Behind A Mask

Movies?

"Go on girl! Ask him!"

Alya was whispering encouragement as the shy Marinette tried her hardest to work up the nerve to talk coherently to her crush, Adrien. She had pre ordered tickets for a new movie and had been trying for a week to invite him. And so far she was failing. But this was it, her last chance to ask him before the tickets ran out. Class had ended and Adrien was already leaving to go home. She had to hurry!

"H-hey Adrian. W-wanna go to the movies? I have tickets!"

"Oh sorry Marinette. I already have plans." He said and gave the girl an apologetic smile. "Maybe some other time" then he left to go home.

Ayla came up behind her and rested her hand on the girls shoulder in a show of support. "Hey it's not so bad. It could have been worse. Remember last time?"

At the mention of the memory her face turned slightly pink as she recalled the fiasco. She knew Alya was trying to help but she wasn't helping. She managed to let out a begrudging "Thanks" as she battled to push the memory (and embarrassment) out of her mind.

She was a bit downcast and lost in thought the rest of the day. And she was not in the mood to play with Chat after their patrol that night. Unfortunately he didn't seem to get the hint.

"My Lady. Please do me the honor of accompanying me to the movies tonight." Chat asked with a rose in one hand and the other outstretched to his lady awaiting her to take it. A grin on his face.

"......."

"My Lady?..." She was already gone by the time he opened his eyes. Disappointed and a tiny bit heartbroken Chat sulked off, wondering if he should have just gone with Marinette.

Swinging off into the darkness of night, Ladybug silently landed in an alley near the cinema and removed her transformation leaving Marinette in her place. She began to make her way around the buildings to the theater as she let out a long sigh.

"I wish Adrien was here."

"Cheer up Marinette. You can still have a good time." Said Tikki, Marinette's little red kwami friend.

"I know I just really wanted to see it with Adrien."

"Look at it this way Marinette. You probably wouldn't have payed any attention to the movie with Adrien sitting next to you."

"Hehe. Yeah you're probably right. Besides I still have a chance to get close to Adrien at the school's upcoming Halloween Ball."

"That's the spirit!" The little kwami cheered. A big smile on her tiny face.

Walking along the sidewalk towards the theater she suddenly found herself in the least desirable situation she could have imagined. She had come across Chat Noir in an alley way she was passing. And he was about to detransform! And he would have had she not said something.

"Chat Noir?!" Her disbelief clearly audible.

"Gyaaah?!" He responded in shock.

A moment of silence spent in (terrifying) shock passed between them. Probably longer than it should. Till the now hidden Tikki nudged, enough so that it brought her out of the trance she was in.

"W-wh-what are you d-doing here?!" She managed to say with some effort

"Uh... Hello princess" he gave her a bow. "I'm just... out patrolling. What about you? What's a lovely girl like you doing walking the streets of Paris so late at night?"

"O-oh... Uh, just going to see a movie. I have to see it tonight or my tickets will run out."

"By yourself?"

"Uh, yeah. I did invite a boy from my class but he already had plans. And Alya -my friend- she had to babysit so she couldn't come either. And I really wanted to see this movie, but I waited too long to ask. And the tickets were going to run out so I just came by myself. And why am I telling you all this? I'm sorry I'm babbling." She looked away and put her palm to her forehead grabbing her bangs.

"Oh. That's too bad." he said, suddenly feeling guilty. It was his fault she was going alone. Then he got an idea. It was brilliant if he did say so himself. "Well then, tonight I shall be your knight in fuzzy armor and escort you the the theater safely, my princess."

"Huh?! Uh. No, no. That's ok. Really. You don't have to do that for me."

"Nonsense. I'm a gentleman, I can't just leave you alone. Especially this late at night." He was holding her hand now and looking her directly in the eyes. She was afraid that he would be able to figure her out if he looked any longer. "I was thinking of a movie myself. Which one are you going to see?"

Marinette gave. There was no way she was going to shake him. The theater was just around the corner. It was better to just humor him and get it over with as quickly as possible. "Uh, This one" she showed him the tickets. He looked at the tickets and his eyes grew a little bit wider as a grin spread on his face. She suddenly had a bad feeling.

"What a purr-fect choice princess. As it just so happens I have two tickets for the same movie" he proceeded to pull two movie tickets from the pocket of his suit and presented them to her with a triumph look on his face. Her eyes widened and she stared at them in disbelief. She did not like where this was heading.

"I had planed on seeing it with Ladybug but.. she was.... otherwise engaged." Not. One. Bit.

What better way to cheer her up. She's always so nervous around Adrien but she's a fan of Chat Noir's. He recalls the incident with the Evilistrator, Marinette likes Chat Noir a lot so this was bound to make her happy.

"Well princess it seemed that fate has dictated that we shall see this movie together. And since you can't argue with fate" he began to lead her towards the theater.

As he turned to lead her down the street, he missed the look on her face that was a mixture of disbelief, panic and pure horror. "U-uh..." Was all she could manage to get out in protest. The situation had taken such a horrible turn so suddenly it left her speechless as she struggled to process what was going on.

"Come on. It'll be fur-un"

"Uh. But. Uh.