When Mark's customary morning coffee appeared on her desk, Marinette couldn't help but be infinitely grateful toward her friend. The last few days had taken their toll on her, sleeping with an eye open in case Adrien would go through another horrifying night terror. She was running on fumes, barely even able to listen to her teachers. She flashed a radiant smile to Mark, taking a sip of the comfortingly hot beverage with a contented sigh.

"Thanks, Mark, you're a lifesaver."

"Don't mention it," he smiled back, slipping into his seat beside her. "So, are we still on for that costume project? I thought we could do something pretty neat if we look into less known Disney heroes, like Megara or the girl from Brave."

Marinette giggled as her phone chimed in her pocket.

[Nino] Reporting for duty, captain, about to enter the dragon's den.

[Marinette] Just keep an eye on him for me, will you? The fever keeps acting up.

"Is something on your mind, Marinette?" Mark's kind voice asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

She smiled sheepishly, holding her phone up. "Just Nino. I think he worries about me."

Mark's expression softened. "Well, you're his fiancée's best friend. Of course, he worries about you. You must be like a little sister to him."

[Nino] Dude's being delirious again. Says he's not THAT sick, but he's sweat a tiny lake on your couch.

Marinette sighed, closing her eyes for a brief second. The lack of sleep was taking its toll on her, and she could feel her patience slipping through her fingers. "I'm sorry, Mark. I'm running on very little sleep, and I'm still worried about my friend."

[Marinette] Please try to get him to take some acetaminophen at the very least. This fever has to go down.

"You're too kind for your own good," Mark stated, pulling out his notebook from his backpack. "I sure hope your roommate realize how lucky he is to have you."

[Nino] I think all those soap operas he watched are getting to his head. I'm going to take him outside for a bit.

[Adrien] Nino is treating me to lunch, don't worry, your prisoner hasn't escaped his golden prison, my lady.

Marinette smiled, looking at Mark. "I think he does. He doesn't have any family left, so I think I'm the closest thing to it he has right now."

[Mari] Stop being petty, silly kitty. Have fun with Nino 3

"I think Adrien's gonna survive, his best friend just took him out for the afternoon," Marinette announced, tucking her phone back into her pocket. "So, for the costume design project, Disney seems too predictable to me, I think too many people are going to go down that path. We could take inspiration from our origins instead, designing some Chinese or British traditional outfit."

Mark stared at her for a minute, seemingly computing what she just had told him. In the end, he just smiled, "Let's talk about it after the class, alright? We should head back to your place if it'll be empty because my brothers are too rowdy for us to do actual work."

Marinette nodded, shifting her attention back to the teacher after shooting a quick warning message to Adrien.

[Mari] Mark insisted we do the costume project together, coming home with him. Have a nice day kitty xx

When the class finally came to an end, Marinette quickly gathered her things into her bag, her mind going at full speed. If she and Mark could get enough work done on the costume project before Adrien came back home, maybe she'd have time to fix them a nice dinner. The blond had found his appetite back the previous evening, and she knew he was craving her mother's famous quiche. With a little luck, she'd even have enough time to cook a fresh batch of chocolate chips cookies for Tikki and him, provided Plagg let her cook instead of whining for yet another wheel of Camembert. She thought of the radiant smile that always lit up Adrien's face upon biting in one of her homemade cookies, and something pleasant fluttered within her stomach. Yes, she decided, she wanted to do something nice for him. She wanted to see that smile.

Unfortunately, she had a prior engagement, and since she'd been blowing Mark off all week so she could watch over Adrien like a mother hen, the due date for the project was quickly approaching. She had no choice, not if she wanted to pass that class.

Unaware of his classmate's thoughts, Mark stood up, adjusting the strap of his messenger bag on his shoulder. "So, are we taking the bus to your place or are we riding the subway?"

"Option C," Marinette giggled. "Our apartment is close enough to the university for me to walk. It's conveniently super close to his school too, so it's a win-win for both of us."

"His school?" Mark asked, raising an eyebrow disbelievingly. "Are you living with a middle-schooler?"

She couldn't help the way her eyes rolled, a slight irritation flaring up in her chest. Why was he so interested in Adrien all of a sudden? "He's a high school physics teacher. He teaches at that school a few block away, the big one with the red roof. His students absolutely adore him, because he turns everything into a game."

Mark must have sensed the shift in her mood because he dropped the subject and instead began talking excitedly about their assignment, and how cool it would be to make a typical British dress with Asian accents. Marinette feared it would be too cliché, and preferred to stay away from the overused cheongsam. They debated it back and forth a little as they walked to her apartment, ultimately settling on designing a traditional hanfu tang suit and incorporating British elements like flannel or tweed. She was partial to English lace, but Mark was reluctant to use it, stating lace was hard to sew, and they were short on time.

Marinette pushed the door of their apartment, ignoring ostensibly the way Mark was gawking at the cozy flat she shared with Adrien. In the two years she had lived there, Marinette had left a little bit of herself in every room, hanging pictures of them and their friends, adding throws and cushions, forgetting balls of yarn near the couch, trying to grow plants despite Plagg's despicable habit to munch on them when she wasn't looking. She was still pissed at him for the tragic demise of her last coriander and basil plants. The apartment had a much homier vibe than when Adrien had first brought her here after the fire, but it still had a certain luxury flair to it from the high-quality furniture Adrien had picked and the spacey rooms.

Before Mark could make any comments, she hung up her keys and took off her shoes, smiling at him warmly. "Get comfortable in the living room, I'm going to close Adrien's bedroom door. His cat is a scaredy little thing, strangers tend to spook him."

As soon as she closed Adrien's door behind her, releasing Tikki from her purse, Plagg flew in front of her, glaring at her. "A scaredy cat, huh?"

"Would you have preferred a basil murderer, Plagg? There's cheese in Adrien's mini-fridge and cookies in my purse, you and Tikki enjoy yourselves and play nice, alright?"

Tikki giggled at Plagg's frustrated groans, assuring Marinette that she would keep an eye on the grumpy kwami. Marinette exited the room, carefully closing the door back behind her.

"Who were you talking to?" Mark asked as soon as she came back to the living room.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she opened the fridge to grab two sodas. "Adrien's cat. Asked him to behave, but I don't know what good it'll do. This thing murdered more balls of yarn and plants than I could count."

Offering Mark one of the sodas, she plopped herself down on the floor beside him, pulling out her sketchbook. She opened it on her lap, quickly sketching out the raw lines of what she had in mind. He made a few suggestions along the way and several sodas and half a dozen sketches later, they finally had something they both agreed on.

"That's gorgeous, Marinette," Mark said when she was finally done sketching their agreed upon design, and Marinette could feel her heart swell with pride in her chest. She had come a long way ever since the day Adrien had taken her in, and when she thought of how far she had made it with his precious support, she was elated.

"Thanks," she answered gingerly. "I still think we could manage the lace if I sew it here instead of with the lame sewing machines they provide at school. And Adrien bought me a really nice bolt of cashmere for my last birthday, in a lovely light blue shade. I wouldn't mind using it for that project. I'd have to get my sewing shears sharpened beforehand though, otherwise, I'd just ruin the fabric."

Mark stared at her for a second, wordlessly, before pulling his own shears from his bag. "I got mine sharpened just earlier this week. Would they work?"

She examined the thread of the blades for a second, before nodding. "Yeah, that would be perfect. Now, I think I can manage the colored final tonight and send it to you for approval, and come up with a pattern before the end of the week. Would that be okay? Would you mind coming over this weekend to help me with cutting and pinning the fabrics? You're taking care of the essay component, right? We can go over the draft on the weekend at the same time."

"You're amazing," Mark suddenly blurted out, taking Marinette aback. She stared at him for a second, trying to regain her bearings.

Surely he hadn't meant anything by it. Right?

Averting her gaze from his, she stubbornly fixed her eyes on her sketch. "Thanks, Mark. You're a really great friend, too."

"No," he answered almost instantly, and the next thing she knew he was crouching in front of her, holding her hands in his. His fingers were cold and clammy, and a deep sense of wrongness pooled in her stomach. "That's not what I meant. You're truly amazing Marinette. You're beautiful and kind, and funny, and I'm in love with you. What am I even saying? Love isn't strong enough a word to even begin describing how strongly I feel about you."

"Mark…" Marinette tried to cut him off, but he wasn't listening to her. He was close, too close for comfort, and he wasn't letting go of her hands.

"I love you ever since I've laid eyes on you for the first time, Marinette. I can't live this lie anymore, I can't spend another day without you by my side. I want to spend my life with you, I want to make all your dreams come true. You're all I can think about, I can't see my life without you in it anymore."

Marinette tried to back off, her escape countered by her back colliding with the couch. Mark finally let go of her hands, though, and he stared at her intently, obviously waiting for an answer. She steadied herself on the floor, the room spinning around her, and felt a familiar softness beneath her fingers. Sure enough, her hand wrapped around her Chat Noir's doll and she held it up to her heart, suddenly feeling safe again. "I'm sorry, Mark," she said, words tumbling out of her lips without even thinking about them, "but I don't reciprocate your feelings. My heart is already taken."

And as she spoke those words, she knew that they were the truth. She loved Adrien more than anything, and he had been more than patient with her over the course of the last two years. After all this time of comfortably hanging out in the safe zone they had built for themselves, he was still waiting for her to make a move, for a sign that she was finally ready to fully give him her heart.

And sitting on their living room floor, tightly hugging her Chat Noir doll and about to break the heart of her friend, Marinette knew that all she wanted was to give her heart to Adrien.

"It's him, isn't it?"

Mark's voice was cold, hard. Marinette recoiled, lifting a worried gaze toward him. "That is between us."

He stood up, gathering his things into his bag with harsh movements. "You led me on," he practically spat at her, anger dripping from every word.

Marinette clutched her Chat Noir doll to her chest, looking at Mark disbelievingly. How could things have gone south that fast? "I beg your pardon? How in the world did I lead you on? We never talked about anything even remotely involving a romantic relationship between us."

He snorted humorlessly. "I bought you a coffee every single day for months. Did you really think I didn't want anything back? That I did it only to be nice?"

"I just thought…"

"Well, you thought wrong," Mark interrupted her. "Was it fun, playing with me like this?"

She jumped on her feet, refusing to let go of her doll. She felt as if it was giving her strength, helping him cope with the intense whiplash she had just experimented. "I only ever offered you friendship," she stammered, still trying to make sense of everything that had just happened, of everything he was accusing her of. "It's not my fault you saw something that wasn't there!"

Whatever reply he was about to give her died on his lips as the unmistakable sound of the front door opening broke the silence, followed by a cheerful, "Princess, we're home!"

Adrien, oblivious to the thick tension in the air, dropped his bag at the door and strode into the living room, hair mussed up and cheeks red from the wind outside, Nino on his heels. He was clutching his jacket around his chest, a sign that the fever was flaring up again, but he had shaved and had that Chat Noir mischievous spark back in his eyes. He grinned from ear to ear, holding up his fuming cup. "Nino got me tacos!" He announced proudly, "and the pumpkin spices latte are finally back! I got you one, Mari."

Nino grinned at her, happily sipping on his own coffee. "I made sure we didn't overdo it, Mari. He held my hand crossing the road and everything. He was a good boy, he even got a lollipop!"

Adrien shoved him playfully, laughing at the mustache of whipped cream adorning his friend's upper lip. "I drew the line at him pre-chewing my food," he chuckled, "I felt that was a tad overboard."

Marinette giggled despite how upset she felt, her friends' childish antics always cracking her up. "Thanks, kitty," she replied quickly, before gesturing to Mark. If Adrien noticed how stiff she was, he didn't let it show the slightest. "Adrien, Nino, this is Mark, my friend from the fashion program. Mark, this is Adrien, my roommate, and this is Nino, his best friend, and Alya's fiancé."

"Nice to finally meet you," Adrien said with a kind smile, holding out his hand. "Marinette talked a lot about you."

"Oh, now I get it," Mark murmured under his breath while ignoring the hand and openly gawking at him. "Well, Marinette sure forgot to mention she was living with Adrien Agreste ," he added. "I'm a huge fan of your father's work. But now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bus to catch."

Without another word or even as much as a glance toward Marinette, Mark left the apartment, leaving her a confused mess from the intensity of the emotions she had just gone through, and leaving Adrien and Nino beyond confused.

"Did I say something wrong?" the blond wondered out loud, breaking the awkward silence at last.

Marinette sighed, tiptoeing to press a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for the coffee, kitty. And don't worry about Mark, he'll be fine."

Setting down the cup on the kitchen counter to get started on that craved quiche and those much-needed cookies, Marinette could only hope she was right.