Adrien fell onto his bed, much like he did the night before. He groaned and threw an arm over his face. Plagg had been laughing at him since they got home.

"I'm telling you, Adrien. The suffering isn't worth it. Forget about love! Cheese is all you'll ever need in this life."

Adrien groaned. "It's already bad enough I have to suffer in this stupid love triangle. But I also have to suffer through your stupid, stinky cheese."

Plagg shrugged and plopped another piece of cheese in his mouth. "You know, you really may be worrying over nothing at all."

Adrien gave Plagg a strange look. He'd never heard his kwami sound so sure of anything before other than how hungry he was. But he was really sure about this. It must be the tenth time that he's told him this exact phrase over the past week. "You know something I don't, don't you?"

Plagg gave a smug look. "I cannot confirm, nor deny this statement. But soon enough you will know for yourself."

"I hate it when you're cryptic," Adrien said, before rolling over and falling into another uneasy sleep.

The next day, for once in her life, Marinette was actually early to school. She was meeting up with Nathanael. The exclusive exposé was that night, and Marinette agreed to come in early to help starting the set-up for everything. She was really very excited for tonight; it was weird, considering it was an event that Adrien couldn't attend. Though, she supposed it was nice to be excited about something other than Adrien for once.

Though, she had noticed, she was starting to feel less and less like a fanatic around him. It was all a mess, really. Her jumbled up feelings between Adrien and Chat Noir. The first time she met Chat Noir, she was completely convinced his bad puns and terrible flirting were never going to tear down her defenses. But, here she was. Alya already knew of her struggles with the black-masked superhero. She hadn't mentioned much about how they'd gotten to know each other, other than the fact that Chat Noir has saved her 2 or 3 times as Marinette now. She shook her head in attempt to clear away her thoughts as she arrived to the art room. Nathanael and Alix were already there working on a big sign for the event. At the end of each exposé they all always signed the big banner to commemorate all the club members from that year. Then they banner would join the rest in the back of the room.

After this event, they would have their public summer showcase to show off finished projects before the end of the school year. It was like a 'hey! Sign up for the art club next year!' sort of thing. But since Marinette joined her freshman year, she hasn't seen any more new faces. She walked up to Nathanael and Alix, with the latter threatening to paint a mustache onto the former over something that he'd said.

"Hey guys! The banner is looking awesome," she said, her eyes lighting up. Alix had given this one a street art theme, and it really looked incredible.

Alix looked up at Marinette with a small smile. "Thanks, Mari. You're welcome to help if you want, but we're almost done with it."

Marinette waved her hand in the air. "No, I'll stick to my sketching. I don't want to mess up all your guys' hard work!"

She walked over to her corner and dropped down her bag. She pulled out her sketch book and flipped through it. She had one more sketch that she was considering putting up for the exposé. It was a sketch she'd done of Chat Noir, the night they stood together on her balcony. The moonlight against his figure had left her breathless, and it still does every time she comes back to the sketch. She hated how much her heart fluttered around him now. She hated how now there were two of her closest friends who she felt like she couldn't say a word to, because she turned into a stuttering wreck. After a few minutes of pondering, she was interrupted by Rose walking up behind her. She was scared right out of her wits and nearly jumped three feet high when Rose tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh! Sorry, Marinette, I didn't mean to scare you," she said her voice soft. Her eyes were drawn back to Marinette's sketchbook. "That's a really great picture, Marinette. Are you going to showcase it today?"

Marinette blushed. "I don't know… It isn't that good."

Just then, Nathanael walked up to her and pulled the sketchbook from her hands. Before she could protest, Nathanael was admiring the portrait.

"Are you kidding, Marinette? This is an amazing sketch. I didn't know you liked Chat Noir so much," he said, giving her a sly grin. Marinette yanked the sketchbook back and shoved it into her bookbag.

"I like Chat Noir just as much as the next person," she said, her voice defiant. "No more, no less."

Nathanael's grin only widened, and Marinette blushed. "If you don't showcase it today, then I hope you're prepared to put it up at the summer showcase," he teased.

"Oh Nathan, leave her alone," Alix groaned from where she was still putting finishing touches on the banner. "The girl obviously has a crush, let her live."

"I do not have a crush on Chat Noir! I don't even know who he is,"

"The fun is in the mystery!" Rose shouted, twirling away to her desk, sheet music strewn everywhere. Her band was going to be debuting one of their new songs today. "It's so romantic, really. Your mysterious prince."

Marinette groaned, and not a minute later the bell rang, indicating that morning classes were about to begin. Thank god she thought. She could avoid this onslaught of teasing for the rest of the day until the showcase tonight. She picked up her bag and ran out of the room, with a brief "see you guys later" to all of her friends.

Almost immediately after running out of the room she ran into none other than Adrien Agreste. She and Adrien both fell backwards with hard thuds.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, Adrien," Marinette said, scrambling to get up and moving to help Adrien back to his feet. "Are you okay?"

Adrien gave her a soft smile. "No worries, Marinette. No harm done. Sorry, I should have been paying more attention to where I was going."

Marinette laughed. "No, it was definitely me who wasn't paying enough attention. I was just trying way too hard to get away from the art room."

Adrien's heart sunk. Did Nathanael do something? "Everything alright, Marinette?"

She gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah! Everything is fine. Nothing weird is going on, that's for sure! Well, I've gotta hit the gas! I mean, get to class! I'll see you later, Adrien!"

With that, Marinette ran away again, blushing furiously. Adrien didn't like that exchange at all. Was she okay? Did Nathanael do something to hurt her again? He knew he couldn't be trusted…