Adrien woke the next morning and couldn't for the life of him think why he was so tired.

"Oh yeah. School, work, and last minute tailoring. Not to mention the early morning Akuma."

He rolled over to check the time on his phone, almost impervious to Plagg's tiny snores as he continued to sleep. His kwami might have been the embodiment of destruction, but he was also, to some degree, a cat.

According to his phone, the alarm would go off in about five minutes. Adrien rolled over and lay his head back down, waiting a few more moments before getting up.

The night had ended with him standing still for two hours while increasingly miniscule alterations were made to an outfit he had already worn once for a shoot, with his father coming in at intervals to shout either at Adrien or the seamstresses. Sure, they were professionals, but they were also being asked to fix things that really didn't need fixing. It wasn't as if all the images wouldn't be photoshopped, anyway.

The only thing that had kept Adrien going was the thought of his nervous classmate and why she had suddenly been so at ease with him. He wondered once again whether it might have been pity or Marinette's sense of justice kicking in - heaven knew she had one, and it had even been used in his defence a couple of times. It was a little disappointing to think that might have been her sole purpose, but Adrien didn't think it had been. There had been something in her manner - she had started off so confident with Nathalie, and yet the moment she'd left Marinette had become flustered again.

Perhaps she was just suffering from want of a friend? Adrien didn't know Alya well, but he did know that she was quite heavily being influenced by Lila Rossi, and that would put a strain on any friendship. He hadn't realized quite how bad it was until he'd been talking to Marinette the night before, but that tone of voice had sounded so familiar - it was the one he had used for months after his mother's disappearance.

Perhaps that had prompted her offer of company. That must have been it, he had decided. She wanted a friendly face, and most of the class was taken up with Lila and her lies. Adrien didn't know whether he believed that everyone one of them was on board - Chloe, for one, would never succumb to something so crude - but he knew none of them were mentioning it to Marinette for some reason.

Was that why she had taken so much time with Luka recently?

And there it was. The strange feeling in the pit of his stomach which Adrien couldn't identify, but he always felt when Luka was mentioned. It really wasn't fair to the guy, he was perfectly nice and had been quite open with Adrien the few times they'd met, but something about the guitarist rubbed him the wrong way sometimes.

Idly, as he almost dozed again, Adrien wondered whether Julika was doing better now that her akuma had been taken care of.

His alarm went off with a buzzing and burst of song - A classical piece he actually could stand - and Plagg woke with a start.

"Hey! Wha- Why is that thing so close to my ear?"

Adrien chuckled.

"You know, if you stopped sleeping on my bed you wouldn't have this problem.

But both of them knew they wouldn't have it any other way. Plagg gently butted Adrien's head with his own.

"How ya doing after last night?"

"Could be better. Father's behavior aside, it wasn't all that bad. Just exhausting."

Plagg's big green eyes looked at him slyly.

"And what about your time with pigtails?"

"What, MArientte? Oh, it was great! I'm so glad she came along when she did. Honestly, she's such a good friend to help me out the way she did."

Plagg gave a little bark of laughter, but didn't elaborate, as a knock on the door came at that moment.

"I'm up, Nathalie!" Adrien called, as was their custom. Nothing else was heard, and Adrien quickly pulled his clothes from the closet.

"You know, we haven't done anything for Marinette in a while. Not since that picnic last year - she's done a lot for me, but what do you get the girl who can make anything?"

Plagg said something under his breath, but Adrien had walked into the other before he could quite catch it.

"I mean, probably what she'd like most of all is to have Lila gone, but she'll be gone for the next three weeks anyway, and that's not really something I have any control over. Hmmm…"

Plagg sniggered in his ear.

"How about a visit from Chat Noir?"

"What would that do?!" Adrien said goodnaturedly, swatting at Plagg, who phased right through him. "That wouldn't be anything from me - not if we want to keep her from finding out, anyway."

"Do we?"

"Yes! For heaven's sake, Plagg, the last person to know should be Marinette! If she even suspected, she'd be in danger, and I couldn't live with myself if she got hurt because of it."

"Okay, why don't you ask your buddy from school?"

Adrien felt his face split into a grin as he grabbed his school bag.

"Plagg, you're a genius! Nino will be perfect to help me come up with something. Maybe we can make her a mixtape..."

Plagg laughed out loud at that.

"Kid, I've only been out of the Miraculous Box for a year and I know mixtapes are out of style."

"Okay, so a playlist, or maybe a CD. Something, anyway. She's always doing so much for everyone, and no one seems to notice when somethings up with her - it would do her good to know that at least I'm on her side, right?"

Plagg didn't respond.

"A mixtape? Are you serious, dude?"

Nino was looking at the blond in surprise, but he didn't seem all that antagonistic to the idea. Adrien nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! I mean, Marinette's such a good student rep, and what with she and Alya going through some stuff and… you know, stress and all the things she does for us, I think she'd appreciate something nice. You know, a gift to say we were thinking of her."

Nino clapped him on the back.

"You, my man, are about the best anyone could have. A mixtape's a little outdated, but maybe a playlist on an MP3? They're cheap enough."

"Perfect! That's exactly what she needs, something to keep us with her even when she's stressed."

Nino nodded and pulled out his phone.

"Okay. So what kind of songs do you want to put on it?"

"I dunno, you're the DJ."

"And you're the brains of this operation! You come up with a list, I'll go from there."

Adrien considered, then opened his phone and started listing songs in a note. After a few were set down, he passed it over to Nino, who seemed to suddenly choke on something.

"You… Okay, Adrien. If you say so."

Adrien almost asked about his friend's obvious shock at something, but at that moment Marinette herself walked into the classroom, followed by Alya - clearly trying to get the smaller girl's attention. He glanced up at Marinette and smiled, surprised when she returned it after only a moment.

What neither of them saw was the tiniest of looks passed between the Creole girl and her boyfriend. A look that said, plain as day, that something was afoot.

I love our sunshine boy. He's not stupid, he's not even oblivious, he just doesn't get the obvious. And I love him for it.
Hope you all enjoyed this - it was strange and a weird concept, but of course Adrien would want to do something nice for Marinette, and of course he would go to Nino. And of course he'd do the most Adrien thing and pick out a bunch of songs that remind him of Marinette and all coincidentally happen to be love songs. Of course he would.
Hope you enjoyed!