Hi, everyone! I'm back with a longer chapter this time! The last few chapters have been so short. I can't remember if I said that this would be the last flashback chapter, but I changed my mind. The next chapter will pick up from here and then we'll go back to "present day" again for a few chapters. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 11: Not Just a Friend?

Adrien woke early the next morning. He was excited, as always, to go to school, but he was also looking forward to seeing Marinette too. Hopefully she would not be late this morning. If she was able to get to school early, then Adrien would be able to talk with her before school started.

Walking over to his closet, Adrien looked through his clothes, trying to decide what to wear. He pulled some things off of hangers, looked at them, and then threw them out of the closet. Nothing seemed right. His outfit would need to be casual yet...what was the word...sophisticated, maybe?

"Kid, you're stressing way too much. It's just school," Plagg teased, "definitely not worth hitting me with your clothes!"

Adrien heard Plagg dodge another shirt. "I don't know what I'm supposed to wear, Plagg. Aren't my regular clothes too plain? I mean, Marinette always sees me wearing them. Shouldn't I try to look a little different, maybe?" Really, what should he wear? It wasn't like Adrien tried too often to win the affection of girls. Most of them just seemed to automatically swarm him, since he was the Adrien Agreste. Even when he had tried to flirt with girls...well, as Cat Noir to Ladybug, it still didn't work.

"Just wear what you always do. Trust me, your girlfriend isn't going to care."

Adrien sighed as he peeked his head out of the closet to look at Plagg. "Marinette is not my girlfriend, not yet anyway, but hopefully she will be soon."

"Oh, finally got past the 'just a friend' lie?" Plagg teased Adrien again. "About time!"

"Well, she was just my friend, but I think...well, I hope that she can be more." Adrien pulled out his usual clothes. "Are you sure about this, Plagg? What if she thinks I'm too plain?"

Plagg crossed his arms as he floated in front of Adrien's face. "If you wear something different, she's definitely going to figure out that something's going on and I can't guarantee that she would like it."

Adrien looked down at his clothes again, sighing. Why did this have to be so difficult? "Okay, fine." He slipped back into his closet to put on the clothes. It took only a minute to get dressed.

Then he walked to the bathroom to brush his hair and teeth. Of course, he did this every morning, but today he made sure to make a conscious effort at both tasks. He would spare no expense because he wanted to present his very best self to Marinette when he saw her later at school.

When Adrien emerged from the bathroom, it took Plagg only seconds to mock him. "See, look at that! You look normal."

Adrien swatted at Plagg, already knowing that kwami would dodge the move. "Whatever," he grumbled a little. He still wasn't quite satisfied with his outfit, but he would make do. No way was he going to change it now. That would mess up his neatly-brushed hair. Pulling back his jacket, Adrien told his kwami, "Come on, Plagg. It's almost time to go to school."

Once Plagg had taken his usual spot in Adrien's pocket, the boy left the bedroom and walked downstairs to the open foyer. Nathalie was seated at her desk near the front door and she looked up as she saw Adrien enter the room.

"You're early this morning, Adrien."

"Yeah, I guess I'm just looking forward to school today." Adrien could practically hear Plagg snickering in his jacket pocket. Even the kwami knew that this was just a lame excuse.

"Of course," Nathalie replied, her voice as stoic as always. "Well, if you are sure that you're ready and that you have everything you'll need, you can have a seat and wait. Your ride should pull up front shortly to take you to the school." Having said all that she needed, Nathalie looked back down to concentrate again on whatever she had been working on before Adrien came into the foyer.

Adrien walked over to the waiting seats and plopped his school bag down onto the floor beside one of them. He was usually never this early to come out of his bedroom, preferring to spend as little time out around his father and Nathalie as possible. Plagg was much better company than both of them combined!

A smile came to Adrien's face as the time continued to tick by, second by second. Soon he would get to see Marinette!

...

Of course, Marinette was late. Somehow, Adrien knew it would have taken a miracle to expect otherwise. It was truly amazing how she could live so close to the school and, yet, always be so late.

Miss Bustier had already begun the roll call by the time that Marinette slipped into the classroom. Adrien's attention was immediately drawn to her. Discreetly, he gave her a smile and a small wave in silent greeting. She noticed Adrien's actions and smiled back, giving him a wave too as she snuck up to her seat behind him in the second row. It was hard for Adrien to ignore how his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her smile. This was definitely going to be way harder than he had ever expected! It was a good thing that Marinette was sitting behind him because Adrien knew that he would never be able to concentrate otherwise. No matter what, his eyes would continue to be drawn back to Marinette.

Adrien tried to concentrate during class. Really, he did! He tried to focus on his lessons and take notes, but his pencil seemed to prefer to just doodle little sketches on the sides of his papers. The doodles were terrible—Adrien was nowhere near the artist that Marinette was—but he could not help drawing them. All Adrien's mind could think about was Marinette and how he was looking forward to hopefully spending some time with her between the end of the school day and the start of his fencing lesson.

Even over the lunch break, Adrien spent more time pushing his food around on his plate than actually eating. He knew that Nathalie noticed, but she said nothing. Instead, she just silently accompanied him in the back seat of the limo on the return to school. Adrien knew that she was probably only doing it to take notes and report back to his father, but he tried not to let that get to him.

The rest of the school day passed by so slowly. Most days Adrien loved being in school and learning new things from his teachers. Today, though, it was agonizing. The hardest part of it all was knowing that Marinette was right behind him and he could not even talk with her!

Finally the last bell rang, signaling that the school day was over. Adrien shoved his books and iPad into his school bag. Most days he was more careful, in no rush to get back to his house. Today, he had a mission and he wanted to catch up with Marinette before she left.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Adrien turned back to the seat behind him. It was empty. Marinette had already slipped out the classroom door. Shoot!

Running out the door, Adrien looked around to see if he could find Marinette. Luckily, he saw her up ahead a ways, walking fast with Alya beside her. Adrien picked up his pace until he was close enough to call her name. "Marinette!"

Both girls turned back to look at Adrien. He could not help the small smile that he gave as he saw Marinette's cheeks blush slightly. She was so cute when he would speak to her when she wasn't expecting it.

"A-Adrien?"

"Uh, hi?" Adrien replied. Real smooth, Agreste! he berated himself. You choose now of all times to be shy around Marinette? She's your very good friend...and hopefully something more someday soon!

"H-Hello, Adrien?"

Oh no! Adrien could sense Marinette's confusion. She probably thinks I'm the world's biggest dork right now. What can I say? Talk to her, Adrien! "Um, I was wondering," he started, "are you busy right now?" Okay, you sound freaking lame... he berated himself again. "I mean, I have a little time before my fencing lesson and I was, um, wondering if you would like to hang out for a little bit?"

"Oh, she is not busy at all," Alya replied with a smirk. "I, on the other hand, have plenty to do. Have fun, Marinette."

"Alya! Wait!" Marinette cried out to her best friend as Alya raced away, leaving just Adrien and Marinette together.

Adrien heard something in Marinette's voice. Was it desperation? Did she not actually want to hang out with him? He had been so caught in his own feelings that Adrien never even stopped to think about how Marinette felt toward him. Maybe she really did only see Adrien just as a "very good friend". Ugh, this was so frustrating. "Um, well, you don't have to hang out with me if you don't want to..." Without even realizing it, Adrien brought his right hand up to rest on the back of his neck.

"No, no, that's not..." Marinette started. "I mean, I'd love you to hang out! I mean, I'd love to hang out with you!"

It took Adrien a moment to decipher what Marinette said, even after she corrected herself. "Really?"

Marinette gave Adrien a soft smile and he could practically feel himself melting. "Of course!"

Adrien brightened instantly. "Awesome!" He led the way to a place that he had already mentally picked out hours ago where they could just sit and talk, get to know each other better. The time until the start his fencing practice was ticking closer by the minute and Adrien did not want to waste a single second of his time with Marinette!

Not much to say, but the next chapter will have some Adrienette and some LadyNoir to look forward to! Well, until next time…