Stray ~ A MariChat Love Story (Complete)

Chapter 9: Promises

Saturday rolled around quickly for Marinette and she was relieved her parents would be out the house, though a part of her was nervous about being alone with Chat Noir. It wasn't because she didn't trust him, but that her heart was still wracked with guilt over the time she spent with him rather than Adrien.

But it wasn't like his visits were going to lead to anything anyway.

"You must enjoy your day, Maman. Don't forget to spoil each other." said Marinette. Her mother smiled shyly as they walked to the door and her father smiled smugly.

"Oh believe me, Marinette. This will definitely be the best anniversary yet."

"You don't always have to be so extravagant, Tom." Marinette's mother kissed him on the cheek and stepped through the door. Her father walked out next, but stopped inside the threshold.

"Marinette, remember to keep the bakery closed today. I don't want any customers in this bakery when your mother or I aren't here." he said.

Marinette nodded, "Of course, Papa. Now hurry before you both miss your reservation." Both her parents waved at her, before shutting the door behind them. Marinette walked up to it and swapped the sign around, officially closing it for the day.

Tikki flew out her purse and giggled. "It's cute that your parents still celebrate their love this way."

"I agree, Tikki." Marinette's mind wandered to Adrien and she sighed. Maybe one day they'd be like that as well. He'd take her out every year on their anniversary for something amazing and grand. Then they'd leave their three children at home with maybe Alya and their pet dog. Of course there'd also be hamsters -

"Marinette, you're zoning out again." said Tikki. Marinette snapped out of her daze and blushed shyly. She scratched the back of her neck nervously.

"Sorry Tikki. I was just thinking about Adrien." Even just saying his name sent tingles down her spine.

"The boy you should be worried about is Chat Noir."

Marinette's daydream shattered like a broken mirror. "Oh..." she frowned and lowered her head in her hands, "Right. I nearly forgot."

Tikki rolled her eyes. "If you hadn't invited him in the first place..."

"I know. I know." muttered Marinette. She leaned against the door and sighed, "I don't suppose it's too late to change my mind?" She grinned at Tikki and the kwami shook her head, smiling.

She retired to her room for the rest of the morning, working on her Ancient Egypt history project. She'd done about a quarter of it when she decided to stop and doodle. She drew patterns, shapes and swirls until, slowly, the lines connected and formed the delicate silhouette of a petite Parisian woman.

A loud knock made Marinette flinch and her eyes flew to the clock on her phone. Exactly twelve o'clock. Truth be told she was surprised he actually came. She'd stopped expecting him after nine and she wasn't sure whether to be pleased or frustrated that he'd actually shown up.

She went upstairs to her trapdoor and opened the latch. He peered inside and smirked, "Hello, Princess."

"Hello, Chat." she greeted. She moved aside and he flopped on her bed, his ungraceful figure wrinkling her freshly cleaned sheets. She shut the trapdoor after him and climbed back down the steps to her main floor. Chat jumped passed her and landed by her desk before she could intercept him.

His electric green eyes roamed over her open sketch book and he smiled. "Egyptian designs?" he asked.

Marinette pushed passed him and shut the book, hiding it behind her. "Yeah." she mumbled, "They're not that good though."