When class was over, Marinette tried packing her things up quickly to get away, but the faster she tried to go the clumsier she was. By the time she managed to pick back up everything she had dropped, she found herself surrounded. Most of the class had already gone, but all her girlfriends were now standing around her, and all of them looked like they wanted details.

"So what were you and Adrien doing?" Alix was the first to speak up, her arms crossed and her tone accusatory. She still hadn't forgiven Adrien and didn't seem to like the idea of Marinette together with him anymore.

"Are you two a couple now?" Rose said excitedly, her eyes alight with the chance of romance.

"Come on, girl," Alya prompted her, "Spill it! What happened?"

"Uh… Well…" Marinette hesitated, unsure what to say. Her lies were never convincing, especially not when she was put on the spot like this, but she obviously couldn't tell them what actually happened. "Uh, I was… Tripped! I tripped, right, when I was going to the stairs. And Adrien… helped me, so we went downstairs together. But… But then a car came crashing down!" – Marinette waved her arms for emphasis as she remembered the car Binder had hurled at her – "So we couldn't get to you. And, uh… We went to the basement instead! Right, we thought that would be safer. So, we didn't know it was safe to come up. And… yeah, that's all." She ended with a nervous giggle. Glancing around her, no one looked convinced.

"That's all, huh?" Alya repeated suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't have to lie to us," Mylène put in, her tone empathic as usual, "We're just worried about you."

"Well," Marinette started again slowly, uncertain, "I guess… We talked for a bit, and we worked some things out. And then we…" Everyone leaned in, seeming to hold their breath, as Marinette hesitated before ending her sentence, "kissed."

There was a general outcry from her listeners as the admission came out. Marinette felt her cheeks grow warm and she kept her gaze downward. Alix was still upset, Mylène and Rose seemed excited, Juleka and Alya both looked uncertain.

"I guess that makes you a real couple now," Alya said slowly, stating it more as a fact than a question.

"Well, no," Marinette explained, "It all happened so fast, and I'm still not ready. I told him I need more time, still." The general outcry died down as everyone digested this. Alix was the only one that seemed pleased, everyone else was thoughtful. "I just want some time to be alone right now," she continued slowly, "I need time to think."

Adrien had no desire to talk about what happened between him and Marinette, but it seems he wasn't getting out of it. As he and Nino headed out, he saw Marinette was worse off than he was, quickly finding herself swarmed by her friends. He kept his gaze on her as he walked out of the room, only turning away when she was out of sight.

"What's going on, dude?" Nino asked as they walked downstairs together. He watched his friend more his confusion than concern.

"I don't know," Adrien admitted, still trying to figure things out himself, "It felt like we were finally working things out, and then… then she said she's not ready yet."

"That's harsh," Nino sighed, "but hey, at least that means you've still got a chance, right?"

"Yeah," Adrien nodded, "I just don't know how long I'll have to wait."

"Hey, she waited for you for months," Nino laughed, "I think you can do some waiting now, dude."

"She… waited for me?" Adrien looked at Nino in confusion.

"Yeah, she's been crushing on you almost the whole year," Nino explained, as though it were obvious at this point, "and you never even noticed."

"And then I broke her heart," Adrien whispered to himself. Ironic that Plagg, who claimed not to understand humans, was right on point about that: people are blind. Not much to do about it now, Adrien sighed, now I wait for her to be ready.