"Alya!"

"Marinette! Hurry up, the bell's gunna ring, girl!" Alya called, waving her arm energetically above her head.

"Sorry." Marinette said, only slightly out of breath (fakingly so. If she could run halfway across Paris she could run across the street). "I-"

"Woke up late? I know. Now, come on!" Alya grabbed her ditzy friend's hand and dragged her into the school.

"Is Adrien here yet?" Marinette asked covertly as they ran to their classroom.

Alya rolled her eyes at her friend. Two years and Marinette's obsession with Adrien Agreste had only grown, if that was even possible. "Uh, yeah. He's always here before you, Mari. You know, if you wanted to have more 'Adrien Time' you could just come in early. Or, you know, on time."

Marinette groaned. "Ok, conversation over, he might hear you!" She whisper-hissed to her friend as they slid into their seats just as the bell rang.

"Hey Alya, Mari." Nino said over his shoulder. The teacher wasn't there yet, like usual. It was as if she was late everyday just for this occurrence.

"Hi Nino." Marinette greeted brightly as Alya waved and turned to the blonde on the other side of her boyfriend.

"Hey, Adrien!"

Adrien jolted in his seat and whipped around, waving awkwardly to the two girls. But nowhere near as awkward as Marinette's returned hand spaz.

"Something on your mind, bro?" Nino asked with a raised eyebrow.

"O-Oh, no. I'm just tired. I had... a pretty late photo shoot last night."

"You tired, Boo? I-I mean, you too tired! Er, you tired, too?" Marinette spluttered. Alya discreetly facepalmed while Nino snickered.

"Yeah, I can't wait to take a nap after school. Why are you tired?"

"Uh..." Flashbacks from last night's akuma filtered through her malfunctioning brain. "Designing?"

"Always." Alya laughed. The four turned back towards the front of the class as Madam Bustier walked in.

"Good morning, class!" She greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning, Madam Bustier!" They chorused back.

"Mari, did you remember to finish your home work?" Alya whispered.

Marinette blanched and covered her face with her hands. "Oh no." She groaned. "I completely forgot."

"Girl, I don't think I have ever met someone as forgetful as you are. Here, hurry up and copy mine. But don't expect me to do this again." Alya said teasingly.

"You're a life saver." Marinette whispered, pulling out a blank sheet of paper.

"You know it."

"Bro, you wanna go see that new Mecha Strike movie they got out? I heard it's not as lit as the first two, but we should go!" Nino whispered to Adrien as the teacher walked around to collect last night's homework. The two handed theirs over without even looking up as Adrien responded.

"Sure! I bet it'll be great!" The blonde seemed to droop, however, as he continued. "But I don't know if my dad will let me..."

"Oh pssh. We'll find a way to convince him."

"A way without bubbles, please." Adrien laughed.

Nino elbowed him. "Yeah, yeah. Should we invite the girls, too? Mari's got some mad smooth talk skills when it comes to parents. Maybe she could talk yo Dad into letting you go!"

Adrien nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me. We're not going to be third wheeling you and Alya, though, are we?"

"Nah. It'll be more like a double date, except like a double friend date? I don't know, man. Call it what you wanna." Nino then turned around to face the girls. "Hey, y'all up for Mecha Strike III tonight? It's Tuesday, the tickets are half off."

"Totally!" Alya exclaimed.

"They made another movie?" Marinette asked. "I think the games are better, but the movies are cool enough. I wonder how far they're going to take them, though..." She trailed off as she noticed not only Alya and Nino's stares, but Adrien's too. "Er..."

Alya laughed. "Marinette.exe has stopped responding. That's a yes from us though. What time?"

"Five?" Adrien offered. "I'll text Nino if my dad gives me the go ahead by four thirty."

Alya nodded. Madam Bustier called their attention back up front. She started scrawling equations across the blackboard, completely losing half the class. Alya looked over at the once again day-dreaming Marinette and smirked, taking extra notes for her friend. Who just so happened to be staring at the back of Adrien's head, who was taking enough notes for half the class.

He's so cute... I wish I could talk to him without making a fool of myself. Marinette mused to herself as she imagined how soft his hair must be. It was a little longer now than it had been when she first met him. It was only a matter of days before his father had him get another hair cut, and Marinette wasn't going to lose any chance to memorize how his hair looked before then. Physics be damned, when was she ever going to need that in real life? All she needed to know was how to take measurements and how to find akumas. Okay, maybe that's not all she had to do, but it was pretty much it.

Adrien blew another piece of hair out of his eyes as he tried to keep up with what Madam Bustier was saying. Physics was interesting, but not nearly as interesting as Ladybug. Ladybug who had saved him from taking a hit the night before. Of course, the akuma attack was the real reason Adrien was so tired, but no one else knew that. Not even his Lady.

Adrien sighed, Nino giving him a questioning look through half-lidded eyes. Physics time was nap time for his DJ friend. Shaking his head at his delinquent of a friend, Adrien's mind once again drifted back to Ladybug. She'd changed her hairstyle recently, opting for twin buns at the nape of her neck instead of the ponytails. Which, once they had grown out some, had become prime weak spots for the young heroine. She had changed them after they got caught in a doorway. Don't ask how it happened, even she didn't seem to know.

In his opinion, the buns suited her perfectly. They made her look... a little older than the pigtails had, showing how much she had changed in the last two years. She had grown as a hero and as a friend to Chat Noir (who was betting now on how much longer she had before she fell completely head over heels for him), and even all of Paris had begun to notice it. Alya had even done a special on Ladybug's apparent "growth spurt and puberty streak," much to his partner's dismay. However, even with the growth spurt she had only grown maybe an inch taller, whereas he had gained at least three. He was always asking her now if she needed a step up or if she needed him to help her grab the akumatized item from particularly tall victims.

However, Alya wasn't wrong that Ladybug had had some sort of a growth spurt. Adrien's ears burned with embarrassment from the times he had caught himself noticing.

Shaking his head, he went back to taking his notes, wondering when he could finally cut his hair again.

"Hey, Girl, are we going to the bakery for lunch again today?" Alya asked as they packed up their books at the end of third period.

"Yeah, my maman said she would have something ready for us."

"No fair!" Nino cried. "You two always get great food!"

Adrien looked offended, but agreed.

"Can't we come? Just once? Please, Mari-bro?" Nino whined.

"Uh-"

"I don't think I could eat at a bakery, Nino. This stupid diet my dad's got me on is nothing but greens."

"Well, Mari here makes the best green apple macaroons." Alya said with a wink as she slung her arm around Marinette's shoulders, leading the three of them out towards the front doors. The bluenette blushed and giggled nervously.

"They're just macaroons..."

Adrien groaned. "Alya! I was perfectly fine with my non-sugar greens, and you just had to go and-" he was cut off by a loud crash followed by screaming from outside.

"Sounds like an akuma!" Alya yelled, whipping her phone out. She grabbed Nino's hand and took off.

"Alya, wait!" Marinette yelled, but it was too late, and she had to transform anyways. Turning back to give an excuse to Adrien, and hopefully get him to hide unlike Alya, she noticed the blonde's absence.

Groaning at the morality-complexes of her three friends, Marinette quickly ducked into a closet and opened her purse.

Tikki darted out, squeaking a, "Quick, transform!" Before Marinette was saying the words and her suit started to take form over her.

She brushed her bangs off to the side to make sure they didn't get caught in the mask- they never did, but you can never be too careful. Especially after your pigtails get caught in a door.- She watched as the red, breathable material covered her fingers and raced up her arm and down her middle. Once her transformation was done, she grabbed her yo-yo from her hip and kicked the door open.

The entryway was still empty as she shot off and out the front doors. Following the screams and crashes, she raced across the rooftops until the akuma was in view.

The girl had two long, wheat colored braids that were longer than the gold and pink nightgown she wore. Her bangs were pinned back by twin bunny clips which matched the fuzzy slippers on her feet.

Ladybug watched as the akuma aimed a raggedy pillow at the nearest building, reducing it to dust. Raising her empty hand, she made the dust come together in a swirling tornado of pulverized debris before blowing it at the screaming civilians. Everyone who was hit by the dust fell to the ground, comatose.

"Good afternoon, M'Lady!" Chat Noir said cheerfully as he dropped next to her, whistling low. "It's a good thing we got enough sleep. Otherwise we might have ended up like Mary over here."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I think the akuma's in her pillow. Be careful, what she shoots it with turns into some kind of sleep dust. If we get hit, we'll be out cold."

"You got it. I may be a beauty, but I'm no sleeping beauty." With that, Chat was off, swirling his baton above his head as he jumped down to the street.

"Chat." Ladybug gritted out, following after him.

"I am Sweet Dreamer!" The akuma yelled as she noticed them. "And not even Chat Noir and Ladybug will keep me from putting all of Paris to sleep! Ten there will be no one to push me around or keep me awake!"

"Yeah, But then who will be there to wake you up for you hair appointment? You've got quite a few knots and split ends, my dear." Chat taunted, dodging some of her dream dust.

Ladybug swung her yo-yo out and pulled it taught as it wrapped around the akuma's arm.

"Give me your miraculous, and I'll give you sweet dreams!"

"And you'll give us nightmares if we don't?" Ladybug shot back. "Try bearing the ones we already have!" She pulled on the yo-yo, causing the akuma to stumble. As she fell forward she pointed the pillow at another building and waved her arm at the two superheroes. Chat flipped in front of Ladybug, fanning away the dust.

"Hey, Bugaboo. I'm your biggest fan." He said with a wink. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Chat, now's not the time."

"Oh, so later then. Got it." With that he lunged for the girl, dodging the spears of dust she shot at him. He raised his baton over his head and brought it down, but she blocked it with her pillow. Ladybug shot out with her yo-yo again, pulling at the girls ankle, causing her to fall backwards.

"Ladybug!" The girl shrieked. She waved her arm again, causing all of the people she had knocked out previously to stand as one and turn towards the two miraculous holders. "You think you can best my sleep-walkers? Give up your earrings and ring or join them!"

"I think we'll take our chances." Ladybug said between her teeth as the sleep-walkers started towards them. Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around a light post and swung herself up and over into a nearby building. Chat landed next to her moments later.

"What's the plan, M'Lady?"

Ladybug scanned the crowded street below and hummed. "I can't use the Lucky Charm yet, because we'll only have five minutes to get to her and I don't think we'll be able to go that quickly. We need to get her separated from the crowd-"

"Leave that to me." He said with a wink before sprinting off the edge of the building.

"Chat!" She cursed and watched as he made faces at the hoard of sleep-walkers, drawing the attention of most of them as he took off down the street. They followed after him with Sweet Dreamer's command. Ladybug waited until the street was mostly empty before calling out for her Lucky Charm.

She held out her arms as a grappling hook fell from the sky. "Really." She muttered, no longer surprised, merely annoyed. She sighed and looked around for anything that fit with the plan forming in her head. Not wholly her plan, but from the magic of her miraculous and Tikki.

"Sweet Dreamer!" She called, stepping back into sight at the edge of the roof. The akuma looked up at her and glared.

"You have one last chance to give me your miraculous!" She yelled.

"I think it's time you put aside your job to get some much needed sleep!" Ladybug responded, swinging her yo-yo and once again latching onto the girl's empty arm to keep her from using it as she shot the grappling hook at the pillow. It went right through the top corner of it, feathers exploded into the air. She reeled it back in quickly with the press of a button and caught it in her hand. Ladybug ripped the pillow in half which freed the little akuma. Flipping open her yo-yo with the touch of a finger, she swung it out in a large arch towards the akuma.

"Time to de-evilize! Gotcha!" She pulled her yo-yo back and opened it once again, waving to the plain white butterfly as it flew off.

Her earrings beeped once as Chat landed next to her once again.

"Two years and we still make the best team in Paris, Bugaboo. We were just made for each other." Chat said with a smug smile.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She yelled throwing the grappling hook into the air and ignoring the infuriating Chat.

"Pound it." They said, knocking their hands together. Her earrings beeped again.

"See ya later, Kitty." She said, flipping off the roof and hooking her yo-yo onto another building.

She landed on top of the school and slipped in through one of the skylights and darting into an empty classroom.

"Tikki, spots off!" She said, the familiar tingle running across her skin as her suit went away with Ladybug. Marinette sighed and slipped Tikki back into her purse before running back to the entryway.

"Mari! Where were you!" Alya yelled when she got there. Adrien and Nino looked over at her at Alya's yell.

"I, er, got hit with that dust stuff." She laughed. "I should get some of that, maybe I could actually wake up on time!"

Alya sighed. "You're always getting caught. I think maybe I should start dragging you with me to make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"Uhhh... I would probably just drag you down with me. You know how unlucky I am." Marinette lied.

Adrien frowned at Marinette as she nervously answered Alya's questions. Had she really been one of the sleep-walkers? He couldn't remember seeing her. Although, at least one fourth of Paris had been in that crowd. It was very plausible that he had just looked right over her.

But she's acting so secretive. He thought. If she was telling the truth, why would she need to be so nervous?

"It's okay, Marinette. Adrien over here said he just cowered in a corner. At least you got a part in some of the action." Nino said, jabbing a thumb in his direction.

Marinette and Adrien smirked inwardly at his comment.

If only he knew.

Perhaps that's all it was, she was just trying to get a closer look, Adrien told himself. What else would she be doing out there? Being Ladybug? Nothing against Marinette, but Adrien couldn't even picture sweet and stuttering Marinette as the proud and sassy Ladybug.

Speaking of Ladybug... Adrien was more than just a little disappointed that he had only seen the red clad heroine for a few minutes. That the akuma attack had been solved so easily and quickly. Ladybug had been amazing, as always.

Marinette, on the other hand, was proving to be more and more confusing each day.

She seemed to dislike me, with how she was always avoiding me and becoming uncomfortable, and yet she was never mean to me and had helped me a few times with school things in the past two years. But that could be just how she is. The only person Marinette is outright mean to is Chloe, and even then she still doesn't show much.

And then there was the time with the evilastrator. She had walked in there with confidence and didn't even bat an eye as she got the pen away from the akuma. And she was apparently always getting caught up in the akuma attacks, and yet she always seemed chipper after. As if it was just a stroll in the park.

"Adrien?" Nino said, breaking my thoughts apart. "You okay, bro?"

"Hu? Oh, yeah. Why?"

Alya snorted and said with a smirk, "Cause you were staring at Marinette for like, five minutes." Adrien looked back at (a very, very red and squeamish) Marinette and felt his ears burn.

"Heh. Sorry. I kinda... spaced out?" He said. He rubbed the back of his neck and refused to look at any of them.

"We should probably get back to class." Alya sighed.

Nino And Adrien groaned, but Marinette nodded eagerly. She thought somebody better make a note of this monumental moment when she actually wanted to be as far away from Adrien as possible.

Or did she? He had just been looking at her for five minutes straight as if she was the most interesting person in the room. Just the thought made her cheeks redden even more. Could he possible, maybe, just a little bit, like her back?

She frowned and pushed that thought aside. Who did she think she was?

Well, she was Lasybug, but he didn't know that and he couldn't ever know that. Because no one can find out. Not even Chat Noir. So telling Adrien was definitely out of the question.

So, she was back to being Just Stupid, Stuttering, Spineless Marinette.

And he was The Adrien Agreste.