Felix had messed up. He had failed to account for the possibility of Bridgette's head being turned by a Parisian musician. He had heard all about Luka when Marinette had spoken fondly of the dreadfully dressed boy when Bridgette had asked so many questions.

"How do you know him?"

"What does he do?"

"I bet he has loads of admirers…"

Were only a few of Bridgette's words he was stewing over.

That last comment had been accompanied by a dreamy smile from Marinette's cousin, and Felix could not hide his scowl. He had replayed Bridgette's change in facial expression at every new detail Marinette had given her, and he found himself very disgruntled.

Sat in Adrien's room, as his did not have as much to occupy himself with, he found himself poking around in Adrien's draws. He had already discovered, once again, the abundance of cheese stashed, and had squished some into Adrien's bed just for good measure. The smelly act had become almost customary with each visit to his room, and Adrien was always able to find it, 'not like he does not reek of the stuff already.'

He smirked as he rifled through Adrien's draws, conscious of the fact that the blonde could return from his piano lesson at any moment, when his fingers found a pile of pictures.

'This is new~' he pulled out the face down pile of photographs expecting to see many Ladybug ones as he had found on his cousin's phone. 'I knew it!' He thought as he gazed over the multiple pictures of candid memories with friends, one person in particular making an appearance more than anyone else.

He ran his finger over one of the pictures, it contained the four friends, Alya, Nino, Adrien and Marinette. Felix thought that the latter two looked very suited together. A small smile graced his face, as he let out a wistful sigh and covered up Alya and Nino. Conflicting emotions ran through the blonde as he tried to imagine himself and Bridgette in Adrien and Marinette's place. It was easy to imagine himself in Adrien's place, leaning his head towards the beautiful and broadly smiling bluenette, but could not put Bridgette in Marinette's place.

'Shit.'

Yes, the blonde had well and truly messed up.

'I stopped Adrien earlier, he was going to ask her out, I'm sure of it…' "that's what this was all for." He muttered to himself, "why did I stop him?"

Footsteps echoed out in the hallway and Felix panicked.

Hurriedly shoving all but one picture back in the draw, the blonde heard Adrien enter his room next door and call out to him. Spotting his opportunity, he shoved the picture still in his hand into the breast pocket of his jacket and called to his cousin while making it toward the bathroom.

"In here," he quickly squirted some hair product of Adrien's into his palm and made it look like he had been styling his locks as his doppelgänger poked his head through the open door.

"Hey Felix," Adrien smiled, "what are you-"

"I forgot my hair gel," he pointedly looked at Adrien mid sculpt of his hair, "I did not think you would mind me using yours."

"Of course not," the model replied, opening the door and walking further into the large bathroom, "you fancy some video games tonight?"

"I'm going out cousin," Felix finished his preening, "and I covered for you, so you can cover for me."

Taken aback, Adrien looked slightly down cast but shrugged with acceptance. "Ok, where-"

"Not for you to know sorry," Felix walked past Adrien without a second glance, hollering casually over his shoulder: "Don't wait up."

Felix had one destination in mind, but who he was hoping to see was unclear. He hoped that he would receive his answer as soon as he saw one of them. Knowing that either disappointment or excitement would give him an indication on his confused feelings when he laid eyes on either of them. All he knew at that moment was that his own happiness would trump his cousin's, and surprisingly, that thought troubled him slightly. Not enough however to push whatever feelings aside that we're beginning to bubble for the bluenette he had spent most of his day fawning over.

"Mr Dupain," Felix addressed the large baker with a formal handshake which was returned with surprised hesitation. "I wish to formally apologise for my actions last night." He continued quickly, not wanting Tom to interrupt him, "as you and Mrs Cheng were busy this afternoon, I felt it would be more appropriate to wait until your premises were almost closed to come and say that I am sorry for the trouble I caused in your home."

Tom was taken aback, such a formal approach to the matter was not expected of someone so young, and he had to admire his resolve. "Very well young man," Tom's stern expression softened into a smile. "I think you can be forgiven."

"Really?" He questioned with pleasant surprise.

Tom laughed, Felix jumped almost at the foreign sound. Of course his mother laughed regularly, but hearing an older male laugh so freely was something he had not been on the receiving end of since before his father had passed. He felt elated almost, but tried to not allow his feelings to show in his formal exterior, Tom noticed.

"Son," Felix relaxed his posture with Tom's affectionate way of addressing him. "Everyone makes mistakes," a large hand patted Felix on the shoulder, "as long as you can make it right, then that's what we value here." Tom's warm smile shone down on Felix.

The blonde cleared his throat, "Marinette is lucky to have you as a father sir." The vulnerability in the young man's eyes melted Tom's big heart.

"The girls are upstairs Felix," Tom motioned to the door behind the counter, "first door at the top of the stairs, give it a knock and someone will answer."

"Thank you Mr Dupain."

"Felix?"

The feeling of disappointment washed through the blonde as the anticipation at who would answer dissipated.

"Hi Bridgette," he attempted to smile but the natural motion did not come easily to someone who did not do it regularly. He settled for his usual indifferent demeanour she was much more accustomed to. "Can we talk?"

Knowing in that instant, he was well and truly smitten with his former love's cousin, allowed him to be happy that she was showing an interest in another. The only issues the blonde could foresee was his cousin's heart, and showing Marinette that he was the right person for her. 'All is fair in love and war.'

Chat Noir stared at Ladybug.

'Why did I think she was Marinette?' He shook his head slightly to push his internal question to the back of his mind to be explored later. "I uh, heard that Adrien's cousin Felix was back and uh, after last time…"

Ladybug's brow furrowed as she tilted her head in thought, "good thinking Kitty, has he managed any mischief yet?"

'Yes,' "no, nothin-"

As Chat had been replying to Ladybug's question, he had peered around to see his cousin embracing the young lady on the terrace. Effectively cutting himself off with the pain that seared through his chest upon spotting the affectionate way she held him and he her. The blonde on the balcony placing a loving kiss on Marinette's forehead.

Chat felt sick.

"What is it?" Ladybug joined him, looking in the direction he had now turned away from. 'Looks like his plan worked out!' "Good for them-Chat?" Ladybug found herself alone in the alleyway, Chat had disappeared without so much of a goodbye. 'What's his problem?' She shrugged and looked back to see her balcony vacant of the two teenagers and drifted into the darkness of the alley to transform and head home.

"Bridgette," Felix watched over her fidgeting fingers and his eyes narrowed. "What's on your mind?"

The young lady leaned on the railings of her cousin's balcony, staring off into the distance. "You were my first love Felix."

"As you were mine." He joined her, finding the Eiffel Tower in the distance a good focal point for his gaze. "I'm guessing by the way you are acting that it is not the case anymore."

A small tear rolled down her cheek, "you hurt me Felix," she turned to watch his reaction to her words. "I don't think I'll ever forgive you fully, but that doesn't mean I won't always love you in a way."

Felix dropped his gaze to his arms leaning on the metal railing, a somber expression matched his tone. "I am sorry for how I acted back then, you did not deserve the way I treated you when you said such wonderful and kind words to me."

Bridgette let out an ironic chuckle and wiped her face with the back of her hand, "don't apologise Felix, I don't want to hear that you're sorry, I want to hear that you're happy."

"I think I will be," he turned his gaze to look up at her kind smile, "you really like that Luka huh?"

The dark haired beauty grimaced apologetically at him, "I do. I spent some time with him this afternoon after Marinette asked him to take me sightseeing."

Felix nodded and stood up straight, his lips pulled to hint at a smile. "I'm happy for you."

Bridgette chuckled, "I can tell by how ecstatic you are!" She teased, standing to fully face him and he took her hands in his.

"Promise me one thing," he quirked an eyebrow, "if he hurts you even the tiniest bit, I get to kick his ass."

She snorted and rolled her eyes playfully, "if he hurts me I'll kick his ass," her slender finger bopped him on the nose, "just like I should have done to you."

"Can we Bridge the gap?" He opened his arms for a hug.

"My my what has gotten into you?" She teased while muffling her giggle behind her hand.

The blonde glanced away from her and set his brooding expression on the park, "shut up and hug me."

Pleasantly surprised by how well this talk had gone between them, Bridgette obliged. Wrapping her arms around his back and angling her face up to his, she smiled, "you like Marinette don't you."

He quirked an eyebrow down at her almost playfully, "you know I do not speak about personal relations with anyone who it does not concern." His pursed lips placed an affectionate kiss on her furrowed forehead. "And my feelings toward Marinette are not your concern."

Still in his arms she snorted into his chest, "if you hurt her," the teasing tone was apparent as she looked back up to him, "it won't just be me that will be kicking your ass." She gave him an appraising look, "but you already know that, don't you."

"It is clear," he replied almost mechanically, "that there are many who feel bad about how that childish and idiotic girl was so able to cause her pain." He noticed Bridgette's resigned purse of her lips and felt the bob of her head in agreement. "I very much doubt they would let anyone get away with hurting her again."

"That's good to know."

Felix dropped his arms awkwardly causing Bridgette to relinquish her own embrace of him, "coffee?"

"Sure," she replied, as she led them both back down to the bakery before Felix headed back to the mansion.

When Felix entered his bedroom without so much of a knock, Adrien found it very difficult to act as if he had not just seen him getting cosy with Marinette. Once Felix had seemingly received the hint that he wanted to be alone, Adrien locked the door behind him and transformed into his superhero self. Plagg had not helped matters at all while he waited for his cousin to return. The sooner he could put an end to Plagg's teasing of the blonde's feelings for Marinette the better.

Bounding over to the bakery, he saw Marinette's light on and he noticed the weight which now resided in his chest. Pursing his lips, he was going to find out if cuddling really was what good friends did.

It has taken ages to get this how I wanted. Then it hit me and poof, update! What do you think of the latest chapter? How many wires will need to be untangled before this mess gets rectified?

Thank you for your patience! And thank you for the reviews, follows and faves.

Take it easy =)

Lady Rhi X