Saturday afternoon, Marinette eyed her reflection uneasily in the cheval mirror in her room. The pastel pink flowy tank top was perfect—soft and feminine in a way that would look beautiful on most girls.

Marinette was not most girls.

She certainly wasn't stacked, but she definitely had more muscle than girls generally wanted to have, and the shirt only seemed to accentuate that her body wasn't quite so girly as the top itself. She started to pull it back off.

"Don't you dare," Alya warned her. "If you're worried about your arms, I'll fight you. Your arms are sexy and if anyone says otherwise, I'll fight them, too."

Marinette made a face. "Define sexy," she argued. "I look like a dude."

"The idea that girls can't be physically strong and attractive at the same time is outdated, irrelevant, and sexist. That shirt looks beautiful on you and anyone who is bothered by it doesn't deserve to even look at you."

Marinette laughed. She wasn't sure if she would go that far, but she did like the color of the shirt against her skin, and everywhere else the fit was very flattering. She nodded in solidarity. Besides, who was anyone to complain about how strong she was? It came with the hero territory. It was better for everyone that she looked this way.

And it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone.

Definitely not.

"Right," she said. "So. We ready?"

"I'm ready when you are," Alya answered. "I'm only studying."

Marinette's cheeks turned slightly darker than her shirt. "I am too!" she argued.

Alya smirked. "Of course you are," she said. "Now shut your mouth and let's go meet the boys.

Sitting in the park with Nino, waiting for the girls to arrive, Adrien was breathlessly excited and heart-racingly nervous. Not only was he meeting his lady—she was coming to meet him… well, she and Alya were coming to meet him and Nino. And they were studying. But still—this was also entirely new to him. He tutored Nino every week, but this was more like…mutual studying. With friends. More than one of them. It was weird, but in the best way. He was pretty sure he would never be able to make up the favor to Nino.

"Bro," his friend interrupted his thoughts. "Stop staring at the gate. It won't make them get here any faster."

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "I'm just…I'm excited. This is new for me."

"Right. Cause you're definitely excited about studying."

"I am!" Adrien exclaimed. "I love studying!" It wasn't a lie.

"You're such a nerd, dude. And… don't look now, but…"

Adrien looked, of course. And he couldn't look away. As Marinette and Alya came closer, arms full of baked goods, he could just make out the pink in Marinette's cheeks. Thanks to his upbringing, he couldn't help but note how perfectly the shade of her tank top highlighted every soft and bright color in her face, how the contrast of her black hair brought each feature to life…

They made eye contact and both looked away shyly. He could sense Nino trying not to laugh beside him, and elbowed him in the side.

"Don't laugh at me," he grunted.

"You just make it so hard. You're so awkward it's almost cute."

Adrien moaned. "Don't make me sound like a little kid," he complained.

"A little kid in love…" Nino mumbled.

"Shut up!" Adrien hissed. "I am as old as you are!"

"Alya," Nino greeted the guests. "Marinette. How are you ladies on this beautiful day?"

The day was beautiful. It was unseasonably warm, although there were some clouds in the distance. Adrien had been checking the weather all day, and the forecast said it shouldn't rain, but he had still checked it eight times before meeting Nino and three times after. He resisted the urge to check again now.

"We are excellent," Alya declared, "and very ready to tackle the homework for this weekend. What about you guys?"

"Totally ready," Nino answered. "Just one problem." Adrien's eyes widened as he whipped around to stare questioningly at his friend. "I don't think we've all been properly introduced. So, without any further ado… Alya, Marinette, this is my pal Adrien. He's a bit sheltered, but he's pretty alright in my opinion. Adrien, meet Alya, and Marinette."

Adrien shook each of the girls' hands formally. "Nice to meet you," he said with a soft smile, trying to muster up his well-practiced confidence. It was hard, though, when Marinette looked so painfully cute.

She returned his smile. "Nice to meet you, too, Adrien," she responded. She held eye contact this time, and so did he. And then he laughed, and she did too. It was such a pleasant sound. He'd heard it plenty before, but he would never get tired of it.

"So," Nino started, shaking the two out of their moment, "since my tutor is here, I'm going to go ahead and tackle English. And you ladies?"

"You speak English?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah," Adrien answered in English. "I've studied it for a few years." Six years, to be exact. It was his second language. Followed by Chinese. Followed by Italian.

"That's so cool!" she exclaimed. "Your accent is perfect!"

"Not quite perfect," he argued modestly. "I've met a few of native speakers who had a hard time understanding me."

"Really? Where do you meet them?"

He blinked. "My dad's company works internationally, and he's dragged me to a few business dinners." Not a lie.

"That's so cool! I've only met exchange students, and almost none of them could understand me." Marinette made a face.

"You probably just need to practice more," Adrien assured her. "If you want, you can practice with Nino and I now. Alya, are you studying English?"

"I can speak enough to find a bus station get home, but I opted to study German," she answered.

"That's cool! I barely speak any German."

"So you speak a little bit?" she asked.

"Just enough to find the bus station and get home." He laughed.

"That's not bad. So, French, English, and a bit of German? Anything else?"

"Just some stuff here and there." He knew enough of what not to do from watching Chloe, and he had learned the bragging was a what not to do.

"'Just some stuff,'" Nino mimicked. "The kid's polylingual. He's fluent and Chinese and I'm pretty sure he's at least conversational in Italian."

"I am not conversational," Adrien argued. He refrained from mentioning that he could find bus stations and get home in Korean and Spanish, as well. Not that bus stations would be very helpful for getting home from Korea, but he had been there for a show, and he liked to try and learn a little bit of the language whenever he was visiting a place. Better than following his father around.

"Whatever, man. The dude's a genius," Nino summarized for the girls. Adrien shot him a dirty look.

"But," Adrien concluded, "let's not practice too much English if it's just the three of us. I brought some of my own homework, too, so don't feel like you need to accommodate me."

"No one's accommodating anyone," Alya stated. "We're studying together."

And they did. After indulging in several croissants and cookies, they settled into companionable silence as they all dug into their homework. Adrien was surprised at how comfortable he felt. Really, he knew Marinette quite well, and if she trusted Alya, then Alya couldn't be so bad. It was nice, having a group. He hoped he would be able to enjoy more times like this.

He kept getting distracted, though. Marinette was just so… She was so much Ladybug even when she wasn't Ladybug. She was even more than Ladybug. She was a full person. A beautiful person. He couldn't keep his eyes away from her bare arms, the muscles that proved how much she did for this city, that showed how incredible she was. She was so soft but so strong at the same time, just like she was when he had met her years ago, except that now she seemed so much more confident. He was glad. It was good to see how much she had grown. Did that have anything to do with him?

He hoped the answer was yes.

Dragging his eyes back to the page in front of him, he really did try to focus on his work. It was a noble effort. But his eyes kept going back to her. And he knew that it wasn't just his model's eye appreciating her objective beauty, and it wasn't just respect for his partner. She was stunning. She bit her lip when she was focusing on a difficult question, and her eyes squinted just a little bit when she laughed, and she was so beautiful he couldn't not admire her, and he loved her so much he thought his heart would explode. A lovesick sigh accidentally escaped from his lungs, and when she looked up at him he realized that he was grinning.

He jerked his face back down, kicking himself mentally. That was stupid. He definitely looked weird just then. A freaking fashion model and he couldn't control himself around a girl. When he heard her giggling, he couldn't tell if it was a good or a bad thing, and so he ignored it and pretended to study.

Some time later, Nino called the group to attention. "Guys," he said slowly, "we might need to move out…"

"Why's that?" Adrien asked. He couldn't tell if he wanted to go or not. He really wasn't getting any work done, but even anxiously staring at his textbook was better than anxiously not being around her.

"Because water beats paper." Nino pointed towards the sky, where storm clouds were busily gathering.

"He's right," Alya commented. "Plus, my mom wants me home for dinner tonight, and I have a bit farther to walk than you guys." She glanced at her cell phone and made a face. "Yeah… I'd better get going. Adrien, Nino, it's been a pleasure." She nodded to both of the boys. "Mari, I'll see you Monday."

"Wait," Nino interrupted. "I'll walk you home."

Alya looked at him like he had suggested she go home with him. "I can make it on my own, thanks," she said.

"I don't doubt you can make it on your own," he agreed. "But I would like to walk with you. I keep up with your blog and I have a couple of questions I wanted to ask you."

Looking unconvinced, Alya conceded. Anything for the blog. "It's a kind of long walk, but if you really want to, I'm not gonna argue," she finally conceded.

"Sweet. My legs could use the stretching. See you tomorrow, bro." Adrien tried to ignore the wink his friend not-so-subtly shot at him.

"Yeah… See you tomorrow, Nino."

Marinette and Alya hugged goodbye, and the mismatched couple walked off together.

"Um… Do you live near here?" Adrien asked. "I'm not that far away, so I could walk you home… If you want, I mean. I could help carry stuff."

Marinette eyed the uneaten goods. There weren't very many of them. "It's not a problem," she said. "I live really close to here, so I should fine." She smiled up at him, and his heart skipped. "Thanks, though."

"Are you sure?" he asked, not really meaning to. Of course she would be fine. She was the Miraculous Ladybug. But he wasn't ready to leave her. "I mean… I know you'll be fine, but it kind of has to do with my upbringing. I'd feel bad letting you carry everything." It had nothing to do with his upbringing, but he would feel bad. Especially if it started raining and she got wet. Carrying stuff was much more miserable when wet.

"I mean…" She pursed her lips at the ground. He could swear he was dying, standing this close to her and loving her so much. He prayed she would let him go with her. "I mean, if you want to come, that's fine with me," she said finally, smiling softly. He held back a cheer.

"I want to come," he said with a smile of his own. He intercepted her reach for the leftovers. "Here, allow me."

Marinette was much less stubborn than her friend. "Thank you," she said, shouldering her bag.

"So… how's school?" he asked as they exited the park.

"It's alright," she replied. "It's a bit busy, but I am a senior. Your friend… Chloe. She's been a bit nicer lately. Do you know anything about that?"

"Really?" he asked, smiling. He was relieved that she had listened to him. To be honest, he hadn't expected her to. "That's good to hear. She's not a totally awful person, I promise. She's just… kind of awful. I mean, I know she's pretty bad at school, but she's not like that all the time. Um… I'm sorry about that thing. In the mall. I probably could have handled that better." His eyes were on the ground, watching her feet as he followed her down the sidewalk.

"Don't worry about it," Marinette assured him. "I used to think she couldn't be that awful really, but after a few years I was feeling a little bit pessimistic. I don't think what happened is your fault."

"I appreciate that. And thank you for noticing that she's trying."

"Of course," she replied easily. "It took me off guard at first. She walked into class and didn't immediately say anything mean to me. I just thought she was distracted." Marinette laughed, and Adrien laughed too, although he was worried if that kind of behavior was just expected from Chloe. They'd have to work on that. "But then she just kept on not being awful. I mean, she wasn't nice, but she just… didn't talk to me. I'm not complaining."

"Ah…" Marinette stopped in front of a cute, window-covered bakery. "This is my stop. Want to bring all of that inside?"

Adrien eyed the place with reverence. "Yeah," he said. "No problem."

She held the door open for him, and he looked around the shop in awe. As a bakery, it was cute, but not necessarily special. But as Marinette's home…What a wonderful place. He saw Marinette take off her shoes and followed suit.

"Who is this?" asked a woman's voice, and Adrien's eyes settled on the petite Chinese lady behind the counter.

"Maman, this is my friend Adrien. Adrien, this is my mom."

"Adrien," she repeated, looking at him thoughtfully. "Oh, oh, you can just set that bread here," she directed while clearing a space on the counter. "Thank you, thank you. Friend from school?"

"Not really," he answered sheepishly. "My friend is Marinette's classmate. Some of us were studying, but the others left, and I didn't want her to get stuck in the rain on her own." As if to validate his concern, droplets started to patter lightly against the glass.

"How polite!" Mrs. Dupain-Cheng exclaimed. "I like him," she said to her daughter, who blushed. Watching her, Adrien swallowed. Ladybug rarely blushed, but Marinette seemed to do it all the time. It was charming.

"Oh! Mom!"

"Yes, honey?"

"Adrien speaks Chinese!"

Mrs. Dupain-Cheng's face lit up. "Shi ma?" she asked him.

"Shi," he replied shyly. "But I'm not that good."

"Nonsense!" Marinette's mother replied. And then, in French, "I like him."

"Thank you." Now Adrien was starting to blush. "Um…I should probably head back home before the rain picks up." He turned toward the door.

"You will not!" the woman argued. "No guest of mine leaves in the rain. Feel free to stay for as long as it keeps up. Once Marinette's father comes back, we'll have dinner. You should join us."

"I'd hate to intrude," he responded hesitantly, looking at Marinette for a cue.

"You're not intruding," Marinette assured him. "Besides, Mom really won't let you walk home in the rain. Stronger men than you have tried."

"There are no stronger men than me, Princess." He hadn't meant to say that, and her eyes had widened before she burst out laughing.

"Of course there aren't," she agreed sarcastically. "If that's what makes you feel good about yourself."

"You know what," he retorted. "It does make me feel good about myself. Being the strongest man around is hard work, you know."

"Strongest man in the study group, maybe. But that's just because Nino hasn't worked out since he finished his PE credits."

"Nino would be very offended to hear you say that," Adrien scolded her, laughing.

"You two should go play games or something," Mrs. Dupain-Cheng told them. "Have fun."

"Xie xie, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng."

"So formal! You call me Sabine," she instructed.

"Sabine," Adrien repeated.

"Marinette, show the boy to the living room."

"Will do, Mom. Adrien, come on."

He followed her through the side door and into the cozy living area, where he stood awkwardly in the doorway until Marinette ushered him to take a seat on the large sectional couch. He sat, tentatively. Marinette sat on the other side, seeming unsure what to say.

"We could watch TV…" she finally suggested. "Or…um…" Her eyes lit up. "Are you into games?"

Adrien felt a slow smile pull at the corners of his tense mouth. "That depends on the game," he replied coyly.

"Well, my personal favorite is Mecha—"

"Mecha Strike Three!" Adrien finished for her excitedly. "Yes!"

She grinned back. "Sweet! Let's see if your genius helps you here."

"I'm not a genius, but I should warn you, I am pretty good," he cautioned her with more than a hint of arrogance in his tone.

Marinette pouted. "I'm alright, but you might need to go a bit easy on me…"

"But of course, my lady." He consciously kept himself from flinching at his own words. They slipped out too easily! How would he ever keep his identity a secret if he kept using Chat's lines?

"You're too kind," mumbled the ever-humble Marinette. Adrien should have caught on to the sarcasm in her voice, but he chalked it up to the regular Ladybug sarcasm.

And of course, she chose the Ladybug mecha. He couldn't help but smile at that. The smile quickly vanished from his face when she knocked him out in less than thirty seconds.

"You went too easy," she said simply, raising her eyebrows as he gawked at the screen.

"A classic swindle," he whispered in awe, and then turned to her with eyes full of shock and hurt. "You swindled me!"

"You didn't make it very hard," she responded nonchalantly. "We on for real now?"

"Oh," he said. "We're on."

He performed much better on the next round—it took her a full two minutes to attain victory. By the third round, he was getting used to her style, but she was also getting used to his. Five minutes, Ladybug victory.

"I thought you said you were good," Marinette teased.

"I didn't realize I was playing a champion," he grumbled.

"Oh, so you've heard of me?"

"What?" Adrien scrunched his nose as he tried to understand what she meant.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Paris high school champion?"

"You're lying."

"I would never!" she exclaimed in mock indignation.

"I think that you would," he mumbled.

Marinette giggled. "Okay," she admitted, "I would. But I'm not. Still, though, you're not bad. Maybe you and Papa can have at it later."

"Your dad plays?" Adrien asked. He knew his father wasn't the model of paternal affection, but he hadn't ever thought of parents playing video games with their kids.

"Of course! He's the one who introduced me to it. He doesn't like playing me anymore, for some reason." She pouted.

"Because losing to your daughter stops being fun after the five hundredth time in a row," announced a deep voice behind them. Adrien instinctively sat up straighter, before turning to see the gigantic man in the doorway. He tried not to show the anxiety that instantly overtook him. Was this actually Marinette's father?

Marinette had run around the couch to give the imposing man a hug. Upon seeing the terror that set upon Adrien, Mr. Dupain-Cheng laughed good-naturedly. "Nice to meet you, son," he said. "I'm Tom, Marinette's father. You must be Mari's friend Adrien."

Adrien jumped to his feet. "Yes, sir. Honored to meet you."

Tom laughed again. "Don't be so formal. None of Mari's friends call me sir. It's Tom. Sabine wanted me to let you two know that dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes."

"Thanks, Papa," Marinette replied. "We'll come in when it's finished."

"I'm not invited to the tournament?"

"Me losing every round is hardly a tournament," Adrien volunteered.

"You can play him later," Marinette offered. "I want to beat him a few more times first."

Tom laughed. "Alright, alright. I can tell when I'm not wanted." He held up a hand to stop Adrien's protest. "Don't worry, son. I'll see you two at dinner."

"No need to be so scared," Marinette reprimanded Adrien once her father had left the room. "He doesn't bite."

"I'm less worried about his teeth," Adrien argued half-heartedly.

"He's harmless," Marinette assured him. "I promise. Just be careful of his handshake. You wanna go again?" She held up the controller.

"I think I've lost enough for the moment. Actually…" He wondered if it was okay to ask, but dove in anyway. "I was wondering if it would be okay for me to see a few of your designs? I'm kind of interested in fashion myself, and I'd like to see what you're into."

Marinette's eyes widened. "Um, sure, if you want to. One sec, I'll run up to my room and grab my sketchbook. Stay right there." And with that, she scampered over to the ladder in the corner and climbed up and through the trapdoor.

What an interesting set-up, Adrien thought to himself. He'd never seen a house quite like this.

He wandered around the room a bit while he waited for Marinette to return, viewing with a warm fascination the family pictures hanging on the wall. They all looked so happy. There weren't very many photos around the mansion, and most of those were fairly somber. The quality of these was much lower, but they were so much more appealing. The decorations in the mansion made the place feel like a portfolio; Marinette's house was warm, full of noise and memories. When people said there was no place like home, they must have been thinking of a home like this. A home like a hearth fire, a place to thaw out frozen hands and fill up empty hearts. A small swell of sadness touched the pit of his stomach, a sense of longing for something he should have been given. Sadness, yes, but not jealousy. He was grateful that Marinette had grown up in a place like this. For all of the warmth in her heart, she certainly deserved it.

She came clambering back down the staircase. He was noticing that she wasn't the most graceful bug in the garden, and it was adorable.

"These are some I've been working on," she explained breathlessly, opening the notebook she had given him to the middle. "This one definitely still needs some work, but the one right here I think is pretty good, although I'm obviously a little bit biased. Not for me, but for someone like Alya, you know?" The design in question was excellent, no doubt about it. It wasn't even his bias speaking; Marinette was good. There was one thing he didn't quite understand, though.

"Why for Alya?" he asked. "I mean, you're right, it would look good on her. But why not for you?"

Marinette looked down, biting her lip. Her shyness was cute, but he could sense something a little bit deeper in this moment. "Well, I mean… I just think it would look better on someone more feminine, I guess?"

"But Alya isn't more feminine than you," Adrien argued, and then caught himself. "I mean, I don't know her that well, so maybe it isn't my place to say so. But she doesn't strike me as all that girly."

"That's not what I mean. I mean, like… physically…? She just looks more feminine. It's not a bad thing for either of us," she quickly added. "It's just a thing."

Adrien mulled that over, but he still didn't quite get it. "I don't see it," he stated finally. "I mean she's obviously a woman, but you are too." He winced. "That sounded creepy. You probably don't want some random guy talking about whether or not you're…womanly…or whatever." He winced again. That was even worse. "What I'm trying to say," he concluded, "is that you seem pretty feminine to me."

He was turning red, and Marinette was clearly trying not to laugh at him. "Thank you," she said at last. "I appreciate the compliment."

Before Adrien could fumble any further, he was blessed by Tom's interruption to announce that dinner was ready. Adrien followed Marinette into the dining room, where Sabine had set out two large pans of a beautiful lasagna. Adrien stared in awe, his nose filled with the breathtaking aroma of fresh home cooking.

"It's a new recipe," Sabine explained, "so I hope it tastes okay. It's eggplant,"she said in Chinese.

At Marinette's ushering, Adrien took the seat next to his friend. "I love eggplant!" he responded, also in Chinese. And then, in French, "I'm sure it will be excellent. It smells fantastic."

Sabine grinned. "You're too nice," she argued, waving off his compliment.

The table fell into comfortable conversation as Sabine and Tom asked the kids about their day. Adrien's prediction had been correct: the lasagna was phenomenal. He ate three helpings, at Sabine's encouragement. He was sure this was one of the best dinners of his life, but not because of the food.

His phone buzzed, and he checked the screen.

Nathalie.

Your father wants to know where you are, read the text.

He sighed. All good things must come to an end.

I was out studying with some friends and it started raining, so one of them let me come over, he answered. At the moment, he didn't have it in him to be rebelliously coy.

Give me the address. I'll send a ride.

He would do no such thing. It was close enough to make for an easy walk. "I'm sorry," Adrien announced to the questioning faces of his host family. "It's my father's assistant. Apparently it's time for me to go home."

"Such a shame," Tom lamented. "I was looking forward to playing Mecha Strike with someone I might actually be able to beat. Is your dad going to pick you up?"

"I was just going to walk," Adrien replied. His father come pick him up? The idea was almost humorous. He thought of Gabriel driving a minivan, waiting for him outside of the bakery. Hilarious.

"You will not!" Sabine declared. "Let Tom drive you."

Adrien's eyes widened. "That's not necessary," he assured her. "I actually live fairly near here. It's not a problem."

"Nothing doing," Tom announced, wiping his face and standing up. "It's still wet out there. If you live so close, it will be a short drive."

Adrien didn't know how to accept the man's offer, but he didn't know how to refuse it, either. So instead of arguing, he thanked Sabine for the meal, wished Marinette a good night, and followed Tom out to the family's sedan.

"Don't look so scared," Tom scolded him after Adrien gave him the address. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm sure I don't need to give you the father-daughter talk, right?"

This statement did not, in fact, ease Adrien's anxiety. "No, sir," he replied. "I would never do anything to Marinette."

"I can tell," Tom assured him. "And I can also tell I don't need to threaten you in order to terrify you." He laughed heartily while Adrien laughed uncomfortably. If Tom were to threaten him, Adrien would probably dissipate. "Turn here?"

"Yes, sir," Adrien replied. "Really, I have a lot of respect for your daughter. She's…" He didn't know how to finish that statement. How much could he say? He couldn't say that she was the most incredible person he had ever met. So far as Tom knew, Adrien was a recent acquaintance.

"Yeah," Tom finished before Adrien had time to stress out more. "She's wonderful, isn't she? Sabine and I have been blessed."

Finally, Adrien smiled a sincere smile. "That," he said, "she is. Oh, this is it."

As the car pulled to a stop outside the gate, Tom's face showed his slow understanding of Adrien's position.

"You're Gabriel's boy," he registered.

"Ah… Yes, sir," Adrien responded. He didn't like to be identified by his father, but it wasn't untrue.

"That's a big house," Tom said quietly, and maybe a little bit darkly. "Son, our home is open to you anytime."

That had not been what Adrien had expected to hear. "Um… Thank you, sir. And thank you for letting me stay over today. I really appreciate it."

Tom looked him in the eye. "It was our pleasure. And I mean it, Adrien. Anytime."

Adrien swallowed, nodded, and exited the car. The gate opened up for him, and he noticed that Tom didn't drive away until Adrien had opened the door.

He greeted Nathalie meekly and retreated to his room. Maybe Tom understood? He found it hard to believe, but it was at least a possibility.

Plagg came out of hiding and kept him company as he finished the homework he hadn't been able to focus on in the park. It was quiet in his room, and even if Plagg wasn't the most pleasant companion, Adrien was thankful not to be alone.

Later, lying in bed in the dark and waiting for sleep to come for him, Adrien felt a leftover warmth burning deep in his chest.