Part 3, and Adrien (Aaron) starts to get his new life underway with a little help.=^-^=

Ch. 3 - New Chat on the Block

His son had been gone for three weeks. For three whole weeks, and yet Gabriel still held business as usual. The only major change to his plans was that Adrien couldn't model for any of his newest designs or for the fragrance he would be releasing in fall. Whether Gabriel was aware of it or not, however, Nathalie noticed one more major change since Adrien left. Hawkmoth had made no appearances at all. It was a relief if she was being honest since that would have just been one more thing to work around. As a matter of fact, even though she willingly supported his aspirations to revive his wife, she didn't really approve of how he went about it. This may have been a good thing. If Adrien had found himself in a safe environment then this would be good for both of the Agreste men. "Nathalie, where are those progress schedules? I don't pay you to stare out into space!"

She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly forwarded the documents to him. "Someone must've brought up Adrien…" She muttered at his very irritated tone. He was angrier than he normally would be whenever Adrien was mentioned. After initially spending a few days trying to track him down without raising a fuss, he decided to completely dismiss the boy from his mind. His success has shown to be marginal, which could be good or bad; good because it means he still cares, bad because he's funneling that anger at everyone who crosses his path.

Mr. Sinclair, Adrien's bodyguard, was probably the only one who could actually take the scorn without flinching. He was a stoic man by nature after all and his anger would only really surface when it came to Adrien. He was now sitting by the door at the ready to intercept anyone who tripped their security alarms or if Gabriel just needed to kick out an employee who'd disappointed him.

"You're really getting the hang of this, son." Tom praised as he stepped into the bakery with a cup of coffee. While Tom woke up at 4 to get things going, his other bakers were expected to be in by 5. Adrien reported for duty at 5 on the dot for his first day of learning how to prep and bake.

After another two weeks of healing, the bandage on his head was gone, and despite the scar, his hair did a good job of covering it up aside from the small bit that touched at the end of his eyebrow. His bruises were all but gone with only slight soreness in his ribs when he leaned on them too much. "I just want to do the best job possible, boss."

"Tom." The baker corrected with a playful eye roll. At this point he'd been called half a dozen different things aside from Tom, and it was becoming an odd joke between the two of them. Sabine nearly groaned when she heard Adrien starting to play off her husband's jokes. She loved her husband and his corny jokes, but one was enough.

"Alright, boys, breakfast will be ready in about 15 minutes." Sabine announced as she walked from the front. She had wiped down the counters so that Collette would be able to start moving the bread to the shelves as soon as she arrived. "And, Aaron, leave the heavy lifting to Tom for now, alright?"

"But I'm fine, Mrs. Cheng, honestly I could-"

"For my sake then?" She insisted as she gave a slightly stern yet caring look.

"Okay." He agreed after crumbling under her gaze and he gave her a smile. "I'll get Sir Breadman to carry everything heavy."

Tom sprayed a bit of coffee at that new nickname and quickly covered his mishap. "Okay, let's get started, son."

Chat Noir took a relaxing sprint across the roofs of Paris to celebrate a rather eventful day. He'd gotten enough money from his two paychecks to get a phone. Even if it wasn't as high end top of the line as the one he had before, it didn't matter. It only cost him 112 euros, and he even had 5gigs of data to work with. All in all, it was plenty for what he would need. Most places he went had wifi, and other places didn't matter since if he went out as Chat Noir, he had unlimited range and data.

The hero stopped on the roof of DuPont, his old college, and tried to work out how he would approach his next hurtle. He needed an ID. Unfortunately, Aaron Bassett didn't actually exist so he couldn't just go get an ID and if he wanted to exist he'd need an ID. Quite the quandary indeed. Coming clean as Adrien Agreste would be the only legal way he could get an ID, but that was out of the question. His only other option was the illegal ways… which he wasn't exactly familiar with. "Damn, why do movies make this look so easy? There's always some computer geek on hand to whip up fake IDs and junk in movies!" That's when he recalled actually knowing someone who could fit that bill. He whipped out his baton and looked up Max with the unlimited range and resources of his kwami magic. He and Ladybug could look up any address, phone number, and most any marginally public record they could possibly need. He clawed the number into the faded concrete under his feet before transforming back in the shade of roof edge. "Here, Plagg. We hopefully have one more stop before heading back."

"You better hope those humans don't start asking where you like to disappear too." He responded as he took a wedge of cheese and scarfed it down while Adrien dialed the number.

The first time around the line disconnected, but Adrien's second attempt got him a response. "Dialing me twice? Must not be a robot then."

"Is this Max Kante?" The ravenette inquired as he kept to the shadows of the roof.

"Speaking, and who may I ask is calling?"

Adrien took a breath before taking his chance. "I'm an old friend, but before I say who I am, would you be willing to not mention hearing from me to anyone? It's absolutely necessary that no one know I spoke with you."

"You do sound familiar, if you really know me then here's a quiz. What's the name of my best friend?"

"Markov." Adrien answered without even thinking. Even with all the time that went by, he doubted Max would've forgotten about his robotic pal; he may have even made more.

"Correct, but I guess most people who know my name would know about Markov."

"You made him in college, and he even got akumatized." Adrien countered when he heard the skepticism in his voice.

"Who are you?" Max asked with more seriousness and interest.

"I'm an old friend, but first promise you won't say anything about speaking with me."

He heard a sigh on the other end. "Alright fine, I'll let you keep the secret agent thing. I promise not to tell, so who are you?"

"It's Adrien." The ex-model heard a clatter and a few muffled words before hearing Max again.

"Wait, wait, you said Adrien? As in Adrien Agreste?"

"Yeah. Look, I know this is going to sound out of the blue, but I need a big favor if you can do it."

"A favor? You've been ghosting everyone for years, and even Nino hasn't heard from you in months." Max countered in slight annoyance. He may not keep close tabs with everyone, but he at least got together with some of them on occasion.

"I wasn't doing it on purpose I just… My father wouldn't let me. I haven't been able to text or call anyone but him, Nathalie or my bodyguard in months." He heard a scoff.

"And what changed? And why call me instead of Nino? He's pretty hurt you know?"

Adrien sat back looking guilty as hell. "I… I'm sorry, but I can't apologize to him yet. I'm only able to call you now because I bought my own phone. I sort of… ran away from home."

There was a long pause before Max said anything. "There isn't anything on your fan site about it. How do I know you're even Adrien? If you really ran away, there would be missing pictures of you everywhere."

The runaway chuckled dryly at that. "I'm not surprised you can't find anything on it. As if my father would do anything to cause trouble for his company. Why would the son and heir to famed Gabriel Agreste runaway, right?"

"My point exactly." Max countered.

"Because I don't want to be an Agreste. Being an Agreste means I can't decide anything for myself, not even my own friends. I decided to leave that behind, but if my father finds me he'll drag me back no questions. I need your help-"

"Adrien." Max interrupted. "I'll help you on one condition so long as I'm actually able to do what you want."

"O-okay, but remember, I need to keep a low profile."

"I understand, but you need to let Nino, at the very least, know you're still alive and not ignoring him."

"Glasses drives a hard bargain." Plagg mused as he eavesdropped.

"Who was that?"

"No one. I'm calling from around Dupont."

"If you're trying to lay low, how exactly are you out in the open?"

"It would be easier to show you. Can we meet?"

"I didn't hear you agreeing-"

"I promise, Max. I never wanted to hurt Nino. It's not going to be right away, but I promise to contact him soon." He heard a sigh on the other end of the line.

"Okay, meet me at my place. I'll text the address to this number. 30 minutes."

"Okay, and thank you, Max."

"Sure, I just hope all of this is true." Adrien didn't have a chance to say anything else to defend his words before the line cut out.

Max didn't want to believe anything he just heard. No one had heard from Adrien in months, and he hadn't really been seen much even by his fan site. Alya had been the one most openly angry about it, but that was only because she was still dating Nino, and he didn't want to talk trash about his best friend. He looked around from the alley by his house for the blonde model sporting some dumb disguise. A hat, a wig, maybe a pair of radiator shades and a trench coat; not like that would draw attention in the middle of summer. "Max?"

He jumped at the voice. "Adrien?"

"Shh!" Adrien immediately implored once Max turned to him. "Call me Aaron for now."

The tall geek looked at the taller teen before him in shock. "Aaron? Wait… Adrien, is that really you?" He asked in a whisper this time. The dark haired teen nodded with a smirk. Max just couldn't get over it. Adrien looked like a completely different person with black hair. It was a difference that really should only work in the movies, but Max was chalking it up to the contrast and the fact he hadn't really seen him in over a year. "Nice hair? What happened there?" He gestured towards his left eye brow.

"Oh, this? I kind of had an accident. It'll probably leave a scar, isn't that great?"

The geek couldn't really see what was so great. "Um… If you say so?" He then took another look around and pulled him through his side door. "So what was this favor you wanted?"

"Right… Um… Look, I'm not really sure if you can do this, but you're the only one I can think of that's really good with computers so… Do you think you could make me a fake ID?"

Max let out a sigh and shook his head. "Why is that a surprising request to me?"

"So you can't?" Adrien asked looking crestfallen.

"That depends, you're not planning to leave the country with it are you?"

Adrien's eyes widened before they came back in a glare. "How exactly could I apologize to anyone if I left the country and never came back?"

That had the darker teen rolling his eyes in amusement. "I never said you wouldn't come back, and that's not why I asked."

"Oh…"

"Seriously though, what do you plan to use it for? I can't give you something that'll trick the border security. They're really tight on regulation."

"Well, I won't need it for that. I didn't even plan to leave Paris." His kwami would throw a fit besides. "I need it to get a job without using my real name. That way I can make my own money and my father can't find me."

"A job? What kind of job?" Max wondered as he guided his old friend up to his room.

"I'm working for this really nice couple who run a bakery."

That had Max pausing curiously. "A bakery?"

"Yeah, and everything there smells so good! They give me free pastries at the end of the day, and they're even letting me use their guest room. Rent comes out of my pay, but I still make a little. Man, I've had more desserts in the last couple of weeks than I've had in my whole life!"

The genuine elation it the model's voice and tone had Max struggling not to smile. The Adrien he knew was always reserved, and had so much self control. He looked especially so whenever Marinette brought around sweets since, most of the time, he couldn't have any. "Sounds like you found the perfect job for you, huh?"

"For now. It's a good job, and I'm not horrible with it, but I'm worried it may not be my future. My boss isn't too keen to let me near the ovens after my last… incident." He'd prepped the dough correctly and everything, but somehow even though he'd double checked it, the bread still turned out burned and tasting weird.

"I bet if you got back in touch with Marinette, she could give you some pointers. She grew up in a bakery after all." Max pointed out as he started at his computer.

"Marinette?" The name sounded so familiar, and really nice for some reason Adrien couldn't place. "That's funny, Mr. Dupain's daughter is named Marinette too. You think it's a common name for baker's to name their daughter's?"

After pausing mid keystroke, Max forced his eyes back to his, should be blonde but isn't, friend. "Don't tell me you're working at Tom and Sabine's?"

Adrien nodded. "Actually, yeah. Why? Is something wrong with the place? They're really nice people, and they're helping me out while barely knowing me."

"They don't know you're Adrien do they?" The model shook his head which made Max sigh. It was starting to look like he wasn't the only one completely thrown by the hair. "Okay, well, I'll need to get a picture, and you're going to need to tell me whatever cover data you have on this 'Aaron' person you're pretending to be."

Tom raised a brow, as his newest employee handed him his hot off the press ID card. "Wow, you were only gone for two hours. How'd you get it done so fast?" He was thoroughly impressed and slightly suspicious.

"A friend of mine from College was able to get me bumped up to the front of the line when I told him it was so I could get a job."

"You have some nice friends." Sabine stated as she came up from the bakery after cleaning things up. "I'm happy to find out you have others you can rely on."

Adrien wore a halfhearted expression to that. "Yeah… though he wasn't too happy about how long it had been since we talked."

"I hope you saved his number in that nice new phone of yours." Sabine smiled as she pat his shoulder. "Anyway, Tom, have you introduced him yet?"

The large man jumped at actually forgetting something like that. "Oh right, my daughter came home right before you got back. She's been out having some summer excursion around the countryside of Paris for the last few weeks. It was actually only a few days before you got here that she left." He pat both of the boy's shoulders firmly. "She's great, beautiful, smart and single."

"Tom." Sabine play scolded at Tom's not so subtle hint.

Adrien blushed. "Oh well I…"

"Thanks, maman, for dusting my room while I was gone!" A dark haired young woman dashed from the stairs to Sabine who was heading for the kitchen. "I can't tell you how much I was dreading having to clean!"

"Well, I knew you'd be tired, and would never get around to it." She play scolded before gesturing to the new employee. "By the way, this is Aaron. He'll be renting the guest room and working in the bakery for the time being."

Marinette turned to the boy and felt a light burn to her checks at just how attractive he was. She chuckled at his gaping mouth. "You okay? Chat got your tongue?" She mused to the boy who just couldn't stop staring. A joke was the only thing she could work out either.

"I… I uh… Hi?" He finally squeaked from his throat feeling every bit like his face may be on fire. The girl had dark hair that was damp from a recent shower. Her PJs consisted of a short sleeve pink top, and loose fitting black long pants. The design on the top was a black cat with pink spots which almost made him want to gush on that if it weren't for the fact his brain was still processing how crazy gorgeous she was. He didn't know how he was going to be able to live under the same roof if he couldn't manage to speak more so he put in another effort. "Um… Aaron, my name. Aaron Bassett… Crap that sounded weird."

"It's okay, I get nervous around new people too." She consoled while completely missing the obvious signs to why he was nervous.

It was just a meeting with his lady, nothing to worry about. He hadn't seen her in weeks, and even if he was still a little caught off guard by how pretty Marinette was, his heart still belonged to Ladybug. "Chat Noir? Is that you?"

He turned from his pacing spot on the Eiffel Tower to see who he was waiting for. "Hey, milady." He responded a little sheepishly.

"Oh my god! Your hair! It's… black…" She looked bewildered at the change and a tad confused if he was reading her right.

"Uh, yeah… I really needed a change, and well… I am Chat Noir so…" Rubbing the back of his neck as he searched for a good explanation, Ladybug approached.

She reached out for a lock of it and rubbed it between her fingers. "You don't have to take it that far though… Why the change?" The instant pained look on his face was enough to tell her. "Home life? It's alright, you don't have to say more." She knew enough from his vague descriptions that his home life was less than desirable. She knew his father was very controlling, and freedom was hard to come by. His most free times were when he was able to run around as Chat Noir.

"Milady…" He leaned his head on her shoulder in relief and she threaded her fingers through his newly darkened locks.

"It's okay, Chaton. You know I'm here for you; no questions asked." And considering their secret identities, questions would be difficult anyway. "So how about we change the subject? Hawkmoth's been quiet huh? I was worried about the last few weeks since it would've been hard to sneak away and transform."

"Yeah, he has been busy." Chat embraced the subject change as he lifted his head and leaned back on the beam behind him. "Whatever his day job is must be distracting him."

Ladybug shrugged. "Good for us, really. Not that being a hero isn't fun, but I just can't be running off all the time."

"You're going to be starting university soon, right?" Chat asked remembering her complain about exams and scores before.

"Yeah… What's the matter?"

He wore a half hearted smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Nothing I just… I never decided on what I would go to university for." His eyes then brightened. "Oh, but I got a job. The guy I work for is really nice, and so is his wife."

Ladybug grinned in response as she looked over his genuine happiness. "That's good, Chat. Is it a fun job?"

"It's a sweet one, milady. You'd be jealous."

"Would I?" She mused back while looking over the lights of Paris. She hadn't seen this view in weeks and yet it still looked exactly the same. There wasn't a thing out of place, and yet she could sense the drastic change in her partner. It wasn't just his hair, his aura surprised her. It wasn't some magical thing, more like the feelings he gave off. His emotions were all knotted up inside, but at the same time he wasn't as tense. Maybe his emotions were always like that and she just couldn't tell before? It always seemed before that he let them out so freely… almost forced. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for… Whatever happened. You don't have to say what, but I can tell something big happened since the last time we spoke."

"It's okay, Ladybug. You didn't know, and honestly, it was a bit impulsive on my part." He let out a satisfied sigh. "But I don't regret it so far. I'm never going back…" He muttered at the end though Ladybug heard him.

She turned to him in surprise and he looked out at the city lights. Did that mean… Did he leave his home? "You're not… going anywhere, are you Chat?"

"Huh?" The cat hero raised a brow. "Of course not, milady. I could never leave you behind." He took her hand and lifted it to his lips like always. "My heart is still in the palm of your hand."

She hesitated before pulling her hand back. He sounded like the same old Chat Noir just now. "Good… I was just…"

"You're not leaving are you?" He asked back looking more worried.

"No, Chat. At least not at this point. My university is in the city. Besides, as long as Hawkmoth is still around neither of us can really afford to leave."

Good point. Adrien hadn't even considered that as a reason not to leave the city. Needing to still see Ladybug was more prominent in his mind. "It's nice that some things will stay the same." Chat mused though Ladybug wasn't sure of exactly what he meant.

Sabine shook her head at her daughter as she nearly stumbled into the bakery around 8. "Wake up before you trip on something, Marinette."

"Hmmm?" She grumbled back while reaching for an apron.

"Collette will be going on her morning break in 15 minutes, you need to be more awake to run the register."

"Mmkay…" She muttered back. Marinette tied her hair back loosely and headed for the sink to wash her hands. Though she didn't look like she'd just crawled out of bed, she sure still felt like it.

"Aaron, bring me another bag of flour… No, bread flour." She turned to see Aaron, the new employee, looking at the flour stack in minor confusion. He was still getting the hang of things.

She wandered over to the stacks and grabbed one of the quite large bags for him. "These ones. If you're unsure, dust off the label a bit and you'll see."

"Thanks, Marinette." He blushed.

"I'll take this to my dad." Adrien knew how much those bags weighed at this point, and was amazed by how she could lift it so easily.

"Thanks, sweetie. Care to help me start these proofed batches before you take over for Collette?" He gestured to the dozen bowls on the side counter. "I'd be great if Aaron had someone to observe. I think I do it too fast for him."

"You do tend to go into baker mode, papa." She waved Aaron over. "Come on, Aaron. I'll show you how it's done nice and easy." She pulled up the top part of her apron and tied it securely behind her neck. "The trick is getting a good rhythm with your hands." She pulled out the dough from one bowl and set it on the counter area she just coated in flour. "The flour will keep it from sticking to you and the counter while you knead it." She pressed down the dough and folded it, repeating this several times. "Go ahead and give it a shot." Adrien took some flour from the same sack as Marinette, and sprinkled it over the counter causing a slight cloud of it to form. "Gently, but that wasn't too bad. Then rub it a little between your hands before pulling out the dough." She kneaded hers slowly as she watched him start.

"So… Like this?" He pressed it down like a pancake.

"No… Too hard. You don't want it flat… Don't stretch it like-" She let out a sigh and shook her head. "Let's try this way." She swatted one of his hands and slid in front of him. "Put your hands on the dough." She ordered, and when he did it, she placed her hands on top of his. "Like this." She pressed gently before grabbing the edge and folding it back. "Feel how much pressure I'm putting into it?... Aaron?"

"Huh, yeah…. I think so." She turned to him with a curious brow.

"Marinette! Come up to the front please!" She heard her mother call and excused herself.

"Just give it a try like I showed you. When you can pinch it into a triangle and it stays, then you're done. If you're not sure, just check with Papa." She gestured and went to wash her hands. Adrien was only nodding because he knew that's what he should be doing. He wasn't sure what for, or how long.

"Snap out of it, son. I can't have you checking out before breakfast rush." Tom corrected with a light shove to the shoulder.

"Oh, right sorry, Tom."

"Calling me Tom? You really were out of it. I know my daughter is beautiful, but I can't have her wasting her efforts if you're just going to space out when she shows you something." He then pointed to the other dough balls. "Now get going, son."

Adrien nodded with a blush at his words. "Of course, sir." He kneaded the dough just like Marinette showed while imagining her hands over his as he did so. Even with a coating of flour they were really warm hands though a little rough. He could tell she must work with her hands a lot.

By the time he'd gotten to the fifth bowel Tom was inspecting his first one and looking very pleased. "I think you've finally got a handle on the baguette dough, Aaron. This is pretty perfect, even if it did take you a bit longer than I'd like. Finish up the others, and then I'll have the croissants ready to be brought up front."

"Yes, Gener-roll." He quipped with his affirmative. Adrien couldn't wrap his mind around how Tom was able to make so many earlier this morning. They had two dozen on the shelves before the store opened and already there were more at the ready. Now he was prepping even more? He hadn't actually run the register for long periods, but did people actually order this many baguettes? By the time he finished he felt a slight soreness in his arms from the repeated action.

"Good, now get the croissants out and butter them." Tom ordered as he pulled out a batch of pain au chocolate, a breakfast staple. The breakfast rush ended a little over two hours later which allowed Adrien to take his first break.

"My arms feel like they may fall off…" He groaned with a playful smirk to his boss.

"Don't worry, but if they do, just make sure they don't fall into any batters." Tom joked back while still working like he hadn't broken a sweat. "As soon as Edmond gets here, your shift will be over."

"And he gets here at around noon?"

"More or less. He tries to get here by quarter after, but he's never been the best at time management. He's a good employee though." Adrien knew he was a nice guy, but hadn't had much conversation with him. They were usually busy whenever the two boys were in the bakery together, that or someone else was on his mind.

"Papa, do you have those Pain au raisin ready? We're nearly out up front." Marinette called as she wiped her hands and came to the back.

"Those will be ready in about 20 minutes. Starting on those macarons for Marcel's order?"

"Yeah, it'll be my last job for today!" She cheered with a fist in the air.

Tom pointed to Adrien who was sitting on a stool rubbing his arms. "Well, you were able to teach him how to properly knead dough, so maybe you can teach him how to make macarons too?"

Marinette chuckled at the state the boy was in. "Maybe one thing at a time, papa?"

"He can handle it." Tom defended while carrying three pans at once like it was nothing. Marinette could only shake her head at his nonchalance.

Marinette and Adrien were both free by 12:30, and went upstairs for lunch. It was some reheated leftovers and choice rolls from the bakery. "If that's how it is every day, I might end up as big as your dad before too long." Adrien joked as he rubbed his sore arm once again.

"I doubt it. Papa's always been big, you're just tall." She pointed out while scooping some sauce with her roll.

"What? You don't think I could have that kind of muscle?" He asked back while flexing with a slight wince.

"Well, I guess it's possible, but you'd look better with just a little."

"Would I?" He had such a cheeky grin she didn't even realize he was using a flirty tone.

"I take it back."

"Me-owch." He groaned back with drama clear in his tone. He was hoping to make her laugh before noting just how tense she was all of a sudden. "Marinette? Sorry, are you not a cat person?"

"I uh… No, I just… I know someone who likes that joke too." She finished while shaking the strange coincidence from her mind.

"Anyway… You're really good at baking. I mean it makes sense with you living in a bakery, but you do everything so easily."

"Well, yeah, like you said with living in a bakery. My favorite job is decorating cakes. Maman asks me to design them when a customer has a special request like a wedding."

Adrien raised a brow. "Design the cake? Like… layers or something? And what it's made of?"

The girl teetered her hand a bit. "A little, but more like decorations. Flowers and ribbon made of icing, toppings, and sometimes even using food coloring to paint on a design."

"Paint a design? On a cake? Really? Like what?"

Marinette shrugged. "Whatever the customer wants I suppose. I've done a few logos before when it was a business event. Sometimes it's a message, but the truly good cakes rarely have that. I like to draw them up so Maman can give the customer options. It's good practice even if my designs are usually clothes."

That had Adrien surprised. "Clothes? Are you a designer?"

She nodded. "Yeah, or at least that's what I'm going for. My university degree will be in design, and I even have a small online boutique. It's not widely popular yet, but I have gotten a few good commissions this summer." He wasn't too sure how to feel about this new side to her. His father had him drowning in fashion since he could walk, and the idea of being next to someone with the same interests was unpleasant. On the other hand, she wasn't his father; far from it. She was nice, and smiled. She looked genuinely happy as she talked about her career choice, and it made it hard to hold it against her.

"So, rough day huh?" Alya asked through the phone.

"It wasn't too bad." Marinette countered as she adjusted her needles to start a new row on her scarf.

"What? You were whining to me on the way home yesterday that you had to wake up early."

"Yeah, but… It just wasn't a bad day."

There was a short beat of silence before Alya spoke up again. "Something happened didn't it?"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" The designer asked sounding a bit cautious.

"Oh, nothing… just that something happened that was enough for you to be happy despite getting up early. Did a hot guy come into the bakery?"

Marinette quickly blushed. "Alya! No, seriously? Is that the only thing me having a good day could mean?"

"Well, what else happened then? I know something happened, girl!"

"Nothing happened!" Marinette countered yet again and was grateful Alya couldn't see her blush. "So, how's Nino? You had a date today didn't you?"

"Yeah he's… Still in a bit of a funk."

That had the designer furrowing her brow before it hit her. "Oh… Still nothing from Adrien, huh?"

"No…" She let out a sigh. "It's like none of us exist for him."

"You know how his father can be though… Maybe he can't help it?"

"Marinette, no matter who his father is, six months of nothing? How can you defend that?"

"I just…"

"That crush of yours is super human."

Marinette glanced over to her wall of Adrien with a sigh of her own. "It's getting crushed…"

"I'm sorry, girl, I didn't mean it like that. It's Nino, and-"

"It's okay, Alya." Marinette placed down her knitting and walked over to the wall. "I had plenty of chances in college, so it's my own fault this is happening." She brushed her fingers over the newest picture dated close to a year ago. "I'll be alright… hmm?"

"What?"

"He kind of looks like Aaron…"

"What was that? Who looks like what? Aaron?"

"Oh, uh…" She silently cursed her lack of forethought.

"He's a boy isn't he?" Alya's teasing tone returned with avengeance. "I knew it! Is he a regular?"

"No, Alya, he's a new employee who happens to be a boy!"

"Uh-huh, is he cute?"

"Uh… yeah, pretty cute." Marinette revealed, finally giving up. "He's got a terrible sense of humor though. He and my dad get along a little too well."

"Oh, so it's like that huh? I bet he must be hot, if you can still call him cute after that."

"Okay, yes, he's really hot! He has jet black hair, and a smile that could blot out the sun okay!?"

"Okay, okay, chill. I heard you, Marinette. By the way, speaking of black hair, did you hear the latest on Chat Noir? Someone sent me a photo for the ladyblog last night showing Chat Noir, and his hair looks black."

"S-seriously?" Marinette played along.

"Yeah, I'm hoping to get a confirmation soon, but with Hawkmoth taking a vacation, who knows when that will be."

"It's nice for a change though. I'd rather not have to worry about being akumatized."

"Says the girl who's never been akumatized." Alya countered with a playful tone.

"Yes, and I hope I never will be."

So Adrien meets Marinette for what he thinks is the first time, and is obviously smitten. (Regardless of what he says) Adrien reaches out and reveals himself to an old friend, and is forced to promise to talk to Nino. Adrien will probably not reveal himself to very many people, so don't expect something big like a whole class reunion or anything. I'm still going over if, or how Marinette will find out)=^-^=

Thank you for reading. Comments are welcome. (Yes, please!)=^-^=