Chat Noir was very aware that what he was doing was a very, very stupid mistake. Plagg had made that very clear before being reluctantly tugged into the ring, and even without the whiny objections of the kwami, the young hero was painfully conscious of the possible consequences of his presence on that rooftop. True, Plagg was most likely perfectly right and neither he could envision any positive outcome coming from where he was standing, but he just couldn't help himself. He had to see her.

Still, he knew. He knew that he shouldn't have been there, crouching on her neighbor's roof, intently watching the lights in her room, desperately trying to catch a single glimpse of her. He knew that he shouldn't have been peeking through her window in a vain attempt at reassuring him, at seeing if she was alright after all. But he simply couldn't bring himself to care no matter how hard he tried.

Because the truth was that Chat Noir was worried sick about Marinette.

The young woman had spent the remaining of the day carefully (and to his utter dismay, very successfully) avoiding Adrien. He had tried in vain all day to corner her alone, wanting to apologize for his very inappropriate behavior toward her in the library, to salvage whatever was left of their friendship after the stupid stunt he had pulled on her. But every time the blond had finally managed to catch a glimpse of her she had vanished in the blink of an eye, without any of their classmates seemingly knowing where the hell she might have disappeared to. Alya and Nino had grown suspicious with him rather quickly, the latter pestering him non-stop to know what in the world could've happened between the pair to warrant such an uncharacteristic behavior while the former kept glaring at him throughout the day. His last hope had been their last class of the day, which they had together, but Marinette came in late and sat beside Nathanael instead of her usual spot, making it impossible for Adrien to even catch her eye. As soon as the bell had rung she had bolted through the door before he even had time to react. Desperate by then, he had begged his driver to stop by the bakery after school, but her mother had refused to let him see her, stating she wasn't feeling too well.

So Adrien, against his better judgment and the very well voiced reluctance of an overly annoyed Plagg, had resolved to visit her as his heroic alter-ego that night. Even if in the end it erased the three long and painful months of distance he had excruciatingly tried to put between them.

He needed to check on her, to know for sure how much damage he had stupidly done to the person that meant the most to him.

And now, as the young hero was going mad with concern, she was nowhere to be seen from the window in her room. Marinette wasn't reading or doodling in her lawn chair like she had been for the past few weeks, while he had been watching her fondly from afar (no matter how Plagg had insisted it was creepy and stalkerish). A painful lump forming in his throat, he braced himself for the worst. He grabbed his staff and vaulted himself onto her balcony. Kneeling before her skylight, he knocked softly on the panel like he had done countless times before.

"Mari, it's me. I heard that you're not feeling well. Please, let me in."

Chat Noir distinctly heard hasty shuffling inside her bedroom, followed by the familiar creaking of the panel opening. She poked her head out of the skylight, clutching the handle with her right hand as her other one was bundled up over her heart.

And Chat instantly froze.

He had been very aware that she was really upset about what had unfolded in the library earlier that day, so a part of him had been fully prepared to find her sick with disgust, insanely mad at Adrien for the nerve he had had to force himself on her like that. Another (admittedly huge) part of him had hoped to find her confused, feelings for Adrien resurfacing and hopefully overshadowing what she felt towards Chat, but he knew that was only wishful thinking on his part. In fact, he had been ready for anything.

Anything but this.

Marinette's beautiful face was utterly ravaged with salty streaks, her eyes red and puffy, still full of unshed tears. Her breathing was labored and erratic, and she was now clutching both of her hands to her heart desperately, as if she was trying to keep it still. Chat Noir felt the lump in his throat grow a few inches bigger. Was he such a horrible kisser that just one kiss had put her in so much distress? She had never voiced any complaints when he was kissing her as Chat Noir!

Pushing his misplaced wonderings at the back of his mind, Chat Noir focused on his broken princess. She looked so vulnerable, so desperate that he couldn't help but sit on the floor beside the skylight and pull her into his lap, gently stroking her hair in a soothing manner, trying to calm her down. She sobbed softly into the leather, burying her face into his chest. The rational part of his mind still in working order was screaming to let go of her, and leave before causing anymore damage to her heart than he had already done. But he just couldn't abandon her when he was the cause of her distress.

"Hey... It's alright, purrincess."

She shook her head. "C-C-Chat... A... Adrien kissed… he kissed me today."

The way Marinette had pronounced the words, the sheer and blatant guilt oozing out of every word startled him. The part of her face still visible from him was wincing like she was bracing herself for the worst. But why?

It suddenly dawned on him. "Princess? Are you upset because of me?"

She shyly nodded without looking at him, sniffling in his chest. "I don't want to hurt you."

To be honest, Chat Noir had been fully expecting her to go on a lengthy ramble about what had happened earlier. How quiet she was, how much careful of her words, spoke volumes to him. He gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes and giving her a small peck on the lips. "As much as it pains me to say so, princess, I have no claim on you whatsoever. We didn't put any label on us yet, did we?"

'Us? Yet?' Marinette thought, taken aback.

She didn't get the chance to answer, though, as Chat kissed her forehead lightly once again, before resuming his train of thought, hugging her tighter. "I certainly don't like the idea of another man kissing you, don't get me wrong on that, princess. But I have absolutely no right being angry at you, or making you feel guilty about it."

This time, she leaned into the kiss he placed upon her lips, pressing herself against him, relishing into his scent. When he broke apart, she smiled at him shyly, eyes subdued, cupping his cheek with the hand that wasn't busy clutching his shirt. "I'd like that very much."

"What now?" the hero asked absentmindedly. Another kiss. Chat Noir's brain was brightly flashing red, trying to warn him about the dangerous territory he had wandered into. He should be pushing her towards Adrien, not kissing her into oblivion and keeping her lithe body close to his chest. He could practically taste her tears on his tongue, tears he had heartlessly caused her to shed, and he just wanted more than he ever wanted anything to avoid hurting her further than she already was, all thanks to his recklessness.

Her whispered answer was the end of his resolve, "Labels."

He nibbled on her earlobe softly, eliciting a little but fierce moan from her, and the feline grinned into their embrace. "Mine. My Marinette," Chat Noir said breathily, almost too faintly for her to hear it. She did, though, and sighed contently.

"My Kitty."

He kissed her again, both their heart beating furiously. She rested her head on his collarbone, closing her eyes. "I missed you so much, Kitty."

She felt his arms slightly tightening their grip around her. "I missed you too. Every day away from you was a true torture."

"I thought you were seeing me at school?" she giggled softly in his arms.

"It's not the same."

A shiver ran through her, and he realized the weather was very cold for the number of layers she had on. "Let's get you inside before you freeze to death, alright, m'lady?"

He realized his slip-up as soon as he felt her tense up in his arms.

She ripped herself away from him harshly, and looked at him with so many pent up emotion in her blue gaze it hurt him to the core. "When did you find out?" her tone was cold, bitter.

He knew very well that it was no use trying to play dumb or deny the obvious truth. So he instead tried to soften the blow. "Mari, let me explain."

He reached for her hand, but she just flinched away from his reach.

"When. Did. You. Find. Out?" Marinette hammered every word. Tears were welling up again in her eyes, and she was violently shaking. Chat Noir backed up, defeated, bowing his head down.

"I've had suspicions for a while now and..."

"WHEN?" she shrieked, her fists curled up on her sides, not giving a damn if anybody heard her.

This couldn't be happening. At this very moment, he knew without a doubt that he was on the very verge of losing her. Without any chance whatsoever of ever getting her back.

So he simply sighed, hoping that long overdue honesty would somehow save him from his impending doom. "While you were on vacation with Adrien. Right after the akuma attack. Y-Your shirt was soaked with blood. That's when I started having doubts."

She jolted further away from him, if it was humanly possible, a thick wall building between them, and her absence made his heart ache in a way he didn't know was possible before that precise second. "I knew it. I fucking knew it. It was never about me, you never loved me. You never stopped loving Ladybug . THIS WAS ALL A TWISTED GAME TO GET IN HER PANTS."

Tears were rolling freely on the young hero's cheeks now and he didn't care. All he wanted was to erase the pure hatred he could read in her eyes, to retrieve the loving and caring gaze she always had when she looked at him. "Mari, please, give me a chance to expl-"

"Get out," she cut him off, turning herself away from him, crossing her arms on her chest just like she was trying to hold herself together. He tried to catch her wrist, force her to look at him. Surely she would see all the things he wasn't able to tell her in his eyes, if only she'd looked at him.

"Mari..."

He was begging, craving for her to just look at him. To see how much he needed her, and only her.

"GET. OUT."

He turned around, his very heart and soul crushed. He put his foot on the railing, and just before he sent an impulse to his legs to jump away, he heard her add, with her voice as cold as ice could get, breaking him even further than she already had with seven little words, "I never want to see your face again."

---

When Chat Noir landed on top of his mansion that night, he stumbled onto his bed, detransformed, and dissolved into quiet sobs in his pillow. Plagg landed beside his head, a deep frown on his little face. "I did warn you this would happen, Adrien."

"Shut up, Plagg."

The little black god sighed. "Adrien, please. Talk to me."

His holder turned around to face him, his cheeks wet with tears, his eyes already swollen. "I lost her. She hates Chat Noir now, and she despises Adrien. You were right all along."

For the first time since they had met, Plagg didn't answer at that affirmation or try to make a sarcastic retort. He could see just how much Adrien was hurting, and it scared him beyond reason. So instead, he did what he thought Tikki would have done in similar circumstances: he hugged awkwardly hugged the cheek of the young man and listened cautiously as he sobbed himself to sleep.

If one could hear the sound of a broken heart, there were two hearts in Paris that night making quite a ruckus.