*staggers into the room*

Y'all... I survived finals... and midterms... and my own overthinking...

Where did we leave off? Oh, right, Ladybug and Chat Noir had just dealt with an akumatized Max, who was akumatized because Kim's going to prom with Chloe and Alix accidentally cornered him into going to prom with her. Marinette's promposal was scheduled for today.


On days when akuma attacks were short-term problems, schools generally tried to reconvene before the end of the day. There were always students who didn't come back, either because they'd been directly affected by the attack or because they were jumping at the chance to get a half day off.

Alix was normally one of the latter. Today, Marinette spotted Alix in the locker room as they prepared for the second half of the school day. She walked over.

"Hey Alix," she said. "Did you end up asking someone to prom?"

"Oh." Alix shut her locker. "Yeah. He, uh… It was complicated, but we're not going together."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Marinette said carefully.

"Oh, no, it's… we're just not going together," Alix explained. "He, uh… Well, we're just both going separately, and like, we'll probably hang out at prom anyways."

"So… things are okay?"

"Yep," Alix said. "We're not forcing a date, he's not alone… things are good."

Things are good, Marinette kept thinking as she and Alya headed to class. She glanced toward the back of the classroom – Max seemed to be in good spirits.

"Soooo… After school, then?" Alya said cheerily, pulling out her notebook and pens.

Marinette glanced at her promposal supplies. She'd left them in the room when they ran from the akumatized Max, and here they were still. Part of her expected them to be gone – the morning felt so long ago, now. But here they remained, a reminder of what could either be disaster or a new beginning.

"After school," Marinette said.


Nino didn't think he could be any more nervous for a prom ask than he'd been for his own. And he wasn't. But this was very close.

"We don't have to stay," Adrien said again, awkwardly.

"No, I want to study a little longer," Nino said quickly. They were sitting in the library, "studying" (that is to say, Adrien was uninterestedly skimming his physics notes and Nino was waiting for Alya to give him the go-ahead).

"You don't even have your notes out."

"I can study on my phone."

Adrien shook his head and returned to Poynting flux. Nino flipped again to his texts with Alya.

How's it going? he texted her.


"Okay. I think we're ready. Is the flower good? Do you want to rehearse or anything? We checked the CD, right?"

"Alya, everything's fine," Marinette said.

Alya wasn't sure why she was so anxious over Marinette's promposal – well, besides the obvious. More accurately, maybe, she wasn't sure why Marinette was so calm.

"Are you okay? Are you there?" Alya waved a hand in front of Marinette's face, as though a more panicked version of Marinette would magically appear.

"I'm here."

"Okay. You're ready?"

"…I think so."

"Okay. I'll text Nino."


Nino jumped when he received the text from Alya. "Okay, I'm ready to go," he said, standing up.

"Okay," Adrien said, closing his physics notebook.

Nino hopped from foot to foot as his best friend oh so slowly packed up. "Great," he said once Adrien's belongings were all in his bag. "Let's go."


Marinette examined the rose in her hand. A simple rose. Red, the color of love. Just right for a promposal that was serious, but gentle. A show of love, but not of the extravagant, overboard variety.

"He's coming," Alya said.


"Where are you going?"

"I left a book in my locker."

"Oh, for the love of–"


Alya was hiding beneath the stairs with the CD player and speakers, so she didn't see him approach.

"Uh… hey, Marinette."

Marinette turned to the voice.

"Oh. Hello, Nathanael."


"Adrien."

"Hey, Lila."


"I was wondering…"


"I made this for you," Lila said, pulling a stuffed fox out from behind her back. "I was also wondering…"


"Could I take you to la bal? I mean, would you go with me… Could we go together?" Nathanael asked, pushing a piece of paper Marinette's way.

At this point Alya figured out what was going on and hopped up onto the stairs. "Whoa, wait, you can't just do that–"

"I'll go with you."

Alya's jaw dropped straight through the floor and into the earth. "What?!"

Marinette's eyes were on the paper Nathanael had given her – she remembered his art style from the last time she'd received one of his drawings. It was a picture of her, wearing a ballgown, and him on one knee, hand reached out as a way of saying, "May I have this dance?"

"I'd be honored to go to la bal with you," Marinette said, smiling in a way that eased Nathanael's heart.


"Of course I'll go with you," Adrien said, smiling. Lila smiled back. Unlike the stuffed fox – Adrien could feel the remains of a tag that had been cut off – her expression was genuine.

"Okay! So, ah… I guess I'll text you to coordinate things?" Lila said. "I can cover the flowers."

"Oh, that's all right. I can get those."

Lila opened her mouth to argue, but ended up laughing instead. "Right. Fashion designer dad."

"Yeah." He laughed too.


"Marinette, you know I support you no matter what," Alya said ten minutes later, standing in Marinette's room, "but, what?"

"I mean, I'm willing to go with Nathanael," Marinette said. "He's nice. Did you see the look on his face? I think that made his day."

"What about Adrien? What about the love of your life?"

"I… I kind of didn't want to ask him."

"Why?"

"He's still sad from the girl who said no," Marinette said. "I didn't want to push him. It's not possible to ask without pushing him, if Alix is any evidence. He'd say yes for my sake, but he needs time to recover. He needs space. I don't want to do that to him."

She was rambling just a little, trying to fully articulate her reasoning. Alya sighed, shook her head, and wrapped her arms around her best friend.

"I hate how considerate you are," she said. "I really do."


"Adrien, why?"

"Why not?"

"Lila? The snake?!"

"Lila's not that bad," Adrien said, frowning. "She lies because she wants people to think she's cool."

"She acts like she's better than everyone."

"Maybe that's just how everyone sees her. Remember when I first got here, and you all thought I was a snob?"

Nino faltered. Adrien smiled. "Besides, she seemed happy when I said yes. As long as I can't go with who I wanted to go with, why not make someone else happy by going with them?"

Nino groaned. "You're too selfless," he said. "Why are you like this?"

Adrien shook his head, smiling. If I can make someone that happy…


then I have no regrets, Marinette thought.


Muahahahaha.