Welcome to Chapter Two, friends! Thank you for all the great reviews, follows and favorites! It's so wonderful to have such supportive readers so early into this fanfic. :) I mean, it is a sequel, but still! Thanks, you guys are awesome. :)

Enjoy!


Marinette panted as she raced up the stairs to her classroom.

"Marinette," Tikki sighed from Marinette's small pink purse. "Is it really so hard to be on time?"

"Hey, I had a busy weekend!" Marinette skidded to a stop in front of her classroom and yanked open the door. "Hide, Tikki!"

The teacher broke off as Marinette entered the classroom. The class stared at Marinette as she beamed guiltily and made her way to her seat. Alya rolled her eyes and Adrien shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Anyway," the teacher continued, ignoring Marinette and turning back to the blackboard. "If you look at this equation, you can see..."

"Did I miss much?" Marinette whispered to Alya.

Marinette's best friend shook her head. "Just the new formulas from Trig. You're going to want to check with Mrs. Bustier about first period, though."

"Ugh," Marinette grumbled, pulling out her notebook and pencil. "Sometimes I wish Pythagorus had kept this thoughts to himself."

Alya's jaw dropped. "Marinette!"

Adrien snorted into his notes, his shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth.

Marinette's cheeks colored as she watched Adrien chortle.

Am I always going to feel like this? She wondered. Even if we do start dating? To flip whenever he does something cute? She pictured herself as Ladybug, blushing as Cat Noir kissed her hand. She would giggle as he waggled his eyebrows at her and stare into her eyes. Marinette's imagination continued to bloom, and she envisioned the villain appearing and zapping Cat Noir with a bolt of dark purple energy. She watched helplessly as Cat Noir laughed cruelly and left her alone to defeat the villain. Marinette felt a shaft of pain in her chest as she relived her dream and watched Cat Noir stride away from her.

"M!" Alya snapped her fingers in front of Marinette's nose. "Earth to Marinette!"

Marinette yelped and jumped, blinking rapidly.

"Are you with us, Marinette?" Ms. Mendeleiev asked, her hands folded across her chest.

The class stared at Marinette again as she stammered, "Y-yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry, please continue."

Adrien smiled sympathetically before turning around to face the front. Marinette turned scarlet and stared down at her blank notebook.

"Girl," Alya hissed, leaning closer to Marinette. "What on earth were you thinking about?"

"N-nothing." Marinette gripped her pencil tightly. "Nothing, Alya."

Alya raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Marinette dutifully copied down the other equations on the board and tried to pay attention, but her dream continued to nag her thoughts. What if Adrien/Cat Noir got hurt because of her? What if she accidentally revealed his secret identity? What if he left her?

Finally, the bell rang, and the students jumped to their feet and raced out of the classroom.

Marinette stayed at her desk as she watched Nino pull Alya outside. Alya glanced back at Marinette before she disappeared, her eyebrows knit in concern

Marinette sighed and shoved her notebook into her bag. She reached for her pencil, but a hand covered hers as she wrapped her fingers around the pencil.

"Do you want to go get some lunch?" Adrien offered, stepping up onto the stair and standing next to Marinette, his hand still covering hers. "I know a great place just down the street."

Marinette started. "A-Adrien?" His hand was warm on top of hers, and he beamed as she gazed up at him. "Lunch? With you?"

"Sure. That's what couples do, right?" Adrien pulled his hand away nervously and ran his hand across the back of his neck.

"Couples?" Marinette blinked, sticking her pencil in her bag. "Are-are we a couple?"

Adrien laughed nervously. "Let's talk about that over food, yes? Come on, let's go!"

He held out his hand, and Marinette reached for it impulsively. Adrien slipped his fingers in between hers and led her out of the classroom.

"So where are we going?" Marinette asked curiously as she and Adrien walked down the stairs.

"There's nice little patisserie down the block," Adrien said, waving at Nino and Alya as they walked past them. "Nothing to your dad's, of course, but I like it." He glanced back at Marinette. "I hope you do too."

Marinette shrugged. "Probably."

Adrien studied her as he pushed open the door. "You okay? You seem distracted."

Marinette shook her head, troubled. "I-I don't know. I'm just worried, I guess."

"About what?" Adrien squeezed her hand as they walked down the steps.

Marinette bit her lip. "I-I don't want to talk about it."

Adrien frowned. "Is it your dream again? Did you have it again last night?"

Marinette nodded uneasily.

Adrien stopped as a bus crossed the street in front of them. "I'm sorry, m'lady. I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Me too," Marinette murmured, leaning up against Adrien.

Adrien glanced down at her, his lips pursed worriedly. "That's not all though, is it? Something else is on your mind."

Marinette didn't respond and pulled Adrien across the street.

"Spit it out," Adrien said bluntly. "Let me help you."

Marinette took a deep breath. "Adrien, I-I'm worried about you. What if I somehow lose control and reveal your identity? What if Paris finds out? What if Hawkmoth finds out we're together and hurts you?" She stared down at the sidewalk and clutched Adrien's hand tighter as they walked down the street. "It'd be all my fault."

"Bugaboo, no it wouldn't." Adrien pulled ahead of Marinette, facing her. He cupped his hand on her chin and lifted her gaze up to his. He smiled softly. "Marinette, everything's going to be okay. Look, we've made it through everything we've faced-and we've faced lots of evil-without knowing each other's identities. But now..." His hand rose and he brushed a tear off her cheek with his thumb. "Now we have each other. I know we'll be stronger because of it, not weaker."

"Adrien, about my dream..." Marinette hesitated. "You would never leave me, would you?"

Adrien stared at her incredulously. "Leave you? Never. We're a team, right?"

"But what if-"

Adrien placed a finger over her lips. "Marinette, 'what ifs' don't help anything. You just create trouble without it even existing." Adrien smiled wryly. "With an imagination like yours, you could imagine yourself anywhere. Why not focus on the positive?" He let his hand drop.

"Oh Adrien." Marinette bit her lip as tears filled her eyes.

"Come here, Bugs." Adrien held out his arms and Marinette stumbled forward, throwing her arms around him.

"I'm supposed to be the strong one," she whispered, tears flooding down her cheeks. "I'm Ladybug, I need to lead."

"It's okay, Marinette." Adrien stroked her back gently. "Sometimes you need a little help. And I'll always be here to give it."

Marinette sniffled and rested her head up against Adrien's shoulder. "Thank you."

"Always, m'lady." Adrien squeezed her and pulled away, but he kept an arm around her shoulder. "Let's go get something to eat. That'll make you feel better."

Marinette laughed, wiping her eyes. "Yeah, you're right. Food always helps."

Adrien squeezed her shoulder and led her down the street.

"So..." He cleared his throat. "Does this mean we're dating?"

Marinette smiled shyly and opened her mouth.

A police siren pierced the air loudly, cutting off Marinette. Three white police cars screeched around the corner and raced down the street next to Adrien and Marinette, their sirens blaring and lights flashing.

Marinette's eyes narrowed. "We'd better get out there. Something's wrong."

"So, you were saying..." Adrien trailed off as Marinette darted into a bookshop on the street corner.

Adrien made a face. "I'll get an answer one of these days."


Teehee! ;)

Also, I'm making up most of the pet names (pun intended) Adrien and Marinette use for each other in the midst of their relationship-except for the main ones that you can see above-but I usually stay a little more canon. I just personally like mine better. ;)

Thanks for reading! Leave a review with your thoughts so far!

Stay tuned for the next chapter!