unexpected feelings | marichat

chapter eight

marinette's pov
   parc des buttes was packed. alya held onto my hand, nino in front of her, to keep me from getting lost in the crowd.
   "alya! i think this is the stage luka told me!" i yelled over the crowd, and she and nino stopped in front of a large stage, with massive speakers and a drum set plus a few mics atop it.
  i stood next to alya and nino, who i invited yesterday after luka sent me the details of the fair. adrien-surprise surprise- was not allowed to come, but he told me to send him videos of the concert. admittedly, i was slightly bummed, but i pushed those feelings aside. getting over him also meant not letting his absence prevent me from having fun.
   so, for an hour my friends and i jumped and danced nonstop to the music. we could hardly hear each others excited screams over the sweaty crowd, but it was fun to just enjoy life for a few minutes. when kitty section's mini concert was over, we all walked around the carnival rides and ate tons of food. it was around 8 pm when everyone headed home. luka insisted on walking me there, and there was a charged silence for half the walk.
   "i wanted you to know that... i still haven't forgotten what we talked about, luka. and, i know its taken me a long time to give you the clarity you asked for, but i haven't forgotten about you, okay?" luka smiled at me.
   "marinette, the clarity is more for your sake than mine. i don't want you to be in a relationship you don't feel confident in, and if that means giving you months or even years to figure out, i'm prepared to give them to you. don't worry about it," he said as we arrived across the street from the bakery. i smiled and pecked his cheek before heading inside.
   right before stepping inside, however, i saw a familiar flash of black perched on a nearby roof. chat noir? before i could even stop myself, i called over to him, waving my hands in the air. he flinched, and then looked around for the source of noise. finally, he locked eyes with me and waved slightly before leaping down to where i stood.
   "out for a late night stroll?" i teased, and he smiled, though it didn't really reach his eyes.
   "yeahhh, something like that. uh, what're you doing out so late?" he asked, fidgeting with his belt.
   "i was at the fair with my friends, they performed a few songs."
   "oh, i heard there was a fair today. well, i hope you had fun," he said, a slight edge to his voice. i wondered why.
   "chat noir, you sound funny. are you ok?" i asked, and he laughed lightly.
   "i'm not feline my best right now, but i'm better now that you showed up." i rolled my eyes playfully. leave it to chat noir to turn his feelings into a cat pun.
"well, unless you'd rather keep leaping across rooftops alone, you can um, come in? my parents and i wanted to play some video games when i got home, and we have some leftover dinner, if you're hungry," i offered, and his eyes lit up.
"really? that would be aweso- wait, won't your parents mind? it's nearly bedtime," he questioned, and i laughed.
"no, don't worry. they love you! i'm sure if you asked them to stay over for however long, they'd gladly kick ME out of my room and make it yours."
"well, if you INSIST," he smirked and followed me inside. i found it hilarious that i was bringing chat noir into my house, and he had no idea i was ladybug, that i was the one he spent hours on end with. it was like bringing my best friend over to my house, only he had absolutely no clue who i was.
before we even crossed the threshold into my house, i heard a groan of defeat, followed by a muffled yell of victory. i smiled and unlocked the door.
"hey mom, dad! look what the cat dragged in," i quipped, and chat noir smiled bashfully at them.
   "heyy again mr and mrs. dupain. i hope you don't mind me being here so late."
"of course not, we always love having you here!" my mom reassured him, standing up from the couch. "are you hungry? we have some rice and chicken confit left over from dinner."
   "honey, are we really going to serve chat noir leftover dinner?" my dad asked incredulously, and chat laughed.
   "it's okay, you really don't have to cook anything for me. i'm just glad to have some company right now," he told them, zeroing in on some macaroons we had in a bowl. "i will take some of those delicious macaroons, though!"
   he grabbed a handful of them and started popping them into his mouth. i headed towards the couch and grabbed my video game controller.
   "say, chat noir, are you up for a bit of Ultimate Mecha Strike III?" i challenged, and he grinned, nodding. my mom made her way back to the couch and handed him a controller.
   "i've heard you're a pretty good gamer," he said as we all picked characters. i smirked.
   "well, after this you can see if what you've heard is true or not," i said. i was kind of pushing it on the teasing, but i couldn't help it. i spent so long being comfortable enough as ladybug to tease him that it just came naturally.
we played a couple of rounds, chat and my dad teaming up while me and my mom teamed up. finally, after who knows how many rounds, they beat us.
"you got lucky!" i laughed, watching the cute victory dance chat was doing. it was stupid, but strangely endearing. wait, cute? ENDEARING?? that's not right. i shook my head, clearing any and all thoughts of the sort.