Adrien adjusted his headphones, and perused through the audiobooks on his phone. Alya had whisked Nino away to plan their date after school, so Adrien had some time on his own before his next class. Students milled about in the hallways, in no particular rush to make their way through classroom doors. Leaning against the wall next to the library he scanned the synopsis of one self-help audiobook called "Be Your Own Best You." It seemed a little cliché, but he shrugged and clicked on it anyway. What could it hurt. So far the best advice he'd gotten involved cheese-centered metaphors to sort out his conflicting thoughts. He just needed to figure out things before he had to face Ladybug.

Normally Adrien was more aware of his surroundings, but wrapped up in his own torn emotions, and the ethereal voice of the author, he didn't notice that he was in the sights of Lila Rossi.

"Adrien Agreste!" Lila's high pitched voice rang out as she strutted over to him. "I didn't know you and I both had a study block right now!"

Adrien didn't look up or respond. He still hadn't noticed her. If there was one thing Lila hated more than anything (yes, even more than that hack Ladybug) it was being ignored.

She cleared her voice, and pulled up one side of Adrien's headphones, whining, "Oh, Adrien you mustn't have heard me!"

Adrien jumped, with his back up against the wall, and his eyes shot open.

"I said," she continued, sliding in closer, "I didn't realize you had a study block too. What a coincidence!"

"Uh, hey Lila," Adrien made his lips smile, but his shoulders refused to relax. Everything in him told him to run.

"So, I was thinking...since I was gone last week for that exclusive modeling contract in Milan, maybe you could go over some of the equations I just can't figure out," she batted her eyelashes at him, and flipped her copper hair over her shoulder. "I mean once we shoot in London next month we will be working together all the time. Why not start now?!"

"Maybe Max would be the best person to ask," Adrien suggested. "He's got the best mark in the class, and Markov records everything."

"Oh, don't be modest Adrien. I know you're brilliant with this stuff. You don't even have to try. If you give me a little one-on-one time, I'd owe you," she pressed herself closer to him, cornering him amid the crowded hallway.

He was surrounded by other students, but somehow Lila always found a way of isolating her target, before really getting her claws into them.

"You know honestly Lila, last time I tried to help you study, I don't think you really got much out of it," Adrien eyed her warily.

"Of course I did!" Lila tried to interject.

"Plus all your lies really made things hard for Natalie, and my driver...not to mention the whole akuma disaster..." Adrien edged a few inches away from her along the wall.

"You know I didn't mean to be a bother, don't you Adrien?! Anyone can make a tiny mistake!" Lila pressed her eyes tight, breathing shallowly. (She had gotten pretty good at crying on cue over the years. Another second and the waterworks would erode Adrien's flimsy resolve!). "I just need help! I thought you were the kind of guy who would help a girl in need!" She theatrically raised her voice at the end to emphasize the coming flood of emotion.

"If you're really serious about working hard to improve your grades..." Adrien reached his hand to his pocket.

"Oh, yes, I totally am," she gushed, holding out her hands toward him.

"Well then, here you go," Adrien plucked a business card from his wallet, and pressed it into her hands. "Madame Beatrice Rousseau is the best private mathematics tutor in the country. Father had her work with me through elementary school. Just tell her you know Gabriel Agreste's son from school, and I'm sure she'll be able to fit you in."

"Madam Beatrice Rousseau?!" Lila looked down at the embossed card in her hands with a forced smile. "That is very...er...thoughtful of you, but I was thinking..." Lila looked back up to where Adrien had been standing only a second ago to find him no where in sight. He had vanished!

She narrowed her eyes scanning the hallway. Alex and Kim were arguing over who would win the football match later that afternoon. Milan, Ivan, Rose, and Julica were balancing some protest signs they had created in the art class for a protest march later on. A few other students Lila didn't care to associate with were laughing and pushing each other over a funny video they were watching on their phone. No Adrien.

"Adrien?!" she called out, making a few of the students look up curiously. "Adrien? Hey, did you see Adrien? He wanted me to go out to lunch with him, but I must have just missed him." Lila wove her way through the others, pulling students aside to inquire after her escaped quarry. When the rest of the herd dumbly shrugged in response, she stomped off down the hall in pursuit. She wasn't done with him yet.

The fugitive, Adrien Agreste, had slipped into the library, listening at the broad wooden doors to see if Lila would track him down. He had gotten pretty good at evading crazed fans, but Lila was especially persistent. He had no doubt she would be hot on his heels soon.

Deciding to find a better hiding spot, he whirled around only to run smack into Marrinette (who had been engrossed in a photo on her laptop she was carrying in front of her). The impact made his phone and her laptop clatter down to the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mari," Adrien dropped down to help her pick up her things.

"Oh, no problem," she laughed nervously. "I guess I really wasn't paying attention. Here is your..." she bent down to pass him his phone as the formal voice of the author on the audiobook read out, "To be the best you, you don't need anyone's permission. Give yourself permission to be true to yourself..."

Adrien quickly collected his phone from her hands, and pressed the pause button.

"Sounds like a good audiobook," Marinette offered, pulling at one of her ponytails.

"Yeah, well...I...uh...a friend of mine, he's been going through a bit of a hard time...sortta a crisis of identity thing...and I was trying to find a way to help him," Adrien said, shoving his phone in his pocked. Then he fumbled to pick up Marinette's laptop, and hand it over to her.

"Oh, no, you don't have to! I've got that!" Marinette tried to intercept the laptop from Adrien before he saw the screen, but she was too late.

Adrien came face to face with an article Alya had written for the Ladyblog featuring Chat Noir. A photograph of his lounging dual identity filled the screen.

"I uh...I've just been helping Alya out with her editing for the Ladyblog," Marinette tried to explain away.

"Isn't that the article she did on Chat Noir like two months ago?" Adrien asked.

"Ahhh...yes, of course, this one I was just reading...for uh...research," Marinette pressed the laptop to her chest.

Suddenly the library door creaked open, and Adrien's blood pressure spiked. Faster than anything he was crouched down behind Marinette.

"Uh, Adrien? Is everything okay?" Marinette whispered.

"You've gotta hide me!" Adrien pleaded in a whisper.

Marinette couldn't say no to that face.

"Come with me!" Marinette grabbed his hand and they half crawled, half crouched down under the oak tables. They ducked their way through dusty book shelves stealthily.

They both froze like characters stalked in a horror movie when they heard the sing-song voice of Lila call out from the doorway. "Has anyone in here seen Adrien Agreste? He's been looking everywhere for me!"

Marinette motioned to Adrien for him to follow her. Without a sound they crept further under a table, and tucked themselves behind the canvas of a world map that spanned the backwall. Marinette smiled encouragingly to Adrien, and held up a finger to her lips. Adrien nodded back with a smile.

"Adrien? Is anyone even here at all?" Lila's voice took on a more irritated tone. "He'd got to be around here somewhere!" she grumbled. Slamming the door of the seemingly vacant library, so strode off to track him down.

Both Adrien and Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," Adrien whispered.

"No problem," Marinette whispered back. "I've had to make a quick getaway pretty frequently over the years. It actually reminds me of the time we tried to escape your fans and went to the movie theatre!"

Adrien rubbed his shoulder against hers, and smiled mischievously, "no pajamas this time?"

Marinette gave him a playful shove, and said, "Hey!"

"What?!" Adrien protested jokingly, "they looked cute!"

Marinette gulped, and she couldn't help the rising tide of a blush that overwhelmed her face. "Uh...well...you cute...I mean...you're cute in clothes...or not...but the clothes are good too...but you're you...ahhhh...I think the coast is clear so we should just run away...I mean go...this way..." Marinette chattered unable to put on the breaks the words tumbling out of her mouth, and looking desperately for an exit.

"Here, follow me," Adrien took her hand in his again, and pulled her past the librarian's desk, into the back room.

"Uhh...where are we going?" Marinette asked as Adrien dodged piles of books and file folders.

"There is an old exit here through the back," Adrien said simply. "Nobody really uses it any more, but it's great for a discreet route to the roof."

"Really? Huh," Marinette said thoughtfully. "I'll have to keep that in mind."

Sure enough, tucked behind bins, and the librarian's organized chaos of the dewy decimal system there was a door. The metal service door was painted a simple slate grey, and equipped with a industrial metal handle. Marinette reached out to turn the handle, but it didn't budge."

"I think it might be locked," she said.

"Naw, don't worry. It usually needs a little encouragement," Adrien winked, and hip checked the door. Sure enough it wedged open just enough for them to squeeze through. Trotting up the cement steps, they finally got to the door that led to the roof.

After hiding in the stuffy library, the fresh air up on the roof was a welcome relief. The fact that it was quiet, besides the occasional voice or sound of a car drifting up from below, made it seem like an oasis from the world.

"This view never gets old," Marinette sighed, and Adrien looked at her thoughtfully.

"Have you been up on the school roof before?" he asked curiously.

"Well, um, it's not too far from my house, and I've got my balcony, so yeah...it is kind of the same view...just...well...my balcony at home is not quite so high," Marinette muttered, readjusting the strap of her purse.

"Yeah, I guess it kind of is," Adrien mused. Then his eyes snapped open, and he rubbed the back of his neck, and hastily added, "not that I would really know what the view of your balcony is like...I just imagined, based on the location and...yeah..."

They both stood rigidly next to each other in silence. Adrien glanced hesitantly over at Marinette, and noticed she was still holding tightly to her laptop. "So...you're doing a research project on Chat Noir huh?" he couldn't help but ask.

He had expected a question about a research paper she had mentioned to be a easy segway to bridge the silence between them. He hadn't expected to hear the most adorable squeak escape her, and watch her start acting even more flustered than usual!

"Eep! I...ah...yes...Chat Noir...I'm checking him out...I mean checking out facts about him...for a...special project," Marinette talked faster and faster. Even the fresh air around them was not enough oxygen to resupply her as she nearly started to hyperventilate about Adrien asking her about her interest in Chat Noir!

Adrien had a strangely amused look on his face when he heard her answer. "So you're still a fan of Chat Noir?" he couldn't help but pry.

"Of course!" Marinette looked at him surprised. "Chat Noir is amazing!"

Adrien's heart swelled, and he bit his lip to keep his smile from giving himself away. "You think so huh?" he replied through the flutter that threatened to break out of his chest.

"What?! Don't you?!" Marinette frowned at him reproachfully. (An expression he had never once seen her give Adrien before!)

"Well, sure," Adrien said, feeling the pressure from Marinette glare to agree, while still not wanting to give away his connection to the cat in question. "He's a superhero, so that's pretty cool."

"He's not just any superhero!" Marinette shot back fervidly. "He's the best!"

"Sooo, what kind of things have you been finding out about him for your research project?" Adrien asked, trying to act as casual as possible, while he was sure Marinette must be able to hear his heart hammering as soon as his question had left his lips.

"Well some of my favorite qualities have always been his courage, his self confidence, and his sense of humor," Marinette replied quickly getting a dreamy look on her face, but then she seemed to come back to earth. She sighed, "has there ever been a time where for the longest time you saw someone one way, and then something happens that makes your realize how much they mean to you?"

Adrien looked at Marinette, the wind tossing loose strands of her raven hair around her face. Her lips pressed together, and then parted slightly as another soft sigh escaped her. His eyes locked on her deep blue eyes that stared up at him, waiting for him to answer that question. "I...ah..." Adrien breathed out incoherently.

"I just hope I get the chance to see him again...Chat Noir I mean...he ah...saved me a few times...I mean like, of course he's saved everyone in Paris...but I had the chance to talk with him now and then," Marinette tried to explain inconspicuously. 'It's just been a while since I've seen him, and I started to get worried I might never get the chance again."

Adrien cleared his throat, and said, "he really..." *Adrien's voice cracked* "I mean, he really meant that much to you?"

Marinette's eyes widened, and her body stiffened. Had she really just confessed how much she cared for Chat Noir to Adrien?! Like the Adrien that she could never confess to...that Adrien! Her throat pinched threatening to cut off all her air completely, and she said, "Well, I um...like him...kind of like the way I like you...you know...cause you're both pawsome...I mean awesome in your own way..." At this point Marinette was fairly certain she was going to pass out.

She didn't have to worry about falling over though. As soon as she had forced the words out, Adrien had pulled her into a warm hug. Marinette melted against him as he said, "thank you Marinette! You're pretty pawsome yourself!" If only Adrien had stopped there, and just continued to hold her to the end of time. Marinette would have given everything to make him Aspik again, and repeat that moment over and over again.

...only that was not the end.

"I'm so lucky..." Adrien continued with sincerely, stepping back. (No don't say it! Don't say it! DON"T YOU SAY IT! Marinette's head screamed to itself) "...to have a friend like you," Adrien finished, driving the same nail through her heart.

"Um...hm," Marinette nodded, internally boxing up all her pining, longing, bleeding love for Adrien, and putting it in another box, and locking it deep down inside. "Yep, I'm soooo lucky too," Marinette gasped, her voice shaking, despite herself telling herself to pull it together.

"And don't worry," Adrien smiled obliviously. "I'm sure Chat Noir will show up again soon. It's like that old kids song, the cat always comes back!"

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Thank you wonderful readers! Thank you for your likes, follows, and for the reviews. I'd love to hear what your favorite 'ship' is in this crazy love square between our two heroes and why you think it is the best! (Feel free to leave it in a review or pm me). All the best:)