The ceremony went without a hitch snd everyone seemed to really be enjoying their time. The reception was in full swing now. Alya loved that she was actually at Adrien and Marinette's wedding. It was pretty surreal for her too. She and Nino had had a front row seat to their entire love story and it felt a little crazy how much chaos and confusion had led up to this moment.

The whole wedding was gorgeous but the reception was probably Alya's favorite part. It was very elegant yet simple, string lights and candles being the main source of light in the room. It set a very romantic atmosphere. And as if weddings were already a place of self-reflection on one's own relationships, Alya had masterminded a way to get Kim and Alix even closer together.

"Okay, here's the plan, Babe," she started, leaning closer to Nino who was sitting next to her munching on some hors d'oeuvres.

"Alya," he stated sternly before she could continue. "No more planning or scheming. What if you push it too far and then everything gets ruined? Just relax. What makes someone think more about romance then a wedding?"

Alya sighed and gave one last look in Kim's direction."You're right. We're at the wedding of our best friends who have had one fiasco of a love story to get to this point. I'll just focus on them and then deal with Kim and Alix tomorrow," she resolved, turning to give her husband a quick peck on the cheek.

"Or you could just let Kim and Alix deal with Kim and Alix. You've set the train in motion, let them do the rest." The first dance ended with applause from the guests and almost immediately a more upbeat song started playing. Some of the guests began coupling up and joining the newlyweds on the dance floor. Nino maneuvered himself in front of Alya now. "Could I have a dance with my wife now please?"

Alya smiled and took his hand. Nino was right; she was getting way too into the Kim and Alix thing. She needed to let nature take its course, back off, and enjoy Mari's wedding to the fullest.

"Just suck it up and ask her to dance."

Kim turned in his seat to the other side of the table where Ivan and Maylene were standing to go dance. "What?"

"You've been staring at Alix for the past fifteen minutes," Maylene clarified.

"Go ask her to dance before someone else does." After his firm but slightly amused advice, Ivan took Maylene's hand and headed for the dance floor.

'Was I watching Alix?' Kim questioned himself, turning to watch her intentionally now. His eyes must have subconsciously landed on her as he was thinking. But why? He had been thinking about weddings, romance, and his own relationships. As far as he knew, that didn't include Alix. Did it? Despite his confusion, Ivan was right. He did want to dance with her. They were friends after all and would often dance together at weddings.

The athlete slid out of his seat and made a quick walk across the reception to Alix, who was looking over some pictures on her camera. "Hey," he greeted holding out his hand," could you spare a moment for a dance? We gotta keep up the tradition."

Alix set her camera down and popped the last of her pretzels in her mouth. "Oh yes. The accidental tradition we started," she replied with a chuckle, taking his hand. "I think the videographer wanted me in some of the videos too."

Kim led Alix to the dance floor just as the song changed. Kim was very relaxed during the dance. To him, this was fairly normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Alix, on the other hand, was internally a mess. She was hiding it on the outside wonderfully but inside, it was chaos.

'We do spend a lot of time together. And we do lots of things that couples do. Like go out to eat a lot, text each other all the time, stay in and watch movies together, and whenever I get super touchy-feely he will always just cuddle with me while we watch tv,' she ranted to herself while simultaneously having a conversation about Juleka's new car. 'What did Nathaniel do to me? Why am I so confused?"

"Alix?"

Alix blinked and realized she'd been spacing out.

"You good? You seem very distracted."

"Sorry," Alix apologized, pulling her eyes from the fountain behind Kim to her dance partner. "I'm just thinking about stuff that Nath told me this morning." There was a second of silence as she mentally forced herself to say her next words. "What is our relationship?"

Kim halted the swaying, confused. "What? We're friends. What do you mean?"

Alix pulled her arms away from him, as Nino and Alya rushed past them. She was suddenly feeling very self conscious and a little nervous. "I'm not sure what I even mean," she stated, searching for the right words. Kim stayed still as the couples around them kept moving. "I'm confused now, Kim. I always thought we were best friends who happen to share an apartment. But then Nathaniel started talking about us dating. At first I was like we're definitely not but then I started thinking. The only difference between what we do and dating is that we have different beds. But even then, we will still sleep in each other's from time to time. I guess now I'm just wondering if anything would actually change if we were dating."

There was a long pause. With every second that passed, Alix regretted talking more and more. She, for some reason, couldn't get herself to look Kim in the eye. 'What is he thinking? He's completely silent.'

"I don't really think so," Kim said quietly. He was looking thoughtfully at their feet when Alix finally looked up at him. "This will probably make you uncomfortable and make me sound weird but, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I've been treating you like a girlfriend and subconsciously thinking of you as one for a while." The man across from her let out a nervous chuckle and looked away from the floor at last. "Man, that makes me seem like a creep, doesn't it? I'm sorry."

"I don't think it's creepy. A little strange, maybe, but we have kind of been accidentally dating." Another pause, this one not as tense or long. Both were just looking at each other, wondering what the other was thinking. "C...can we actually try it?"

"Yes," came the reply, almost before Alix stopped talking.

"You're throwing up again?" Nino stated more than asked. He was standing outside the girls restroom which was secluded from the gym where the reception was in full swing. In the midst of dancing, Alya rushed off to the bathroom, almost not making it there before the first came up. "I thought food poisoning wasn't supposed to last for more than twenty-four hours."

"Maybe it was the lemon bars. I tried one yesterday and then had one in the dressing room before the ceremony."

Nino's brow furrowed. "I ate the lemon bars and I'm fine. Must be something else."

The bathroom door opened and Alya came faltering out. She looked pretty unsteady but her eyes gave away nothing but excitement. The look confused Nino but he opted to take her hand rather than ask. They walked down the hall, to the left, and through the reception doors. With every step, Alya seemed to feel better. She had had her suspicions as to why she was so nauseous as of late but until she had proof, Nino would have to keep thinking she had a bad case of food poisoning.

"Babe!" Alya exclaimed as her gaze landed on the dance floor. She grabbed his am and pointed to a couple on the edge. "They aren't dancing. Is that a good sign? I really hope it is."

Nino, knowing that any reaction would only encourage his wife, ignored her statements and pulled her over to Adrien and Marinette who were next to the punch fountain. "Oh Mari and Adrien!"

Nathaniel sat at a table munching on the last of his macaroons when Chloe sped walked up to him. "Nath. Please dance with me. Mari's weird designer friend won't leave me alone and I think he's about to ask me for a dance," she explained in a quiet but not whispering tone.

The artist glanced behind her. Sure enough, there was Noxon "casually" making his way over. He turned his gaze back to Chloe. "No way," he declared with his mouth full. "You always eat the macaroons I bring home before I can eat any of them. I'm eating these."

"I'll let you eat all the macaroons next time. There's no way you're letting Mr. Arrogant-Tryhard-Wamaniser slow dance with me," Chloe declared. She grabbed a hold of Nathaniel's hand and pulled him to the dance floor.

"Chlo! My macaroons!" Nath exclaimed with a mouth full of macaroon. He swallowed the last of his sweets as they passed Kim and Alix, who were surprisingly not dancing but rather just standing there. "He's still watching but at least he's way over there," Chloe stated once she had turned around and they had started dancing. "That dude seriously gives me the creeps." The heiress looked to Nathaniel and added sarcastically. "And to think that you would've let him get this close to me. For shame Nathaniel Kurtzburg. For shame."

The artist couldn't help but smile a little. Her fake distaste reminded him of when they were younger. "Well I did want to finish my macarons but he creeps me out too so there was no way I was gonna let him dance with you."

"What were you gonna do?" Chloe asked, slightly amused. Paon could definitely be intimidating but she had never seen Nath try to be intimidating. The closest thing was on the rare occasions when he'd get angry. He'd just get extremely quiet and radiate death.

"Shoot him," Nathaniel replied, motioning to his left leg where he kept a gun full of sleep darts. It is a nifty little weapon that Duusu would sometimes keep transformed for one reason or another. A peculiar little trick they developed over the years.

His comment brought a smile to Chloe's face and a gleam to her eye. "I kind of wanna see that now. But it'd cause a scene."

Nathaniel shrugged. "We could've cleaned it up."

The couple had danced around slowly and were now back to where Kim and Alix were. Right as they got in ear shot, both heroes heard a hurried yes from Kim. Neither could keep back a smirk but they resisted the temptation to steal a look in the athlete's direction, opting instead to keep focusing on each other.

"Does that mean it worked?" Chloe asked in a quiet voice.

"I hope so," Nath replied just as quietly. "I don't like sneaking around." He pulled her a little closer due to both their hushed tones and the music changing to a more intimate song.

'Of course Adrian would have all these slow songs picked out,' Chloe thought as she listened to the lyrics. It talked of how amazing love is. How it's painful yet comforting. The woman thought of her own life, as one does at a wedding. She had never really felt that kind of love. She had never even had a boyfriend. Chloe closed her eyes and laid her head against Nathaniel's shoulder. Just the week before, she had gone out with a guy she met at a fashion show. He was pretty perfect but she still rejected his second date idea. There was just something missing. Potential? Maybe. Chloe always imagined love would be exciting and big and heart-stopping. She thought the moment she fell in love, it's be extravagant and like fireworks. She just couldn't see that with Alexander. Come to think of it, she didn't know who she dated that could potentially be "The One". Maybe she was being too picky?

Chloe was caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that the song ended until her head dipped a little when Nathanial backed up. "You were quiet," he stated. "Which is unusual."

His teasing did make her smile a little. "I'm just feeling sorry for myself," she replied, with a shake of her head. "My thinking is all messed up for some reason." Chloe met his eyes, which were full of concern, but quickly looked away. "I'm fine now. Just had a little pity party there." The heiress's eyes landed on a table behind Nath. "Oh! Miss Armatha! I have to go say hi!"

It was a convenient distraction but nevertheless she did have some business to talk over with her. Chloe quickly hurried over to the table, leaving Nathaniel alone with his thoughts.

'I'll have to remember to ask her again when we get home,' he thought, watching her hug the older woman and then take a seat.

"Pardon me, sir. You are Nathaniel Kurtzburg, correct?"

Nath turned his attention from his roommate to the source of the voice. "Yes sir. What can I do for you?"

A stout man who looked about Nath's age held out a hand to the artist. "I'm Oscar Carminton. I'm one of the owners of the new dance school that's opening next fall. We need a large art piece for the lobby of our biggest performing theater. I had mentioned something to Adrien a couple weeks ago when we went out for supper and he recommended I talk to you. And of course, I had to take his advice. A recommendation from an Agreste is mighty impressive. But your work speaks for itself. I'm only sorry I hadn't discovered you before we furnished the living quarters for our students."

Nath was a little taken back by the rush of compliments. Even though his popularity as an artist had made him more accustomed to all the compliments. "Well thank you, Mr. Caminton. You're Adrien's friend from that Tokyo business meeting a couple years ago, right?" he responded, shaking the outstretched hand.