Adrien crumpled up the paper in which he had scribbled down a few of the ideas, but forgetting them as soon as he understood that none of them would work on Marinette. Things became more complicated when he realized that even if she didn't want to see him, they still had a patrol to do in the evening. He wouldn't be surprised, if she didn't show up.

He had sent multiple voicemails to Marinette's phone, going against Alya's advice, and he itched to send more, but nevertheless, his efforts were futile. She wouldn't hear him out and he couldn't blame her.

Adrien startled and was woken up from his stupor, when the phone on the table next to him started vibrating. As swiftly as a cat he jumped and picked the phone up, only to realize that Nino was calling.

"Yo, Alya told me what happened. That's messed up," Nino said on the other line.

"Yeah, I have no clue what to do. It's Mari, when she sets her mind on something, she doesn't back down that easily. It's like the first day of collège again," Adrien smiled sadly as he evoked the sight of her flushed cheeks and astonished face in front of his eyes; the day he had given her his umbrella and she became his first friend.

"Well, she forgave you for sticking that gum on the bench, or not sticking that gum as it was another one of Chloé's schemes, so she would surely understand."

"I'm not sure, this time it's different. We're not teenagers anymore. Alya advised me to make a big romantic gesture, but my brain is completely blank and all I'm coming up with is 'Plan A: send her some flowers.'"

"Maybe you can send her lots of flowers. It might not work, but at least her place would smell nice, right? Also, girls always love flowers. When Alya was shutting me out for days, because I hadn't picked up my socks from the floor and she blamed me for having the apartment smell like cheese balls, I sent her a huge order of fragrant flowers like lilies, jasmines and heliotropes. I think it's sufficient to say that I was back at the apartment the same night. It was like sleeping in heaven."

Adrien pondered upon the thought. She's Ladybug, she loves flowers. It may even be the solution.

"Thanks, bro."

"No problem, man. Hope everything works out for you, or else I would have to deal with you constantly whining and being sexually frustrated."

Adrien blushed and ended the call after saying quick goodbyes. He dialed the number of his preferred flower shop, placed a quick order and started writing the message.

Alya had left to go back to her apartment, apologizing and assuring her that she would be back the next day. She had also asked her to consider, if the call had been a ruse or if there was a sensible explanation for the abrupt cut-off, but Marinette ignored the possibility. The worst pain had passed, but the ache was still there.

She started absently clicking the buttons of the TV remote control, while being snuggled in a blanket on the couch with ice cream, that was dripping from a spoon.

The sound of the doorbell shifted her attention and she almost didn't check who was behind the door in fear that Adrien had come to her in person, instead of the countless calls he had made to her phone. Warily, she unlocked the door and reached for the handle to open the door ajar.

The man, who she had never seen before, stood in front of her apartment with a medium-sized purple and white bouquet, which to her puzzlement consisted of an unusual set of statices and sweet alyssum plants. The errand-boy set the bouquet into her hands and with a slight smile, took off down the corridor, leaving Marinette staring at the lovely flower arrangement in front of her.

Marinette already knew who had sent it and although she wanted nothing to do with Adrien anymore, by staying away she would be able to get over him easier, she still didn't want to be rude and not accept the flowers. If they didn't bring joy to her, then at least Tikki would be delighted as Adrien had slyly chosen the flowers that would most attract ladybugs.

Finding an empty vase from the kitchen cupboard, she filled it with water and set it down on the counter, only to notice a small rip of paper wrapped around the ribbon that held the flowers together. She took the slip of paper and unrolled it, too curious to throw it into the trash without reading it first.

'The first day you flew in the sky,
You looked up and stared at my eyes,
Your brightness showed me the light,
Your smile attracted me at first sight.

Do not forget the lies,
That spread like vicious flies,
That threatened to set a base,
That was built on a mistake. '

Marinette read the poem again, confused and wondering, what he meant. He had been the one to end the relationship, then why would he still send her messages with romantic undertones. She didn't want to get her hopes up nor make assumptions. With a heavy heart, she hid the paper in one of the cookbooks, which she never used, and put the flowers in the vase and out of sight.

At night, when she was alone with her thoughts, she was musing on the note and the meaning behind it. Even though she had only read it twice, she had remembered every word. After a few long hours of tossing around in the bed and overthinking, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next day she made it her mission to get through it without any tears and avoided thinking about Adrien. That plan failed as soon as she saw another bouquet of flowers accompanied by a tiny note on her work desk.

The other interns cast curious glances, but otherwise didn't say anything. After all, they weren't aware that her and Adrien had broken up, and only assumed that it was an anniversary or some other important date.

'The rain won't fall,
And I won't feel calm,
I have hurt my lady,
Could she find me maybe?

Standing here alone,
Soaked to the bone'

'This was it? Where was the rest of the poem?' The hem of the paper was torn and Marinette found that the last lines had been ripped off, presumably by Adrien himself.

She looked out of the window and saw sunlight streaming into the otherwise artificially illuminated room, making her bewildered as why he was referencing rain. Marinette proceeded to get onto her designing sketches, which was difficult to accomplish when the scent of the gardenias made her brain fuzzy.

The flowers and the poem hadn't worked as Marinette hadn't shown up for the patrol nor had she answered any of his calls. In the morning he sent one of the more sumptuous bouquets and gave her more clues to figure it out, but couldn't exactly wait for it to happen as they both had been dense for years, not seeing that their partner had been in front of them entire time.

At the last minute Adrien had ripped off the last two lines of the poem, fearful that she won't show up if he asked her to meet him in front of their old middle school in the note. He had one thing left to try and although they had agreed not to take it seriously, he could still hold onto the hope that it would work.

In his hands he held the 'get out of jail free' card, she had designed one for both of them, inspired by the Monopoly board game. It was something that had started as an inside joke after a few months of dating.

"Use it when you screw things up," she had said and they had both laughed at how ridiculous the idea seemed. It was absurd at the time to actually think that anything could come between them. Unfortunately, they had been wrong and now that single card had become his last resort.

Carefully, he attached the card to a single red rose and stood up. If he got rejected, then at least he wouldn't go down as a coward. He really hoped she would listen, he couldn't imagine life without her by his side.

Marinette had just finished cooking dinner, when the doorbell rang. Expecting Alya to come over as she had promised the previous day, she hadn't bothered to fix her appearance and opened the door without any hesitation.

Instead of Alya stood Adrien, dressed in beige jeans and a white button-down shirt, smiling sheepishly and holding a red rose with an attached note in his hands. Marinette only blinked and remorsefully moved to shut the door in his face, but something about the note intrigued her and had caught her eye. It was the card that they swore to never use, which made her gaze in wonder back at Adrien, who still hadn't uttered a word.

Stepping aside and widening the door to let him in, her only thought was that she would certainly regret the idea later, but seeing Adrien's beaming smile had melted her heart. She couldn't believe that he still held so much power over her.

She closed the apartment door and turned to face him, the craving to be in his arms had increased tenfold after seeing him in person. She couldn't do this, she couldn't let him go.

"I-I had no intention of breaking up with you. I wasn't even aware of it. I was helping Chloé with her acting and she used it against me, recording some of the lines I was reciting from the script and sending them to you. I know that it's my fault, but I swear, I would never do anything to hurt you. I want to be with you, always . Can you forgive me?"

Adrien had been looking towards the ground, not seeing the swirl of emotions in Marinette's eyes as she was making sense of the situation. He only looked up after finishing his speech and discerned the pure adoration and kindness reflecting off Marinette's face.

He hadn't known that the poems and the flowers, as well as Alya's advice, had already made her doubt her initial speculations and so the impact of her colliding with him and wrapping her arms around his torso made him stumble a step back.

It had been a misunderstanding, just as it had been one on the first day of school, and she wanted to kick herself for not noticing the hints he had thrown into his writing.

Marinette was nuzzling her face into his neck and he responded with enthusiasm, squeezing her close against him as he laid his chin on her head, unwilling to let her leave his side, because of a misinterpretation, ever again.