One month later, Chat returns to see Marinette. He is a bit nervous as it has been awhile since his last visit.  This was due to the fact, he did not want to disturb Marinette and Alya's  visit with one another.  It was also because he is still hurt over what Marinette told Alya about him.

              Now, Chat drops by out of the blew!  To his surprise, Alya is gone!  He does not see her rental car anywhere. He thinks, does this mean she went back home, or what?  He taps on the balcony door.

             Marinette looks up from her journal. She sees Chat on her balcony. She closes the journal and puts it back up.  She opens the balcony door to let Chat inside. She might as well, so he will not think she is angry with him.

              "Chat, good to see you! Do come in please!" Marinette says.

               Chat does not say a word.  He does come inside though.  He is happy to see she appears to be okay.  He wishes he could say something.  However, he cannot bring himself to speak since he is terribly upset right now. 
      

           Chat follows  Marinette  as she  goes downstairs. She fixes them both some tea.  She puts a bit of lemon in her cup and honey inside his cup. She sees him as he sits in the living room. She enters it. She hands  the tea glass to him. She smiles as he slowly sips the tea. 

             "Chat, would you like some cookies or  pastries to go with the tea?"  Marinette ask him.

              Chat Noir does not answer. He just continues to sip the tea.  

            Marinette is not sure what to think about this all. She wonders if he has a cold.  She sure hopes not. She checks to see if he has a fever.  "Hmm, that is odd, no fever." Marinette says.

             Chat just stares at the ground. He appears to be deep in thought about something.  Whatever it is he does not seem to want to share it with her.

             "Chat, what is going on here?"  Marinette blurts out. She expects him to snap out of it immediately.

             Marinette looks at him with worry.  She thinks, what could be wrong with him?  She brings him some food. She sets the tray in front of him.  Only, he does not seem to notice it.  She gives him a look of pity.  

          "Chat Noir, is this about your family? Is their something wrong with your parents?"  Marinette inquiries. She sure hopes not.  

          Chat shakes his head no.  He pulls out an envelope and sets it down on the coffee table. He stands up, looks at the photo of her and her folks.  He puts one hand to his lips, then reaches out with the same hand and gently touches the picture of Marinette with one finger.  He sighs. He turns around to see Marinette behind him.  He sets the photo back on its place right between the books like he found it.

          Marinette  sees his face. She gasps. She can tell he has been crying. She hugs him close. She does say another word. She just hugs him.  

           Chat hugs her back.  The entire time he struggles with his thoughts.  Thoughts that he does not matter to anyone. He suddenly lets go of her. He turns to go without so much as  a goodbye, or later,princess!   He reaches the balcony only to have something, or rather someone grab his tail.  He spins around and sees Marinette with a look of concern in her eyes.  He thinks, princess, why?  

          "Why so Quiet, Chat?"  Marinette  ask. She does not really expect to get an answer out of him.  Not really!     How could she when this is the first time he came since the time she gave him trouble over being a spy since he overheard the entire conversation she had with Alya last month.   

           Chat gulps. He takes a deep breath. He looks down again. He frowns even. He opens his mouth to answer.   "Marinette, I am better off alone.  No one loves me.  No one cares.  I do not want to be a bother.  I might as well forget about this all.  I am sorry."  Chat says.

            "Chat, what do you mean?  I am your friend!  I will always be there for you."  Marinette replies.

           "Friend, huh?  I thought you said I am just a brother to you. I am not some one special."  Chat mumbles to himself more than to her.

         Marinette still hears him. She thinks, Chat, wait!   

           Chat says nothing more.  He just leaves. He leaves with no more intentions to return.  He cannot stand to see how cute she is when she smiles, frowns, etc. when he knows she will never be his girl.  He feels his heart shatter as if it is broken beyond repair.  He cannot help it.  He loves her. 

        Marinette watches him go. She cannot understand. She thinks, wait, Chat what was that all about anyway?  She closes the door and locks it. She goes back to the living room area and picks up the envelope he left on the coffee table.  She hesitates.  She is not sure if she should open it.  How is she to know if it is meant for her?     For all she knows, he could have left it here by mistake.  Yes, that is it!  She reasons within herself.  She figures no way did he intend for her to ever read the contents, right?

        to be continued in  Chapter  8  Contents?