The rotting smell in the air cleared, and Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. Whoever was creating the Makara seriously had too much time on their hands. Lately, the Makara had been attacking every week or so, which was seriously messing with Marinette's body. She stretched her arms in front of her and groaned when her back cracked. Her partner's ring beeped next to her.

"I have to go," he said. Her heart wilted unhappily. She didn't bother speaking and instead waved pathetically as he bounded away. Man, even with the new cat ears and bell, he looked good in that suit. And, he got to wear boots. Marinette tenderly walked across the street to the Akuma victim. Her suit was good, but it was basically a onesie. The fabric covering her feet had little structure, and felt a little like wearing thick socks. It was nice when she wanted to grip things with her toes, but otherwise, it was just uncomfortable.

"Hey," Marinette sat down next to the Akuma victim. She was usually pretty good at this, but she felt a little unsure how to proceed with this boy in particular: Ivan Bruelle. She'd known him for years, and they used to be pretty good friends. Then, he'd found his crowd with Juleka and Nathaniel, and hadn't spent much time with Marinette since. "Are you ok?"

Ivan shifted and nodded. He was a quiet guy, always had been. Marinette studied him. He'd grown taller since she'd last talked to him, and he'd dyed some of his hair. She wondered if he listened to Luka's band. She mentally cringed as she thought of her ex-boyfriend.

"Any reason you were Akumatized? Anything I can help with? It might have sounded like I was being pretentious, but I meant it when I said anyone could lean on me. I'll be there."

Ivan was silent for a second, glancing around at the officers going around and checking the entire scene of the attack, and storing their liquid nitrogen containers. Marinette gave him time to think. She hadn't ever been Akumatized, but she could imagine it was traumatizing. She wondered if he remembered anything from the last hour. She looked at him enviously. He certainly didn't sport any injuries from the fight. Lucky.

"I was feeling insecure," he confided, leaning closer to her and lowering his voice. "You see, there's this girl in class I like. I want to tell her, but...I think she likes someone else. I guess the attack just came at a really bad time for me, and then the man asked if I wanted to help."

"The man?" Ladybug asked. No Akuma victim had ever spoken about a man. "Who? What did he say? Did you see him?"

"No, no," Ivan shook his head and furrowed his brows. "The man, he...he…" Ivan paused. "That's so weird. I swear, I could remember it so vividly, but now, I can't tell you anything. All I can remember is I was talking to a man before I was turned into an Akuma. I can't even tell you if I saw him."

Marinette nodded, trying not to show her frustration. She took a deep breath and changed her attitude. She shouldn't be annoyed, she should be ecstatic! They now had a clue about the Akuma. She couldn't wait to tell Cat Noir!

"That's ok," Marinette assured Ivan. "Don't force yourself to remember. You might just make it worse." Ivan nodded. "Why don't you tell me more about the girl you like?"

"Her name's Mylene." Marinette was shocked, honestly. She never would have imagined it. Mylene was just about as different from Ivan as a person could get. While Ivan was tall and dark and foreboding, Mylene was short, cute, and bubbly. It was easy to get Mylene to open up about anything, and she cried and laughed with ease. Ivan had to be cajoled into sharing his last name. Still, it was cute, to see such an expressionless guy so flustered over a girl.

"You think she doesn't like you?" That didn't seem like the case to Marinette. It would be easy to tell if Mylene didn't like someone. The girl practically wailed everytime she was forced to talk to Chloe.

"No, we're friends." Ivan said glumly. "She said I was her best friend, and she never wanted to lose me." Marinette winced. Not the friend-zone.

"Ouch."

"I've been trying to work up the nerve to tell her how I feel, but every time I do, I see her staring at this new kid in class." Marinette's stomach dropped, and she got a bad taste in her mouth. She had a feeling she knew who this new kid was.

"Do you know him, or if he likes her?"

Ivan shook his head. "I don't talk to many people, especially not his kind. I don't know. Maybe I should just give up. If she likes him, I want her to be happy."

"Don't give up!" Marinette couldn't stand quitters. She stood up and helped Ivan stand, too. "You have to try before you quit; you can't quit before you try. I think things will work out in your favor."

Ivan smiled slightly at her as she led him home. "Thanks. I'll try." Well, she would make sure he would.


Adrien pulled out his computer and opened up his father's records. It had been easy enough to get access. All he'd had to do was tell Natalie that he needed to check some things, and she'd given him all the usernames and passwords he'd needed. He'd been following through with his promise and was determined to find out who'd stolen Marinette's work. It was surprisingly fun to dig through his father's company. He felt like a detective in one of those TV shows he knew Gorilla liked watching.

He'd first followed through with the name Natalie provided, but that had only given him so much information. Gregoire Astruc had simply published the magazine, he didn't design anything, or take credit for any of the designs. He took the information given to him and printed it, and that was all. He'd given Adrien the names of all the designers he'd worked with on the last magazine publication, and that was when Adrien's investigation had really taken off.

He'd looked into all the designers who Gregoire had named, as well as some who were just a little suspicious in his eyes. From that list, he'd seen that some of them were about to be fired from a series of failed collections. Those designers he kept in a red list and moved onto his next stage of investigation. He'd gone back to the past ten competitions Agreste Industries held, looking for the winners. Nine of them had been Marinette. She'd never been mentioned in the Agreste magazine, as promised by the competition. Yet, as he dug through any complaints against Agreste Industries, he found that Marinette had never said anything about this. She'd taken the money, noticed her uncredited work in the magazine, and moved on. This shocked him.

For the few months he'd known Marinette, he'd seen her fight against every injustice and perceived slight sent her way. It was almost inconceivable that she would take this lying down. It just didn't make sense to him, why wouldn't she demand that Agreste Industries credit her for her designs?

He shook his head and closed the computer. He had no possible answer, he'd just have to ask her.


The next day, school day started like always. Slowly. Mrs. Bustier stuttered through her lesson before their first break, and then the class moved to the science room. Mrs. Mendeleiv was much harsher of a teacher, so she didn't leave if Chloe and Marinette argued. Instead, she got involved as well, and was widely considered by the class as the worst teacher they had. Thankfully, her lesson passed quickly enough, and then the class got to enjoy their lunch break.

Adrien stood up, telling Chloe to go ahead without him. He had a few things to take care of. She nodded and sauntered off with Sabrina in tow. Nino followed after her like a love-sick puppy. Adrien looked at him sadly. The poor guy had no chance. The rest of the class fled the room, and Adrien scanned the crowd for a certain petite, short-tempered Asian girl.

"Hey." Well, speak of the devil and she shall appear. Adrien looked down and looked at her. Her ice blue eyes were as neutral as she seemed able to get them, but they still glowed with a hint of heat, that subtle reminder that she thought he'd been one of the people stealing her designs. Her blue-black hair was loose around her shoulders, which looked really cool with her outfit. He wondered if she'd made the black turtleneck and brown pants herself, or if she'd bought them.

"Marinette," he greeted, packing his things up. "I was actually looking for you."

"Were you?" She didn't sound like she believed him. She shook her head. "Wait, I can be nice." She cleared her throat. "Were you?" Somehow she sounded more threatening the second time.

"Uh, yeah." He looked at the door. "Can we walk to the cafeteria?" Marinette shook her head.

"No, I need to ask you something."

Adrien cocked his head to the side. She clearly hated speaking to him. What could possibly get her to seek him out and attempt a civil conversation with him? Maybe she'd finally found proof that her designs had been stolen and was going to hand it to him and demand money, or she'd go public with the information. That seemed like the only logical reason she would put herself through the obvious torture of his company.

"I think I know what you're going to say," Adrien sighed. He'd been disliked before. Usually, it had to do with his modeling career, or his 'glamorous' lifestyle, or his family's buckets of money. No one had ever disliked him because they thought he himself had done something to target them. It hurt, and it annoyed him, but in all honesty, he couldn't blame her for arriving at the conclusion she did. She didn't have all the facts. But he did, and he would tell her the truth. "I don't have anything to do with it."

"So, you don't like Mylene?" Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. Adrien blinked. That came so out of left field he couldn't compute what she was talking about.

"Wait, what?"

"You totally didn't know what I was going to say," Marinette rolled her eyes. "Why would you think you know what I'm thinking when you don't even know me? That's stupid, just like-" she cut herself off and took a calming breath. "Whatever, I'm getting off topic. Do you like Mylene?"

"Who's Mylene?" Adrien asked, completely flabbergasted by this conversation.

"So, you don't?"

"I don't even know who she is." Adrien wondered if this would be a good time to bring up his investigation into the theft of her designs. He was too curious, though. He would just tell her later. "Why do you want to know?"

"Ivan likes her, and he thinks she likes you." Marinette started walking towards the exit. Adrien followed closely behind. He didn't have to slow his pace at all for the short girl, which surprised him somewhat.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Nothing. Now that I know you don't like her, I can get to work setting them up together."

"Can I help?" Adrien asked, excited. Marinette frowned at him.

"No."

"Come on, you might need me!" Adrien urged. "Not all girls think like you. If you really want to give Ivan a chance with Mylene, don't you think I could help?"

"How could you help?" Marinette snorted.

"I could figure out if she likes me or not!" He said excitedly, moving in front of her. "I'll ask her out, and if she says no, you'll know for sure she doesn't like me."

"Why would you do that?" Marinette questioned. "You apparently don't even know who she is, and I doubt you know who Ivan is, either."

"I…" Adrien swallowed. "I don't want to be an outcast anymore. Chloe's been my friend forever, and now I have Nino, but I've been in school for months, and I haven't made a single friend unless it was an accident. I don't want everyone to think I'm horrible, like you do."

"I wouldn't think you were so bad if you at least owned up to what you did and apologized." Marinette glowered at him, and kept walking. Adrien wasn't sure if he should follow anymore. She paused and looked back at him. "Well? You give me that whole speech and you give up a second later? What a loser."

He sped to reach her. "So, you're letting me help?"

"Don't get me wrong," she grimaced. "I'm not doing this to be nice, even though that should be the reason. I just don't want other people to judge you from my experiences. Everyone deserves to see for themselves what kind of person you are."

She had this amazing talent to make nice words sound like the vilest of all insults. They were silent as they rounded the corner to the cafeteria.

"Ok, there's a slight problem," Marinette admitted as they entered. "Ivan doesn't know that we're helping him." Her eyes scanned the people sitting and eating. Adrien followed her line of sight when she found whoever she'd been looking for. There was a group of five or six people. There were two boys. One was skinny with red hair. The other was taller, beefier, with duo colored hair, and a skull on his shirt. The redhead was talking to Juleka and Rose. The stockier guy was staring at a short girl with rainbow highlights.

"What? Then how could you possibly know he likes her?"

"I have my ways," Marinette defended. "Besides, look at them!" She pointed to the small rainbow-haired girl and her large shadow.

"I am," Adrien confirmed. The guy wasn't talking at all, and avoided eye contact at all costs. The girl didn't seem to care and kept talking, pausing only to swallow mouthfuls of food. "Are you sure he likes her?"

"What do you expect him to do?" Marinette turned on him, exasperated. "Look into her eyes and confess his love for her every thirty seconds? Or maybe you think he should kneel in front of her and cry that he knows she likes someone else, but to please give him a chance?"

"Well it sounds stupid when you say it like that," Adrien mumbled. "So, how are we going to get him to let us help him?"

"I was going to invite him to my family bakery after school today and talk to him." Marinette looked at him pursed lips. It looked like someone was trying to pull all her teeth out. "You come, too. It's the Dupain Bakery down the street. It's hard to miss."

Adrien nodded, excited. He knew Marinette didn't like him, but that didn't stop him from admiring him. He wished he was half as courageous and stubborn as she was. If he was, maybe he could have convinced his father to spend time with him, and maybe his life wouldn't seem as out of control as it always felt. He looked at Marinette, who was now heading to her friends. She always seemed so competent, and in charge of her life. She was small, but so solid, like a tornado could come at her, but fail to knock her down. He knew he couldn't change himself to be like her, but maybe, if she got to know him, she'd be willing to be his friend, and then her courage would rub off on him.


Adrien could practically feel Plagg salivating as he entered the Dupain Bakery. Or maybe that was just him. The bakery was small and simple. The floor was white, the walls were checkered with powder blue, and the doors were a light brown wood. There were a few tables and seats to the left in front of some large windows. It gave an excellent view of the pile of garbage Paris was slowly becoming. Most important of all, the bakery smelled devine. He wasn't even hungry, but Adrien wanted to eat everything in the display case, and maybe more. The ambiance of the store was so warm, Adrien wished he could come here after a Makara attack instead of going to his own cold, empty home and taking a scalding shower.

"Hello," a woman greeted from behind the cash register. She was about the same height as Marinette, but carried a little more weight on her, and her hair was shorter. Also, she smiled, and Marinette hadn't smiled since he'd known her. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"Hi!" He greeted. "My name is Adrien." The woman nodded politely. She had no idea who he was. "I'm here to meet up with Marinette and Ivan?"

"Oh!" The woman's eyes widened, and she looked him over. She pursed her lips and gave him a sympathetic glance. "Don't let anything she says get to you," she patted his arm, leading him to the back of the store. "She just says the first thing on her mind, even if it's not very kind."

Adrien chuckled. "You don't have to tell me that,"

"Oh, dear," the woman said. "I thought she was trying to be nice to you?"

"I am being nice to him," Marinette groused from her seat. Ivan sat next to her. When he saw Adrien walking towards him, his head snapped to Marinette. Now the poor guy was looking terribly confused, and Adrien would bet Marinette didn't even begin to explain why they wanted to talk to him.

"She is," Adrien assured. "Thanks for worrying about me."

"He's so nice," the woman turned to her daughter and glared at her. Well. At least now Adrien knew where she got that fearsome expression from. "Be nice."

"I am nice."

"You're...not?" Ivan ventured to say.

"Shut up," Marinette snapped at him. "I'm plenty nice, you just don't know it yet. Why do you think you're here? And why do you think he's here?" She gestured towards Adrien. He waved at Ivan and sat down between the two of them. Marinette's mother looked at the three of them, opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it. She turned and went back to the cashier.

"I have absolutely no idea," Ivan said when Marinette's mom was out of eyesight.

"We noticed you like Mylene," Adrien cut straight to the point. Marinette nodded. Ivan's face went white, and his fingers clenched the table, knuckles white.

"And I think you think she likes Adrien," Marinette added.

"How...how did you find out?"

"Well, Marinette told me," Adrien admitted.

"Women's intuition," Marinette said. Adrien burst out laughing. She glared at him until he quieted down. "Anyway, it doesn't matter how we found out-we're going to help you, and you're going to be happy about it. See? I'm nice."

"Why?" Ivan looked like he wanted to say a lot more, but for whatever reason, he didn't.

"We were friends," Marinette said. "Remember? Friends help each other."

"But, we haven't talked in a long time. Why would you-"

"Does it matter?" Marinette snapped. "You were a good friend, and it's not like I hate you now or anything. I just want you to be happy, and I can help, is that a crime?"

Adrien stared at her. If this was anyone else, he would have thought she had some ulterior motive to helping Ivan with his romance. But this was Marinette, who always lectured about the merits of the truth, and fought for justice, even when it made her a villain to the class. He believed her. She just wanted her old friend to be happy. She was rough with the explanation, but her heart was in the right place.

"I just want the class to like me," Adrien offered, trying to give Ivan that selfish angle that would make more sense than Marinette's altruistic explanation. "I thought if I helped you, the rest of the class wouldn't avoid me anymore."

Ivan nodded. "Alright. So...do you guys have any ideas?"

"Well," Adrien said, suddenly self-conscious. "We kind of do. You might not like it, though."

"We're going to get Adrien to ask Mylene out." Marinette was many things, but not one to mince words. "If she likes him, we'll make the date go horribly, and after she gets over him, we can get her to see what a good guy you are. If she says no, we'll help you like, woo her, or whatever."

Ivan definitely did not like this idea. "This sounds dumb."

"It's better than doing nothing," Marinette pointed out.

"I wasn't doing nothing," Ivan played with a piece of paper in his hands. "I had...I wrote a song for her."

"Oh," Marinette's face froze. "That's...uh…"

"Can we read it?" Adrien jumped in. He didn't want to shoot Ivan's idea down without first reading the words, at least. Ivan hesitantly handed the paper over to the two of them. He twiddled his fingers.

"I've been working on it for a while. Do you think it's ok?"

Marinette unfolded the paper, and Adrien leaned over to read it with her. She read the words out loud in the most monotonous voice he'd heard in his life:

"Mylene, be serene.
Mylene, be serene.
Mylene, be serene.
Mylene, be mine."

"Well, it's a start," Adrien smiled kindly at him.

"Why 'serene?'" Marinette questioned, not taking her eyes off the paper. "And why so many times?" She mumbled to herself.

"She's always so tense," Ivan looked down at his hands. "I just wanted her to calm down, and let her know she could be like that with me."

"Maybe we could add more words?" Adrien said. "I think she'll get the idea after the first time you say 'serene.' Maybe there's something which rhymes with that?"

"Clean?" Ivan offered. Adrien looked at Marinette. She pursed her lips.

"Maybe," she said lightly, handing Ivan the paper back.

"Let's talk about how you talk to her," Adrien suggested, noting the tense and uncomfortable atmosphere which was developing. "Oh, I have an idea! What if you bow to her when you see her, and call her your lady?"

"What?" Ivan was confused.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Adrien took Marinette's hand. She snatched it away. He rolled his eyes. "Allow me to demonstrate," he emphasized. She sighed and gave him her hand. He bowed over it and said, "Good morning, M'lady. How are you today?"

"That is so lame," Marinette snorted while Ivan nodded in pitying agreement.

"Well, at least I'm throwing out ideas," Adrien sat back in his seat and crossed his arms.

"Queen rhymes with 'serene,'" Marinette said. "If you want to go the old-timey route, and if you're sure you want to continue with the...song."

"That could work." Ivan nodded. "I'll try and write more for my song tonight. Could I show you guys tomorrow?"

"Sure," Marinette agreed.

"Or, you could just sing it to Mylene without us proofreading it," Adrien suggested. "I'll ask her out in the morning. I'm positive she'll turn me down. Then, you swoop in and make your big gesture. Next thing you know, you'll be dating the girl of your dreams."

Ivan looked unsure, and Marinette was looking at him like an idiot. Marinette's mom chose that moment to check on them, tray in hand. She left a few moments later leaving them with a pile of croissants and donuts. Adrien's nutritionist would have a stroke if she saw him eating this. He dug in, grabbing the croissant on top. It was delicious-light and flakey and buttery and just so good.

Ivan and Marinette continued talking, now reminiscing about some old memories or something. Adrien couldn't find it in him to pay much attention to their talk when there were so many delicious croissants to be eaten.

His phone rang, and Adrien froze in the middle of reaching for the last croissant.

"Go ahead," Marinette said. That was impressive. He hadn't known she'd even remembered he was still there. "You can eat as many as you like."

"I wish," he looked longingly at the baked treat. "My ride's outside. I have to go home."

Marinette and Ivan looked outside. It was still bright out.

"Do you have a curfew?" Ivan asked. "At 3 pm?"

"I wish," Adrien sighed, standing up. "I have fencing practice, and I need to go home to get ready for that."

Ivan said good-bye, and Marinette nodded. That was progress. She didn't glare at him. In fact, she even handed him the last croissant.

"No one could eat it now," she explained as he looked at her like she was a goddess. "You looked so sad when you thought you couldn't eat it, everyone else would feel too guilty to even pick it up."

In the end, Adrien gave the croissant to Gorilla, who requested they stop by the bakery more often. Adrien gladly agreed.


Marinette paused before she left the bakery the next day. It wasn't uncommon to have early customers. In fact, a lot of people came by to get a baked breakfast before heading off to work or school. It was weird, though, to see Adrien Agreste chatting with her mom and buying a bag of pastries. He passed the bag to a tall man in a suit next to him. The muscular man dug through the bag and picked out an oatmeal cookie.

"Marinette," Adrien looked at her nervously. He glanced at Sabine. "Do you want to ride to school with me?"

Her dad popped out of the kitchen, delighted. "Of course she would! Right, Marinette?"

Not even the devil could deny Tom Dupain when he looked so hopeful.

"Sure," she mumbled, following the blonde out the door. She sat in the pedicab. She settled in the cushion on the seat. Adrien sat next to her, decidedly more stiff than her. She took a big swig of coffee and raised her eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure what to do," he admitted. She wasn't sure what he was talking about. "About Mylene," he specified. "I'm asking her out today, remember?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I've never asked anyone out before," he admitted, then tensed. It was like he was expecting her to punch him, or make fun of him. That just went to show how little he knew her, Marinette thought. She didn't make fun of people, especially when it came to their experience or lack thereof in romantic relationships. That was totally their business, and she had no right to judge that.

"You don't like her," she reminded him. "And we're hoping she rejects you. Why do you care about this?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "It's just nerve-wracking. Like, what if she laughs at me after she turns me down? I want to make friends, not become the class joke."

"You won't," she assured him. "I won't let that happen." She looked at the scenery, surprised to see they were almost at school already. "Oh, woah."

"What?"

"I just wasn't expecting us to have gotten this far already. I usually walk, so it takes like twenty minutes to get to school."

"Why not take a pedicab? It's getting colder in the mornings, and it would be more convenient."

Be patient, be patient, she reminded herself. She took a sip of coffee. He was rich, he didn't get it. It was up to her to make him see.

"My family isn't rich like yours," she said. "We have to save all the money we can, and we can't splurge on a pedicab, or on a taxi every morning just because it would be more convenient. We have other things to prioritize."

"Oh," Adrien looked at her. He cautiously questioned: "Umm, is that why you didn't file a complaint against Agreste Industries for not crediting your work?"

She felt her temper rising. "I'm trying to be nice," she grit out. "Why are you trying to make me mad?"

"I'm not trying to," he promised. "I'm just curious. You fight everything, and you're never quiet about things which bother you. Why would you keep quiet about this, and why are you so mad about the design from the park?"

"Because it was mine!" She cried. How could he not understand? And why did he need to know? "That was my design, and I wanted to make it before anyone else could steal it. I've been entering Agreste competitions for years, and I know they steal the designs and don't credit them, and yeah, it sucks, but I enter those designs knowing no one will know I made them. The design from the park was going to stay mine, and I wasn't going to enter it in any competition. I liked it, and I wanted to keep it!"

"But why wouldn't you fight for your designs?" Adrien pressed, leaning closer as they rolled up to the school. "You fight for everything else."

"No," Marinette said, voice hard. "I fight for what I believe in. When I enter those designs, I'm giving it up for the money I'll earn for my family. I know what I'm getting into, so I can't complain. The park? That was just an invasion of privacy. Someone looked over my shoulder-you looked over my shoulder-and stole my design. And we got no money for it." Marinette turned her head to the side and laughed derisively. "Of course you wouldn't have understood why I'm so upset. You've never had to worry about money, have you?"

She left the pedicab, not looking back. She knew the answer. There was no way Adrien Agreste, son of Gabriel Agreste, had ever had to worry about having enough money for the mortgage, or utilities that month. He'd never had to work for weeks on a design, making sure it was perfect, and then signing it away to a large corporation for no credit and a couple hundred euros. He'd never had to make choices like that, and it showed. He was so naive. Marinette knew it wasn't his fault he was born into that life, and she shouldn't blame him for not understanding. But it was his fault he stole her designs. It was his fault he didn't acknowledge it. It was his fault he hadn't apologized.

She stomped into the classroom and Mrs. Bustier fled. Marinette snorted and made her way to the desk she shared with Alya.

"Woah, girl," Alya exchanged glances with Nino. "Take another sip of coffee. You look like you could bite my head off."

"People need to stop saying that," she spat. "It's not funny."

"Come on, Palm Face," Nino grinned at her. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to tell you," she said.

"It's Adrien?" Alya guessed.

"I'm trying to be patient, I swear. He's just so...aggravating!"

"You're no walk in the park yourself, Marinette," Nino frowned. "What could he possibly have done this morning to get you so worked up?"

"Well, he came by and bought some stuff from the bakery. Then we rode to school together on his pedicab and we talked about-ok that's a long story and I'll tell you guys later. Basically, he was asking why I was so pissed about the stolen design from the park, and not the ones from earlier. It just-"

"You know, I'm still not convinced he was the one who stole your designs," Alya cut in. "Why would he have stolen your earlier designs? I thought he was just a model, not a part of the actual business?"

"So maybe he didn't steal the designs I submitted for the contests. He was the only one there at the park. He was the only one who could have stolen that design!"

"Did you say thanks?" Nino asked as Adrien walked into the room. "Because you know, he let you ride his pedicab this morning?"

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, then closed it with an audible click. She stood up and marched to his desk. Chloe glared up at her, fists clenched and ready for a fight. Marinette ignored her. She couldn't be like her-someone who only saw the bad in people and ignored all the good things they did. She couldn't be one of those people who didn't thank others for the good they did, even if they also did horrible things.

"Thank you," she said haltingly. Adrien looked surprised. "For letting me ride in your pedicab this morning. I'm sorry I got mad at you. You were just curious," She sniffed and looked down her nose at him. "I hope you gather your courage soon and apologize to me, too."

She turned on her heel and plopped down next to Alya again. She sipped more coffee. Ah, sweet coffee. Her only reliable friend. Coffee never bothered her, or questioned her, or made her do things she didn't want to. She closed her eyes and took another sip. It was so good.

"Aww, I'm proud of you, Palm Face,"

"Shut up," Marinette hissed. She glared across the room at Adrien. He blinked at her. She looked pointedly at Mylene, and he looked nervous. He looked at her and shook his head. She rolled her eyes. Good God. Fine, she'd talk to him during lunch.

Class went by relatively quickly. She fell asleep for most of it, which probably helped. She woke up in time for Mrs. Mendeleiv to talk about the scientific discoveries about the slime Mylene's Akuma had created, and how the puddles were helping get rid of large amounts of landfill waste.

The lunch bell rang. Mrs. Mendeleiv was one of those teachers who insisted the bell didn't dismiss them, and that the class should wait until she let them out. Marinette ignored her and left anyway. What could that bitchy old bat do to her, anyway? Detentions were banned due to the unpredictable nature of Makara and Akumas, and her parents were too busy to stand a parent-teacher conference. At most, Mrs. Mendeleiv could give her a bad grade, and it wasn't like Marinette particularly cared about her science class.

She waited outside the cafeteria for Ivan and Adrien to show up.

"You shouldn't have left," Ivan said. "Mrs. Mendeleiv looked like she was going to explode."

Marinette shrugged indifferently. "Where's Adrien?"

"I, uh, pointed him in Mylene's direction, and he's, uh, asking her out, now."

Marinette put a comforting hand on Ivan's arm. "It'll be ok. Why on earth would she say yes to him?"

"Guys," Adrien rushed over to them, looking ruffled and confused. "We've got a bit of a problem. She said yes."

"What?" Marinette cried. "This is impossible! She likes Ivan!"

"I knew it," Ivan mumbled to himself. "Thanks for trying, I guess. Adrien, don't hurt her. She doesn't deserve that."

"You're going to give up?" Adrien asked, astonished.

"No, he's not going to give up," Marinette snapped. "Remember the original plan? If she said yes, you'll just take her on a really obnoxious date. It won't be hard, I bet."

"It might," Adrien's face was an interesting shade of red. "I've never been on a date before. How am I supposed to know the difference between a good date and a bad one?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Fine. Here's what we'll do. After school, we'll go on a fake date. Ivan, you come, too. We'll plan out the worst date possible, and then we'll figure out when and how Ivan can swoop in and, I don't know…"

"Woo her?" Ivan provided helpfully. Marinette nodded.

"Yeah, that."

"Hey, how's your song coming?" Adrien asked. Marinette could not be here for this. Flashbacks of her time with Luka were seriously stressing her out, and she refused to hear about Ivan's lyrics. She said she was hungry and left the two to talk about Ivan's song.


"So, what exactly does Mylene hate?" Marinette asked Ivan. Adrien looked to him as well. He was the only one who knew Mylene very well, so whatever he said was going to determine his date with Mylene the next day.

"Um, horror movies?"

"Oh, awesome, I love horror movies," Marinette smiled as she pulled her phone out. "Let's check if there's any new horror movies out in the theaters."

"I thought this was supposed to be a bad date?" Adrien questioned as the three of them walked through the streets of Paris. Marinette had made them leave the bakery after her dad had started crying. The man had talked to him for about two minutes, then started blubbering about his daughter, and how she was a lot kinder than she seemed. Marinette's face had turned an interesting shade of red, and she'd practically shoved him and Ivan out the doors of the bakery. She was surprisingly strong for such a small girl.

"For Mylene, yeah," Marinette said. "But I'm carving out an afternoon for this. I refuse to be bored or annoyed the entire time."

"I think The Watchers came out a few days ago," Adrien said, now understanding the purpose of today. "Do you actually want to watch it?" He really hoped she said no.

"Yeah. That way, you'll already have seen it when you go tomorrow. Try to be on your phone a lot, that would be annoying and rude. Oh, and leave to go to the bathroom a lot. Leave her alone as often as possible."

"But she'll be scared," Ivan looked uneasy. "She gets scared easily."

Oh, Adrien knew that. She'd screamed when he said her name in the hallway at school earlier, and cried when he asked her on the date. It was uncomfortable, and Adrien couldn't wait for tomorrow to be over.

"Yeah, but we want her to have a bad time, remember?" Marinette reminded him. "Besides, it's just a movie. She'll be fine." Ivan's teeth clicked in his mouth, and Adrien wondered what was on the beefy boy's mind. Why didn't he ever say anything?

"Come on," Adrien led them to the movie theater. "My treat."

"Music to my ears," Marinette sighed. "Buy snacks, too. I want nachos."

"Sure. Ivan, popcorn?"

They all walked into the theater and Adrien watched his first movie in a theater with kids his age. It was amazing. The movie itself was horrible. He'd always hated horror movies. They tended to give him nightmares. This one wasn't very scary, thankfully, it was more of a thriller than anything. Honestly, it wasn't his kind of movie, and he was pretty bored throughout it, but the knowledge that he was sitting with kids from his class made it amazing. Adrien had never been a fan of horror films, but he found he appreciated them a lot more with Marinette snorting and laughing next to him. She didn't seem to be scared by a single thing in the movie, and Adrien soon found himself laughing alongside her. The people below them turned in their seats to scowl at them and shush them. Ivan moved a few seats away to keep from being associated with the two of them.

After the movie, Marinette filled him in on her opinion, and why the director's first movie was much better. Adrien hadn't seen the first movie, and he wondered if, after he told her what he'd found out about her stolen designs, she'd want to watch it with him. If he was with her, he'd actually want to watch it, even if Marinette said it was scarier than the one they'd just seen.

"Is this the whole date?" Adrien asked.

"It would be a pretty awful date," Marinette noted.

"Mylene's thoughtful," Ivan argued. "If it was cut short now, she'd just think you were having a bad day and want to go on another date with you."

"Alright, let's go rollerskating," Marinette decided. Ivan looked at her like she was crazy. He opened his mouth to say something, but then something cleared in his expression, and he nodded along with the plan. Adrien didn't bother questioning it. If Ivan agreed, it was probably a good idea. The three of them started walking to the roller skating rink, but Adrien got tired. He hailed a pedicab. He paid again, obviously.

"Oh, split the bill when you're on the date!" Marinette piped up as they entered the rink. "On the real date. Not this one. It's fine if you pay for us on this date."

They got fitted in skates and shakily entered the smooth wooden rink. Ivan moved forward in small increments, barely moving a few centimeters at a time. Marinette tried to take a big stride and ended up on her back. Adrien tried to reach down and help her up, but the skates messed with his balance, and he accidentally fell on top of her.

"Sorry, sorry!" He pushed himself up, and Marinette shakily stood up on her own.

"No problem." her arms stuck out like airplane wings and she tried moving forward with a big push again. Her arms started waving in the air, and Adrien could see her about to fall back. He rushed forward and pushed her back, keeping her upright.

"Oomf!" she said, surprised. She looked back, conflicted. "Thanks."

Ivan finally caught up with them, and the three of them shakily made their way to the actual ring.

"This is not fun." Ivan said. Another amateur skater ran into him, and he was knocked to the ground. Adrien and Marinette didn't dare stop skating-they had a relatively smooth pace now, and they didn't want to ruin it. "This is not fun!" Ivan said louder, making sure they could hear him.

Marinette and Adrien slowly made their way around the rink, hand in hand. It wasn't romantic, or anything. They just found that it was easier to stay steady when they held onto each other. They eventually made their way back to Ivan, who had just barely managed to stand up. He put his arm around Adrien's shoulder, and the three of them took the rink by storm. People had to get out of their way, or they would be bulldozed. The supervisors of the rink told them a few times to break it up, but between Marinette's glare, Ivan's intimidating presence, and Adrien's polite smile, they soon gave up.

Ivan kept falling, and pulling Adrien down with him. He was starting to get sweaty, and people kept bumping into Marinette, sending her into a hurricane of curse words. It was the most fun Adrien had had in years. He didn't even try to keep the smile off his face.

Ivan was, once again, knocked over. Adrien let go of his arm and moved away before Ivan could pull him down again. He fell with a loud thud. After an hour of patience, the gentle giant's patience ran out. He swung on the man who had crashed into him and explained, in careful words, how many other paths he could've taken, which wouldn't have ended up with Ivan on the floor.

A noise came out of Marinette at his side, and Adrien looked down at her. He blinked. She was smiling-no, not just smiling. She was laughing. The happiest he'd ever seen her was when she'd scoffed at the movie earlier. He thought she looked good when she wasn't scowling. But when she was smiling? She was beautiful.

His heart thudded hard enough for him to notice. That was weird. He rubbed his chest.

"Are you ok?" Marinette looked up at him. Her eyes, for once, weren't full of disdain and malice. She was worried. He swallowed.

"I don't know." He said honestly. "My chest hurts. Maybe I'm tired?"

"Let's get Ivan and go," she said. "We can't go back, so we have to go around one more time." Adrien nodded and skated along with her. For whatever reason, the idea of leaving and going home did not make him feel better. Ivan, on the other hand, was ecstatic that they would be leaving.

"Mylene is going to have an awful time tomorrow," Ivan confirmed as they all climbed into Adrien's pedicab. "I think I'll ask her out at lunch the day after, so she's not overwhelmed."

"Good idea," Marinette nodded. She hesitated. "Are you...still singing the song?"

The rest of the ride was spent strategizing how Ivan would confess to Mylene, and how he would ask her out. A good portion was dedicated to improving his song. Adrien hoped Mylene would go out with Ivan. He was a good guy, if quiet. And, he really liked her. Adrien would do everything in his power to get Mylene to stop liking him on their date tomorrow. Gorilla stopped in front of Ivan's house first. It was the closest. Then the pedicab was silent. Adrien gathered his nerve. It was time to tell Marinette the truth about who had stolen her designs. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous-she would be happy, he was sure. He was just acting stupid.

"Marinette, I need to tell you something." He looked at her, hoping she was paying attention. She shifted in her seat and looked at him expectantly. "I didn't steal your design that day in the park." He saw her opening her mouth, but he put his hand on her arm. "Wait, let me finish. Please?" For a second, he wasn't sure she would listen to him. If she didn't want to listen to him, he was sure she would jump out of the pedicab and walk home, no matter how far away they were.

"Fine," she said. "I'll listen."

"So, I've been doing a little digging into my father's company," Adrien rushed to say everything, in case she decided to change her mind and stopped listening to him. "You see, Nino told me about all your designs appearing in the Agreste magazine, but none of them being credited. So, I looked into that, first. Well, I wouldn't say I looked into that first, but that was the first lead I had which gave me results.

"Anyway, after a few days of looking through everything, I found the girl who's been stealing your designs. Her name is Simone Barchechat. She used to be a really promising designer, but her last two collections have been flops and she was going to be fired if she didn't perform better. So, she stole your work. I'm still not sure how she did that without anyone finding out, but she's been fired, and I've got some people looking into the company and weeding out anyone who might've been involved in this.

"I still don't know who stole your design at the park, but I'm working on it. I wasn't the only one there at the photo shoot, and I'm sure anyone there could've had some sort of motive to steal your work." Adrien took a deep breath and looked at Marinette's face. She looked shocked, like she wasn't sure how to respond. Adrien licked his lips and swallowed. Why was he so nervous to talk to her? He'd seen her when she was much more aggressive, and he hadn't been half this nervous.

"I'm sorry my father's company put you through so much," he said. Then he dug through his pockets. "I, uh, I'm sure this isn't enough to compensate you for the violation of privacy, but it's two hundred euros from the company."

Marinette took the money, looking like she wasn't sure what was happening. Gorilla slowed the pedicab, and a moment later, they were stopped in front of Marinette's house. She looked at the bakery, then down at the money in her hands.

"Well, shit," she said. Her lips pursed, and she looked into Adrien's eyes. "I should be asking you for proof," she said. "I shouldn't believe what you just said." Adrien's heart was dropping. Oh, yeah. He hadn't thought of bringing along proof. "But for some reason, I believe you. You really didn't steal my design?"

"No."

"You should've said so earlier, idiot," she shook her head and got out of the pedicab. She walked to the door. Gorilla didn't start pedaling. He wanted to see her inside before he left. She turned back to him. "Good luck on your date tomorrow." Then, she entered the bakery.

Adrien released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Gorilla started pedaling. He was a bit disappointed. He felt underwhelmed, almost. What had he expected? Anything but the small, subdued reaction he'd gotten.

Marinette was outgoing, loud, not afraid to let people know exactly what she was thinking. That Marinette back there? The one who'd reacted, but not really said anything? Adrien wasn't sure what to do with her. That wasn't the girl he looked forward to listen to as she talked about whatever had captured her attention. That wasn't the girl he loved to watch as she tore down the next perpetrator of evil in her path. That wasn't the girl he'd come to admire so intensely. That wasn't the girl he'd fallen for. Adrien's heart felt like it paused. Oh, shit.

"Gorilla," Adrien said, rubbing his chest. "I like that girl."

Gorilla looked back at him. "Do you want a response to that?"

"No," Adrien sat back and rubbed his eyes. "I guess I just needed to tell someone. I just found out today, you know."

"Well, alright. We'll be back in fifteen minutes, so try to be finished processing by the time we get back."


Marinette felt horrible the next morning. She didn't tend to sleep a lot regularly, but last night had been horrible. She'd tossed and turned, remembering every single thing she'd said to Adrien when she thought he was a horrible, lying bastard. In the end, Nino had been right the whole time. Adrien was a good guy. She'd been horrible to him, and he'd still gone through the trouble to dig through his dad's company and fire the designer who'd stolen her designs. He'd, foolishly, endured all her harsh words, and hadn't lashed out at her once. He'd continued his investigation and told her the truth, not mocking her or getting angry at her once. She wished he'd yelled. She deserved it.

She entered the classroom and paused at the doorway. Adrien was already at his seat. He was talking to Chloe, facing away from the class. No one else paid attention to him. No one even looked his way. She wondered if anyone even looked his way when he entered the room in the mornings, like how her friends sought her out when she got to school. She drew her shoulders back and walked to Adrien's desk. Everyone's conversations quieted, and they watched her. She knew that would happen. Usually, she only came to this desk because she had some bone to pick with Chloe. Not this time.

"I thought you were a selfish jerk, and I've made that very clear the entire time I've felt like that," Marinette stared cooly at Adrien. "You didn't say anything to defend yourself, and I don't get that at all-it seems stupid and it makes me feel like an asshole now, because I need to apologize. You're a good guy, and I'm sorry for everything I said."

The class gasped quietly. Marinette wasn't known to apologize. Chloe's jaw dropped. Adrien was staring at her, his jaw propped on his fist. He was studying her with a slight smile on his lips.

"Well?" She demanded after an uncomfortable moment of silence. "Are you going to respond at all?" He was silent. Fists clenched at her sides, she snapped: "Did you even hear a word I said?"

"No," he admitted. "But you sure are gorgeous."

This must be it. This was his revenge for how terribly she'd treated him. "I deserve this. I deserve this, I can't get mad," she mumbled to herself, stomping back to her seat.

"If that's all it takes to get her to leave, I should've said that years ago!" Chloe's voice wasn't usually this irritating, Marinette was sure. She somehow managed to sit angrily in her seat, and chugged her coffee. So sweet, so warm, so soothing. Nino covered her eyes with his hand.

"I'm proud of you, Palm Face." He said.

"I didn't do it for you," she snapped. "I said it because he's a good guy, and he deserves a public apology."

"Aww, Marinette," Alya poked Marinette's cheek. "That was surprisingly sweet of you!" Marinette slapped her hand away, wanting to go home already.


The following afternoon, Adrien was trying his best to convince Ivan to just go for it. Mylene would say yes, he was sure of it. Throughout the date yesterday, all Mylene had talked about was Ivan. Ivan this, Ivan that, Ivan said this, Ivan did that. It was sweet for the first twenty minutes, and then it just got annoying. Still, Adrien had an image to uphold for Agreste Industries. He'd smiled for the entire date, no matter how much he wished the girl next to him was a little shorter, a little more fierce, and had blue eyes instead of brown.

"She agreed to go on a date with you," Ivan pointed out, folding and unfolding the paper in his hands.

"It was a pity date, believe me," Adrien internally winced. He'd now officially been on two dates: one of them had been a fake date with Marinette and Ivan, and the other had been a pity date with a girl he didn't even like. Now that was just pathetic.

"Where are we going, Marinette?" Mylene's voice was getting louder as Marinette led her around the corner, to the back of the school.

"I told you, it's a surprise. You'll like it. I guarantee it."

Adrien gave Ivan one last reassuring pat on the back and he disappeared behind some bushes. Marinette told Mylene that Ivan had something to tell her, and soon she joined him in the bushes. His heart thudded for a second, but Adrien forced himself to ignore it. He had other things to focus on. He strained to listen to the conversation between Ivan and Mylene.

"Ivan?" Mylene questioned. "What the heck are we doing back here? If you had something to tell me, why not just tell me at lunch?"

"Uh, I, uh," Ivan didn't stop stuttering for another thirty seconds. Marinette threw a rock at his back. Adrien gaped at her, but it seemed to do the trick. Ivan cleared his throat. "I wrote a song for you. I didn't want anyone else to hear. Do you mind listening to it?"

"You wrote it...for me, or just…?" Mylene sounded so confused. Adrien wished he could poke his head up and see the whole scene. This seemed like something which would happen in one of the teen rom-coms he loved watching. Ivan didn't bother answering her and just started his song:

"Mylene, be serene!
Mylene, be supreme!
Mylene, you're my queen!
Would you go on a date with me?"

Marinette's face grew pained as she listened to Ivan's song. Adrien made a mental note: no heartfelt serenades for her.

"Oh my gosh!" Adrien could recognize that wobbly tone of voice. He'd heard it multiple times yesterday. Mylene was crying. "You wrote a song for me! That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me!"

"They're hugging," Marinette whispered to him, peeking above the bushes. "She hasn't answered his damn question!" He could feel the frustration in her voice. A burst of affection bloomed in his chest. She was so impatient, it was adorable.

"Don't throw another rock," Adrien cautioned. "You might frighten her away. Like a rabbit."

"So, will you?" Ivan asked.

"He's blushing," Marinette reported. Adrien hated his blonde hair at the moment. If it had been darker, he could look without drawing attention to himself.

"Of course!" Mylene was fully crying now. Adrien could imagine her tear-soaked face so well, it was embarrassing. He would never tell anyone that his first real date had spent more time crying than talking. To be fair, that was mostly because of the horror movie, but it was also in part because of how frustrated she got while roller skating. Overall, it had been a horrible experience, for the both of them.

"They walked to the front of the school," Marinette stood up. She looked at him and grinned. "I got a video of it. Give me your number and I'll send it to you."

She was perfect, an actual goddess.