Sunday morning, Adrien was exhausted. He hadn't slept well and had continued to try and call Marinette with no luck. He ate his breakfast in front of his desktop, reading the news. The mainstream channels had picked up the picture and were now featuring it in their celebrity segments of the morning news.

"That's just freaking awesome," he muttered to himself, taking another bite of eggs.

"I told you, kid, Cat Noir destroys everything."

"No, this is LILA's doing. NOT MINE!" he snapped at the kwami.

"Someone has a short fuse this morning." He wasn't wrong, but Adrien didn't want to give Plagg the satisfaction of telling him he was right. Instead he glanced down at his notepad. It had all the details of a great cover story. But without getting ahold of Marinette, he wasn't sure he should go through with it.

I'll just go over there. He decided, finishing the eggs. If I go over, surely she will talk to me. He quickly got dressed and headed out the door. Thankfully, it was Sunday and he had gotten his father to agree several months ago that he deserved one day a week that wasn't planned out for him. I'm still going to have to bring Gorilla with me, but at least he'll wait in the car.

Soon enough, Adrien was knocking on Marinette's front door since the bakery was closed on Sundays. Marinette's father answered the door, but instead of letting Adrien in, he stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"Please sir," Adrien said, praying Mr. Dupain wouldn't freak out and become akumatized again. "I need to talk to Marinette."

"I know, son," he looked down at Adrien with sympathetic eyes, "I'm sorry, but she won't talk to anyone. Not even us, her parents."

Adrien nodded, not sure of his next move.

"I take it you saw the news?" Mr. Dupain nodded.

"I can't say I understand what is going on, but, yes, I did see the picture. I know she had a crush on Cat Noir a while back, but I was pretty sure she liked you now, not him."

"Yeah, I knew that too. I thought the picture might be an old one. That's what I wanted to ask her about. If it's from a while back, I can understand. I still love her." Adrien waiting, seeing if Mr. Dupain would buy the theory.

"Yes. I wondered about that too, but Marinette hasn't said one thing or another about it. You are a good man, Adrien. I know my daughter loves you. Give her some time and I'm sure everything will work out." He smiled down at Adrien.

"Thank you, Mr. Dupain." Marinette sure is lucky to have such a loving family. Adrien turned to take his leave. He still had one more trick to try before giving up, but it was one he couldn't share with Mr. Dupain.

Adrien spent the day, tucked away in his room, calling Marinette's voicemail. He watched in horror as the news kept spreading the image around the internet, but at least the group chat with his classmates eventually died down. Nino called to check on him, but Adrien reassured him that the picture must be old and to not worry about him. Finally, once it was dark, Cat Noir took to the rooftops of Paris.

Unfortunately, the cat's plans backfired. Marinette had been careful to close the curtains and lock the trap door. She had even gone as far as to leave a note out.

Go away Cat.

"Marinette," he said through the trapdoor. "Please let me in. I can fix this." He thought about explaining everything right there but it was too risky.

What if she's not there? What if someone else hears me instead of her?

Besides, he needed to see her face. He needed to be able to gauge her reaction to his story. He couldn't do that through a trap door. Tears stung at his eyes. Not wanting her to hear him crying, he left and returned to his bed for another fitful night's sleep.

I'll see her at school tomorrow. He figured as he tried to fall asleep. Tomorrow, she'll be at school. She can't avoid me there.

"What do you mean she's not coming?" Adrien didn't mean to yell it at Alya, but he couldn't really hold back anymore.

"Do you really blame her, Adrien?" Alya questioned, not phased by his anger. "The entire world is talking about her dating Cat Noir! I'm surprised she even had the guts to turn on her phone this morning to tell me she wasn't coming."

"She turned on her phone?" Adrien quickly hit redial on his phone, but it went straight to voicemail.

"Dude, you need to chill." Nino placed a hand on his shoulder. "You look awful. Did you get any sleep last night?"

The answer was no, of course. The bags under his eyes were proof of that. Adrien moaned. How was he ever going to get the chance to talk to Marinette if she never came out of her room?

"Did she say anything else, Alya?" He asked, pleading with his eyes.

"Sorry, but no. She just said she didn't feel well and wouldn't be coming today."

How much longer do I wait? Adrien wondered. I can't let this go on much longer.

"Thanks, Alya," he muttered before heading to the locker room. He opened his own locker and set his bag inside. Plagg poked his head out.

"You ok, kid?" the kwami asked, looking around to make sure they were alone.

"Yeah, but I think it's time to put that plan into action." Plagg nodded.

"Ready when you are, kid." Adrien smiled at him. Plagg might be rude and annoying, but it came down to it, he really did have Adrien's back.

"Alright. Lunch time. That's when we make our move." He grabbed his textbook, took a deep breath, and closed the locker door.

Please, let this plan work!