"I think you've gone quite far enough."

Chloé sagged at the sound of Luka's voice. She closed her eyes and let her head fall. She was so tired.

Felix tried to push her behind himself but she sidestepped. She didn't look up yet. But she was the first one to speak. "Tell me you got something."

Luka was behind her, she could feel his closeness even before his arms leaned on her shoulders. One hand held his phone with an image frozen on it. "Felix Graham de Vanily, at a scandalous rendezvous in an abandoned farmhouse with what looks like a cowgirl right out of America."

Chloé finally raised her head, not even looking at the picture. She could barely stand at this point. "So help me if they aren't together by the end of the night, I'll strangle them myself." Chloé leaned back against Luka for support and felt a kiss against the side of her hat, it helped.

Felix hadn't moved yet. The composed aristocrat was poleaxed. She should shock him out of it, that look wasn't a good sign. "Felikins. I did try to warn you. You got me good that first evening. Knocked me right back to a terrible place I'd forgotten existed inside of me, but you forgot I'm not alone now." Luka's arms hugged around her neck and she reached up a hand to just touch him. "We figured you were up to something and that keeping you busy would keep everyone else safe. You could have ended this any time." She was out of energy.

She patted Luka's arm and he continued for her. "It's pretty simple really. One more week of good behavior and this image goes poof, none of this happened and you're free and clear. If I even suspect you of something before then your mother gets this lovely photo." There was a simmering undercurrent to Luka's voice. Chloé pressed back against him. She'd asked a lot of him with this idea. She'd make it up to him, and she would never suggest anything like it again. The women in books who dangled multiple men were insane.

Still nothing. Those eyes were unfocused. Where was the collapse? Where were the foiled plans and cursed fate? "Felix." Chloé prompted. "Say something."

His eyes finally did focus, briefly, on her. Felix inhaled and drew himself up but behind that empty posture Chloé saw something hideous she recognized. She patted Luka's arm. "Honey, give me the phone."

"Chloé?" Luka questioned.

"Minstrel, the phone! I screwed up!"

He didn't question her, she fell in love all over again, as she had nearly every day in some small way. With phone in hand she turned and quickly brushed her lips against his. "Now go. Not far, but give us a moment and privacy."

Luka looked past her then back to her and nodded his understanding, and he probably did too. He'd managed to navigate her, hadn't he?

With Luka gone Chloé turned back to Felix. His expression had finally melted from shock, which was a start, but that molten glower that now fixed her. Chloé met it, she knew it, she'd been it. Turning the phone so he could see Chloé deleted the image.

No reaction.

She stepped in closer and ducked her head, peering up at him. "Going to hit me?"

That got him. He flicked his glance away from her and grunted. "Insult on top of humiliation?" He crossed his arms and held himself ramrod straight. Chloé knew what that meant, she knew where to look, the fingertips, he was trembling.

"Going to kiss me again then?" she poked the bear.

It brought his eyes back and his face flushed, but not with embarrassment,"What is WRONG with you?" he shouted, his fists clenching at his sides, reserve broken.

Chloé straightened and counted off on her fingers. "I put too much emphasis on my appearance. I have anger issues. I'm only just barely digging my way out from under a desperate need for maternal approval. I spend at least an hour every week absolutely sure my boyfriend will leave me any day now. I rarely think things through. I'm overwhelmingly tactile. I still don't give Sabrina the respect she deserves. I tried to take over Paris. I'm sure I'm missing some." she tilted her head. "Which of those things did you want to take home to mom?"

Shock, disbelief, and finally begrudging amusement. It earned her a snort. The tension across his shoulders ebbed. When he looked at her again it was gone, that butterfly spark. That broken moment inside where everything goes wrong. She had often wished in the last year that someone had been there to pull her through those moments when she was younger.

When he spoke his voice was controlled once more. "You've destroyed your precious evidence. All this was for nothing for both of us it seems."

"It doesn't have to be." Chloé countered. "You don't *have* to be an odious little gremlin Felix. You can be charming, quite enchanting, and dare I say it, possibly even a little fun." Chloé nodded to the window. "That redhead is still down there, if you're game. If not, Luka is in fact an absolute saint, and you're welcome to our company for the rest of your trip. You might even enjoy yourself."

Felix frowned his way through her offer, however a quiet confession,"I was enjoying myself." was his answer.

Chloé laughed, she couldn't help it. "Oh Felikins, you'll have me blushing. Trust me when I say there are better, saner, fish in the sea. Now, I'm going to go find my boyfriend. Do what suits you."

She turned and was at the door when a question followed her,"I didn't get to you, not even once?"

Chloé paused at the threshold and looked over her shoulder,"Whatever made you think that? Several times, every night. I've just got something too precious to lose."

"So, what do we do now?"

Laugh about life. Go back to being friends. Stay safe, close, and happy just knowing how each other feels. Let the night swallow up confessions until the dawn forgets they even happened.

Or

Something different.

"Marinette." Adrien squeezed her hand and looked for her eyes. It was too dark in the shadows. No, he had to do this right. Adrien took one of his hands back and reached across. His fingertips found her cheek, it was hot to the touch. Adrien's own cheeks were burning in the dark. He drifted his touch until he reached the curve of her jaw then gently turned her face to his. There, even in the dark he could still picture those bluebell eyes and look into them. "Will you go out with me?"

He could feel her shaking under his touch and it made his heart ache. She leaned ever so slightly against his fingertips. "But, you heard what I-"

"You are an amazing girl Marinette. I don't just mean that as a friend, I haven't for a while now. I watch you and I see your energy. I see what you do for and to those around you. I see a leader, a dreamer, a hero. I see someone I want in my life. I'm sorry if that sounds greedy, but I do. I want to take up all the time you'll give me and I know I'll still be hungry for more." Adrien swallowed. That had been a mixed up mess of at least four different speeches he'd written for this moment. He'd practiced them all over and over, committing them to memory. During practice his voice didn't crack and his stomach didn't knot until he could barely remember French at all.

She was still shaking. He wanted to hold her. He risked cupping her cheek for a moment, then drifting his hand down to her shoulder for a reassuring squeeze. It felt so lame, he could do more for her, he could *be* more for her. Adrien leaned forward and slipped his arms under hers. Marinette let out a confused 'eep' as Adrien drew her from her hiding place into his. He leaned back against the passenger door, and Marinette ended up sprawled against his chest and across his lap. It wasn't remotely elegant, but he could hold her this way. He wanted to, and he did.

"Marinette?" he whispered softly. He felt the shaking subside, and the ache in his heart grew.

She burrowed into him, one hand clutching and clenching against his shirt. He heard her take in an unsteady breath. "I want to say yes. I want to stay here. I want to give you all of my time. I want to learn all the little things about you that no camera or tabloid will ever see. I want to be your girlfriend and still be your biggest fan. I just-" She buried her head back down and squeezed him so hard it actually hurt. "There's things. I have a commitment I have to keep. I can't talk about it because it's not my secret to share. Someone wanting to date me would have to trust me with that."

Adrien brought his hand up, fought himself, and happily lost. His hand stroked along Marinette's soft hair back to her pigtails. He answered in a voice as soft as her own. "I understand secrets that aren't yours M'l-Marinette." Adrien bit the tip of his tongue at the slip. He continued to hopefully distract from it. "Sometimes it feels like my home life is built on them. I don't think some secrets are a problem, as long as we trust each other." Those words felt like an echo from somewhere in his life. "As for commitments, I'm pretty sure you know how random and insistent my father's schedule for me can be, but I can promise to give you all the time he leaves me to do with as you please."

Haltingly she raised a hand, touching, then plucking his hand from her hair. She brought it back down and cuddled it to her chest. "That sounds like a dream."

Adriens' free hand still lay in the small of her back. He pressed softly, following the curve. His mind suddenly reminded him of how many curves Marinette had. He blushed and shifted his touch to her upper back. He wasn't embarrassed, not any more, but this wasn't the time. Yet, he could still enjoy the feel of her. His hand drifted back down her spine once more as a challenge to his own fears.

"Marinette? You still haven't answered me."

"Yes."

It was a tiny sound, a squeak fleeing from a wave of fear. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Adrien squeezed her and whispered perhaps the silliest reply possible. "Thank you."

It earned him a giggle and a face upturned towards him. This close he could just make out her features in the moonlight. "Is it okay if we stay like this a little longer though, before we go back?"

"You know, we can do this there too, with a warm fire and good friends around us."

The idea seemed to confuse her. Marinette mouthed the words. "I'm dating Adrien Agreste." and a quiet squeee slipped from closed lips.

Adrien chuckled. "And he's a lucky boy."

He had been about to add more when motion startled him. A vision in red polkadot peeked in from the driver's side window. Their eyes met and she put a finger to her lips in the gesture for silence, threw him a wink, and vanished into the night.

Adrien let her go.

When they finally walked hand in hand back to the bonfire They found a lot had changed.

The Truck's doors were open and the radio was on, a poor substitute for the sound system Nino and Luka had packed, but it seemed to suffice for the couples. Alya was back, she and Nino were snuggled up close with a blanket around them. Ivan and Mylene were much the same.

Juleka was carefully tearing strips from a corn husk and passing them to Rose who was weaving them like ribbons into a resigned looking Lila's hair. The strangest sight though was the other trio. Luka sat on the ground with his arms around Chloé who was snuggled back against him. Her arms in turn were wrapped around a pensive Felix who leaned back against her.

Marinette had so many questions. But when she opened her mouth Alya caught her attention then put a finger to her lips in the gesture for silence, threw her a wink, and laid her head on Nino's shoulder.