Chat Noir swung from building to building. The night was cold, colder than he'd predicted and his breath came like steam from his frozen lips. It was times like this when he wished he had a little more than the thin cat suit. Sure it was strong, it was armor, but he'd learnt long ago that it served no other purpose.

He landed on Marinette's balcony with a graceful twirl and sauntered towards her trapdoor. He reached won and knocked, but she didn't come up. He did it three more times, but by then he was more worried than excited to see her.

Chat jumped over the railing and hooks his claws around the edges of her round window, peering inside. Marinette was sitting by her desk, sifting through the images of Adrien he'd found before. But she looked utterly miserable and Chat felt another pang of guilt.

Adrien didn't have any right to be here -to trick her into speaking to him through his superhero persona. But he didn't have a choice. He had to see her.

He knocked lightly on her window and Marinette's head snapped towards him. Unlike her reaction earlier today, a wide smile spread across her face at the sight of him. She pushed away from her desk and hurried up her ladder towards the trapdoor. And Chat rushed up to meet her.

Hoisting himself over the railing, Chat spread his hands out on either side of him and clenched his fists around the metal. He exhaled nervously as the trapdoor opened and Marinette shivered as the cold air washed over her.

"Chat?" she asked, "What are you doing here? It's freezing."

He chuckled and set his feet back on her roof, strolling towards her, "That's why I'm just begging to be let in."

Marinette automatically moved back down and Chat Noir slipped inside, shutting the trapdoor behind him. His silver-tipped boots dug into her unmade sheets and Marinette retreated back downstairs to her desk. He jumped over the platform and landed behind her.

"So what have you been up to this fine day, Princess?" he asked.

Marinette sighed, "Nothing much, really. I'm just deciding what to do about my friend." Chat ignored the pain in his chest and walked up from behind her, placing his clawed hands on her shoulders.

"Which one?" he asked. Her face fell and he winced. "Right," he whispered, "Sorry." But he didn't move his hands away from her. He glanced down over her shoulder at the magazine clippings and Marinette slumped back in her desk chair.

"I don't feel like keeping them anymore."

"Why not?" he asked. He trailed his claw lightly over Adrien's image -the image his father wanted him to portray. "Great smile, good posture and the clothes are feline." That earned a chuckle from her.

She narrowed her eyes mischievously at him and reached out to flick the bell on his suit. "Well, if you like them so much, why don't you keep them?" If only she knew how many he actually had...

Chat cleared his throat and sat on the edge of her desk, "Well, what do you plan on doing with them?"

She shrugged and grazed her fingers over the pile, lifting one in her hand. She closed her eyes and crushed it in her palm, so tightly her knuckles turned white, and threw it in the bin beneath her. Chat stared down at her shell-shocked and tried his best not to feel offended.

It wasn't easy.

He pushed his pride down and focused on her -how she felt instead of him. "Better?" he mumbled.

Marinette dropped her head in her palms and groaned. "No, not really, but it's just so hard. It's bad enough I have to see his perfect face every day at school. I don't...I don't want to have to deal with it here too."

She turned her attention to her computer screen and that was the first time Chat actually saw her wallpaper. There were about six images of him, overlapping one another with pretty pink hearts overlaying the image. Then she changed it to one Alya had taken of Ladybug and Chat Noir and he snapped out of his daze.

He leaned his head down to her ear and smirked. "Don't tell me I'm the rebound now." he murmured, hoping to some degree that it could be true.

Marinette blushed and smacked his arm, "No you silly kitty." She changed it again, this time to one of Ladybug alone and smiled. "Better?"

"Much!" he replied, "Now we match." Marinette's face turned darker and Chat couldn't help but laugh. Her wide, innocent bluebell eyes took center stage against her flushed skin and he felt himself leaning towards her.

But his hand brushed against the clippings and Chat snapped his head to them, his shoulders sagging. Reality weighted heavily on his shoulders and he felt his ear press back against his unruly hair. "You must've really liked him."

She didn't reply. Instead she reached down beneath her desk and pulled out something Adrien recognized immediately. It couldn't be. "I have," she replied, "Ever since he gave me this."

Chat Noir reached for the umbrella and Marinette kindly handed it over. He instinctively searched the base of the handle for his father's brand and the second his eyes landed it, his heart stopped. It was the one he'd given her that day in the rain to apologize for his bad first impression.

The day after he fell in love with Ladybug.

Chat was left speechless. He stared back at Marinette with wide eyes and his mouth went dry. Marinette tentatively grabbed it back and set it back beneath the desk. "I think I'm gonna give it back to him though." she muttered, "There's no point in keeping it."

"But why are you throwing away so much?" he asked, feeling somewhat desperate.

Marinette's eyes dimmed, "He rejected me, Chat. He obviously doesn't feel the same way. So what's the point in pretending he will? I just want to let it go."

Chat's thoughts unwillingly drifted to Ladybug. He'd thought he'd been so in love back then, but he was older now and he understood that even though she was amazing, he hadn't really known her. Not like he knew Marinette.

They'd always be linked through their miraculous and some small part of him would always love her, but he wanted -needed more. Ladybug was a beautiful fantasy, but Marinette was real and he knew in his heart that he'd always regret letting her go.

"You really don't believe there's any chance of getting him to fall in love with you?" He licked his lips, "Maybe -Maybe you should give him another chance."

Marinette shook her head, "I can't go through that again, Chat. I can't." She threw another crumpled picture in the bin and Chat Noir, with a heavy heart, helped her. As he watched her discard the final picture a mournful silence settled over him.

He really had lost her.

Adrien had tried unsuccessfully for the past week to approach her and talk, but nothing was working. Whenever he got the chance her answers were always curt and short. The bare minimum she needed to be polite. Of course those chances only came around when Nino was willing to distract Alya long enough for him to get a couple words out.

"I hate to say I told you so, Kid." muttered Plagg, "But..." He flew to the highest shelf and weaved his way between the library books. His fencing class had just finished and Natalie ran a flat tire on the way to fetch him, so he a bit of time to kill before he went home.

The only problem. He was left alone in the library with Plagg for another twenty minutes.

"If you want my advice, I think you should let it all die down. You know, lay low and let her move on." added Plagg. "I mean, you've got a ton of other lady friends, why choose this one?"

Adrien glared up at him. "How can you just say that? She's not like those girls."

"Don't think that just because you care about her now means you have some kind of right to her. You rejected her. You had one chance and you screwed up. Face it. It's over." replied Plagg.

He clenched his fists at his sides and scowled, "I can't Plagg. I won't. Maybe I was blind before, but I'm not anymore. I want to be around her. I want to be with her."

"And not Ladybug?" asked the kwami. Adrien fisted his hair in his hands and fought the urge to bang his head against the wall. He was so sick of it all. Ladybug. Marinette. Ladybug. Marinette. In the end it was all the same. He'd chosen, yet again, the girl he can't have.

"Not even her, Plagg." He leaned back against the shelf and sighed, dreaming about her. "I love Ladybug, but she's...nothing compared to Marinette." He thought of her sweet scent, her loving smile, her beating heart and her voice...

"Um, sure Nathaniel. You can come over to my place if you like." And Adrien's fantasy shattered into a million pieces.

"Plagg!" he whispered. The kwami dove down into Adrien's vest and he hid himself from view further behind the shelf. Marinette rounded the corner with a couple books in her arms and Nathaniel walked alongside her.

"Thanks, Marinette. And I was also wondering if you'd be my muse for the next drawing I have planned. I have this whole vision in mind for my portfolio."

Marinette giggled up at him and Nathaniel smiled. "You make it sound like I'm something special."

"But you are, Marinette." Nathaniel took a step closer to her and his hand reached for her fringe. He gently brushed it to the side and Adrien didn't miss how his fingertips lingered, his face too close for comfort. "You always have been."

Her pale skin turned a shade darker, highlighting the freckles dusting her nose and cheeks. And Adrien was consumed with a mindless rage. He reached up to the highest shelf he could reach and knocked five books to the side. They toppled down beside him and Marinette's attention snapped to him.

He seized his chance. "Sorry," he shrugged, "Guess I'm a little out of it after fencing." He walked towards her, ignoring Nathaniel completely. Marinette averted his gaze to the floor, biting his lip and Adrien had never felt more driven in his life.

"Marinette, I really need to talk to you."

"Well, I -uh..." her voice trailed off into a meek whisper and Adrien was acutely aware of Nathaniel's hand as it slithered over her shoulder. Marinette's eyes widened at the gesture and it took all the restraint Adrien could muster not to tear his hands off her.

Adrien forced a painful smile and tried his best to concentrate on Marinette. "S -Sure. Okay." she stammered.

"Great." he replied, "Natalie's gonna be late and I was wondering if you'd let me walk you home this afternoon. There's..." Adrien inhaled deeply and thought back to all the things he'd wanted to tell her since his rejection.

"Well, there's something I really need to talk to you about." He short a quick glare in Nathaniel's direction and the red head retaliated fiercely. "Alone."

Marinette's ragged breath caught and she frowned. "I -I'm sorry, Adrien. Nathaniel -,"

"I'm taking her home today." he cut her off and stepped between Marinette and Adrien. "She's going to spend the afternoon helping me with my drawings."

Oh. If only Adrien could say a fraction of the bitter, twisted things running through his mind...Nathaniel would never hold his head up high again.

But he wasn't Chat Noir. He was Adrien -the perfect example, the perfect son, the perfect model and, right now, the worst friend in the world to the sweetest girl on the planet.

He glanced back at Marinette, but she only looked away from them. He wasn't going to win this one. "Okay then." he muttered, "Next time then?"

Marinette gave him a slow nod and even though he should've felt encouraged, he just couldn't feel hopeful at all.

"Let's go, Marinette. I haven't had lunch yet and I hear there's a great spot on the corner of Rui De Chat Qui Peche." said Nathaniel. He reached down for Marinette's hand and Adrien felt as if a knife had been driven through his heart.

He felt dejected as he watched them walk away.

The library doors shut closed behind them, leaving Adrien once again alone with Plagg. The kwami flew out, but instead of a sarcastic or snarky comment Adrien saw his kwami's face fill with pity and some sort of understanding.

"It'll get better." said Plagg, raising his paw, "Promise."

Adrien sat down on the floor and banged his head back against the shelf. Why didn't everything have to be such a mess? Why couldn't he have been in love with her before?

He looked up at Plagg and sighed, "You feel like going for a run?"

Plagg smirked, "Just say the magic words." Adrien scrambled to his feet and ran further back in the library beneath one of the open windows. Afternoon light filtered in and reflected on the surface of his white ring.

"Plagg, Claws out!" And in a flash of green light all his problems were washed away. He was no longer the high school teen with a distant father, missing mother, busy schedule or broken friendship with the girl he loved.

He was Chat Noir. And the only person Chat Noir needed was Ladybug.

Hey everyone. Hope you've all got your New Years resolutions planned out. I can never stick to mine, but this year will be different.

And I gotta say that I'm really happy, because this is round about the halfway point of the story. Yay! With still plenty more to come I hope you guys stick around for more Miraculous Marichat!

Please don't forget to vote or comment if you enjoyed this chapter.