I am back! And hopefully with some fluff between Adrien and Marinette! Also the chapter were Ladybug is introduced! *Cue mental dance party* Or not so mental if you read the story… !

Okay dokey! On with the story!

Marinette closed her eyes and tried to let the music take her. Of course, it's not easy to concentrate on anything when someone as incredible as Adrien was playing with you, she thought, as she turned the page and concentrated on the music before her.

The auditorium was empty, and all the chairs had been packed away, save for the two they were using, and the stand in front of them. The stage seemed so vast without anyone else playing on it. They finished the piece together and Adrien turned to her.

"That was good! You changed your bowing and you didn't stumble as much in the section with the shift!" Marinette glowed at the praise.

"Thank you," she said shyly.

Adrien smiled, before glancing at his watch. "I have to get going. My father wants me to appear at a party, so I have to go be a polite and dutiful son." He was smiling and joking, but Marinette could hear the sadness behind his voice. She touched his shoulder sympathetically, and their eyes met, hers conveying all her sadness and compassion for him, and his conveying all his sadness at his unloved lifestyle. Marinette sighed.

"It's not so bad," Adrien told her as they moved to pack away their instruments. "This party is actually at a cafe, so that's a little different. It is a fancy cafe admittedly, or so I've been told. We'll all be sitting down for most of the party, I believe, so hopefully I won't have to talk to everyone."

Marinette smiled. "If you ever need a break, just tell you dad you have plans with me."

Adrien shook his head, acknowledging her kindness but explaining that everything had to be scheduled. He couldn't just 'have plans' as she put it. Marinette nodded, understanding. They packed the chairs away, still talking and walked up the stairs. Marinette paused as they reached the exit.

"See you next week!" she said cheerily. "And thanks again for practising with me."

Adrien smiled. "I'm looking forward to it already."

"I hope the meeting at the cafe goes okay," she said simply.

Adrien shrugged. "I'm sure it'll go fine. Thanks."

Marinette seemed really sweet, he though. He was glad he was able to make a friend, even on his first day. Being home-schooled didn't really give him the opportunity to mix with lots of children so he had been a little nervous. When his teacher had suggested it to him, Adrien had initially been very reluctant, but upon hearing that his teacher, Mr. A, was the conductor, he had agreed. Mr A had been asking him to join for some years, confident that he would make a very good first violinist, but on audition day, Adrien had blown him away with a song sweet enough to make a statue cry. Although he had been reluctant to make his own student the concertmaster, the committee had been horrified that he was not going to make Adrien the first violinist. As his assistant had put it, "Discrimination works both ways. You can discriminate other students with unfair treatment of your own student, or you can discriminate against your own student by unfairly positioning them lower than they deserve." So Adrien had been given his position, although it had been a close run against another incredible violinist, Marinette Dupin-Cheng. Mr A was sure that the song she had performed was one of her own. He was also convinced she had no idea how brilliant she was. Marinette was so humble, always considering others rather than herself. She would make a lovely desk partner for Adrien, he had decided. He knew Marinette would support Adrien and encourage him, but also make a very sweet friend. Mr A knew Adrien was anxious to make some real friends and Marinette would be perfect.

Adrien, unaware of his teachers thoughts, only knowing that Marinette was a very kind girl, watched her walk away, violin case in hand. He turned away and headed towards his house, a cold, empty place compared to the lively room he had just been in. At least he would hopefully see someone his age tonight, at the party.

What Adrien expected from the party was a boring, lifeless place, where the only noise was people talking seriously, and everyone being stiff and formal. What he didn't expect was a cheery bustling cafe, with live music, cheerful chatter and happy faces.

As he sat down, he turned to his father, who was looking about him with interest.

"Father, why are we in this place?" he asked.

Gabriel turned to him. "Why? Don't you like it?"

Adrien hurried to assure him. "No, no, I love it. I think it's great, but we don't usually attend such places."

Gabriel nodded. "I am looking into a fashion line with more colour and flair. Something that is different from my usual formal style. I though this would be a good place for inspiration."

Adrien was surprised to say the least. His father had never talked about needing inspiration before. He was about to say so when his father answered his unspoken question.

"I actually have the line almost developed, but considering that your age group is the target audience, I thought it would be good to have several children of your age view the pieces. And since they may not have been comfortable in a ballroom, I decided that this would be the best place."

Adrien nodded. It made sense. His father wouldn't have wanted to go to a place like this, but it was for his guests. He wondered if he would know any of the children coming. As if reading his mind, his father spoke again.

"There will be five children coming. One of them is the mayor's daughter, who is in the orchestra you were accepted into. Her name is Ch-"

"Chloe," Adrien completed evenly. His face remained blank. "I do know her."

Gabriel looked down at him. "I take it you do not like her. In future I will not invite people of your age." Adrien winced, the words taken as they were intended.

"No Father, I don't mean to be ungrateful, but Chloe is different. You'll understand when you see her. She's really, well, she's-"

The door opened and Adrien abruptly stopped. The mayor and Chloe walked in, and were directed to their table. Chloe immediately sat down next to him, inching closer and grabbing his arm.

"Hi Adrikins! I'm going to sit next to you!" she said, leaning towards him and wrapping her arm around his neck, peppering his face with kisses. He leaned back.

"Hi Chloe," he replied, and glanced up as his father. See what I mean? His eyes said, and Gabriel intervened.

"Chloe, we have seating arrangements already established. You will be seated next to your father." His tone brooked that there would be no disagreements, and Chloe frowned, annoyed. She sulkily flounced over to her father, as he and Gabriel began to discuss the fashion line.

Gradually the other children arrived, and Adrien was disappointed to find they were all like Chloe. Aside from polite conversation, he didn't pursue any kind of friendship. The meal had just been finished when suddenly, the clear and beautiful tone of a violin rang out through the cafe. Adrien looked up, surprised, to see standing on a raised platform directly across from him, was a violinist.

A petite young girl, looking to be about 16 or 17, around his age, stood in the bright spotlight. She was dressed in a beautiful scarlet dress with a sweetheart top, and a sash was tied in a bow around her waist. The dress puffed outwards at the waist, and flowed gently to knee level. Red chiffon covered the skirt, lightly dotted with black dots. In fact, when he looked closely, the whole dress was covered in light dots. She must really like ladybugs, he thought, for that was immediately what came to mind. She had dark hair, tied in two tails with red ribbons, the same coloured ribbon that was tied in a bow around the scroll of her violin. Her face was partly covered by a mask, red with the ever present black spots. Her eyes were closed, passion written all over her beautiful face.

He watched her, transfixed, as her bow soared across the strings, and the music flowed, capturing him as never before. Sure, he was good at violin, but this girl had such passion. Adrien had to meet her. She was incredible. The melody that sang in his ears was one he'd never heard before. He was sure it was an original. All of a sudden, he wanted to dance and sing, to the beautiful tune floating out into the night. Adrien had done dancing lessons before, but now he truly wanted to dance. If only he had his violin with him, he could play along to the beautiful melody. As her song ended, she opened her eyes and stared straight at him. Adrien's breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were a stunning bluebell blue, so clear and bright. The girl was exquisite. He frowned for a moment. I'm sure I've seen those eyes somewhere before, he thought, puzzled. But he was drawn back to the girl, unable to think of anything else. He considered waving at her, before he realised she couldn't actually see him. She was in a bright spotlight, and he was in shadow. Adrien sighed, both with wonder and disappointment.

"Adrien, that is not a flattering look," his father's voice cut through his thoughts.

He looked up at his father, and realised his mouth was hanging open. He closed it immediately. How embarrassing. Caught staring at a girl.

"I'm sorry Father, but don't you think her playing was amazing?" he asked, undaunted.

Gabriel nodded. "She was certainly very talented. Perhaps I may have her play at our next gathering."

"Yes!" Adrien cried, then lowered his voice as the children at his table turned towards him from the clothing they were examining. "Yes Father, I think that would be wonderful. The gathering would be more comfortable and more entertained with a live performer. Would you like me to get her name?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I can get her name easily enough." Then, seeing Adrien's obvious disappointment, he sighed. "Would you like to speak with her?" Gabriel felt somewhat at fault for Chloe's behaviour towards his son, and decided he would allow Adrien to be excused.

"Yes Father, I would love to," Adrien replied, trying not to let too much eagerness into his voice and failing miserably.

Gabriel's mouth twitched into a small smile, but it was lost on Adrien. "You may be excused."

"Thank you!" Adrien leapt up from the table and walked quickly across the cafe towards the door that the girl had vanished through. The other teens at the table glanced up curiously, but thought nothing of it.

Adrien hesitantly opened the door and peered though. It opened into a hallway, and he heard hurried footsteps ahead of him. He walked in, cautious but curious. The footsteps stopped, then increased in pace. Adrien followed them, speeding up. He turned the corner and kept going, following the footsteps. Doors passed on either side, some with labels, such as "Storage Cupboard" and others unlabelled.

He passed a room that was obviously a pantry, if his nose was anything to go by. The footsteps stopped, a door was opened and shut, and the sound of the violin was heard again, softer this time.

Adrien followed the sound till he came to a door, and touched the handle, preparing to open it. But as he began to turn it, the music swelled and filled him, and he closed his eyes. As if in a dream, he felt his hands come to first position, then, his body moving all on its own, he began to dance. Adrien danced as he'd never danced before. The cold, lifeless hallway was transformed into a warm, lively place as the music flowed and swirled, his feet moving gracefully. Time stood still. The two teenagers, each in their own world, and yet together. After a few minutes, the song gradually stopped and Adrien's dancing ceased. How he wished for his violin at that moment! If only he could play a tune or two with the mysterious girl. But still joy filled him, and he placed his hand again on the door handle, knocking quietly.

A sharp intake of breath was heard, then timidly, a voice called "Come in," and, eagerly, Adrien opened the door. He hadn't even seen the girl when he heard her voice, laced with confusion.

"Adrien?"

And that is all for now! Until the next chapter... I can't wait!

Please tell me what you think, I'm dying to know if you liked it, because I really worked hard on this one!

You have no idea how much it means to me… that people actually take time out of their days to READ MY STORIES? WHAT!? So seriously, thank you from the bottom of my heart 3

~Jem