The next day, everyone was cautious as Adrien walked by them. There was one thing he had to do before talking to Marinette.

He had to find Nathanael and apologize to him for calling him out in front of everyone like that. It wouldn't solve everything, but it would hopefully show Nathanael and Marinette that he was just having a bad day and that he didn't truly mean all of the awful things he'd said.

Because, deep down he knew he hadn't. Nathanael wasn't a bad person, and he could see that he cared for Marinette very much. He never should have let his feelings get in the way of his opinions of people, and he swore to himself that he would never do that again. Especially not with an akuma victim. He knew that being akumatized took a large toll on people, and they already feel guilty enough about all the damage they cause when they aren't even in control of themselves. He was supposed to be a savior of Paris, and saviors of Paris were supposed to make people feel safe.

He spotted Nathanael and Marinette walking towards the art room. He ran up behind them and tapped Nathanael on the shoulder. As he made eye contact with Nathanael, he looked away sheepishly, and Marinette gave Adrien a concerned look.

"Nathanael, I owe you an apology," Adrien started, his voice soft. He seemed to have returned back the calm and collected Adrien that everyone knew. "I shouldn't have called you names yesterday, and I shouldn't have been holding you accountable for the things you did while you were akumatized. I'm really sorry, Nathanael. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me."

Nathanael gave Adrien a relieved smile. Adrien turned and saw that Marinette was smiling at him too. Exactly what he'd hoped for.

"I forgive you, Adrien. I know what it is like to have a rough day, and sometimes it is hard to not take your anger out on others. But it shows a lot about your character that you actively seeked me out to apologize. I really appreciate that."

Marinette was beaming. Classic class representative, watching her classmates work out problems with pride. Just another thing to add to the endless list of things that made Adrien absolutely crazy about her. Suddenly, Alya appeared out of nowhere and dragged Marinette away from the group. She was absolutely ecstatic about her latest video for the Lady Blog, so Marinette had no choice but to let herself be dragged away. She waved quickly at Adrien and Nathanael before turning back to Alya. Adrien watched as she went, forgetting that Nathanael was still in front of him. Nathanael turned and looked after Marinette too, chuckling to himself.

"You care about her a lot, don't you?" he asked, giving Adrien a knowing look. Adrien blushed and stammered. "Y-yeah, of course I do! Marinette's a… she's a great friend."

"Hmm," Nathanael hummed, patting Adrien on the shoulder. "I know that I don't look at my friends like that."

Before Adrien could question what he meant, the bell rang. "Well, we should get to class," he said before turning and walking towards the stairs. Adrien was left a blushing mess. He followed behind the rest of his classmates as they made their way to Mrs. Bustier's classroom.

The day passed by normally. Most of their classmates had learned that Adrien had made a big effort to apologize to Nathanael, and everything from yesterday passed as a reaction to a bad day. He was glad, because he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he'd caused the only friends he'd ever made to absolutely hate his guts.

The end of the day finally arrived, and Marinette rushed to the art room. Adrien tried to catch her, but she was really on the move today. He followed her towards the art room a few feet back, but he stopped short as he watched her bump into a stranger and stumble backwards, dropping her sketchbook. She looked up to see Juleka's brother, Luka, looking equally confused. He had been scribbling in his song book that was now on the ground next to her sketches. She looked down to see that the book had landed open to the sketch she'd been drawing of him from the night he and his band played at the exposé. Marinette blushed furiously as she scrambled to pick up her book. She looked to see that a light blush had flushed across Luka's face as well.

"Woah, you're really talented, Marinette," Luka said, his voice wavering slightly.

Marinette smiled at him. "You really think so? It was just a little sketch I was working on… but I'm glad you like it!" Marinette was absolutely beaming, and Adrien felt an ache in his heart. "That means a lot coming from a musician as talented as you, Luka."

Luka blushed more, and offered Marinette his hand. Marinette took it and they walked together the rest of the way to the art room. Adrien thought about following her in, but he decided against it.

He'd never seen this guy before. Who was he, and how were he and Marinette so close?

He felt jealousy flare up in him again. He was an absolute mess. He was supposed to be in love with Ladybug. How did he get himself caught up in all of these feelings with Marinette?

He walked outside to see his bodyguard with the car, ready to take him home. He figured he had nothing else left to do here, since Marinette was preoccupied with her club meeting. He was sure that he would find a chance to talk to her alone at some point tomorrow. He could tell her how he felt about her then. It wasn't too late.

He thought about visiting Marinette again and asking her for more advice. He really really didn't want to mess up his chances.

Marinette was always the stumbling, stuttering mess around him. When had the tables turned so suddenly?

Adrien climbed into the back of his car and let his head fall back against the seat and he closed his eyes. He wished his mom were here. She always knew exactly what to say to make him feel better.

He wondered where she was.

To Marinette's great relief, Chat Noir appeared, as he always did. She was already rambling before he'd landed on the balcony.

"Chat Noir, I have a problem," she said, her voice panicked.

"What seems to be the trouble, Princess?" he asked, his voice sweet. God, she was losing her mind. Luka, Adrien, Chat Noir… why were there so many great guys in Paris?!

"I think I like someone and I don't know what to do! I'm so terrible at thinking, and… talking. What do I do?"

Chat Noir's heart thumped. Was she going to admit that she had feelings for him, Chat Noir? For Adrien? What was he supposed to say? I mean, he knew what he wanted to say.

I like you a lot too, Marinette. I really like you.

"There is this boy that I know, and we haven't really talked much yet, but… his name is Luka and he plays the guitar and he is really sweet and everything is happening so quickly. I don't know how to approach this situation."

Chat Noir felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. Not only was she not talking about him… she wasn't talking about Adrien either.

Had she… moved on? Completely? Was… was Adrien too late after all?

Chat Noir looked down at his baton, pretending to see a call pop up from Ladybug.

"I'm sorry Princess, something just came up," he said, his voice quiet. "We'll have to continue this conversation later."

He couldn't stay here and listen to this conversation. He wouldn't be able to stay here and keep his calm. Not today. Not like this. Not when he'd gotten so close to what he wanted this time. He had never tried so hard to keep his cool in his life.

Marinette looked taken aback, but she nodded. "Oh, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" she asked, smiling at him.

"Yeah. Tomorrow," he said, his voice cold.

With that, Chat turned and barreled towards home. The tears stung in his eyes as he flew through Paris, trying not to think about how much everything hurt. He didn't return the shy wave that Marinette gave him as he left.

Marinette could feel that something was wrong with him, but he was too far away now. She knew for a fact that Ladybug didn't call him because, well… she hadn't. What had she said? It couldn't have been because she was talking about Luka. Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug. He doesn't like her that way, why would he care about Luka?

She was really worried about him. She decided she would ask him about everything tomorrow when she saw him again.

But he didn't come back tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Or the day after that…