When Marinette had awoken Monday morning she hadn't expected that the first person to see in the morning would be Adrien, but seeing him standing in the middle of her parent's bakery was a sight.

He was occupied glancing around the glass displays, paying her no mind when she approached got behind the glass, ready to help the blond. "What brings you here?" Green eyes looked up from the array of desserts before landing on her, a smile gracing the blond's lips. "Really wanted to try these out when they're fresh, so I came around in the morning."

"What might you be talking about; you've always ate fresh here." A teasing smile graced her lips at his blunder before he glanced down at her hands that now only housed a big singular bandage instead of wrapping around her entire hand. "How are your hands?"

"They're fine, a bit itchy sometimes but they're healing quite fast. Thanks for asking." She'd be lying if she was glad that he was worried for her, but she didn't want him to be too worried, and thus guilty. She didn't blame him; it had been an accident neither of them could've forethought.

She grabbed the tongs carefully, a paper bag on her other hand. "So, what can I get you?"

"one madeleine, one chocolate éclair, half a dozen of passionfruit macarons…" She looked up at him nervously as he continued to list items. "We don't have those."

"Which ones? The fruit tarts?" she shook her head before pointing towards the fruit tarts of the far side opposite them. "No, we have those. We don't have passionfruit macarons." She saw his shoulders slump ever so slightly, "right…"

"But you can place a special order for a dozen, I'm sure papa could bake those real quick before collège ends."

"No, it's fine. Just give me half a dozen of chocolate ones." Nodding, she continued to fill the bag, before boxing the macarons. She rang up the total at the register, before giving him the bag. "Here, hope you enjoy it."

"Don't have to go to class? Although you're awake awfully early." She chuckled as she grabbed her backpack, turning towards her mamam who had just reentered the display area. "Class starts in ten minutes, I'm not awfully early, you're just later than usual."

"Oh well, do you need me to accompany you to make sure you get to class on time? I can carry your backpack too." She smiled at his offer. "I don't think so, I'm not going to act like I don't see through you, Adrien. I'm fine, I swear. I can carry my own stuff perfectly." He moved to the side as she walked past him, looking back at him with a smile. "But I do accept your offer to walking me there." A smile lightened his features as he turned around to say goodbye to her parents before running up to her side. They approached the school quickly, partly because her house was so close to the building, and partly because they were immersed in conversation. She was amidst the second bout of laughter when she caught sight of Alya at the top of the stairs, arms crossed and eyebrow raised in a typical Alya manner.

When the pair finally approached the brunette, he blond turned towards her with a smile, "Guess this is where I'll leave you two girls, see you in a bit." Marinette didn't need to turn to look at her friend to know that she was under the reporter's scrutiny. It was times like these that she wished her friend wasn't as privy. "Marinette, what was that about?"

"Adrien was at the bakery, picked up a few desserts."

"Doesn't explain why he walked you to the school and you were both all giggly." She sighed as she looked towards the direction the blond had disappeared. It probably looked like she had been caught red-handed, but she had nothing to be ashamed of, not this time.

"We were going the same way, so we walked together. We're friends and friends joke around, you know, Alya." The brunette relaxed at her friends words, seemingly docile now that her friend had set things straight for her. "Sorry, I just don't want to see you hurt."

"Well, it's okay. Just don't get mad at me for what I have to tell you later today. After school, okay?" The brunette looked down at her petite friend, "You sure know how to kill me with suspense. Why not tell me now?"

"Because if we spend one more second here we'll be late for class." A look of horror crossed both their faces as they remembered that Ms. Mendeleiev was their first period today. "Fine, lunch time at least?" With a nod agreeing to the time, before the two girls hurried along to their classroom.

The two sat down quickly, noticing how just a second after Ms. Mendeleiev was entering the classroom. Taking out her notebook and pen, Marinette realized that writing hours on end wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park. She clumsily held the pen in her hand, not wanting the bandage to get loose as she wrote. Writing down only the most important aspects of the class, she figured she'd get the rest of the notes from Alya, surely she'd take pity on Marinette.

It felt weird that the brunette hadn't made any comment on it whatsoever, but she'd enjoy the moment without her friend worrying over her. Sadly however, the moment was too short-lived when Marinette felt her hand getting grabbed softly, she turned towards Alya who had a worried frown settling between her brows. "What happened?" Whispering so as to not disturb their classmates.

"Nothing, just a tiny accident I had on Saturday. I'm much better now." Aly alet go of her hand, attention still on the bluenette. "Why didn't you tell me?" Marinette shrugged as she looked at her hands. "Guess I had other things on my mind. It's barely been a bother." Marinette had been thinking about a lot of things. Like, how she would tell Alya about the double date without getting all munched on for agreeing to the idea in the first place. Or how she had been going back and forth between wanting to tell Chat as Ladybug that she now had a boyfriend.

Time went by slowly as each class continued it's due course. Each one as dull as the next. Chemistry exam next week, English paper for Friday, Math practice exercises for Wednesday. The repeating conversations went over her head as she worried herself over all her responsibilities. How was Mullo after yesterday's ordeal? She had yet to check up on her and she planned on doing so first thing she got home. The lack of akumas lately also made her weary, but she insisted on seeing it as a positive instead.

The bell rang taking her out of her thoughts. The shuffle of her classmates as they packed their stuff and made their way outside the classroom, ready to partake in lunch hour. She knew it was time to tell Alya all that happened on Friday, but now she wasn't sure whether she felt ready to hear the scolding she knew she'd receive.

"Come on, you're not getting out of this one no matter how you stall it." She looked up at Alya, who already had her bag on her shoulder, ready to leave but waiting for her. Marinette took her bag, shoving haphazardly her notebook, before turning to her friend who waited for her at the door.

The two left the school quickly, not wanting to take longer than necessary, and risk getting late to their afternoon classes. They entered the bakery through the side door, "Go to my room, I'll tell maman and papa that we're here for lunch." She saw the brunette go up the stairs, before turning entering the kitchen, glancing at her parents who were busy with a special order.

"Mom, Alya came by today for lunch." Leaving the counter, her mom approached her before kissing her cheek. "Okay, honey. There's some baozi that I took out to thaw, should be about ready to steam for just a few minutes." With a nod, she turned and walked up the stairs, quickly entering the apartment. She took the buns and steamed five for each of them, taking two cookies for Tikki. Balancing the plates, she walked up to her room, finding Alya on the chaise all laid down all busy looking at her phone.

"I brought baozi." At her words, Alya stood up quickly, joining her on the floor where she carefully laid down, plate in hand. Taking a bite from one of the buns, the two girls ate happily in silence.

"Your mom's buns are the best, I swear." Alya laid back on her hand with her other hand laid on her now full stomach. "True, one never gets tired of eating them."

"So, what was it that you needed to tell me? Are you thinking about doing something stupid?"

"More like I did something you'll consider stupid." Alya frowned at her words, before raising an eyebrow in genuine curiosity. "Now I'm hella curious, what the hell did you do, Mari?"

"I went on a double date." A chuckle burst from the brunette as she looked at the bluenette with a stranged look. "And what's so bad about that? Wait… who did you go with? It clearly wasn't Nino and me."

"Adrien and Kagami."

"Shut up. You're kidding, right?" Shaking her head, she turned away from her friend. "Wow, you really turn dumb when it comes to Adrien. How did the idea even come about?"

"Apparently Adrien came up with it, don't know too many details." Alya frowned as she looked down at her phone, no doubt sending her boyfriend a text about the date the two had no knowledge about. "I'm going to have a talk with blondie. But Mari, why did you agree to it?"

"Thought it would help drive home the reality of the situation, help me truly get over him. He's with Kagami, and now I'm with Luka." She shrugged as she looked towards her friend, a small smile on her face. "You can't force yourself to stop liking someone. It was a dumb idea, I can't believe Luka and Kagami let you do that!"

"They're only trying to do what's best for me. I insisted that I could do it, and I genuinely believe it was for the best."

"The best for who? Who benefitted from this whole ordeal?" Frowning she delved in deep thought. She hadn't thought about anyone else when she took the decision, only about herself. But was it that bad to be selfish once in a while?

"Only me. But is it truly that bad that I did what I thought was best for me?" Alya faltered at her words, lowering her gaze as she too thought about it. "Perhaps it wasn't so bad." She sighed before crossing her arms. "Still think it was an awful idea though."

"I concede. It was truly a recipe for disaster theoretically, but I think it wasn't too bad." Aly approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder as she got serious. "Did it hurt? Seeing them together."

"Like hell, but like that hell was slowly dying and getting colder." Marinette didn't like lying to her friend, but were half lies still considered lies? She had felt hurt, she had felt pain, she had felt helpless, but somehow it didn't feel as bad as she thought it would. She had so many people on her side. She had Adrien's friendship, and that was enough. Not all she wanted, not what she dreamt. But it made her sufficiently happy, and perhaps one day it would be all she ever wanted from him. Strangely, it felt like that day was coming sooner than later, and she felt like embracing that thought wholeheartedly.

"What the hell? I don't even know what that means but it weirdly makes me feel proud of you." The two girls giggled before pulling each other in a loose hug. "Thanks Alya, you're one of the people that are really helping me take my mind away from all this."

"I guess the other one is Luka?" Alya wiggled her brows as the two separated, only to be smacked on the arm by Marinette, which caused the brunette to laugh loudly. If Marinette was being honest, it was Chat who had helped the most alongside Alya. She didn't want to strip away all that her boyfriend had done for her. His patience and comprehension were comparable to that of a saint, but he couldn't be around her the same way Chat had been. Her partner truly was one of Marinette's best friends. It brought a smile to her face just how close they'd become in the past weeks. It even shocked her how easy and natural it felt. Some of these days she should tell the dumb cat how much she loved and appreciated his friendship, because something told her that he didn't get that often, and she hated to admit that she as his partner had lacked in that aspect as well.

"That smile tells me I'm right. I'm so glad you have someone besides me on your side of things." A smile graced her lips as she looked at the happiness on her friend's features. "Thanks, Alya."

"Girls, lunch time is almost over, do you plan on ever getting back to school?" The two girls laughed at Sabine's snarky remark, "We'll come down now, maman." In no rush whatsoever, the two grabbed their backpacks and carried their plates down, ready to leave for school once again.

"By the way, Nino just answered and said he didn't know his friend could be such a dumbass, apparently the two talked about something and Adrien totally misunderstand. Wonder how his faring right now."

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Adrien was in fact, not faring so well. He hadn't expected the sudden mood change coming from his friend, he had just returned from his house where he had had his lunch, when he went to talk to Nino, the brunet had sighed and looked away from him. Had he done something wrong? He didn't like the thought of upsetting just another one of his friends, much less his bro.

"Nino, is there anything wrong?" His friend looked at him, a slight frown placed between his brows. Another sigh slipped him as he shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking. Heard you went on a double date with Marinette and Luka, how did that go?"

"It could've gone better, Kagami sort of got mad at me for some reason, called me oblivious which I don't really get. Did I somehow not notice she had cut her hair or something? I'm pretty sure she looked the same. Oh, but I think at the end Marinette and I really understood each other." Another frown. "Marinette and you? What about the others?"

Adrien rubbed his neck as he tried to explain his logic without sounding weird. "Well, the thing is that I thought Marinette was ignoring me because she felt lonely when Kagami and I started dating. She was the only one left single, you know?" Adrien would've expected many things, a weird look, another frown, perhaps a nudge and a "that's just in your head", but what he hadn't expected was his friend just flat-out laughing. Laughing so hard that if they were caricatures Adrien was sure his friend would be rolling around on the floor with tears in his eyes clutching his stomach. It was both strange and comical, and it made him want to start laughing at the thought of it.

"Are you okay?" He chuckled as Nino calmed down, "Yeah, dude. Just that was the biggest of misunderstandings ever!" Misunderstanding? What was?

"What do you mean?" Nino seemed to sober up as he looked at Adrien seriously, "Marinette never ignored Alya nor me when we started dating, I'm sure it's something else. Also, don't do double dates, they're always so awkward."

"Really? I was planning on doing one with Alya and you."

"Okay, we can go on one, but that'll be the last one. No asking Mari nor Luka on another double date, okay?" The request sounded oddly specific, but he didn't mind at all because deep down he knew that that double date had left a bittersweet taste.

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It had been a long day for Marinette after talking with Alya, perhaps because all she wanted to do was rest and check up on the kwamis. She was perhaps being over-the-top, but she held a responsibility that no one else had, and no one else could know about. So, when the bell rang signaling the end of class, she ran so fast out of the classroom that she was sure she left a trail of dust behind her.

She got to entered her room, leaving her backpack on top of her chaise before approaching the place where she hid the miracle box, making sure no one would interrupt her midst talking to a kwami. She stared at the trapdoor that led to her room from the living area, noting that she would have to figure out a way of asking her parents to let her add a lock or something that would give her privacy.

She sighed as she turned around to dig the miracle box out, Tikki now floating beside her.

"Do you think Mullo is fine? She was a bit unwell yesterday still after I tried healing her."

"She's going to be fine, I'm sure. Just talk to her now, see how she's holding up." Marinette grabbed the mouse miraculous, smiling as a bright light left behind Mullo. The mouse kwami was smiling as she looked at Marinette, landing on top of her stretched out hands. "Hello, Marinette. I'm glad to see you, have you come to check up on me?"

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't check up on you earlier. Are you okay?" Mullo smiled widely, big front teeth showing. "Yes, the other kwamis are quite impressed you managed to heal me so well for your first time."

"But I didn't, I saw that you were still unwell."

"It's all a learning curve. You can't be perfect all the time, and that's fine." Marinette smiled at the kwami's words, feeling slightly more encouraged that perhaps she wasn't a total failure. "I wanted to ask you, why did you get sick so suddenly? I don't want any of the other kwamis to end up like that because I don't know how to take care of them." Mullo blushed as she avoided her gaze, "I may have eaten something I shouldn't. Sorry, it's a bad habit of mine, being a mouse and all."

Marinette felt a laugh bubbling up inside of her, her face getting red as she tried to hold the laughter in. Next to her, a tiny laugh burst out as Tikki cackled at Mullo's explanation. "Mullo, you always do that," another burst of laughter, "remember the first time you ate Master Fu's shoe?"

"First time? She did it again?" Marinette looked towards the small kwami that was still on top of her hands with her hands crossed and what Marinette would describe as a sheepish look. "Only twice."

"Yeah, that's cause after the invention of electrical cables, those soon became her favourite thing to munch on."

"It so is not." Mullo pouted as she looked at the other two who now had smiles on their faces. "I really like cheese too."

"But what exactly did you eat yesterday?" Mullo pointed towards her desk, "Just one of the cables behind there, I think it was turned on so it didn't fare well with me." Quickly getting up to check on the cables, she looked around quickly finding the cable that was halfway eaten through. She followed the cable towards the appliance it connected to, hoping it wasn't anything important. She sighed as she saw what it led to, "It's okay, it was only the old lamp. Just don't do it again, please? I don't even want to imagine having to explain to my parents if my computer cable ever got munched on like this." She brought the munched-on cable towards where the two kwamis floated.

"Sorry, Master." Marinette smiled before extending her hand so that Mullo would lay on it once again. "It's fine, really. Just avoid in the future, for your health too."

"I will, I promise. I won't let you down." With a smile and a nod she closed the miraculous box, and put it back on its usual place. She was in the process of putting the miracle box in its hiding place when the door to her room suddenly opened. She tensed as she kept her eyes on the box, hands slowly trying to hide it.

"Honey, how was your day? You didn't greet you're your papa and me after school." She turned around slowly, making sure that the miracle box wasn't exposed, while also trying to not make her mom suspicious of her actions.

"Sorry, maman. I wanted to get my homework out of the way as quickly as possible."

"It's okay, now what do you have back there?" Marinette gulped as she glanced down, how was she going to get of this?

Suddenly, she felt a piece of paper being put in her hands. Tikki. She brought it up to the front, glancing down at the paper she noticed it was one of her older designs, it brought a smile to her face and calm to her anxiety. "I was just looking at my old designs, it's nice to see how much growth I've had recently."

Her mom hummed happily as she looked at her proudly, "It is good that you feel that way. You will only keep getting better, Marinette. I can't wait to see just what my talented daughter will become."

"Thanks, maman."

"Now, dinner will be ready at six, but you'll most likely have to eat by yourself. Your papa and I are still very busy with that wedding cake." With a smile, her mother walked down, closing the trapdoor behind her.

Marinette sighed, shoulders slumped as she released all the tension she had after almost getting caught. "That was close, Tikki. Let's never do that again, shall we?" With a nervous laugh and a pat on the head for Tikki, Marinette finished hiding the miracle box.

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Adrien didn't like the look on Plagg's face when he told the kwami that he'd be visiting Marinette once again tonight. So what if he wanted to see his friend? Who by the way, got hurt because of him.

Plagg insisted that he was using it as an excuse, but really, that was just foolishness. He didn't need an excuse to see his friends, he never got teased for saying he wanted to go visit Nino.

He vaulted through the rooftops, watching the sunset leave red and purple hues across the horizon, the cloud looking as though they set the sky on fire. He knew he was en route to Marinette's a tad earlier than usual, but he didn't want to stay to late out considering it was a school night. See? He was even being considerate.

He landed on the rooftop, his feet heavy against the floor, just loud enough that Marinette would hear it. He walked towards the trapdoor that lead to her room, intent on knocking on it if she didn't answer in a few minutes. Suddenly, blue pigtails invaded his vision, followed by a smile. "Hey, what's up with you coming so frequently? Are they not feeding you at your house?"

"They do, but you know what they say. Feed a stray cat and it'll keep coming back." She laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners, cheeks slightly flushed. "Do you mind if we stay outside today? I'll bring the blankets and everything else."

He moved closer, ready to help her out. "That's fine by me, I'll help you."

"No, that's fine. I can do it."

"You sure? I can carry the blankets and pillows while you search for the snacks." She moved down, only her head now showing, "Okay, just be quick, okay?"

"I'm always quick, except when it's needed to go slow." Marinette coughed as she fully came down and landed on the bed, quickly moving away so he'd do the same. "Right, just umm, take whatever we'll need."

He watched as she left the room, before turning around to pick up the blanket and the cat pillow. He laid them down against the brick wall, pushing to the side the lounge chair. He sat down, putting the cat pillow behind him, but only so his body would cover half of the pillow, the other half left unoccupied until Marinette came back.

He heard the trapdoor open, and he scrambled to help the bluenette with everything that she carried, she smiled at him as he took from her hands the drinks, as she disappeared again to bring up the rest while he sat down, waiting for her. She emerged with a plate bountiful of a hearty mix of both desserts and salty snacks. Tossing him a bag of chips she proceeded to sit down next to him, casually taking one of the blankets and tossing it over their legs.

"Dive in. I'm not that hungry, but do leave me something."

"Why aren't you hungry?" He grabbed a chocolate croissant and bit into it, the chocolate flavor invading his senses pleasantly. "I ate just recently. Hadn't expected a certain cat to visit me today. It's like your third day in a row, you know?"

He shrugged as he continued to down the delicacy, "What can I say? I have a lot of free time, which is not usual, but it's welcome." With eyebrows lifted she turned to him, wiping away a bit of chocolate that had smeared unto his chin. "You really don't know how to eat, show some modesty."

"I don't need to in front of you. You're like my bro." She chuckled before shoving his way with some macarons. "But talking about your free time, you should probably spend it with your girlfriend, not me."

"Can't help it, she's a very busy person too, and it's not like civilian me can really go out on his free time. I'm actually technically not free, but I call the lesson I'm supposed to be at the "Free Chat" time."

"That's not exactly a very creative name."

"It's still a great name though." The two sat in silence as he ate most of the snacks she had brought. His nutritionist would have a heart attack if he was just how just calorie intake he was partaking in right now.

"Soo, why did you want to stay outside today? Am I getting my friendship demoted?" He turned to look at her as he heard her burst in laughter, shaking her head before she turned towards him. "No, I just don't want my mom to burst in and see us together. It's more likely to happen around evening than in the night."

"Really? Your parents just enter your room like that? No knocking?"

"They usually knock, sometimes they forget but they try to knock most of the time." It sounded weird to him, most of the adults, and by adults he meant Nathalie, knocked at his door and let him know it was time to leave or whatever it was on his schedule. They definitely didn't check up on him as much as Marinette's parents apparently did on her.

"Chat, can I ask you a weird question?" He turned towards her, hoping to catch her expression to gauge out just what she wanted to ask. "Shoot."

"How would you react if Ladybug ever told you that she's in a relationship?" She bit her lip as she looked up at him, it looked as though she was putting enough force that she could cut herself if she pressed just a tad more.

"Why are you asking?" He cringed when she left her lip go and he could see the skin turn red, he wondered just how much the answer mattered to her, or perhaps for a better question, why did it matter to her?

"Well, I like to think I handled finding out the one I love had a girlfriend, but how would you handle it?" Something deep in his gut told him it had to be something else, but nothing clicked.

"Well, I'd like to think I'd congratulate her and wish her the best for being with the one she's always loved." She seemed to take his words into consideration, Chat hadn't been flirty with Ladybug the past times they'd seen each other, in hopes that this distancing would prepare him for the inevitable.

"Thanks, Chat."

"For what?" She leaned her head on his shoulder, her hair tickling his nose as it was blown up by the wind.

"Everything." The warmth she supplied made him sigh, as he leaned into it. He wished he could be like this with Kagami. Comfortable. Simple. Perhaps friendship is all he needed and he had been looking elsewhere wrongly.

Question, is how're permitted or is it too colloquial?

I'm curious, between these two idiots, who do y'all think will realize that they love the other first? Marinette or Chat? I've already decided who it'll be but I'm genuinely curious what you guys think hahah

Also, I have no idea what time of the year this story is in. I have no real concept of seasons, like what is winter? Lol Just a cool summer day, I guess. But I think the canon story is around spring at the end of season 3, so I guess I'll go with that? (Honestly the timeline in Miraculous is hella messy, but whatever haha)

P.S. I was unable to post last week for personal reasons, but I was pretty much out of commission. Fingers crossed that this won't happen again!