"So, um..." They said together. "I wanted to ask— You go first... No, you... Okay, I'll go first."

After repeatedly jinxing and a moment of silence, Marinette finally said, "I'm g-glad you're o-ok. I was r-really worried."

"Thank you for saving me, m'l-Marinette." Adrien respond. Then he thought to himself, She seems nervous...maybe I should hold off on the nicknames and puns for now.

"Y-Yeah! Any t-time. You are my smartner-PARTNER after all and we g-go to the same school and wow you're so beaut- awesome! Agh. Now I'm rambling." Said an embarrassed Marinette as she covered her eyes with her hands.

Following much blushing and more awkward silences was the sound of Marinette's phone, which cause both of them to slightly flinch.

"Hi, Alya." Marinette answered her phone.

"We scheduled a sleepover tonight at my place and you were supposed to be here at 6:30. It's now 7:56! Where are you girl?!" Asked a slightly frustrated Alya through the phone.

"Oh um..." Marinette glanced up at Adrien. "I was at the park and I r-ran into Adrien and we started talking. So yeah."

Adrien could hear Alya laugh slightly and say, "Yeah right. As if you could actually hold a conversation with him without going, 'Uh- blah..g-gotta go!' and tripping as you run off. You really gotta figure out how to talk to him to tell him that you love h—"

"Uhh yeah thanks I'll be at your house soon!" Marinette quickly hung up.

"What was t-that about?" Asked Adrien, pretending he didn't hear any of their conversation.

"I, uh am supposed to hang out with Alya tonight. Sorry I have to go so soon. I'll s-see you at cool—school tomorrow." Said Marinette quickly as she got up to head home. She dug through her bag, looked up, and muttered in annoyance. "Ugh, I forgot extra food for Tikki...It's going to be a long walk home and I'm going to be even later to Alya's."

"I brought some food for my kwami," Offered Adrien. "I can...take you home."

Marinette turned and asked nervously, "W-Will you please?"

"Anything for you, Buga-uh Marinette." He said with a smile.

The two began to walk over to the tree their kwamis went to. Adrien reached in his jacket and gave a price of cheese to Plagg, who scarfed it down.

"Plagg, Claws Out!" Chat Noir held out a clawed hand out for Marinette, who gladly took it and was carried in the direction of the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. Once Chat reaches Marinette's house, he leapt onto her balcony and gently set her down. They stood there for one or two minutes in silence still processing the recent events and were unsure what to say to each other.

"Well, I'd better let you pack so that you can go to Alya's house." Chat Noir said, breaking the silence.

"Y-yeah," Marinette stuttered. "Thanks for b-bringing me home."

As Chat turned to leave, Marinette yelled, "Wait!"

"What is it?" He asked.

"I, um..." Marinette thought for a second. Just tell him how you feel, Marinette.

"Yes?" Chat Noir asked, hopeful that she'd admit her feelings.

"Uh...n-nothing. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Adrien." Marinette said quietly.

"Farewell, M'lady."

"Alya, I'm going to do it! I'm going to tell him!" Marinette said to Alya just after they tucked Alta's little sisters into bed.

"Woah, hold up. You can't just waltz right up to his house right now. You'll have to wait until school tomorrow." Alya laughed.

"Well, yeah." Marinette said. "But you'll help me plan it out, right?"

"Obviously, girl!" Alya exclaimed. "I can't believe you're actually going to do it!"

"Me neither..." Marinette muttered.

"Let's start coming up with a plan of action while eating snacks." Alya suggested.

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time. School is quite hard and takes up a lot of time, but to mention the thousands of other activities I've been dragged into. I'll hopefully be able to publish another chapter either today or tomorrow so stay tuned!

~DefiantAir2173