Adrien balanced both coffees in his hands as he navigated through the incoming flow of visitors and gurneys in the hospital corridors. His students had been a real nightmare that day, being loud and unruly, and the little sleep he was running on did nothing to soothe his nerves. Never in his career had he came so close to snap in class and tell off the teenagers for being disruptive. As soon as the bell had rung, he had basically bolted out of school and ran to the hospital, only stopping on his way there to grab a tall latte for his severely caffeine deprived lady.

He didn't like leaving her alone during the day, but she had heavily insisted that she had perfectly trained nurses and doctors to take care of her while she was in the hospital, and therefore it would be utterly ridiculous for him to miss any more work than he already had. She had all but kicked him out of her room the previous Monday, telling him to come back once he'd be done sharing his wisdom with young minds and had practically begged him to bring her a decent coffee when he would return.

Nino and Alya had noticed his obvious reluctance to leave her side and had come up with a sort of schedule to ensure Marinette would rarely be alone. Sabine usually dropped by after the lunch rush at the bakery, while their friends were taking turns according to their busy schedules keeping the young woman company until school was out. That's when Adrien would come back every day without fail, always bringing the best coffee he could find or delicious takeout to lift the spirits up of his injured partner.

Adrien exited the elevator, the whirlwind of emotions of the latest events still dizzying him. Holding the limp body of Marinette in his arms, not knowing if she would make it, had made him reconsider his priorities, ranking her happiness and righting his wrongs toward her above anything else. He had fully expected her to yell at him, to refuse to give him another undeserved chance.

When, against all odds, she had agreed to try and fix their broken relationship, Adrien had honestly thought his world had stopped for a second. He knew Marinette was amazing and had a kind heart, he only realized the full extent of how much she meant to her when she had asked him to be patient with her.

Not a no.

Not a get the hell out of my life.

Not even a never talk to me again.

No. Not that but I loved you and I want to try.

This was more than Adrien had dared to hope for, and if she needed him to be patient be her, he was fully prepared to do so. He would gladly take whatever place she would agree to make him in her life, and make it his life's goal to earn her trust back.

As he neared her room, he could distinctly hear her voice coming through the door, making his stomach churns pleasantly the way it always seemed to do whenever Marinette was involved. She was talking animatedly, but didn't seem upset. " Yes mama, they said I could go home today. I'll have to take it easy for a few weeks still, until they remove the cast, but I can't wait to sleep in a real bed."

Smiling to himself upon hearing the good news, he used his shoulder to push the door of her room open, holding his two cups of coffee up as a peace offering.

Marinette was on the phone, trying to use her crutches to get up from her bed and shaking her head softly. "No, Mama, I really don't need Papa to close the bakery in the middle of the day just to come and get me. I'll just call a taxi."

Their eyes met, and her entire face lit up, turning his heart to mush. She smiled at him warmly, mouthing, " Help me."

He grinned, setting the fuming cups on the table beside her and holding his hand out, gesturing for the phone. "May I?" he asked quietly, not wanting to pressure her into anything. They were still in the early stages of their brand new relationship, not a friendship yet but still way beyond simple acquaintances somehow, both of them figuring out the brand new boundaries that defined their rekindled bond.

Marinette nodded, letting out a relieved sigh. "Hold on, Mama, Adrien wants to have a word with you."

She put the device in his open palm, and he pressed it to his ear, trying to ignore the tingling running through his skin where their fingers had brushed together. "Hi Mme Dupain-Cheng!"

" Hi Adrien, could you knock some sense into my stubborn daughter and make her understand that taking a taxi with crutches isn't a sensible thing to do?"

He eyed said crutches and lifted an eyebrow, wondering how clumsy Marinette intended to make the journey to the bakery in one piece without her two feet. "Don't worry about that, madam. I actually brought my car today, so I'll drive her home, safe and sound."

Tikki flashed him a smile from the pillow where she was curled up as Sabine answered, " Thanks Adrien, it means a lot to us. I won't hold you up any longer, please take good care of my baby girl!"

"I will. Have a nice day, Mme Dupain-Cheng."

The call disconnected, and he handed the telephone back to Marinette. "So? Today's the big day, huh?"

Her smile widened, and she balanced herself awkwardly on her good foot, reaching for a duffel bag lying open at the foot of her bed. "Yes! Finally! I can't wait to be home and sleep in a real bed, you know?"

She swayed dangerously on her uninjured leg, and Adrien surged forward, grabbing her elbow to steady her before she crashed her face on the linoleum. Eyes heavy with worry, he gulped at the sudden contact and said softly, "May I help you?"

Marinette nodded gratefully, pointing to a small stack of books piled on the floor next to her bed. "Could you put those in my bag? I also have a few personal belongings in the drawers, but not much."

Adrien complied happily, relieved to see his friend giving up any ideas of packing her luggage herself and sat back on her bed. She reached for one of the steaming cups on the bedside table and took a sip, sighing contentedly, "Oh great! You bought the good stuff!"

He laughed softly, carefully folding the hoodie he had brought her to keep her warm in the evenings, "Why would I even bother bringing you anything else? You've been gushing about those latte non-stop ever you tasted it."

"I don't gush about them!"

Tikki stretched her little paws lazily. "At least once a day, Marinette. I guess you really love those lattes," she said with a smirk.

"If you're both teaming up on me, I don't stand a chance," Marinette huffed irately, but there was a sparkle in her eyes that gave her away. She was far from angry, almost enjoying herself even.

About half an hour later, the doctor had stopped by to give his last instructions about the care of her cast and the cut on her forehead, Adrien had made a trip to the car to load her luggage into his trunk, and he was now helping Marinette out of the elevator, helping her finding her balance on the crutches while Tikki was giggling quietly inside the collar of his shirt.

Getting Marinette into the car without hurting her broken leg proved to be a feat of strength on its own, but Adrien soon found out that it was nothing compared to the torture of being within the enclosed space of his sedan with his long lost lady. Having her so close to him, yet so far at the same time, was slowly but surely driving him crazy.

Part of him was dying to grab her and kiss her senseless, to show her just how far his love for Ladybug, and by now for Marinette also, went. But he was painfully aware that pushing past the boundaries she had carefully erected between them would only destroy the fragile balance between them, and ruin any chance that he might still have of being hers someday.

Pushing his feelings aside for an unknown amount of time, dead set of stifling any romantic aspirations toward her until she showed any interest into taking their relationship into uncharted territories, he instead focused on the road. He could sense Marinette looking at him curiously, probably trying to figure out what was going on in his mind.

He could only wish she couldn't read his mind as well as she always seemed to do effortlessly when they were fighting side by side.

"We're here," Adrien announced a bit too loudly after a while, stopping the car on the side of the road.

Marinette was still trying to figure out a comfortable position for her leg in the small available space of the passenger seat abandoned the idea and looked up. Her eyes widened as she realized they were certainly not in Adrien's building parking. "A-Adrien? W-what are we doing at the bakery?"

He looked at her, confused. Where did she expect him to bring her? "What do you mean? I agreed with your mother that I would drive you home, that what I did. What's the matter?"

Marinette let out a heavy sigh, eyeing the young man carefully. He suddenly felt as if she was scrutinizing his very soul. "I can't come back to live at the bakery, Adrien," she said softly. "Now even less than before. The very last thing my parents need right now is the added burden of taking care of their injured daughter on top of the bakery duties. They already have more than enough on their plate. Plus, I'd remind you that my old bedroom is in the attic and that I have a loft bed there. Kind of a challenge."

Adrien paled, staring at her with a blank expression. What she had just said refused to compute in his brain. When she had asked to go home, surely she hadn't meant…

"Sorry, I just assumed—" he began weakly, but the words died in his throat. He gulped, refusing to let himself believe that she still wanted anything to do with living with him. Those misplaced hopes were little more than sheer wishful thinking on his part. "What do you want to do then? Is Alya expecting you? I should've asked, I'm sorry."

She snorted inelegantly. "Do you remember the conversation we had on the sidewalk when my apartment burned down? Like, at all? I can't live with Alya. Their place is too chaotic, they'll drive me crazy within a week."

"But—" he objected weakly, staring at the steering wheel of his car.

Marinette's hand landed atop of his, coaxing his eyes back to hers. Her expression was guarded, apprehensive. "Are you kicking me out?"

"What? Of course not!" he squeaked out, horrified at the ridiculous thought.

"Really, if you'd rather have me move out, I'd understand, Adrien. I just assumed I would go back with you, but if you'd rather I didn't, it's no big—" Marinette quickly added, obviously trying to convince them both that she'd be okay if he had changed his mind about their current living arrangement.

"No!" he cried, desperate to make her understand that she was uttering nothing short of nonsense. He reached for her hand, grabbing it mindlessly over the gear shaft, before letting go of it just like it had been burning red iron. Who was he to dare touch her without her permission like that?

Marinette had a little sad smile as she looked down at her fingers lying awkwardly in her lap. "Then, why are you so adamant that I don't go back home tonight?"

He looked away, the events that had led them there flooding his mind. "I just thought you'd want to stay away from me as much as possible, at least at first, given everything I put you through. And—"

"Are you going to force yourself on me?" she blurted out, taking him by surprise.

The implications of her words painfully sunk in, and he hastily answered, "Of course not! I would never—"

"I know that, Adrien." She smiled softly, blissfully cutting his freak-out short at the unsettling idea that she might really be considering this as a possibility. "Are you planning to murder me in my sleep then?"

His eyes widened considerably at the sheer idiocy of what she was suggesting. Had she skimmed over the part where he had been hopelessly in love with her ever since he was fifteen? "Why would I ever do such a thing?" he rasped out.

She giggled at his reaction, before saying in a slightly subdued voice, "I meant what I said back at the hospital that first time. I really want to try and fix … whatever we have is."

"But you don't trust me, why would you even want to live with me?" Adrien couldn't help himself but insist, the words hurting him as they rolled off his tongue.

Marinette's hand landed on his cheek, the softness of her fingers tingling on his skin. She gently turned his face toward her, forcing him to look into her eyes. "I don't trust you with my heart , Adrien. Just because I'm not ready to be in a relationship with you, nor do I know if I'll ever be, but I know you'll never harm me on purpose."

Adrien ignored the knot quickly forming in his throat upon hearing those words. His heart was torn between two emotions, the hurt of having his slim chances of ever getting her to love him back again thrown in his face yet another time, and the pure bliss of hearing her say that they at least have a shot at friendship. Tears pricked at his eyes, and he choked out, "M-Mari, I—"

"Adrien, just bring me home , please . "

The exhaustion was clear as day in her voice, and he turned the key in the ignition, not trusting his voice enough to reply. She seemed to pick up on his inner turmoil, because he hadn't even driven a mile before her fingers wrapped around his hand on the gear shaft, her thumb gently stroking the side of his hand.

"Thanks."

The word hung in the air between them, heavy with meaning. Six little letters, holding an entire world among themselves.

The black sedan pulled into Adrien's private parking space shortly after. He shot out of the car, rushing toward the passenger side to help Marinette on her feet.

"Do you think you can reach the apartment on the crutches?"

She chuckled. "Well, there's only one way to figure it out, isn't it?"

In the end, it took a little bit of encouragement and support from him, but she did make it onto the couch in their living room. Marinette plopped onto it with a relieved sigh, setting the crutches aside.

"Victory!" she cried out, and Adrien thought his heart would burst in his chest from the cuteness of it.

He busied himself for the remaining of the day, tidying up the neglected apartment which had suffered from remaining empty for days on end, entertaining her with teaching stories and anecdotes from his modeling days so she wouldn't die of boredom from her vantage point. He cooked dinner for both of them, which they ate while watching some meaningless reality show. Shortly after Adrien was done putting the dishes away, Marinette began dozing off on the couch.

Ignoring the way his heart cracked knowing he couldn't have her yet, most likely not ever, he carried her to bed and tucked her in. As he looked at her peacefully sleeping figure in the darkness of her room, something else bubbled inside his chest.

He loved her.

There was not a single doubt about that. He loved her with every cell of his body, with everything he was.

But he also couldn't stand the thought of a life without her in it.

His eyes landed on the Chat Noir plush sitting on the top shelf, watching over her dutifully, and a forlorn smile crept onto his lips.

If it was what it came down to, he'd much rather choose a life where he could cherish her and their friendship instead of a sad existence deprived of her.

He retreated back to his own bedroom, the feeling of her lithe body pressed against his chest as she slept still fresh, his nose still full of her scent.

He slipped under his blankets, unconsciously grabbing his Ladybug doll and held it to his heart as he slowly drifted to sleep.

The next morning found him standing in his kitchen, cooking eggs and bacon for both of them when she emerged from her bedroom, already steadier than the day before on her crutches.

"Morning, Adrien," she said cheerfully albeit slightly sleepily.

He offered her a smile he dearly hoped seemed genuine. "Good morning, Marinette. Slept well?"

She sat down on a kitchen chair, stretching out her arms with a loud yawn. "Like a rock."

He saw her eyes wander to the clock and widening when she noticed the late hour. "Wait, aren't you going to work this morning?" she gasped.

Adrien smirked, putting her eggs on a plate. "Nope. The school owed me a few years of unclaimed vacation, so I took a leave of absence until you can get around in the apartment safely by yourself."

"But—I can't let you jeopardize your teaching career on my behalf, Adrien, it's not right."

"I'm not jeopardizing anything, Mari. And even if I were, it wouldn't matter. You need me, and I'll be there for you. I already let you down twice, it won't happen ever again."

She opened her mouth as if to answer him, but was cut short by the doorbell ringing loudly in the apartment. She looked at him, dumbfounded. "Were you expecting someone?"

Adrien chuckled softly, getting up to answer the door. "Someone was eager to see you this morning. I couldn't bring myself to refuse."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but any question she could have was instantly answered by the loud and characteristic, "Mari!" that resonated through their apartment the minute he opened the door.

Marinette laughed, opening her arms widely as Alya pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "Hi, Al!"

"You look great, Marinette!" asserted Nino, bumping Adrien's raised fist with his own. He took a good look at her, and had to admit that his best friend was right. She had come a long way ever since the day, roughly two weeks prior, where he had burst through the hospital doors with her unconscious body cradled in his arms.

The bruising on her face and shoulder had considerably subdued, leaving her pale skin with little more than a yellowish hue to it. Her ribs barely hurt her anymore, and the cut on her forehead was healing nicely, the skin on its edges no longer an angry shade of red.

For the time being, she was trying to get up from the couch, laughing so much with Alya that she had trouble finding her balance. Worried, he called out to her, "Do you need anything, Marinette?"

She flashed him a smile in between peals of laughter. "I'm just thirsty, I was going to get a glass of water."

"Hang on, I'm on it," he instantly answered, rushing toward the kitchen as fast as if the seat of his pants had suddenly caught fire.

Alya and Nino ended up staying with them for a few hours, in which the latter stayed mostly silent. Adrien had the unnerving impression that his best friend was watching his every move like a hawk, analyzing every single word he was saying and second-guessing them.

His intuition proved to be right when Nino cornered him in the kitchen when he went to fix some coffee. "I don't get it, man," the young DJ stated, lowering his voice so both women wouldn't hear his words from the living room as he reached for the cup of coffee Adrien was handing him. "Marinette's got you on her beck and call, tending to her every need and whim."

Adrien shrugged, pouring himself a cup of the hot beverage. Whatever Nino thought was going on between him and Marinette, he was more than likely mistaken, and he wanted nothing less than explaining the exact nature of their relationship. "I'm just trying to be a great friend for her," he answered, albeit a bit more dryly than he would've liked.

"She's doing good, Adrien," Nino countered. "I can't see her being okay with you putting your entire existence on pause to take care of her."

"You don't understand."

His gaze fell on Marinette's laughing face, on her sparkling eyes as she talked animatedly with Alya. Nino seemed to notice it, and sighed.

"You're right, man, I don't. You act like you're actively seeking her forgiveness or something, and it doesn't make any sense, dude. You freaking saved her life and gave her a roof to live under, she should be thanking you and trying to make it up to you, not the other way around."

Memories of a broken Ladybug crying her heart out on the rooftops, of the sheer hurt in her eyes when he had snapped at her, of the tremor in her voice upon figuring out her lost partner's identity, of the steady beeping of the hospital machines flooded his mind all at once. He remembered just how close he had come to losing her for good, and it made his heart clench painfully within his ribcage.

"I almost lost her twice, Nino. I won't ever let it happen again," he breathed, ignoring the lump in his throat. He felt a gentle pressure on the back of his neck underneath the collar of his jacket and smiled, knowing Tikki was trying to comfort him in her own way.

Nino eyed his best friend carefully, trying to decipher what he had meant by those enigmatic words. When he found that he couldn't, he chuckled disbelievingly, "You don't even make any sense, man."

"Look," Adrien sighed, recalling the lie he and Marinette had agreed on when they had finally managed to be alone for more than a few minutes at the hospital, "after my father was sent to jail, Marinette stopped by my place to see how I was doing. Apparently I was completely smashed, and I said really hurtful things to her. I don't actually recall any of it, but the night before her accident we got into a stupid argument and she kinda blurted it all out. I hurt her, badly, and unfairly. This … this is all my fault."

"Wait," Nino gasped, staring at him. "What in the world did you say to her to upset her that much?"

"This … this is between her and me. However, when she left the apartment that night she was upset, and I feel responsible for her accident. Beyond that, I just want to be her friend, you know? I want to be the best friend I can be for her."

"Whatever you say, man. I just don't get it. It's obvious there's something going on between the pair of you, something more serious than you both let it on."

"Nino…" Adrien said warningly.

"Don't worry, dude, I'm not Alya. I won't pry. But whatever is going on, just try to make sure neither of you end up more messed up than you already are, okay?"

Trying to suppress the knot in his stomach, Adrien nodded slowly, his eyes trained on the beautiful figure of his partner.

He could do this. He could be her friend.

That night, Adrien slept with the Ladybug doll held tight against his heart again.

Painfully aware that meanwhile, in Marinette's room, the Chat Noir plush was still banished on the highest shelf.