Updates will be a little slower again for the next couple of months as I have some time-sensitive projects to finish, but I promise it won't be as bad as last time with the multi-month delays. Enjoy!

It took a few moments for Marinette to reorient herself, only to discover that she was being led away from the classroom. She blinked, registering the feel of warmth around her shoulders and a soft voice in her ear.

"It's okay Marinette, I'll get you to the nurse in no time and then you'll be able to lie down, just hang on..."

Confused to hear Chat Noir's voice, Marinette turned her head to look at him, only to see the back of a blond head as he was clearly scanning the courtyard before continuing to the stairs in a slow and stealthy manner. Chat turned his head back towards her and Marinette immediately realized her mistake: her guide was Adrien, not Chat Noir. A blush surged into her cheeks, but she quickly reminded herself that there were other far more important concerns. Where would Tikki be? Would she have waited at home for me? Marinette shook her head at herself, causing Adrien to glance down at her. She smiled sheepishly and looked away. No. She would have heard the Akuma Alert and tried to get back to me. So where would she– ah! Marinette's eyes had fallen on the door to the locker room. Of course! If I hadn't been in such a hurry I would have gone to my locker! Tikki knows that. I bet that where she's waiting for me. She frowned slightly, But how am I going to get there?

Adrien slipped his arm off her shoulders and down her arm to grasp her hand, giving it a slight squeeze, "Marinette... Did Lila really threaten you?"

Startled, Marinette snapped her head back up to meet his eyes, "Uh... What?"

"Did Lila threaten you?"

In an effort to hide the blush creeping back into her face, Marinette turned her head to scan for the akuma, "I don't think now is really the time to talk about this..."

Adrien sighed and pulled her into a gentle hug, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Marinette froze, unable to reply. As his soft scent filled her nose and his warmth surrounded her, she struggled to regain control over her rapidly spiralling thoughts.

"Why would she threaten you?" She could feel Adrien's breath in her hair as he spoke and she would have shivered if she wasn't still frozen. "You're the kindest person I know and you don't seem like the type of person to have any dark secrets."

"Uh... she didn't like the fact that I saw through her lies," said Marinette. There was something I was supposed to be doing... what was it?

"But still, I can't believe there's anything she could hold over you as a threat."

"Except maybe my apparent habit of stealing phones," she muttered.

Adrien pulled back slightly, "What was that?"

Marinette's face immediately flushed a deep red, "Oh uh..." Say something! "She threatened to take away all my friends." She couldn't meet his gaze and when her eyes fell on the locker room door again, she felt all the blood drain away from her face again. Tikki! There's an akuma and I need to get to Tikki! I'm also going to faint or something if I don't get my emotions under control, she thought wryly. Okay, You're not Marinette, you're Ladybug and you can do this! With a deep breath, Marinette pushed down her panic and set her focus on getting to the locker room.

"How could you believe her though? Did you really think that we would turn our backs on you just because someone new came along?" His voice sounded hurt and Marinette flinched.

Get to Tikki. She glanced up at Adrien quickly to see his soft eyes shining with the same hurt she'd heard in his voice. Maybe if I can keep Adrien distracted he won't notice that we're not heading towards the nurse. She dropped her eyes and turned her head so she could scan the mezzanine for threats. "Well I might have accidentally sabotaged myself in trying to warn everyone about her." Seeing nothing, she starting moving again. Adrien followed automatically.

"Sabotaged yourself? How?"

Peering over the railing, Marinette did her best to check the rest of the courtyard before starting down the stairs. "Uh... because Lila was obviously interested in you, so when I called her a liar everyone thought I was just jealous." Almost there.

Adrien's voice cracked in his reply, "Jealous?" He quickly cleared his throat, "Why would they think that?"

Marinette rolled her eyes, "Because I'm in love with you of course." Twenty meters... I'll make a run for it.

With a last quick check, Marinette dashed across the corner of the courtyard and through the locker room door, barely catching it behind her to prevent it from slamming closed. Yes! Now I just need to grab Tikki and get away from Adrien and– Suddenly realizing that she hadn't heard any footsteps except her own, Marinette turned around and pulled the door open again. Adrien was sitting on the bottom stairs, eyes wide and looking shell-shocked.

"Adri–" she hissed, only to be interrupted by a very familiar and welcome voice.

"Marinette!" She quickly closed the door and spun around just in time to catch Tikki and her phone, "Marinette there's an akuma! You need to transform!"

"I need to help Adrien, he was right behind me, but something's happened and–"

"–and you can help him far better as Ladybug than Marinette," Tikki pointed out.

"Right!" Marinette squared herself, "Tikki! Spots on!"

"Because I'm in love with you of course."

Adrien stumbled and fell, narrowly snagging the railing so that he was able to lower himself onto the nearest step instead of tumbling down the last half dozen. He stared at the back of Marinette's head in shock. After all of her anxiety and stammering and blushing, how had she managed to just say it so matter of factly? He'd known she liked him, he was even reasonably certain she loved him, but he had never expected her to just say it like that! It was like a punch in the gut and he struggled to regain his breath. Stop it! he told himself sternly, I control myself, my emotions do not control me. He drew on years of model behaviour, both as a literal model and as a 'model' son to re-center himself. He blinked slowly, deliberately resetting his face into a neutral expression.

"Hey kid, not that I have any objection to us just sitting this one out, but don't you think you could find a better place to do it that on the stairs in the middle of a potential akuma attack zone?" said Plagg from inside his shirt.

Adrien glanced down, but Plagg was still safely tucked out of sight. "Shh! What if Marinette hears you?"

Plagg chuckled, pushing Adrien's over-shirt out just enough to be able to look up at him, "Pigtails is gone. She was smart enough to go into the locker room instead of just sitting on the stairs in the open like a lump."

Adrien looked around to see that Marinette was indeed gone. He looked back down at his kwami with a glare, "She surprised me. I'm fine now, thanks for asking."

Plagg rolled his eyes, "And yet, here you sit."

"Alright, alright," Adrien stood up, "I should probably just use the chance to find somewhere to transfo–" He cut himself off when he spotted a bright pink flash leak around the edges of the doors to the locker room. "Marinette!" he yelled and dashed across the courtyard, flinging open the doors and looking around wildly.

He was braced to fight, expecting an akuma or its minions at the very least, but instead all he found was Ladybug, staring at him in surprise. "Adrien? Are you alright?"

For the first time in his life, Adrien ignored Ladybug, moving around her to check between all the lockers, "Marinette? Marinette!"

"She's not here," said Ladybug. Her hand squeezed his shoulder and he turned to her with dread pooling in his stomach. Why did I have to freeze like that? What if the akuma got her? Obviously sensing his concern, Ladybug smiled at him, "I got her out of here. She's fine, I promise."

Adrien peered past her, "Are you sure? I mean..."

Ladybug laughed and he snapped his gaze back to her as his face flushed with heat. "Yes Adrien, I'm sure. She's safe. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do Mi– Ladybug! It's just..." he hesitated and she tipped her head slightly to one side in a silent question. Adrien sighed and dropped his gaze to the ground, "She's the other girl," he said in a small voice.

"I'm sorry, the other girl? What other girl?"

He swallowed, trying vainly to get the blood back out of his face, "The other girl that I lov-like. And she just told me that she's in love with me."

Silence met him and Adrien cringed internally. Please don't let that mess things up with Ladybug... She knew I also was in love with someone else... Ladybug cleared her throat, but her voice still sounded slightly squeaky when she spoke, "She– she did?"

"Yeah. And I was so surprised that I just froze like an idiot and then I lost her because she–" Adrien cut himself off as he spotted a glowing purple basketball rolling towards them, "Uh, I don't think this is a good time for this conversation." Not stopping to think further, Adrien grabbed Ladybug's hand and took off at a sprint back out the door into the courtyard.

"Adrien what–!" They burst through the doors and skidded to a stop almost immediately. Scattered across the courtyard, dozens of purple basketballs swivelled and started rolling in their direction. Ladybug quickly unhooked her yoyo and spun it up into a shield while scanning for an escape. With her free hand, she reached out and pulled Adrien into her side, "Hold on Buttercup!" Adrien quickly wrapped his arms around her as she flung her yoyo high above them and they shot straight up and away from the menacing balls.

A few swings later and Ladybug was depositing Adrien on the roof of a nearby building behind a chimney. "Stay here," she ordered, "I'll come back to get you down after we've taken care of the akuma."

"Actually, I think I'll head down the fire escape," he smiled charmingly, "Just in case the akuma spotted us leaving, I'd rather not wait here for him to come and get me." Ladybug looked hesitant, so Adrien gave her hand a quick squeeze, "Why don't you stop by later tonight so we can finish our conversation? That way you'll know I'm fine too."

Ladybug squeezed his hand in return, "Alright. But be careful please."

"Of course!" Adrien smiled brightly.

With a last look, Ladybug threw her yo-yo and jumped back towards the school.

"Not bad," said Plagg as he zipped out of Adrien's pocket, "At least you can keep your head well enough to make sure she isn't going to come looking for you when you're not here."

"Yeah yeah," Adrien grumbled, "Marinette surprised me okay? Now let's go take care of that akuma!" Adrien punched the air, "Plagg, claws out!"