Adrien looked over his shoulder as he took his seat next to Max. Lucy smiled as the made eye contact and gave him a thumbs up. Adrien was next to fight with Max in attempt to win a position in a gaming tournament for the school. Being the gamer he was, the opportunity was one that was simply too good to pass up. The blonde boy couldn't help but feel a slight nervousness course through him. He wasn't sure if Lucy cared at all about video games, or the tournament itself, but he had asked her if she would show up to cheer him on and here she was. Losing wasn't an option now. With determination flowing through him, Adrien picked up the controller and began the match.

Lucy stood next to Alya as she filmed her classmates playing against one another at a video game called 'Ultimate Mecha Strike III'. A pretty basic game that involved being robots trying to kill the other. It kinda reminded Lucy of mortal combat, being that its format was relatively old school looking. Lucy enjoyed video games in general, but definitely preferred ones that were more story driven in comparison to the one being played in front of her with the singular objective being to destroy your opponent. The only reason she had shown up was because Adrien had asked her to. Lucy knew Adrien would have plenty of people cheering for him, but the fact that he asked her to specifically made her feel obligated to go. After all, who was she to leave Adrien hanging? Marinette entered the Library, where the event was taking place, with confusion plastered on her face. Lucy wished she could say she was surprised when hearing about the possibility of teaming up with Adrien sparked an idea in Marinette's head. Sighing, Lucy shook her head as she watched Marinette take a seat. The girl clearly had played the game before and knew exactly what she was doing. Marinette had a way of forgetting everything around her when Adrien was involved. It was like she got Eagle vision and he was all she could see. Kind of like how it was preventing her from seeing how disappointed Max would be to be defeated when he had trained so hard. Marinette did in fact end up winning, beating both Adrien and Max's scores, putting her in first place and kicking Max out of the tournament. Everyone was pretty surprised while Marinette basked in the glory of her win. Max sulked away, claiming he accepted his defeat but needed time alone to lick his wounds, at least that's what it sounded like to Lucy.

"Now you gotta win and you're gonna be representing the school, not just hanging out with Adrien." Alya told Marinette as she watched Adrien leave with a dreamy look on her face.

"Oh, Adriiiieeenn." She muttered, making Alya roll her eyes. "Oh, brother."

"Good luck keeping focus while being with lover boy alone in close proximity Marinette. Try not to get too tongue tied."

Marinette's far out look suddenly snapped back into reality as she was hit with the realization that she would, in fact be alone with Adrien in her room.

"You guys need to be there!" She said in a sudden panic. Alya shook her head no.

"Sorry girl, but I'm booked today. After we get this research done for school I gotta go back home and watch my sisters. Believe me, you do not want me bringing them along."

Marinette frowned and looked to Lucy who tilted her head and gave the pig tailed girl a reassuring smile.

"Marinette, you'll be fine. I cannot just go third wheel your practice with Adrien. That would be so awkward."

"No it wouldn't!" Marinette tried to argue. "You guys are friends too! It will be like three friends just hanging out!"

"Marinette..."

"Please, please, please, please, please!" Marinette begged pulling Lucy into a tight embrace. Rolling her eyes and sighing, Lucy pushed Marinette away. "Fine! Geez kid. You know, eventually your going to have to be alone with the guy right?"

"But not today!" She cheered gleefully.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOoOo

Later, Lucy arrived at Marinettes home, just a few moments before Adrien did. Her parents told her to go on up, shouting up the steps to Marinette that she was coming. Lucy found Marinette setting up her computer space when she casually plopped down on Marinettes bed.

"So when is Adrien supposed to get here?" She asked. Marinette shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I assume it will be soon. He had Chinese lessons today but according to his scheduled that ended a little bit ago. He should be free the rest of the afternoon so he could get here anytime now."

Marinette's explanation was enough to trigger Lucy into looking around the room. The pictures plastered all over the place of Adrien was something she was so used to by now that it wasn't something she took note to anymore. However, knowing Adrien was going to be coming here and hearing Marinette explain the boys schedule to her set off the 'oh no' alarm in her.

"Uh, Marinette. Perhaps before Adrien gets here, you might want to hide how much your super stalk that fox." She said gesturing the numerous photos on her friends wall as well as her computer screen saver. Marinette yelped in panic before rushing to hide her crazy. Her parents called up to inform Marinette had another visitor and Lucy couldn't help but be amused by Marinette as she practically ran across her room trying to take down all the photos as fast as she could.

"Lucy! Stall him!" She cried, and Lucy chuckled before getting up to leave the room.

Down stairs, Adrien smiled at Marinettes parents. Telling them they she and he were finalists for the video game tournament. He then explained, when they claimed Marinette had not told them about the tournament that they were just paired up that morning.

"Oh, your a pair are you?" Marinettes mother said. "Well its not surprise, Marinette talks a lot about you, you know."

Adrien was a little surprised at that news. His and Marinettes friendship was not a very close one. That of course wasn't because he didn't want to be close friends with Marinette, but the girl seemed to have a nervousness around him. Being that before starting school, Adrien did not have any other friends really aside from Chloe, he was not sure why that was. No one else ever really acted that way around him. He supposed it could mean a number of things. Maybe he scared her, though he couldn't imagine why. Or maybe it was because of who he was. If there was anything Adrien knew about Marinette, it was that she had a knack for designing. Maybe knowing his father was a famous designer, and that he himself was a model just made Marinette shy around him. He guessed it was also a small possibility the girl had a tiny crush on him. She wouldn't be the first, not to toot his own horn. Adrien didn't think much about his looks but he knew that he was a considerably attractive young man. Smiling Adrien mentally shook his head. He doubted Marinette had a crush on him, but even if she did, it would pass once she got to know him and see him as the friend he could be. Once the image of a person she saw faded and the real one came to light.

"Hey princess." A voice greeted and Adrien was surprised to see Lucy standing at the half-way point of the stairs.

"Lucy?" He spoke with confusion.

"Come on up, Marinette is just setting up." She said nodding her head upward while making an arm gesture for him to follow her.

"Oh, um, it was very nice meeting you." Adrien said to Marinette's parents before heading up the stairs. Lucy lead him down a hall to another set of steps before she called out to Marinette.

"Knock, knock!" She shouted before opening the floor door that felt to Adrien like an attic that was turned into a bed room. He of course couldn't be certain of that of course, being there was another hatch that lead to Marinettes roof top balcony. Something he was sure most attics did not have.

"Hi Adrien." Marinette greeted from her seat in front of her computer with a small wave.

"Hey Marinette." Adrien greeted back, walking over to take a seat next to his new partner.

"Welp!" Lucy said loudly as she plopped on to Marinettes couch off to the side of the room. "Don't mind me you crazy kids. I'm just here to make sure you don't try to get frisky." She flipped her phone into her hand and began scrolling through her social media, not noticing Adrien looking at her with a somewhat appalled expression.

"Lucy I would never-"

"Don't worry, I wasn't talking about you Adrien."

"LUCY!" Marinette shouted at her blonde friend, her eye twitching. The two partners turned awkwardly back toward the computer screen and went to crab a controller, each time bumping hands with one another as the reached for the same one. If things did not feel awkward before, they certainly did now.

"Your parents seem nice." Adrien commented, trying to clear the air. His mind however couldn't help but think about Lucy's comments. Did she think this was a date? Did Marinette? No, of course not. They were just two friends training for a video game tournament. Plus, Lucy was here, so it definitely couldn't be considered anything more, right?

" Oh yeah, they are. But... sometimes..." Marinette replied but suddenly freaked out upon seeing Tiki point out a picture she had missed of Adrien. She received odd looks from both Adrien and Lucy, who fortunately did not see the little pink Kwami.

"Sometimes what?" Asked Adrien, thinking her reaction was more of a reenactment of her parents. As if they could sense being mentioned, Tom, Marinette's father, popped his head in the room, a plate of croissants in hand.

"Everything going good? I thought just in case you wanted something to eat..." Lucy smiled as she glanced at Adrien who seemed very keen on the idea of having some food but Marinette quickly declined. Her father asked to show them some tips dad style but Marinette shooed him away in embarrassment.

"Sometimes my parents could be a little nosy." She finished before glaring at her parents when they both peeked into her room once more.

After some time passed, Lucy found herself growing bored. Getting up and walking over to the two players, Lucy leaned on the back of Adrien's chair and looked at the screen. Marinette was definitely skilled at this game, gaining most of the points herself. Adrien glanced over and felt his cheeks flush slightly at Lucy's sudden closeness.

"Huh, she's really kicking your butt, ain't she?" Lucy said with a smirk as she continued to watch the screen. Adrien brought his focus back to the game quickly began working as hard as he could to boost his score, not wanting to look like a loser to the girls. His efforts did not matter though, as once again Marinette took the bulk of the points.

"Wow! We won again, thanks to you." Adrien complimented.

"Yeah, we did."

"We? That was practically all you. You're amazing, Marinette. I guess you wouldn't even need me. I'm so lame compared to you..." He sighed, bummed at his loss. His head touched Lucy's stomach as he leaned back and pouted. Lucy rolled her eyes and patted Adrien's cheek while looking down at him.

"Pity parties aren't cute Adrien."

Marinette, realizing that destroying Adrien at the game might not have been the best idea attempted to reassure the boy.

"Um, no no no, I... No, you're so good. I mean, I'm the one who's not good. I mean... I'm lucky, that's all."

Once again Marinette's dad popped in, this time with cookies, asking is anyone was interested. Before Adrien or Lucy could say otherwise Marinette shooed him away again.

"Actually, you know what?" Marinette continued. "I have a secret. This is why I always win." She explained, pulling out a small, pink and green charm-like-key chain. Lucy raised an eyebrow while Adrien squinted at her.

"Are you messing with me?" He asked skeptically.

"Try playing with it." Marinette said with a smile, handing it to the blonde boy.

"How about a delicious salmon and spinach pie? You can tell me what you think of it?" Marinette's mom asked ash she and her husband popped into the room together. Marinette looked like she was going to protest once again but Adrien beat her to it.

"A little snack couldn't hurt, right guys?"

oOoOoOoOOoOoOoOoOooOo

Once down stairs Lucy paused as the trio exited the building. Noticing it immediately, Adrien furrowed his brows at her.

"Everything alright Lucy?"

Lucy looked between her two friends and gave a light smile. She grabbed the front strap of her messenger bag and tapped her finger a few times before nodding.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm gonna head out though."

"No!" Both Marinette and Adrien shouted at her in unison, causing Lucy to jump a little. The two laughed awkwardly at one another and looked away.

"Yeaaaaaah." Lucy said with both her eyebrows raised. "Um, no, it's fine. You guys are doing a thing, I'll find a way to entertain myself, no worries."

"But Lucy-" Marinette tried to stop her, her own nerves getting the best of her, afraid of making a fool of herself in front of Adrien.

"Mari." Lucy stopped her. "Its gonna be fine." The reassuring smile that Lucy was giving her did not ease her uncertainty.

"At least have a snack with us." Adrien insisted, reaching out in her direction, his pie in his other hand. Lucy tilted her head a sighed before agreeing. Marinette watched as Lucy walked back toward them and Adrien placed a gentle arm around her shoulder, guiding her to the park. Her bluebell eyes kept glancing at Lucy as she walked on the other side of her. She was not sure if Lucy did not notice Adrien's hand, or if she simply did not care. Regardless, Marinette noticed, and she cared. Adrien did not remove his hand until they got to a park bench. Marinette quickly took a seat in the center of the bench. A bit of relief came over Marinette as she took note that neither party seemed to mind the seating arrangement. Perhaps she had been looking to hard at the interaction. Adrien was a friendly guy after all.

"Uh, I'm really sorry. It's impossible to get anything down with my parents around." Marinette apologized, thinking Adrien might be upset for the interruption. Clearly she had been mistaken though as Adrien smiled with a mouth full of pie, complimenting her fathers cooking skills. "I didn't know your dad made such yummy pie!"

"Oh, yeah..Uh...I.."

"He's right." Lucy added. "I'll be honest, I really didn't think I was going to like salmon spinach pie, but I'll be a monkey's uncle: this is delicious."

A laugh escaped Marinette at Lucy's analogy before turning back to Adrien. "Should we head back?"

Holding up the charm she had given him earlier, Adrien nodded. "Let's see if it works."

Suddenly, chaos arrived and the three teens watched as a giant robot came stomping through, zapping people and turning them into bubbles it then absorbed.

"Tell me this is some kind of publicity stunt for the tournament." Marinette said as she looked back in shock. Adrien glared toward the robot. "Doesn't look like a publicity stunt to me."

"You know when people joke about hitting someone in traffic and shouting 10 points!?" Lucy said. "This guy seems to be taking it a little more seriously."

The robot then brought its attention to them and Adrien quickly tried to grab both girls to move them out of the way.

"Watch out!" He and another voice shouted out as they hurdled to the ground. Opening his eyes, Adrien's eyes widened as he saw only Marinette underneath him. Standing and helping Marinette to the ground, Adrien frantically looked around only to find Lucy safely in the arms of another hero.

"Tigress!" The three shouted in unison.

"Hello beautiful people whom I have definitely never met before this moment. Hate to break up the threesome but you guys gotta bounce!"

"Laying it on a little thick there don't ya think?" Lucy said squinting at the masked hero.

"Threesome?" Adrien asked aloud before another beam shot down at them. Tigress hopped away with Lucy in her arms leaving him to quickly grab Marinette's hand and run with her across the park in attempt to escape. Another beam separated them however, leaving Adrien to duck behind a tree as Marinette ran out of the park with the robot on her tail.

"Its time to transform." Adrien spoke as his Kwami flew out of his pocket. "Plagg! Claws out!"

OoOoOoOOoOoOoOoOoOo

As Tigress put Lucy down, the blonde looked to see they were standing in front of her apartment building. She raised an eyebrow at the heroin. "Should you really have bothered coming all this way? What about the robot?"

Tigress waved it off. "I'm sure Chat Noir and Ladybug were right behind me, and you only live a few blocks away. Don't worry, I'm sure Adrien and Marinette are fine. Anyway, stay safe, I have to go help take out a giant robot now."

Lucy saluted Tigress as she ran off, hoping she was right about Adrien and Marinette being okay.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Ladybug tossed Tigress the spray paint. "Quick! Cover his eye!" Tigress nodded before shouting 'Eye of the Tiger!', activating her special speed and running over to spray paint all over the eye of the robot so he could no longer see. When the gamer stuck out his head, Tigress quickly snatched up the glasses and tossed them to Ladybug who then broke them and captured he akuma.

"Pound it!" The three shouted while bumping fists.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Alya asked Marinette once more as the girl looked down sadly at her controller. "You bent over backwards to get on the team and now you wanna pull out?" Lucy stood next to Alya and Talia and nodded but glanced in Max's direction. The boy had decided to show face at the tournament, but he was also very obviously pouting off to the side to make sure his feeling were known to Marinette.

"It's just that I feel so bad for Max. And well, it just wouldn't be right."

Talia rolled her eyes. "I mean, yeah, your probably doing the right thing, but at the same time you did win fair and square. Its not your fault your better at it. Don't hate the playa, hate the game."

Lucy nudged Talia in the side earning a wide eyed 'what?' face from her.

Marinette ignored her and walked up to Max, telling him she wanted to give her spot in the tournament to him. Max took the controller from Marinette and smiled. "I don't know how to thank you." Genuinely happy and somewhat shocked she would give up her spot for him.

"By winning the tournament...with her." Adrien said coming up the the pair. "Go on, Marinette. You're a hundred times better than me. You belong on the team. Win the tournament for the school. I know you can do it."

Alya face palmed in annoyance as Lucy tired to hold back a laugh while Talia held back nothing and belted out a hackle.

As Marinette and Max walked into the stadium, Adrien made his way over to Lucy and the others. Crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, Lucy gave Adrien a once over. "That was rather kind of you."

"Well," Adrien replied, stretching his arms out and placing one around Lucy's shoulder. "That's me, Mr. Nice Guy."

Glancing at the hand that now rested on her shoulder and then back to Adrien Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Smooth."

"Like butter." He replied coolly. Lucy snorted shrugged his arm off.

"I can't deal with you."

"I'm sorry should I have added: and you make me melt?"

Lucy groaned. "Ugh, your as bad as Chat."

Adrien chuckled at her. "Oh? Is Chat Noir whispering sweet cheesy pick up lines in your ear? Should I be jealous?"

"Oh most definitely." Lucy answered Jokingly. "A burning fire of rage should now be ignited in your heart."

"Well it is."

"Good."

"Now what?" Lucy wheezed a little ash she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I guess go fight to the death?"

"That would be a literal suicide mission." Adrien laughed.

"Your right, he'd destroy you with his bubbly paw of death."

"Wait..!" Adrien struggled through his laughs. "His what?!"

Well, this took a lot longer to publish than planned. I've been really busy the past few weekends though. And then, because I had half the chapter done already, by the time I got back to it, I forgot where I was going with it lol. I hope you guys continue to enjoy this story and I will try to update again really soon! Remember to comment below as I love hearing your guys thoughts! As always I'll see you in the next chapter.