"What?!" Alya's voice sounded throughout Marinette's room and she winced a little at the loud volume, "Girl, are you going to give up now?!"

Marinette sits at the end of her bed with Tikki following her with a macaroon in her tiny hands, "I'm not exactly giving up?"

She hears a sigh coming through her phone, "Marinette, you don't sound so sure of your own decision."

"There's Kagami in his life now." She lamely excused, not wanting to tell Alya the whole truth. But Adrien having Kagami in his personal life is a part of the truth, but it's not the whole of it. Not the main reason why.

The author of Lady Blog snorts, "I know you better than that, Mari. Besides, most girls around the world, especially Paris has heart eyes for Adrien and that didn't make you give up."

Marinette knew she changed because hearing Adrien's name didn't make her all giddy and in love like how she used to.

It's almost been a month since she realized that, but only now is she sure that it's time to accept reality and move on.

"It's almost been a year since you fell in love with him, it's too soon to give up!" Alya exclaimed, Marinette can just imagine her best friend pacing around the room, lifting her hands up in the air.

"Alya, I've been thinking about moving on from him for quite a while now." She look towards her left, where the wall was once decorated with the model's pictures and heart shaped stickers.

Her lip curves up slightly remembering the day when she started putting up Adrien's pictures and when she took them down and stored it away in a box.

"Are you, like, really sure?" Alya asked hesitantly.

Truth to be told, Marinette will always love Adrien, but it's just that now she will stop pursuing him and maybe stop making a stuttering mess out of herself.

"Yeah."

Being a friend to Adrien Agreste and getting to know him more than his model life is enough for Marinette,

Alya ended the call with a "I'm always here for you" and the "I'll see you tomorrow at school".

or maybe she thinks it that way to lessen the pain of accepting the fact that she will never be the one Adrien will have heart eyes for,

Whatever Tikki was saying or asking her, Marinette loss focus and wasn't listening.

she wants it to be more than a friendship,

She didn't realize that her first tear is already sliding down her cheek.

but Adrien said it too many times that she was just a friend.

Chat Noir arrives at the top of the Eiffel Tower after finishing his usual routine doing night patrol, singing the song he usually sang while waiting for Ladybug.

Just as he's about to finish singing, a quiet thump behind him along with a familiar sound of string made him stop.

"Hey there, bugaboo." He turns to her and immediately catches Ladybug's solemn expression.

"Something wrong?" He gently asked then pats the empty space beside where he's sitting, Ladybug takes the offered spot and they both face the night city of Paris.

Ladybug released a sigh, very unlikely of her to do so especially when the city is peaceful from any akumatization for the past few days, "Chat..." She trailed off.

"Yes, milady?"

"Don't you feel hurt everytime I rejected your feelings?

Chat's eyes went big, "Whe-where is this coming from?"

"I wondered if you felt the same feelings I felt when I wasn't given the attention I was hoping for." She said quietly, the frown on her lips is getting evident and Chat didn't like it.

"Who's butt should I kick? If I were that person, milady, I would never take my eyes off of you." Chat Noir stands up and playfully throw punches to the air hoping his usual silly gestures would lighten Ladybug's mood.

Her small smile sends Chat's heart to jump a beat, "I wouldn't let you kick his butt."

But her words send flying daggers to his heart.

"Are we talking about this boy that you liked?" Chat Noir asked nonetheless, if Ladybug thinks her having a crush on someone else would stop his love for her then she's very wrong. He's not giving up.

"Yeah, actually, I think I'm going to move on from him."

Chat's cat ears perked up in interest and surprise.

"Did he rejected you..?" He juts his lip out, stretching the 'you' sound longer. He shouldn't be happy when his lady is broken hearted but he can't deny the joy he feels about maybe, finally he can win Ladybug's heart.

She chuckles sadly, "He doesn't know that I liked him."

"You didn't tell him?"

"I never got the courage to, even if I did, it always got messed up."

"But you're Ladybug! You're so brave and very sure of your instinct and-"

"Chat, I'm only a Ladybug when I'm wearing this mask."

Now that, Chat Noir finds it hard to believe. He can't imagine the person behind the Ladybug's mask is not the same person when she's not Ladybug. But Chat's sure that he'll come to love all of her anyways.

"If you want to cry, you can cry." He sits back beside her.

"I can say the same to you." She shoots back, still witty as ever.

Chat smiles and turns his head to look into Ladybug's eyes, "You know you'll always have my back right? Doesn't matter if I don't know who you are in your personal life, I think I'll always like you. All versions of you."

It sends a sudden jump to her heart, her cheeks feel warmer and her eyes widen. She could see her own reflection in Chat's greenish eyes, his lips in a warm smile.

The feelings she's feeling, it's all so familiar.

Just like that day when she fell for Adrien Agreste.

Just like Alya said during their phone call yesterday, they met up at the entrance of school with her questioning Marinette nonstop.

"Alya, I'm really getting over it." They walked up the stairs and went inside the school building.

"This is so isn't you, Marinette." Alya moves her hand to the air in the same gesture she always does.

She chuckles, "Well then, better get use to it."

They were halfway through the indoor basketball court to the stairs when Nino called for his girlfriend from behind and as Marinette expected, Adrien is walking beside him.

Alya nudges Marinette from the side knowingly.

Marinette changes her focus to Adrien who is also looking at her, he waves with a smile and a, "Good morning, you two."

Alya returned his greeting and she focuses on Nino after that, Marinette smiled looking at the couple. It would be really cute if she and Adrien are also together, they could go on a double date just like how she used to daydream about.

But of course, that would never happen.

"Good morning, Adrien."

The three of them seems to be surprised by how she smoothly responds. No stuttering or a weird forced smile on her lips this time.

Before Adrien or Nino could say anything, Alya takes her hand and drags her away.

"What about your heart, Mari? Is it beating very fast? Or are you ill? You didn't stutter, like, what?!" She exclaimed in disbelief.

She feels her heart, and yes, it's beating fast but rather than because she freaked out seeing Adrien, it's maybe because she's excited to see Adrien in a new way.

Alya gave her no room for her to speak because when they entered the class with the two boys following from behind, she asked again.

"Alright, spill it Marinette. Who's the new magnet to your compass? Luka?"

It obviously caught her off guard because she stops walking. Adrien almost knocking into her because he was too immersed of his conversation with Nino.

"Marinette, are you alright?" He went to her side and taps her shoulder in concern.

She looks into his greenish eyes, the eyes that she liked so much.

Her heart jumps.

Not because Adrien is looking straight into her eyes with concern with his hand still on her right shoulder,

but because his eyes reminded her of Chat Noir's.

The school's bell rings, earning lots of the students happy "yes" and "finally". And their happiness soon got replaced by "ugh"s once the sky started to rain.

It didn't stop them from being happy to go home though, most of them brought umbrellas anyway. Adrien didn't.

"My bodyguard's going to pick me up anyway so it doesn't matter if I get wet for just seconds." He replied Nino's question.

"But your driver's not here, he's usually already parked there." The DJ points to a direction where Gorille would always park the car, waiting for Adrien.

"Maybe the traffic's jammed." Adrien shrugs. Just then, a call from Nathalie came in.

"You forgot to bring your umbrella again?" Alya asked as they exit from the locker room.

"My house is only a block away." Marinette shrugs.

Alya raised her eyebrow to Marinette and she has that expression where she's judging Marinette.

The latter smiles, "There's no harm in feeling the rain for just a minute."

"What if you trip and fall and get hurt then get sick?" Her bestfriend questioned again.

"I won't. I didn't stutter around Adrien anymore, I'm pretty confident I won't miss a step this time." She then stops and holds her stomach, Alya already knows she's going to the toilet.

"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow?"

Marinette turns around towards the toilet, "Yeah, tomorrow."

After she washed her hands with Tikki keeping her company, she exits the toilet and was about to exit the locker room as well when she stops.

Her head turns to her locker, remembering the umbrella Adrien gave to her stored inside it.

Marinette never wanted to use it again after Adrien handed it to her, she wanted to keep the umbrella as a memory for when she first fell for Adrien.

But now, maybe it's time to put the umbrella into good use.

She exits the locker room and spots a familiar blonde at the main entrance of school, his back is facing her and it seems like they're the only students to not yet leave the school building. She walks up to him, "Hey."

Adrien turns to his left to greet Marinette back, "Hey, you still haven't go back home?"

"Needed to use the toilet." She explained sheepishly. Adrien nodded in an understanding way.

"What about you? It's rare to see you staying here when you're one of the earliest to return home." Marinette asked him, her eyes are ahead, both hands holding the unopened black umbrella.

"Ah well, one of the car's tire broke so it might take some time to replace it. Although Nathalie said it's almost finished." Adrien explained, he scratch his neck sheepishly. "The phone call was minutes ago though. My bodyguard's probably on his way now." He added rather quickly, as if not wanting Marinette to misunderstand.

Marinette noticed it, "You sound embarrassed about it." She narrowed her eyes at him and Adrien lets out a forced laugh.

"I'm not actually emba-"

He caught Marinette looking more unconvinced as she smirks, "Are you lying?"

His previous sentence was replaced with, "Well, you know-"

She laughs, cutting his words off and leaving him in confusion. Hearing her carefree laugh resonating through the rain warms Adrien's cheeks.

Laughing and smiling suits Marinette really well. But he noticed there's always something sad, uncertainty in her blue eyes. Now that he thinks about it, he wasn't able to see those in her eyes back in the morning anymore.

"You don't have to feel embarrassed about it." Her laughter died down.

Just then, a car honks and it takes both of their attention to the sound.

"Oh, seems like you're right." Marinette chirped and Adrien jerks his head towards her in surprise of her cheerful voice. He then noticed the umbrella when Marinette walks ahead of him, opening the umbrella to block the rain.

She looks up to the darkened sky with bright eyes, "I judged you wrongly when we first met in class. That was my fault."

Marinette shrugs her shoulder with an apologetic smile, "But after getting to know Adrien Agreste more than what the magazines and medias portrayed him to be, I realized that we're only human."

She then looks down to the ground, "No masks can change who we really are."

She turns around and offers the umbrella to him. His eyes locks with hers.

Her smile softens with unspoken understanding, her blue eyes sparkled with sincerity and thunder boomed in the distance.

The sudden roar of thunder causes Adrien to gasps soundlessly, his eyes widened and mouth parting ever so slightly.

His mind replayed the almost same scene with Marinette months ago, under the same place, the same weather and the same umbrella.

But this time, Marinette was the one to do the talking and Adrien was the one left speechless.

He finally breaks their eye contact and slowly reaches for the umbrella's holder before he stops centimeters away from Marinette's hold.

"You should keep it. I already gave it to you months ago." He smiles as he drops his hand, silently thanking his time growing up as a model because now he can cover up his expression easily from his true feelings.

Because oh boy, his heart sure is beating fast.