Adrien's heart skipped a beat when the elevator doors slid open and he saw Marinette standing in the lobby, staring at her shoes. She looked up at the sound of the elevator, their eyes met, and she blushed.

"Marinette!" he called, "Good morning!" He fought back the urge to tell her all about his dream. That would have been super creepy.

"H-hi, Adrien, I… I wanted to talk to you."

"Look," he started, "about yesterday, I'm really sorry I came on so strong. I didn't mean to hurt you. I promise I'll keep my distance, if that's what you want."

She blushed even brighter red, "So, um, that's kind of what I wanted to talk about. I-I didn't mean to be so mean. You… you just wanted to be my friend and I shouldn't've… that is…"

He extended a hand, "Friends?"

She blinked a few times, then smiled and shook his hand formally, "Friends."

They started walking toward the school together. "So, did you sleep well last night?" he asked. She blushed further, turning properly puce, and nodded. So. She had dreamed about him as well. Had she seen the same future? Had she seen what he'd seen? Was it, like Adrien had determined, a vision of this reality's future? "Me too," he added, hoping she would extrapolate his meaning.

"A-Adrien," her voice squeaked, "a-about N-nino's party t-tomorrow, did you ever girl a find to go? I mean, did you find a girl to go with?"

Adrien grinned, "No, there's only one person I was hoping to take."

Adrien was shocked to find out that Marinette's face could turn any brighter red, but apparently it could. "Well, I never gave you your answer—" Adrien stopped walking so he could turn and face Marinette properly. She was looking at her shoes again. She turned and tilted her chin towards him, though her eyes were still looking down. Her lashes fluttered, then lifted. Her bluebell eyes gazed straight through him. For a moment, he was certain he was looking at the old woman in his dreams, the love of his life. His head swam with the elation of looking at her. "Yes," she whispered, "I'd like to go as your date."

His lips were trembling and his ears started ringing. "G-great," his voice cracked. "That'd be so cool."

She giggled. "So cool?"

He swallowed hard. "S-sorry, I'm just not used to being told yes by such an amazing person. And I'm also trying really hard not to scare you off again. If I told you what I was really feeling, you'd probably slap me." She bit her lip and looked down again, relieving the pressure her presence was creating in his chest. He didn't like it. "Marinette," he whispered, and she looked back up at him, "I don't want you to be afraid of me." He offered his open hand. She looked at it, then back to his eyes, which she studied carefully before slipping her fingers in between his. Her touch had lost that electric zing from earlier that week, Adrien noted. It must have been the familiarity between them—yes, the closer they got, the more comfortable they both were. It wasn't a bad thing.

"So, uh, I haven't eaten breakfast yet," Marinette said, her voice getting stronger the longer she used it while holding Adrien's hand, "and I've kind of gotten used to seeing you first thing in the morning. Papa too. He was so sad yesterday when I… when I told him you…"

"I'd love to come by for breakfast."

They approached the friendly bakery and Marinette stopped in her tracks. "You know what," she said, looking a the welcoming building, "I just remembered I've gotta do something before school. Can I meet you at the park in a few minutes?"

"Uh, sure," Adrien replied.

"Thanks," she bounced to her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek, which was enough of a thrill that he didn't mind when she skipped off in a different direction. Adrien decided to grab breakfast for both of them while she was away. The Boulangerie-Patisserie was as warm and welcoming as ever, with a fresh array of pastries and bread to choose from.

Tom smiled at Adrien congenially upon his entrance, "Well, hello again young Monsieur. How are you this morning?"

"Excellent," Adrien beamed. "Breakfast for two?"

Tom nodded and started loading up the proper containers. "So, Adrien, how'd that Humanities project go?"

"It was excellent, thank you Monsieur Dupain. You really saved the day! Marinette's project was better, of course, but it's not a contest. I think I'll still be able to go to University in the fall."

"That's great," Tom smiled. "Where are you planning on going?"

"Well," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully, "For a while I've been planning on attending Sorbonne for Physics. I had a full-ride scholarship, in fact, but…"

"But what?"

He shrugged, "But my Father wanted—wants me to take over the family business. The scholarship was because he wouldn't pay. But you know, things change. I recently started thinking about art school. We have an in at ESMOD."

Tom grinned, "Ah, EMOD is fantastic. We've taken my Mare-Bear there so many times; she loves to watch the student runway shows…"

Adrien cleared his throat, "But I think I'll go to HEC Paris. It's a top-rated business school, it's local, and… it feels right, you know?"

Tom looked up, "Well, whatever works best for you!" Tom put the finishing touches on their two plates of breakfast. Tom started packaging up some strawberry macarons and asked, "How's your other friend?"

Adrien suddenly got a lump in his throat, "Uh, sorry Monsieur Dupain, I won't need more macarons today."

He cocked his head to the side, "Is everything ok?"

Adrien bit his lip, "I hope so." He hadn't seen Tikki for nearly two days. He was terrified for her, but there was simply nothing he could do. He hoped Tikki was with Marinette, but that situation was too delicate to push just yet. Tom handed Adrien the plates of food and Adrien paid for the meal.

Tom ran the till, then gave Adrien a wink, "For what it's worth, I'm hoping for Sarbonne." He pressed the box of pink macarons into Adrien's hand. "I hope your friend is ok. This is just in case."

Adrien looked from the brightly colored box back to Tom's tender smile and nodded gratefully. "Thank you so much, Monsieur Dupain. I… I really appreciate it."

Adrien had an extra bounce in his step as he raced to what was rapidly becoming his favorite park bench, sat down, and started unpacking his food. Yesterday's horrific thunderstorm was long gone; the day was bright and fresh. Marinette ran up from the other side of the park, waving. She slipped onto the bench beside him. "Sorry about that!"

"Everything ok?" he asked simply.

She nodded, "It is a beautiful day, isn't it." They made idle chatter about the weather, about schoolwork. Adrien was grateful that she was talking to him again, he didn't much care what they spoke about. Eventually, it was time to go to school, and they walked hand-in-hand to the front door. As soon as they smiled at each other and Marinette went upstairs for her first class, Adrien was thronged by people asking if he and Marinette were dating. He assured them they weren't but grinned dopily as he sat in his Physics classroom. Marinette was holding his hand. The other students were warming up to him and he was making friends again. He pulled out his notebook and turned to his pages of notes, then turned over a new leaf. At the top, he wrote "Is this reality all bad?" Underneath, he started a new list of everything this reality had going for it:

-Marinette likes me more now

-Build new friendships

-Chloe is super awesome

-Mother?

Adrien snuck a peek at Marinette's Humanities notebook. Considering it was another day of project presentations, there weren't many notes to take, so Adrien's interest was piqued when Marinette had opened her notebook at all. She was doodling. The shapes were pretty simple—flowers, her name artfully decorated, and a butterfly with stunning lacy wings—nothing out of the ordinary, but beautiful in their simplicity. He opened his own notebook, wrote, "I thought you said you couldn't draw" on it, and slid it to where she could see.

She smiled, then wrote back, "I thought I couldn't draw either." Adrien spend the remainder of the class period covertly watching Marinette make shapes with her pencil. It was mesmerizing. He tried to mimic her movements and start his own sketch, but just like earlier that morning, it wasn't working. His hand felt too big and bulky, his pencil lead kept breaking, and soon his paper was more eraser marks than art. Frustrated, he closed his book and turned back to the Aztec pyramid built out of sugar cubes on display.

When the school period ended, Adrien and Marinette walked to the exit hand-in-hand. She was warm and smelled so good; Adrien's heart was racing. They talked a bit about the projects they'd seen that day and waved goodbye to some of their other friends. Adrien planned on walking her across the street, but when they got to the outside exit, he gripped her hand tightly as he saw the sedan parked in front of the school. Nathalie rolled down the window and called to them.

"Uh, sorry, I guess I've got to handle this," Adrien started, but Marinette marched straight up to Nathalie.

"Mademoiselle Marinette," Nathalie spoke formally, "we've completed everything, as per our agreement."

Marinette nodded, then turned to Adrien, "I… I guess I should have said something earlier, but I've been working with your father's company—"

Adrien's stomach clenched, but he wanted to give Marinette the benefit of the doubt, so he shrugged his shoulders, "That's fine."

"I have a… a thing at the mansion… I mean, at your house… do you want to come?" she asked, scuffing her toe on the ground.

Adrien looked back and forth between shy Marinette and austere Nathalie. "What does Father say?" he asked the latter.

Nathalie's face was impassive, "He regrets any altercations and would enjoy visiting with you."

Adrien felt protective of Marinette, even though he knew she could handle herself. He was curious as to what his father might be working on with her, and just a smidgen of hope that maybe his father really was sorry. Maybe… just maybe… he could handle a second chance? For his mother's sake? "Ok," he answered, and both he and Marinette climbed into the leather interior of the sedan.

The ride was quick, and Nathalie accompanied Adrien and Marinette into the foyer of the mansion. Gabriel came breezing out of his atelier in a very peculiar manner. Adrien had never seen his father so… bouncy. His smile was out of place, his open arms were awkward, his voice was sickeningly jovial as he trilled, "Ah, Mademoiselle Marinette, my dear son Adrien, I'm so glad you both came. I feel such remorse over the last time we spoke. Are you hungry at all? Shall I send for the chef?" Marinette smiled as Gabriel kissed her cheeks. Adrien stiffened when his father turned to him. "Of course you don't trust me. I've done so little to earn your trust." Marinette shot Adrien a confused look, and he relaxed a bit to set her at ease. He shook his father's hand and he ushered them in to the dining room, where there was a buffet of food waiting for them. Marinette politely took some strawberries and grapes, Adrien took nothing. The table was loaded with sketches of designs. It was very staged, but welcoming. "So, Marinette, have you had a chance to look over the designs I gave you last night?"

"Y-Yeah, they're really great," she nodded, and pulled a portfolio from her book bag and revealed an innocuous set of sketches. "So these two are my favorite, though this one's growing on me. I was wondering if we added a longer hem, then a little split up the back, that might be a good touch?"

Adrien backed off and let the two of them go over sketches and designs. He marveled at the way his father was listening to her. He was so intent, so eager-to-please… maybe he really had changed. Maybe he was so full of remorse that he was taking Marinette under his wing. The vision from the night before returned, and he clearly saw Marinette in a wedding dress—his parents smiling from the front row.

He blinked back the prickles in his eyes and excused himself to let the two of them work. His footsteps echoed off the walls of the foyer and up the stairs. It was strange, how unfamiliar the mansion felt after just a few days. Today it was sunny and warm, and for the first time, it felt like it might be a pleasant place to live. He found his bedroom, remembering the wrecked state it was in the last time he'd seen it. He held his breath and pushed the door open.

Everything was perfect. His bed and couch were fine, his bookshelf was returned to normal, his furniture was freshly polished, and it smelled faintly of vanilla and rose. Aghast, he paced the length of the room, checking over his sound system, his video game collection, even the closet and bathroom. He flopped on the white couch and looked out the wall of windows. The trees were swaying gently in the breeze. Had it really been so bad?

A few minutes later, there was a soft knock and the door creaked, "Adrien?" Marinette's voice softly asked, "Is everything ok?"

He stood and smiled as she walked in. "It's better than ok."

She bit her lip, "I told them they needed to fix it. It was the contingency for me working with them."

"Thanks," Adrien smiled.

"They… they said they were just looking for something. Are you angry?"

He shook his head and looked around his pristine bedroom, "No."

She smiled and approached him, "I'm so glad."

"Do you think it might have just been a misunderstanding?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know what's happened between you and your Father in the past, but I think… Adrien… I think he wants to make it right."

They were close now, close enough that Adrien reached out his hand and she took it. "I think maybe so as well. And I might be ready to try to make it right with him too."

She smiled broadly, her blue eyes dancing. "That makes me so happy. I don't want there to be any hurt feelings between you two. Because, you see, your father… he… he just offered me the paid internship and to cover my design school tuition! I-I'm going to be a designer for Agreste Designs!"

Adrien's eyes popped as she bounced on her toes. "Wow, that's… that's amazing! He doesn't think you're too young? No—sorry, scratch that," he added, shaking his head, "I'm happy for you. You're not too young; you're incredible. I've always known that."

She stepped a little closer, "It's so strange. I've always wanted to draw, to design, to create, but I didn't think I had the talent for it. But your father insists he can see things even I can't, and today, maybe it was him believing in me, maybe it was something else, but it just started coming together. And then this opportunity—it's almost too good to be true."

Adrien couldn't help but laugh with her, she was so enthusiastic. "You're going to be amazing, Marinette. I'm thrilled for you, truly." Her eyes penetrated his soul, and he felt drawn to her. "May I—" he whispered.

She answered without words—her fingers grasped the collar of his shirt and pulled his head down to her level. Their lips collided, her arms interlocking behind his neck. He hugged the small of her back and kissed her more fiercely. She returned his passion. He caressed the back of her head, she ran her fingers over his biceps, until they parted and held each other in a warm embrace.

"Marinette," he breathed, "is… is this ok?"

She pulled back just far enough to look him in the eye, nodding, "I… I… I really like you, Adrien."

He hugged her waist, "Good, because I really like you too. I'm sorry I've been so weird."

She smiled softly, "You're forgiven."

"Do you think we could maybe just forget the last week ever happened? Start fresh?"

She bit her lower lip, "I think I'd really like that."

He cupped her jaw and kissed her again. "There's only one problem, then."

She lifted an eyebrow, "What's that?"

"I want to be a lot more than friends."

She giggled and whispered, "Me too," between his teeth as their lips met once more.