It took a while for Adrien to notice this but Marinette was...kinda cute. Really cute actually.

He had no idea why he was only realising this now nor did he know why it was taking such a physical toll on his body.

"Thanks Adrien!" the girl smiled sweetly as she handed him the clipboard, the pen having already been placed in his hand before she headed back to help lift all the boxes in the music room.

Adrien blinked a few times as his eyes diverged from his classmate and back to the clipboard. In all honesty, he hadn't even realised that he was given a task until he felt the pen's cold, metal body get shoved into his hands.

What just happened? The last time someone left him this speechless was last summer when his father told him that he had three photo shoots lined up for him in the same day. If that wasn't bad enough, he was so distracted by...her...that he didn't even manage to catch the assignment.

He fiddled around for a bit as he tried to make up his mind as to what he should do in this situation. Should he call her back and ask her to repeat herself? Wait, no, it would be rude if it seemed like he wasn't listening. She was talking for a good five minutes too, shit.

He pursed his lips as he looked back down at the page. Oh, okay, this didn't seem too bad. There were already a few notes taken down beforehand. It was safe to assume that he just had to go around and check that all the equipment was still here and in tact. That made sense too, considering that their class was put in charge of cleaning up the hall after their assembly.

Cool, great! Good job, Agreste! He felt like he deserved a little pat on the back after figuring out that one!

Adrien let out a small sigh in relief before beginning to go from box to box to inspect all its contents, Now let's see here...looks like all the cables seemed to have been packed up, nothing seemed to be missing or broken either.

He let out another sigh, though this one seemed a little more defeated and annoyed. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this job wasn't exactly very interesting. He was perfectly fine with standing around and daydreaming about Ladybug and how amazing she is in every sense of the word.

And Marinette too. That one was pretty new.

He looked back over his shoulder, spotting the perky blunette almost immediately as she giggled at Nino as he failed to lift one of the boxes up from the ground.

The blond smiled. She certainly did have a vibe going for her. Maybe it was that little laugh or how she talked with her hands when she got excited. Yeah, she was a little shy around him but he always found that endearing.

That girl sure knew how to tug at someone's heartstrings, whether she was trying or not.

That's why Adrien was blushing. Not because he liked Marinette. She was just an attractive friend who knew how to use her best qualities to her advantage.

Besides, he liked Ladybug. There was no way for him to have romantic feelings for Mari-

"Yo, Agreste!" Alya's voice boomed into his ear. Adrien jumped, letting out a small eep before working to regain his composure. Well there goes his train of thought...

"Ah-Alya!" he stammered nervously as he tried to catch his breath, "I-is there something you want or..?"

"Well I want to know if you're planning on doing something," Alya retorted, cocking her hips to the side.

The only other person who could give the boy so much sass was Ladybug. The only difference was that if it was Ladybug cocking her hips to the side with that bemused expression that Alya was sporting he'd probably be dead where he stands. That or a fumbling pile of goo.

"Ah! Yes, yes, I was just...reviewing...this list!" he chuckled sheepishly. He rubbed his nape as he could feel the sweat droplets form on his forehead. She was pretty terrifying, he could her that.

"Sure..." Alya raised an eyebrow, sounding pretty unconvinced, "Well seeing as you're done," she smirked, plucking the clipboard and pen out of his grasp before adding, "You should probably go help out with those boxes. I'm sure some of them could use a hand," she noted, glancing back at Nino knowingly as a small grin tugged at her lips.

"Right!" he nodded, grinning nervously as he ushered himself away from her.

That's not to say that he didn't find himself standing around for a while before finding someone to help.

Nino seemed fine. A little sore but fine. Adrien then found himself glancing over at Marinette who seemed pretty busy herself.

He watched her for a moment as she placed her fingers underneath the sides of one of boxes, grunting a little as she attempted to pull the box off the ground.

Adrien grinned. There's his job!

He found himself walking down over to her as she seemingly struggled to lift the supplies, "Here, let me help you with that," he smiled softly, attempting to take the box from her.

Marinette's heart fluttered, her cheeks flushing red at the offer, "Oh, d-don't worry about it! It's fine!" she assured, giving the box another tug before managing to hold it properly, "See?"

Adrien stood back as she took a step towards the stage. To say he was surprised was a bit of an understatement. Out of all the things he found Marinette to be he didn't expect such a petite girl to manage to carry such a cart of supplies. It left him a little flustered, really.

He quickly jumped to follow after her as she carried the box of cables over to the right wing of the stage, "Are you sure? I can hold that for you, really!"

"I told you, it's fine!" she insisted. Adrien knew that. Marinette clearly wasn't a weak girl.

"Oh come on!" he persisted, "You've done more work here to help than anyone! No need to overwork yourself!"

"Adrien, really! You don't have to do this!"

"I want to do this!" he claimed as he reached from under the box and took it off her hands.

Marinette blushed, well assuming that she wasn't already. It did feel a bit nice to relax a little, "If you say so..." she mumbled before looking back over at him, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he smiled as he set the supplies down. He's had harder jobs before. Little did he know that Marinette has too.

"I didn't expect for that talent show to be so successful," she noted as she looked around the hall. Marinette's gaze moved back over to his, "Y-you were really great on that piano!" she smiled shyly.

Adrien could feel his cheeks warming up at that compliment. She was just so sweet, "I wasn't that great..." he smiled back sheepishly.

"No, no, you were!" she assured, almost as if his life depended on whether he performed well last Friday or not, "For real!"

Adrien chuckled. He couldn't tell if he intimidated her or not. She really only seemed this on edge around him. He was enjoying this small exchange regardless, "Maybe I can teach you one day," he offered with a Chat-like grin.

Marinette gaped, her ears burning hot. Adrien found himself flushed as well. Where did that come from? He didn't expect let one of his lines slip out like that!

"If you want!" he quickly added. The last thing the boy wanted was for Marinette to feel creeped out.

Marinette quickly nodded as the bell rung, "Right!"

"We should probably go...um, class," Adrien stuttered awkwardly, desperate to pull himself out of this situation.

Marinette just nodded along as she found herself quickly removing herself too, "Right-yeah, class!"

"Okay! Bye!" he called after her as she walked off rapidly.

Adrien let out a sigh as the room emptied out. Plagg peered over his shoulder, "Wow, smooth, kid!"

"Oh shut up," Adrien groaned.

Just his luck.

"Honestly, my lady, I think you should just let me serenade you," Chat stated simply as the two heroes walked down along the night lit sidewalk.

Ladybug couldn't help but snort. All she could think of now was her partner letting out some bizarre yowling sound in another attempt to impress her, "Remind me to bring earplugs when that happens, kitty," she laughed.

Chat rolled his eyes before faking hurt, placing his hand over his heart dramatically, "You wound me~"

"Let me kiss you better then," she smirked. She felt so smart. Take that, Chat Noir!

The leather clad boy didn't seem very bemused though. In fact, he was quite the opposite, "Oh? Go ahead, Bugaboo, nobody's stopping you~" he smirked as he leaned down to her level.

Ladybug flushed as it finally hit her what she just let slip out, "I was joking!" she huffed in frustration, pushing his nose away.

Chat chuckled, rubbing the tip of his nose. It wasn't a secret that he found this amusing. Of course, he knew that she wasn't serious about it. He always suspected for his lady to be a little socially awkward. That didn't mean he wasn't going to take full advantage of it though, "Sure."

The blunette grumbled, "I was!" she insisted, only getting more frustrated by the accusation.

"Never said you weren't," Chat shrugged, though his mischievous grin implied otherwise.

"Your tone implies that you are!" Ladybug countered. She really wasn't appreciating the laugh he was getting out of this.

"Well your tone implied that you wanted to kiss me," he retorted.

His partner huffed again. It was worse because he was right. Not about the kissing, she couldn't think of any situation where she would be willing to do that unless there was some akuma attack. Her tone and body language did imply that she did though.

He simply laughed again as Ladybug folded her arms stubbornly, "Aww, I'm just kidding, Buginette," he chuckled as he nudged her arm playfully, "But just so you know, I'd be delighted to have you as my first kiss."

She smiled sheepishly. If only he knew. Still, it was an awfully sweet thing for him to say.

Their patrol had to come to a halt as they bumped into another local journalist. It was a little surprising that it wasn't Alya, for once.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir!" the girl exclaimed happily. She pulled out her notebook quickly, her pen clicking as she prepared to take down notes.

The two teenagers smiled, already used to this by now, "Mind if I ask you both some questions?"

They both looked at each other for the other's approval. They both seemed fine with an interview, why not.

"Oh, um, sure!" Ladybug smiled.

The reporter's eyes lit up, "Oh, joy!" she chirped happily, "So what are you two doing out here?"

"Just another routine patrol," Noir shrugged, "We have one every few nights or so."

The girl was already scribbling down notes like mad. It was a little funny actually. If Ladybug didn't know better she'd think that she was jolting down an essay.

Questions just kept going from there. It really wasn't anything that they haven't heard before. Ladybug didn't blame them though. Running around in a skintight suit while fighting crime was going to raise some eyebrows.

"Ladybug, what is Chat Noir to you?" she finally asked.

And there it was. The inevitable domestic question, "We're just friends," she answered with a sheepish laugh.

The journalist laughed, "Oh really? If I didn't know better I'd think that you guys are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Chat smirked, "Oh I wish~"

Ladybug sighed, "A lot of people seem to assume that..."

"If only they were right~" her partner mused to himself.

The reporter went on to ask more questions but Ladybug lost sense in listening in anymore. She didn't get it. Yes, her and Chat flirted a lot (jokingly, may she add) and yes, they weren't afraid to get more...touchy, so to speak. That doesn't have to mean that she has to have some sort of hidden feelings for him! Why does this have to be such a frequent question!?

She pursed her lips and looked up at her partner who was rambling on to the reporter, much to her delight.

He wasn't unattractive. Actually, he was very attractive. A lot of girls have had crushes on him in the past.

That didn't have to mean anything though. Finding him good looking didn't have to mean anything.

The reporter was just dumb! All of them were! Her feelings for Chat were clearly very platonic!

She couldn't blame them for wondering though.

I hope you guys likes this! I tried pretty hard on this chapter! I know it sounds cliche now but I promise it's not once things start to unravel! Reviews are really appreciated! Thanks! ^-^