When Marinette had caught the train earlier that morning, there was one thing for sure. She was holding onto her job by the skin of her teeth. Mary hadn't spoken a lot. The words that she had were curt and without friendliness. However, when they parted and Marinette was told to improve her demeanour on return to the office, she could have quite easily grabbed the woman's face and kissed her. And even though she was quite sure Adrien was to thank, she'd bask in the glory of not being made homeless for a little while longer.

Adrien. Adrien Agreste. The guy she'd flirted with, spilt her wine on, gone to the theatre with...the freaking ex-supermodel who she now owned the phone number of and a sweet little goodnight message. A message she may have read a few too many times.

She found herself constantly flitting between two things: Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste. Seeing her partner had set her world into motion again, and she prayed, when they finally met up again, he would be just as ecstatic as she was. The previous night had been the best she'd had in years — bar the return of a supervillain. There was something different about it, though. The style, the power — it just didn't seem like the same Hawk Moth they had battled all those years ago. Her partner, however, was just as wonderful as she remembered.

Finally arriving back in Paris, she lugged her bag home, much to the dismay of both her parents and Luka, throwing it in her bedroom and collapsing on the bed. She was glad to finally be back. To be able to throw the bag in the corner of her room and laze around for the rest of the day watching trash tv and reading the latest articles about the 'reunion of Ladybug and Chat Noir'. She saved a couple of photos before closing down her phone and laying it beside her.

The soft strum of a guitar next door alerted her to Luka's presence. She picked up her phone again and selected their text chain.

Marinette: I'm home. Will fill you in later 🐞

After throwing her phone down again, she rubbed over her eyes, and looked at the bag full of dirty washing — if she didn't do it, no one else would. She'd sort out her washing, then grab herself a cup of tea — a slight hope her parents had been generous and dropped round some treats for her arrival home.

As she began to empty the items out, Tikki came to sit on her cushion, smiling at Marinette.

"You seem in a good mood," Marinette said, throwing her clothes from the previous day into the washing basket.

"I'm just happy Plagg's okay. I know you find it hard being away from Chat Noir, but I miss Plagg too! I'll be happy to see him back in Paris."

Marinette smiled. Tikki wasn't wrong. It was so good to see her partner again yesterday, knowing both he and Plagg were safe, healthy, and rather manly now — Chat Noir, at least. Well, she couldn't have asked for anything more. And the way his body had felt pressed against hers — she was lucky she hadn't drooled. He'd been muscular in his older teen years, but she was almost certain he'd turned into Jack Reacher. He was muscle on muscle, and the memories sent her heart into a nuclear disaster zone. He was such a sight for sore eyes.

She couldn't dwell on it, though—or see him as just his delicious body. They hadn't seen each other in five years. He might not be the same as he was back then. He might be in a relationship, or married, or maybe he didn't even like girls anymore; he'd always been a flamboyant individual.

She took out the blouse (complete with oil stain) and examined it. "There's something that's been troubling me since the Akuma. I can't understand why –"

The blast of her phone interrupted her conversation.

She crawled and sprang from her knees up onto the bed, stretching out to grab her phone and coming face to face with the grin of her best friend. Hitting the green button, she placed her phone on speaker.

"Hello, this is your conscience. You should really rethink what you're about to do."

'Very funny!' Alya's voice came out of the speaker.

Marinette placed her phone back on her bed and continued to clear out her bag.

'I think, though, you should aim that question back at yourself.'

Marinette rolled her eyes, she should have been expecting this, really. There was no way her best friend would think nothing of everything that had happened the previous day. 'The return of Hawkmoth' had been plastered over every newspaper and every news station from here to Timbuktu.

"I haven't done anything wrong. I actually have done everything right. You see, even after 5 years I can still kick Akuma's butts."

'And your partner's butt?'

"It looks good. He obviously hasn't missed his glutes days at the gym. Or any other day, come to think about it."

Alya laughed down the phone.

Marinette moved to her bathroom to replace her toiletries. "What can I do for you, Bestie? I thought you would be out schmoozing clients and drinking steins."

'Not for another hour or two. I have standards, you know. I just wanted to check in and hear that you're okay. It's been a while and it sounds like it was quite the fight.'

Marinette nodded even though she knew Alya couldn't see her through the phone. "It definitely took a moment or two to get back into the swing of things —"

'Yikes! An hour with your partner again, and here comes the return of the puns.'

Marinette chuckled. It was so true. "But I think we got back into the flow quite quickly. The connection is definitely still strong."

'It did look that way, from what I saw. And how is Chat Noir?'

"He's good. He's back in Paris, so we're going to meet up. Obviously, now we know we're needed again, we're going to have to go back out on patrol and become more wary of situations."

'My ship is back, people!' An excited whoop sounded down the phone, Marinette feeling her cheeks begin to flush. 'Do you think, maybe, there might be a need for more heroes?'

In other words, Alya Césaire wanted to have her Miraculous back, a necklace taken off her after a rather heavy night out on the town. Alcohol and the power of illusion were not a good mix. "We'll see. I'll keep a check for the next couple of weeks and see what the deal is."

'Great! Now onto the real reason I called –'

"Let me guess," Marinette pondered as she moved from the bedroom into the hallway, towards the kitchen. "Does it have something to do with a certain ex-model whose photograph I used to have plastered all over my walls?"

'Of course! You were out with Adrien frigging Agreste, Marinette!'

Smiling to herself, she held the phone between her shoulder and ear as she filled the kettle with water, then grabbed her mug and dropped a tea bag inside, one of her stolen contraband from the hotel in London. "I was."

'And?'

She thought about how much she should actually give Alya. After all, the girl was away for the next couple of weeks and Marinette knew it would drive her insane if she didn't know every single detail.

She walked over to the fridge and opened the door, spotting the beautiful sight of a T&S bakery box, and grabbed the milk. "Oh, you know, we did a little dance, made a little love, and pretty much got down to–"

As she shut the door and turned back towards the kettle, she froze looking into green eyes. Green eyes which weren't human but were fully familiar.

She screamed.

She really, really screamed, causing the intruder to scream too.

They screamed backwards and forwards, Alya's panicked tone on the other side of the phone backed by an enthusiastic pounding at her door.

"Alya," Marinette whimpered, her eyes still on her partner standing right in front of her. "I'm going to need to call you back."

The pounding on the door continued. Whoever was on the other side sounded like they were about to break it down.

'Marinette, what's wrong?'

"I've - I've –"

Chat Noir placed a finger over his lips, shaking his head and widening his eyes.

Right, it wouldn't be the best idea to suddenly announce her partner was in her home. "I've just burned myself, silly me, you know what I'm like. I'll call you back later."

A bang sounded at the door again. What the hell?

Without waiting for Alya's reply, Marinette ended the call and headed into the hallway, keeping her eyes firmly placed on Chat Noir. With a slight tremble in her hand, she reached out to open the door, pulling it wide open as Luka charged in with one shoulder leading. An obvious indication that he'd been about to knock the door down.

His eyes widened as he seemed to realise there was no door there anymore. Instead, he charged full speed into her apartment, through Chat Noir, ending with a rather impressive gambol across her hallway carpet, his feet stopping him as they slammed into the wall at the opposite end.

She gasped, looking at Chat Noir, then Luka, then back at Chat Noir before running to her friend, currently sprawled out on the carpet.

She knelt down beside him.

"Are you okay?" Luka asked, a low groan leaving his mouth as she helped him back to the correct way up.

"More like, are you okay? Why were you trying to break down my door?"

Looking back at Chat Noir, she nodded her head to the side. He needed to go and hide. Instead, he was standing in the middle of the hallway, tapping his hands all over his body as his tail swished uncontrollably behind him.

"Did you not see that? This guy went right through me! He went through me!" Chat Noir continued to check himself out, turning around in a way a dog would be proud of.

Yes, she had seen it, but right now her mind was too busy asking questions to select just one and answer it. She hadn't been this overwhelmed with questions since her BACs exams.

Luka stood up and brushed himself off, moving his neck side to side.

"Oh my, have you hurt yourself? Come and sit down," Marinette said, worriedly, standing up beside him.

She looked at Luka walking into the lounge with a slight limp, not understanding why he hadn't commented on the big black cat superhero currently standing in the hallway. She moved to her front door and closed it before taking a deep breath and resting herself back against it.

Chat Noir looked at her exasperatedly. "You're worried about Mr Somersault over there, yet he literally went through me!"

"So you said! What are you doing here anyway?" she whispered.

"I don't know. One moment I'm defeating an Akuma, because I'm amazing like that, and running to hide in a dressing room at a London theatre...then I'm here! Where is here, anyway? And who are you?"

"You're in my home! You obviously put yourself here!"

"Why would I put myself in a random person's home?"

Marinette suddenly realised how close she'd gotten to Chat Noir's face. A face which she wondered if she could actually touch. His jawline was wonderful, and she just wanted to launch forward and pepper it with kisses.

"Marinette?" Luka's voice sounded from the hallway.

Her eyes remained on Chat Noir as she answered. "Yeah!"

"You do realise Tikki lives here, right? That's why she's here!"

Marinette had heard the phrase about insides dropping before. However, the actual feeling was beyond anything she could have imagined. She was quite sure her stomach had now made its home in her feet.

"Tikki? Please tell me that's the name of your hamster, or cat," Chat Noir said.

Her eyes widened. She needed to stop Luka before he said anything else. She moved around Chat Noir at speed to try and get into the lounge, her efforts being too little too late.

"Oh, is it Plagg? Is he here to let you know why your partner just abandoned you?"

Marinette skidded to a halt as Chat Noir came into the room behind her.

"I never abandoned her!" he yelled. "I don't even know who this woman is!"

She shook her head. "No, no, not Plagg."

Luka hadn't heard Chat Noir speak? It seemed only she could. She turned her head slowly to her partner, stretching out and attempting to touch him. Her hand fell straight through, sending her into the doorframe.

"Geez, Marinette, have you been drinking?"

"Oh, so you're an alcoholic! Great!" Chat Noir said, moving to sit next to Luka. "Who's this guy, anyway? How does he know about... Wait a second!" He jumped from the seat and began to pace the lounge.

She looked at Luka. He was waiting for something... Oh, right! Her answer!

"I'm just tired!" she said, faking a yawn and stretching. "Jetlag, you know!"

"Jetlag?" both Luka and Chat Noir said at the same time.

Chat Noir followed it up with a 'jinx' only to look sorely disappointed when Luka carried on talking. "You came from London, it's only an hour's difference."

She yawned to add an additional effect. "Oh, I know... The trip just took it out on me!"

"I can imagine," Luka said, Chat Noir responding with a sly. "No, you can't!"

"Having to transform again and all that!"

"I knew it!" Chat Noir jumped onto the sofa, Marinette squinting as he bounced up and down pointing at her (at least he would have been if he hadn't been hovering one foot above the cushion). "You, whatever your name is, are Ladybug!"

"No, I'm not!" she shouted, only to cover her mouth.

Luka stood and made his way over to her, placing one arm around her shoulders as he led her to the sofa, positioning her right on Chat Noir's lap. Oh, holy mackerels!

"Luka," she said, taking hold of his hands and looking him directly in the eyes. "Tell me now. How many people can you see in this room?"

He laughed before moving in closer to her. "Just one beautiful lady."

"Back off, Buddy! She's my lady!"

"Oh, merde!" Standing up she began to pace the room, her hand rubbing her brow before she used both her hands to slap her cheeks. She shook her head, closing her eyes and making a strange brr sound.

"Are you sure you haven't been drinking?" Chat Noir said. "Come here and sit on my lap for a bit!"

"Shut up, will you! I'm trying to understand."

"Woah, Marinette!" Luka was quickly by her side. "What's wrong? What's going on? Is there someone else here?" He pulled his sleeve back, revealing his Miraculous. "Do you need some help?" He twisted his wrist, Marinette almost combusting from the reveal after reveal happening at the moment.

"Ahh, I should have guessed. He's a snake. Hsssss!"

"Stop doing that!" Marinette said to Chat Noir.

Luka moved away from her and pulled his sleeve down sharply, obviously thinking she was talking to him. "Sorry, Marinette, I was just worried."

"It's okay, Luka. I didn't mean you."

He looked around the room before turning his attention to her. "Then who are —"

"Me." Tikki flew into the room and hovered between them. "She's talking about me. Some strange connection thing we have going on at the moment. A telepathic thing."

"Nice save, Tikki," Chat Noir said. "I'd give you a high five, but I seem to be the Ghost of Lovers Past'."

Marinette slapped a hand to her face, both Luka and Tikki staring at her.

Luka frowned. "Melody, I'm worried about you. Your inner tune sounds out of sync."

"Melody?" Chat Noir questioned. He was moving around the room, obviously more interested in her décor now than the conversation. "Is this guy your boyfriend or something? From Chat Noir to Viperion... A bit of a downgrade, don't you think?"

"You're so stuck up your own ass sometimes," Marinette muttered through clenched teeth before focusing on Luka. "I'm fine. Seriously, nothing to worry about."

Luka stretched up, pushing a stray hair from her face and keeping his palm on her cheek. She could see Chat Noir narrowing his eyes and part of her was worried he was about to cataclysm the guy. Luka was studying her, just like he always did when he thought something was wrong, and the fact that she was either insulting him or talking to herself was definitely a reason to be worried.

"You're playing notes which don't belong together. It's like a mash up of symphonies, trying to create one masterpiece...but they don't belong together. You're working yourself too hard again, Melody." He moved forward and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly.

She would have been incredibly grateful for the support if it wasn't for the sound of cackling coming from behind.

"Oh wow!" Chat Noir said, wiping under his eyes. "Does he always talk like that? And, seriously, what's with the name 'Melody'?"

She closed her eyes and looked back at Luka, ignoring the annoyance of her ex-boyfriend currently positioning himself back on her sofa. "Thank you, it's great to know I always have your support."

Chat Noir pretended to be sick, collapsing on the couch and shaking his head. "Don't tell me that works on girls! Can't you remember how far you threw me after I attempted to write you a poem! Purrlease! It was better than talking about 'internal sounds'. If you want to hear my internal sounds, load me with cheese and let me just —"

Worried about what he was about to do, Marinette spun Luka around sharply and marched him to the door, her hands firmly placed on his back. "I'm fine, Luka, it's all good and thank you so much for coming around, like a knight in shining armour."

"I think that's me, Bugaboo!"

She tried to ignore the constant chatter of her partner, but it was getting harder and harder to maintain a level head when all she wanted to do was bite his off.

"It really means a lot." She smiled at Luka.

Finally, they'd made it to the door, Chat Noir still talking in the lounge as Marinette said her goodbyes.

"So, will you be going to the school reunion?" Luka asked. "Maybe we could go together?"

Marinette attempted to smile, but with Chat Noir's rambling and Luka's proposition, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do first. Maybe transform and CosmoBug out of Paris? Apparently the Bermuda Triangle was nice this time of year.

"I'm not sure what I'm doing, but when I've figured it out you'll be the first to know." She smiled, trying to keep up a cheery disposition when really she just wanted to throw him out of the apartment and figure out what was happening with The Phantom of the Cat.

"Sure." He bent down, his lips aiming for hers only for her head to turn. He connected with her cheek instead. "Speak to you soon, Melody."

Closing the door behind him, she turned and made her way back into the lounge.

Chat Noir sat looking smug. "He asks for a date — denied. He goes for the kiss — denied. Man, you have this dude wrapped around your little finger. I give it four minutes until he messages you."

She turned to Tikki, before looking back at Chat Noir. "You can see him, right?"

Tikki looked over to the sofa and then back at Marinette. "No, I can't see anyone."

"I must be losing my mind," she said, grabbing hold of her head.

"Marinette, what's going on?"

"Marinette," Chat Noir said, before repeating it a little slower. "Mar-i-nette! Mari-nette! Mari... It feels so strange to know your real name."

"Chat Noir is sitting right there, Tikki! I can see him and hear him!"

"There's no one there, Marinette. Maybe you're tired or —"

"It's finally happened," she gasped, her hands slamming over her face. "I've finally gone insane!"

Chat sat up. "Hang on, Marinette, you mentioned the Akuma earlier. You don't think...?"

Marinette moved forward towards him. "Put your hand out."

He stretched out and allowed her to try and hold it, only for her own to fall straight through.

"This is so weird!" she said.

"Tell me about it! I'm a ghost! You don't think I've died, do you? Oh man, you need to find out. The whole of the world will need to know I was Chat Noir. It'll be an international day of mourning."

Taking her phone from her pocket, she unlocked it and opened Google. "What's your name and I'll search."

"It's - um - it's..." He trailed off, his eyebrows screwed together as he thought. He looked lost, which could only mean one thing...

"You don't know, do you?" she answered for him.

"Pfft, I do! It's... it's... oh!"

Sighing, Marinette sat beside him on the couch, wishing she could reach out and hold his hand. "I just don't understand how my Miraculous Ladybug didn't revert this back to normal. I'm so sorry, Kitty."

"Does he not know who he is, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

Marinette shook her head and looked at the kwami. "Not a clue."

The sound of her phone had all three of them looking over at the display.

Luka.

"Not even four minutes." Chat Noir whistled. "This guy's got it bad, like a windchime twinkling in the wind."

"No, he hasn't, he's just being a caring friend." She quickly read the message before placing the phone screen-down on the table in front of her.

"I never said he wasn't, but the way you are towards him, M'Lady, you're giving him false hope."

She tutted, rolling her eyes and sitting back. "I'm not leading Luka on, if that's what you're implying."

"Is that what Chat Noir is saying? Is that what he thinks?" Tikki flew over and settled herself on top of Marinette's phone. "He might be speaking some truth."

"I'm not leading him on! He knows I'm still caught up with you." She pointed aggressively in his direction.

"As flattered as I am by that, you need to make it clear you're not interested."

"I have made it clear." Standing up, Marinette marched her way back into the kitchen, going back to what she was doing before she was so weirdly interrupted.

Chat Noir followed her in, laughing. "You haven't! He tried to break the door down to save you. He's in love with you, Marinette. Mari. Nettie. God, your name is as gorgeous as you are."

She stood frozen, her cheeks heating up from his compliments. But that didn't cover what he'd said about Luka being in love with her. Sometimes she thought he might have a slight crush...but love? Could that be true? There was no reason to believe it, but also no reason to deny it either. And worst of all...had she been leading him on?

"You know I'm right," he said.

"Shut up!" She finished making her tea and headed into the bedroom, mug in one hand, phone in the other.

She placed the phone down on her charger, her mug next to it, before continuing with her luggage.

Chat Noir entered behind her and had a good look around at her walls and open drawers, before stopping in front of her mannequin. "This is gorgeous," he commented.

Marinette sighed, putting her hands on her bed. "So, am I just stuck with you here?"

He shrugged. "To be honest, I haven't got a clue. I just seemed to end up here and I'm guessing it's because I need my Lady to help me out."

"Great! We'll have slumber parties and do each other's hair and nails, and we can talk about our crushes."

"You already know everything about mine." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

An exasperated laugh left her mouth. "What happens if there are any Akumas? Do you think your civilian self – if they're alive – will be able to transform?"

They looked at each other before turning their attention to Tikki.

The small red kwami shrugged. "I don't know."

"Great," Marinette said, picking up her bag and throwing it onto the shelf in her closet. "Great! Great! Great! Great!"

"At least you know you're alive! There's a chance I'm dead and I won't even be going to my own funeral."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Most people don't go to their own funerals!"

"Why don't you try and detransform?" Tikki said, looking in the complete wrong direction.

"That's an idea...if you don't mind seeing the handsome devil behind the mask, that is?"

"I'm sure I will love it," Marinette said.

"Okay, here it goes! Plagg, claws in."

Marinette closed her eyes, waiting for the flash of bright green light...only for nothing to happen. She opened one eye slowly, only to see Chat Noir still there clad in his super suit and arms stretched out wide.

He looked down at his body before looking back at Marinette. "Well, that idea was short-lived."

A chime on her phone turned her attention to her table. Chat Noir appeared next to her in an instant, looking at the name on the phone.

"Oh, another admirer. No wonder you never responded to any of my messages."

"I never received any messages," Marinette said, lifting her phone off the charger.

Adrien.

Chat Noir chuckled.

Marinette glared at him. "What now?"

"That contact picture," Chat Noir stated.

"What about it?"

"He looks like a pompous twat!" Chat Noir continued laughing.

Marinette once again tried to hit his body, only to end up falling through him and landing face down on the bed.

"Did you steal it from his LinkedIn profile, or something?" Chat Noir laughed.

Her cheeks flamed, eyes down and focused on her phone.

"Oh, wow! You did, didn't you?" He laughed louder, peering over her shoulder to look at the message. "You do know people can see who's looked at their profiles on there, right?"

"I happen to think the suit looks good on him, that's all!" She opened the message, reading it with a strange squeal.

Adrien: I hope you arrived home safely. Thank you once again for accompanying me last night, it was fun. I know this is kind of last minute, but a friend of mine has a movie premiere in France on Saturday night and I've been issued a plus one ticket. Would you like to come with me? I'll supply the M&M's.

"Well, well, little Miss Bug. What are you going to say to him?"

She looked between her phone and her partner. It was just a night out...and it would be cool to go to a premiere. Her fingers tapped on her screen in quick succession. For once in her life, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was going to be spontaneous and do something different from her normal boring life.

It was time to become the protagonist of her own story.

*****

Once again Peony has gone out of her way to make this chapter amazing! 🩷