Marinette's POV:

  Marinette took off the dress and tossed it in the trash. She never wanted to see it again. 

 "What are you doing?"

   "Tikki, I can not look at it."

  "What happened?"

   "I do not want to talk about it."

     Marinette got ready for bed. 

       Later as Marinette slept, Tikki cleaned the dress, then repaired the tares in it. She also added a few special touches to it. She hid it in the back of the closet.

       Tikki decided Marinette must have had a troubled evening when she saw her walk towards the balcony at midnight. The poor girl, Charlie, must be worse than we thought.

    Adrien continued to moan in his sleep. Plagg sneaked out to pigtails house. He removed the baton but left the bag with the box inside. It would look too suspicious otherwise, right? 

      Plagg made his way home without anyone the wiser. Tikki saw him but did not say a single word.   She sure hoped Plagg knew what he was doing.

      Plagg arrived home, slipped the baton under Adrien's bed, and covered it. 

       Adrien woke up. "Plagg?"

      "yes, kid?"

    "I need your help."

    "Oh, I thought you would never ask."

       "How do I sneak over there to see her without her knowing it's me?"

         Plagg shook his head.

        Adrien checked his surroundings before he called,  "Plagg claws out!"

         Chat Noir leaped into the late night to see his princess. He landed behind her on the balcony.        

      Marinette was caught up in her thoughts. She did not see him.

   Tikki saw him. She did not say anything. 

    Chat picked up a blanket and placed it over his princess's shoulders.

     Marinette felt the chill go away. Strangely, no one was there. 

        Chat felt his breath catch in his throat. Even now, in the stillness of the night, she was beautiful.  

        Marinette sat. She did not say a word, and neither did he.

        Chat longed to hold her.   He dared not to because she was Charlie's girl. The thought did not settle too well with him.  He dropped a rose but fled before she could turn around.

         
        Marinette turned around. She picked up the rose. 

    "Tikki, did you see someone?"

     Tikki shook her head. 

       Marinette put it in a vase full of water. 

      Chat smirked as he landed back in bed. He transformed back and gave the cheese to Plagg.

      "Adrien, what is that smirk about hmm?"

     "I do not know what you mean."

    "I saw how you left that rose. Sure was bold of you."

     "I had to show her I care. I know she is not mine, but perhaps, someday she will be."

         Adrien sat in bed thinking of Marinette. This time he felt less sad but was not sure why.

            Little did he know that Marinette was awe-struck by the sweet gesture. She could not get a word out of Tikki about what happened on the balcony.     Marinette wrote a note and left it tapped to the table. Then, went back to bed.

    Tikki saw the happy look in Marinette's eyes. It was the same one she always had when she was with Chat or Adrien.  Awe.

   She shut the balcony and locked it.

What happens next?

Find out in Chapter 5

Until then,

bye-bye, little owlets!

Summer out!