Seven Seconds

The Return of A Brilliant Smile

Chat Noir smiled lovingly at her. "Hi Marinette."

"Wh... what are you doing here?" she asked, tilting her head.

Ugh, how much more adorable could she get? Looking at her, he knew he made the right choice. Don't get him wrong; Ladybug was great. Really great. But she wasn't Marinette. Marinette was so much more.

Chat Noir extended his arm down to her. She immediately placed her hand in his and he pulled her up to the balcony. "I wanted to see you," he explained, not letting go. "To see how you're feeling."

A hint of red came to her cheeks. "I'm feeling... better."

"That's wonderful." He stared at her for a second. Then, once realizing that their hands were still clasped together, he released his grip. "S... sorry," he stuttered.

A faint smile crossed her lips. "It's fine."

Chat Noir put his hand to the back of his neck. "So uh..." he said, trying to think of something to say. But he didn't have to force the conversation. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed something familiar. "What's that?" he asked, gesturing down to her side.

Marinette looked down, surprised to discover that the silk was still clutched in her other hand. "Oh uh, it's fabric. I was just trying to think of something to make with it."

"I like the colors."

"Yeah, me too," she murmured. "It's silk. I, I never get the chance to work with silk. So now I'm stumped, trying to figure out what to do."

"I'm sure whatever you think of will be incredible," he gushed.

"I don't know about that," she said, turning away a little in embarrassment.

"Well I know."

A moment passed by as she looked at him again. It was so nice to see him, especially after the night before. "Chat, thank you again for what you did for me. That was really amazing."

"It was no problem at all, Marinette," he replied, moving the tiniest bit closer to her. "Like I told you, I'll always be there for you."

And she smiled.

Chat Noir couldn't help but smile back. It had been too long since he saw that brilliant smile of hers. "So, you're feeling better?"

A nod. "Yeah, I am."

"I'm really glad to hear that. Did you get a chance to talk to Adrien about what happened?"

And the smile was gone. "Uh yeah, I talked to him."

Chat Noir waited a second for her to continue, but she didn't. So he had to ask. "And what happened?"

Marinette shrugged. "He apologized and told me that it was a mistake."

"And you believe him?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I believe him. I know he was sincere about the apology."

He could breathe again. "So uh, that's it? Nothing else happened?"

Reaching up, Marinette tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "He... he told me that he wants to keep dating."

"Wow," Chat Noir said, pretending to be surprised. "That's great. He must really like you."

Marinette snorted. "That's not exactly what's going on."

He blinked at her. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

"Adrien doesn't like me, not in a romantic way at least. He's just nice. And that's the problem."