In this chapter, Marinette and Adrien continue working together on the project. While it's (somewhat) smooth sailing for them, everyone else is still a bit wary of him.

Can Marinette continue to break through his walls, or is she going to have to find a way to get him to let them down on his own free will?

Song(s) Included, With/Without Modifications:

Thank You for Being a Friend - Extended Golden Girls theme


During one of their class periods at school one day (Mme. Bustier gave them permission to work on their project as opposed to an actual class), Marinette was in the library with Adrien, looking for both paper and digital resources for their project. Marinette was at the bookshelves while Adrien was sitting at a table.

"How's it going, Adrien?" Marinette asked, keeping her voice down.

"Fine," Adrien reported as he bookmarked a page. "Just learned that she was illiterate and she was very pious, as you've said."

"Illiterate or not, that didn't stop her from ending the Hundred Years' War," Marinette added as she took out another book on Joan of Arc. "She was even able to get courts to stop her from being dumped into an arranged marriage at 16. Talk about a powerful girl."

"Yeah," Adrien commented absently. What Marinette didn't notice was that he had his eyes focused on her. "But..."

"But?" Marinette asked as she turned back to him with a smile.

"But, um..." Adrien began, but...

*BRING~!*

"Oops, time for lunch," Marinette said as she looked at her phone. She turned to Adrien. "Hey, Adrien...?"

"Yes?" Adrien asked as he put the book down and looked at her. She gave him a timid expression and she shook her head, thinking, 'I gotta try, at least!'

"Wanna join us? For lunch, I mean." Marinette asked him.

Adrien seemed to stiffen up for a second before sadly saying, "No."

Feeling her heart sink, she said, "What? Why?! If you talk to everyone else without any of that nastiness, then maybe-"

"Marinette, I'm sorry for confusing you, but it's not "No, I don't want to," it's "No, I can't - I'm not allowed to,"" Adrien explained as he stood up. "Father's orders."

"What? How controlling is he?" Marinette asked, although she experienced relief at the notion that he actually wanted to eat with her.

"To the extreme," Adrien spat bitterly. "He insisted that I be driven to and from school and that I eat lunch at home. Stipulations in order to be allowed to even attend public school."

"Sheesh, do you have any agency over your life at all?" Marinette asked.

"I wish," Adrien said as his phone went off. "Ugh, my driver's here. See you later?"

"...See you later." Marinette said as Adrien took up his bags and started leaving the library.

Marinette couldn't understand why, but she felt sad at the idea of Adrien not being allowed to stay for lunch. She got a text from Alya, and she looked at it, asking about her whereabouts for lunch. The rest of the girls were there, too.

Marinette sighed before going to the cafeteria to hang out with her friends for lunch.

When she got there, so were the girls.

"Hi girls," Marinette said as she sat down between Alya and Rose with her tray. She sighed sadly. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Alix said. "Kim's being as air-headed as usual with this history project."

"What topic did you decide to do?" Zoé asked.

"We decided to go with the Manhattan Project," Alix said as she ate some of her food. "Kim really doesn't get it. He thinks that the entire thing is about men and hats. Markov and Max were trying to tell him the truth, but you know Kim - he's a real doofus."

The girls laughed before Rose spoke up, "Nino and I chose to do our history project on Billie Jean King."

"Oh, she's the famous tennis player, right?" Alya asked.

"Yeah," Rose said. "The first woman to be named "Sportsperson of the Year" for Sports Illustrated. Juleka, Myléne, what are you two doing for yours?"

"We're talking about Rachel Carson and her books!" Myléne said.

"Hey, great idea! I know how much you care about solving ecological problems, Myléne," Alya commented. "Juleka, you are going to find your inner tigress and speak up in this, aren't you?"

Juleka gave a nod in response.

While talking to her friend group always made her feel better, thoughts about Adrien were never far from her mind. It was weird, though. Why is it that someone who was hurting so much and hiding behind such a bad attitude was taking up so much space in her mind? It didn't make any sense.

"Marinette? Hello?" Alya said, waving her hand in front of Marinette's face.

Marinette blinked before saying, "Yes?"

"Girl, we were talking about our history projects and we're now talking about yours," Alya said before her tone got worried and serious. "How are you and Adrien getting along?"

Marinette looked at her friends and they all gave her concerned, worried looks.

"Well, it's been fine," Marinette admitted as she put her fork through some of her food. She looked up at her friends, who had skepticism all over their faces. "What?"

"Marinette, he pushed you down the stairs." Rose said.

"He did no such thing," Marinette said, getting an annoyed look on her face. "I actually fell down the stairs on my own. He tried to keep me from falling, only to wind up falling down with me."

"Are you sure?" Alix asked, her tone still skeptical.

"Come on, girls, you know how clumsy I am," Marinette said. "We talked about it and now we're doing great on the project. We chose to do Joan of Arc!"

Again, the girls didn't seem convinced there was more to Adrien than what they'd seen.

"I mean it, girls, I really think you have him pegged wrong. There's something there, and while he's still a bit... Rough around the edges, he's at least trying." Marinette insisted.

All she got were blank stares from her friends, and Juleka mumbled something.

"Juleka, you can't just say that Adrien's a male Chloé!" Marinette said. "Like I said, he's at least trying to work with me on this project!"

"We'll believe it when we see it." Alix spat.

Marinette sighed, giving up, and continued to listen to the girls about their history projects as she ate her lunch.

Once lunch period was over and they were back in their classroom, Marinette saw that Adrien was already sitting in his usual seat. Marinette looked around and saw that while Nino was sitting alone as always, Alya was in their usual seat. Looking at Adrien, who was by himself, she looked towards Alya.

"Hey Alya," Marinette said, whispering into her best friend's ear. "Why don't you and Nino sit together today?"

"What?" Alya asked.

"I'm going to see if Adrien wants company." Marinette said as she started walking towards him.

Alya watched in surprise. Nino sat down next to her just as Marinette made it to Adrien's desk.

"Adrien." Marinette greeted. Adrien looked up at her, and while she couldn't see the top half of his face, she could tell he wasn't expecting her presence.

"Hi, Marinette," Adrien greeted back, his tone curt, and yet softer than usual. "What do you want?"

"May I sit here with you today?" Marinette asked, gesturing to Adrien's empty seat space.

Adrien looked up at her in surprise. Marinette continued to look at him with a gentle smile, and was ignoring the thunderstruck, confused, or anxious looks on her peers' faces. Everyone else shrunk back, nervous for Marinette.

Adrien coughed into his fist before saying in a snappy tone, "Do what you want."

"Okay," Marinette said, not paying Adrien's attitude any mind as she sat next to him and put her backpack on the desk. "How was your lunch?"

"Boring." Adrien said, still not looking at her.

In front, Alya and Nino looked at each other, with the latter saying, "I've gotta be dreaming, babe. Marinette is talking to that prick and not getting any lip from him?"

"She insists that we've got him wrong, but I don't know." Alya whispered back to him.

Marinette kept her smile on as she tried making conversation with Adrien. He didn't look her in the eyes, and yet he seemed to be a little softer than usual. Adrien said something that none of the others could hear, and Marinette giggled a little.

Alya and Nino looked on in confusion and worry.


That weekend, Marinette and Alya had their usual mandatory BFF Date at the former's home. They were up in her room, working on more stuff for the website, starting with Alya's Halloween outfit. Part of the outfit was already on the mannequin.

"Okay, here's the white fabric for the accents on the suit, and black for the arms." Marinette said as she took out black and white fabrics.

"It's looking good, Marinette," Alya said as she looked over what was on the mannequin. "I can't wait to see the finished piece! Nino's, too!"

"Thanks! I'm excited to see the look on Nino's face when he sees his piece!" Marinette said as she looked over her selection of green fabrics.

Alya looked around the room and saw a Gabriel advertisement on the wall. It wasn't one of Adrien's, but she saw it anyway, and Alya took a deep breath.

'Time to acknowledge the elephant in the room.' Alya thought.

"Hey Marinette?" Alya began.

"Yeah?" Marinette asked as she turned around and looked at her best friend.

"How's it going with Monsieur Hissing Tomcat?" Alya asked.

Marinette gave a shrug and a smile before saying, "It's going pretty well."

"Seriously?" Alya asked, quirking a brow in confusion. "He hasn't been bilious with you?"

"He actually has been prickly, but it's not too bad, actually," Marinette said as she took out some orange fabric. "Truth be told, he's gotten a bit nicer recently. We've gotten a lot done on the project."

"He was going out of his way to avoid you at first, wasn't he?" Alya asked.

"He did that because he was worried about me," Marinette told her as she took a few pins out. "He was more concerned about my reputation than his own, if you can believe it."

"But you'd think that he'd defend himself and tell everyone that you fell down the stairs on your own." Alya responded.

"He keeps saying that he doesn't care about how others see him..." Marinette said, trailing off.

"Are you for real?" Alya questioned, crossing her arms.

"I'm serious, Alya, I truly believe he has a heart somewhere in there," Marinette said. "He apologized for his behavior and we were able to get a big chunk of the project done because of that. I guess it just takes a little bit of time and patience to get through to him."

"Girl, why do you think there's more to Adrien than that?" Alya asked, giving her a knowing look. "He doesn't even bother socializing with anyone outside of you, and he doesn't hang around the cafeteria during lunch."

"Well, he said that his father makes him eat lunch at home. Apparently that was one of his conditions, or whatever." Marinette defended.

"Why are you sticking up for him like this?" Alya asked, all but demanding answers.

Marinette looked at Alya, and she paused. Should she blab to Alya about what she heard Adrien singing about?

"I... Just a gut reaction," Marinette said, acting evasive with her best friend. "You said it yourself: my instincts are seldom off-target."

"Uh-huh." Alya said, still sounding unconvinced.

"I mean it, Alya," Marinette insisted. "He's not just some crabby former model, I can feel it! And before you ask, no, I am NOT interested in him like that!"

"I never implied that you were." Alya responded, her arms crossed and with her cunning, knowing smile coming upon her face.

Marinette went red before shaking her head and saying, "Um, I-well, er..."

Alya giggled before her face got serious. She looked her bestie in the eye, saying, "Seriously, girl, the guy's so aloof and ill-mannered."

"He's got a crude streak, I won't argue about that," Marinette admitted as she took out the pattern for the next part of Alya's outfit. "But I have to work with him, no matter what. How's it going with you and Ivan, though?"

"We're doing a good job," Alya reported. "We decided on Eleanor Roosevelt as our topic."

"Eleanor Roosevelt, huh?" Marinette said as she marked the pattern onto the fabric with a fabric marker before putting it away and using the scissors to cut it.

"Yeah! Talk about a woman who was controversial for the time," Alya said with a big smile. "First head of the United Nations Commission of Human Rights and overseeing the drafting and passing of the Universal Human Declaration of Rights? Talk about amazing! Not only that, but Harry Truman seriously considered asking her to be his running mate in 1948!"

"That's incredible! And it sounds like you're enjoying it," Marinette laughed as she examined the cut fabric for any flaws. "How's Ivan handling the work?"

"He's a real trooper! He's telling me how he'll use what we've learned about Eleanor to help Myléne be more courageous!" Alya commented.

"That's great! I'm sure Myléne will appreciate it." Marinette said as she started sewing more fabric together with the pattern she cut.

"Can I look at what you're doing?" Alya asked as she came over to watch Marinette's handiwork with the orange fabric. "What do you think of it so far?"

"Pretty good," Marinette said. "I think I got just the right shade of orange for you. What do you think of an overcoat with coattails to go with it to make you look more like an actual fox?"

"Love the idea, girl," Alya said, clapping her hands. "Hey, how about Nino's suit?"

"I was thinking a hood on his suit, along with goggles or something like that to go with it," Marinette suggested as she opened the book to show Alya. "I'm really trying to avoid going too much into Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles. That's so cliché."

"Isn't it, though?" Alya laughed.

Marinette's phone started ringing and she looked at the screen. She gave it a quizzical expression before saying, "That's weird, Adrien's calling."

"Adrien? Calling you?" Alya asked, surprised.

"Probably about the project." Marinette said as picked up the phone and took the call (putting it on speaker), saying, "Hi, Adrien. What's up?"

"Marinette, hey," Adrien abruptly spoke from the other line. "Um, listen, I was wondering... Do you happen to be free right now?"

"Alya's here with me in my room." Marinette responded.

"Alya? The girl you're making that fox suit for?" Adrien asked. He didn't sound very happy about it.

"Yes," Marinette replied. "I'm actually working on it as we speak. Along with a turtle-themed suit for Nino."

"Nino?" Adrien questioned.

"Yep, Alya's boyfriend." Marinette explained as she looked over the design for Nino's suit.

"Then why isn't she with him?" Adrien asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Alya and I hang out with each other every weekend," Marinette said. "Why do you..."

"Well, I..." Adrien said, but Marinette heard what sounded like someone clearing his throat. "I... Um, don't we have more work to do? Joan of Arc isn't going to tell her story herself."

"Adrien, we're in a pretty good place on the project. I think we can take a bit of a break from it this weekend." Marinette said.

She heard him grumbling something under his breath, and she asked, "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Adrien said quickly. "Just... Forget I said anything. See you at school."

The sound of the phone hanging up rang out, and Marinette looked at it in worry. She sighed and said, "Well, that was weird."

"Yeah," Alya said, crossing her arms. "Though I can tell he wasn't happy that you told him about me. I still don't understand why you think he's not terrible. I mean, I get it, he tried to keep you from getting hurt during the trip, and he's nice enough to you, but still..."

Again, Marinette refused to tell Alya about catching him singing about his grief over his mother.

"...Let's get back to the Halloween suits," Marinette said. "I can make a big turtle shell for Nino to put on his back for his outfit!"

"Great idea!" Alya said, and Adrien wasn't the topic of conversation for the rest of the day.


The weekend came and went, and Marinette arrived at school that Monday.

As she walked to the stairs, she heard the sound of a car pulling up and parking. She turned around, and sure enough, Adrien was there, coming out of the car. Marinette smiled and shrugged before turning on her heel and beginning to climb the stairs to get in the school.

"Hey! Marinette!" Adrien called out. Everyone in the immediate area, having heard the gossip about Adrien, got on their guard and watched as the hooded youth approached Marinette.

Marinette turned around to face him and she asked, "Yes?"

After a few brief seconds of silence, and Adrien rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous tick, he looked at Marinette. Everyone backed away, anxious.

"...Sit next to me again?" He asked, his tone just shy of demanding.

Marinette smiled and said, "Okay."

She could swear she caught him smiling, but instead of teasing him about it, they continued to walk to class together. Everyone else was watching in surprise, confusion, horror, etc.

Marinette was looking him over, a little nervous. She saw that Adrien's hand was dangling by his side, and she contemplated taking it into her own. But she remembered how scared he was the last time she touched him, she didn't bother.

As they came into their classroom together, everyone looked at the pair like they'd seen ghosts.

Marinette didn't pay them any mind as Adrien brought her over to his seat in the back and they sat down together.

"So... How was it this weekend?" Adrien asked, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, it was so much fun!" Marinette said as she took out her sketchbook. "I've made so much progress on Alya and Nino's suits for Halloween!"

"A fox and a turtle?" Adrien asked as he looked over the sketches.

"Yeah, Alya's always been cunning and crafty like a vixen, so I thought, "what better animal than that?" As for Nino, I think the sageness that comes with turtles fits him because he tames Alya's wildness sometimes." Marinette explained.

Adrien let out a chuckle as he and Marinette kept talking.

The rest of the class was looking at the scene with mixed expressions, but they went ignored by the pair.

"She's talking to him without any problem?" "He's not giving her attitude like he did before?" "He's being nice to her?"

"Um, Marinette?" Adrien asked.

"Yes?" Marinette asked.

"I actually have something for you. Hold out your hand." Adrien began as he fished something out of his pocket.

Marinette's heart thumped at the notion and she robotically held her hand out.

Adrien put something in her hand, and folded her fingers up over it while holding it in his own. When he pulled away, Marinette looked in her hand and saw what he gave her was a €10 bill.

She looked at him in annoyance and asked, "What the hell is this about?"

"Hey, calm down, Princess," Adrien said, defensively. "I just wanted to buy more of those passion fruit macarons from your parents. They were great!"

"Ah," Marinette said in realization before giving him a smile. "Sure. I can give this to my folks and get them to you after lunch break if you'd like. But please, don't call me "Princess"."

"Thank you." Adrien said, feeling relieved.

Mme. Bustier came in and addressed the class, paying no mind to Marinette's sudden seat change.

When lunch period came around, Marinette was packing her bag and making her way to the school door.

"Marinette!" Alya called as she approached. "Where are you going? Aren't you going to eat with us?"

"Oh, I am, I just need to get some passion fruit macarons from the bakery for Adrien," Marinette said as she showed Alya the money Adrien gave her. "He said they're his favorites."

"Okay girl, but hurry back." Alya said with a skeptical shrug.

Marinette gave a nod as she ran out the door to the school to go back to the bakery.

Once lunch period ended, Marinette was back in their classroom and sitting at the desk she shared with Adrien. She slid the macaron box towards his seat.

Marinette took up her materials for the project and started looking them over.

However, a shadow cast over her. Marinette looked up and saw Chloé giving her her usual mean, nasty look at her, with Sabrina hovering from behind. Marinette rolled her eyes before looking back down at her materials.

Chloé smacked the book out of Marinette's hands.

"Hey! Chloé, what was that for?" Marinette asked.

"Listen, Dupain-Cheng, I don't know what you did to seduce Adrikins, but rest assured that it won't last." Chloé said to her.

"What? Me? Seduce Adrien? What are you talking about?" Marinette asked.

"Don't play dumb," Chloé said, leaning in closer. "You've gotten your nasty bakery claws in him and he'll find a way out at some point!"

Marinette scoffed before saying, "Oh, right, you two were friends..."

"Yeah, that may be ancient history, but you're utterly ridiculous methods of getting in his good graces are nothing! He'll never-" Chloé began, about to grab Marinette's pigtail when...

"Leave her alone!" Adrien roared from behind, causing Sabrina to scream and run.

Chloé whirled around and saw Adrien, whose fists were balled and he was trembling. He walked right past Chloé and stood between her and Marinette. He crossed his arms.

She gave him an unimpressed look, and she said, "Still wearing that trashy hoodie? Come on, that's as utterly ridiculous as Dupain-Cheng herself."

"Her name is Marinette. Use it," Adrien said sternly, causing Chloé to step back, shocked by his tone. "Honestly, Chloé, dealing with you is a waste of time, energy, and breath. I should've ended things ages ago. You need help."

"Oh, please," Chloé scoffed, waving her hands as usual. "You're the one who needs a head examination! Maybe a psychiatrist while you're at it!"

Adrien stiffened up before his jaw clenched.

"And what's wrong with that? People go to see psychologists all the time. I don't see why people shame others for it," Marinette defended. "It's no big deal. There's nothing wrong with getting therapy if you need it."

"Thank you," Adrien said, a sweet, grateful tone in his voice before turning back to Chloé. "Chloé, read my lips and get it through your head: Leave. Marinette. ALONE."

"Put your hoodie down and tell me straight." Chloé ordered.

"No." Adrien replied coldly.

"You are going to look me in the eyes with your entire handsome face, or-" Chloé began as she grabbed his hoodie and made to pull it down when...

"GET OFF!" Adrien hollered as he reflexively and roughly shoved Chloé onto the stairs onto her back, hitting her head.

"Chloé!" Sabrina cried as she ran over to the blonde.

"Listen up and listen good, Chloé," Adrien said darkly. "If I catch you, Lila, or Sabrina hassling Marinette ever again, I guarantee that any one of you will be in for more than a shove out of her space. And that's not a threat: that's a promise."

Chloé, clearly scared out of her wits, hurriedly stood up and scuttled back to her seat, Sabrina in tow.

Adrien spat before turning back, picking up Marinette's book, and going to sit.

"Adrien, why would you do that? I mean, I'm thankful, but..." Marinette began as he sat down next to her.

"She was pestering you, and getting in my space without my consent." Adrien said, turning to Marinette with a soft, almost affectionate voice. He took her hand into his own.

Marinette's heart pounded. She looked up at him, and she saw a ghost of a smile on his face.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. So, I did something," He said as he squeezed her hand. "Hopefully that will teach Chloé to mess with you, Princess."

While Marinette still wasn't quite fond of the "Princess" endearment, she refused to tell him not to call her that. She also noticed that he was holding her hand again. Her face felt warm and she felt her heart begin to pound a little.

"Here," Marinette said as she presented him with the macaron box. "Here: the passion fruit macarons. And... Again, thank you."

"No, thank you for these macarons," Adrien said as he took one out of the box and ate it. "Delicious."

They soon heard applause and Marinette looked up and saw some of their classmates clapping and cheering, including a few whistles.

"Awesome!" "Way to put that bitch in her place!" "Marinette was right about you all along!" "Nice one, dude!" "We never should've doubted her."

Out of her peripheral vision, Marinette saw that Adrien was smiling, and she could swear tears were streaming down his face.

"You okay?" She asked in a whisper.

Adrien only squeezed her hand harder, and he said with a sniffle, "Y-Yes... I'm... Just feeling so overwhelmed..."

"Really?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah." Adrien said as he subtly scooted closer to her.


After that, things began to change. The group started inviting Adrien to more of their activities. The first of which was a tree sapling planting excursion at the Trocadéro that Myléne organized with Marinette's help.

Baring Chloé, Lila, and Sabrina, the entire class was there. Kagami found time to attend, and both Marc and Zoé joined in, too. Marinette was delegating tasks to everyone.

"Okay, so since they're the fastest in our group, we'll have Alix and Kim planting trees in areas further away from us," Marinette said as she was writing things down on her checklist. "The rest of us will pair up in teams of two and plant trees in the areas where Max and Markov have scientifically marked out. Everyone clear on that?"

"Clear!" Everyone else shouted.

Marinette put the checklist down and started walking around and talking to the rest of the group, checking up on the progress. She looked at the time on her phone and noticed that it was about fifteen minutes past their meeting time.

"Adrien's late..." Marinette murmured.

"Are you sure he's going to come, Marinette?" Myléne asked as she began carrying shovels. Ivan was in the background, carrying several saplings at once.

"He should be coming," Marinette said as she looked over her phone. "According to his schedule, he should be free right now. I wonder what's taking him so long?"

"Wait, how much of his schedule do you have on your phone?" Alya asked as she was carrying a smaller sapling, while Nino had a shovel.

"Oh, for the year." Marinette said simply, only to be met with silence. She looked up and saw everyone was giving her incredulous looks.

She looked at them, and then it dawned on her how she sounded. Her face tinted red.

"Don't look at me like that! When I told him that I wanted to help him become friends with the group, he gave me his schedule for the year and I didn't even ask! Besides, as class representative, I have everyone's schedules, and Kagami, Marc, and Zoé's, too! How else am I supposed to help organize these events so everyone can join in?" Marinette defended in embarrassment.

Everyone shrugged and murmured in understanding when they heard that logic. They heard the sound of a car pulling up, and they looked at where the sound was coming from. They saw it was Adrien's chauffeur's car. It stopped at the curb, and Adrien came out from the back.

"Adrien! There you are!" Marinette said as she watched him approach the group.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. My Chinese class ran long." He apologized.

"Well, better late than never, dude." Nino said as he waved off his lateness.

Adrien smiled before saying, "Thank you."

"Okay, everyone," Marinette said as she turned around to everyone else. "Now that we're all here, let's start planting some trees!"

Everyone cheered in agreement.

While Max and Nathaniel were digging a few holes for the saplings, Ivan was carrying the larger saplings with his hands. Juleka and Rose were putting some of the saplings in the holes, meanwhile Marc, Zoé, and Kagami were filling the holes after the saplings went in.

Alya was live streaming the event and telling everyone who was watching to take time to plant a tree or be responsible with nature (like not swatting at bees, calling park rangers and conversation officers to keep animals safe, picking up trash, composting, recycling, etc.). Nino was working in the background, carrying a pot with a sapling with one hand.

Marinette had set up a food and snack table as well as some chairs in case people needed to take a break. She had macarons, apples, and slices of watermelon on a platter. She also set up a refrigerated jug of ice water for everyone.

"Marinette!" Adrien said as he came up to the table.

"What's up, Adrien?" Marinette asked.

"I... Um... Just come with me!" Adrien said brusquely as he grabbed Marinette by the arm and started leading her away. Marinette saw that he brought her a little way's away and saw there were several holes with saplings on hand.

"Shall we?" Adrien said, still rubbing the back of his neck.

Marinette smiled and gave a nod before saying, "Let's!"

"Thank you for being a friend. Traveled down a road and back again."

Adrien and Marinette lifted the biggest sapling they had, their hands brushing. Marinette's heart thumped and she looked at Adrien in minor worry. However, he seemed more focused on the task at hand.

"Your heart is true. You're a pal and a confidant."

As Marinette put the tree sapling in the hole, she took a step back before stumbling and falling onto her butt. Adrien chuckled before reaching out to help her stand.

Marinette laughed as she took his hand and he helped her up.

"And if you threw a party. Invited everyone you knew..."

Marinette encouraged Adrien to join in with the others while she went back to man the refreshment stand. Adrien pulled his hood further down to hide his face, and he got nervous as he approached the boys.

They all gave him warm, welcoming smiles as Nino handed him a shovel. A ghost of a smile came upon Adrien's face as he took the shovel and started digging.

"You would see the biggest gift would be from me. And the card attached would say "Thank you for being a friend"!"

Adrien was able to make conversation with some of the boys, but he still had bouts of rudeness on occasion. However, whenever any of the others weren't looking, Adrien would crane his neck over to where Marinette was, handing out glasses of water and snacks to the others. Again, while the top half of his face wasn't seen, his smile was still there.

"And if you threw a party. Invited everyone you knew..."

Kim and Alix got back a little while later, having finished their section in the area, and they started racing to see who could dig the most holes in an allotted time period. Markov was the stopwatch for this bet.

Kim had already started making his first hole with the shovel and once he finished, he threw the shovel down and tried to run and move on... Only to step on the handle of the shovel and for the blade and cutting edge to smack him in the face.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and started laughing at the scene of Kim stumbling around while holding his face in pain. Adrien himself was trying to hold his laughter back.

"You would see the biggest gift would be from me. And the card attached would say "Thank you for being a friend"!"

He finally cracked and started laughing along with the others. He wasn't laughing as hard as when he was at Marinette's house, but it was still a new sound to the group.

Hours passed and the entire group planted about a hundred trees in the area by the time Adrien's chauffeur came back to pick him up. The horn honked and Adrien sighed in response.

He looked at everyone else (specifically Marinette) with a sad expression and he said, "I... I'm sorry, I gotta go. Piano lessons."

Adrien's shoulders slouched a little as he turned on his heel and began to make his way to the car. He opened the door and made to go in...

"Adrien, wait!" Marinette said as she ran to catch up to him.

He turned to her and he asked, "Marinette, what's up?"

"Um, about the project," Marinette said. "We should meet up again to finish."

"Same as usual?" Adrien asked, a small smile coming upon his face. His tone was still a bit tart, though.

"Same as usual." Marinette agreed.

Adrien gave her a shy smile before saying with a gentler tone, "See you."

He got in the car, shut the door, and it drove off, with Marinette waving goodbye. She sighed in satisfaction, turned to her team, and said, "Great work today, everyone! I think that's enough for now. Let's clean up and get out of here."

"A hundred trees is a lot! We did great!" Myléne said. "Thanks for your help, Marinette!"

"It was a team effort, Myléne," Marinette said as she looked everyone over. "Shall we try doing this elsewhere on another occasion?"

Everyone started shouting and agreeing with delight, and Marinette looked up to the sky, happy.


That weekend, Adrien was once again at Marinette's house, up in her bedroom for the project.

"We're really making progress on this," Adrien said as he organized some of the materials. "How much more do we need to do?"

"I actually think we're almost done," Marinette replied as she worked on the slideshow and found a few video clips to use. "We've fulfilled all the requirements and added some bonus materials, too. Mme. Bustier is going to love it! We're a shoo-in for a good grade!"

Adrien looked at his phone in a hurried glance, took a deep breath, and he asked, "Um... Wanna watch a movie?"

Marinette glanced at him and asked, "What?"

"A movie," Adrien repeated. "I... Since we've gotten so much done, how about a break?"

Marinette thought it over before saying, "...I guess a break wouldn't hurt."

"No, it wouldn't," Adrien agreed. "So... Um... Any genres that are a no-no?"

"Horror or thriller movies." Marinette said as she pulled up one of the movie streaming services her family had on her computer (having saved the file for the project).

"Okay, then..." Adrien said. "Would a romantic comedy work?"

"Sure." Marinette said as Adrien used the remote to pick out a romantic movie.

Marinette was surprised at his choice of film - "The Princess Bride".

"Um... You don't mind this movie, do you?" Adrien asked, timidness in his voice.

"Not at all. It's a classic." Marinette said as she sat down on a wheeled chair.

Adrien stood up and grabbed Marinette's wrist.

"Hey, what are you-?!" Marinette began, only for Adrien to pull her off the chair and bring her to sit down next to him on the lounge. He was still holding her hand. When she pulled it away, Adrien swiftly grabbed it back and squeezed it.

Realizing what he wanted, Marinette shrugged and they watched the movie from where they were sitting.

'It's weird... He doesn't like it when others touch him, but when I do it...' Marinette thought as she watched Adrien out of her peripheral every now and again.


Okay, that's the end of this chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! Also, you noticed how Adrien doesn't like anyone other than Marinette touching him? There's a reason for that.

In the next chapter, Adrien's crustiness continues to fade away. But when he all but strong-arms Marinette into coming to his place to work on their history project, it doesn't turn out the way he (or she) expects...

And PSA to everyone out there: IT'S PERFECTLY OKAY TO SEE A THERAPIST! If you need help, don't hesitate to get it - it's absolutely NOTHING to be ashamed of!