Moving On?

Confidence

*Updated 1/14/24*

"Pound it, '' the duo said, defeating the akumatized villain for the millionth time. 

Walking over to her partner, Ladybug was about to suggest to Chat that they should do a quick sweep of the city. Before she could say anything, he took off, quickly waving her goodbye. 

Still needing to talk to him, she took off and chased him down. "Chat..." she started saying. 

Although quickly she was cut off. "I'm sorry M'lady, but the civilian Adrien Agreste asked me to make sure his friend Marinette is safe since he lost her during the attack" Chat explained to her. 

Adrien didn't want Ladybug thinking he has something against Marinette. Especially with how quickly she left the scene the other day. Chat figured that saying that to her would help Ladybug to realize that Adrien does care about her, as a 'good friend'.

A little shocked that Adrien would ask Chat to do that for him, she wondered, did something change from yesterday? I just don't understand Adrien.  One day he's upset from Nino even mentioning her, but the next, he's trying to make sure she's ok by telling a superhero to make sure she's ok. Nothing was really making sense at the moment.

Taking Ladybug's silence as an understanding, Chat then jumped away, now no the search for Marinette. I hope she's ok. The way she ran off at the start of the akuma seemed off. He was glad she didn't run off with Felix though.

Snapping out of her confusion, Ladybug then realized he was looking for Marinette, her civilian form. And as of right now, he's definitely not going to find Marinette. Swinging her way closer to the school, she hid in an alleyway and transformed back. 

When finally arriving at the school, she felt two strong arms tackle her into a hug. "Marinette! I was so worried, I looked everywhere and couldn't find you anywhere after the akuma attack! Are you hurt?" asked Chat, the perpetrator of the hug. Gently, he stepped back, scanning her real quick to make sure he didn't see any scrapes or bruises on her. 

"Don't worry Chat, I'm alright, I can handle myself" she told him. Feeling comfortable around her partner, smirking, she then flicked his bell. It felt so different talking to him as Marinette, and yet something about it was comforting. 

Although she quickly remembered that she wasn't transformed, and that she had done that as Marinette. Blushing, she told him "Oh I'm sorry, I should probably get back to class, Alya might be looking for me." 

"Well I wouldn't want to keep you waiting" He said to her, a soft smile resting on his face.

Turning around to walk away, she felt a hand wrap lightly around her wrist. Looking back, she saw it seemed like he had one more thing he wanted to say to her. 

"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I stopped by later? I heard you have the most amewsing baked treats in ALL of Paris" he asked her. 

She wasn't sure why, but her heart fluttered a bit at the thought of Chat wanting to stop by her bakery, to her civilian self, even if it was just to get a treat.

"I wouldn't mind at all, hope to see you soon Kitty" she responded, smiling at him, sending him off with a wave while heading back to class. 

Chat let out a sigh of relief he didn't even know he was holding. Talking to Marinette with her being so carfree was exhilarating. She didn't stutter or anything, and her confidence reminded him of someone that he couldn't quite place at the moment. I wish she was able to talk with me like that as Adrien. Do I make her uncomfortable as Adrien? I hope not... he wondered, trying to sort things out in his head.