"Oh what do I do… what do I do?! I-I mean, I know this is just me spending time with a new friend, but if that's the case, then why do I feel so... uneasy about the whole thing?!" Marinette almost wore a groove in the floor, as she paced up and down outside College Dupont waiting for her 'date', after suffering through one of her most taxing school days yet.

Between bouts of almost falling head-over-heels all day long at the slightest contact, (her mind unaccountably being distracted by the impending cafe meeting) and Chloe's constant snickering at her continued misfortune (she was beginning to think that girl was the spawn of Satan himself) everything had been almost a constant struggle, from the minute she'd risen bleary-eyed from under her covers that morning.

Not that she'd even gotten much respite from her tortuous pining during the hours usually reserved for sleep, either. His gorgeous blue hair, just like mine. That daring piercing that glitters, just like his eyes. His collection of Jagged Stone memorabilia, amazing. Could he truly be 'the one'…

"Um, hello… Earth to Marinette?!" Tikki had been waiting an eternity for the coast to be clear so she could speak to her Chosen, and even now she had the chance to wave and shout in the blunette's ear, she still couldn't seem to stir the lovestruck girl from her perpetual state of delirium.

So, the indignant kwami decided to try another tactic. She hesitated to use it, but it had worked before one Valentine's Day last year, and she really wanted to make sure the noticeably drooling Marinette was still all there in her head.

"Ow!" The blunette screeched, as tiny Tikki gave her user the slightest of pinches, which nevertheless had the desired effect of stirring the daydreaming girl from her self-induced trance. "What did you do that for?!"

"Sorry Marinette…" Tikki felt a little ashamed of herself, and her head bowed slightly as she hovered next to a wincing blunette. "... But it was starting to look like your mind was elsewhere, like another dimension, for instance. Is everything okay with you?"

"Absolutely! Definitely! I mean, what could p-possibly…" Marinette's face was initially a picture of denial, but under close scrutiny from a suspicious kwami, she crumbled like an old cookie. "...Oh, who I am kidding? I'm a mess! Just look at me, Tikki! Odd socks, sweating buckets, and unable to even think straight without ending up on the planet Zog! What am I going to do?!"

"This wouldn't be about a certain musician, would it?" Tikki made a point of flying to her Chosen's side to comfort her, but even she couldn't resist a small mocking undertone in her speech.

"Of course it is… and you know it!" Marinette shot her kwami a pointed look, referring to all the tossing and turning she'd done since late last night and early that morning. "E-Ever since I met Luka, I've felt like a nervous wreck! My legs have turned to jelly, my heart won't stop thumping, his most attractive features are engraved in my brain…"

"Hmm, I don't think we need a doctor to diagnose this particular problem…" Tikki noted, as she gently dabbed the cheek of her stressed-out companion. "I think what you have, is a crush."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Tikki!" Marinette let out a hollow laugh, as her eyes uncontrollably flitted from left to right, as if she had something to hide. "It's not like I've never had these symptoms before, why the last time I experienced them was when Adrien gave me his u-umbrella…"

Marinette quickly ended her accidental confession there and then, but it was already too late: the jig was up. It was all she could do to cover her mouth before anymore incriminating evidence passed through it, and her face turned as intense a shade of scarlet as her giggling kwami ally close by.

"It's okay Marinette, I understand. I've seen it with the many other Ladybugs over the centuries, so don't think you're more immune from the pangs of first... sorry, second love, than any of the previous superheroes I've taught. The only advice I can give you is to just be yourself, let your heart be the ultimate guide, and… look out!"

Marinette was about to question the anxious kwami's last two words there, but she'd already zipped away safely into the blunette's pocket.

It was only when the sound of someone clearing their throat nearby could be heard, that the puzzled teenage girl finally put everything together.

Tikki wasn't directing that final statement at her after all, the kwami was talking to herself.

"Why hello there young lady, are you lost?" Luka asked the wide-eyed girl with amusement. "Would you like a grand tour of our lovely city, or would just a brochure be sufficient? I can direct you to a tourist information place where they're handing them out for free. They've got pictures, maps, everything!"

"Ha ha, very funny… I don't think." Marinette crossed her arms in a huff. "Just the route to the cafe will be enough for now, thank you. Which one are we going to anyway, the riverside one, or the place nearer the centre? I have to be back by six if that's alright: I have plenty of homework to do, and unlike a certain stuck-up blonde in my class, I don't have a loyal stooge to finish it for me."

"Actually, neither." Luka commented with a smirk, as Marinette raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought I'd take you along to one of my favourite haunts, that I've been going to for years. It's a bit out of the way and very unadvertised, so you might not have been there before. But if you're like me, and I suspect you are, then you'll always be up for new adventures. And free refills on weekdays. So, are you coming?"

A clearly flustered Marinette just about managed to mutter "okay" under her breath, before she was taken by the arm and led away at a moderate speed. The ever-considerate Luka made sure that she wasn't being dragged away against her will, but for whatever reason, there wasn't much protest from the blunette as she and the musician disappeared further into the depths of Paris.

Meanwhile, a pair of shadowy figures emerged from just behind the steps, and the smallest silhouette said something to the larger one, as they watched the unsuspecting pair depart with keen interest.

"Funny place to go for a piano lesson, isn't it Lover Boy? In fact, I don't see anything resembling a musical instrument around here, apart from that old lady standing over there by the bus stop, who sort of looks like a drum."

"Plagg, I know you'd be breaking the habit of a lifetime by doing this, but could you please stop being so rude all the time, and tell me what direction they went? I was, er, checking my watch a moment ago, so I must've missed where they were heading…"

"Checking your watch?! Adrien, I was right here. It's more as if your face went like this, and you put your hands over your ears to cut out all the sick flirting those two lovebirds were doing. Can't say I blame you, though: the way they were carrying on, it almost made me cough up my Cream Of Camembert soup from earlier. Almost, but not quite."

"Okay, okay enough already. Just raise a paw to show me where they were headed, and we'll have complete silence for the rest of the journey, thanks. Ever heard of the phrase 'cat got your tongue'? Well, I'd appreciate if you'd use it for once, if you'd be so kind now."

"Me-ow! Get you! Fine Mr Romeo, if you want so badly to be deprived of my witty banter for the duration of our little outing together, that's entirely up to you. In the meantime, I'll just entertain myself by pulling the face you made when you saw Luka and Marinette nattering away like an old married couple. Let's see… I think it was something like this. Would you say that was an accurate depiction, Lover Boy?"

"...Plagg, I swear to… I hope the wind changes, then you'll be stuck like that. At least afterwards you might be a bit less vain, and I could use the bathroom first in the morning, without you locking yourself in to stare intently into the mirror until school starts."

"Hey, these rock hard abs deserve to be admired. And Adrien, even though you're being so cruel to me at the moment, I know you love me really, so I take no personal offence. It's all the stress you're under right now, from having your girlfriend stolen from under your nose. If you want my opinion, you should be worried: Luka is some serious competition, so sensitive and manly at the same time, and did you see that posture…?!"

"Plagg, time to hush. Or I'm cancelling this month's order of cheese."

"Wha… I'll be good! I'll be good!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Because you were all so nice and followed this story in your droves, the next chapter is released a little earlier than I originally planned. Remember: the more follows and favourites this attracts, the more I'll feel obligated to update faster. And that's a promise. Have a nice day! ;)