Blushing Miraculous

The Balcony

Back at home, Marinette stayed in her room until dinner time. It being the first day back at school, she didn't have any homework to distract her from her thoughts. She was relieved when her mother called her down to eat.

As she was finishing her dinner she felt her phone buzz. "I think I'll go back to my room and rest," she said, getting up from the table.

"I think that's a good idea. I'm sure you're tired after your first day back," her mother, Sabine, said to her.

Marinette nodded and went upstairs. Once inside her room, she checked her phone. There was a scaffolding accident downtown. She quickly called out to her kwami.

"Tikki, spots on!" she said as she transformed into Ladybug. She went up the stairs to her loft and climbed through the hatch that led to her balcony. Grabbing the yo-yo from her hip, she threw it towards the closest building. Its string wrapped around a pole, and Ladybug took off.

Halfway to her destination, she saw that Chat Noir was right on her heels.

"Hey Ladybug! What have we got?" he called out to her as they ran across the rooftops.

"Some sort of construction accident," she yelled back.

After another minute they reached the scene. Part of the scaffolding on the side of a building had collapsed and there were two workers trapped near the top.

"You go help the workers, I'll secure the rest of the frames," Ladybug told Chat Noir. They both sprung into action.

Chat Noir vaulted himself over to the workers, allowing them to use his baton like a fireman's pole to reach the ground. Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around the structure, securing the frames while she moved the parts back into place. Chat Noir came over to help her finish the job. Once they were done they went down to the street. They were greeted with a round of applause from the first responders and the crowd that had gathered nearby.

"Pound it," they said simultaneously, fist bumping each other.

Chat Noir started to walk over to the rescued workers. "Hey Chat Noir?" Ladybug asked him. "Would you mind taking care of this? I need to be someplace."

"No problem," he replied, giving her his trademark two finger salute.

Ladybug flew off while Chat Noir checked on the workers. He gave a quick interview with Nadja Chamack, the local news reporter, and also posed for some pictures with the crowd.

By the time he was finished, darkness had fallen over the city. He waved once more to the crowd and took off with his baton.

He was almost back home when something caught his eye. There was Marinette, leaning on the railing of her balcony. He couldn't see her face because she was looking towards the ground, but he assumed that she was still upset.

He made the decision, he was going to stop by and see if he could make her feel better. Adrien might have failed at that, but maybe Chat Noir would succeed.

Catapulting himself over, he landed on the roof of her house. She jumped slightly at the sound and turned around to face him. Chat Noir could see tears on her cheeks. She quickly reached up with one hand and wiped them away. She was holding something in her other hand.

"Chat Noir," she said, surprised. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," he replied, jumping down to the balcony. "I was just passing by and thought that I'd stop and say hi."

"That's really sweet of you," Marinette said, wiping her face again.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I... I'm just having a bad couple of days," she said, turning back to the street. She rested her elbows on the railing, fiddling with the item in her hand.

He moved to stand next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she replied simply, not looking at him. They stayed silent for a minute. "My boyfriend broke up with me over the weekend," she finally admitted.

"I'm so sorry Marinette," Chat Noir said, leaning on the railing. "Break ups can be rough. Were you in love with him?"

She shoke her head. "No. That was actually the problem. He knew that I'm in love with someone else."

He looked over at her in surprise.

She turned towards him. "Don't worry, it's not you," she said, rolling her eyes.

Chat Noir chuckled slightly and put his hand to the back of his head.

Marinette continued speaking. "No, it's this boy at my school. He's really nice. He even made this for me for my birthday." She held out her hand so he could see what she was holding. It was a bracelet with yellow, teal and blue beads, held together by a red string.

Chat Noir slowly reached out and picked it up. "He gave it to you for your birthday?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "Yeah, he's really sweet. It's supposed to be for good luck. Although, it doesn't seem to be working too well lately." She turned back to the street.

"I'm... really sorry Marinette," he said.

"It's okay. He's dating someone else, so nothing's going to happen between us. His girlfriend is great, and they seem really happy together. And I... I just want him to be happy." She reached up and wiped another tear.

He didn't say anything, he just continued looking at the bracelet. Suddenly the moment was interrupted by the loud sound of his stomach rumbling.

Marinette looked over at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just a little hungry. I had a busy day and didn't get to eat much," Chat Noir explained.

It was silent for a moment before Marinette spoke again. "Wait here. I'll be right back." She went over to the hatch and climbed down into her room.

Chat Noir watched her go, then looked back at the bracelet.

She returned in a few minutes with one of the bakery's carry-out bags. She presented it to Chat Noir. "Here, take this with you. So you have something to eat when you get home."

"On no, I couldn't..."

"Of course you can. This is a bakery. We always have tons of extra food laying around. Take it."

"No, really..." he protested.

"It's not a problem. I mean, it will make me feel better knowing that I was able to help out the great Chat Noir in his hour of need," she said with a small smile.

He nodded his head. "Okay," he said breathlessly.

She smiled triumphantly and handed him the bag. For a second he thought he saw a spark come back to her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes. How come he had never noticed how blue they were before?

"I guess I should go then," Chat Noir said.

"Of course."

He took a few steps but then turned back to her. "Oh, here's your..." He extended out his hand with the bracelet.

She reached out and grabbed it from him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He paused for a moment. "I, uh, I hope it starts working for you."

Marinette smiled again. "Yeah, me too."

With one last look at her, he pressed a button on his baton and took off. She watched him as he disappeared over the rooftops.

Tikki suddenly appeared by her shoulder. "Do you realize that you just told Chat Noir that you're in love with Adrien?" the kwami asked.

"Relax Tikki, he has no idea who I was talking about." She sighed. "I'm going to go to bed now. Today was a long day." She climbed back down to her room.

Tikki remained on the balcony, looking out over the city.