Adrien pushed open the heavy door, and he could see his father's figure at the top of the stairs. The room was dark, and Adrien shook off his umbrella and tried to ignore his father's presence. He knew his father would be livid with him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
“Adrien.” His father's voice boomed across the empty room, and Adrien jumped at the sound.
“Yes, father?” Adrien gripped the strap on his bag, shivering from his still soaked clothes and the coldness in his father's voice.
“You ignored our calls and you stayed out late into the night,” Gabriel slowly descended the stairs until he was standing on the last one. He looked at Adrien the same way one would look at a lost puppy. “I knew school would be a bad influence on you. Adrien, you are grounded until further notice.” Adrien hung his head. He had been expecting this, and he had no energy to argue with him. “Go to your room.”
“Yes father.” Adrien trudged up the stairs, and glanced back at his father when he got to his bedroom door. Gabriel was watching him, his eyes looked like they were made of stone. The way he looked at Adrien, as if he was just an inconvenience, brought tears to Adrien's eyes. Adrien pushed open  the door and slammed it shut. He threw his bag into a random corner and curled up on his bed.
“Kid..” Plagg was sitting on his shoulder, pink crumbs from the macaron dusting his face. Adrien buried his face into the comforter, and Plagg sighed. Plagg cuddled up to Adrien curls, and Adrien slowly started to calm down.
He let the tears fall down his cheek and rolled onto his back. He listened to the storm outside and thought about his father. And then he thought about Ladybug.
She had seemed so tired today. He supposed they were both tired, from all the akuma attacks and their social lives. He wondered what Ladybug was like outside of the mask. He imagined her to be confident and sure of herself. And creative, defintally creative. A problem solver. She probably had a lot of friends and was the top of her class.
Then he thought about Marinette and her ocean blue eyes. He thought about her sewing, and how creative and beautiful it was. He thought about how kind he was and how lucky he was to have her as a friend.
And then he thought about the person Marinette was making the coat for. His thoughts soured and he couldn’t figure out why. All he knew is that whoever held her heart was very lucky.
Her coat!
Adrien sat straight up as he remembered he had promised to drop by today. A quick glance at his phone told him it was already 8:00. Surely it wasn’t too late.
“Plagg,” Adrien murmured, and his kwami groaned.
“I was hoping you would forget,” Plagg groaned, and Adrien grinned at him. The prospect of seeing Marinette made him feel 1000 time better.
“Claws out!”

“I know Alya.” Marinette said to the Alya on her computer. They were FaceTiming and Mariette was relying what had happened between her Adrien not even an hour ago. “He looked so cute. His hair was all wet and drippy. And his clothes-his clothes were sticking to him.” Marinette swooned and Alya rolled her eyes.
“What were you going to show me?” Alya asked, leaning her head on her hands.
“Oh! One second.” Marinette got up from her computer and moved to the coat on her mannequin. It was almost done now, the plaid green fabric on the arm hanging off just a tad bit. The tufty wool was sure to keep Adrien warm and the initials A.A were embroidered onto the collar in swirling letters. When Alya saw it she gasped. Marinette proudly held her almost done creation as Alya oohed and awwed.
“I worked on it all night last night. I just need to fix the sleeve and hem it.” Marinette told Alya with flourish.
“Adrien’s going to love it.” Alya said, picking up her phone. “Oh, hold on. Nino’s calling.” Alya answered and her cheeks turned pink. Marinette gave Alya a teasing smile as Alya said hi to Nino.
THUMP
Marinette looked sharply up to where the sound was coming from. Alya was too engulfed in her conversation to notice, but a ripple of fear passed through Marinette. Who was on her terrace.
Chat Noir wiggled down her ladder, and gave her a sly smile when he got to the bottom. He looked proud of himself, but for what Marinette didn’t know.
And then-
“Marinette!” Alya’s voice boomed from the computer and Chat’s face paled. Marinette tried to ignore him, nolt wanted Alya to know that Chat freaking Noir was in her bedroom. “Guess what Nino said!”
“Uh..” Marinette nervously giggled, and gave Chat Noir a sideways glance. He looked amused as he sat on the floor and watched Marinette scramble.
“Marinette?” Alya was leaning close to her monitor, as if she could get a better look if she got closer. “Is someone there?” Marinette jumped and her whole face went red.
“What?! Pfft no! Of course not, why would..” Marinette cleared her throat and tried to compose herself. “So uh, what did um.. What did Nino say?” Alya gave Marinette a strange look before sighing and leaning back in her chair.
“He said Adrien's grounded.” Alya said.
“What! But the.. The coat.” Marinette frowned.
“Oh, shoot.I better get going, by Mari.” Alya disconnected the call before Marinette could even say goodbye.
“Chat Noir!” Marinette swiveled in her chair and glared at Chat, who just gave her a lazy grin.
“How’s the coat going?” He asked.
“It’s almost done Mr. I’m-just-gonna- sneak-onto-your-terrace-and-scare-you.” Marinette huffed, before holding up the coat for Chat Noir to see.
“Wow, that looks amazing. Like super cozy.” Chat Noir brushed his fingers through the wool, even though he couldn’t feel it through the leather on his gloves.
“It doesn’t matter anyways.” Marinette sighed as she put the coat back on the mannequin bust. “The person I was going to give it to is grounded.” Marinette stared at the coat longingly for a moment before turning back to Chat Noir.
“What? That sucks.” Chat Noir said, thinking about it was such a coincidence that both he and Marinette’s crush were grounded.
“Yeah.” Marinette agreed, before motioning Chat to follow her to the balcony. The two leaned on the railing and watched the stars.
“Marinette?” Chat said softly, not taking his eyes from the sky.
“Chat?” Marinette watched the sides of his face carefully. Finally he turned towards her, his green eyes clouded with tears. “Chat?” Marinette reached out for him, but Chat stepped away.
“I'm sorry,” He said with a nervous giggle. He wiped his tears away, and looked at Marinette like she was the sky.
“What's going on?” Marinette asked.
“I think I’m in love.” Chat sighed dreamily.

Quatre

“In love?” Marinette asked, a smile playing on her lips.”With who?” Chat laughed, a big hearty laugh that filled Marinette until she was too full.
“Paris. The night sky. My friends. The rain. Everything.” Chat laughed again, and stuck out his tongue as if he was tasting the sky. Marinette laughed.
“Are you okay?” Marinette giggled, and Chat shook his head. “What's going on?” Marinette asked, suddenly worried by Chat’s odd behavior.
“I don’t want to go home.”
“Why?” Marinette gently put her hand on top of Chat’s.
“There's no love there.” He said quietly, turning his hand so he could hold Marinette’s hand. Marinette’s gaze softened.
“Oh, Chat. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I have you and I have Ladybug.” Chat Noir sighed and Marinette squeezed his hand.
“Are you hungry?” Marinette asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the mention of Ladybug.
“No, I’m tired.” Chat pulled his hand away and pulled out his staff, getting ready to depart.
“Wait, Chat.” Marinette put a hand on his shoulder and nervously bit her lip. “Where are you going?”
“I can’t let you stay up too late, Princess. I know you have school tomorrow.” Chat shrugged her hand away and smiled softly at her. “I’m going home.”
“Chat, wait..” Marinette met Chat Noir’s gaze before sighing. “Why don’t you just stay here? You can leave tomorrow morning…”
“Really? You would let me stay here?” Chat slid his staff back into place and Marinette noticed that his stiff posture became more relaxed.
“Yes. You can sleep on the little couch bed in my room.” Marinette gave him a shy smile. “But you have to leave before my parents wake up. They can’t see you.” Marinette led Chat Noir back into her room.
“Of course. They won’t even know I was here.” Chat sat on the bed and Marinette disappeared down stairs for a blanket.
The pair were in bed by 12:30, and Chat Noir quietly de transformed. Plagg cuddled into the blanket, and Adrien prayed that he would wake up before Marinette. How would she react if she found out he was Chat Noir?

Sunlight filtered in through Marinette's window and Adrien groaned as he sat up. He quickly transformed into to Chat Noir before climbing Marinette’s ladder to check on her.
She was still sleeping, her dark hair swirling around her shoulders. She looked beautiful. Chat Noir brushed a peice of hair off her cheek before gently kissing her check.
“Thank you.” Chat Noir whispered, and Marinette sighed in her sleep, turning to her side. And then he saw it. A pair of red antennas and fury body. Her eyes blinked open, the same hue of blue as Ladybug’s. She stared at Chat Noir for a moment before squeaking and attempting to hide under Marinette’s pillow.
“Are you a kwami?” Chat Noir gently lifted the end of the pillow, careful to not disturb Marinette. Tikki nodded, knowing full well that Chat Noir wasn’t going to let this go.
“I’m Tikki, I’m Ladybug kwami.” Tikki flew up to Chat Noirs face, who stared at her with innate curiosity.
“What are you doing at Marinette's’?” Chat Noir asked, tilting his head. Tikki resisted the urge to face palm as she quickly came up with an excuse.
“Well um- er I was at a… a kwami party! Yeah, so I was on my way back to Ladybug when um.. I got tired! So I stopped here.” Tikki was proud of herself for coming up with such a believable story when Marinette’s mom yelled up the stairs for Marinette to wake up. “Please don’t tell Marinette you saw me here. Ladybug trusts her but doesn’t want anyone to know her identity.”
“Oh! Of course, your secret's safe with me, Tikki.” Chat Noir winked before leaping out Marinette’s window, escaping just before Marinette's mom pushed open Marinette’s hatch.