Author's note – the quest to update the 2016 writing continues….

Eventually, Ladybug and Chat Noir needed to go home and sleep, but neither of them had really wanted to part ways. Finally, after a fair amount of time had passed, Ladybug's earrings signalled that she needed to be on her way.

"I'm sorry Chat, I have to go," she said, as he was obviously slightly upset that she needed to leave.

"Yea, of course, I understand," he said, longing in his voice. Just as the both of them had gotten up, and Ladybug was about to reach out her yo-yo and swing home, she felt his hand on her arm, stopping her action.

"Wait," he interjected, causing her to turn around and look at him, "could- I mean I know you shouldn't but…" he stuttered, not quite getting the words out. "Would it really be so bad if you stayed?"

"Chat, you know we can't-"

"I know, I know, we can't know each other's real identity, nobody can, but…" he trailed off, obviously longing for more.

"But what?" Ladybug had had this conversation many a time already, without ever asking this question. What did her identity behind the mask matter? He would only be disappointed if he knew the truth. Marinette wasn't exciting, brave, or graceful; she wasn't what he wanted.

"I just – we're partners! I should know, we should know who each other really are. You can trust me, and I can trust you too!" He looked at her, desperation showing through his eyes.

"Some things are better left unknown," Ladybug replied, as she extended her yo-yo out and linked onto a nearby building. Then, before Chat could reply, she was off into the night. She felt her eyes watering, maybe from the wind, or maybe for another reason entirely. She couldn't tell, or rather, wouldn't let herself think about it long enough to figure it out.

Just as she came through her bedroom window, her transformation gave out, and she collapsed onto her bed. She shimmied under her covers, no pyjamas, and fell asleep right away, only stopping to check to see if her alarm was set before passing out entirely. The only thing keeping her from breaking down entirely was the desperate thought that Adrian had spent all this time with her this weekend, and would spend more time with her tomorrow, no mask. Maybe, just maybe, he had actually enjoyed their time just as much as she had. With that thought desperately in her mind, she was out like a light.

..

Adrian woke up to his alarm beeping ferociously in his ear. He quickly pressed the snooze button without a second thought, which was odd for Adrian, given the fact that he rarely ever hit snooze. The only reason his did now was because of his late night with Ladybug; he had known that he needed to be up no later than 8 to get to the library for 10, so why on earth had he stayed out so late with Ladybug yet again? Wait, dumb question. The answer to that was easy, as he would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant another night like the one he had had last night. He couldn't help but feel that their moment on the rooftop was more than just a friendly gesture, and his heart was pounding all over again. Ladybug could actually be falling for him just as much as he had fallen for her, and he was beyond overjoyed at the thought. How would he focus today with Marinette?

"Marinette. Shoot. I need to go to the library." Adrian let out an unimpressed groan and stretched himself out in his bed, trying to wake up. He finally rolled himself out of bed and walked up to his closet, trying to figure out what to wear. He would normally just pull the first thing he saw out of his cupboard, knowing that it would look nice given his expensive options, but today he felt like he needed to do more than that. Why that was, he wasn't quite sure, but the thought of his hanging around Marinette all day gave him the gut instinct to try a little bit harder. How peculiar. He finally decided on his outfit, got ready, and headed off to the library.

When he arrived, Marinette was sitting at a table in the sunlight. The beams hit her, and the light traveled through the hair around her head, giving her a heavenly glow as she looked down at her desk, reading the book in front of her. He couldn't help but notice how lovely she looked right in that moment. A weird thing to think, this was Marinette after all, so his feelings surprised him. However, the thought made him warm inside, and so he decided to simply roll with it; noticing beauty and feeling happy wasn't a crime after all.

As he walked closer, he saw that she wasn't really reading at all, and was a bit perplexed to see that Marinette looked like she was talking to someone, or something in her bag. However, as soon as he got close enough to take a better look, Marinette closed her purse and looked up, flushed.

"Hi Adrian! Uh, will this table do? I figured I'd get us a seat since I hadn't seen you yet."

"Yea, this will do perfectly." He put his bag down beside the seat and sat down across from Marinette, who was now proceeding to get out her books from her backpack.

"So, Marinette said, her hands clasped in front of her and resting on the table, "let's get started, shall we?"

..

Two hours later, their essays were completed. Adrian was surprised by how much easier writing this essay had been with Marinette's help. Of course he had known that Marinette's help was going to make his essay way better than if he had written it on his own, but he hadn't realized just how much. Adrian sat back in his chair, the sunlight still beaming through the windows and giving Adrian a pleasant warmth. He looked across the table at this girl that he hadn't really known just a little while ago. Sure they had been friends, but not like this. It's like Marinette had finally let her guard down around him, and Adrian relished this, because he finally felt he was getting to know the real Marinette that had fascinated him so much. Plus, he couldn't help but feel a little bit smug, because he was right in trying to reach out to her, despite what seemed like her hesitations before. Today proved just how well they worked together. "We would make a good team," he thought to himself, thinking back on the past two hours. It was like every thought he had, she had been able to finish it for him in the exact way that he had needed, but had not known how to finish for himself. "Plus," he thought, "I think I was able to do the same for her." It was true, he had also been able to get in her head and had known what she had needed as well. Adrian felt like they had been working together for, well, what felt like practically forever. It didn't feel like this was the first time they had worked in tandem. "But it was, that's the weird part." Maybe it was just that they were destined to be friends? This entire situation baffled Adrian, and just made him want to figure out Marinette even more. The weirdest part about his time with Marinette was that he hadn't thought about Ladybug in two whole hours. Adrian's mind was reeling, and he felt torn, and yet didn't quite understand why. Not yet anyway. Just then, he heard Marinette's stomach growl loudly from under the table. She looked up at him, eyes wide and face red.

"Uh, guess I'm a little hungry," she said, embarrassed.

"You, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, have one of the loudest stomachs I have every come across," Adrian said with a smile. Did he find it… cute? Marinette reddened even further. "Hey, it's not a bad thing. Just makes it easier for me to be able to tell when I need to take you out for a lunch break. My treat."

Marinette didn't know what to say. "Um, that's … well… thank you, but not necessary at all. I can pay for my own food."

"Nonsense, my essay would be in shambles if it wasn't for you. Please. Consider this my thanks," Adrian replied with a genuine smile.

"Oh, well, I mean…" Adrian grabbed Marinette's hand and had pulled her up before she could object any further. He grabbed her books from the table in one hand and kept a hold of her hand with the other, and pulled her out of the library. Marinette quickly grabbed Tikki, her heart racing, and let herself be dragged toward the door.

"So, I know this really great sushi place just around the corner from here, what do you think? Do you like sushi?" Adrian asked as they walked out of the library and toward what Marinette assumed was the direction of the sushi place. But she couldn't focus on the question, because all of her attention was narrowed in on her hand. Her hand, that was still in Adrian's as they walked down the street. She was panicking. Why was he holding her hand? He could have let go any time now, had he forgotten he was holding it?

"Uh," Marinette squeaked, "yea, sushi sounds great."

"Perfect," Adrian replied, smiling his charming, perfect smile in her direction. Marinette swooned. How was she going to survive lunch? Just then, Adrian received a buzz. His other hand still firmly keeping a hold of Marinette's books, he had to let go of her hand to check his phone. Despite being horribly disappointed that he had let go, Marinette also felt much calmer having her hand back, and horribly self-aware of it dangling by her side. Adrian slid his phone back into his pocket. His hand went down to his side, and hung there aimlessly, his knuckles grazing the back of Marinette's hand occasionally as their arms swung. Finally, they arrived at the restaurant and Adrian opened the door for Marinette, leading her into a quaint little sushi shop.

"Hello and welcome," greeted one of the servers, "please feel free to take a seat wherever you please, and a server will be with you shortly."

Adrian walked over to a seat beside the window, grabbing Marinette's chair for her.

"Uh, thank you..." Marinette said awkwardly as she took her seat. She'd never had anyone be so chivalrous towards her and didn't quite know how to react.

"Sorry, I don't mean to make it awkward, my mum just raised me to be courteous," Adrian replied, sensing Marinette's discomfort.

"No, please, don't apologize. It's… sweet," Marinette replied with a blush. The hand holding, the door, the chair, all of these things were confusing Marinette to no end. This was one strange lunch. "Your mum sounds like she knows her manners. Are you two close?"

"Uh, I mean, I don't see her a lot anymore..." Adrian replied, trailing off.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Adrian cutting her off, keen to change the subject. "So, Madmoiselle Dupain-Cheng, your fans are dying to know: you're obviously really smart, and quite the video game connoisseur. Your parents own a bakery and you're obviously too nice for your own good giving that you agreed to help the lost cause, to complete his essay. Given all of this, I need to know… have I been spending time with a robot all weekend? That's the only explanation for how perfect your life seems. I promise to never tell another soul, scout's honour. You can trust me."

Marinette burst into laughter, embarrassed by the flattery. "God no, far from it. My life is in no way perfect. But, I do have to admit, it's not too shabby." Marinette couldn't help but notice Adrian's Chat-like goofiness. And that line about trusting him... had Chat not said those exact words to her last night?

"Well, please, tell me more. I want to learn all about you," Adrian replied. Something about Marinette was nagging at Adrian too, like she was more than she appeared, and Adrian needed to know what.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Marinette asked, just as a waitress came over to their table.

"Good afternoon you two lovebirds, ready to order?"

Marinette turned bright red and gapped at the waitress, unable to look at Adrian, despite wanting nothing more than to see how he would react to this. Marinette tried to look at him out of the corner of her eye. She thought that his face looked sort of red. She also noticed that he was… smiling? Adrian coughed and the grin wiped away. "What on earth could that mean?" Marinette though to herself as her heart pounded a thousand miles a minute.

Then, without acknowledging anything strange about the remark, Adrian placed his order. Marinette also fumbled out some string of words, hoping that they made a comprehensible lunch order, as she was unable to think properly anymore. "Yep, no way am I making it out of this lunch alive. I am going to die of a heart attack." Finally, after the waitress had gone back into the kitchen and was out of her sight, Marinette turned her attention back to the boy sitting across the table from her.

Adrian drummed his fingers nervously. That waitress had thought that they were a couple, and Adrian had kind of liked it. His heart fluttered. He was nervous as hell and very, very conflicted. He loved Ladybug, more than anything, and he knew that his feelings for her hadn't changed; especially not after their night together, which had been a breakthrough. But, then, if that night was so wonderful, why was he even thinking about this whole "lovebirds" things with Marinette?

"Doesn't matter," he thought, "because I am in love with Ladybug, no question." But, the more important point was that she didn't seem to feel the same way. Maybe that was why he was thinking more and more about Marinette. Could he really be in love with Ladybug and feel something with Marinette also? Were these feelings real, or just him longing for something with Ladybug and looking for anything to fill the cracks? If his feelings were real, that meant that he liked two different women at the same time, and Adrian didn't like that one bit. It made him feel slimy. Yet, sitting here with Marinette… everything felt right. He knew that he liked her, in some way.

"Lovebirds…" he thought to himself, "I mean, would I want to be lovebirds with Marinette?" Ugh, love was so confusing.

"Earth to Adrian," Marinette said, breaking Adrian out of his own head, "are you okay?"

Adrian looked at Marinette, more confused than ever, and yet, also finally at a certain amount of peace. "So, weren't you telling me about yourself?" he said, expertly deflecting the question. "I am in no way okay Marinette, but to hell with it. Who says I can't flirt with both of you? I don't have to be okay. I like you Marinette, and everyone knows that that'll make a person a little crazy." With that thought, Adrian knew that things were about to get very interesting in his love life, and definitely wouldn't be simple for quite some time.

Author's note – and we have liftoff! Adrian understands he has feelings for Marinette… but also still likes Ladybug… what on earth will he do? Only time can tell xx