All right, third chapter! Thankfully the first week isn't too stressful. Also, I just really wanted to get this to you.

Once again, I must thank legend-of-sora for letting me write about and expand on her short comic. And making the lovely cover art!

I hope you enjoy!

Make Small Talk

Marinette was up most of that night after patrols, tossing and turning and thinking. Thinking about all the times she'd interacted with Adrien, how she'd been too love-struck to see past her crushing emotions, her racing thoughts, her nerves always getting the best of her. Thinking about what she actually knew about him. Thinking about what happened today.

He looked happy enough at school, with friends. He seemed to really like having a group of friends, interacting with people. From what she remembered, the only time he looked visibly upset was the Parents' Day at school. His father hadn't been there. Probably too busy.

Oh, but there was also on his birthday, Marinette realized, when he was talking to Nino. He sounded so down when he'd told Nino he had a photoshoot to get to during lunch.

Marinette rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes, staring up at the night sky through her skylight. What had they been talking about before? Frowning, she realized that she couldn't recall because she'd been trying so hard to give him her present that was all her mind had been focusing on.

Letting out a half-sigh and half-groan, she pulled her pillow from under her head and threw it over her face. What else had she possibly missed?

Of course!

Marinette bolted up in her bed, the pillow following off her face and into her lap.

The day when Adrien had come over to her place. The moment when he'd talked about not contributing to the team at all and she'd given him her lucky bracelet. He'd looked the saddest she'd ever seen him. Disappointed with himself. At the time, she'd thought it was ridiculous.

Eyebrows furrowing, frowning again, Marinette laid back down.

Someone like him? Discontent? His father was a super-rich, super-famous fashion designer. He was a handsome, popular model. His face was everywhere in Paris. He had lots of girls' attention.

Adrien always seemed so unaffected and…mature about things. He was also intelligent. Marinette knew that he was good at Physics. When he was older, he didn't have to be a model. Not only did his father's prestige provide him opportunities, but so did his intellect.

Marinette knew Adrien's schedule down to every last minute. Because he sat in front of her, it was hard not to pay attention to him. She knew what his hand-writing looked like, she knew how he held a pencil. She knew how he signed his name.

But did she know anything about him? His family? Other than the obvious. Did he ever even really talk about his family other than his father? What about his likes and dislikes? His favorite food? Color? Movie? Song? What music did he listen to? What was his least favorite subject? What did he watch when he had downtime? Did he even have downtime?

Marinette sat up again and glared down at her messed up sheets, the pillow still in her lap.

Maybe she shouldn't have brushed off that moment so easily. He was still a person, he probably had insecurities, despite not showing them.

Tikki, not having been oblivious to Marinette's tossing and turning, floated up to Marinette and settled down on her pillow.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the kwami asked softly, looking up at Marinette.

Marinette sighed and sagged. She shifted so she could lean back against the wall and the rest of her pile of pillows, turning on the soft lights she'd strung up in her loft. Tikki adjusted where she was sitting on the pillow accordingly.

"I'm just…thinking about Adrien," Marinette admitted, knowing she didn't have to hide anything from Tikki.

Tikki giggled. "You're always thinking about him, Marinette. What's changed?"

Marinette pouted at Tikki's comment, but explained what'd been going through her mind ever since this afternoon, after Adrien had left to go to his fencing practice.

"Don't you see, Marinette?" Tikki exclaimed. "This is good. I think it's safe to say that you didn't see Adrien on the level that you and your other friends and classmates are on. But now you're starting to see him as, well, more human, as a person. If you want to be in a relationship with him, you're going to want to know him as a person, right?"

As usual, Tikki had a point. A good one. Marinette almost felt bad she hadn't seen him as a just a regular person before now.

Marinette considered her kwami's words. "I feel like I should talk to him about it, though."

"What's the matter with talking with him about it?"

"I don't think we know each other well enough."

"You still have this project. You can get to know him while you guys work. Make small talk."

"If you'll recall, I'm terrible at small talk," Marinette groaned, putting her head in her hands.

Tikki zipped up to Marinette and pulled at one of her fingers. "You'll get it, Marinette. Things'll get easier the more time you spend with him. Just take it slowly."

Marinette lowered her hands and looked back at Tikki. Aside from her mom, dad, and Alya, Tikki was one of her closest confidants. Especially when it became hard to balance her normal life with her life as Ladybug. She could only talk to Tikki about that part.

She managed a smile. "Thanks, Tikki."

Tikki smiled and giggled. "You should sleep now. You've still got school tomorrow."

They were going to do the research for their project today and had already determined 50 years wasn't going to be enough for their presentation so they decided they'd needed to go back 100 years. Which sounded like a lot, but Adrien suggested they jump 10 years at a time, which lessoned their load to 11 different, main fashion trends throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.

They were going to meet in the library after school that day, try to get all the research done in one go. At the very least, get half of it done that day and the other half the next.

Adrien started with books in 1915 and Marinette started in 2005, going through the magazines they kept at their library first, before going to the books since where she was looking wasn't terribly long ago. (Looking for the fashion trends for 2015 was a nonissue. She'd brought the fashion magazines from home.) Marinette would be working back and Adrien forward until they got to the middle.

Every time they acquired a few books, they returned to their table and set them in stacks, trying to keep them organized before going back to the bookshelves. Eventually, they came to the same bookshelf, both jumping slightly not expecting to see each other as they turned the corner. After a small awkward moment where Marinette smiled widely and waved, Adrien smiling back, they both turned to the shelf, skimming the spines.

At first, they were very aware of each other, just barely focusing on the books' titles, but finally managed to redirect their attention back to the project. Slowly, they worked their way toward the middle of the bookshelf, until they were standing mere centimeters from each other. Without even realizing it, they started reaching for the same book.

Their fingers collided and they both jumped back, stuttering apologies, looking everywhere but at each other, with nervous laughter thrown into the mix.

Despite being partners and working on the same project, they tried to offer each other the book in broken sentences and stuttered words. By the time they figured out who was going to take the book back to their table, both of their faces were red and they had both resigned themselves to not speaking any more than necessary.

When they had finally gathered all the materials needed, they sat down at a table they'd taken over, instead of actually focusing on doing research, they were lost in thought.

Adrien was still bewildered and worried about his confused emotions. He wasn't quite sure how to handle his changing feelings. He glanced over at Marinette who was staring down at one of the books they'd collected, but it looked like she wasn't absorbing any of the information.

It seemed, the more time he spent with Marinette, the more the feelings he had whenever he was around Ladybug appeared, only directed toward Marinette. His heart did acrobatics in his chest. As Adrien with Marinette, he had to fight the urge to not make cat puns and joke around (which was something he did when he was nervous). Of course, he made them anyway as Chat Noir, but he felt the need to make even more to hide his nervousness.

He found himself staring at her when she was focusing on something or working really hard. He started noticing all these little details about her that he thought was cute or endearing, like how when she was concentrating on something, she'd stick her tongue out, or when she was really excited, she danced on the balls of her feet.

Of course, it was all Marinette could do to keep her brain functioning at its usual capacity. At the very least, form coherent sentences without switching the words around. Her heart hadn't slowed down all day, which probably wasn't good for her health. It was just, every single time she managed to calm down, she'd look at Adrien and remember they were partners for this project, remember they were meeting after school to work on it together, and her heart would thump painfully in her chest before picking up speed again.

It wasn't only that, either. She couldn't stop thinking about what she realized about Adrien. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she wanted to get to know the boy behind the calm, at times sophisticated, mask he wore at school. She wanted to be able to talk to him about his family, about his goals in life, his dreams, the most random things he could think of.

Unfortunately for her, her brain still wasn't quite cooperating with what she wanted to do.

Marinette took a deep breath, letting it out in a deep sigh. She really needed to concentrate on the project. They had plenty of time, but she wanted to make sure they didn't run out of time. They still had to put together the wardrobe, then organize the photoshoot, then put the presentation together and practice. There was quite a bit of work to be done.

Trying to ignore the fact that Adrien was sitting a mere few inches away from her, she pulled out her sketchbook (deciding to design the outfits and then write down the facts).

Adrien looked over at the girl next to him when she sighed, wondering what she could be thinking about. And as she started to get to work, he quickly looked back at his own book. She had the right idea. Not just that, but if he continued to watch her work, he might not be able to take his eyes off her.

Without really thinking, Adrien groaned and dropped his head onto his book. It wasn't until he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder—sending electric zings from his shoulder, throughout his body, and straight into his heart, causing it to skip a few beats—did he remember Marinette was there (notwithstanding the fact that he had just taken his eyes off her).

"Is everything okay?" Marinette asked softly.

Adrien shifted his head as Marinette removed her hand, and looked over at her, his breath catching. She looked so concerned. About him? Startled, he was suddenly taken back to the time he'd gotten caught in the freezer at Le Grand Paris (as Chat Noir and Adrien because he'd lost his ring). How he'd collapsed as soon as Ladybug had gotten the door open. When he opened his eyes again, those beautiful blue eyes were the first thing he saw, swirling with concern and worry. For him.

Adrien blinked and straightened up. That was weird, he thought before smiling and trying to laugh off what'd just happened.

"It's nothing," he assured. "I was just thinking."

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed and she chewed on the inside of her lip before asking in an even softer voice, "About what?"

For the first time in a long time, Adrien froze. He hadn't been expecting her to ask that. Not a lot of people asked him specifics on things. He wasn't sure if it was because of the demeanor he presented around his friends, or they were nervous about getting into the deep stuff, but whenever he brushed them off with a laugh, they backed off. On one hand he was relieved. Talking about his personal life was never fun because it wasn't happy. They all knew his father was busy and absent, but they didn't know his mom had gone missing. They didn't know that his father had become the way he was now because his mom had disappeared.

They didn't know just how unhappy he was. They didn't know that, even though he was disappointed with his father, he didn't want his father to be disappointed with him. And how frustrated that made him.

On the other hand, he was let down that they didn't push.

He had this constant battle of wanting people to know who he really was—beyond being a model, beyond standing in his father's shadow—and not wanting to ruin the image he'd worked so hard to keep and perfect. He didn't want anyone to get through the walls he'd so carefully crafted and built ever since his mom disappeared, yet he found himself wishing someone would.

But, at this point, that meant he'd have to fall apart.

Adrien's eyes darted around, trying to think of what to say. There was no way he was going to tell Marinette he was thinking about her until he figured out what that meant.

Then he saw the beginning of a sketch in her sketchbook and an idea formed.

"Oh, I was just looking at all the books we collected." He forced out a laugh. "It looks like a lot of work. I guess it's good we started early. Uh, but I was thinking, I could do the writing and you could put together the outfits." His eyes purposefully flickered down to her sketchbook.

Marinette paused and Adrien was worried that he'd taken too long between her question and his answer, but finally, a small smile spread across her face.

She nodded. "Okay, that's…that's a good idea."

Adrien relaxed as they both turned back to their respective books.

Marinette, however, didn't miss the pause. Didn't miss the way he'd been searching for an answer. Now that she was focusing on him without the haze of her crush, she was slowly becoming more aware of when he was being himself and when his walls went up. Like just a moment ago.

Still, he clearly didn't want to talk about it. But it was step. She wasn't sure in which direction, though. She'd just have to wait and see. Maybe if he saw she was willing to talk to him, he'd open up. Maybe.

They quietly worked through the afternoon, having planned on staying until the library closed and they couldn't stay there any longer. Work went surprisingly fast, and soon they'd gotten back to that last book. Once again, reaching for the book at the same time, hands colliding, causing sparks to fly between both of them.

"Ladies first," Adrien offered, smiling nervously.

Marinette checked the time on her phone. "I don't think we'll have time. Uh…why don't we share?"

"…okay, sure."

There was another moment of awkward broken sentences and stuttered words as they tried to work out how they'd share this last book before finally scooting their chairs closer together. Marinette leaned forward, tentatively reached over to open the book and skimmed the table of contents, looking for the right chapter.

"Here!" she exclaimed, flipping to the chapter and scanning through the pages, so caught up that they were almost done with the most boring part that she didn't even notice Adrien lean closer to the book as well, which also meant leaning more toward Marinette.

When she finally found something that she could work with, she started to say, "All right, so I'll just—" only to look up and realize that she and Adrien were so close their breaths mingled. She didn't think she'd ever seen eyes so green before. This close up, they reminded her of sitting on one of the benches at the park next to her home and looking up at the trees when the wind blew through their leaves—that beautiful summer green dappled with sunlight shining through the empty spaces.

She made a small noise in the back of her throat, her eyes widening. This only caused a lump to form in Adrien's throat, his heart thumping oddly in his chest.

God, those blue eyes…

"Well, I should really—" Marinette finally managed, jerking away just as Adrien said, "Yeah, I need to, um—" also pulling away and searching for his pencil.

Marinette picked up her own pencil, but her hands were shaking so hard she had to curl both her hands into fists, forcing herself to take deep breaths without making it look like that's what she was doing. Luckily for her, Adrien was doing the exact same thing, so he wasn't even paying attention.

"Are you absolutely sure I can't help you with anything?" Adrien asked for the third time that afternoon. He and Marinette were hanging out in her room, currently. Marinette was making parts of the outfits they couldn't find already made or hadn't looked like how they'd wanted. Adrien added, "I'm starting to feel super useless right now."

Marinette looked up at him, about to rebuff his statement, but then remembered what he'd said when he'd come over to her place for that game tournament—how crestfallen he'd looked.

"Actually, there's some things I could teach you," she told him. "Simple stuff. But it'll help speed things along."

Adrien smiled, his whole face lighting up, melting Marinette's heart. He grabbed the table and rolled his chair closer to her. She turned back to her work and started to explain what he needed to do, glancing up occasionally and smiling because of how intently he was focused on her words and what she was showing him.

He'd never showed interest in designing clothes professionally, despite who his father was, but you couldn't tell in that moment. Marinette was glad that she could help him feel needed. And, it wasn't like she was giving him busywork, either. Admittedly, it was hard to let someone else do the work, because she was always afraid they'd mess it up. But, she knew it was good to accept help from people now and then. Besides, from what she'd seen, Adrien was very capable and a fast learner.

By the time they were finally finishing up the last piece of the last outfit, it was around dinnertime.

Just as Marinette was putting the piece into the bag with the other pieces of that outfit (she had 10 other bags, sitting in a corner of her room, with the other outfits) her door opened up to reveal her mom and dad. Immediately, she was on high alert. The last time they'd appeared together to her like that was the day they'd asked her to deliver that box of treats. It hadn't ended terribly, but it sure had caused her a bunch of stress.

Not only that, but during that time her and Adrien had been practicing for the game, her parents had started spying on them once. Her papa coming up twice. Her mom coming up with the quiche while her papa looked on like he'd been watching some romcom. She loved them, but they could so…exasperating sometimes!

"Adrien," Sabine started. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Even though she'd invited him before, he looked at her surprised, having not expected that question. It wasn't just that, but like the first time, the prospect of having a family dinner managed to shock him. How long had it been since he'd sat down with his family and had dinner? A proper dinner, where they talked about their day and told funny stories, complained about their coworkers or insufferable people they'd had to deal with that day?

"Well, is it all right with you, Marinette?" Adrien asked, looking over at the girl, who'd froze when she'd heard her mom ask the dreaded question.

She straightened up, tried for a smile and ended up grinning ridiculously. "Of course!" she exclaimed, perhaps a little too loud, followed by a nervous laugh.

"Let me just double check with Nathalie." Adrien pulled out his phone and started to dial her number.

"We'll give you some privacy," Marinette said through her painful smile, going over to her door and waving her hands so her parents would move. She threw one last smile in Adrien's direction before closing the door and descending the stairs.

"Mom, Papa!" she hissed, so Adrien wouldn't hear.

"I thought you were over your nerves," Sabine commented, going to the kitchen, having already prepared dinner. All that was left was serving it. Tom started to set the small counter. It would be a tight fit if Adrien stayed, but they'd make it work.

"Well, yeah…I guess, but…but—but dinner is a totally different thing!" Marinette's voice raised before she remembered Adrien was right upstairs. She slapped her hands over her mouth and went over to the side the counter that was technically in the family room. "Just don't embarrass me, okay?" she whispered, leaning over the counter, as she heard the door to her bedroom open up and footsteps make their way down the stairs.

"She said it was fine," Adrien announced as he joined the Dupain-Chengs in the kitchen.

"That's great!" Tom exclaimed with a smile. "Take a seat, everything's just about ready."

"Thank you, Mr. Dupain," Adrien said and took a seat next to Marinette as Tom finished setting the table—smiling and winking at Marinette because of the seating arrangement, causing his daughter to go completely red—and Sabine started setting the food on the table and serving them. Tom sat at the end of the table, Sabine opposite of Adrien and Marinette.

Mercifully, the dinner went well. It was almost as if Adrien had been a part of their family for years. It was easy, natural. Sabine and Tom asked the two about how their project was coming along, about their classes.

Marinette let Adrien do most of the talking. He was very enthusiastic, answering in earnest and she constantly found herself staring, not even really focusing on the meal. It wasn't until Sabine would gently nudge her daughter's leg that she would remember to occasionally take bites of her food.

Things had seemed to be going pretty smoothly, that was, until…

"Oh, I've been meaning to say that this is delicious," Adrien told Sabine and Tom, referring to the meal. "I really appreciate that you let me join you. It actually reminds me a lot of what my mom used to make."

Sabine's eyebrows furrowed and she set down her utensils. "Used it?" she asked softly, carefully.

Adrien jolted, like someone had just shocked him, like he hadn't meant to say something like that. Beside him, Marinette stiffened, only glancing at the blond through her peripherals.

He'd been so careful to keep the conversation away from his home life, only to have it just slip from his mouth so easily. Looking between all three of them, Adrien swallowed hard and gripped his own utensils.

"Oh." He let out a long breath. "Uh—well…my mom—"

"It's okay, you don't have to—" Tom started.

"She disappeared." Adrien finally managed in a quiet voice, looking down at his plate. "Father hasn't been the same since." His eyebrows furrowed and he gritted his teeth as his eyes pooled with tears.

Marinette tried to think of something to say, something to do—maybe she could put a hand on his shoulder? But nothing seem sufficient enough. She had wanted to know more about him, but not like this.

Sabine moved first, reaching over to rest a gentle hand on Adrien's, which was still gripping his fork. Adrien's head jerked up to look at her. She smiled softly.

"Our doors are always open, and you are always welcome. Anytime, Adrien," she told him. Slowly, the tension dissipated. Adrien's grip on his utensils loosened, his shoulders relaxed. A small smile spread across his lips.

"Thank you," he said, his voice thick.

Sabine smiled a little bigger before pulling her hand away. Dinner resumed, maybe a little quieter than it had been before, but the conversation picked up again. When they'd finished, Adrien insisted on helping with dishes.

He and Marinette were drying when there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, that must be Nathalie," Adrien said, setting down his plate and dishtowel. The smile he'd had a moment ago gone. "Thank you, again, Mrs. Cheng, Mr. Dupain." He said to Sabine and Tom. "Everything was wonderful."

"Anytime," Sabine reminded him with a kind smile.

"We hope to see you again very soon, Adrien," Tom commented, smiling and winking.

"Papa!" Marinette exclaimed, her face flushing. Nathalie knocked again. "I'll walk you out." She offered hurriedly, turning toward Adrien, just wanting to get him away from her parents before they said something too indiscrete.

"Goodnight," Adrien told Marinette's parents before following their daughter to the door. Sure enough, Nathalie was waiting patiently outside the door, standing with perfect posture and a poker face, hands behind her back.

"Adrien," she greeted coolly. "The car's ready and waiting."

"Thanks, Nathalie," Adrien responded, stepping out and turning to face Marinette. For the second time in his life, he didn't know what to say, unwilling to say goodbye, not wanting to leave such a warm, cozy home and go back to his large, cold, empty house. "Uh…"

Marinette stepped out, pulling the door almost all the way closed, calling through the opening in the door, "I'll be right back!" and closing it. She smiled at Adrien, ignoring the look Nathalie was giving her, before starting for the stairs. She opened the door for them. Adrien's car was waiting at the curb directly parallel to the door.

Nathalie exited first. Adrien's ginormous bodyguard, who Marinette was shocked and surprised to find could fit in that small car, stepped out to open the door for her.

Adrien followed more reluctantly, exiting and turning back to face Marinette again.

"Well, I guess I'll…see you tomorrow, then," he said quietly. Marinette had to stifle her giggles. She'd never seen Adrien Agreste, model and son of famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, look so…shy!

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Marinette smiled widely, laughter dancing in her eyes, effectively stunning the boy.

"Adrien," Nathalie called from the car. "We should really get you home now."

Adrien glanced over his shoulder, "Be right there." He turned back to face Marinette, trying to decide if they were at the stage in their relationship where he could hug her and it wouldn't be weird. Usually, something like this wouldn't have made him so nervous, but with Nathalie impatiently waiting for him and all his jumbled feelings regarding Marinette and Ladybug, he found his heart racing, his hands shaking.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said quickly, deciding against the hug, and spinning around and heading to the car.

Marinette watched him go, with a small, sad smile, thinking about what she had been the past week or so—being disappointed in himself, his pause when she'd asked him what he was thinking about, him outright telling her he felt useless, tonight…his mom. She thought about the things Tikki had told her.

"Adrien!" she called suddenly, running forward and taking his wrist in her hand. Adrien stopped, his heart jumping in his chest so hard from the contact it was physically painful. He turned to look at her questioningly. She met his eyes, and for once, her words flowed smoothly and without mistakes, "I just want you to know, you can talk to me. About anything."

Adrien stared back at her, an emotion swirling in his green eyes she couldn't decipher. He pulled his wrist out of her hand before shocking her and throwing his arms around her.

"Thank you," he murmured in her ear.

Marinette took a shaky breath in, and smiled, wrapping her arms around him. She could feel the heat coming off him and he smelled like something sweet but also warm, something that reminded her of a soft pillow or the fabric of flannel.

Adrien marveled at the warmth Marinette gave off in the cold night air. She smelled like fresh bread and honey. He unconsciously tightened his arms around her.

All too soon, for both of them, they pulled away. They looked at each other for another long moment, before Nathalie called Adrien's name again.

"Bye, Marinette," Adrien said quietly, slowly, before pulling away and getting into the car. His bodyguard slammed the door shut and brusquely got into the driver's seat, not giving Marinette and second glance.

Marinette weakly waved, though she couldn't see Adrien inside the car, he could probably see her.

"Bye, Adrien."

Much, much longer than my two previous chapters and a bunch of Adrienette fluff! (On a sidenote, writing montages is really hard and I would recommend not doing it. I hope it translated okay.)

Happy (Almost) Valentine's Day!

Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight