I'm back! I'm so sorry about almost completely disappearing and not updating last week. I just really needed a week off because I was so stressed and needed some time to re-charge. I hope that you guys understand. I felt so guilty about doing it, but it needed to be done, otherwise the quality of my work would have started to heavily suffer. But I'm back now, and updating will be going back to normal, so there will hopefully be a new chapter for this story every Monday. Thank you so much for your patience and for your amazing reviews!

Chapter 7: There's Something Going On

A strange feeling began to almost overpower Adrien as he watched Marinette's retreating form. Something within him was telling him to run after her, that something was wrong, and that he needed to talk to her. The instinct was so overwhelming that it froze Adrien in place, rendering him unable to blink as he watched her leave. It felt like a rope had been tied around his heart, squeezing and tugging on it, with the pull seeming to be coming from Marinette.

Was Marinette okay?

There was something about her today that seemed…different. She didn't seem to be acting like her usual bubbly and happy self. It was very jarring to witness, to a point where he almost didn't believe that was Marinette that had been standing in front of him. It was like some sort of imposter had replaced her. But even Adrien knew that the happiest and most optimistic person in his class could have bad days.

Had something upset her? Had he done something wrong? Maybe he was just being paranoid, but it really felt like that her odd behaviour was because of him. He was used to Marinette acting a little strange around him sometimes, stammering and tripping over her own feet, but he had never seen her behave this way before. He had never seen her look so…so…miserable.

It was heart-breaking to see. She was so beautifully dressed that it made Adrien wonder if she had other plans. Had she been let down? Was she planning on going somewhere later? If so, where? Adrien quickly mentally slapped himself for having such nosey thoughts. It was none of his business what Marinette got up to. But still, where was the harm in expressing concern? He only wished that maybe he could have been more there for her, rather than just standing there like a confused idiot. Maybe her strange behaviour was some sort of cry for help?

But then again, Nino and Alya had also been acting slightly strange today too. Were they hiding something from him? He didn't like to think bad of his friends and accuse them of keeping secrets from him (after all, he was one to talk), but everything about what had happened today felt incredibly weird. From the specific way that Nino had led him into the park to the way he suddenly made them both bail; from the probing questions about his possible crush to his almost guilty and worried behaviour afterwards.

Not to mention there was also Ladybug's weird behaviour. Had Adrien woken up in some sort of alternate reality? Because that was certainly how it was starting to feel.

"Hey, Adrien, bro, aren't you coming?" Nino asked, jolting Adrien out of his deep thoughts.

He shook his head slightly, and his eyes refocused back on reality. Marinette was gone. That realisation stung him, though Adrien wasn't really too sure why. Maybe he was just worried about her being left out or because of how sad she seemed. Those were the only explanations that Adrien could come up with, but they made sense.

"Oh…errr…yeah," were the only words that Adrien managed to force out, his mind still a confused mess.

Nino and Alya shot him a weird look, walking on ahead of him while Adrien trailed behind with his hands in his jean pockets as he stared down at the sidewalk. He could feel Plagg shift slightly in his shirt pocket as he engorged himself on a piece of cheese. The movement of his kwami unfortunately reminded him of Ladybug. She was almost acting like Marinette was. She had seemed incredibly sad and frustrated as they both fought against Medusa.

Had something been wrong with Ladybug as well?

Adrien thought back to the fight, wracking his brain for anything he might have missed that might explain Ladybug's puzzling behaviour. He couldn't really think of anything though. The only thing about the whole fight that stood out to him was how she acted around…around…Luka…

A deep anger began to claw away at his chest, and Adrien almost tripped over as he continued to follow his two best friends. However, he quickly caught his footing before anyone could notice. His anger never faded though. It was like a feral monster was trying to take control of his brain. Memories of Luka and Ladybug embracing only intensified the feeling. The way they held each other close, so familiar, so caring, and so tender. It made Adrien feel sick.

He was getting the exact same feeling that he'd gotten when Théo had shown signs of having a crush on Ladybug. Adrien had tried to put him off, but that had only made the situation worse. So the thought of trying to do that to Luka was immediately off the table. Adrien would have to be much sneakier with this one.

Adrien's eyes then widened, and he wanted to slap himself. What was he thinking? How could he think such cruel thoughts? He wasn't even one hundred percent sure if there was even anything going on. It just could have been a case of another grateful citizen, embracing Ladybug as thanks for having saved their life. Plenty of people did it, and Adrien never once got jealous. The whole situation could have been completely innocent.

But there was something about that embrace that seemed…different. It was long, drawn out, and way more familiar than Adrien would have expected or liked to see. And why had Ladybug been so defensive about the whole thing afterwards if it had all been innocent? Adrien really felt like he was missing something important. It was like a huge puzzle piece was missing, preventing him from seeing the big picture.

However, Adrien could no longer try to think the situation as they finally arrived back at the café that he and Nino had been sitting in earlier. Adrien wondered if Nino would be just as cagey as he was when they had been together in here before. Maybe now he could finally try to get some answers out of the two of them. Adrien definitely knew that something was going on, and that Alya and Nino were hiding something from him.

Luckily, Alya picked a table for them that was in the corner by the large bay window that looked out onto the street. The café wasn't too busy, mainly filled with smartly dressed businessmen, drinking a cup of coffee or tea as they read a newspaper. Adrien sighed as he sat down on the wooden chair, trying to find the right words to begin questioning his friends.

"Adrien?" the sound of someone calling his name startled him.

"Huh? What?"

Alya chuckled and rolled her eyes before repeating what she had obviously tried to say to Adrien while he was busy daydreaming. "Do you want anything?"

"Oh – umm – no thank you," Adrien replied, feeling his stomach twisting itself into knots.

"Are you sure?" Alya asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly in concern.

"I'm sure," Adrien insisted, clamping his hands together on the table as he tried to offer Alya a reassuring smile, though he was sure that he was failing.

He knew that there was no way he could eat or drink anything right now. He was too lost in his own thoughts, his stomach twisting nervously at the thought that something might be wrong.

Alya looked at him oddly before kissing Nino on the cheek and heading off towards the counter to order whatever she and Nino wanted. Adrien looked away awkwardly, beginning to feel like a bit of a third wheel. His mind wandered to thoughts of Ladybug, as they often did. He daydreamed about him and Ladybug maybe one day being like that. Sitting together for coffee, maybe having finally revealed their secret identities to each other. They would kiss each other and hold each other, just like Nino and Alya did.

"Hey, dude, are you okay?" Nino asked, bringing Adrien back down from his fantasies with a painful bump.

"Huh? What? Oh…yeah, I'm fine."

"You've been away with the fairies pretty much all morning," Nino noted. "Thinking about K-Kagami?"

Adrien didn't miss the way that Nino weirdly stumbled over her name. He could feel his cheeks turning pink, though no doubt Nino would misinterpret this as embarrassment. Adrien really wanted to slap himself for blurting out Kagami's name, but it was the first believable name that popped into his head. No doubt if Adrien admitted that it was Ladybug, then everyone would probably just see it as a stupid crush. But it was more than that. He really truly loved her. He couldn't bear the idea of people laughing at the connection that Adrien felt with her.

"Oh…yeah," Adrien lied before he could stop himself.

He really wanted to slap himself for digging himself into this huge hole. He just hoped that word didn't get to Kagami. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her or hurt her feelings, or even embarrass them both, because it was highly likely that Kagami didn't have feelings for him. She was just a good friend and fencing partner, and his father and her mother were excellent business partners, meaning that Adrien often acted as her escort at important events.

"I had no idea, man," Nino continued, looking shocked. "When did you first start crushing on her?"

"Oh…well…ummm…"

Adrien's stuttering lie was saved by Alya arriving back at the table, placing a warm cup of hot chocolate and a pastry in front of Nino. His eyes immediately lit up as he glanced down at it, seemingly immediately forgetting the conversation that he and Adrien were having as he began to dig in. Alya rolled her eyes and gently sipped at her tea before she turned towards Adrien.

"Don't tell me that you're on some sort of weird model diet," Alya joked.

"No, no not at all," Adrien rushed to explain, "I'm just…not feeling too good I guess."

"Maybe what Marinette has is catching," Nino spoke with his mouth full before he yelled in pain as no doubt Alya had just kicked him from under the table.

"Speaking of Marinette, maybe we should all go and check on her when we're finished here," Adrien suggested.

"No!" both Nino and Alya yelled at the exact same time.

Adrien stared at them both in alarm.

"W-what we mean is that…" Alya fumbled over her words. "When Marinette is ill, she often just likes to be left alone to rest. Besides, she's probably sleeping it off, so it's probably best not to disturb her."

Adrien felt concern flooding through his body once again at the thought of Marinette. She did seem a little off. Her skin was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes had also been slightly red, like she hadn't gotten enough sleep, or maybe she had even been crying. But she didn't exactly look sick sick. Then again, who was Adrien to make that judgement? Yet there was still something about the whole situation that felt weird.

"Are you sure she's okay?" Adrien continued to press, trying to see if he could break his friends. "Because she almost looked like she had been crying."

Nino nearly choked on his food.

"Crying?" Alya gasped out. "Marinette? No way, she's totally fine. Just sick like I said."

"You guys are acting really weird," Adrien voiced his suspicions as he narrowed his eyes at them.

"We're acting weird? We're not the ones who blurted out we had a crush on Kagami out of the blue instead of –" Nino was cut off by another swift kick from Alya.

"Instead of?"

"No one!" Alya quickly answered. "What Nino means to say –" she shot him a glare "– is that it probably came as quite the shock since you have so many adoring fans and followers that you could take your pick from."

"Wait…" Adrien's face turned red in horror. "You know too?"

Alya gulped. "Oh – errr – yeah. Nino told me a little bit earlier."

"Nino! That was meant to be a secret!" Adrien growled out, glaring at his best friend.

Nino held his hands up defensively. "Hey, sorry, dude, but she is my girlfriend."

Adrien sighed in defeat before looking down sadly. This was just great. He really wished that he could just go back in time and take all of those words back. He shouldn't have said anything. He should have just lied and kept insisting that he didn't have a crush on anyone. Or better yet, he should have done a better job at keeping his feelings under wraps and not being too obvious with his behaviour. He could have saved himself from all of this trouble.

"How long have you had a crush on her?" Alya asked, repeating Nino's unanswered question from earlier. "Was it when you first met?"

Adrien shrugged. "I don't know, I suppose so."

"Gee, and they say romance is dead. You don't exactly sound like a love-struck puppy when you talk about her," Alya noted, raising her eyebrow suspiciously.

Damn Alya and her scrupulous investigation skills.

"Oh, well, I wouldn't call it love per say, it's just a silly crush. Nothing will probably ever happen anyway," Adrien explained casually and apathetically, trying to weasel his way out of the situation.

"A crush?" Nino chuckled. "Dude, you've been sighing and smiling to yourself when you start daydreaming for months on end now. So don't tell me that whatever you're feeling is just a crush."

A worried look formed on Alya's face.

"Can we stop talking about this now, please?" Adrien demanded, growing increasingly uncomfortable.

Nino and Alya both slouched back in their seats, looking slightly disappointed and annoyed. However, it wasn't long before Alya perked up again.

"Since you say that nothing might ever happen, is there any other girl, maybe even a girl in our class who you could see yourself dating?" Alya quizzed, leaning forward as she desperately waited for Adrien's answer.

However, Adrien merely stared back at Alya in confusion. He wasn't sure why, but Marinette's face immediately invaded his mind at Alya's question, though he quickly dismissed it. He probably only thought of her because he was so worried about her right now. The thought of Ladybug then entered his mind. She was always this beautiful, almost unattainable goddess, whereas Adrien on the other hand, was only a humble mortal who could never measure up or compare to her. Through all his trying, Ladybug never seemed to look twice at him. Sure she cared about him as a friend, but Adrien wanted more than that.

Unfortunately, with the way things were going, it looked like that was never going to happen. There were moments where Adrien regained his faith that maybe they could become more than friends one day, but that would always end up being crushed at some point or another. Ladybug had revealed to him that she loved another boy. Whoever this boy was, he was certainly lucky indeed, and Adrien desperately wished that he could take his place in his lady's heart.

"No, not really," Adrien finally admitted, unable to keep Ladybug off his mind.

She was the only person that he could ever see himself with. From the very first time that he met her, he knew that she was the one for him. He had fallen head over heels in love with her, adoring her courage, her tenacity, her caring nature and her passion for helping others and saving the people of Paris. She was perfect in every way. Everything about her was so irresistible.

"Are you sure?" Alya prodded, and this time, it was her turn to be kicked from under the table.

She and Nino glared at each other.

Adrien chuckled awkwardly. "Why are you guys so obsessed with my love life anyway?"

"Because you're our friend and we want to help," Nino explained.

"But I don't need any help. I've said it before and I'll say it again: you guys have been acting really weird today." Adrien once again glared at them suspiciously. "What's really going on here?"

"Nothing!" Alya and Nino shrieked at the same time.

"Does this have something to do with Marinette?"

"No! No no no no. No way."

Adrien huffed in defeat. He knew that they were both hiding something; it was painfully obvious. Unfortunately though, it didn't look like he would be getting the answer out of them anytime soon. Maybe he could find another way to figure out what was going on. Maybe he could ask Marinette herself. Just because Alya and Nino were against visiting her, it didn't mean that Adrien couldn't secretly go on his own. He hated the idea of disturbing her, but he hated the idea of her being upset over something a lot more. If Alya and Nino weren't going to try and help her, then Adrien would.

Having decided what he was going to do, Adrien abruptly stood up from his seat.

"I just remembered that I have some extra Chinese lessons booked for this afternoon," Adrien lied, "so I better get going. I'll see you guys later."

Before Alya and Nino could even reply, Adrien quickly left the café, determined to make sure that Marinette was okay and maybe get to the bottom of what was going on. He knew that he wouldn't have peace of mind unless he saw Marinette. Maybe she really was ill, but Adrien's gut was telling him that there was something more to it than that.

He grew nervous as he arrived outside the Dupain-Cheng family bakery. Tom and Sabine were busy serving a customer inside, and there was no sign of Marinette helping them like she would often do. He tried to look up at the building, hoping to perhaps catch sight of her in her bedroom window or on her balcony. No dice though.

Taking a deep breath, Adrien entered the bakery, and Tom and Sabine's face lit up as soon as they saw him.

"Adrien, hi!" Sabine greeted cheerfully.

"What can we do for you?" Tom asked.

"Oh, I – umm – I was hoping to see Marinette," Adrien responded awkwardly, attempting to keep his posture straight and his hands behind his back.

He could feel his cheeks heating up slightly, and he just hoped that Marinette's parents wouldn't think that this was weird. After all, he had been in their apartment before, and had even been in Marinette's room, so hopefully they would trust him enough to let him in. Tom and Sabine had always been very warm and welcoming towards him, but he still hoped that they didn't feel like he was intruding or imposing.

"We thought she was with you, dear?" Sabine frowned worriedly.

"She was. But she – errr – came home earlier, saying that she wasn't feeling well. So I thought I would come and see if she was okay," Adrien explained slightly bashfully.

"I never heard her come home," Sabine said as she turned to Tom worriedly.

"She probably came in through the back door," Tom tried to reassure her, though he sounded slightly concerned himself.

"Well, I could check and make sure and tell you if she's not there?" Adrien offered.

Tom and Sabine smiled at him.

"Go ahead," Sabine encouraged, "I'm sure you know your way around. Come straight back down and tell us if she's not there."

"Will do," Adrien replied as he was already heading behind the counter and into the hallway.

He dashed up the stairs as quickly as he could before pausing outside the front door of their apartment. He completely froze, gulping as a large lump formed in his throat. Why was he getting so nervous? He was just checking on his friend. It wasn't like he was about to ask Marinette out on a date or something. He really needed to get a grip.

Biting his lip, Adrien gently tapped on the door, fervently hoping that Marinette was okay. He sighed with relief when he heard light footsteps inside, a smile forming on his face knowing that she was home safe and sound.

"I thought I told you that I wanted to be left alone, Alya," Marinette sighed out before freezing as she opened the door and looked up to see Adrien standing there instead. "A-Adrien…"

"Hey," Adrien responded lamely.

"What are you doing here?" Marinette asked, her emotions suddenly becoming shielded behind a mask as she stared up at him blankly.

Was it Adrien's imagination or was there a slightly cold edge to her tone?

"I…I just thought I would check on you and make sure that you're okay."

"I'm fine," Marinette replied flatly.

"Are you sure? Because I can get you something or help you out with anything if you need it?" Adrien rushed to offer, not liking the strange heavy atmosphere that had suddenly appeared between the two of them.

Had Adrien done something to upset her?

Marinette's mask slipped slightly as her shoulders slouched and her expression became disheartened.

"I said, I'm fine. Don't worry."

Marinette almost sounded like her usual self when she said that. Or at least, the coldness had disappeared from her tone. She still sounded crestfallen and like something was deeply troubling her though. Had something happened and that maybe Marinette just didn't want to talk about it? Had he missed something before they had come across each other in the park? Adrien really wished that he could figure out what was wrong. The whole situation was making him increasingly paranoid, worried and on edge.

"Thank you for checking up on me."

Marinette's broken sounding voice snapped Adrien back into reality.

"But I'm really busy right now," Marinette added, closing the door in Adrien's face.

All Adrien could do was stand there and stare at the wooden door that had suddenly appeared in front of his face within a split second. The action hurt him more than he thought it would. It pierced through his heart, making him feel guilty and rejected. He had never seen Marinette act this way before. It was most out of character.

Okay, that settled it. There was definitely something going on.

Me thinks that Adrien is in some serious denial. That poor boy is just so oblivious to his own feelings, what do you guys think? I do apologise if this chapter felt a bit like filler. Sometimes it's just painfully necessary. Once again, thank you guys so much for your patience with this chapter. Like I said, this story will be once again hopefully be updated every Monday. You can always follow me on Twitter if you want to keep up to date with my writing and updating. Until next week, please feel free to let me know your opinions on the chapter as it helps me out a great deal. I hope that you're all well and I'll see you next week!