Alya walked away to get Nino another cup of water, and she happened to get closer to Adrien and Marinette. She heard Adrien making puns and saw Marinette wince in reaction, but she knew her best friend. Marinette was a sucker for a pun, no matter how bad they are.

Alya knew she promised not to interfere, but she didn't promise not to listen to what the two of them were talking about. Alya decided to go undercover and get closer to them to figure out what they were talking about.

Adrien was telling Marinette about some details that he really liked about the designs as they scrolled through her Instagram page together. Adrien's arm was practically pressed against Marinette's as they stood out of the way of the other partygoers.

"I think you're cool," Marinette told him, "can I get your number?" She brushed some hair behind her ear and smiled, a little more bashful than she was before. "I'm not trying to like… flirt or anything, you're just friends with Nino and I figured you'd be cool to hang out with, maybe somewhere less hectic than a party."

"That'd be great," he told her. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it before handing the 'Create Contact' screen to Marinette. She opened the same screen on her phone before handing it to him.

'Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Mobile: +33 01 12 01 04 25
Social Media: MDCDesigns'

'Adrien
Mobile: +33 01 03 08 01 20' He looked over and saw that Marinette included her last name and social media. He edited his contact information on her phone, just in case she thought he was weird for not including it in the first place.

'Adrien Agreste
Mobile: +33 01 03 08 01 20
Social Media: Adrien1013'

It wasn't the official Agreste Brand social media, but it was something that he set up before he came to school, just for himself. He figured that as a designer, she had probably already chosen whether to follow the official Twitter account or not. They returned their phones and he put his back into his pocket.

They spent the rest of the evening talking and she barely even registered that he had the same last name as one of her favorite designers. Gabriel Agreste was a recluse, though, and from what she heard, he was cold and harsh, so she assumed there was no way he was related to the guy she had been talking to for hours.

Alya was silently cheering as she watched her best friend talk to Adrien. She was practically skipping as she returned to Nino back at the DJ stand. Nino was letting a mix play out when she approached and she handed his water to him with a bright smile on her face.

"It has been like 10 minutes, what have you already done," he asked in a half-joking accusation. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had intervened regardless, but usually, she would try to keep one of their sillier promises until at least midnight. He checked the time quickly and it was still only about 23h30.

"I haven't done anything," she defended. "I just happened to see Adrien and Marinette exchanging numbers." She did a little happy dance and Nino chuckled at his girlfriend's action. She raised a hand to ask her boyfriend for a high five and he was happy to provide.

It was only about 00h00 when Marinette started to yawn. She wanted to spend some more time with Alya and Nino, but between starting classes and being the guardian of the miracle box, she barely had enough time to sleep through the night. "I think I'm gonna head out soon," she told Adrien, once again raising her voice slightly to be heard over the music.

"It was great meeting you," he told her, "I'd love to see more of your designs in person, so let me know if you ever want to hang out." She nodded agreeably and extended her arms out to offer a hug to him. He was happy to accept the hug she offered and Alya, from her place next to Nino, was thrilled to see the two share a hug.

Marinette went over to the DJ stand, assuming Alya would be near Nino. She was right, so she went over to her best friend and waved to Nino who waved to her in response. "I'm going to head out," Marinette told Alya, "I need to go to sleep." Marinette leaned her head onto Alya's shoulder like she was going to use her as a pillow.

"Do you want me to head out with you," Alya offered, running her fingers across Marinette's hair in a gentle show of affection.

"Nah," Marinette refused through a yawn, "we're not too far from the apartment, plus I'm stronger than I look." Marinette jokingly flexed, but it was still pretty early compared to how late Alya and Nino usually went home, so Alya knew she could trust Marinette to get home safely even though she was going alone.

"Text me when you get home," Alya told her and Marinette nodded. She gave Alya a kiss on the cheek and waved to Nino again before she made her way out of the party. She was thankful that Alya hadn't insisted on walking home with her because she wanted to transform and get home as Ladybug. That wasn't something that she would've been able to do in front of Alya.

Marinette untied the sweatshirt from her waist and put it on for her walk home. She was fine with what she was wearing when she was in a place where she knew people, but she figured that it would be better to cover herself up, even though she was going to be transforming soon.

Marinette left the building and was looking around for a place to transform into her alter ego, but before she could find one, she was surprised by the sound of footfalls in front of her. She looked up and saw Chat Noir standing on the sidewalk in front of her. She tried not to let her surprise show on her face.

"Chat Noir," she greeted in an attempt to be casual, "is there something I can do for you?" She hadn't stopped walking, but she slowed her pace slightly to show a willingness to talk to him while she walked home.

"No," he responded, "I saw a citizen of my city walking around late at night and I thought I could escort you home." She had been his partner for years, she knew that wasn't how he talked. He sounded stilted, like this wasn't something he ever did, even though she, as Ladybug, has seen him help dozens of people home over the years.

She knew that she wanted to transform so she could get home as quickly as possible, but she also knew her partner was a worrier. There was no way that he, as a superhero, would have let a civilian walk home in the dark all alone without at least keeping an eye on her from a distance to make sure she got there safely.

"Thank you, Chat Noir. That's very kind of you." She smiled at him politely and he walked by her side. They were both silent as they walked and she didn't know if they were supposed to talk or not. As Ladybug, she would keep an eye on people from afar and only step in if she needed to, which rarely happened outside of akuma attacks.

"So, are you a fan of Rena Rouge?" Adrien knew that he and Marinette had just spent hours talking about her designs at the party, but that was Adrien, not Chat Noir, and he didn't deal well with silence. He made a vague motion to the oversized sweatshirt that was practically engulfing her.

"No," Marinette answered with a smirk, "I actually don't like Rena Rouge at all, she's the worst. I made this outfit out of spite." She giggled briefly. "I'm kidding, though, the heroes are all really cool and I can't imagine what it's like to be a hero. It seems like it would be so stressful to juggle your own life with trying to save the city. I'm constantly impressed by how hard all of you work."

He had learned earlier that Marinette liked the heroes, but he hadn't expected her to be so blunt with one of the heroes themselves. Marinette, on the other hand, had been wanting to tell Chat Noir everything she was saying for years, but she never got the chance to as a civilian and it felt like it would have been weird if she'd said those things as Ladybug.

Marinette was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to talk to Chat Noir once their conversation got started. It didn't feel like they had to talk or like there was pressure to keep the conversation going, but it felt natural. Like, even though Chat Noir didn't know Marinette, they still got along just as well as they did when she was Ladybug.

Marinette spent a surprisingly long while of their walk laughing. While her talk with Adrien was focused on fashion, the conversation with Chat Noir bounced between topics from her school, to a few recent akumas, to the other heroes. She found herself having a surprisingly fun time with him and almost didn't want to tell him when they got to her apartment building.

"Thank you for walking me home," she said with a soft smile on her face, "this is me." Marinette was surprised that she wanted to kiss his cheek, but she'd heard him mention people who'd kissed him on the cheek without his permission in the past and she didn't want to give off a bad impression as a civilian.

"It was my purrleasure," he said and paused, realizing she hadn't told Chat Noir her name. He knew no one questioned it when Ladybug knew names, but he didn't know how she knew so many people when he only knew a handful. He didn't want it to be suspicious that he knew her name without knowing others.

"Marinette," she offered, "my name is Marinette."

"Well, I'm glad you got home safely, Marinette," he added, "have a great rest of your night." He offered a two-fingered salute then took off back in the direction from where they came. He went back to the venue for the party and transformed back into his civilian self. He found Alya and Nino again.

Alya spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out if he liked Marinette. He was thankful for the years he'd had lessons about dealing with reporters. He was able to talk circles around Alya instead of having to figure out if he had feelings for the girl he'd been talking to all night. He thought she was nice to spend time with, but he wasn't sure if it was a crush or just platonic.