Chapter 13: Count Down Until Six

"What do you think Adrien, does this suit me?" Chloe walked out of the dressing room and spun around a few times so Adrien could get a good look at her outfit.

"It looks great Chloe," Adrien halfheartedly replied. Chloe smiled, delighted.

"Perfect, then I'll add this to the list." Chloe walked back into the dressing room.

"Exactly how much longer is this going to take," Plagg flew out of Adrien's pocket, clearly annoyed. "We already went shopping for hours this morning; how many clothes does this girl need?"

"A lot unfortunately," Adrien sighed. "Shopping is one of Chloe's favorite past times. One time last year we literally went shopping for 10 hours straight, only taking a short break for lunch."

Adrien sighed again, "I'd hope today would just be a normal day hanging out with Chloe and not one of her shopping sprees. How am I supposed to find a way to meet up with Ladybug for our date? I already tried several times to end this outing only for Chloe to insist we continue. And between Chloe clinging on to me for dear life and my bodyguard following me around like a hawk, I'll never be able to sneak away."

"Beats me kid, I'm still trying to understand why you guys are still friends," Plagg stated.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean now that you're friends with Nino, Alya, Max, Marinette, Rose, Juleka, Nathaniel, and everyone else in your class, you don't need Chloe anymore."

"Just because I made some new friends doesn't mean I can just dump Chloe, we've been together since we were toddlers."

"Just because a friendship has lasted a long time doesn't mean it has to continue forever. Perhaps it's time you start examining your relationship with Chloe; even if you don't want to completely end the friendship, you should still take a moment to ponder about changing the parameters a little."

Adrien shot Plagg and quizzled look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Maybe start…"

"ADRIKIENS, I'm ready to go!"

Plagg flew back into Adrien's pocket as Chloe emerged from the dressing room. The two walked to the checkout, where Chloe proceeded to buy the clothes and give the bags to the gorilla.

"Now let's head off to the next store." Chloe grabbed Adrien's hand and proceeded towards another shop.

Adrien glanced back at his bodyguard who was struggling under the numerous bags and boxes he was forced to carry. Adrien hoped Chloe would take a short break at some point in time, allowing the man to deposit his load in the car; however, Chloe was oblivious to the man's plight, rushing from one place to another nonstop. Adrien managed to convince his bodyguard to leave his side for a few minutes during the movie so he could store the bags from that morning; nevertheless, his hands were soon full again thanks to the afternoon shopping spree.

"Chloe," Adrien stopped suddenly, forcing Chloe to halt as well. "We need to take a break so my bodyguard can put down all the bags he's carrying. Let's head to the car for a moment."

"Oh Adrien, have you learned nothing about being so nice all the time." Chloe looked over at the bodyguard struggling to maintain his payload. "Look see he's fine." Adrien frowned at Chloe's obvious lie.

"Besides," she continued. "The car is in the opposite directions of where I want to go and I don't feel like walking all the way back there."

"Chloe!" Adrien stated firmly. Recognizing that Adrien was not going to back down from this, she relented.

"Fine, we can head back to the car for a moment." Chloe huffed.

"Thank you Chloe." Adrien replied as the two headed back over to the car. Once they arrived, Chloe proceeded to direct the bodyguard on how to place the bags properly into the car so nothing would be crushed. Adrien watch the two for a small distance. 5:07, Adrien thought while looking at his watch. I'm running out of time to get out of here. Damn it! Adrien pulled his hair in frustration. I can't stand up Ladybug, I really need to find a way out of this.

"Hey Adrien."

"Ah!" Adrien jumped in surprise. "Marinette, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, um about that," Marinette laughed nervously. "I was just wondering how things were going with Chloe."

"With Chloe?"

"Oh yeah, she said that today you too were supposed to be spending time together. Where exactly is she?" Marinette began looking around. Adrien pointed over to the car where Chloe stood, too preoccupied with the gorilla to notice Marinette's arrival.

Marinette scowled as she saw Chloe. "So I guess that means you two have been together all day. Being dragged around to all of Chloe's favorite stores must've been hard."

"Yeah it has…" Adrien paused for a moment as a thought struck him. "What how did you know she was dragging me around to all her favorite stores?"

"Oh, um, hee hee," Marinette paused for a moment before continuing. "Re-remember when Sabrina, Chloe, and I were teamed up for that group project?" Adrien nodded his head.

"Well, Sabrina got into a fight with Chloe and started hanging out with me a lot for a couple of days. During that time she talked about Chloe a lot, especially her shopping habits and favorite stores. Considering where we are," Marinette gestured around them, "I figured she was up to her old habits of dragging friends from store to store."

"Makes sense," said Adrien, missing Marinette's sigh of relief.

"So, about my questions earlier." Marinette began.

Adrien paused for a moment before remembering what she had asked. "Oh that. Things are going fine," he lied. "No problems here."

"Is that so?" Marinette looked at Adrien unconvinced. "Well then, if that's the case I'll just take my leave then."

"Wait!" Adrien grabbed Marinette's arm as she turned away.

"What is it?"

Adrien froze as he looked at Marinette's puzzled face. Crap! What am I doing? I can't just ask her to help me sneak away from my bodyguard and Chloe. This is my problem not her's and I shouldn't drag her into it. Adrien thought about Ladybug, imagined her waiting at the Eiffel Tower for him for hours wondering when he'd show up only to realize later that he wasn't coming. A sharp pain struck his chest as he remembered the nights waiting at the Eiffel Tower, hoping to see Ladybug only to be met with despair when he realized she wasn't coming. No! I can't do that to Ladybug, not now, not when things between us are just getting started!

"Um, Adrien." Adrien snapped out of his inner turmoil. Realizing he had been holding onto Marinette's arm without saying anything for a while, he quickly released her.

"Oh sorry," He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"It's okay," Marinette affirmed. "So, did you change your mind about how well everything was going?"

Adrien hardened his resolve. I may not get another chance like this. "Yes. Also, if you don't mind, I need your help getting away from Chloe and my bodyguard."

Marinette smiled mischievously, clearly willing to assist. "I'd be happy to help."

"Ok, here's the plan." Adrien eager stated, happy to finally have a way to escape from Chloe.

"I can't believe that worked!" Adrien leapt with joy as he continued running down the street. He quickly ducked into an alleyway allowing Plagg to fly out of his pocket. "I was worried for a second that the plan wouldn't work or worst Marinette wouldn't want to get involved."

"Looks like you were worrying for nothing." Plagg began chowing down on a slice of camembert cheese. "Although I don't know why you were even worrying about Marinette wanting to help or not. That girl is always willing to do what it takes to help her friends."

Adrien thought back to all the times Marinette stuck her neck out to help someone. Juleka with the class photo, Mylene with the movie, Max with his robotic friend, and Alix with her race against Kim.

"Yeah," Adrien chuckled to himself. "Marinette's a pretty amazing friend."

Adrien checked his watch. 5:45, looks like I'll just barely make it in time. "Plagg, transforme moi!"

The moment his transforming finished, Chat Noir took off at full speed towards the Eiffel Tower and his date with Ladybug.

"I can't believe that worked." Marinette stated to Tikki as they walked down the deserted street.

"Me neither, that plan was horrible." Tikki shook her head in disappointment.

Marinette shrugged. "I guess making plans just isn't Adrien's style. But considering how skilled he is at literally everything else, I think it is okay that he can't make plans."

"I guess it's a bit unreasonable to expect a kid to be great at everything," Tikki exclaimed. "I'm just glad that he bought your story about Sabrina."

"Me too. Having him find out that I was following him is the last thing I wanted to happen."

After Alya left Marinette's house, Marinette began reading a magazine to help pass the time. Soon though, she found herself bored. She decided to pick out an outfit for her date with Chat Noir and spent several minutes going through various combinations before she realized the pointlessness of her endeavor. After spending a few hours engrossed in a new design, Marinette decided to take a stroll around Paris as Ladybug when she spotted Adrien and Chloe. Curious and perhaps even a little jealous, Ladybug decided to watch the two for a while. It didn't take her long to notice how miserable Adrien seemed and how thoughtless Chloe was being, dragging him from one store to the next while making the gorilla carry everything. Jealousy turned to anger as Ladybug continued to watch them in secret. She thought about getting involved and lending Adrien a hand, but couldn't really think of anything she could do. His father had arranged this outing with Chloe, so it wasn't up to Adrien or her to simply end it.

But he's my friend and is clearly in trouble. I should help him. Thought Ladybug as she paced around the rooftop of a department store.

Beep, beep

Ladybug pulled her yo-yo out of her pocket. 4:50, the clock on her yo-yo read. Marinette had set the alarm earlier to ensure she wasn't late for her date with Chat Noir. The last thing she wanted to do was to keep him waiting, wondering if she show up.

No, absolutely not. Ladybug shook her head. I will not do that Chat, not again, it's time for me to head out of here. I'm sure Adrien will be fine. As Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo to leave, she paused and looked back down at Adrien.

He seemed to be having some sort of argument with Chloe. Ladybug noticed him pointing to his bodyguard a few times before Chloe relented, following Adrien somewhere. Ladybug closed her yo-yo and replaced it around her hip.

No, I can't just abandon a friend in need. Ladybug thought as she followed the pair. Besides, I still have plenty of time before I'm supposed to meet up with Chat Noir. Ladybug purposely set the alarm way ahead of time, wanting to arrive early to the date. I just have to make this quick. When Adrien's alone, I'll approach him as Marinette and ask him if he needs my help. If he says he's fine then I'll leave it at that, but if he says he needs help then I will lend him a hand. Ladybug knew full well not to press Adrien to do anything, even if it felt like he really wanted to. It may seems like a nice thing to do at the time, but the backlash he'd face later could mean a worst outcome for him.

Ladybug jumped down behind a building and de-transformed when she noticed them stop at a parked car. The moment Chloe turned her back, Marinette made her move.

Chat Noir landed upon the Eiffel Tower and paused for a moment to catch his breath. He pulled out his baton, smiling as he read the time on the clock. Looks like all that running and jumping paid off, I made it just in time. He put away his baton and climbed up to the top of the tower where Ladybug awaited him.

Chat Noir noticed how peaceful she looked leaning against the beams with her eyes closed, humming a tune. Ladybug always looked gorgeous, but something about her posture, with her arms folded behind her back and the way that the sun illuminated her face so it seems to be glowing, took Chat Noir's breath away.

Ladybug slowly opened her eyes and looked towards Chat Noir.

"Hello their kitty," she smiled. "I'm ready for our surprise date."

"Hee hee," finding himself unable to speak Chat Noir let out a nervous laugh.

"What's a matter Chaton, cat got your tongue?" Ladybug joked as she walked over to him.

"N-n-no, ehm." Chat Noir cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "No, I just momentarily found myself speechless at the sight of your radiant beauty."

Ladybug stopped in her tracks, turning a deep scarlet red while attempting to hide her face with her hands. Whoa, Ladybug thought as she turned away from Chat. That one really got me.

"S-s-so," Ladybug stuttered trying to regain her previous composure. "I guess it's time for you to tell me the big surprise."

"Not quite yet," Chat Noir teased.

"You know I'll probably figure it out on the way there," Ladybug stated. "All these months fighting akuma, not to mention all the years I'd lived here, has given me an excellent understanding of Paris' layout. It's pointless to keep hiding."

"Your right. Under normal circumstances you'd probably figure out where we're headed on the way there and that's why I've taken certain measures." Chat Noir unzipped his pocket and pulled out a blindfold.

Ladybug stared at the blindfold for a moment before she realized what he meant. Being carried through Paris at lightening speeds by Chat Noir, while being completely unable to see. Ladybug withdrew at the thought. She trusted Chat Noir completely and didn't mind the idea of being carried by him while swiftly maneuvering throughout Paris, but felt uncomfortable at the idea of being blindfolded. It made her feel too vulnerable.

Seeing how uncomfortable Ladybug looked, Chat Noir began to panic. "You know what, just forget the whole idea, it was stupid anyway." He shoved the blindfold back into his pocket. "We can just go the normal way."

Ladybug looked at Chat's forced smiled and felt herself waiver a little bit. She knew full well that Chat Noir spent a lot of time planning this date out and only suggested the blindfold because he wanted to make the evening special. She thought back to the fight they had with Stormy Weather when they were trapped in complete darkness. Ladybug remembered how helpless she felt, but also how quickly that feeling melted away when Chat Noir grabbed her arm. Maybe the blindfolded trip through Paris wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would. Besides, Ladybug reasoned. I trust Chat Noir with my life.

"There's no need to go the normal way. I want to experience this date the way you planned." Ladybug replied.

"Are you sure?" Chat Noir asked, unconvinced. "I mean, I don't want to make you do anything that you're uncomfortable with. Besides, it should have thought about how it would make you feel before I came up with this ridiculous plan."

Ladybug gave Chat Noir a warm, confident smile. "I'm sure," she stated as she held out her hand.

Chat Noir grinned as he placed the blindfold in her hands. After tying the blindfold securely around her eyes, Ladybug nodded that she was ready. Chat Noir gently scooped her up in his arms before extending his baton and hopping off the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug squealed initially at the sensation, but soon found herself completely at ease in Chat Noir's arms.

"We're here!" Chat Noir exclaimed after they arrived at their destination. Still blindfolded, Ladybug removed herself from Chat's arms. Filled with anticipation, Ladybug removed the blindfold, taking in the sight around her.

Author's Note: completely aware that Chat Noir is capable of devising good plans, but thought it would be funnier if in this instance he came up with a really bad one.