Class started soon, but Marinette was crammed in the art room with her friends, gathered around the table where Marc and Nathaniel had spread out their latest collection of comic concept art. Pictures of Adrien and Felix transformed in London had made their way to the internet. There was little information on them, only a couple of shots of them running on rooftops, one of Felix chasing Volpina. But Marc and Nathaniel took that lack of information and ran it into a new story. One that was dangerously accurate.
"What makes you so sure they're brothers?" Marinette asked once they'd finished describing their entire backstory. Granted, that was nothing like reality. In the comic they were just normal brothers who lived a normal life, they weren't even twins. But the idea of one being perfect and the other an arrogant jerk was a bit too close to reality.
Nathaniel shrugged. "We don't know if the real heroes are, but they kind of look alike."
"And we thought the brother dynamic would set them apart from Ladybug and Chat Noir being strangers," Marc added, "do you not like it?"
"No, no! I just thought it was an interesting idea! That's all. I didn't know where it came from." Marinette tried to laugh it off. It would be okay; as far as anyone knew, the heroes were still in London. Adrien didn't have his Miraculous anymore. Soon, Felix wouldn't have his either. No one would have the chance to realize it was them.
Marc and Nathaniel finished the pitch for their story. As always, it was great; Marinette couldn't deny that the brother angle added an interesting twist. They even invented non-hero identities for them which, to her relief, looked nothing like Adrien or Felix.
"Great job guys, but I think you bored Zoe," Alix said.
Zoe snapped her head up for the first time. "Oh, sorry! I guess I got a little distracted. But I was listening!" She held up one of her sneakers. New rows of wet, black ink shone across them. "I just wanted to add a few more nice messages I got."
Rose leaned in for a closer look. "Wow! Look at all of them. You're going to run out of room soon."
"Who said that one? 'You seem interesting' doesn't sound like a compliment," Alix snorted.
Zoe shrugged. "I thought it was, and I said it to him first. It was the first compliment from a new friend, I had to put it." The message was written across the side, right in the center, a little bit bigger than the others.
"New friend? Is this someone you like?" Marinette asked with a sly smile. It wasn't often she got to bring up one of her friend's crushes. Most of the time they teased her about her overwhelming crush on Adrien.
Zoe giggled. "Maybe. We talked for a bit when I escaped from my mother's charity fundraiser last weekend, but we haven't since. I keep trying to talk to catch him between classes, but I haven't had luck. I might have scared him off."
The other girls all gathered around.
"So he goes to our school?" Rose asked.
"Who is it? Do we know him?" Mylene added.
"Oh, I don't know if I should say," Zoe started, "he seemed a little shy. I don't want to embarrass him."
Francois Dupont was small enough Marinette knew almost everyone. Rumors spread quickly, but Marinette had no idea who Zoe meant. She doubted it was someone in their year, but she'd never seen Zoe talk to any other boys.
Before Marinette could ask anything else, Alya burst through the door. She bounced on her heels, mouth split into a grin. "Marinette!" She yelled as she ran right over, "I just talked to Nino, Adrien wants to go on a date with you tomorrow!"
Marinette wanted to speak, but only a squeak came out. Around her, the other girls erupted. Alya had started to tell the story, Marinette heard only bits through the ringing in her ears. Nino told her everything. It was happening, really happening. A dream date with Adrien. Everything would be perfect; the cute cafe down the street, the two of them alone. Maybe even a kiss.
"Isn't that amazing, Marinette?" Alya said.
No. It was more than amazing. Incredible. Magical. That also made it terrifying. "I need to get ready!" Marinette squeaked and ran for the door. Behind her, the other erupted into laughter.
She would have run out of the art room and back home had Alya not grabbed her arm. "Aren't you forgetting we have class in five minutes?"
"Oh right," Marinette said. "First class. Then, I need to get ready for tomorrow. Everything needs to be perfect!"
"Don't worry Marinette. We'll help you," Alya said. The rest of the girls cheered in agreement. Even Marc and Nathaniel went to work drawing out scenarios for the date.
. . .
On a normal day, Adrien would have knocked before he let himself into Felix's room. This time he didn't and found Felix at his desk halfway through the history assignment. Wingg sat on his shoulder and looked up to glare at Adrien as he entered,
"What do you want?" Felix asked without looking up.
Adrien leaned on Felix's desk, though Felix still did not turn away from his textbook. "I just convinced Father we have to stay after school tomorrow to work on a group project." No response. Adrien frowned and moved closer to Felix. "That means we don't have to come right home."
Felix sighed. "Let me guess, you want me to go hang out with you and your friends now?"
That was an idea; Adrien would have to file that away for later. "No. You're going on a date."
Felix threw his head back with a groan. "Were you talking to Chat Noir again? I already told him there is no girl."
"Oh, you don't have to be so shy. I saw the two of you talking."
"Y-you did?"
"Don't be embarrassed. I get it. She's amazing. Kind, pretty, silky hair, beautiful blue eyes."
Felix stiffened in his seat. "Why don't you just ask her out, then? Be easier than cat-fighting a superhero for Ladybug. Not like I care."
Adrien wanted nothing more than to call attention to the cat joke. He stopped himself; he'd done that once as Chat Noir. Saying the same thing could make Felix suspicious. "Come on, the two of you are perfect for each other. I'm not going to stand in the way of that." Adrien put his hands on Felix's shoulder, but Felix shrugged away from him. "Besides, it's been decided. You have a date tomorrow after school. Go or I'll drag you there myself."
Adrien made his escape before Felix could protest. At the door, he took a look over his shoulder and saw Felix try to hide the small smile on his face.
. . .
Felix had to admit, Adrien did well. The cafe was a perfect spot for a date; quiet, cozy. The smell of coffee and pastries filled the air and made Felix's mouth water; he would have already ordered if his stomach wasn't so twisted in nerves. Everything was perfect; except he was still alone.
School got out almost an hour ago. Adrien made him rush over right after class, Felix assumed Zoe would have been close behind. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her at school, and if he was honest, he had avoided it. The date felt like a dream, and he was worried everything would burst if he tried to talk to her about it.
And it started to look like that had been true.
"I think I might have figured out what's going on here," Wingg said as he crawled out of Felix's sweater to float under the table.
"Yeah, I got stood up."
Zoe seemed too nice to do this on her own. The other girls must have put her up to it, no doubt after they told her how awful he was.
"That is definitely possible," Wingg agreed with a nod, "but not what I think happened this time."
Wingg cocked his head to the side, toward the other tables. Felix had grabbed one in the back corner. It was the middle of the day, but there were a few other people in the cafe scattered around. His eyes fell on one; a girl turned away from him. It was the first time Felix saw her with her hair down, but Felix would recognize that pink purse and backpack anywhere. Marinette.
"Came to laugh at me for being alone, no doubt."
Wingg rolled his eyes. "You can be so stupid sometimes. She's not even looking at you. Here's something to think about; isn't it weird Adrien said he saw you and Zoe talking. He would have been inside the hotel at the time. And the more I think of it, the more I think he didn't say her name . . ."
Felix froze. Wingg was right, Adrien hadn't given a name. The only identifying thing he said was she had blue eyes. Zoe's eyes were blue, but so were Marinette's eyes. Just the day before Felix had spoken to Marinette in front of Adrien. Hell, the whole point was that Adrien saw it and thought they were friends. The plan had worked a little too well it seemed.
"That idiot," Felix muttered through gritted teeth. He stood, Wingg disappeared into his backpack. Without a look toward Marinette, he stormed out.
. . .
Chat Noir lay stretched out on a rooftop across from the cafe. He was proud of himself. He'd managed to set up two quiet, stubborn people on a date. Even better it was his friend and his brother. Felix wouldn't share any of the details, so he would have to wait until school tomorrow to hear it from Marinette.
Chat crawled to the edge to try and get a look. Felix had to make it difficult for him and take a seat in the back, away from any windows. Chat had seen Marinette walk in a few minutes ago. Maybe he'd get lucky and they'd decide to go for a walk. That could be fun. Chat could follow at a distance, like some kind of spy jumping from shadow to shadow.
Except, all he saw was Felix push through the door, alone. It was obvious what happened; he'd chickened out. Chat could fix that.
Using his stick to anchor himself, Chat jumped from the roof the landed himself right in Felix's path.
"Chat Noir?" Felix said with a jump.
"Uh—" Stupid. Chat had been so eager to stop him, he hadn't thought of what to say. "Stop! There's an akuma!"
"So?"
"So, uh . . . you need to hide because this akuma is after Adrien! And you look like him, so it might come after you." Felix opened his mouth, but Chat grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards the cafe. "Don't worry, I'll find a place to hide you."
"If it comes after me, I could just fight it myself. I don't need to hide."
Did he always have to be so stubborn? "If you do that, then Ladybug will take your Miraculous."
Felix grumbled an agreement as they entered the cafe again. Marinette was alone at a table, chin rested in her hand, eyes and mouth angled down. Seeing her so sad tugged at Chat's heart. Felix was lucky Chat wasn't supposed to know he was on a date, or else he'd yell at him for leaving her.
"Chat Noir?" Marinette perked up as he ran by.
Chat stopped and grabbed her hand too. "Marinette, there's an akuma outside, you need to hide."
"Didn't you say it was after Adrien? Why does she need to hide?" Felix asked.
Marientte eyes went wide. "There's an akuma after Adrien? Is he okay?"
"He's fine, but you need to come with me." Chat pulled the both of them toward a closet in the back. He pulled the door open and shoved them inside. "Here, you'll be safe. Don't worry about the akuma, Ladybug and I will take care of it."
"Wait—"
Chat cut Marinette with the slam of the door. He shoved a chair under the knob for good measure. Marinette would stay put, but he wouldn't be surprised if Felix tried to escape.
Not too long ago, a similar thing had happened to Nino and Alya. Ladybug put them in a cage at the zoo to hide from an akuma, and boom! They were together. If it could work for them, it could work on Felix and Marinette. All he had to do was sit back and return in an hour or so, fake akuma defeated.
. . .
There weren't many people Marinette would want to be stuck in a closet with, but Felix was probably her last choice. Even worse, Adrien was in danger. Chat might be able to keep him safe from an akuma, but Ladybug needed to de-evilize it. She needed to get out of here.
Felix fiddled with the knob and threw his weight against the door. It thudded against its frame, but stayed shut. "Something's blocking it."
"Great. I was supposed to be on a date with Adrien, and instead, I'm stuck in a closet with his evil twin." Felix started to chuckle. Marinette curled her hands into fists. No patients left to deal with him. "What could you possibly be laughing at? Adrien's in danger!"
"Weren't you wondering why Adrien never showed up? It's not because an akuma made him late."
A fire exploded in Marinette's mind. It took all her strength not to swing at him. He did this, tricked Nino and Alya into thinking he was Adrien and wanted a date with him. Or, he found some way to stop Adrien from coming. Maybe he told their father and got him in trouble, then came to laugh at her. "What did you do?" She snapped.
"Me? Nothing. Except maybe take all the brains of the family. Adrien didn't set you up on a date with him, he set you up on one with me." Felix chuckled. "Trust me, I'm not any happier about it than you are."
"So why are you here then, if you had nothing to do with this?"
"I didn't realize he was setting us up either. I'll give Adrien this, he can be convincing when he wants to."
Marinette shook her head. A date with Adrien was too good to be true, but she didn't think it would have gone this wrong. "Why would he think we wanted to go on a date with each other?"
"No idea. Unless you secretly confessed your love for me." Felix smirked.
"Absolutely not."
"Then who knows. He's not the brightest when it comes to people." Felix banged his fist against the door. No response from the other side. "Can no one hear us?"
Ladybug could get the door down, but that meant revealing herself to Felix. Any hero could do that, the Miraculouses gave them all extra strength. Luck was always on Ladybug's side, and it seemed like Felix's Miraculous might come in handy after all. "Can't you turn into a big strong hero and get us out of here?"
"Oh," Felix said, surprised. "Good thinking, Marinette. Guess you're not as useless as I thought. Wingg, nightfall!"
Marinette rolled her eyes as Felix transformed. Live it up, Felix, that Miraculous would be in Ladybug's hands by the end of the day. He turned and with one kick the door flew open, a chair in front of it clattered to the ground. Felix threw his head over his shoulder and flashed a smile that would have been charming had it been Adrien's face.
"Don't worry about Adrien, I'll get that akuma. Maybe after that, I could convince him to actually go on a date with you."
"Wow, what a hero."
Felix ran off without another word. The thought of him loose in Paris transformed filled Marinette with dread, but it would give Ladybug an excuse to finally confront him and end this.