Late-ish update, but here is my story for Day 2: Emotions! This was a lot of fun for me to write, so I hope you like it! :)

This is connected to the previous chapter "Modeling", but it can be read on its own as well.

Emotions

Adrien looked like he was watching the sunset through his giant window, but his mind was somewhere else. Ever since he had helped his best friend Nino to muster up the courage to ask out Alya, Adrien had been arguing with himself on whether or not he should follow his own advice with Ladybug.

He'd flirted with her endlessly as Chat Noir, but when it came to confessing his true feelings, his heart sped up, and he felt like he could barely breathe. Even planning to confess his love to her the last Valentine's Day was difficult. After the whole akuma situation, his courage was gone, and he couldn't bring himself to try again.

He let out a long sigh.

"Don't tell me. Something bugging you?"

"Plagg."

Plagg groaned and flew in front of Adrien. "Come on, I'm getting sick of this love sick thing. You weren't much fun before, but now you're just flat out boring."

"Shut up, Plagg," Adrien said with an eye roll, standing up from his couch to set his arm on the window, resting his head on said arm. "I've got a real problem."

"Oh, boo-hoo," Plagg said. "You're too nervous to ask out Ladybug. Give me a break."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "You just don't get it."

"Why do you have to focus so much on Ladybug anyway, when you can have any other girl you want?" Plagg asked.

"Because no one else is like Ladybug," Adrien sighed.

"You're hopeless."

Adrien was about to argue, but what sounded like a sonic boom exploded from outside. He stumbled back and looked all from the window, trying to see what may have been caused it.

A steel-black centaur carrying a bow and arrow charged down the street was so fast that Adrien almost missed him, but the stampede of horses behind him was hard to miss.

"Oh, man," Adrien muttered, his heart racing. He could already tell that this one was going to be a doosey.

"Man, we can't get a single day off, can we?" Plagg complained.

Just then, Ladybug swung past Adrien's window on her yoyo-straight towards the centaur and his stampede. Adrien's heart started racing faster for an entirely different reason than before.

"Come on, Plagg! My lady is going to need me. Claws out!"

Adrien's prediction was right. The centaur, who called himself the Centaurion, put up a tough fight. Running at super speed, shooting arrows at them, and a constant stampede of horses running towards them was enough to wear them both out for the next week.

But Ladybug's lucky charm, well, it worked like a charm! It was a lasso she used to capture Centaurion while Chat used his cataclysm to turn the ground into a pit beneath in front of the horses so they would all in. By the way, they all turned out to be people that got turned into horses by Centaurion. Go figure.

The fight was over, and Centaurion, also known as John when he had been freed from the akuma, had set things right with his brother, the person who had originally gotten him angry.

Ladybug was just about to leap away with her yoyo when Chat put a hand on her shoulder. "Ladybug, wait!"

Ladybug turned around, looking up at him with the blue bell eyes he loved so much. "What is it Chat Noir?"

His heart was in his throat, and the butterflies in his stomach morphed into a roller coaster. He suddenly knew what Nino had been talking about the other day. "Uh, I, uh-"

Ladybug's earrings beeped. She pursed her lips and began slightly bouncing from to foot. "I don't mean to rush you, Chat, but you've got about ten seconds."

"Let's hang out tonight!" Chat blurted out, covering his mouth as soon as the words left his lips.

Ladybug froze. "Hang out? Like a-"

"Date?" Chat finished. His voice was so high, he might as well have sucked in helium. He continued quickly. "Well, if you want, but we're friends, and we never hang out, so let's hang out, it could be fun, and we get to know each other more, and-"

Ladybug's earrings beeped again, the last spot disappearing. She yelped and got her yoyo ready again. Speaking quickly to get away, she said, "Sure, meet me at the bakery, bye!" And just like that, she was gone.

Chat stared in the direction she'd gone even after he couldn't see her anymore. He had felt weak from the fight before, but as realization settled in, a new course of adrenaline shot through his body.

He couldn't contain himself, and he leaped in the air. "SHE SAID YES!"

His ring beeped to blank, halting his momentary celebration. He ran to find somewhere to transform back into Adrien.

Adrien felt happier than the last Christmas he had before his father told him there was no Santa, and then gave him a pen as a present. He was fueled by his excitement as he sprinted down the street, looking for the perfect shop to buy a gift for Ladybug from. He ran into every shop that even remotely looked like it had something Ladybug would want, while Plagg gave his two cents on why every store he went into was a dumb idea.

He scanned through a jewelry shop ("She already has earrings."), a bookstore ("You don't even know if she likes to read!"), a souvenir shop ("I don't think she'd appreciate a miniature version of herself."), and finally, a dress boutique.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Plagg groaned from inside Adrien's jacket. "This is your weirdest choice yet."

Adrien glared at him. "Why do you care anyway? I thought you hated this love stuff."

"I care because you're going to make yourself look stupid, duh," Plagg said a matter of factly. "And then when you're all embarrassed, I'll have to listen to you cry about how embarrassed you are."

"Fine," Adrien said. "Since you're suddenly an expert on gifts, what should I get her?"

"Easy. What do girls and ladybugs have in common?"

Adrien shook his head. "What kind of question is that?"

Plagg flew out of Adrien's jacket and pointed to the floral shop across the street.

"They both like flowers."

Adrien forced himself to walk at a normal pace when he left the flower shop as not to ruin the bouquet of roses he bought. The sun had completely set now, so he'd been lucky to catch the store right before it closed for the night.

Along the sidewalk, the streetlights glowed a bright yellow.

Perfect for a romantic evening stroll. Adrien couldn't help smiling at the thought. As he neared the bakery, the knots in his stomach grew tighter and tighter, and he could feel his hands and legs starting to shake. He was so nervous, but it was the best kind of nervous because he was going to see Ladybug.

Adrien was a few of blocks away from the bakery when he decided to hide in the shadows of a building to transform into Chat Noir. He always felt more confident this way, but tonight was different. Whether he was Adrien of whether he was Chat didn't change the fact that he was meeting with Ladybug for what would hopefully be a date, and the nerves that came along with that was messing with the usual confidence that came from being Chat Noir. He hoped that he'd at least be able to control those nerves.

He took a single step back into the sidewalk, and he was suddenly pushed off his feet by a sudden weight and fell to the ground, the bouquet of roses rolling next to him.

He heard a gasp. "Chat Noir! I'm so sorry!"

Ladybug!

His heart stopped as he turned to finally see her, and-

Marinette was on her knees next to him, looking extremely guilty.

His heart sank and drowned in the disappointment that was flooding his chest.

"I was running and I didn't see you! Are you okay?" Marinette reached out a hand to help him up, but he stopped her and said, "Don't worry about me, princess." He pushed himself to his feet and picked the bouquet off the ground. "Being a hero of Paris, I've handled much worse."

Marinette nodded, already looking anxious to leave. "Great! Well, bye!"

"Wait!" Chat called grabbing her hand before she could run away. "Why are you out here so late? It's not safe."

Marinette looked down at their hands, and she jerked hers away. "Don't worry about me! I can handle myself. Look, I've really got to get home," she said as she backed away, turning around as she did so. "So I'll just see you-"

"Why don't I walk you home?" Chat asked. Guy or girl, he didn't feel right leaving any civilian to walk the streets alone at night when anything could happen. Besides, he was headed in that direction anyway, and he told her so. "I'm meeting Ladybug at the bakery anyway. It's no biggie."

Marinette didn't stop speed walking. "Nope, I'm good! See ya!"

Then an idea struck him. "Well, maybe you could help me."

Marinette froze and looked back at him. He couldn't tell what she thought of it because she's moved so far from the streetlight. "I could use some girl advice."

She was quiet for a moment before answering with a resigning sign. "Sure, come on."

Chat jogged happily up to where Marinette stood waiting for him, and they started walking down the block together.

"What are the flowers for?"

"Couldn't you tell? They're for Ladybug." Voicing it out loud for the first time made Chat blush. "You don't think it's too much right? I really wanted to give her something nice. She always puts everyone else first, so I want to do something for her. Do you think she'll like them?"

Marinette studied the bouquet of flowers in awe as they walked. "You..you got her those red roses?"

Chat sighed, thinking her comment meant something negative. "Aw, man, it's too much isn't it?"

Marinette shook her head. "No! No, I just...I knew you two were a team, but I didn't know you cared about her that much."

"Actually, I care about her way more. I'd like to get whatever what she wants, but I just settled for this because I didn't want to scare her. I don't want to look stupid either. Do I look stupid?"

Marinette shook her head. She was looking down at her feet now, and he could tell by the look on her face when they passed under a streetlight that something was wrong.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Chat smirked.

She didn't even crack a smile. "It's nothing."

"Come on," Chat nudged her arm. After a moment's pause, he asked. "Is it a boy?"

"No!" Marinette blurted out, making Chat jump.

He raised an eyebrow. He had just been teasing. He didn't expect that sort of reaction.

She sighed. "Yes." She crossed her arms over her chest, and Chat notice that one of her hands was balled into a fist, as if she was carrying something that she didn't want to drop.

"Does it have to do with whatever you're holding?"

Marinette's fist became tighter, and she looked reluctant to answer, but she did anyway. "Yes."

Hearing that she had her own love problem, Chat immediately wanted to help her in anyway that he could. Marinette was his friend, and he was sure he could relate to any love problem she might have. Besides, she was one of the few people at school that didn't treat him like a celebrity. This was the least he could do to thank her, even if she didn't know who he really was.

"If you want, I could give you some advice too," Chat said with a friendly grin.

Marinette didn't even look up. "I don't think any advice could help me. I'm just...stuck."

Chat shrugged. "Well, then I could just listen if you want to talk about it."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Okay, that's fi-"

"Ugh, I don't know what to do!" Marinette exclaimed, making Chat jump again. "All year long I've had a crush on this guy that I can barely talk to without looking like an idiot, and I've been trying so hard to get him to notice me, and nothing really works. Then I find out this other guy likes me way more than I thought he did, and I've just never noticed! So now I'm guilty because he's so sweet, but I still really like the first guy so much, and I even made him this!"

Marinette opened her hand to reveal a silver chain with a black guitar pick hanging from it. A white lightning bolt was etched in the center of the pick.

"That looks awesome," Chat said in awe. He'd been wanting a guitar pick necklace himself, and he even mentioned it to Nino the day before. "You really made that?"

Marinette closed her hand and crossed her arms again. "Yeah, but now I don't know if I should give it to him. I don't what I should do at all anymore."

Chat placed a supporting hand on her shoulder. "I think you should do what your heart tells you to do. If you want to give him that necklace, then go for it. He'd be crazy not to accept a gift from someone like you. You're amazing, Marinette."

Marinette finally looked up at him and smiled just as they passed under another streetlight. Her big, blue bell eyes startled him. They were beautiful, but they were also so scarily familiar that they surprised him.

Ladybug has eyes like that.

Chat froze in his tracks, remembering his original mission. He looked up and saw the bakery was right across the street, yet Ladybug was nowhere to be found.

Marinette's smile fell. "Chat? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered absentmindedly, still looking around for some sort of evidence that Ladybug was nearby.

Still looking around, Chat placed a hand on Marinette's upper back and began gently guiding her across the street. "Yeah, let's go."

They walked in silence to the bakery. Chat was mostly quiet because he was still looking around for Ladybug. He was already late in getting there. Was she going to even later? Did she arrive before he did and leave when he didn't show up at the same time? Or, and Chat dreaded the answer to this question, was she not coming at all?"

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Marinette said, pulling Chat from his thoughts.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm home now, and you've got a date. I'll be heading up to my room now, so thanks for walking me home!" She turned to unlock the door to the bakery.

"Why don't I give you a lift up?" Chat asked, extending his staff. His offer wasn't completely generous. He was hoping that he'd be able to see Ladybug from the top of the building.

Marinette shook her head. "No, that's okay."

"Come on," Chat said. "It's late, and you're probably tired. It'll save you the energy."

Marinette stopped fiddling with the lock and turned around. Looking at him as if contemplating his offer, she bit her lip and took a step closer. "I guess it won't hurt. I am pretty tired…"

Chat instructed her to wrap her arms around his neck. As soon as she did, he extended his staff so it was high enough to reach the top of the building. Chat tried not to think too much about the fact that he was holding one girl while he had roses for a different girl in his other hand. He also tried not to think about how nice it felt to have her holding onto him the way that she was. He tried to focus on how she smelled like lavender instead, but that turned out to be a bad idea because then he really wanted to sniff her hair.

Ladybug smells like lavender too.

The staff swung forward, and Chat leaped down to the floor of her balcony with Marinette's balcony with her still holding on.

Marinette looked up at him with those startling eyes again. It gave him a bittersweet feeling to be looking at them. They were beautiful, and they reeled him in so much that he could barely remember what they were doing.

"Chat?"

He was pulled out of the water, and the bitter part came, bitter because she wasn't the person she kept reminding him of. He realized that he had his free arm around her shoulders now that the staff was short in his hand again, and he quickly pulled it away.

"Sorry," he said, blushing slightly from embarrassment.

Marinette let go of him and took a step back. "It's, fine. Thanks, Chat."

Chat nodded and looked up at the sky. The moon was almost directly overhead now. Minutes were ticking by quickly, and Ladybug was still nowhere to be seen.

It was hard for him to accept. A knot was in his throat, and his heart felt like it had been snapped in half.

Ladybug wasn't coming.

He sighed and looked down at the bouquet of roses in his hand. Having been dropped, it didn't look as perfect as it did when he first bought it, but it was still pretty.

He looked up at Marinette, who was standing there nervously. The flowers had been meant for a beautiful ladybug, but Marinette seemed like she could use something nice too. Besides, Ladybug probably wouldn't want them from him anyway. He stretched out his arm to hand her the bouquet.

She frowned in confusion. "What are you doing? Those are for-"

"You," he finished. His voice was quiet because he felt like he might choke and start crying from heartbreak if he spoke any louder.

Marinette looked at with wide eyes. "But what about Ladybug?"

Chat shrugged. "She's not coming," he answered, his voice cracking on the last word. "Please, take it."

"Well, she could be!" Marinette argued. "What if on her way here, she had to save a cat from a tree, prevent a car accident, and stop a burglar, so she had to recharge somewhere for a while before she could retransform?" As she spoke, her arms flailed in dramatic gestures to act out the things she was describing.

Chat chuckled at her actions. He couldn't help thinking that she was terribly cute. Unfortunately, when he allowed himself to laugh, he accidentally allowing his eyes to water. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand in a way that looked like he was just doing it out of fatigue instead of tears. He cleared his throat to end the laughter. "It's a reach. Even if that was true, that just means that tonight wasn't meant to happen for us. Please, take it. You deserve something nice."

Marinette didn't move for a long moment. Chat guessed she was waiting for him to take it back, but he wasn't going to. When he guessed that she realized that, she reached for the flowers. Their fingers grazed over each other for a split second as the bouquet moved from Chat's hand to Marinette's.

"Thank you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Chat nodded. Without a word, he turned around and prepared to take his leave.

"Wait, Chat Noir!"

Chat looked back to see Marinette gently placing the bouquet on a table, and then hurrying over to him, holding out her hand. "I want you to have this."

The guitar pick necklace. Chat frowned and shook his head. "No, I can't. That's for-"

"You," she finished with a smile. "You deserve something nice too. Besides, I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me anyway. I think it's better if you have it."

Chat's heartbreak was put on hold as he heard this. In fact, he felt like his heart was being glued back together with the way it was weakly fluttering in his chest.

He studied her to see if she would take it back, but the smile she was giving him was too sweet for that to be true.

He smiled weakly and took the necklace, immediately clasping it around his neck. He held the guitar pick over his hand and looked down at it.

"It's perfect," he said quietly. When looked up at her, and saw her smiling up at him so kindly, his smile grew bigger, which he didn't think was possible since he had just been heartbroken. He got down on one knee and took Marinette's hand and kissed the top of it. Unlike the first time, she didn't pull it away.

"Thank you, princess."

He noticed the blush growing on her cheeks, but she kept smiling. "You're welcome, Chat Noir."

He stood up and walked over to the railing and hopped onto it. "I'll see you again, soon," he said, extending his staff.

"I'm sure you will," she said. "Goodnight, Chat Noir."

"Sleep tight, princess."

And with that, he leaped off the railing and into the dark night

A conflicted Adrien plopped down on his bed that night.

"Don't tell me," Plagg yawned. "You made things worse, and now you're in love with Ladybug and Marinette."

Adrien yawned as well, pulling his covers over him. "I'm not in love with her. She's just...nice."

"Okay, whatever you say, Romeo, just let me get some sleep," Plagg said, curling up in a ball at the end of the bed.

Unlike Plagg, Adrien couldn't sleep that night. He was still hurt that Ladybug never showed, but there was also something about Marinette that just made him so happy. He couldn't place what it was, but it was enough to help him to mostly forget the heartbreak, but it was also enough to keep him thinking about her all night.

There it is! I hope it wasn't too cheesy near the end there. :p If you'd leave a review telling me what you thought, you'd be doing me a HUGE favor, and I'd be EVER so greatful! ^-^ Thanks so much for reading!