"What Happened Next?" Mondays! - The Bubbler!

(Double posting today! My goal is to be done with these before the next season comes out, so I have to double up for a few weeks to make it before December. Yay!)

(Also, this is not so much a "What Happens Next?" for the END of the episode, but kind of a "What SHOULD Have Probably Happened Next.")

"Dude, seriously?" Nino spat, shaking his head incredulously. "Has your dad always been such a downer? You'd think he'd remember what it was like to be young and want to party a little."

Adrien watched the bubbles Nino had blown fly into the air, pushed by a current they couldn't control.

Nino noticed the wistful expression on Adrien's face.

"No, I'm pretty sure he was a downer back then too," Adrien said with a shrug. His eyes looked down. "At least I tried."

Nino cringed inwardly. No one should be down on their birthday!

"It's your b-day, dude! We'll figure something out!" Nino touched Adrien's shoulder. The best friends were about to share a smile when a girl came swinging around the corner.

Nino suppressed a chuckle for Marinette's sake. Her posture spoke volumes; she looked like she had just been pushed onto a brightly lit stage without warning, and he would bet money that Alya was around the corner, the mastermind behind Marinette's sudden appearance.

Marinette blinked a few times before waving uncomfortably to the two friends standing there. Well, Nino thought she meant to wave to both of them, but she only had eyes for the birthday boy.

"Hey!" she squeaked out.

"Hey," Adrien waved back, equally awkward. He seemed to notice how Marinette's eyes were only really on him.

Nino watched with humor as Marinette tried to sputter out coherent sentences; she was failing miserably. As she went on for a moment, and then as Chloe came to say her part (not to be outdone by Marinette), Nino's mind wandered. He started to get an idea for a birthday present that even a model would appreciate.

After Adrien left to get into the car (Nino noticed the sad look smeared all over his face), Nino walked casually around the corner of the stairs. His suspicions from earlier were confirmed. While Marinette still laid in a weird position on the sidewalk, scowling, Alya was indeed right around the corner, shaking her head in shame.

"Hey, ladies," started Nino. "I got a plan for my man, Adrien, but I'm gonna need your help."

To say Adrien was confused would be an understatement.

But when the doors opened, to say he was overwhelmed would have been the understatement of a lifetime.

Feelings came faster than words, gratitude being in the forefront. There before him, in the upstairs apartment of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, were all of his classmates.

And balloons. And silly hats. And a cake.

Tears pricked Adrien's eyes and a smile crossed his face.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADRIEN!"

It was the best birthday. Ever.

Fin!

BONUS!

Hawk Moth laughed wickedly, closing his eyes in overpowering mirth.

If his eyes had been opened, he might have been able to see it coming.

"BWUAHAHAHAHA!" he continued. "BWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA-AHHHHH! WHAT! NO!"

But it was too late. The greenish bubble had snatched him up and he began his ascent out his window to float above the city.

Hawk Moth crossed his arms and sat in an evil pout, regretting every decision to "Akuma" today.

"Blasted teenager hooligans…."

He tried to sit as dignified as an evil genius could while floating in a bubble, hoping, for once, that Ladybug and Chat Noir succeeded today.

And hoping they did so quickly.