The next morning, Marinette paced her bedroom before school.

"Marinette, I think you're overthinking this," said Tikki patiently.

"Fact number one," Marinette said, hands clasped behind her back. "Alya and Adrien go to lunch together, even though they never have before. Alya does not invite me."

"Yes, but-"

"Fact number two," she continued. "They return, seemingly the best of friends."

"Marinette, that's not true-"

"Fact number three!" Her voice was getting louder in her agitation. "Adrien announces that we should all go to the movies together." She clutched at her hair and groaned. "Ugh." Sinking to the floor, Marinette put her head in her hands. "All these facts add up to Alya told Adrien how I feel."

There was a small whooshing noise as Tikki alighted on her knee. She looked half exasperated, half amused. "Marinette," she said matter-of-factly. "I really don't think that Alya would have broken her promise not to tell him all of a sudden. She's already kept it for so long! Why would she break that promise now?"

Marinette chewed on her lip. "Then… do you think it's possible… that he likes her? Or that she likes him?"

Tikki hesitated. Marinette felt her heart clench. "I don't think that's the case," Tikki said in a rush. "But I can't lie to you, Marinette. I guess that's a possibility."

She let out a small wail and buried her head in her arms again. She felt a tiny pat on her arm and looked up once more.

"But I really don't think so. That would have happened all of a sudden, and I don't think it's very likely. But the only way to find out is if you ask Alya yourself! Or Adrien, I suppose," she said, smiling slightly as Marinette shook her head forcefully.

"I can't do that. If he said he did like her… that would crush me." She sighed. "But I guess I can ask Alya. I just can't promise I won't punch her if she says she likes her."

"Marinette," said Tikki in warning.

"What! How could she betray me like that?"

Tikki sat down on her hand and crossed her arms firmly. "No one can help how they feel, Marinette. If Alya started to like Adrien, she couldn't help it. But! You need to talk to her yourself to find out."

Marinette let out a sigh. "You're right. I'll get dressed for school."


Alya checked her phone for the fourth time in a minute as she waited outside the school for her friend. She hadn't really spoken to Marinette since the weird interaction yesterday. She had sent a text asking if everything was okay, but Marinette had only responded, "Yup, all good!" hours later, and Alya was knee deep in homework at the time and hadn't seen it before it was too late to text back.

She was practicing all the excuses in her head. Tossing and turning last night, Alya had used the sleepless hours to think of several reasons for Adrien to suddenly have proposed a movie night. While she had been hoping Marinette might not look a gift horse in the mouth, her behavior yesterday suggested otherwise. Ever the prepared reporter, Alya had crafted a number of stories she could feed Marinette (at least until the wedding when she could reveal her creativity in her maid of honor speech) to hide the fact that she was hiding a secret from her best friend.

She hadn't given much thought to what Marinette might do if she knew Adrien were Chat Noir. Alya had suggested it in jest before and Marinette had said Adrien was way better looking - but they were the same person. So how would she react?

Would being the girlfriend of a superhero put her friend in danger? She could certainly see the concern Adrien had for keeping his identity a secret. If someone found out who he was, all the people in his life would be accosted by reporters - and her scoop would become a lot less exclusive.

Her mind went into overdrive, writing a long list of questions to ask Chat Noir when she next got the chance, but after a moment, she remembered herself. Marinette: she had been thinking about how Marinette might handle dating a boy in a cat suit.

Or would he even tell her? Maybe they would start dating and he would never even mention it; he certainly hadn't told anyone else, and Alya herself had discovered it by accident. It would feel weird to know a secret, a big secret, about her best friend's boyfriend that she didn't know. What would happen if Chat Noir swooped in to save her? Would she recognize him? Would he give himself away without meaning to? What would happen if Marinette were ever akumatized? Would Chat Noir have to fight his girlfriend?

At that moment, the very girl Alya hoped to make Chat Noir's girlfriend appeared. She handed Alya a croissant and they both began to eat their breakfast.

There was a contemplative silence as they both ate, chewing thoughtfully. Finally, Marinette swallowed the last bite of her bread and asked carefully, "Alya, you don't… you don't like Adrien too, do you?"

Alya's mind immediately went into motion. "Definitely not, girl! I would never do that to you. I just wanted to ask Adrien a few questions about the physics homework, and then we started talking about how if you watch movies, they usually have really crazy physics that could never actually happen, and we got to talking about how fun it would be to go to the movies!"

Deftly spinning together Excuses 1, 4, and 7, Alya put her arm around her best friend, who was visibly relaxing. "I know it seemed weird, but I didn't want to say in front of Adrien that I more or less steered the conversation in that direction."

"Yeah," said Marinette, sounding convinced. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Let's get to class to see if the boys are there already and we can figure out a time that works for everyone!"


It worked out that everyone was free that night, and so Marinette dragged Alya back to her house immediately after school to pick out something to wear for that evening. Alya sat on the floor while she tried on outfit after outfit, growing more and more desperate.

"You're definitely overthinking this," said Alya, tapping away at her phone while Marinette struggled to work the dress over her head. "You could just wear something you always wear! What about the pink pants and the black jacket combo?"

"I feel like I wear that all the time," she said, slightly muffled through the fabric over her head. "I want something nice, something noticeable."

"Maybe something really bold? Like red and black?"

Marinette's eyes flicked to her small purse, where Tikki was well hidden and enjoying a cookie she had slipped her earlier. She peered at her friend through the opening of the dress, studying her carefully. Alya was still looking at her phone, stone-faced. It didn't seem to be her hinting at anything to do with Marinette's other identity, but Marinette was feeling a little paranoid. Still, Alya didn't seem to have even noticed what she'd implied, because she continued, "You know, you have those great red leggings and that nice black top. The one with the uneven neckline."

"That is a nice shirt… do you think it's too much?"

Alya glanced up at her. "I thought you wanted to make a statement?" Her lips quirked up in a smile.

"I do, I do…" She finally wrestled out of the dress and flung it to the side; she'd clean up later. "Maybe I'll wear that flowy white skirt I tried on a little while ago. It's sweet, so it contrasts nicely with the hardness of the top."

Alya laughed. "You need to stop watching so much Project Runway."

"It's research for my future career as a fashion designer!" Marinette began to wade through the pile of clothes strewn across the floor in search of the clothing in question. Finally finding both, she put them on and examined herself from every angle in the mirror, pouting a little as she scrutinized herself. She almost jumped out of her skin when Alya reminded her that they needed to be there in about an hour, and she leapt into the bathroom to fix her hair.

Marinette put on a touch of makeup, and after insisting that Alya wear some too ("it'll look so weird if I'm all dressed up and you look exactly the same, you need to do something here"), the two girls left the bakery with the booming voice of Marinette's father following them into the warm night air: "Have a wonderful time, girls! Enjoy the show! I hope it's a great evening! Have-"

"Tom, let them go, they'll be late," chided her mother, and Marinette and Alya broke into giggles.

The walk to the movie theater was a short one, punctuated with laughter and light gossip. It was great to ease the slight tension that had built up between them yesterday, and it seemed like in no time at all, they were walking through the doors into the theater.

Adrien and Nino were already waiting for them.

Marinette felt her heart start to race as they raised their hands in greeting and walked towards the girls. Adrien was smiling gently in that way only he seemed to be able to: a little humble, a little mischievous, a lot attractive. Marinette felt a dopey grin spread across her face unbidden, and for the millionth time, she wished she could just act naturally around him.

"Hey," said Nino, nodding at them.

"We already bought our tickets," Adrien supplied. "Sorry, we didn't think to get yours too, and now the line's gotten a bit longer."

"That's fine!" squeaked Marinette. She cleared her throat. "No problem, we'll get right in line, don't wanna miss the show!"

They slid into the line. Alya waited until the boys drifted towards the concession area before turning to her friend.

"That wasn't so bad!" she said, sounding a little impressed. "That was a real sentence you strung together there."

"Ha, ha," Marinette said humorlessly. "If I were smart, I would have said they could wait with us. Or that Adrien could wait with me while you get snacks with Nino." Something occurred to her, and she glanced at her friend. "Is this like a double date?"

Alya raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, it's me and Adrien, and you and-"

"For the moment, we are a ground of friends hanging out," said Alya lightly. With a devious smile, Marinette prodded her. "That is all I am saying on the matter for the night."

However, Marinette wouldn't let it rest until they reached the counter and bought their tickets. They squeezed past the family waiting behind them to find Adrien and Nino laden with sodas and popcorn. "Our treat," insisted Adrien when the girls tried to ply him with money.

"His treat," muttered Nino, though no one heard him.

The four of them entered the darkened theater. Alya lead the way to one of the middle rows until at the last moment, she shoved Nino forward so he entered first. Marinette slid in after the two of them, leaving Adrien at the end.

They distributed the snacks and settled in. Marinette sipped happily at the soda in her hand and threw some popcorn into her mouth. It was a lot easier to make conversation with Adrien when she had the excuse of not being able to talk for most of it. She made extra sure she was chewing with her mouth closed as they discussed classes and the homework they had over the weekend. She even managed to make a joke that he actually laughed at (okay, it was a pun, and a pretty bad one at that, but still, he chuckled) and not embarrass herself once when the lights dimmed and the previews started.

She made to lay her arm across the armrest when she encountered something warm and soft.

"Ah-!"

"Sorry," said Adrien, withdrawing his hand quickly. "This one is closer to you, I'll use the one on the end, sorry about that-"

"No problem!" she managed, voice weak. She could feel Alya's eyes boring into the back of her skull, but she stared determinedly at the screen.

The previews were loud and largely uninteresting; Marinette was almost done with half her popcorn by the time they came to an end. The screen went blank, blips of static running across it every once in a while.

After a few minutes, Alya checked her watch. "Isn't it supposed to start now?"

"Yeah," said Adrien, leaning around Marinette (she could smell his hair, oh god, it smelled so good-) "it looks like there's something wrong with the projector? Maybe-"

There was a sudden CRASH and screams erupted from around the theater. The projection room was now a gaping hole, and a thin man leapt down to the theater floor, straightening with a flourish.

"I was never appreciated in my day job!" cried the clearly akumatized villain. "Working all night for bratty children and adults who sleep through the movies and teenagers who only come here to make out in the dark! Well, no more! Villain Number One is here to ruin everyone else's movie experience!"

Marinette scowled. What a stupid name; clearly, not every person who was possessed by an akuma was very creative. She clenched her fists and reached for her bag before remembering herself and looking around at the theater.

The explosion seemed to have caused some of the smoldering wreckage to fall onto some of the seats. People in the back rows were pressing towards the exit, but the villain was between Marinette and her group of friends. It seemed that everyone was largely unhurt, but still, it was clear that as unoriginal as this supervillain might be, he was still dangerous.

With a wide, sweeping bow, Villain Number One snapped his fingers. Below his feet, a large reel of film began to spread like an undulating snake. It grew towards the doorway, with civilians leaping out the way to avoid it. Villain Number One let out a high pitched laugh, sounding as deranged as every movie villain ever, and leaned forward. His feet slid forward on the reel, sending him hurtling towards the exit.

"Adrien!" cried Alya. All her friends turned to look at her. "You better get out of here!" she cried loudly. "If you got hurt out here, you wouldn't be able to model tomorrow!"

Adrien blinked at her. "Uh." His mouth very quickly formed an 'O' and he then replied, "Right, yeah. Sorry guys, but I, uh, can't let myself get hurt. Yeah. Okay bye!"

He dashed towards the exit as well, stepping on the movie reel left on the ground.

Marinette was still staring after him, stymied, when she heard Nino shout from behind her, "Uh, Marinette, your hair is on fire! You better go put it out!"

Her hands shot up onto her head, and she began to pat it in a show of tamping down the nonexistent flames. As she let out a small yell and leapt from her seat, she shot him a sour look. He winced at her, apologetic.

Slipping a little on the movie reel on the floor, Marinette burst into the hallway. It was empty; clearly the movie-goers were evacuating.

"Well, at least he left an easy to follow trail," Marinette murmured as she opened the bag at her waist and Tikki zoomed out to float near her ear. "Look, the movie reel leads right out into the lobby."

"He's probably going to target other movie theaters across the city," said Tikki. Marinette spotted a ladies' room and dashed into it; even though the theater seemed pretty well deserted, she had learned her lesson with Nino, and didn't want someone else to discover her secret.

She quickly did a sweep of the stalls, and seeing no feet below them, she hopped into one herself.

"I am sorry your date with Adrien got cut short, though!" cried Tikki sadly. "You were doing so well, too."

"Well, at least he's out of danger," said Marinette. "And my head is not on fire anymore." She rolled her eyes.

To her surprise, Tikki giggled. "I think Nino was trying to be helpful."

"Yes, well, I've been coming up with excuses long before he started helping," Marinette said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I might need to actually burn some of my hair to fool Alya, though! If I come back and it's still perfect, she might get suspicious. She might even be able to tell by the smell."

"We can worry about that after we defeat the villain." Tikki chuckled again. "Villain Number One."

Marinette sighed, then steeled herself for the transformation.


Nino watched Marinette race towards the exit (and towards the enemy) with a half grin on his face. He turned back to Alya, saying, "Well, I guess it's just-" when he was cut off by her close proximity. She was right in his face, hands on her hips, and she did not look happy.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?"

"Was Marinette really on fire?"

"Uh-"

"Why didn't you help put her out? That would make so much more sense!"

"Er- I'm sure she wanted to wet it in the sink, much more effective."

Alya glowered at him and leaned even closer. He could smell her lipgloss: vanilla.

"I think you're up to something," she hissed. "And I'm gonna find out what it is."