Safe House • Marichat

Chapter Four

"What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know. Patrol, criminals, the usual." He leaned against the brick wall behind him, crossing his arms over his leather covered chest and hooking his ankles.

He watched her study his face that he was trying hard to keep laid back.

"Come inside." At first, he was surprised by her willingness to let him in but slowly he succumbed to her kindness and walked inside.

"Hot chocolate?" He nodded and sat down on her chair, spinning around until she came back upstairs. He stopped as he noticed several pictures of him on her wall. Well, Adrien that is.

So she must have a crush on him...

Marinette walked back up the stairs to her room with two red steaming mugs of hot cocoa.

"So tell me what's wrong." Marinette sat cross legged on her chaise and looked up expectantly at Chat, an arm outstretched to hand him his mug.

He reached out for it and sat down next to her, laying his sore back against the cushion.

"What do you mean? What makes you think that something's wrong?" He gave her a quizzical look as he took a sip.

Hot!

"Because, like it or not, you are my friend. I can tell when you're frustrated, angry, upset, etcetera." A ghost of a smile graced his lips as he stared at the girl in front of him.

"So lay it on me. Tell me what's wrong." Chat was silent for a few moments, debating on whether or not he should tell her everything.

"I just figured out why my mom is missing, s'all."

"S'all? Chat, that seems pretty serious!" He stared at her once more before sighing and putting his hands behind his head as he relaxed on her chaise.

"It's really nothing Mari. I'm used to her being gone so..." He trailed off as her slim arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug.

Chat's body stiffened, his arms dropping to his side as he felt her warm embrace. Before she could let go, he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her closer to him just for a little while longer.

He could feel his heart beat erratically as he tightened his grip around her, burying his head into her soft hair. A waft of vanilla and homemade bread hit his nose as he took a deep breath.

"I'm okay Marinette, I'm okay."

The homely warmth he was feeling left as she withdrew and he instantly felt cold an lonely.

"Thanks. I really needed that."

"What are friends for?"

Friends. For some reason, that word hurt him. It was like a dagger to the heart as the word easily tumbled off her tongue.

And he had no idea why.

"Yeah, friends."

As the memory flashed through his head, projecting the image on the back of his closed eyes, he heard Marinette calling for him.

"Chat Noir!" The tone of voice she was using wasn't frantic or worried, but he still rushed down to where it came from.

"Marinette?"

He walked into her room and saw her sitting on the bed, staring at her clasped hands that laid in her lap.

"What's up Princess?"

"Are you really only protecting me because the people who are to blame for your mother's disappearance are after me?"

He silently walked over to her and sat next to her. With his weight added to the mattress, the springs sunk, forcing Marinette to tilt towards him.

"Those are your words, not mine. I never said that."

"What?"

He grabbed her hands and held them tightly in his and forced her to look him in the eye. Once her sky blue eyes met his summer grass green ones, he gave her a wide smile.

"I protect you because your my friend. Sure, they may be the people that may have taken my mom, but they're also the people that are trying to hurt you. So right now, Proiettile Velenoso are not the people that might have taken my mom, but the gang who is trying to hurt my best friend."

"I-"

Chat shook his head, his sunglasses starting to lower on the bridge of his nose. Before he could fix them, Marinette's smaller hands pushed them back up.

"You should really be more careful, kitty. I almost saw your secret identity."

He tried to hold back his laugh but it became too hard to resist as it began to bubble out of his chest. It was a wholehearted laugh, one he hadn't done since the day he gave Marinette his umbrella.

Marinette's smile dropped for a second until a small one graced her lips. She had a faraway look in her eyes as she sighed.

"Your laugh reminds me of my crush."

A blush dusted his cheeks as Marinette spoke of his other identity.

"O-Oh yeah?"

He knew she had a crush on Adrien, but he didn't think that it would affect him this much.

"Mm." She nodded as she stood up. "I've only heard him laugh like that once. I swore to myself that I would do anything to hear him again. He's never laughed in school like that. It makes me wanna help him."

He felt his heart stop for a beat or two as his blush intensified. She wanted to help him? How was she able to tell that I wasn't being true to my emotions?

"How do you know that? What if he just doesn't want to laugh?"

"I just get this feeling that he isn't that kind of person. I feel like he wants to, he really does, but with his father's reputation, he can't be who really wants to be. And so for that reason, I want to help him. But I guess I can't do that for a while..."

Chat was silent as he stood up and began to walk out the room. "I'll go make us some dinner."

Why does she have to have a crush on Adrien? I know I am him, but, why can't she have a crush on Chat Noir?

He sighed as he closed the door behind him.

You can't wish for everything.

This is shorter but oh well.

Until next time, peace!