"Don't be amused, it's just the news. Protesters have moved to safer areas, but are still calling for the arrest of Chloe Bourgeois. The police are still not making a move."

Adrien

Adrien was uncertain about what to do. He flashbacked to his conversation with Ladybug the previous night. She had listened to him freak out about how a friend in his civilian life just told him about her crush on his civilian self. He had asked her for advice on how to deal with it, but she simply told him to take it slow and not freak out all at once.

But once he got home, he started to freak out some more. Marinette had a crush on him and had helped him at the skating rink despite it. Then again she let her feelings take the backseat at Andre's. His eyes opened wide. "Oh god!"

Plagg perked up, "Finally! What do you offer me, peasant?"

"The wax museum!"

"Replace the wax with cheese and I will approve your offering."

"No! At the wax museum when I tried to prank Mari."

"One of your greatest hits in my books. If I had a go pro, I would make a montage. Maybe multiple montages, I mean you screwed up a lot. With your fanbase, we could go viral. Then buy tons of cheese!"

"She practically confessed her feelings right there, thinking I was a wax statue! And then I told her I really like her being my friend." He rolled over, planting his face in his pillow. "Why does this happen to me?"

"Hey kid, remember that poem from Valentine's Day? And how you thought for two seconds it was Marinette?"

"Shut up, Plagg."

"I see no cheese, therefore I will make fun of you being socially oblivious."

Now he was sitting in a random cafe only three blocks, staring at his text messages with Marinette.

Marinette: Good morning sunshine! 3

That was sent three hours ago at seven am. He had no clue what to do and the heart emoji did not help. He remembered his conversation with Kagami when he turned her down. "I'm sorry, but I love someone else."

She stared at her feet for a minute, then looked at him with tears in her eyes. "It's Marinette isn't it?"

Adrien was shocked, "What? She is just a good friend."

"Oh cut the crap, Adrien! You are always talking about her and how amazing she is. You couldn't stop staring at her when her hair was down. And just now when she left, you wouldn't stop staring after her. If you are going to reject me, at least be honest with me."

"I am! I am in love with Ladybug, not Marinette!"

"Then why is it blueberry and mint and not strawberry and mint?" Adrien looked at the ice creams that they have been eating, now realizing they were different. Why did Andre change the order? Before he could voice the question, Miracle Queen's swarm swept through the city, Marinette the only back up hero he knew of that wasn't controlled.

He remembered the relief he felt when Multimouse wasn't present. Now he wasn't sure if it was because he didn't have to fight someone who used three miraculous at the same time, not to mention carry the rest as well. Or was he concerned more for her safety and was relieved she wasn't stung? He groaned again, back in reality, too nervous to send a text saying good morning.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" He looked up to see Alya, heading towards him as if on a warpath. He chuckled to himself nervously. He was in trouble. "So you busy today?" He opened his mouth but she clearly wasn't in a listening mood, "No? Good! I need you to break Marinette's heart then come with Lila, Nino and I to an arcade where we will ditch you with Lila. I mean definitely not ditch you with Lila! Not that it would be a bad thing."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No."

"What?"

"I said no."

"Why?"

"Because I value Mari's friendship and care about her. Also, I agree with her that Lila is lying about everything."

Alya's jaw dropped. "You too? Since when?"

"Since she first showed up. She tried to claim that her pendant was a miraculous handed down by her family but Ladybug showed up and shut her down."

Alya shook her head, "No, no. Lila must have been wrong or Ladybug was trying to make sure she wouldn't become a target of Hawkmoth." Adrien gave her a look that clearly told her she was talking crazy. Glaring at him, she stormed out of the cafe, head to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

He looked back at his phone, finally deciding to text Marinette back.

Adrien: Good morning to you too! Heads up, Alya is on a warpath headed to your parents' bakery.

Marinette: Good thing I'm not home ;)

Adrien: Huh?

Marinette: Look outside ;) 3

Adrien glanced out the window and saw Marinette walking towards the door, waving when she saw him look her way. He could barely raise his hand, a small smile showing between two bright red lights known as his cheeks. What is wrong with him? "Hi, Adrien!"

"Hi Mary, Murry, I mean Mari!" He could hear Plagg laughing inside of his jacket. Marinette didn't seem to notice, smiling brightly at him. Did she always look this pretty? The first thing he noticed was her hair was in a simple ponytail today. Second, was she was wearing a simple Chat Noir themed outfit, black t-shirt with a neon green paw print. She completed it with neon green pants with a trail of black paw prints trailing up her right leg. Was Marinette always such a huge Chat Noir fan?

"So should we bail before Alya comes back or are you waiting for an order?" She didn't miss a beat. Not a single stutter or mispronunciation. She was proud of herself for it, finally able to speak to her crush without foaming at the mouth.

Adrien was too busy tripping over himself, unsure if it was her crush on him or her new outfit. "Order I not did yet. I mean I not did yet order." {Plagg please use your cataclysm on me and free me.}

Marinette tilted her head then laughed. "Talking like Yoda today? I don't think it's a good idea. You could say it's pawful." Adrien was speechless, eyes wide, jaw dropped. Marinette giggled to herself, "What? Cat got your tongue?"

He swore he was about to drool. Here was a cute girl wearing clothes dedicated to him, using cat puns on him. He was dead, so freaking dead.

Lila the lying thot

She finally tracked down the gullible redhead known as Alya, stomping angrily out of the bakery Maritrash's parents owned. This was a good sign. "Hi, Alya! How are you today?"

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Marinette. I need to have a word with her."

"Why?"

Alya sighed, "Because she is refusing to see reason. She rejected Luka and has been ignoring my calls."

Lila ran to catch up to the angry blogger. "Maybe she is just busy?" Lila would love nothing more than to see Alya rip spineless Maribrat a new one, but she had to pretend to be the caring girl who just wants to be friends with everyone.

"If she is too busy to reply to my messages, then she would be in her room, which she isn't." Sighing, she continued, "Well at least I know where Adrien is. I can greet him with you, then fake an excuse to leave you two alone."

Lila panicked, "No, you really don't have too. I can help you find Marinette."

"I don't think so…" Alya trailed off as she spotted Adrien and Marinette, together in the cafe. "Oh no you don't."

Adrien

He spotted Alya first, the enraged expression on her face jerking him out of his daze. "Uh, we got an angry Alya coming, with Lila."

Marinette glanced over her shoulder, then grabbed his hand, "Hurry this way before they catch us. Adrien immediately obeyed, getting deja vu of when Ladybug ordered him around. Did he have a type? Marinette pulled him around the little wall separating the rest of the restaurant from the street side. Alya stormed in through the entrance with a nervous Lila in tow, headed straight for the booth they just vacated. With the angry blogger's back turned to them, Marinette bolted for the door, dragging Adrien behind her. Yeah, he definitely had a type.

Marinette directed him in an alley, motioning him to stay quiet. An angry Alya stormed by, a freaked out Lila following her. They waited for a few minutes, then he decided to break the silence, "So, that was almost cat-tastrophic."

She glared at him. "What?"

"That was terrible. Just terrible."

"You wound me."

"I don't care, it's still terrible." She gave him a deadpanned look, ignoring the hurt look on his face. He pouted, making her hesitate. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" He tried hard not to smirk.

"That thing you are doing with your face," she growled, cheeks turning red.

He failed, starting to smirk, "Are you bothered by it?" wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She looked away from him scowling, then looked back with an evil smile. "I think I should feed you to the wolves."

"You wouldn't."

"You never know. I am secretly evil and if I am pushed the wrong way, I could betray you."

"Please don't. I am a poor helpless boy desperate for love."

Marinette burst out laughing. "Desperate? Yes. Helpless? Definitely. Poor? Nope, but you forgot to mention that you are sheltered." He gave her a hurt look. "I'm just kidding."

"Seriously please hide me."

"Only if you take me to a movie."

"Deal."