I apologize for the 'longer than usual' wait! I've been hitting a lot of roadblocks lately. I have many one-shots that I started but didn't finish because they didn't feel like they fit the tone I've set for this collection.

Enjoy the Marinette-centered chapter!

Unconcealed

Since the first week of school, it had been Marinette's dream to be paired with Adrien Agreste for a school project. Mere weeks ago, she would have been beside herself with nerves and plagued by incoherent outbursts of joy at the thought of it.

When she finally heard Adrien's name called alongside her own for something other than attendance, she didn't react the way she dreamed she would.

There was a lot of internal screaming, but for completely different reasons than usual.

"Looks like we're partners, Marinette," Adrien remarked, looking ridiculously satisfied. His grin was so remarkably catlike that she wanted to shove him off of his seat.

She restrained herself, because it would look rather odd for Marinette Dupain-Cheng to push Adrien Agreste to the floor, and she wasn't sure how she would explain it when questioned.

Instead, she settled for twisting the fabric of her shirt between her fingers.

How was she going to handle an entire day at the Louvre and the subsequent workdays spent on the report portion with Adrien? Alya seemed to pick up on her distress, and gave her an incredulous look.

Marinette simply shrugged helplessly; how could she possibly explain why she wasn't looking forward to partnering up with her crime-fighting partner?

Even Marinette didn't quite understand why she was put out by it.

She decided that it wouldn't do to let this assignment get in the way of her life, so she resolved herself to staring at the board while everyone else was paired off.

Marinette jolted as a pair of curious green eyes obscured her view of the blank board. "You know, this means we'll have to spend a lot of time together," Adrien remarked, eyes almost sparkling with excitement as he leaned his elbows on her desk.

A soft smile tugged at her lips in spite of her best efforts, "I suppose you're right."

His grin grew impossibly wider, "I'm excited! I usually don't get you all to myself." He balked as he realized what he'd said, "I, uh…that- you, um…"

Marinette giggled and gently patted his cheek; "It'll be nice to spend time with you too, Adrien."

He beamed back at her, and the tips of her fingers lingered on his face longer than really necessary. Marinette felt intuitively drawn to him, and he peered into her eyes with unconcealed affection.

"Aww, look at the lovebirds," Alya teased in a sing-song voice, shaking them out of their moment long enough for Marinette to realize they were in school and many of their classmates were watching.

They both flushed, and Adrien jerked around to face the right way in his seat, while Marinette buried her face in her hands. Nino snickered, and received a half-hearted punch in the shoulder from his best friend.

Somewhere in the background, Rose sighed dreamily and Chloé demanded to know what happened that had half of the class whispering with excitement. Mercifully, Sabrina had the good sense to pretend she hadn't seen anything.

Alya gave the redhead a salute and turned her attention to their teacher, who was doing her best to rein the class in for discussion on their project requirements.

"As you all know, you'll be sticking with your partner for our field trip. No one is to switch partners without consulting with me first. That being said, enjoy your lunch break!" Ms. Bustier announced.

There was a flurry of movement as everyone began gathering their things to go to lunch, and Adrien was about to rise from his seat when he suddenly found himself caged in by Chloé's arm.

"Adrikins! There has obviously been a mistake. You and I should be partners," the blonde girl asserted, and began trying to tug him out of his seat.

The boy gave a polite smile and gently removed her hand from his arm, "Sorry, Chlo. I'm perfectly happy to be partnered with Marinette."

Chloé looked as if he'd just sprouted an extra head.

"But it's Marinette," she spat, as if the name alone should be reason enough to change his mind.

Nino and Alya shared a look, and the blogger was prepared to swoop in for a save should Chat Noir's righteous fury flare up.

"I like Marinette," he replied, his expression surprisingly kind despite Alya's expectations.

The blonde girl scoffed, "No need to spare her feelings, she's a big girl."

Steel flashed in his eyes, and an uncharacteristic frown settled on his features, "Chloé, that's enough."

She didn't seem to be capable of reading his mood, "Alright then. If you're fine settling for mediocrity, who am I to stop you?"

The tensing of his shoulders was the only forewarning anyone received; before Adrien was shooting Chloé a disarming, yet rather forced, smile.

"I'd hardly call it settling, Chloé. After all, that figure of speech is usually used when you accept less than you deserve, not more," he replied, quiet defiance making its way into his voice.

Chloé's icy blue eyes darted between him and Marinette a few times, before she flipped her hair and sauntered off.

"You'll come to your senses eventually, Adrikins," she called over her shoulder as Sabrina followed her out the door.

Alya glared openly at the spot the girl had been standing in, and Marinette placed a steadying hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"You roasted her, bro!" Nino enthused, grinning from ear to ear.

Adrien looked rather upset, and Marinette shot Nino a mild frown before addressing the blond boy, "I know Chloé is important to you; that couldn't have been easy."

Adrien offered a warm smile in response, "I couldn't let her talk about my partner like that."

Marinette couldn't help the grin that stretched across her face at hearing the Chat Noir in Adrien's voice.

"I love you," she breathed.

All three of her friends inhaled sharply, and Adrien cocked his head to the side, positive that he'd misheard her, "W-What?"

"I-I love that you stood up for me! It was nice very! V-Very nice!" Marinette shrieked; she snatched her book bag off of the floor and nearly shoved Alya from her seat.

"We need to go to get lunch, seeyalatergottagobye!" the pig-tailed girl called as she ushered Alya out of the room.

Once they were safely out of earshot, Alya turned a critical stare on her friend, "Really, girl? Really?"

Marinette chuckled nervously, "That could've gone better."

Alya chortled with laughter, and Marinette joined in after a while.

Their laughter didn't die down until they were seated in Marinette's floor. Alya sighed and took a bite of her cookie, glancing over at Tikki, who looked curiously amused.

Alya turned to her best friend with a serious expression, "We've gotta plan a real confession, ASAP."

With that statement, their uproarious laughter picked up once again, interwoven with the tinkling giggles of a certain Ladybug kwami.