For something that sounded so simple coming out of Alya's mouth, Marinette had a hard time blurting out the words:

"Will you go out with me, Adrien?"

No. Marinette refused to say it. What if she would get rejected? What if he liked someone else?

There were so many factors and circumstances to work in, and Oh! She absolutely refused to ask Adrien out. Marinette would rather stick with her unrequited love, thank you very much. Loving him like this will do just fine… probably.

"Marinette? You do know that it's unrealistic, right?" Alya was sat down in front of her dejected blue-eyed bestie, trying to knock some sense into her poor decision-making. "You should act on your crush! There are so many things you forget to do with indirect confrontations! Remember when you forgot to sign your name on Adrien's birthday present—"

"I remember."

"—and do you remember the time you forgot to sign your name on the love note you gave Adrien?"

"I remember."

"And do you remember—?"

Marinette stood up angrily and threw her hands up in the air. "Yes, Alya! I remember!" she exclaimed. Then, realizing that she had gathered the attention of half the cafe, she sat back down with a tomato red face full of embarrassment and regret. "I'm sorry," she told her friend. "I'm just— I'm really hopeless at this, okay? I can't even manage to pop a full sentence out in front of him—"

"Actually," Alya said matter-of-factly, "you are capable of saying a full sentence. You've been saying full sentences. You're just a Debbie Downer who's too focused on last year's Adrien Interactions. Trust me when I say that you've had enough practice already."

"Um, I have?"

"Yes!" Alya looked at her best friend with gleaming eyes. "Yes! Okay! So, I hate to sound repetitive here, but do you remember when I called Adrien up to help you with your bad Chinese when your uncle was visiting?"

Marinette pouted. "It wasn't that bad..."

"And do you remember when he had to come over to your place when you two won that video game tournament at school?"

"Well... yeah... I talked to him then, too..."

"And remember when we had to submit our student short film and you and Adrien almost kissed?" Alya crossed her arms over her chest. "I mean—sure, you stuttered through most of it, not to mention you were a horrible actress—but you were both comfortable enough to kiss in front of everyone."

Marinette's face became as red as her Ladybug suit. "What does that have to do with talking to him?!" she exclaimed. "W-Where are you going with this?"

Alya giggled. "Point is," she began, "you're getting more and more comfortable around Adrien. All I'm saying is that you can probably ask him out. Like on a date. For real." She turned to her friend and settled her hands on her shoulders. "I believe in you, Marinette! You can totally do this!"

The latter took a deep breath and made a face filled with determination. "You're right," she said. "I can do this. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna ask Adrien ou—"

"Ask me what?"

Speak of the devil, Marinette thought, squirming in her seat as the model in question walked up to the two girls.

"Oh! Hi, Adrien!" Alya waved amicably at their friend. Albeit her cheerful greeting, she gave Marinette the side eye and a mischievous smirk that only spelled trouble. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Yeah, well…" Adrien shrugged. "I had a modeling gig not too far away, and Gor— I mean, my driver agreed to let me stop by here for a quick bite to eat."

Marinette managed a smile. "So how was your photo shoot? Not too tedious, I hope?"

Adrien returned her smile with a wide, relaxed-looking grin of his own. "It actually went well," he replied. "I really liked the designer I worked with, and that helped smooth out the process."

"That's good!" Marinette was about to continue the conversation—bless her heart for not fainting so soon—when Alya ruined everything by standing abruptly from the table.

"I just remembered that I have to go run an errand!" exclaimed Alya, hurriedly shoving Adrien in the direction of their table. "I don't want to drag you guys down, so just stay here and chat, okay?" After throwing a quick, two-finger salute over her shoulder, Alya dashed out the door of the cafe, leaving behind a very flustered Marinette and a confused Adrien.

Marinette looked up at Adrien, this time giving an awkward, lopsided grin. "Um, yeah," she coughed. "A-Anyways, do you, um, come here often?"

Smooth, Marinette, she chided herself. She was so read to punch herself in the face. Real smooth.

Adrien, however, didn't seem to notice her struggle for words. In fact, he continued to smile at her with sincerity.

"Actually, I do," he replied. "This place tends to be in the middle of a lot of photo shoot locations, so I stop by here whenever I can." He leaned closer, and added, "You didn't hear it from me, but I like loading up on carbs. It annoys the heck out of my dad's assistant Natalie, who wants me on some strict diet for modeling."

"My lips are sealed," said Marinette, stifling a giggle. "Though, that does sound pretty harsh. Won't you need to keep up all that energy for modeling? It does take up a lot of time, and um, you also have fencing, don't you?"

Adrien sighed. "Exactly," he said. "My father and Natalie always have me moving around so much, yet they're still so adamant on keeping me on such a strict diet. I'm sick and tired of seeing greens all the time. Pretty sure my skin will end up turning green soon, too."

Marinette tried to smile, but the concern for her friend's well-being came before the humor. "It's not really my place to say this, but your father and Natalie shouldn't be so controlling. I'm sure you like modeling from time to time, but they have to understand that it gets tiring since you have a whole bunch of other activities and school and homework to juggle around and—" Marinette stopped herself. "Oops, I think I've already said a little too much." She coughed. "Um, point is, you should tell them the way you feel. And they should try to understand where you're coming from after you've voiced your opinion."

Wow, Marinette thought, that's the most I've ever said to Adrien. Ever. She felt like her heart was about to explode, but she swallowed back her drumming heartbeat and focused on being a friend.

(Before asking him out, that is.)

(If she can even manage that.)

"If only." Adrien's eyes were downcast. "I've… tried to do that before, but my dad's a pretty strict guy. He's been that way ever since my mom—"

Marinette noticed the crack in his voice and hurried to stop him. "Hey," she called, waiting for him to look her in the eyes. "You don't have to talk about it if you aren't comfortable. I—um— I'm sorry if that brought up unpleasant memories."

"No, no. It's fine. Really, Marinette." Adrien smiled up at her. She quickly noticed how sad and lonely his lovely green eyes were, and she felt that tug in her gut to get to know him better and maybe help fill the gap left behind by his mother. Marinette was well aware that she could, in no means, replace her, but she did want to help her friend smile a little more. She wanted his smile to reach his eyes and light up the entire room.

"Um." Marinette fidgeted with her fingers, fearing that she'd stared at him for too long. "Uh, you should"—she awkwardly cleared her throat—"order something now. You're probably hungry."

"O-Oh yeah! Completely forgot," Adrien stuttered. "You're just... really easy to talk to Marinette. I'm glad we're friends."

How can I possibly ask him out when he says something like that so sincerely? Marinette wondered as she reassured him with a smile.

"Of course," she replied. "And if you're ever feeling another spark of rebellion against that strict modeling diet of yours, you should consider stopping by the bakery. I'm sure my parents will be more than willing to help you out with your problem." Marinette let out a small laugh. "Actually, I think they, uh, really like you. They think you should come more often."

Did I really just say that?! Marinette was internally screaming.

Adrien looked up from his menu and looked slightly surprised. The look was quickly overtaken by a grateful expression. "Thanks, Marinette," he said sincerely. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Before Marinette could fall off her chair, she quickly raised her hand to call a waiter's attention. "U-Um, can I have a tall glass of ice water, please?" she asked, in the hopes that it would help her face cool down. She turned to Adrien. "And, um, you?"

While Adrien took his turn ordering, Marinette to this change to finally collect her thoughts and catch her breath.

Hopefully Adrien didn't notice how her face was the same shade as a well-cooked lobster.

"What do you mean you couldn't ask him out?!" Even after I left you alone with him like that?!"

Leave it to Alya to manage to be mad at Marinette for yet another one of her failed romantic exploits. How the girl managed to know the exact time she got home and call her, Marinette didn't know, but one could always count on Alya to be irrationally mad at her best friend for failing to ask out her long-time crush.

I mean, come on! I really was hard!

"You should have seen the look on his face when he said, 'I'm glad we're friends, Marinette.' How do you expect me to ask him out after he says something like that?" the other girl countered. Marinette was flopped down on her chaise, exhausted from keeping her thunderous heartbeat at bay while talking to Adrien. (In her defense, she did a great job.) "You should try asking someone out after they tell you how much they appreciate you as a friend all sincere and puppy-looking! I can't just pull that on him!"

Alya sighed on the other end of the receiver. "Okay, okay. I get it," she said. "But you have to do it at some point, Marinette. I want to see progress in your love life—"

"Alya…," Marinette drawled, her voice coming off as a whine. "I'll ask out Adrien when you finally have the guts to ask Nino out."

Dead silence on the other end.

Marinette was so sure she had pushed the right buttons, and her suspicions were confirmed when Alya stuttered:

"Wh-Wha—? Me? Are you— You're seriously talking to me? Me? As in me, Alya Césaire, have a crush on Nino? Like, Nino who sits in front of us Nino?" She snorted. "Girl, you're crazy! Of-of course, I don't! How— How dare you even suggest that? That's disgusting. And wrong. I don't even get— Why would— I've never liked anyone that way, ever. It's none of your— You have—the nerve, the audacity. Nino is my friend, technically. And he is terrible, face-wise. And how—how—do I know, frankly, that you're not in love with him? Maybe you are. Maybe you're trying to throw me off. Hmm? Check and mate."

There was no stopping the uncontrollable fit of laughter bursting from Marinette's end of the line. She couldn't help it— It was so painstakingly obvious (to Marinette, at least) that Alya had a crush on Nino.

Sure, it wasn't as bad or as obvious as the first few months of Marinette's celebrity crush on Adrien, but still! The lingering stares, the playful smirks, the teasing flirts— Those things, albeit subtle, were pretty hard to miss. Even Adrien was picking up on it, and Alya was far more subtle than Marinette ever will be when it comes to crushing on someone.

"D-Don't laugh!" Alya stuttered. "Hey, if you don't stop, I will come to your room right now and kick your butt. I mean it, Marinette!"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Marinette stifled her laughter.

"And at least I'm somewhat subtle about it. You're about as subtle as a brick when it comes to your crush on Adrien."

"Point taken," Marinette admitted sheepishly. "But my condition still stands. If you don't have the guts to ask Nino out, then there is no way I'm asking Adrien."

A moment of silence passed before:

"Fine! Fine. All right. I'll do it. I'll ask Nino out," Alya grumbled. "And I'm doing it after school tomorrow, so you better practice asking Adrien out, Marinette, because it's your turn next!"

"It's a deal." Marinette opened her mouth to say more, but her mom's voice called her from downstairs.

"Dinner's ready, Marinette!" Sabine hollered. "Wrap up your phone call, darling!"

"Coming, Maman!" she called over her shoulder. "You heard the lady, Alya. I gotta go. I'll see you in school tomorrow, all right?"

"See ya! Later, girl." Before Marinette officially ended their call, she heard Alya add, "And you better own up to your end of the deal."

Oh, boy. Marinette was in for an earful tomorrow, that's for sure.

"Is it me or are Alya and Nino more… chummy lately?" During gym, Adrien leaned over to talk to Marinette as they did their warm up stretches.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "It's definitely not you," she replied. "Alya and I were talking last night and she agreed to ask Nino out if I ask—" Shut your face hole, Marinette! she scolded herself before letting out an awkward cough. "But, um! Don't tell Nino! She said she would ask him after school today."

Adrien smiled. "My lips are sealed," he said, making the gesture of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. "And by the way," he added as they finished up their stretches. "Did you, by any chance, catch what we were doing in gym today?" There was a barely discernible flush of red on Adrien's ears. His eyes were focused only on Marinette. "I kind of zoned out."

Marinette had to muster all her strength to manage an answer. "I, um— I think we're, um, doing—playing—um, volleyball," she stuttered, unable to tear her gaze away from Adrien's dreamy, emerald green eyes that just so happened to catch the gym lights in an unbelievably, unrealistically perfect way—"

She stopped herself from getting carried away and blinked, forcing herself to look away and retie her shoelaces.

In her defense, who wouldn't find themselves lost in the eyes of their crush? Marinette, for one, thought that Adrien's eyes were one of the many (many) brilliant aspects that made him wonderful.

"Volleyball, huh?" Adrien seemed to ponder on that for a moment before turning back to Marinette and patting her on the shoulder. "I hope we're on the same team, Marinette."

"S-Same," she stuttered. However, she was quickly snapped out of her Adrien Trance™ when their gym teacher blew his whistle.

"Your attention please!" he said in a loud voice. "As I mentioned before, you will be playing volleyball in class today. Because Alix and Kim aren't here today"—there was a collective groan from the class, seeing as the two of them were the most athletic out of the group—"we have enough people to make exactly two teams. I will count you off by twos, so one group will stay on this side of the court and the other will go to their respective side. Questions?" When no one raised their hand, Mr. D'argencourt began to number people off.

Just Marinette's luck, too— Of course Adrien was placed on the opposite team. To pile onto that, Chloé Bourgeois happened to be sorted into her team as well.

At least Marinette had Alya.

Upon getting called to Marinette's team, Alya walked over to where her friend stood and gave her a high five.

"On the same team!" she cheered as she faced the opposing team on the other side of the net. Adrien, Nino, Mylène, Rose, Juleka, and Max were already set in their starting positions, with Nino set to serve and Adrien in the right spiker's position.

Meanwhile, Marinette's team consisted of Alya, Chloé, Sabrina, Ivan, and Nathaniel. The majority vote was to make Marinette captain, which she held no opposition to. Chloé, of course, had other ideas, but Mr. D'argencourt had already told her off for not listening. She had decided that her nails were more important anyways.

"Okay, so here's the plan," Marinette began. "Ivan, you'll be serving first. Chloé, you'll go second in the rotation. Alya, you come third, and I'll come fourth. Sabrina will go after me, and Nathaniel will go after Sabrina. Any questions?"

"I have a question!" Of course you do, Chloé, Marinette thought inwardly as she turned to look at her. "Why can't I go first?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Chloé, you hate messing up your hair, let alone your nails. If you serve first, you'll ruin the momentum, and Ivan's the best server power-wise. Don't you want to win?"

Chloé, unable to have a proper comeback for a retort that made sense, simply stomped her foot and swiftly turned her head, nearly taking Ivan's ear off in the team huddle. "Whatever," she said in her snooty voice. "Let's just get this over with. Come on, Sabrina."

When the terrible twosome left their meeting to go to their respective positions, Marinette added:

"I'll be the setter, and the main spikers can be anyone but Chloé. When the ball is coming toward her, make sure you cover. Nathaniel, Ivan, Alya?" Since their initial positions place Chloé in the right spiker's position, shorter serves might be coming to her, leaving it up to the players behind her—that would be either Ivan or Nathaniel, depending on the course of the ball—or the player beside her, a.k.a. Alya. Sabrina, Marinette was sure, would do just fine since she was separated from Chloé. She would need some help maybe, but Marinette knew she could count on Sabrina far more than she ever could count on Chloé.

"There's our game plan, guys!" Marinette called as she clapped her hands together and moved into position. "Let's win this!"

Coincidentally, her position placed her directly across from Adrien's.

Cue Chloé's whiny voice across the court—-"She purposely planned it this way so she could hog Adrien!"—to which Alya quickly snapped back with "It's just a coincidence, Chloé. Do you want to win or not?"

Adrien smirked a very Cat Noir-like smirk at Marinette. There were times where they always looked a little too similar than Marinette would like, and she had always decided to dismiss it as her imagination. But lately… She wasn't sure. She would have to confront him about it later.

"Looks like we aren't on the same team after all," Adrien observed with a playful tone in his voice. "So did you pick this spot so you would be the one to face me, Marinette?"

Adrenaline and the overbearing urge to always win allowed Marinette to hit him back with a smirk of her own and a snarky reply:

"In your dreams, Adrien," she retorted. "This is my winning spot, and you better remember it when my team kicks your butt."

"Challenge accepted, Princess."

Maybe that was just a slip of the tongue, Marinette decided, upholding her 'fierce competitor' face for their game while keeping that remark at the back of her mind. It's totally a coincidence because there was no way that Adrien was Cat Noir… right?

They won, of course. That was to be expected. Marinette brought her A-Game and helped her team keep their spirits high by cheering during serves and spikes and complimenting them on particularly excellent receives that brought the ball right to her.

"Good game," Marinette greeted once she reached the end of the other team's lineup, shaking Adrien's hand. "Told you that'd be my winning position."

"Lady Luck just happened to be on your side, is all," Adrien replied with a grin. "I'll win next time."

Oh, sure, Marinette acted completely normal afterward. She deserved a pat on the back for that. But that teeny detail remained at the back of her mind for the rest of the day and well into the late afternoon when school had already ended.

"What's that supposed to mean, Tikki?" Marinette cried. The frantic look on look on her face made the girl look about ready to yank all her hair out. "Does he know something? You know, I've been noticing him acting a lot like Cat Noir lately… Do ou think it's because he knows I'm Ladybug? Oh my goodness! What if he knows I'm Ladybug! What else is 'Lady Luck just happened to be on your side' supposed to mean? I'm Lady Luck! It's one of my nicknames! Oh my goodness, Tikki—"

"Calm down, Marinette," the little kwami said, sticking its hands out in a gesture meant to settle Marinette down. "There's always a possibility that it was just a coincidence—"

"But what if it's not?" The calming down thing was not working. Marinette was still freaked out. "He called me 'Princess' earlier, too. And then he made that Lady Luck comment. That can't possibly be a coincidence!"

"You two have only started talking more often during the past months," Tikki pointed out. "You've barely been able to stutter a word out to him last school year, so I doubt he knows very much to deduce that you're Ladybug."

Marinette looked hesitant. "Well," she began, biting her lip. "You're not… wrong… I suppose that is a possibility… Hmm… Maybe I am just overthinking things."

"That's right! You just—" Tikki widened her eyes before quickly zooming away, hiding behind Marinette's back.

A moment later, Marinette heard heavy footsteps, followed by her dad opening the door to her room. "Oh, Marinette!" Tom called in a singsong voice. "You've got a visitor downstairs."

The 'visitor' was Adrien, and her mom was probably in the middle of embarrassing her daughter. Go figure.

"There you are, Marinette!" said Sabine, flashing a knowing smile. "We only have one customer right now, so your dad and I were about to head out to restock on some things. Hope you don't mind watching the shop for a little bit."

"Um…" Marinette turned towards Adrien, gave him a little wave in greeting, and faced her mother once again. "Sure, Maman. I don't mind. I'll take care of the shop," she reassured. "I've already finished up my homework, so you go ahead with Papa and I'll take care of our customer here." She sneaked another shy glance at Adrien, who gave her a toothy grin in return.

Satisfied with her answer, Sabine patted her daughter on the back and headed out the back door where her husband was already waiting. "All right… I trust, Marinette," she said. With a wave over her shoulder, she added, "And it was very nice seeing you again, Adrien!"

When the door clicked shut, Marinette faced her model friend. She let out a small chuckle. "I told you they liked you," she said. "So, um, Adrien. What brings you here?"

"I took you up on your offer yesterday," he replied with a nonchalant shrug. "So what's your favorite treat here, Marinette?"

"Oh! Um…" She turned around from behind the counter to stare up at the mounted menu. "Let's see… Well, to be fair, I'm always a sucker for classics, so my favorite is just a little plateful of chocolate chip cookies." She winked—oh my goodness, she winked for heaven's sake—at Adrien and added, "And between the two of us, they taste a lot better when they're warmed up a little."

"Chocolate chip cookies it is!" Adrien ordered. "And can I get that with some of your cheese bread?"

Marinette looked surprise. "Wow, someone's really hungry," she commented. "Was there a particularly taxing photo shoot today or…?"

"Sort of." Adrien smiled and sat down at one of the tables set up. "The designer was very… difficult, and the photographer was pushy. Not the best photo shoot exactly."

Marinette frowned when she heard that, but—what in the akumatized world was going on here?!—she dropped another wink and added, "I'll bring you that pate of warm chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk then." She smiled. "Hopefully that helps lift your mood a little."

Her heart was about to explode from all the flirting she's done in the past two minutes. If only Alya could see her now.

"You are an actual angel, Marinette!" exclaimed Adrien as he ate the last of the chocolate chip cookies. "Those were the best cookies I have ever tasted in my entire life."

Marinette blushed a scarlet red. "Thanks," she muttered. "I'll tell my parents that you gave them such high praises."

She watched as he downed the last of his milk. "Oh, please do," he said, wiping off his milk moustache. "And thank you as well, Marinette."

"What did I do?"

"I feel a lot better after that exhausting photo shoot. I'm really glad I decided to stop by today."

"Me too." Marinette shifted in her seat across from Adrien. She supposed now was as good a time as ever. "Say, Adrien? There's, um, something I've been meaning to as you for a long while now."

"Really? What is it, Marinette?"

"Will you"—This is it! This is it!—"go out with me?"