Marinette knew at least one thing. Nothing was the same in her life anymore. She still didn't know what to do about that and how to put in order the mess in her heart. But in an incomprehensive way – Cat Noir began taking Adrien's place in her heart.

She noted the first signal that something started to change, when she went to school on Monday morning and behaved totally easy-going in front of Adrien – practically for the first time since she had met him. Moreover, it wasn't an apparent calmness that she had already managed to keep for last few months, but the real one – inner calm. It was like all the butterflies in her stomach quieted down – they stopped urging her to do all those stupid things she used to do when Adrien spoke to her, looked at her or just was around.

At first, she was worried by the lack of those symptoms. Then she felt relieved that she was coming back to normal. And then she panicked that she began falling in love with Cat Noir, which of course couldn't happen! Ladybug must be professional. She couldn't afford any sentiments towards her partner! She calmed down immediately – she was too reasonable to lose her head for Cat Noir! Who cared that he had turned out to be so sensitive and intelligent boy, who thought about others, and who was so… attractive? No. No. NO! She didn't think about the latter!

She sighed irritably.

"Are you all right?" Alya asked glancing at her.

"Sure. Everything's fine." Marinette replied trying to smile.

"Yeah…" Alya wasn't convinced. "What would you say if we went to the cinema today?"

"Cinema? Sure, why not? I think I need to relax a bit."

"Will you mind if Nino and Adrien join us?" Alya asked with an innocent smile.

"No. That's OK." Marinette shrugged, ignoring her friend's astonished look.

"Uhm… Marinette?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you… want to tell me something?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. You're behaving a bit weird."

"Don't worry, Alya. I'm just…" Marinette hesitated for a moment. "I'm just getting normal."

"So… you don't mind that Adrien is going with us?"

"Absolutely not. That's fine. By the way. What are we going to watch?"

"Today it's a mini-marathon of Disney live action movies. You know… 'Cinderella' and 'Beauty of the Beast'."

"Really?" Marinette raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "You managed to talk them into something like that?"

"Well, I was surprised too." Alya laughed. "I mean… you know… Nino will go with me for every movie I choose." She grinned. "But Adrien really surprised me. I didn't think he would agree. But as soon as I mentioned you would go with us, he agreed without hesitation!" she added with a meaningful wink.

"Oh…" Marinette murmured.

"Oh?!" Alya exclaimed. "That's all?!"

"Well, yes. What should I say?"

"Have you both switched with your feelings or what?!"

"I'm pretty sure that Adrien had his reasons to go to the cinema with us. I'm not going to start it over again." Marinette replied seriously. "I won't rely on idle hopes. Not anymore. That ice-cream fell on the ground, Alya."

"Oh, Marinette!" her friend sighed compassionately.

"It's OK, Alya. Don't worry. I'm OK." Marinette smiled bravely. „I'm OK…" she repeated quietly.

Somehow her broken heart healed…

„So… We're going on a double date?" Plagg asked flying around Adrien's head, that drove the boy crazy.

"It's not a date!" Adrien repeated for the tenth time. "Marinette…"

"Yeah, yeah… She's just a friend." Plagg finished the sentence in a bored tone.

"Exactly! And that's the perfect way to comfort her!"

"By taking her to the cinema? For a date? Are you crazy?"

"It's not a date, Plagg!" Adrien started to be irritated. "We're going with Alya and Nino."

"I've told you it's a double date."

"Plagg…" Adrien's voice became ominous, but kwami looked at him completely innocent. "I've already explained that. I have to comfort Marinette. She has to forget about that guy."

"And start thinking about you?"

"Yghr…" Adrien grinded his teeth. "What are you trying to talk into me?"

"Nothing. But aren't you afraid that she… uhm… will start thinking about you?"

"Certainly, she won't. We're just friends. She… uhm… she would never think about me that way. I wouldn't think about her that way as well. I mean emotionally…"

"Yeah, right…" concluded Plagg rolling his eyes.

Adrien decided to ignore his kwami. He was glad when he finally had seen Marinette easy-going and cheerful today at school. As if her nostalgia had passed, or maybe she had already healed her broken heart. That guy wasn't worth it.

He was happy when Alya asked him to go to the cinema altogether – with her, Marinette and Nino. It could cheer Marinette up and help to keep her in a good mood. And, he would have an opportunity to observe whether everything was ok with his friend. Maybe, in a way, he could repay her for the support she had given him that day on her balcony, even though he was Cat Noir then.

They met in the front of the cinema. When Adrien came, the rest of his friends had already been there. Alya and Nino tried not to snuggle and kiss too much in public. Marinette was standing next to them with a half-smile.

"Sorry for being late." Adrien apologised.

"You're on time, dude. No tension." Nino laughed.

"Are we going?" Alya asked and went inside in embraces of her boyfriend.

Adrien looked at Marinette. He wasn't sure what he should do or say. But she behaved quite easy-going and followed Alya and Nino. And he just joined her. Yes. Just like that.

They sat next to each other. Coincidence. Alya and Nino took the first two seats, so the other two went to Adrien and Marinette. Nothing special.

"Everything's fine?" he asked before the lights went out.

"Absolutely." She answered with a smile and focused on the screen.

He did the same. But from time to time he glanced at her, just to make sure that everything was fine with her, of course. And besides, he was amused to watch how emotionally she was going through the movie. After all, "Cinderella" was not a thrilling story and everyone knew the ending.

"No!" Marinette exclaimed together with Cinderella when Stepmother broke the glass shoe.

He smiled and whispered in her ear:

"It's a fairy tale. Everything will end well."

She looked at him. Their faces were so close. And both suddenly held their breath.

"Yes, I know." She finally replied in a whisper.

He couldn't answer. They quickly looked away from each other. Adrien thought for a moment what would happen if he followed an impulse to take her hand. He immediately came to his senses. What thoughts came to him! It was Marinette!

And then the second movie began. Suddenly, Adrien found something very interesting in the plot and he got so involved in it that he paid no more attention to Marinette's well-being. When Bella visited her parents' first apartment in Paris and learnt from the Beast what had happened there, Adrien thought about his mom. And he felt he missed her very much.

At that moment he felt a small hand on his hand. The hand from which he felt warmth and strength. He smiled, even without looking at Marinette. She also didn't take her eyes off the screen.

After the movie, when the lights flashed back, they gazed surprised at their hands, still clinched together. Marinette had tears in her eyes. And he casually thought she looked so cute with those tears. And immediately ashamed of these thoughts, as if they were… inappropriate.

"Sorry for that…" she whispered and let his hand go. "I always cry on such moving films."

She took a handkerchief from her purse and tried to put herself to order. And he only could think about how nice her touch had been.

People began leaving the cinema. Alya and Nino looked as if they wanted to continue their date without the company of their friends, but they both felt obliged to Marinette and Adrien, who – left on their own – would probably cause a social catastrophe. And that would happen if Marinette was behaving as she used to in front of Adrien.

"Come on, Alya…" Marinette whispered to her friend. "I see you want to go somewhere else. Don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself."

"But…"

"I'm OK, remember?" Marinette winked to Alya. "And I don't want to feel like the fifth wheel."

"Well…" Alya hesitated.

"I'll walk you home." Adrien offered suddenly.

"It's not necessary!" Marinette objected immediately.

"It's not a problem." Adrien replied.

"OK then." Marinette sighed, ignoring a grin on Alya's face who felt like a perfect matchmaker.

They divided into two pairs – Alya and Nino left to the nearest café, Marinette and Adrien moved in the opposite direction.

Suddenly they heard a rumble and a noise like through megaphones announcing the takeover of the city by someone who called themselves "Je-suis-Coco".

Marinette looked at Adrien in panic. What now? Paris needed Ladybug and she just got stuck on a walk with a boy. She needed to think quickly.

"I forgot my phone!" she said.

"Are we going back?" he asked.

"I can handle. I think I know where I could leave it." She answered quickly, praying that he wouldn't follow her.

Adrien however looked like he was torn.

"I should go with you." He said, taking her hand. She squeezed the hand and replied:

"Hide somewhere!"

She didn't realise that she said that very in Ladybug's style. She left immediately in the direction of the cinema and at the corner she glanced over her shoulder if he followed her. No, he seemed to listen to her request. She felt relief. She turned into a bystreet and looked carefully around. She whispered "Tikki, spots on!" and in a second, she was ready to fight against Je-suis-Coco.

She met Cat Noir at the Eiffel Tower.

"Good evening, Bugaboo!" he welcomed her. "I hope the akuma hasn't ruined your evening like it has done to me."

"You had plans for tonight?" Ladybug asked, ignoring a warmth on her cheeks.

"In such situations I feel like a slave of the duties."

"That's the job, Cat." She replied, drowning out a strange feeling in her heart – very close to… the jealousy…? "What do we have here?" she changed the subject.

"Looks like a failed model?"

"A model?" she wasn't convinced. "If she called herself 'Coco' she's rather a designer…"

"You're right!" Cat Noir nodded. "Wait! In a few days the Paris Fashion Week begins."

"How do you know that?" Ladybug asked in astonishment.

"Uhm… There are posters around the city." He replied after a moment. He blushed, because he lied a little – he knew perfectly about the event from his father. And he had a hunch that no one else but Gabriel Agreste had caused this akuma attack – he had probably brought a designer to a condition that would attract Hawkmoth's akumas.

"Well, at least we know something." Ladybug muttered, not paying attention to Cat Noir's blush. "Let's go then!"

It was another tough fight. Finally, they managed to defeat ambitious Coco and repaired all damages with the magic spell "Miraculous Ladybug!"

And suddenly it was all over. They stood facing each other. Undecided to leave. Ladybug knew she had to go back to the cinema quickly and somehow explained to Adrien that she was looking for her phone longer than she planned. But before leaving she had one more thing to do. She took a step towards him and whispered shyly:

"Uhm… I wanted to thank you, Cat…"

"Thank me?" he repeated in astonishment.

"For saving me last time. For taking me…" she hesitated, she almost blurted out 'home', but finished quickly with: "…to my friend."

"She's the only person I could trust. She would never reveal our identity to anyone."

Ladybug felt something huge growing in her heart when she heard those words. Actually, he had already said something very similar recently, but today she heard it as Ladybug, not Marinette. And her cheeks burned when she heard the tone of his voice. Something unnamed but very special was in it.

"Anyway… Thank you, Cat." She whispered.

She put her hand on his shoulder and stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek – the same way he had kissed her, giving her the rose.

And it wasn't clear if he turned his face in surprise to look at her hand on his shoulder, or maybe she changed her intention at the last moment – influenced by his words he had just said… But in effect – Ladybug kissed Cat Noir on the lips.

He looked at her in amazement, but soon he felt a bliss and he embraced Ladybug, closed his eyes and respond to her kiss.

"Marinette…" he murmured just after their kiss.

"Yes?" she whispered in reply.

And suddenly she realised that she was Ladybug, not Marinette. She blushed and ran away. She just… escaped.