Sorry I took so long to update! I wanted to do it this weekend, but I was busy with my mom and dad. >~< I never see them anymore, so I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible, so that meant no extra typing time. But I managed to get a lot done today in French, and finished once I got back to my house. Hope it doesn't suck!

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Ladybeetle landed atop the roof, seeing that Chat was already there. But judging by how she was still breathing a little heavily, it didn't seem like he was the only one who had just gotten there. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Well," Chat Noire smiled as she faced him. "You were almost on time, what kept you busy?"

"Don't act like you were perfect and punctual. There's no way you made it here too long before me." He walked up to her and tapped the small bell around her neck, making it ring quietly. "You're out of breath." He smirked slightly.

"I was busy with a guy." She stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

"And I was with a girl." His smirk widened, hoping to get a jealous reaction out of her, they tended to be quite amusing. She was like a child who constantly wanted him to be right by her side. Something about it was subconsciously endearing 

"Was she cute? Did you think she was cute?" Chat asked, smiling slightly, awaiting his response.

He was surprised she was so interested in who he was talking to. Usually when he talked about a girl, she got angry or jealous or something close to that emotion. "Well, I don't want to be a gossip, but she was gorgeous. Her hair is so smooth, and her skin is so soft, and her eyes. Oh, god, you should see them. They're a beautiful emerald green. And her voice, she speaks so gently towards me. And she smells like vanilla."

Chat's eyes went wide, almost tearing up. "I've never seen you get this excited about a girl. Have you, uh, considered asking her out?"

"Yeah, do you try talking to her in your civilian form."

"Are you crazy?" He laughed, shaking his head. "I can barely look at her, much less talk to her without the mask." His blush was almost as red as his suit.

"I can talk to her for you. What's her name?" Chat asked, trying to ask questions that made it seem like she didn't have a clue who he was talking about, even if he was talking about her. Hopefully.

"Adrienne. She's so..." He sighed, looking down at his hands. "Out of my league. There's at least two other guys who she would be so much better with than me. Even if they are complete jerks."

"What makes you say that?" Chat tilted her head. On the inside, she wanted to scream at him. She wanted to tell him all the wonderful things about himself. She wanted to tell him that he definitely was the best person to be with Adrienne because she was Adrienne. She wanted to tell him how amazing he was. But she couldn't give away anything. She knew once she started to rant, there would be no end. And she wouldn't filter herself before speaking, and she'd end up letting the cat out of the bag. Pun intended.

"Have you seen her? She's so..." He sighed happily and smiled, as if explaining what she was like. "And I'm so..." He made a look of disgust.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't say that. You know that's not true." She pursed her lips in a pout to stop herself from getting too frustrated. Frustrated that he is so oblivious to his self worth.

Ladybeetle smiled at the blonde's irritated expression, chuckling a bit. "Thank you, Kitty." He raised his hand and scratched behind her ear. He was only slightly surprised to hear a small purr resonate from her lips.

A blush formed on Chat's cheeks but she tried her best to ignore it, finding relaxation in the darker haired male's touch. She nuzzled her head against his hand, leaning closer and closer to him.

Ladybeetle laughed, ruffling the girl's hair before retracting his hand and standing up, receiving an audible whine from the feline hero. "Come on, Chat, now isn't the time to be sitting around doing nothing. We have a job to do." He stood up, glancing back as he walked off to make sure she was following.

"A little longer, paw-ease~" She pleaded as she caught up with the leaving hero, hugging his arm in an attempt to get the attention she had been getting prior to him standing.

"You really are impossible." He scratched behind her ear for about a minute more before prying her off of his arm. He tried not to laugh, wanting to show her that it was time to be serious, but it was to no avail. She was like a child. More accurately, a kitten. And a needy one at that. And as much as he loved her, in a platonic way, she tend to get under his skin from time to time. Other than that though, he loved having her around. She was fun, carefree, passionate, expressive. She was his best friend. Aside from Alyn of course. "An impossible flirt."

"I am not a flirt. Why do you keep accusing me of being one?" Chat huffed as she glared up Ladybeetle. Her tone wasn't exactly annoyed, but more curious. She was genuinely hurt by the fact that he just thinks of her as some flirt who will hit on anything that breaths. She was more than that. She had deeper emotions than that. She didn't know that he saw her as being so shallow. 

"I've seen you flirt with other people." He pointed out, retracting both of his arms so he was completely detached from her.  This was exactly why they didn't talk about these kinds of things. He knew it would just lead to some kind of argument if they were to talk about their personal lives. He wanted to drop the conversation completely, but he knew that pulling that would just end in her getting even more pissed. "You've flirted with that one guy, Marin."

"But I don't understand why I'm such a big flirt in your eyes. Aside from you, I think I've flirted with one other person. And even with him, I don't really try to. He just says things that remind me of you and something that might sound similar to a flirt comes out. I just... Look, I know Marin in my civilian form, and when I'm Chat... I get to see a side of him that I never see when I'm myself. I think he's scared of me, or he just flat out doesn't like me at all when I'm A- my civilian form." She sighed, tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to fall. Ladybeetle liked Adrienne, but he didn't like Chat. He didn't like the side of her that was the real her. He liked the fake, perfect daughter, famous model side of her. And that wasn't who she was. She avoided eye contact with the other hero, not wanting him to see her crying. 

He definitely felt guilty now. He never really realized how much that one word hurt her. And even more guilt washed over him at the fact that he couldn't tell her that she was flirting with the same person. 

As he thought about it, he could only remember her flirting with him, as both persona's though. Does that really make her a flirt? It seems illogical to think that. Not once has she flirted with the other boys that they've encountered. She's never flirted with Clovis, or Alyn, or anyone else for that matter. It was just him. Does the fact that she doesn't know they're the same person justify the means?

'I'm overthinking this,' he thought to himself, 'you like Adrienne anyway, why should it matter who she flirts with?' He nodded to himself, deciding to not give a reply to Chat's rant. Not that he didn't want to prove his point, but because he couldn't. She was completely right and there was no way he could argue with a lie. "We should get back to patrolling, we shouldn't be messing around." 

Chat sighed softly but nodded in agreement. She wanted to talk it out with him. She didn't want him to see her as a flirt. It all came back to one major thought in her mind. If he were to find out that she was Adrienne, how would that affect their relationship? How would it change how he feels about her? It could either make it or break it with him. Not that she'd want him just to start to like her because of her normal persona. 

"Does anyone know?" Chat asked him out of the blue. She was curious if he had let anyone in. Even if he was dead set on not giving away his identity, she wondered about it sometimes. 

"Know what? Ladybeetle asked with a tilt of his head. 

"Does anyone know who you are? What about that girl you like? If you ask her out, shouldn't you have to tell her who you are?"

"Didn't we move on from that?" Ladybeetle tried not to sound like he was irritated, because he wasn't. He was just curious as to why she kept bringing up his crush. Didn't Chat like him? Why would she support him dating another girl?

"But, m'lady~" Chat purred out his nickname, trying to brighten the atmosphere. Whenever he was in a bad mood, it was just hell for her, so it was always best for her to try and keep him in a better mood. Plus, when he's in an especially good mood, he'll even laugh at some of her puns, which is always a plus for her. 

Ladybeetle ignored the use of the ridiculous nickname and shrugged. "I'm... I'm not sure." He said truthfully. "I might have to win her heart in my normal life. I can't risk her knowing about me. Do you know how hurt she could end up if she knows? Not that she even likes me when I'm not Ladybeetle. And by the end of today, someone could ask her out before me. I mean, she had a photoshoot, but who knows how long that'll take. And there's no way Miles is going to give up on her that easy. I mean, come on, she's Adrienne fricking Agreste, what man in their right mind wouldn't want to be with that angel?"

"That said, with all the possible candidates, I'm the last one she would pick. With Mr. Phony Prince and Mr. Mommy's Boy Who Gets Whatever He Wants as my competition, she's not going to pick me. I'm not--"

Chat hated to hear him go on so negatively about himself. She put her hands lights on his cheeks. "Ladybeetle, calm down. I know you. I know you're a great person. And if Adrienne can't see it, even when you're not in this suit, then it's her loss." Though she didn't initially intend to make "herself" sound shallow, it was what he needed to be heard. 

"But you don't understand, she--" Ladybeetle tried to speak, but Chat just put more pressure on his cheeks, squishing his face, his lips forming into a pout.

She leaned up on her toes and looked him straight in the eyes. Her words were hesitated, as she found herself getting lost in the blue of his iris'. She mentally scolded herself for getting distracted. "Lady, you're overthinking this. You just need something to get your mind off of her." Chat drew her hands back from his face, then took his wrist. 

"But Chat, she's always on my mind. What do I do about that?" Ladybeetle withdrew his hand gently, not wanting to make it seem as if he was mad at her. He wasn't. Not in the slightest.

"I don't know what you'll be able to do about that." Chat looked down at his hand, then back at him. "I am curious, though..." Chat paused, and the suspense in her extended pause made Ladybeetle worried. "Is your love for her the reason you could never be with me?"

"Chat, I... I'm not answering that."

That response in itself was plenty enough to answer Chat's question. The irony of the situation was making Chat want to transform right then and there. But there was a voice in her head listing all of the reasons why that would be a ridiculously stupid idea. She knew better than to do something so careless. She pushed her thoughts away and moved on from that subject. "Maybe I can talk to her for you? I can be your wing-man. Your wing, uh, woman? Wing cat?" She tapped her chin in thought, trying to figure out which term would be most appropriate for use. 

Ladybeetle rolled his eyes playfully, laughing. He noticed her attempt to leave the subject as quickly as possible and was more than willing to comply to her wishes. "Oh, really? How do I know you're not going to go and scare her off so you can eliminate the competition?" He crossed his arms.  

"Why would I go and do that to myself?" She narrowed her eyes curiously, not registering why he looked so shocked and confused, until it struck her as to what she had said. "Like, it cold ruin our friendship if I did something so petty."

Ladybeetle stared at her for a moment. "I can't really stop you from doing whatever you do, but please. Speak highly of me? I don't think you understand how much she means to me." Chat was for sure blushing just listening to him.

"Are you okay, Chat?" He tilted his head in confusion and worry for the blonde. "Your face looks a little flushed."

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Why are you asking questions? Your face is flushed!" She blurted out, not being able to put much thought into her words before they just came out.

"Chat, calm down." Ladybeetle chuckled, putting both his hands on her shoulders. It was hilarious to him, really. How she acts this way when she's flustered around him. Just like earlier, when it happened with Adrienne, it reminded him of himself. 

She had froze and looked at him with an awestruck expression, much like the expression that Adrienne had made prior, Ladybeetle noted. As much as he hated to admit it, there were some similarities between both Chat and Adrienne, even though their personalities were way off.

"Do you think your sick? Maybe you should head home. Today seems pretty slow, and I can just call you if I need your help. And I'm pretty sure you'll hear if there's an akuma attack." He offered with a sweet, caring smile.

"But I don't want to leave you alone. Patrols can get boring and lonely without someone there."

Ladybeetle knew this already. On many occasions, Chat's real life had gotten in the way of their patrolling schedules. He didn't want to pry, and he never asked why she was so late. Every time she was, she would immediately apologize. Each time, he could hear the sincerity and guilt in her voice for being late, and if he was being completely honest, it made his heart break every single time she did. When Chat apologizes for doing something wrong, for some reason, he can just feel the guilt that she's feeling and he could never get mad at her. Besides, who cares if she's just late for patrol, she was almost always there when there was an actual akuma attack, and the fact that she was actually upset about being late each time was plenty enough to make up for her tardiness. 

"Chat, I don't want you to be sick and still try to work. Besides, I'm going to try and see if I can meet up with Adrienne after her photoshoot."

"And how do you plan on doing that? Do you somehow know where her photo shoot is being held?" Chat put her hands on her hips, waiting patiently for his answer. She was curious.

"Well, I thought her photo shoot wasn't until 6:30 tonight by the Eiffel Tower fountain, but I guess they scheduled it to be earlier." Ladybeetle hadn't really taken into consideration how creepy that sounded to her,

Chat's cheeks burned even darker than they were before and she squinted at him. "How do you know all that?"

Ladybeetle laughed, finally realizing that what he said made him sound borderline obsessed. "I'm not a stalker, I swear. She just usually has photo shoots at 6:30 on Tuesday's and I heard her talking to her friend about where it was going to be.

"You're clearly obsessed and it's frightening." Chat held back a laugh for as long as she could, but it ended up being heard anyway. "But if you're dead set on me leaving, then I'll leave you to your fun with your girlfriend." She dismissed herself with a wave of her hand, and started walking to the edge of the roof.

"I will."

"You didn't deny her being your girlfriend." She smirked.

"A guy can dream, can't he?" He laughed.

Chat laughed as well, poking him with her staff. "You're hopeless, m'lady." Before he had the chance to scold her for the nickname, she used her staff to jump from the building to the ground. 

She reached the bottom and made her way to the Eiffel Tower, before hiding and transforming. She sat down on a bench and hummed quietly. As always, she pulled out a piece of Camembert for her small black kwami, who was hiding out of sight. "He likes me, Plagg. But does he really like me?"

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FINALLY DONE WITH A 2925 WORD COUNT THAT'S WEAK. But I hope you enjoy this belated chapter~