Chapter 2

Adrien grinned as he watched Marinette freeze by the door, a look of shock coming over her face as she stared at him.

That morning, Nino had said he was going to see Alya, and Adrien had asked if he could join, hoping to reconnect with his old friends since he finally had part of the afternoon off for once. Nino had thought it was a great idea and agreed to let him tag along, saying "Hey, maybe Alya can get Mar-Bear to come as well! You haven't seen each other in ages, yeah?"

Adrien confirmed this, a giddy feeling entering his stomach. It was going to be great to have some of his favorite people together again.

It was his first time visiting the girls' new apartment, and as the three of them had chatted, he'd looked around curiously at the living room area. It was a small, comfortable place. Twinkle lights had been strung all around the walls. The plush couches were taken over by blankets and small pillows, and there were a couple of candles here and there that were releasing a warm, flowery scent. Compared to the frosty scene outside the window, it was downright cozy.

Alya had then mentioned that she'd texted Marinette to hurry home after her morning classes got out, and his anticipation grew to excitement as the minutes ticked by. It had been so long since he'd seen her…

And then suddenly there she was, her cheeks a bright pink from the cold. Her dark hair was in a messy bun that pulled to one side, with fly-aways that gently framed her face, and her bright blue eyes were wide with surprise.

Adrien found himself getting up from his stool and making his way around the counter to her, as Alya said "Oh good! That was fast, we were just wondering if you had any input for where to go for lunch!"

Marinette didn't seem to hear her.

Adrien wrapped her up in a swift hug, holding back a laugh when her heard her let out a startled squeak.

"Marinette! How are you? It's so good to see you!" he said, releasing the hug but keeping a hand on her shoulder as he regarded her happily.

Marinette stood there for another brief moment before seeming to shake herself out of her daze. Reaching her hand up to clasp his, she smiled.

"A-Adrien! I can't believe you're here!"

"Yeah! I had a little time off from work today, so I figured I'd tag along with Nino. Feels just like old times, huh?" Adrien let go of her and reached up to scratch the back of his head.

Marinette beamed up at him before suddenly whipping around to face Alya.

"What the heck was that text about!? You could've been a little bit more specific about why I needed to hurry, I thought you were in trouble! I was ready to jump up and leave class early!"

"Well, we were all getting hungry, and I wanted you to hurry up and get here so we could hear your input on where to go!" Alya said, grinning slyly. "And aren't you glad you rushed your butt home?"

She nudged her elbow into Marinette's side.

Marinette's lip pouted as she glared at her friend, and Adrien noticed the pink in her cheeks from the cold didn't seem to be going away. He couldn't help but laugh as Alya raised her hands in surrender.

"Ok, ok! That was mean of me," she said, and Nino chuckled from his stool as he watched on. "But seriously. Lunch. Thoughts?"

Marinette sighed, rolling her eyes before suggesting, "What about that Café Bistro? It's close by, and I haven't been there in ages…?"

"That's what I suggested!" Nino said happily.

Adrien nodded, agreeing.

"That sounds good, let's do it."

And with that, they set off into the snowy street. Alya and Nino walked arm in arm, and were shooting jokes back and forth with Adrien as they went. Marinette trailed along on Alya's other side. As they came to a busy intersection and waited to cross, Adrien took the opportunity to casually move over and stand next to her.

"So, how's life been?" he asked. "I feel like I haven't seen you in way too long!"

"Yeah, ten months!" she laughed, but then bit her lip. "I-I mean, not that I've been keeping count or anything."

Her cheeks took on a deeper shade of pink when she said this. Adrien wondered if she was getting a little too cold, and thought momentarily about offering her his scarf before she continued.

"Life's been ok I guess. Pretty busy. School has been busy. Y'know, lots of homework and designing and… and stuff." She trailed off with a shrug as they started walking again, their lunch destination coming into sight at the end of the block.

"You're still on track for becoming a world-class fashion designer, then?" Adrien prompted.

He remembered some of the designs he had seen her do when they were younger, and had been blown away by her talent and attention to details. The career was absolutely perfect for her.

"Um yeah, I am," she said with a small but proud smile. "And what about you? How are things going at your father's company?" she asked him before he could find out anything more.

"It's been good," he said smoothly, opening the door to the café and holding it for everyone. As he closed the it behind them and they joined the line to the counter, Marinette turned to face him expectantly, waiting to hear more. "I've been working to shadow my father in a lot of management and editorial areas. Lately we have been in communications with a magazine in New York, getting ready to do a spread with them for the upcoming season. It's actually been an incredible experience, y'know? Meeting new people from all over the world, learning how to direct a team, and how everyone can bring different strengths to the table. I'm getting a lot of ideas for things that I can change and improve on for whenever I receive more authority there."

Marinette nodded encouragingly as he described it all.

They reached the counter after Alya and Nino, and Marinette ordered a small sandwich and coffee. Adrien pulled out his wallet to pay for her, but before he could, she pushed some money across the counter and went to stand out of the way to wait for her order. Ignoring the slight pang of disappointment, Adrien ordered a similar sandwich – making sure it had extra cheese – and walked over to join her. Their friends had already moved off to find them a table, so they returned to their conversation.

"Are you still modeling, then?" she asked. "I see you from time to time in magazines and advertisements, but not so much as before."

"A bit," he nodded, shrugging. "I'm doing a fraction of the amount I did during high school, but yeah. Actually, I might be doing even less for the next while. You won't believe this; I've managed to convince my father to let me come back to school for my degree!"

"What!?" she exclaimed, a joyful look of excitement spreading across her face. "So that means you'll be around more often?"

"Yeah! I'll be starting classes tomorrow and attending school as a part-time student!" His pleasure at the situation mounted as he saw Marinette's reaction to the news. She clapped her hands together enthusiastically, hopping up and down in place. Her dark hair bounced across her eyes, the blue hues catching the light in a lovely way.

"What are you guys so excited about?" Alya asked. She and Nino had snagged a high table near the window, and had placed their coats and scarves over their chairs to save it. Now they were back to grab their food.

"Adrien is going to be taking classes!" Marinette told her happily.

"No way! That's awesome!" Alya said. "Did you know this?" she asked, turning to Nino as he high-fived his friend.

"Yeah! He told me last night," Nino replied grinning.

"This is so exciting!" Marinette said, still bouncing.

Adrien beamed around at them all. Their joyous responses to his returning to school made him feel, well… wanted. And in that moment, he was very thankful to be around some of his favorite people once again. It felt almost like coming home.

When they settled down with their food at a table, Alya and Nino sat together on one side, allowing Adrien to take a seat next to Marinette. Alya leaned into Nino as they began to eat, and with promptings from the other three, she began to share some of her stories from abroad.

Adrien listened with fascination. He had gotten to do quite a bit of traveling for his father's business, but he had yet to visit much of South America.

Alya talked for quite a while, showing them dozens of pictures on her phone.

"It was such a crazy awesome experience! Like, I learned so much from the people and from my different instructors. And the kids I worked with were just such sweeties! I couldn't get enough of them, it was so much fun!" she finished, grinning at her memories. "It made me really glad I decided to add on that educational major on top of journalism."

Nino smiled at her.

"Well, we're glad to have you back!" he said, and Alya leaned over to give him a quick peck.

Adrien smiled at the two of them, glad to see them reunited. Glancing down at Marinette, he saw that she too was grinning across the table at them.

"Hey, Mar," Nino said, looking over at her, "How's prep for that Student Gala coming?"

Adrien looked around at Marinette as she shrugged and took a sip of her coffee, his ears perking. Was this the Gala that his father mentioned? He had heard that his father would be using IFA students' designs from an upcoming event, and Adrien had been tasked with going later that afternoon to review their work.

'Maybe I'll get to see Marinette's designs!' he thought to himself excitedly. He was about to tell her about his involvement when she responded to Nino's question

"Ok, I guess. I dunno… I'm really not pleased with my collection so far."

Adrien watched as Marinette frowned and started absently picking away at the crust on her sandwich. She glanced up at him with a questioning look and opened her mouth as if to ask him something, before seeming to think better of whatever she was going to say and returning her gaze to her food.

"Why? What don't you like about it?" he prompted, wondering what she'd been about to say, and not fully able to believe that something she created wasn't stunning.

"I mean… This project wasn't a very good one for me. Like... I just couldn't get any good ideas flowing. My inspiration just kinda took a nose dive off a cliff, and… yeah, this collection is just not where it should be," she shrugged.

"I can't really imagine you making anything bad," Adrien said.

"Well, believe it," Marinette looked up at him again with a half-hearted smile. "I mean hopefully I can get some good feedback this afternoon, but I really don't know how I'm going to pull anything amazing out of this one."

Adrien frowned in confusion. Knowing her, she didn't just make a poor job of her creations without a really good reason. He decided not press the issue, though, simply saying, "You're Marinette! You do beautiful work! I have faith in you. You'll totally pull through this."

Marinette gazed at him as he said this, her bright blue eyes wide and her lips parted slightly in surprise, as if she wanted to believe his woulds but couldn't quite manage it.

Adrien never broke eye contact, trying to convey with true sincerity how confident he was in her abilities.

She turned her head and looked across the table to Alya and Nino, and they nodded encouragingly in agreement.

"Thanks," she said finally with a sigh. "I mean… we'll see. But thank you." She took another sip of her coffee, smiling.

Adrien felt an impulse to pull her into a hug as he'd done before, and continue to voice encouraging things to her. But instead he looked back down at his own food, taking another bite to distract himself from the urge.

They spent a little while longer in the restaurant. Nino shared some stories from his own travels; Adrien felt a pang of regret at having not heard some of these. Even though the two of them shared an apartment, it wasn't often that he got to just hang out and catch up with his friend. And even when he did have nights off, he'd usually been out on patrol as Chat Noir.

Eventually, Marinette mentioned that she needed to get going to studio.

Adrien himself needed to go and meet up with the other guy who was coming with him to critique, so they donned their coats and headed back out into the chill of the afternoon. Alya and Nino said goodbye to him, and started up the street in the opposite direction from where he was headed.

Marinette gave him a small wave and started to follow after them when he impulsively reached out and caught her hand in his. Looking as surprised as he felt, she stared up at him questioningly.

"I, uh…" What in the world was he doing? "I just, um wanted to tell you… don't worry about your collection, Marinette. I mean, you really do have the talent. I know you can do this. I'll see you real soon, ok?" he said, looking once more into her eyes.

"Ok… yeah!" she said with a smile, squeezing his hand briefly in gratitude before they both let go.

Adrien finally turned from her and headed down the street, warmth spreading over his face from the spontaneous hand holding. He shook his head with a smile. Just then, he felt a small, familiar pressure on his chest, and looked down to see his little black Kwami sticking his head out from an inner pocket in Adrien's coat.

"What's up, Plagg?" Adrien asked.

"Well?" Plagg replied pointedly.

With a sigh, Adrien reached into another pocket of his coat, pulling out the small chunks of cheese he had surreptitiously been collecting throughout the entire meal, and handing them over.

"Yes!" Plagg exclaimed happily, swallowing the first two chunks whole, and slowing down a little to nibble on a third. "So? How was being around your old friends?" he asked, his mouth ungracefully full.

"It was so much better than I thought it would be," replied Adrien, hurrying off through a couple back alleys towards where he was to meet up with his work partner. "I honestly hadn't realized how much I'd missed them."

"And why didn't you tell that girl that you'd be judging her work today?" Plagg asked, now focusing on a fourth chunk of cheese. "Or were you such a dunce that you got distracted from staring so hard at her that you actually forgot?"

"I wasn't staring!" Adrien said with a huff, his face feeling hot again.

"Uh huh. And I don't like cheese. You were totally staring! It was almost as bad as how you used to be around Ladybug!" Plagg laughed, remembering how much of a flirt his boy had been around his spotted partner.

Adrien just rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, the perfectly recalled image of Marinette looking back at him made it a little harder to think of any good comeback.

"I dunno, I think I just wanted to surprise her later. Plus she seemed really unenthused about her designs, and… well, I remembered that she used to get really nervous around me, so… I just didn't want to add to the pressure, y'know?" Adrien looked down to see his Kwami shrug in response.

'Either way,' his mind added on, 'I'm glad I get to see her again today."

Marinette climbed the steps of the rarely-used service stairwell up to the fourth floor where her 3rd Year studio lay. Her mind was still swimming with thoughts of the last couple of hours. It had been, well, amazing.

Adrien did seem a little different from the boy she used to know, but in a good way. It seemed that he was taking on the mature responsibility of helping to run an internationally known fashion company easily in stride, but it was also clear that he hadn't lost himself in the process at all. He had seemed entirely comfortable while he was around them, cracking jokes with Nino and Alya. Marinette smiled widely at the memory of how he had wanted to hang out with her again. "Soon" he had said. The recollection of the sincerity in his voice brought a warm fuzzy feeling to her chest. Spending time with Adrien, getting to know the man he was now, maybe hanging out one on one… Her steps took on a new bounce at this thought.

'But didn't you say you didn't want to go down this path again?' a small voice in the back of her mind said. 'Didn't you decide that trying to get close to someone the way you were with Nathanael was too hard?'

Marinette paused in her climb, frowning at this.

Well, yeah, it had been hard, but who said she had to think of Adrien that way again? They were friends! Old friends! It was only natural to want to reconnect! And they would get to reconnect, especially if Adrien was going to be taking classes again this semester. And Meesh had said that there were rumors floating around that Gabriel Agreste might be involved in the Gala… Marinette had remembered this earlier when she was talking to Adrien, and had been about to ask if he had anything to do with it. But she had decided not to say anything, partially wondering if it was true, and part of her not really wanting to get her hopes up that she could be working closely with him for it. And Adrien hadn't said anything about it either, so maybe a rumor really was all that was.

She sighed, finished climbing the last few steps, and gently opened the door to the fourth floor studio, trying to be quiet so as to not draw attention to herself.

Everyone had already gathered near a window halfway down the room. Marinette quietly hurried over to where her desk sat in the corner space; it was cluttered with scraps of varying kinds of fabric. Dozens of papers with designs covered in scribbles and notes were pinned up on the wall above her desk, as well as taped over some of the window rails. A shared hanging rack sat between her own workspace and Meesh's, holding garment bags that contained both of their collections. A couple of mannequins stood nearby, dressed with her most recent work.

She put her bag down on top of everything and made her way over to the rest of the group, where one of their instructors was in the middle of an announcement. Meesh stood with them. Seeing Marinette approaching, she greeted her with a smile and made a space for her to join the others. Marinette smiled back, and turned to face the speaker, excited to hear what the announcement was.

"I am glad to see that you all have clearly taken time over your holiday to prepare for the Student Exhibition Gala" Madam Charbonneau was saying.

She was a slender woman with a hawk-like nose, and her dark hair, which was starting to develop streaks of silver, was pulled into a tight bun. Marinette was certain she had never seen her wear anything that wasn't black, though she did embellish with some colorful jewelry.

When Marinette had first joined Paris' International Fashion Academy, she (and many of her fellow incoming students) were thoroughly terrified of this woman. They'd heard she had worked in the editorial section for Vogue in her earlier years before shifting to teach the newer generations, and they had initially dreaded her critiques. They came to find, however, that though she was a no-nonsense sort of person, she was fair and generally gave some of the best advice. Charbonneau had critiqued them as first years just one time as a special favor, for she only taught upper-classmen. Ever since that afternoon, everyone had looked forward to working with her directly. She was not someone to be taken lightly, but Marinette trusted her and valued her feedback almost more than any of their other instructors, who were presently standing behind Charbonneau, facing the rest of the class.

"I suppose I need not remind you that it is only a short two weeks away," Charbonneau continued. "I do, however, have some news about the Gala which none of you have heard yet. Over the break, IFA was contacted by none other than the secretary of Monsieur Gabriel Agreste."

A murmur of excitement broke out amongst the students at the mention of the name.

Meesh exchanged a knowledgeable grin with Marinette, whose stomach had flipped with excitement – 'So this really was happening!' – and they turned back to Charbonneau, listening intently.

"It seems that Monsieur Agreste wishes to showcase some student work in their next magazine issue. This Gala, it seems, will be used as an opportunity to select the top three ranking collections, and from there they will choose a couple designs from each to be featured in their March issue. I am sure there is no need for me to tell you what an incredible honor this opportunity is. It's not every day that they choose to market the talents of up-and-coming artists like yourselves. And if your designs are chosen, this could act as an enormously helpful launching point for your careers.

"I know that every single person here has put so much effort into getting where you are today," she smiled at this, her gaze drifted across the group, making eye contact with each of her pupils. "You all have the talent and the creativity. The only thing that could hold you back is letting your own inhibitions dictate you. Do not let that happen. You must push yourself, stretch your own boundaries, and aim higher than ever before. I believe in you all."

Marinette raised her chin with a smile spreading across her face, feeling confidence pulsing through her as though she was wearing her Ladybug spots. She felt ready for anything.

"Now, with that settled," Charbonneau said briskly, "today we will be having a critique of all of the pieces you have been making over the holiday. For this, we have two guests coming over, sent by Monsieur Agreste. They will be joining us shortly, and until then I want you to prepare your collections for inspection. That is all."

Meesh grabbed Marinette's arm and started bouncing with exuberance as they headed to their workspaces.

"Can you believe it?! Gabriel Agreste! Marinette we will have our collections judged by Gabriel freakin Agreste!"

"I know!" Marinette grinned. She'd had her work reviewed by the esteemed designer once before when she was younger, but that had been an amateur competition. This felt so much bigger, and even though her design had gotten chosen back then, she wasn't about to let complacency take over.

They hurried over to the rack that held their projects, and started to lay the bags out on their desks. Meesh went to get a couple mannequins for the both of them to show their best pieces, and Marinette began unzipping the bags one by one. But as she revealed each of her garments, her smile disappeared and a fearful panic began to well up inside her.

"Ok, here are some dummies for you," Meesh declared, returning. "I'm just so excited to show this collection off I can't even stand it! I wonder who the guest judges are gonna b– Hey, what's wrong, girl?" Meesh stopped what she was doing when she saw the look of horror frozen on Marinette's face as she stared down at the garments in her hands.

"I– I can't show these!" Marinette stuttered.

"Wait what? What do y– "

"I can't show these designs in competition!" Marinette hissed, frantically brandishing the fabric forward with shaking hands into Meesh's face. "These are awful! I mean, I'd had absolutely zero good inspiration over these last few weeks! I just sort of went with these designs with no idea as to where I was going with them! I– I thought that maybe if I just kept working, I would figure s-something out eventually, and could embellish on them but… These are just boring!"

Marinette had started out this assignment with no particular direction to head in. It had been a "design what you want" sort of prompt with no clear theme to follow. In the past, she had never had much of a problem creating new things that excited her. But with Alya and Nino gone for so long, and the exhaustion from the piling on of school, work, and being a superhero, she'd been in such a sour place that designing anything good wasn't possible. In desperation to just get something made, she had tried to piece together several different ideas she'd had from the past, hoping to get more inspiration to tie them together later. As a result, she had several half-hearted garments that just looked like pitiful copies of designs she'd seen before.

Marinette collapsed onto her stool, a sense of hopelessness flooding over her.

Meesh walked over and rubbed her back sympathetically.

"Hey. Hey. You'll get this figured out! I know you will! I've seen you do more amazing things than half the people here combined. You got this, girl!"

Marinette smiled gratefully at her friend's encouragements, but the bleak feeling didn't dissipate.

Meesh started to unpack some of her own designs, still speaking words of comfort and encouragement as she arranged them on the mannequins.

Marinette watched as she did. Despite the stress she was feeling about her own work, a small part of her couldn't help but stare in awe at her friend's work, as she had done the first time she'd seen them weeks ago.

Meesh was always one to push the boundaries of her own projects, never letting one collection look like the last, and always trying new things. This time around, she had apparently been inspired by her boyfriend back in Mexico, who was doing work in the field of fiber optics. Meesh had already completed 5 of the 7 garments she was aiming to make, and each one was made of a luminescent material which created a stunning, almost cosmic effect when properly lit up.

"Wow, Meesh. Did you get your inspiration from a traffic light?"

A drawling voice reached their ears, cutting Meesh's stream of reassurance off. Both girls turned around to see a fellow classmate, Mathis, standing behind them.

He was a tall young man with dark hair and fair features, and right now, a condescending look was playing across his face. As he eyed Meesh's designs, his lip curled.

"Careful there, anyone who wore something that gaudy would probably be a roadside hazard."

"Oh, shut up, Mathis." Meesh snapped impatiently, turning back to her work with a roll of her eyes.

Meesh had dealt with Mathis early on in their school career, so when Marinette came to be in the same studio as them in their second year, Meesh had warned her about him. Mathis was a crazy good designer, and no matter what sort of pressure he was under, he always produced some of the most intricate tailoring's Marinette had ever seen. But despite his great talent, he was also highly manipulative. He would play to people's insecurities in ways that made them trust him, and then turn against them the instant it was convenient for him. Marinette knew that Meesh had fallen prey to him during their first year at IFA, before she had gotten to know either of them. She didn't know much about the details, for Meesh usually went quiet whenever that year was brought up. But if it had been something scarring enough to cause someone so strong, brilliant, and fiery as Meesh become so suddenly vulnerable and unsure, Marinette could at least tell that Mathis was bad news. Regardless of their past, though, Meesh never stood by whenever Mathis tried to pull any more crap.

But Mathis was never one to be deterred. Shaking his head and letting out a laugh he said, "Feeling a little touchy about our collection, are we?"

"Not at all! But the fact that you are still over here talking to us? Now that I can be touchy about." Meesh shot back coolly without taking her eyes off of the garment she was arranging.

Mathis turned to Marinette, and eyeing her work up close, his amused expression deepened.

"Well, well! I see you weren't inspired with these!" he said, smirking.

Marinette felt her face grow hot as he continued.

"Or maybe you started these with the idea of 'How many awful dresses can I force together into a single collection?' Were you expecting to sell these to send these straight to a thrift store?"

"Shut UP, Mathis!" Meesh whirled around and marched up to him to glare directly into his face.

Marinette felt hot anger prickle up inside her, but couldn't find any words to defend the pieces she had made.

The door at the other end of their studio opened just then, and in walked a young man in a sharp looking coat and bright red hair fashioned in an undercut, followed close behind by–

"Adrien?" Marinette breathed. Her heart leapt at the sight of him.

He looked around the studio and, spotting her, waived happily.

"Surprise!" he mouthed, smiling widely before he and his partner turned to Charbonneau and the other instructors who were gathering around them.

Mathis looked between them, and raised an eyebrow as he sneered.

"You know him, Marinette? Tsk, are your designs really so desperately awful that you are trying to cozy up to the Agrestes already?" And with that, he turned and left them.

Marinette had half a mind to shout several retorts at him as he went, but turning back to her work, her gumption failed her. They really were awful…

"Don't listen to him, Mar," Meesh said sharply.

Marinette just shrugged. She turned around to see Charbonneau getting ready to announce their guests.

Adrien looked at her with concern, seeing the expression on her face, and his eyes flicked between her and Mathis, who had just returned to his own workstation on the opposite side of the room. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but she just shook her head and looked down at her boots, listening to her instructor announce Adrien as "the son of the most esteemed Monsieur Gabriel Agreste" and the ginger as a man called "Zachariah."

"As we do not want to take up too much of our guest judges' precious time, you will be split into two groups for this critique. Those of you on the half of the room to my right" – she gestured to the half of the room where Marinette and Meesh stood – "We will gather in here. Everyone else, you may move to the conference hall next door. Monsieur Adrien, would you like to join the instructors to judge that group, please? And Monsieur Zachariah, you may stay here."

As Marinette moved to gather her stuff to be reviewed, she saw that Adrien looked gently disappointed that he wouldn't be critiquing her group, but he gave her an encouraging nod as he headed off with the other half of the class. She herself couldn't tell if she was also disappointed, or rather relieved that he wouldn't be seeing her work.

There were about a dozen students in addition to her who would be getting critiqued in their group. They gathered in an open corner of the studio, specifically left clear for reviews, and one by one, each designer wheeled their work forward.

The man called Zachariah seemed to be a fair judge of their work. He certainly didn't hold back criticisms, but he was also quick to point out the good things about people's work. And he was very encouraging when it came to suggestions for helpful changes. Some of the students' collections were very impressive, others less so. But as each review finished, everyone came away from it looking determined to keep working, armed with new ideas and confidence.

Marinette watched on, and the closer it got to her turn, the higher her internal panic rose.

Meesh went on second to last. Her work received an overwhelming amount of praise for her craftsmanship and ingenuity. Charbonneau and Zachariah gave her some tips for how to improve some of the pieces – correcting the flow of one garment, how to change another garment to make it more form-fitting, how if she tried arranging the fabric like "this" it would have a more grand effect – and she finished her review beaming.

Finally, it came down to Marinette. With trembling hands, she pushed her collection to the front. As Zachariah and the other instructors walked around the mannequins and the hanging rack, inspecting her work closely, she watched helplessly. She already knew what they were going to say.

"This is some truly beautiful craftsmanship," Zachariah started thoughtfully as he looked at them. "Some of the best stitching and joining I've seen from any student… but as for the designs themselves, I'm afraid they are rather… lack-luster."

Marinette didn't even try to defend herself as each of the instructors agreed, telling her what she could've told them herself.

"I am surprised at you, Marinette." Charbonneau said, and Marinette finally looked up, her throat constricting. "I have known you to be one of the very best artists I've seen come through this program. This collection, though, does nothing to demonstrate that. Even if you spent time to improve each of these pieces, no matter how I look at them, I cannot see how you could tie them together into a strong collection that would do your talents justice. To be perfectly honest, I think that the only way you'd have any hope of catching the eyes of the judges at the Gala would be to scrap these designs and start from scratch."

A stifled gasp rang out from the on-looking students. Marinette felt as though she had just been plunged in a pool of ice water.

'Start over?!'

Zachariah looked at Charbonneau with a look of deep consideration before turning to Marinette.

"A full reset would be difficult, but I have seen it done before. You would have to work harder than you probably ever have to get seven new designs done, but if you can do it and make it look good, then I would say go for it. You certainly have the workmanship. I want to see your true talent as a designer, now."

"The choice is yours, Marinette," Charbonneau said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You have just two weeks to get this done. I have every bit of faith in your abilities. If you can find the true inspiration you need, and put all of your efforts into this, I absolutely know you will be able to succeed in this endeavor. Will you do it?"

Marinette tried to say something in response, but her tongue felt heavy and overly large in her mouth, so she simply nodded in return. Charbonneau looked at her thoughtfully for a moment more, then turned to the group at large.

"Well? You all know what you need to do. We will have individual critiques at your desks on Wednesday. Go for it, everyone!" Glancing back at Marinette, she said one last "Good luck," before leaving her be.

Marinette felt numb. She hardly noticed what she was doing as she returned to her workspace and started putting everything away. As they left, many of her fellow students were shooting her sympathetic looks – they knew she was brilliant at what she did, but no one could imagine creating any half-way decent collection in such a short time. Two weeks. Just two weeks.

Meesh said something in a gentle voice, and rubbed her back comfortingly. But Marinette seemed to be frozen in a daze, so Meesh left as well, glancing worriedly over her shoulder as the door closed.

Seven new designs. In just two weeks.

Slowly, Marinette folded her garments up into their bags and hung them up. She had two weeks. She gathered up her coat and bag and headed for the door. A full reset. A new collection. She made her way back down the service stairwell. Redesign from scratch. In only two short weeks.

Without really realizing what she was doing, Marinette stopped on the second landing from the bottom and just stood there facing the corner. She leaned forward to bump her head gently against the wall, leaving it resting against the cool concrete, her eyes still open wide and staring straight at nothing.

'How on earth am I supposed to do this?'

Marinette had no idea how long she stood there for. At one point, Tikki peaked out of her bag pocket and looked sympathetically at her charge. She was about to say something to pull her girl out of her daze when she heard a door open into the stairwell on the flight above them, and ducked back out of sight.

"Marinette?" A gentle, low voice spoke, and snapping out of her daze, she spun around. She hadn't heard Adrien's footsteps as he'd come down the stairs, but now he stood in front of her, looking her over with concern. "We just finished the other group's critique, and I left Zachariah to come find you… Are you alright?"

"I– I… um, I just…" She hung her head low, unable to find the words to say. Her mind was so full that everything was becoming a blank buzz of panic.

"Marinette, what happened?" Adrien moved closer and, leaning down, he tilted his head up to look at her, forcing her to make eye contact. She saw that his face was full of a mixture of worry and sincerity.

Her hands started trembling, and before she knew it, prickling hot tears filled her eyes and began streaming down her cheeks.

Letting out a watery gasp, she leaned her back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor, her knees tucking into her chest as she just let loose and cried. Words began tumbling out of her mouth as she told him everything that had been said during the critique, of how she would either have to risk sending mediocre designs down the runway in front of some of the most prestigious people in the fashion industry, or create an entirely new collection from scratch, and somehow finish it all in just two weeks.

"A-and I have n-no idea how I'm supposed to do this! W-where do I even begin? How can I f-find the right inspiration for s-seven pieces when I h-have no time to do this? And even if I d-do finally get inspired to make good designs, w-what then, huh? H-how am I gonna be able to pull this off in just t-two weeks? How am I supposed to d-do this? How?"

Adrien had slid down onto the floor next to her as she ranted, and Marinette finally looked up at him when she felt his arm wrap comfortingly around her shoulders.

"How can I do this, Adrien?" she repeated in a small voice, and he gave her a warm smile.

"Because you're Marinette. No, I'm serious!" he said quickly as she scoffed. "You are one of the most amazing, talented, hard-working designers I've ever known, and I work with a lot of designers! Like, so many, it's actually ridiculous. And I've seen you create things that could easily rival th lot of them. You have made some beautiful pieces in the past, and you will make even more stunning pieces in the future. You have a way of pouring your entire heart and soul into what you do. You're truly inspiring, Marinette. You have no idea, but you really, really are." He pulled her a little tighter, and gave her shoulders a small shake. "And there is nothing you can't do. You will totally be able to do this, I have every bit of faith in you!"

Marinette sighed, but she couldn't stop a small smile from tugging at her lips as she listened to his enthusiastic encouragement.

"You know what? C'mon," he said after a brief pause. He got to his feet, and stood in front of her to offer her his hand. Slowly, she reached up to take it, and he pulled her to her feet. Not letting go of her hand, he pulled her down the last set of steps and out the door into the snow that was falling gently.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"What you need right now is a distraction. You need to take your mind off of everything for a little while, and later you can come back to it with fresh eyes."

Marinette blinked at his words, feeling the urge to tell him that what she needed was to get started immediately. There was no time for distraction! But truthfully, she had no idea what she was going to do, and when he looked back at her for a response, she found herself giving him a small nod of consent. Tightening her fingers around his, she allowed him to lead her off into the night, the lights from the city illuminating their path with a warm glow.