Author's Note: This collection started when inspiration struck looking at the first week of prompts for Adrinette April. I have combined those into one story, which will be this first chapter. I am currently working on one other compilation of several prompts and may or may not write toward more of them later this month, but I also plan to do more one shots revolving around other ships of the love square (especially Marichat next month), so I decided to combine it into one unconnected collection with a title that will fit all of the stories I may include.

As for this chapter, once I started looking at the prompts, that first week began to form into this story from one of my favorite/least favorite episodes, "Frozer." I wanted to write fluff, but it didn't turn out that way. Did I mention I have a love/hate thing with this episode?

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or storyline of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. I make no profit from this story and no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just spending some time with a few of my favorite characters. The story is mine, however, except where directly referencing or quoting an episode.

Marinette liked to consider it a waiting room of sorts; that sounded far better than "friend zone." Largely having an upbeat personality, she preferred to look on the brighter side when she could. Because, when that wasn't possible, the rapid downward spiral of her thoughts was impressive.

She'd been here long enough that she knew the number of ceiling tiles in the waiting room. She could point out the scuffs on the wall where the dulled, off-white paint had chipped away when the uncomfortable chairs had bumped against it. She could locate the rips in the fabric where careless inhabitants had caused damage, at least until she had expertly repaired them. After all, she needed something to do while she was waiting.

Waiting. To be seen.

Waiting. To be known.

Waiting. To hear the words "more than," before the dreaded and oft-repeated, "a friend."

Waiting. For Adrien Agreste.

Honestly, this place was driving her nuts, and she wanted out. She tried to leave several times but something always went wrong: she mixed up her words, literally fell down, forgot to sign a Valentine card. She couldn't get out once and for all, at least not without risking the loss of the young man who had become one of her best friends.

If she could just hold on long enough, surely he'd figure it out. So, she kept waiting. It wasn't really wasted time. They had gotten closer. She could talk normally around Adrien, now, most of the time. And while she was still clumsy, it was no worse around him than with any other person. But still she was a friend. A good friend. But still just a friend.

And then one day, the very last person she would have expected to join her in the waiting room of the friend zone became her unintentional seat buddy. Really, could this happen to anyone else? She supposed it was sweet, in a way, that he sought her out for advice, about the girl he had started to see differently. Marinette hated how she had let her hopes rise with that conversation. It meant she had that much further to fall, back down to the hard earth, when it wasn't her name on his lips.

For just a moment, she entertained the thought of keeping him here in the waiting room with her. Maybe as they spent time together, he'd come to see her differently. Almost as quickly, she rejected the idea as selfish and manipulative. And because she really was his friend, she agreed to help. Even if it meant it happened with someone else, she wanted him to be happy.

That led to perhaps the most embarrassing double "date" in the history of dating. Clumsily hitting the wall while distracted by how well things appeared to be going for Adrien and Kagami, landing on her behind, literally freezing up, and then finally hiding in the bathroom when she realized she couldn't do this after all.

Now that she thought of it, this particular hiding place wasn't a whole lot different from the sterile waiting room she had been inhabiting for so long now. How did she keep ending up surrounded by cold, white walls that offered no comfort at all?

Perhaps the key to the door of the waiting room rested with another person entirely? What was the use in staying here, especially when her only visitor had come and gone in the blink of an eye as soon as she opened the door for him, sadly ensuring her own continued occupancy? She had shown him the way out; could someone else do the same for her?

Really, would it be so bad to give up? To leave the waiting room, to quit endlessly waiting and be happy with being just friends with Adrien? To find more with another person instead? Maybe Luka? She thought he might be interested; he had dropped a hint or two earlier, about having a new song to write. But would that be fair to him? Would it be fair to her?

Unbidden, and frankly unwelcome, another face floated into her vision, one with sparkling, mischievous green eyes, blond hair, and a knowing smirk covering the lower half of his face. Stupid, flirty, cat. She pushed that image out of her mind, forcefully. He was just a flirt. Leaving the waiting room with him would surely plunk her down in heartbreak, wouldn't it?

Ugh. She groaned aloud and dropped her head into her hands. Why did this have to be so hard? If she just left, ran off screaming from this stupid ice rink and all the emotional drama, would there be anyone who'd care enough to come after her? Maybe Alya and the girls had been right, and this whole idea could end in no other way than disaster. What had she been thinking?

Her head snapped up from her defeated thoughts at a soft inquiry. Wait. Was that Adrien's voice coming from the other side of the bathroom door? He came to check on her? He left his date, for her?

What was she supposed to do with that?