Dark clouds hung ominously overhead, obscuring the sky and shrouding the city of Paris in darkness. Only the streetlights were lit and they cast eerie shadows along the sidewalk.

Marinette stood leaning against her balcony railing, a bed sheet draped over her shoulders to keep out the cold. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew she wouldn't be sleeping. Not after they day she'd had.

Not after Paris had come so close to losing Ladybug.

Tikki sat on the railing beside her, munching on a cookie Marinette had grabbed from downstairs. Marinette sighed. "I just can't believe she did that to me, Tikki. And for what? So Adrien would love her?" She tightened her grip on the wrought iron and lowered her head. "I can't prove how she did it, so how am I supposed to fix this?"

"Don't worry, Marinette. The truth always finds a way and someone will see it soon enough. The most important thing you can do is stay calm. You've faced worse adversaries before, Lila is nothing compared to them."

"But this isn't like those times! I can't just use my lucky charm to fix everything like I always do. There isn't any akuma to cleanse, any landmark to restore. Don't you see? This is my life and I can't undo any of it."

She sucked in a breath.

I can't go back. I can't change any of it.

She clenched her eyes shut and tried to fight off the tears brimming in her eyes. She shouldn't be crying, but what else was there to do?

There wasn't any reason to be suspicious of Lila. As far as everyone else was concerned she was an angel – a godsend – and Marinette had done nothing but wrong her. There wasn't any proof of her innocence, no evidence. She was expelled. And that realization hurt worse than any akuma attack she'd fought against.

Crying wouldn't make it go away, wouldn't make it better. But it just hurt so badly. She wanted to scream, to rage, to break something. Anything. But it would only make her vulnerable to Hawk Moth and she couldn't put herself – put Ladybug – in that situation again.

She was the defender of Paris and she had to act like one, regardless of how one lowly, jealous girl had completely destroyed her life. She had more important things to worry about. More important things than losing her school, her friends and Adrien...

If she hadn't already lost him.

He'd stood up for her, or tried to, before Mr Damocles had made up his mind and kicked her out. But it didn't really matter. Most of her class couldn't even look at her now.

When the necklace had fallen from her locker, everyone had gone silent. She could still picture the shock and horror on their faces when she closed her eyes. Even Adrien was at a loss for words, and his reaction hurt worst of all.

What did he think of her now? Did he believe her? Did he still trust her? Or had Lila managed to bewitch him with her lies and trap him in her spell like she had everyone else?

Marinette turned her back to the city, sick of looking at it, and slid down to the floor. She brushed the finger from her eyes and sniveled. "I'll have to start all over again. There's no way anyone will try and help me after today. They won't want anything to do with me and Adrien..."

He'll never speak to me again.

"What am I going to do?" She gripped a fistful of her hair and tugged on it. The sharp pain grounded her against the torrent of her emotions, but did nothing to ease the discomfort of the emptiness inside her. "How am I going to prove it wasn't me?"

"Well, for starters," That voice wasn't Tikki's. "I don't think you'll be doing much huddled in that bed-sheet of yours."

Marinette snapped her head up and found Chat Noir seated cross-legged in front of her. He smirked down at her and his green eyes glinted mischievously in the gloomy weather. "Hello, Purrincess, surprised to see me?"

He leaned in, his face too close, and Marinette flinched back. Her head banged against the railing and she hissed out, bringing her hand up to rub the wound.

He had half the decency to look abashed. She glared at him.

Chat Noir scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, guess I should really work on my game, huh?"

"What game?"

Chat Noir leaned back and rested his weight on his palms. "Now, that just hurts my poor feelings. No need to be so catty."

"You scared me," she snapped, "Sorry for not bringing out the welcome wagon."

"No apologies necessary," he brought a clawed hand to his chest in an over dramatic gesture, "I have a forgiving nature."

He winked at her, but Marinette rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Chat? I'm not really in the mood."

"I can see that."

Too bad he didn't take the hint.

Marinette tightened her hold on the sheet and averted his gaze. She tried not to think about how she looked to him; flushed skin and red eyes. She never wanted him to see her like this. She didn't want him to think of her as weak and helpless even if he didn't know she was Ladybug.

"You can't really blame me though," he said, "I saw my favorite princess huddled alone on a balcony. Figured it was my job to come and save her."

Marinette scoffed. "I don't need to be saved."

"Everybody does sometimes."

Marinette risked a glance at him and found him staring at her, his gorgeous, inhumane eyes shimmering like emeralds in the night-time. He stood up and Marinette watched warily as he made his way towards the balcony's edge.

A part of her wondered if he'd grown bored at the thought of keeping her company, felt that she didn't want to talk and figured it was best to leave like she'd originally wanted.

But he didn't.

He sat down beside her, so close she felt the heat emanating from him through his suit. She turned away from him, surprised to find her face warming at his proximity.

"Who were you talking to anyway?" he asked, "Any other stray cats I need to know about?"

She kept her gaze on the tiles. "Why? Scared of a little cat fight?"

"I'll have you know cats are very territorial and can be really devious if they want to be. Don't let the cute faces fool you, they're diabolical."

Marinette looked up at him and found him staring at her intently. She sighed, "I was talking to myself. It, uh –helps me think, I guess." After so many years of lying to her friends, her family and the people around her, it had almost become second nature.

She expected him to probe her for answers, to be dissatisfied by her curt answer and ask more questions, but he didn't seem curious at all. He tilted his head up to the sky and smiled. "You know, you have a really great view up here."

"You mean for cloud watching?"

He smirked. "No." Chat Noir leaned into her until his shoulder brushed hers. He pointed upwards. "See there, between those two clouds over there?"

She shouldn't get any closer, but she wanted to humor him. And although she hated to admit it, she wanted to see where this was going. She followed his gaze, tilting her head a little closer to his so she could follow his finger.

Stars?

"You can barely see them."

"But that doesn't mean they're not there. They're just hidden away, swallowed up by all the darkness. But if you look hard enough, really hard, you'll always be able to find them." Marinette felt him shift towards her, his breath fanning against her hair.

She pulled away from him. "I'm sure you've seen better views before. Stargazing on deserted rooftops, peering down from the tip of the Eiffel Tower..."

Marinette remembered doing it herself a couple nights ago. After they'd cleansed the akuma, Chat Noir had rushed on home to prevent de-transforming in public, and she'd been left with some time to kill.

Sometimes seeing Paris from so high up, watching families laughing and couples whispering to each other, helped remind her what they were fighting for, especially on days when she regretting taking up the burden. Days like today.

Chat Noir went deathly silent and Marinette snapped out of her daze. "I –I'm guessing, of course. I wouldn't woe –know what it's tike –like." She smiled, a little too widely, but Chat shrugged it off and Marinette heart sputtered back to life.

"It's true, I suppose, but they're all kind of lonely. It's not like I have anyone to share them with, and Ladybug..." he laughed, but it was broken and weak, "she'd rather throw herself off the Notre Dame than spend a night watching the stars with me."

Marinette's voice lowered to a whisper. "You know that's not true."

"Yeah," he breathed, "We need to keep our identities a secret and all." He brought his knee to his chest and wrapped his arm loosely around it. His shoulder bumped hers again, but he was lacking the heat he'd given off earlier.

Marinette took a corner of her sheet and draped it around him, shielding them both from the ever-cooling temperature. He smiled gratefully and moved until his side was pressed directly against hers.

Under normal circumstances Marinette would never allow herself to get this close to him. It was too open, too intimate, of a moment to share with the boy she didn't love. She should've pushed him away, widened the space between them or made some excuse for one of them to leave.

But she was surprised to find she didn't mind the company. She actually liked it.

"It's just so unfair sometimes," he murmured, "I keep thinking that maybe, if I could see her face, just once, then everything would somehow fall into place. You must think I'm crazy, falling in love with a girl I've never actually seen. But these feelings I have for her, they're real."

He clenched his fist. "I know they are." Chat Noir stared at his miraculous, a small green paw print glowing within an ebony ring. "But every time she disappears I'm left with this sinking feeling in my stomach that maybe, she's...she's not really..."

Marinette's heart raced, her eyes locked the torn expression of his face. She wanted to sympathize with him, to comfort him and reassure him. But another part of her wanted him to say the words, begged and longed to hear him say it.

Chat Noir ran a hand down his face, exasperated. "Look at me. I'm supposed to be cheering you up, but all I can talk about is myself."

She slumped against the railing, defeated. "It's okay. I don't mind."

It's not like they had many people they could talk to. Marinette knew first-hand how suffocating it was to have a secret identity weighing down on you. There wasn't anyone to confide in aside from their kwamis, and Tikki didn't always understand what it was like to be human.

Some days she found herself close to telling her parents, confessing everything to Alya or even revealing herself to Chat Noir.

It wasn't that they wouldn't understand. This job was a responsibility – one that had to be taken seriously. She couldn't complain about how hard it was, couldn't reveal her identity for fear of it being used against her.

She'd been chosen.

They both had.

And this was their burden to bear. Not anyone else's.

Chat Noir smiled, "So, are you going to tell me what happened today, or am I going to have to claw it out of you?"

"Do you really wanna know?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't."

She didn't want to think about, didn't want to see the disgusted faces of the people she'd grown to cherish and love, but maybe talking would help. After all, Chat was ready to listen.

"There's this girl at my school. She's such an evil person. She lies about everything to just about everyone and –," Marinette could already feel the tears gathering, ready to slip out. She closed her eyes so he wouldn't see them. "She got me expelled today, but I swear Chat Noir, I didn't do any of the things she said. I never would."

"I know."

"But no one believes me." Her voice broke and Marinette loathed how she sounded. She didn't want to open her eyes to see the pity in his. She was better than this, better than crying on the shoulder of a boy she barely even knew.

"I believe you."

He sounded so sincere. It made her laugh.

She took the opportunity to wipe her eyes. "You don't even know me. How can you of all people trust me so easily when my own friends can't even stand the sight of me?"

"Because, I know what's in your heart. You're a good person, Marinette, and they'll all see that. You don't have to worry."

Chat Noir reached out and cupped her cheek. The leather of his glove was frigid against her warm skin. His eyes bore into hers and Marinette was frozen, utterly helpless as she watched him wipe away a reaming tear with his thumb.

She was exhausted, so tired to trying to keep everything together when all her life wanted was to fall apart. Her dreams of finishing school at Françoise Dupont, of interning at one of Gabriel Agreste's companies, of spending more time with her friends, and of getting Adrien to finally see her the way she wanted him to.

Everything was slipping away and there was nothing she could do about it.

But Chat, her beloved partner, was here for her. He was wiping the tears from her eyes and helping her hold all the pieces together when she wasn't strong enough to do it alone.

Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. He stilled beside her, frozen solid in shock. But she didn't let go of him. Not yet.

He relaxed against her and it wasn't long before Marinette felt his hand on her head and his breath wafting through her hair. "Everything will be all right."

"How do you know that?" she whispered, "They won't want anything to do with me after today. Alya, Nino, Adrien –,"

"What makes you say that?"

She pulled away from him and he let her. "Alya won't call me back, Nino isn't responding to any of my texts and Adrien...," Marinette hugged her knees to her chest, "You should've see his face. I wouldn't be surprised if he never spoke to me again."

Chat Noir laughed. "Do you really think he'd be fooled so easily? Last I checked that Volpina made enough of an impression to make him think twice when she's around."

"You really think so?"

"I'm pawsitive," He booped her nose and tilted his head playfully to the side. His eyes were soft and inviting, but Marinette had been around him long enough to recognize the teasing glint in their green depths.

"You're amazing, Marinette. I'm sure by now there's no way he doesn't realize it." He snapped his fingers and his face brightened. "Hey, why don't you go and speak with him? Maybe you both can, I don't know, figure something out with that headmaster of yours?"

His words were warm, thawing shards of ice in her chest. Breathing felt a little easier. "Thank you, Chat Noir. I don't know why," she wiped her nose, "but I really needed to hear that."

He smirked. "That's what Prince Charming's are for. We're not just here for decoration."

"I don't think you'd mind it so much if you were."

Chat Noir shrugged. "I can't help it if the spotlight loves me. Gotta give the ladies what they want." He flexed his arms and Marinette had to muffle her laughter with her hand.

He's such a dork.

"But then again, it would be pretty clawful of me to neglect a damsel such as yourself, just for my twelve seconds of fame."

Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, but she couldn't help the smile that made its way onto her face. She thought of her time as Ladybug, all the times she'd caught him falling from the sky, all the times she'd taken charge of their situation.

"I wouldn't call myself a damsel."

"But you were in distress, and whenever that happens just know that I'm always going to wipe away those tears of yours."

Maybe it was the way he was looking at her, how close he was or the tone he'd used to say it, but Marinette could feel the words burrowing within her, sending a strange sort of her through her body. It was both alarming and yet, surprisingly comforting.

She was just tired. There wasn't any way she'd feel this way about him. Not with Adrien in the picture.

"How heroic of you," she teased, "Is that a promise then?"

"For you, of course." Chat looked back up at the sky and Marinette leaned her head against his shoulder. She wasn't Ladybug. She wasn't supposed to be acting like this, pretending like they were close friends when they both knew next to nothing about each other's.

This is nice. This is fine.

They stayed like that, waiting for moments when the stars would peek down at them. And being there, on the balcony with her leather-clad partner, Marinette felt further away from her problems than she had in a very long time.

Hello everyone, I hope you liked the first chapter, and please don't forget to vote or comment if you liked it. It went through so many revisions I'm practically dreaming about this scene before bed, but this MariChat scene always makes me feel happy when I read it.

(Especially considering what's coming)...

The length of the chapters will be around the same as this one, which for those who don't know is nearly 3000 words. Yeah. But that's one of the reasons I'm updating only once a week. I just really want to make everything as perfect as I can so I hope you all can patiently keep waiting for me to perfect this masterpiece for you all!

Stay awesome guys and I'll see you next week!