I'll be honest, I'm quite busy with another project and I want to push this fic already or else you'll be facing another long hiatus, so tadaa

Adrien was so glad that Marinette and Kagami were friends now for one moment he had forgotten the time Kagami told him to tell her how he felt.

And then he was remembered of it while he was in the car on their way to 'fencing practice'. He kind of hated that they still had to go during school break but it defeated being in his house.

"How come you haven't told her?"

"I uh…"

"You probably should, or else someone will come snatch her from your hands" Kagami said once they were near the river "don't you think?"

Was… was Kagami declaring war on him over Marinette? He blinked, looked at the window and back to Kagami, who was just smiling at her phone. It couldn't be, right? Not that Kagami was into Marinette, not that, she could be into a girl if she wanted. But Marinette? Kagami knew how Adrien felt, would she try to fight for Marinette against him?

"Relax Adrien," Kagami put her phone away "I won't do you dirty, unless of course you have changed your mind."

"I have not," Adrien gripped his bag "I am working on it,"

"Good," Kagami looked at their destination and stepped out of the car, with Adrien giving the Gorilla a thumbs up for helping them sneak out of their fencing practice.

It hadn't been his idea, it had been Kagami's, because Marinette had suggested them to come over to The Liberty to spend some time with friends and maybe practice some music with Luka since their band Kitty Section was there and Adrien had been wanting to play something for fun instead of the usual pieces his father made him practice every day.

A little part of him wondered if Marinette was pushing Kagami to the side of the rebellion.

"Hey guys," he heard Alya wave at them as soon as they were on the boat "you're just in time, Luka is teaching Marinette how to play the guitar right now."

"That sounds great," Adrien felt something acrid in his stomach. No, Luka was a friend, a good friend of Marinette, only that. It was probably his brain playing a trick on him because of what Kagami had said a while ago. But seeing Marinette smiling at Luka while he was guiding her hands on the guitar strings and teaching her, it just didn't sit that good in him.

"Adrien! Kagami!"

He blinked, Marinette had walked towards them with the guitar still in her hands, her smile radiant as she looked at them.

"You made it!"

"Of course," Kagami smiled "we couldn't miss our fencing practice,"

"Hm, but looks like we got the wrong address," Adrien turned to Kagami, both sharing a small laugh at the mischief "besides, we've been wanting to hear you guys for a while."

Marinette smiled, even more, making Adrien's heart take a small leap. This was fine, just a friendly hang out, no one was going to really take Marinette away from him. Except that he took a glance at Luka and felt his stomach churn again. Was he really going to do that? Steal Marinette away from him?

Except that she wasn't his. He shuddered at that thought, what was going on with him today?

"I will not be your second choice!" came a shout from above, making everyone to look up and run towards the deck.

He was surprised to see Jagged Stone of all people having an argument with Luka's mother.

He shared a glance with Kagami and Alya, but everyone was just as confused as he was, especially when Jagged spotted Marinette.

"Marinette! You're here!"

Oh, that's right, Jagged knew Marinette, how could Adrien forget about that.

"I need a guitarist like yesterday, do you play the guitar?"

"Ah, me? I-no I just" Marinette glanced at Luka "b-but I know an awesome musician that can help you out" she went to give the guitar she had been carrying off to Luka "I mean, this is yours to begin with."

Adrien bit his tongue. He was about to say something when a new voice called out Jagged. Oh great, an akuma, just to top the day.

If he were in a better mood, he'd have a string of music puns to this situation. Unfortunately, there was no time as the akuma was quick to attack, taking some of his friends captured as stickers to her case. He turned to see Marinette giving a small nod and running under deck to transform, but as he was about to run to the other side he was stopped by Luka.

"Not there, you'll be a sitting duck in the cabin!"

Luka pulled Adrien out of the ship as Desperada hit on Jagged and his PA, but he kept pulling just as Ladybug appeared on the scene. Now he had to find a way to hide from Luka so he could transform and get towards Ladybug.

This akuma looked way more vicious in Adrien's opinion, and he did feel like a sitting duck just watching Ladybug fighting off the incredibly sharp weapon the akuma had.

"Where's Chat Noir?"

'Right here' Adrien wanted to say "he might not arrive on time."

"Then we have to help Ladybug," Luka stepped towards the centre of the street to play his guitar, enough to distract the akuma from attacking Ladybug. Which was a great plan, but Luka was still a civilian in this situation and Adrien didn't think much when he saw a blast heading towards him and jumping right into action, tackling the older boy out of the way.

"You ok?" he winced from the impact, looking down at Luka "she almost got you."

"Yeah, thanks man," Luka smiled at him, causing Adrien to stumble on his way up. Ok, that was nothing, Luka was a very nice-looking guy, and to face the akuma without powers had been stupid but brave.

He was saved from his small turmoil when the bridge was pretty much demolished right in front of their eyes. Ladybug ran towards them, and pulled them towards the sewer system, where they could hide away from Desperada.

They ran a good distance until Ladybug stopped, turning to see them both with a frown.

"You shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that!" she looked at Adrien and then back to Luka, her frown softening to a small smile "but, thank you."

"You can count on us whenever you need help," Luka smiled back, fiddling with his guitar as Ladybug's smile softened even more.

Adrien couldn't help but clear his throat.

"I appreciate it, but when you're dealing with a supervillain, it's better to have a partner with superpowers."

Speaking of, getting Chat in here was going to be super difficult, she spared a glance at Adrien and summoned her lucky charm, surprised to see it was a hint to go find Master Fu. Would they need another miraculous holder?

"I'm going to be right back, you guys should find a place to hide in the meantime,"

Adrien guided Luka to one of those office-type rooms of maintenance that the sewers had and made sure he was in one locker before sneaking out of the place.

"Ok, time to catch up," he transformed and sneaked out of the sewers, his ears suddenly hurting from a screeching noise. He peered through a corner and saw Desperada attacking a statue where Luka's guitar hung.

"Very clever," he smiled and was about to make his way but remembered how vicious this akuma was. Perhaps he should encounter Ladybug first.

He transformed back to Adrien as soon as he found the alley behind the tea shop, just as Marinette appeared in front of him.

"Marinette!"

"Adrien!" she ran towards him "wait, where's Luka?"

"Safe inside a locker room" he bit down the stomach pain "but I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to face Desperada alone this time,"

"You're right, we need some backup,"

They looked around to make sure no one would see them sneaking into the shop and towards Master Fu, who knew already the reason behind their appearance.

"Desperada is relentless," Marinette frowned "there's no room for error with her,"

"Carapace?"

"No," Marinette frowned "even with his shield as dome, if one gets hit is over… Rena…"

"No, an illusion wouldn't get us much time" Adrien looked at the other miraculous.

"True, there'll be no second chance…wait!" she reached to pull the snake miraculous, a bracelet in the shape of a turquoise serpent.

"The snake's power is a very strong one Marinette," Master Fu said "whoever uses it must be wise enough not to be tempted to manipulate time for their own personal gain."

"I know, but this is our best shot with this one" Marinette turned to Adrien "and I know who can use it better than anyone."

"You talking about…"

"Luka" she stood up "he's calm, collected, can have a cool head while we deal with the akuma, let's go."

Adrien followed suit, both transforming and sneaking into the sewer system to where he had hidden Luka. His stomach churned because he knew Ladybug was right. Luka was the perfect option for this miraculous and yet he hated that she looked up to him so much. How could she not? Luka was brave, caring, determined, incredibly amazing.

Now he had no idea if he was jealous of Luka or for Luka. He didn't have time for this!

"You ok kitkat?" Ladybug asked as they reached the door "you look in pain."

"W-what?" he stopped in his tracks "I'm fine, don't worry, I, let's go get Luka and deal with this akuma already, right? Right."

He moved past her and towards the door of the office space, glad to see Luka was still inside.

"Ladybug? Chat Noir?"

"We need your help" Ladybug said as she showed him the miraculous, explaining how it worked. Chat held back, trying to calm down his stomach. He knew of the powers of the snake, and was very aware if it were in his hands his emotions would get the best of him. And yet, he couldn't help but to be a little bit annoyed at how easy Luka got with the miraculous.

It was worse when he saw the transformation, Luka now in a sort of tight suit and mask that brought out his eyes and hair. Ok, he was so going to touch that later on.

"So, what should we call you for now?"

"Viperion" he smiled and turned to Ladybug who explained the five-minute ability of the Second Chance and summoned her lucky charm, a horse saddle.

"Perhaps you'd have preferred a horseshoe for your first mission," he couldn't help to say, grinning at Ladybug's eyeroll "what's the status?"

"Desperada is at the top of the Eiffel tower, let's take her vantage point away from her!" she turned to Chat "ready to cataclysm the tower?"

"You bet I do" Chat grinned as they reached a zone that was right underneath, summoning his power to bring down the monument. It was such a good thing they were going to bring it back after defeating Desperada.

"Alright, all her weapons come from her guitar case, we have to prevent her from using them."

Chat nodded and looked at Viperion summon the Second Chance power. They could do this.

"Alright," Chat twirled his baton "let's do this!"

"Wait!" he felt Viperion hold onto his wrist "this time, I know what to do."

"This time?" Ladybug blinked "so we must have failed a while," she turned to Viperion "what's the plan?"

Chat in the meantime felt his stomach flipping again. How many times had they failed? How did he not feel any of them and why was Viperion still holding his wrist?

"Sounds good, let's do it," Ladybug turned to Chat and went to one way, Chat glad that he at least heard some of the plan to follow suit.

It was way easier afterwards to capture Desperada and cleanse the akuma, with the Eiffel tower turning back to normal before them.

"Pound it" she called for the two guys.

"I'll take it back" Chat suddenly said, pointing at the miraculous "you have to go make sure the others are ok right? Adrien and the others,"

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him but nodded, waving at them before leaping away. Chat turned to Viperion and asked him to follow to an alley where he could get the miraculous back.

"Thank you, Luka" he said once the bracelet was back in the box "we couldn't have done it without you,"

"Thank you for trusting me" Luka replied, "and allowing me to help."

"Of course," Chat held tight onto the box "ah, I should probably let you go to see your friends, I bet Marinette must be worried about you."

He wanted to slap his face, why in the world did he say that?

"Perhaps, but I think her worries lay more with Adrien" Luka smiled "you don't want to mess that kind of tune."

Say what now?

Luka waved at him and turned around, leaving Chat looking at the horizon processing what he had just heard until a beep on his miraculous told him to hurry already. Needless to say he had never ran as fast as in that moment to return the miraculous and join the others in the ship, glad to see them all ok.

"There you are!" he heard Alya calling out to him "you got lost?"

"No, I was hiding" Adrien wiped his forehead "is everything ok?"

He didn't get to answer, soon pulled away by Rose who asked for him to play on the keyboard for their jamming session, with Luka right in front of him. He turned to see Marinette standing right next to Alya and smiling at him, which made his already sweaty hands slip on a key.

"Sorry," he smiled "I came running, hang on,"

Marinette chuckled and enjoyed the music until Kagami stood right next to her.

"I could be wrong Marinette but it seems to me that you haven't made a decision over Adrien,"

Marinette's cheeks turned red, turning to look at Kagami with a baffled face.

"I uh, what?"

"Kagami does have a point" Alya smiled on her other side "there's no school now to have that as excuse, you should tell him."

"I agree," Kagami said, "you don't always get a second chance in this situation."

Marinette glanced at both, her heart beating hard in her chest. With everything that had been going on she had hoped not to think about her own emotions, at least not for a few more days. Sadly, fate was not on her side as for the rest of the evening she couldn't help but to feel her chest pounding at Adrien smiling while playing.

She still waited until night to talk again with him, as they were enjoying a late movie in one of their hidden spots. But if she were honest with herself, she was barely paying attention to the movie this time.

And by the looks of Chat so was he.

"Say," she suddenly remembered, "what happened with you today?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were a little… stiff?" she took a bite of popcorn "with Luka today,"

"I…well that's,"

"You don't like him?"

"What? No, it's not that, of course, I like him" Chat babbled "I mean, not like like him, not that it's wrong, I mean, you know that already but-"

Ladybug wanted to laugh but knew it would only make it worse. Still, she was amused by Chat's blurt out.

"Calm down kitkat, it's not as if I'm asking if you have a crush on Luka,"

"I do not" Chat's cheeks were flushed "if anything he has a crush on you."

Ladybug's eyes widened and looked at him, now her cheeks tainted pink.

"W-what? No,"

"Bug, it's not that hard to see, you are amazing, caring, brave, decisive, I don't blame him for crushing on you,"

Ladybug's heart started to beat faster. She could, she could tell him that Luka was nice but it was not the guy her heart was after. The moon was above them, the air fresh, they were in their secret place, just them, no one around to interrupt.

"Perhaps," she looked at her hands "but I don't know if it's the same for the guy I like."

She sneaked a look at Chat, only to see his eyes widening in surprise. Was it because this was the first time, she ever mentioned it?

"You like someone?"

"Yes and no, I don't like…I think I…love? Yes, I love him," Ladybug clenched her hands together "he's this goof if I'm honest, with horrible jokes but I indulge in them sometimes, but just as he's funny he's brave, smart, protective to the core" she smiled to herself "very selfless too, caring of his friends…"

She looked at Chat, hoping he would get the idea, but he looked as lost as before, something like hurt in his eyes. Oh, was he really thinking she was talking about someone else?

"You know him" she added on "you know him very well,"

"I… do?"

"Hm, yes" she took a deep breath "after all, is the person you see in front of a mirror…"

She held her breath as she looked at him. Really looked as he processed the information, his cheeks turning red while his eyes widened.

"Plagg, claws in" he muttered, his transformation fading to leave Adrien in front of her "is… is it me?"

"Spots off," she said, letting Adrien to see her as Marinette "did I not give enough clues?"

"Oh, oh you did" Adrien looked at her hands and held them tight "you made it clear…you… you love me?"

"I…" she looked at his eyes, his green eyes that made her feel ecstatic, nervous, overjoyed "I do, I love you Adrien."

"I love you too Marinette," he said, his voice cracking at the middle from the emotion "I… I was such an idiot, thinking of not telling you before,"

"Before?"

"Oh, I've been in love with you for months" he laughed, but not in a way to mock her, but to laugh at their situation "but with everything going on I… I thought it'd be too much for you and thinking you wouldn't love me back-"

"I thought the same!" she gasped, suddenly finding herself unable to laugh "oh, oh Chat, we've been hiding this from each other-"

"When we could…oh,"

They broke down in a fit of laughter, the movie long forgot in front of them. Marinette even cried a little from the burst of emotions bubbling up in her. Her Chat loved her, Adrien loved her, and she loved him with all her heart.

"Wait… does this mean," Adrien tried to say while catching his breath "Marinette am I allowed to court you?"

"Seriously?" she wiped a tear away from her eyes "isn't that a little too… old-fashioned?"

"Would you like to court me instead?"

Marinette giggled again.

"As much as I would love to ask for your hand in courtship your father is not the best for that,"

"Right" he frowned "but I could totally do it instead,"

"Oh my gosh Adrien no" she shoved him "it'd be embarrassing!"

"No, it will not!" Adrien shoved her back "I'll do the whole thing, flowers, go to your parents' house to get their approval, I'll leave gifts on your desk"

"I am begging you not to do a show" she smiled "well, the parent thing perhaps, just so they are in the loop, but no extravagance, please."

"Right, for now," Adrien couldn't hold back his smile "but we are on vacations, my lady,"

"My lady?" she wanted to laugh "are you serious?"

"Deadly" he grinned "unless you don't like that one- "

"So long you don't go around saying it, we can't let people relate it to me being Ladybug Chaton"

He grinned "I happen to like that one,"

"Of course, you would" she poked at his nose, smiling at how happy his face looked "but very well Adrien, I'll indulge in your courting,"

"Really?"

"Hm," she smiled "but only because we both know the answer will be yes,"

Adrien grinned as the credits started to play on the movie. They would have to return to their rooms now, but Adrien was beyond excited by the time he sneaked into his bed. Marinette felt the same way for him, she did! And ok, they were not dating but close, so close that he couldn't fall asleep now. He had planning to do, a courtship to prepare that would make Marinette the happiest girl in the world.

I should have said, yours truly is horrible at romance sometimes, so sorry if it's not this grand romantic confession.

However, the fic is far from over, I'm still thinking 3 maybe 4 chapters left (because Chameleon and Ladybug AND which season finale I'll pick)

Thanks for reading!