and i'm back.. so many stories, so little time, right? i feel like chapter 2 is eerily similar to S2 ep9..?

any hoo, enjoy!

xoxo moonbaby

...

Marinette jumped down to her bed and smiled to herself.

That silly cat, she thought affectionately. He'd really made her feel better.

She looked around at the pictures of Adrien on her walls and sighed. Her mouth set in determination, Marinette pulled them all down, one after the other, carefully peeling away the tape and dropping the magazine pages onto the floor.

There was still an ache in her chest as she gathered them up and dropped them into her recycling bin. His handsome face stared up at her.

Tikki watched quietly, letting Marinette do what she needed to do.

"I guess it makes sense, hunh Tikki?" Marinette mused, sorting through her inspiration folder for pictures to hang up where Adrien's pictures had been. "He's always been so polite, but not interested in any girls…"

"I guess so," Tikki said, chewing a cookie thoughtfully. She had her own suspicions about Adrien.

Marinette sighed. "I hope things are ok with his dad. It must be so hard to come out!" She gasped with an idea. "I should bring him something tomorrow, to make sure he feels loved."

With a new mission, Marinette was starting to feel like herself again. "Maybe this is for the best, Tikki. Maybe now we can be good friends."

She got into bed and snuggled down, yawning. "Maybe I'll save a cookie for Chat Noir, too…"

Alya couldn't believe it when Marinette walked into class 5 minutes early, instead of 30 seconds late.

"Hey girl!"

Marinette had a smile on her face and a pastry box under her arm. Adrien was glad to see her doing so much better than the night before.

"Good Morning, Marinette," he said warmly. Alya waited for the flustered meltdown to begin, ready to intervene, but was surprised again.

"Good Morning, Adrien," Marinette said brightly. She put the bakery box down on his desk. "I brought some pastries for us, help yourself."

Adrien's eyes were wide. "Really?" He opened the box and his face lit up at the warm pastries nestled carefully inside. Marinette laughed a little and slid into her chair with ease. "I thought you might like the pistachio ones. And I brought chocolate for you, Al."

"Whoahh, baked goods!" Nino came into the classroom, pulling off his headphones. "Thanks Mari!"

Adrien bit into a pastry and his eyes closed with pleasure. He turned around in his seat. "Marinette, these are amazing! Thank you so much," he said emphatically.

Marinette shrugged and smiled. "It's no problem, Adrien, but I'll tell my parents how much you like them."

Nino's mouth dropped open. He and Alya exchanged confused glances.

"Oh, Adrien," Marinette said remembering something as she pulled out her sketchbook.

"Yes?" She didn't usually talk to him this much, and it was a nice change.

"I wanted your opinion on one of my designs. Uhmm….here we go, this one." She showed him the dress she'd been working on. "Is the ruching too much?"

Adrien looked at her for a moment before dropping his eyes to the sketch. "Hmm, pretty," he said, choosing his words. "I think that…either the ruching or the ruffled bottom would be good, but not both?"

Marinette took the book back and looked, chewing her lip. "You know, I think you're right." She touched his arm and smiled at him. "Thank you so much, Adrien."

"Uhh, sure, anytime," he said. His arm tingled a little where her fingers touched him.

Alya and Nino gaped at this exchange, but before anymore could be said, Madame Bustier came in to begin class. Adrien turned around to put the pastries between him and Nino and faced forward again, leaving Marinette with a small smile as she calmly pulled out her books.

Alya leaned over to whisper. "Uhm, who are you and what did you do with my best friend?"

"What, he has good taste!" Marinette whispered back, pointedly avoiding Alya's eyes. It's not my secret to tell, she thought to herself, happy that Adrien seemed to be doing just fine.

Meanwhile, Adrien had a smile on his face too. Glad to see you happy, Princess.

...

can you say crush reversal?