Stray ~ A MariChat Love Story (Complete)

Chapter 26: Stealing Your Heart

"He rejected me." she repeated, her voice softer. She lowered her arms to her sides and shrugged, "What is it you want me to do? Do you want me to spend the rest of my life crying my heart out because I wasn't good enough? Or maybe get akumatised to prove how gutted I really am?"

She walked forward and Chat Noir scrambled back, narrowly moving his tail out from beneath her shoe. "I loved him, Chat. I wanted to be with him, but not because of what he had. I didn't care about the money or the fame, Chat. I cared about him. I still do."

Her shoulders shook and Chat's attention was enraptured by her words. His own died on his tongue and all he could do was stare. Like the idiot he felt he was.

"He's kind, considerate and so forgiving." she wrapped her arms around herself and sat down on the chaise. "All those things you think I loved about him were the same reasons I hated him in the beginning. I thought he was just like Chloe."

Chat slowly stood up, afraid that if he moved too quickly she'd throw him out before she was finished. He wanted to hear this. He had to hear this.

"But then he apologized. He understood why I treated him the way I did and he even gave me his umbrella so I wouldn't get wet from the rain."

A small smile decorated her soft lips and she wiped a tear from her eyes. "He took me completely off guard and when I heard him laugh –that honest, dazzling kid of laugh," her own grin grew and her eyes sparkled. "That was the first time I realized I really liked him. Everything else after that just made me fall harder."

She sobbed harder and Chat inched closer to her, but he didn't touch her. He didn't have the right to. "I did everything I could to make him smile. That's all I ever wanted to do. I even made him a scarf for his birthday that year, but he never knew."

Chat swallowed his courage and asked, his voice barely a whisper. "Why didn't you tell him?"

"Because he was happy." she replied, "And I couldn't ruin that for him. The world just lit up whenever he came in the room and whenever he was around I couldn't help but smile. He's just so charming, so handsome and endearing. But he's more than that. He's selfless and everyday I'm glad I met someone like him."

Chat clenched his eyes shut and inwardly growled. The more she spoke about his alter ego, the more he realized exactly what he missed out on. He didn't deserve her. She was worth so much more than he was. Because she'd actually loved him, and all he'd done was hurt her.

He knelt down in front of her, gently placing his clawed hands on her knees and stared up at her earnestly. "Marinette?" he whispered. She glanced down at him and the hollowness inside her nearly killed him.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know...I shouldn't have said –I shouldn't have done that." Warnings went off in his head and Chat sighed. How could he explain without revealing his identity? He shook his head and rested his forehead against her kneecap.

A slight pressure on his head urged his eyes up at her and he found her gently ruffling his hair with her hand. Chat pushed down his ego. Pride be damned. There was only one way to fix this and he couldn't be a part of it.

Chat reached up to her and gently brought her head down to his. "What time does this date of yours start?" he asked.

Marinette inhaled a shaky breath and frowned. "I'm supposed to meet him beside the Eiffel Tower in half an hour. Why?"

Chat nodded and picked up a jacket off the floor. It was made of red leather, the same shade of red as her shoes and the ribbon around her waist. He slung it over her shoulders and Marinette slipped her arms through the sleeves.