A/N: Hey guys, so here we go. Getting further into a story that I feel I have very little control over. Seriously. The words just kinda spill out when I'm writing. I don't know whats going to happen. I just wanted to say, I'm not sure if there will be much, if any, Ladybug, as Marinette only transforms when there is an akuma, and I'm not exactly sure how that would fit in at this time, and who would be akuma-tized, nor what their power would be. But who knows, maybe I'll come up with something. Stay tuned, as this will hopefully continue to come easy, and I'll continue to be able to update every week. Thanks to everyone who wrote a review, they're always so encouraging. Enjoy!

EDIT: Guys, I'm so sorry, but Under the Mask is going to be on hiatus for a bit. My computer died, and of course I didn't have the unpublished parts of my story saved on an external device, so I have to either get a new computer and fetch them off the old hard drive, fix my old computer, or rewrite all of it, all of which will probably take some time. I do plan on continuing this story, so I hope all of you will continue to be patient with me. Thank you for your support, and I hope to be back to posting as soon as possible.

Chapter 10

After an embarrassing dinner with her parents cooing over Adrien and giving him seconds and thirds, Marinette walked him to the door.

"Thanks for helping me with my homework. I really appreciate it." She said, leaning on the door jam. "You're really smart."

"Ah, it was no problem, Mari, I just-" They both froze at his use of a nickname, faces reddening. Not making eye contact, Adrien blurted out. "Ah, sorry, didn't mean to say that. Um." He looked up at her, her eyes locked on his face, seeing his blush.

"N-no, it's fine. You can call me Mari, I'm fine with it," she felt herself stammer. "Um, so, try to get how safe, okay?"

"Ah, yeah, goodnight." And with that, her turned and walked away from her.

Making her way back towards the stairs, her parents caught her. "Marinette, why didn't you tell us you had such a nice friend?" Her mother inquired. "And such a good appetite on that boy too. So polite." Her father added.

"Um, well, I'm gonna go to sleep, okay, goodnight." She claimed as she bolted for her room. Reaching it, she shut the door tightly behind her, then made her way to her desk.

Adrien had helped her with her homework, and then he had been willing to hang around and play a game. He had even sat through an extremely awkward dinner with her parents. What did that mean?

"So he finally left?" Tikki asked, peeking out of one of her favorite hiding places. "Did you have a good time?"

"Ah, yeah Tikki, it was really nice. I can totally see him being Chat now, too. He is always trying to add puns into things. He even managed to crack some physics jokes over homework." Marinette felt a smile cross her lips.

"So, you're done freaking out over it?" Tikki said, concerned.

"Well, I don't see him finding out about me any time soon, but I think I can like with Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste being the same person." She stated, rolling ideas around in her mind. "I think I'm going to call it a night, Tikki. I'm exhausted."

Adrien walked home, the crisp night air ruffling his hair. He had thoroughly enjoyed his night, right up to that terribly timed nickname sneaking out. He still felt so stuffed from the delicious food her parents had made, and he had a bag full of goodies that her father had snuck him on his way out.

He took a deep breath of the fresh air, and thought about Marinette. She was pretty, and sweet, and she could kick ass in video games. So what if she wasn't good at physics, she was human. And human had faults. Ladybug didn't have any faults, but yet she also may be thousands of years old. Adrien had no idea who she was under the mask, and based off of her actions, she had no desire to ever show him. He had always known it was a long shot, but maybe that was why he had fantasized about her.

He stopped and thought. Ladybug, although perfect, was completely unattainable. Marinette was far from perfect, but she made up for that with all of her good qualities. Maybe it was time for him to get over his childish crush on an idol. As Plagg had said earlier, he very well could have feelings for two people at the same time.

He walked up the steps and into his house, careful to be quite. Goodness forbid that he make noise if his father was home. He snuck up to his room, where he closed the door. He made his way over to his desk, where he threw his bag down and collapsed into his chair.
"Hey, Plagg. We're home now. You want your camembert?" He asked, reaching into the mini-fridge by his desk.

"Of course I do!" Plagg replied immediately, flying out of his bag. Biting into the cheese, he muttered, "Oh, my dear camembert. How tasty you are!"

Adrien went over to his bed. Lying back, he looked at his ceiling, trying to figure out his feelings. "Hey, Plagg. I think you're right." He admitted. "I still love Ladybug, but I also like Marinette." He peered over at Plagg, who was still happily eating away at his cheese. "How am I supposed to face her, after that awkward goodbye? The night was going so well, too."

"Adrien, based on how the girl acted around you, I think it's safe to assume that she's fine with the nickname. She didn't get outraged. And she even told you to get home safe afterward." Plagg took another large bite, his next words coming out slightly muffled. "I say sleep on it and see how you feel in the morning, and see how she reacts to you tomorrow."

Looking at Plagg, happily biting into the cheese, Adrien felt like a weight was being lifted slightly off his chest. "Yeah, you're right. I'll worry about it tomorrow. I guess I'll go to sleep. Night, Plagg."