of the roof. Hopefully he looked nonchalant, he certainly didn't feel it "about earlier, when I was flirting. I'm sorry if I went too far. You know I'd never mean to upset you right?" His eyes flicked over to where she sat in order to gauge her reaction. Nothing. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. What was different this time? He'd flirted with her numerous times and never gotten this from her. Was it the way he said it? Was it the specific words? He reached over and placed a shy hand on her shoulder. Maybe he'd been too sincere, revealed too much of his heart.

Although it didn't appear as though Ladybug reacted, inside a storm raged. Her lips thinned slightly as she fought a sudden urge to scream. Of course. Of course he'd be sweet and sincere in this situation. She'd been the one acting like a freak all evening, and he was the one saying sorry?! He was the one being kind, so very kind, so like- like-

Adrien.

Ladybug stood up, furious with herself for making the comparison, and marched away to stand at the corner of the building. She missed Chat standing up behind her. It wasn't right, she thought. Just because some stupid, sexy underwear ad had made her compare the two in her mind, it didn't mean Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person. It just meant that Adrien was good at his job and Chat was his usual playboy self. It was totally and completely horrible and unfair to compare the two. The similarities ended there…didn't they?

"LB?"

Ladybug spun on her heel and, for the first time in hours, looked at Chat Noir. They stood about a metre apart, the crisp night air blowing around the two pillars that held the city of Paris upright. Both of them felt the breeze might topple them at any moment. Ladybug's eyes trailed the smooth lines of Chat's torso, his shoulders, his arms. Well he certainly had the same body type to Adrien, or very similar at least. The parts of Chat Noir's face that lay uncovered radiated in the light of the city below them. Marinette sucked in a breath. He was gorgeous. Why had she never noticed that before?

Stop it brain- I don't want to think of Chat that way. He's a flirt, a playboy, he's never ever going to be serious about me. Ladybug is a fantasy to him. The same way Adrien is a fantasy for me. It's never going to happen.

"Chat..." She began, her voice strange and quiet, almost as though she'd forgotten how to use it.

"Yes?" Chat started, his body electrified by her voice. He wanted to close whatever weird chasm his blunder had caused, but was reluctant to move one step further. Especially considering, moments before, his hand on her shoulder had caused her to practically leap from his touch. He clenched his fist. More than anything, he didn't want to lose her.

"Have you had- you know- lotsofgirlfriends?" Ladybug mumbled, staring back down at the ground and praying to all the gods in the known universe that she truly glad for the low light so that Chat couldn't see her face matched her super-suit. God why was she asking this question? What point did she have to prove, really?

"What was that?" Ladybug glanced up again. Chat's head was tilted to the side quizzically, one of his ears pointed down, the other up, and Ladybug had the strangest urge to touch them- to see if they responded to her touch.

"Do you," She inhaled through her nose, her chest heaved "I mean have you had lots of girlfriends? Or you know, seen other girls?"

Chat blinked a few times, unsure of why she was asking such a question, but completely sure of his answer.

"No."

Ladybug's eyes snapped to his, growing wide and impossibly blue. Her hair ruffled in the breeze, the ribbons from her twin tails fluttered almost as fast as her eyelashes, almost as fast as his heart. For perhaps the millionth time, Chat Noir wondered how anyone could be so beautiful.

"No?" Ladybug spluttered. Subconsciously, her head shook side to side in little jittering movements. That wasn't what she'd wanted to hear at all! That couldn't be right! No way had Chat Noir never dated anyone.

Chat deflated at her disbelief.

"Yeah, I know. Totally pathetic huh? Even the hero of Paris can't get a girlfriend," He chuckled humourlessly, reaching up to scratch the back of his head "I have kind of a busy life, even outside of being Chat, and my father…" he trailed off awkwardly, not wanting to seem like a bigger loser than he already was.

Ladybug stared, slack jawed.

"But you're such a- such a- such a flirt!" She all but spat out the words. "You flirted with Marinette the time you teamed up with her. S-she told me…. a-and you're always flirting with me!" Chat wanted to die right then and there. His partner felt much the same.

"I am not a flirt!" Chat spluttered somewhat indignant "I mean- I am with you- but the other me, I couldn't ever do that. As for Marinette. Well it was the first time I'd ever teamed up with a civilian and I just wanted to make an impression. I guess I kind-of went overboard, god she didn't think I was flirting with her right?" Great, this is just great. Both Ladybug and Marinette probably think I'm the biggest playboy in the world, and Plagg is going to rip me to shreds later. He could already hear Plagg's mocking laughter. His fists clenched tighter. Never in his life had he wanted to travel back in time and smack his idiot fifteen-year-old self, there was a first time for everything it seemed.

Ladybug was silent.

"So, you've never dated anybody." Chat winced, her words seemed so far away even though she herself was standing right in front of him.

"And you don't really flirt with anyone either." Ladybug's heart was racing. There was a question on the tip of her tongue, one which she was unsure she wanted the answer to, so she decided to keep it to herself. At least for now. Guilt settled on her shoulders like disturbed dust. She was making him feel awkward. That much she could tell, so she decided to put his mind at rest "me neither."

Chat stopped cringing. Now it was his turn to feel slack-jawed. He looked as though someone had beat him with his own baton.

"You've never had a boyfriend?"

"W-well it's like you said!" Ladybug threw her arms up in the air in self-defence and Chat finally caught sight of her flushed cheeks, the slightly embarrassed craze in her eyes. He didn't know why he found it so funny, he supposed it was the relief which came from the realisation that maybe she didn't see him as a complete and utter loser after all. "Being Ladybug keeps me pretty darn busy, plus all my schoolwork and work-work to boot, plus how could I tell a boyfriend the reason I sneak out every night isn't because I'm running around with other men or something, it's to stop possessed people from destroying the city and- and- STOP LAUGHING CHAT!" Ladybug stomped her foot in frustration as she watched Chat Noir crease over in laughter, his eyes closed, his shoulders shook-

And in turn, so did her world.

Had she had her hand on her yo-yo, she would have dropped it.

That laugh…

No. She thought firmly even as visions of a three-year-old, overly romanticised memory filled her mind. An image of her and another blonde, standing in the rain. He's not Adrien and the more you compare the two, the worse you are. Chat was her partner and she decided that he deserved more respect than that. Why was she even bothering to compare the two? Because of the smoulder? Because she realised she was attracted to Chat and felt guilty because of her lingering feelings for Adrien? A boy she'd never had and never would? She needed to get a grip on herself.

"I'm sorry My Lady," Chat gasped, stepping closer to her before he could stop himself "I just thought, technically you would be running around with another guy. Just not in the way your hypothetical partner would infer. Well… I suppose we could run around in that way," his voice dropped low and Ladybug took a step backwards, one of her feet came dangerously close to the edge of the roof "that would certainly make this cat purr."

Come on Marinette! Say something! It's your turn to turn him down, it's all part of the game.

Her mind screeched at her as she stood stock still, much the same way she had done at the beginning of their patrol. Nothing would respond. His eyes were burning her again. There it was. The smoulder. Her heartbeat seemed to triple its speed, her legs quaked beneath her.

It wasn't a game anymore.

"I don't think it would Chat," She whispered as she bit her lip "you don't know me- the other me as you called it. There's another reason that I've never had a boyfriend. Boys don't tend to really look at me, and if they do…I'm a let-down." She turned her head to the side, scrunching her face in what Chat assumed was a bitter memory. Even though the city illuminated them in its warm honey-gold colours, the light no longer reached her eyes. Outside of battle, Chat wasn't really a violent person, and Adrien was the complete opposite of confrontational. But in that moment, he really wanted to hit whoever made her look that way.

"I don't buy it."

Ladybug didn't look back at him, but the shift of her shoulders indicated she was paying attention so he continued.

"Whatever guys you hang out with must be idiots, to not see what I see in you." And he meant it. How could the girl underneath that mask have such little confidence in herself? How had he known Ladybug for three years and never noticed this? If he had, he would have spent every day telling her how amazing she was, in every way, until she believed it.

"Oh really Chaton?" Her voice wobbled as she shuddered, "and what do you see, except a girl in a mask who can save the day and banter with you? The other me could never live up to whatever fantasy you have in your head." Why was she trying to convince him to not flirt with her? She tried to stop herself, but deep down she wanted him to fight for her, to prove that his affections were true even if they were just affections and not something more. That scared her more than anything.

Chat was having an almost out-of-body experience, one where he wondered how they'd even gotten to this point in the first place.

"It's only a fantasy because I don't know who the girl on the other side of that mask is, so I had to fill in the gaps somehow. And you know, I see far more than a girl in a mask who can save the day and banter with me," he repeated her words, more tenderly than she had said them, and took a shy step towards her "I see a girl who likes sweet things more than savoury, who hates liars and will always do her best to do the right thing. A girl with a strong moral compass who always tries her best. I see someone smart, someone funny, I see a girl looking at me who's brighter than all of the lights of this city combined. I see a girl with a furious, and sometimes scary temper, I see a girl who rushes into things headfirst which isn't always a good thing. I see you. I admit…I don't see all of you. But I want to. I want to know everything about you. Like your favourite colour, what your dreams are, if you- if you like me flirting or you secretly wish it would stop- I want to know all of that. I just don't know where to start."

Ladybug looked at her partner, looked at Chat Noir, and for the first time in three years she truly believed she was seeing the boy behind the mask. Behind the flirty lines and silly puns. Here stood a boy with a lopsided grin, with tenderness in his eyes, as though she were his gateway to heaven. And suddenly, like the thunder that had shaken her in the rain years ago, she was struck again. She stopped walking backwards, the little pebbles from the slab stones skittered as she tentatively stepped forward instead, towards her partner. What started as a metre gap, became mere inches.

"My favourite colour is pink," She answered, feeling a smile stretch across her own face. Chat was frozen as she stepped closer to him. His smile wavered. She closed the gap. Heat began to creep up his neck, towards his ears, once again he wondered how they'd gotten here but at the same time, he found himself too involved in the moment to really care.

"I dream to work in fashion one day." She placed a splayed hand on his chest, looking at the red against black. She'd always liked those two colours together. Black and red. Desire and Love. Night and Fire. Contrasting and complimenting, creating the perfect balance. Just like they did. She felt his chest grow tight and looked up. When had he gotten so tall? When had she grown so confident? It must be the mask. It must be him.

"And no, I don't want you to stop flirting with me," She finished and stood on tip toes, feeling something completely new stir in her chest at how wide his eyes were, at how adorable the blush on his cheek was as her lips brushed against it. His skin was as warm as his smile.

I guess I am this attracted to Chat Noir.