Adrien toyed with the ring on his finger through class, letting the cool metal slid against his skin but never removing it, he'd never do that. It was weird how simple looking it was, it was just a ring. A plain silver ring, but it held more importance than some historical buildings, more power than some countries. It might be light on his hand, but it was heavy on his mind. He didn't feel burdened by being Cat Noir, he felt freed by it but... it was being Adrien that was so forefront in his thoughts. He was Adrien Agreste, he was nice, caring, preppy, awkward, and excitable. He was everything on the list Marinette had made for him, and he was sitting right in front of her and she didn't even know. He didn't know what he expected to change or be different, but he did know that though three days had passed since he played her song for her he had the same dream every night. He'd meet her on her balcony, tell her who he was, and she'd smile. Every time.

He wanted to tell her.

He pinched the metal of the ring as a grimace set on his features, fighting to keep a huff from slipping out as the teacher lectured. He couldn't, he shouldn't he knew that, so why was he even considering it so intensely? He knew why he couldn't tell people, it would put them at risk he was being selfish but...

He glanced over his shoulder again for the dozenth time, looking at the way her hair settled in front of her face as she stared at her notes, face scrunched in thought. You could see so much of her in her eyes, what she liked and didn't, whether or not she respected or tolerated you. You could almost see yourself in them, as she stared back at him, eyes wide and red scattering across her cheeks.

He froze, realizing a second too late that she had looked up and caught him, the two of them caught in each other's eyes.

"Adrien! Eyes forward please."

The class erupted into laughter as he turned back around in his seat, face burning as the teacher scolded him for not paying attention. He could hear Nino snickering to his left and practically everyone else doing something similar.

God that was stupid, was she mad? She had no context to why he would be staring, hell he barely did. He was so confused this was stupid why couldn't he just ignore it? Why was it so much more difficult to accept that she would never know he was Cat Noir just like everyone else? Why did that sound so awful?

Class started to draw to a close and he couldn't be more grateful to have an escape, already planning how he was going to get past Nino when the teacher made an announcement.

"Everyone! I know there are many very talented kids in this class, so I would like to remind you of the winter sports competitive skating competition that will be taking place at the end of the month! There are still spots open for similar events going on at the same time, so any hockey players in our group please remember that tryouts are still going, but there is a lack of talented ice skaters to represent our fine city's youth this year. So please, if you know anyone from the ages of 10 to 20 who would like to enter, the final try out is this week so please take a flyer. Thank you again!"

Adrien was glued to his seat, everything going silent as he suddenly had tunnel vision only focused on the thin stack of flyers on the teacher's desk, before all at once he lunged for one, snatching it up so he could read it closer. His mouth popped open slightly, before turning into a wide and crooked grin.

Only one thing though.

How in the world was he going to convince her to go for it?

Because of course he was going to tell Marinette about this OF COURSE he was, there was no way he couldn't. At least it was public so he might be able to pretend to know about it as Cat Noir but, his mind jumbled to a halt. How was he going to get her to enter? Maybe entering was too ambitious, maybe he could just take her to watch? Yeah, buy tickets to the competition, they could go together except... well he couldn't. Cat Noir showing up to watch the skaters would cause a commotion, but he didn't want to sneak in and deprive her of a good seat, if she even wanted to go. He could ask her as Adrien but... having just been caught staring at her very publicly, and having been caught two times prior that day alone, it probably wouldn't go well.

But he had to do something, he had to mention it because... she deserved it. It was seriously that simple. The applause, the adoration, the respect, the awe. She deserved every bit of it.

He jumped when Nino laid a heavy hand across his shoulder, looking over at the flyer himself as they stood at the front of the class.

"Are you in to ice skating man? I knew you could fence and stuff I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Nino laughed, quirking an eyebrow when Adrien shrugged off his hand.

"No! It's not for me, to enter at least. I think Ice Skating is amazing but I'm a disaster at it myself, I can barely stay upright."

"Yeah me neither," Nino said dismissively, smirking as he prepared to address why he had really come over. "Anyways," but Adrien cut him off, suddenly running up to Alya and Marinette, the latter of which squeaked in surprise.

"H-hey guys!" he said charmingly, trying to relax and not look like any more of a creep than he had already managed that day.

"Hey Adrien," Alya spoke for the both of them, Marinette giving a small wave.

"Uh, well uh," Adrien held out the flyer for the girls to see, smiling at them, "were you two thinking of going to see this?"

"The ice skating thing?" Alya said with something like a smirk in her voice, "Not really no, not really my thing. I don't want to watch a bunch of girls dance around on some ice."

"It's more than that!" two voices rang in unison, leaping to defend the art. Adrien turned to Marinette, startled but pleased to see that she had spoken out as well, and he took the opening to grin at her.

"I totally agree! It's not just 'dancing around' it's beautiful! It takes insane talent and balance to be able to perform like ice skaters do, and the emotion tied to some of their dances is incredible!"

Alya was staring at him in disbelief, Nino shaking his head just at the edge of his peripheral vision with a smile on his face while Marinette gaped at him.

"Y-you like ice skating?" she stuttered out, pink dusting her cheeks in the same way it sometimes did when she got a little too cold while skating.

"I love it!" he hurried to say, excited that she didn't seem to think he was crazy for staring all day and doubly excited to be talking to her about her (albeit secret) passion outside of being Cat Noir. "It's amazing! I think Ice skaters are incredibly impressive, they are some of the top athletes out there."

"I'm an ice skater," she blurted out suddenly, Alya's eyes shooting wide and Nino smothering a laugh but Adrien wasn't deterred at all, beaming at her.

"That's amazing! As soon as you said you liked it I sorta guessed that, were you planning on entering the competition? It would be amazing to come and see you!"

Alya and Nino both gave him disbelieving looks because he seemed to be buying what they deemed to be a blatant lie, except he knew more than they did.

Marinette, who was now a blazing scarlet, appeared to have lost her grip on speech in general and he regretted putting her on the spot like that until she nodded, walking past him with a thousand yard stare to collect her own flyer.

"Yup," she said in a dazed voice, "I-I am... going to enter. Yes."

"That's great!" he cheered, genuinely excited. "I can't wait! You'll be perfect I'm sure," he tried to encourage her, not sure if he was coming off as weird but aware of how... startled she looked. He knew performing in front of crowds made her nervous, which would explain why she seemed so pale but... why did she say yes than? Had he put her in a rough spot? Or was she really intending on entering?

She walked past him with that same far off look, Alya trading glances with Nino before hurrying after her friend with the backpack she had forgotten in hand.

"Dude can you be more obvious?" Nino's voice cut in, and despite his cluttered thoughts Adrien still had the presence of mind to scowl at him.

"It's not like that Nino!"

"'you'll be perfect, I'm sure.'" Nino mocked him, grinning all the while as Adrien groaned and grabbed his bag, Plagg secretly snickering as well out of sight.

"She IS really cute," Nino announced, earning a sharp 'shut up!' for his troubles which only made him laugh more. Seriously, Adrien had no idea just how deep he was, but he was going to notice real soon when he realizes the only time he can breathe is when she's there, that's just the kind of look he had in his eye. Like she was everything and he just didn't get it yet.

Freakin' oblivious...

Cat Noir landed on Marinette's balcony at 3:00 AM exactly, finding it amusing to time the click of his shoes against the stone to the exact second the clock ticked over. He settled in, leaning against the railing and eagerly anticipating watching Marinette develop her routine for the contest, but after about ten minutes he frowned. She was usually just as sharp as he was about their meetings, the hatch popping open as soon as he'd land.

Out of a mix between concern and curiosity he strolled over to the hatch, crouching so that he could peer down into her room, his view mostly restricted to the currently empty bed.

Was she home? She didn't tell him the meetup was canceled, but then again she didn't exactly have his number.

He tapped the glass lightly with his claw, a hollow click echoing into the silence of the night. When he got no response he spent another moment deliberating before he pulled at the hatch, pleased to find it unlocked.

He was greeted by a rush of warm, sweet smelling air that usually filled her home and he poked his head in, viewing the room upside down as he scanned the space for Marinette.

He found her, pacing back and forth with her skates in her hands on the open floor near her computer desk, that faraway look from after school replaced with blatant panic.

"Uuuh, Princess?" he called out, flinching himself when she jumped and flipped around to look at him.

"Ah, ah! Is it already 3? Oh man," she whimpered, turning away from him again to continue her pacing.

Cat took that as a sign they wouldn't be leaving right away and jumped down, closing the hatch quietly behind him and leaping silently down to ground level. He sort of watched helplessly for a moment, tracking her movement like a cat tracking a laser pointer before he finally asked, "Is everything... okay?"

"NO!" she hissed, and he flinched, eyes wide as he pulled his arms close against his chest defensively. "Everything is not alright I'm an idiot! Cat I signed up for an ice skating competition! A real one. With people."

He gaped at her for a moment, at a loss. Was this STILL what was upsetting her? Was it really that bad?

"If you don't want to do it don't!" he said a little sharply, his annoyance at himself for stressing her out so much leaking into his voice.

"I have to!" she moaned, hugging her skates and speaking as if to them, her voice falling quiet. "I told Adrien I would."

"I don't- I mean he wouldn't want you to be scared of competing, I'm sure. If, if he didn't understand that he would be a jerk! Just tell him you're not doing it! Yeah, if this uh, Adrien guy doesn't get that then you shouldn't even be his friend. Which I'm assuming you are."

Aw yeah, good job Cat. Smooth as a cactus.

"I- I just..." Marinette stopped walking, turning to face his with such wide pleading eyes that his breathe actually caught in his throat. "I just said it I just blurted it out to him. We were talking about the competition and he was talking so highly about ice skaters and I- I wanted to impress him so I just said it but I can't do it."

Cat froze, meeting her gaze and feeling so exposed under it, like his mask had been ripped away, but it didn't seem that way to her. She still didn't know. And he still didn't understand.

"You were trying to impress him?"

He regretted his words the second he said them, seeing the anger flash in her eyes and remembering that though she might be small she was very capable. In what way he was unsure but his instincts said 'fear me'.

"Are you making fun of me? Because you're one to talk-"

"No! No no its fine I was just, caught off guard is all. So you- you don't want to do this, you only said yes to impress this Adrien guy?"

"Now I have to go through with it and... and he'll see me blow it. He'll be right there and I'll mess it up and- so many people will be there Cat, I'm not good enough."

"Hey- woah stop it," he suddenly cut in, stepping forward and grabbing her by the shoulders, forcing her to listen. "If you're nervous, okay, if you aren't a fan of crowds fine but DO NOT back out of this because you don't think you're good enough because you are."

"Cat I-"

"No I'm serious! You keep saying you wouldn't be good but you should go for it! I know you're nervous and it scares you but if you don't do it don't let it be because you doubt yourself." He tried to pull the words together, to understand why he suddenly felt so warm. "When you skate it's... it's, look I'm not a poet. I don't have the right words or even know what to say but that's how it is! I watch you dance and I- I just don't know what to say. Poets don't have words for things like that."

He felt heat crawl up his neck and something heavy sit in his throat as overwhelming silence fell. She was tense under his hands, looking up at him in shock as he quickly took a step away, letting his hands drop to his sides.

"I-I, uh," he attempted to speak but the sounds all came out scattered, until he looked away, steading himself with a long heavy breath. "I think you can do it. I think you'd be perfect."

Marinette was still in shock, but her lips pulled into a small smile as she looked down at her skates.

After a while she said, "Perfect... Adrien said that too."

He didn't stiffen or shy away from the name, he wasn't made uncomfortable by how thin the veil between his worlds had stretched. In fact, all he wanted to say was, 'That's because I'm right.'

But he didn't.

Couldn't.

"We both believe in you Marinette," he hated to say, distancing himself from the name like it was someone else entirely. Sometimes it almost felt that way... not now though.

Marinette continued to examine her skates, looking at the faded blossoms that decorated the scuffed white body.

"Why?" she finally asked, drawing his attention. She tilted her head in that way of hers, as she asked in a voice that didn't quite make it a question. "Why do you believe in me?"

Something in his chest tightened, matching her eyes as she stared him down, her face... thoughtful. She said 'you', not 'you guys' or any other sort of plural. Maybe it was just because he was here, maybe he was reading too far in to the thoughtful expression, maybe he was just hoping too much for something he shouldn't. Hoping she might see him. Knowing she wouldn't.

"Cause you're the sort of girl worth believing in," he said quietly, more for himself than anything else. He marveled at how different this conversation was, how it was two completely different topics now. For her it was 'do you believe in me enough to support me in this competition?'

But for him, she asked, 'Do you really believe I'm the sort of girl you could tell?'

He stood by his answer, different though it was for them both.

He waited for her to speak again, not trusting himself to add anything more. She was slow to respond, sliding a finger along the flat of the blade on her skates. Before finally she sighed.

"I'm always going to be nervous... but... I think I can do it."

He smiled, glad to see the tension start to drain from her.

"The tryout is this week right?" he asked, and when she nodded he let his smile slip into a grin. "We should probably practice then huh?"

She laughed, the sound breathy but genuine as she nodded again. "Yeah... yeah you're right... Thanks, by the way. W-will... uh, will you go? To the competition?"

He threw his arms wide, his grin starting to infect her as he exclaimed, "Of course I will! I'll be there to cheer you on Princess, even if you can't see me. Can't very well show up dressed in black, but I'll be there."

"As a civilian?" she asked, the idea obviously intriguing her, and his smile didn't falter.

"Yep, so don't worry. Shall we go?"

She laughed again and walked past him towards her bed, calling over her shoulder, "Yeah, let's get started."

Cat Noir paced anxiously outside of 'Le Grand Palais de Glaces', the building where the competition would be taking place by the end of the month. He shouldn't be anxious, he and Marinette, well Marinette, had been working so hard. They barely got any sleep at all, he actually had to risk bringing homework on some nights just to stay on top of things but he knew she was too busy to look too closely at his history homework. She practiced endless structure, hammering her form into perfection. He scolded her for the blisters on her feet, but she never fussed too much when he carried her home. He would frown when he saw her massaging her feet through her shoes at school, people asking her why she looked so wiped out. He did his best to avoid suspicion, but hiding his own exhaustion was hard work, and it just made him even more tired. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, she was too tired herself to notice.

She had worked on a simple but elegant routine to a song called 'Nuvole Bianche', one he personally thought was... well... okay, the song that is. Marinette made anything look good when she set a dance to it. He supposed he was just jealous.

Now though he waited for the results, unable to hear what had happened after her dance was completed, flawlessly he might add. She didn't falteronce.

Did it look suspicious that a superhero was pacing on the rooftop of a building? Absolutely. However there was very little else he could think about at that moment, even if he would get a few pointed questions from his Lady later on.

His ears swiveled to catch the sound of large grand doors being pushed open and he dashed to the side of the building to look down at the small crowd that filtered from inside.

There were many girls and a few boys expressing a wide variety of emotions ranging from utter defeat to absolute jubilation. One not very nice young lady was gloating in the face of a few of the other potential competitors who dragged their feet, and he could guess the rankings there. A few people looked relieved, others looked like they just wanted to go home, and Marinette-

Marinette! He spotted her at the back of the crowd, her skates in her hands as she walked down the steps with only her tights covering her feet.

Was it rude to pluck a young girl from a crowd and clamber back up the side of a building while onlookers gasped at the kidnapping?

Probably.

Was it a little funny as well?

Absolutely.