Between Us

Subtle Surprises

She waved him off. "Psshh, you can be a few minutes late."

"Well, not in this case. Remember that girl I told you about? She's going to be there. I think it was almost two weeks ago when I mentioned her?"

Right. How could she possibly forget? Chat was basically taken now. That was a strange thing to think about now. After years of knowing him, she had allowed herself to get comfortable with the fact that Chat would flirt with her until his heart's content, which it never was. She wondered how that girl would feel about her man leaping around with another girl he used to be in love with.

Was he even still in love with her? Probably not now, with the mystery girl in the picture.

"I remember."

"Yeah, well, it's a pretty important event, you can imagine. I actually should probably start heading out. I still have to go home and freshen up before going to the party. Don't wanna go still sweaty from this leather suit," he said in a playful tone.

Freshen up for her.

Ladybug hated how much it bothered her. Maybe she just liked his attention. Maybe there was some egocentric reason to explain why her chest felt a little tighter and her mind a little smaller. Some selfish explanation was better than the possibility that it was something more.

But either way, she could never confess that to him. Not in a million years.

"How's it going with her, by the way?" she asked nonchalantly.

Chat sighed. "It's going good... I think. It's weird. I really like her."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "It's weird that you like her?"

"Oh, no, no. Not that. Our situation is just weird. I don't want to say too much, but I honestly don't think anything will come out of it. Her signals are so mixed, and I don't want to ruin anything between us."

Ladybug frowned. "Didn't you two go on a date? I think it's pretty clear she likes you unless she said something otherwise."

"No... Well, yeah, we did, I guess. It's just... It's complicated."

She was familiar with complicated things, so there was really no room to judge. "I get it. But why not be straightforward with her? You were with me after all."

Never in her wildest dreams did Ladybug think she would one day give relationship advice to Chat Noir.

With a half-smile, Chat turned over to her, his shoulders brushing against hers as they sat side by side together, facing the lowering sun. "That's the thing, M'lady," he said before suddenly leaning over and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "You're the only person I've ever been completely myself with."

Ladybug gulped as she watched Chat stand up from his spot and unhook his staff from his belt.

"I'll see you for patrol tomorrow," he said before launching himself away and disappearing between buildings.

Sitting there absolutely stunned, she slowly brought her fingertips to her cheek. Specifically, the spot where Chat had pressed his lips against. He hadn't done that since they were teenagers.

She held onto that warm presence on her skin for as long as she could as she sat there in comfortable silence, the wind emphasizing the ghostly mark he left on her. It was solacing. Like a protective hug or a passionate promise.

Perhaps that was him saying goodbye to her. Not in a physical way, but in the way that he was finally letting go after six years. And she was okay with that.

The thing is, he'll never know that it was her birthday today.

And that she would consider the kiss his gift to her and quite possibly the last one he would ever give unintentionally.