First of all, apologies for taking so long!

I am not abandoning this fanfiction and I am sooooo sorry for taking this long to upload!

The truth is that now I am in a higher class at school, and at this level, it requires a lot of work. Consequently, I will not be able to upload as often as I would like because of the immense work load!

However, I will continue this story. I just ask you to please bear with me and thank you for the continued support! It's what makes me want to write!

Hope you like the chapter!

Marinette

"And I expect that to be done by tomorrow afternoon, class," Madame Bustier concluded.

The entire class groaned. Honestly, I couldn't blame them. Read four chapters on the French Revolution for tomorrow afternoon as well as a summary? That was too much.

"Excuse me? For tomorrow afternoon?!" Chloe shrieked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Chloe, or maybe you lost your hearing?" I retorted.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'll deal with you later, Maritrash," she said with a sneer.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," I mimicked.

"Chloe, don't talk to Marinette like that!"

Everyone's heads turned to see Adrien's angry expression. I couldn't believe this- Adrien was actually standing up for me?

Well, we were solid friends now. If anyone said anything bad about Adrien, I would stand up for him in a second but in all honesty, I would have done that even before we became close friends.

"Woah girl, this must be your lucky day!" Alya exclaimed as quietly as she could. "Although, I have noticed you are more comfortable around him now."

Again, Alya was too perceptive for her own good.

"I'll tell you everything later," I promised to her with a light whisper, but I mentally corrected that sentence. As much as I can possibly reveal, I thought.

My best friend raised an eyebrow in question but didn't press.

"Okay class, quieten down!" Madame Bustier shouted. The whole class was talking and chattering amongst themselves now, but everyone became silent.

"To repeat, Chloe, yes, you will have to do the homework by tomorrow, otherwise you will get detention."

"But I have a nail appointment tonight!" Chloe wailed.

"Do you think I care?" Madame Bustier countered. Hmm, this wasn't like her. Maybe Chloe was getting on her last nerve; I knew she was already past mine.

"Ugh, you are the worst teacher ever!" With that, Chloe stormed out of the class, Sabrina close behind her. The bell rang as well, and with that, the entire class got up to leave. I saw my teacher grit her teeth and take her books angrily while stamping away to her office. This wasn't good. I hoped Papillion wouldn't get to her- the softer ones were fiercer villains, but most importantly, she didn't deserve her anger to be taken advantaged of like that.

Alya and I walked off to the school entrance. I saw Adrien and Nino waiting at the entrance, and I smiled warmly at both of them.

"Hey-" I began before Adrien cut me off.

"Mari, don't let Chloe's words get to you," he said with real sincerity, "you're an awesome person and don't let her trashy comments bring you down."

I blushed. "Aww Adrien, you're sweet-" I stopped, registering the rest of his sentence.

Honestly, that boy worried too much. "Hey, I've been dealing with her for more than three years," I pointed out fiercely. "I won't let her bring me down."

"Good." He smiled.

Alya and Nino just watched our conversation, their heads going back and forth as if they were watching a tennis match.

"What?" I asked her.

She pulled me aside. "Girl, you never told me that you're all chummy with Adrien!" she said, her eyes accusatory.

I gulped. "Oh um, yeah, we uh, kind of bumped into each other on the weekend, and uh, we hung out?" I stammered.

Her glare was almost as scary as Bloom's yesterday.

"So let me get this straight," she started. "You and him. Hung out. AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!" she yelled.

"Alya! Shh! Not so loud!" I said, covering her mouth. She just pushed my hand away.

"Okay, I'll let you off this once but I swear, you have to keep me updated from now on!" She made me promise. I nodded and she grinned at me.

"Um, girls? Is everything alright?" Adrien asked a few metres away from us. Both his, and Nino's expressions matched and held a confused tone.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, we're good!" I was just about to nudge Alya to help me smoothen out this awkward situation when I heard a yell.

"Marinette! Over here!"

I swished around to see a familiar red-head and a blonde beside her. I grinned. Looking sideways at Adrien, I could see him grinning too.

I looked apologetically at Alya. "Sorry, I gotta go, talk to you later bye!" I ran off in Bloom's direction without a second glance.

"Hey I'm sorry I can't help you with the homework Nino but we'll catch up tomorrow. See you later!" Adrien called behind me, as he rushed down the steps beside me.

I could feel his energy adding to mine. We were both excited to see our new friends again.

Okay, that wasn't exactly true. I was a little miffed at Bloom- she had been hiding from me! Last night, when she revealed that she knew Sky for longer than I thought she did, came as a shock to me. Strangely though, it wasn't that big of a shock as I would've thought; I had suspected that the way Bloom and Sky responded and conversed with each other so easily had to stem from a longer relationship. But I was glad she told Chat too. He deserved to know. And it wasn't like Chat knew about Bloom or Sky in his civilian form, so it didn't matter much, but it was good for her to come clean with him, anyway.

I didn't know Sky very well, but I could tell he was a decent guy. I hadn't really factored him into our team but I was glad to have him; he fought well and seemed to get along all right with Chat. I was so glad he finally revealed his identity to us, however- it was annoying to simply call him the 'man in blue'. But I could tell Sky loved Bloom and she did the same for him. Now it made a lot of sense why Bloom worked so well with him. They were made for each other.

Of course I was happy for them. But it also made my heart ache.

Whenever I thought about Chat, my heart leapt. We were fantastic as a team and without his advice, I would never have made it through that obstacle course. But whenever I thought about Chat my heart broke, too. Not only was I playing him, I was playing Adrien as well.

It was as if destiny was forcing me to pick a side on the battlefield. But both sides were losing. So what was the point?

No, I scolded myself. You will not bring up your emotions again. Focus on the present.

"Marinette!" Bloom greeted me as she came up and gave a hug. I saw Sky give me a nod and bump fists with Adrien. I breathed in her warm scent and immediately felt calmer. I loved how Bloom could make me feel better simply through a hug.

"How was school?" she asked, pulling back.

"Ugh, Madame Bustier set me homework for tomorrow and it's insane!" I complained to her.

Sky looked at us with pity. "Bummer. Maybe we can help out later?" he offered.

"That sounds great," Adrien admitted, "but first, we have a gaming tournament due!"

We laughed at his enthusiasm. I gave him a wink. "Are you that excited to lose?" I taunted him.

"Oh, we'll get to the trash talk later. First you better show me what you got, Cheng."

"You're already losing at the comebacks, Adrien, so beating you at gaming is a piece of cake," I smirked.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, eyebrows raised and hands up. "Bring it."

I crossed my arms and looked at him with sympathy. He really wasn't that great at comebacks. "I already brought it."

Adrien was just about to come up with a snappy retort when I heard a clacking of heels and a nasal, brittle call.

"Ooh, who are your friends Adrihoney?"

I rolled my eyes in disgust as I turned to see Chloe strutting towards us, with Sabrina at her heels. She looked at me down her nose and pushed past me.

"Hey!" I protested, "what do you think you're doing, Chloe?"

"Ugh, don't talk to me," she said haughtily as she squeezed herself in front of Bloom and turned to look at Sky and Adrien.

Bloom looked affronted. "Who does she think she is?" she muttered under her breath, giving that fierce stare I knew well by now, towards Chloe.

"The mayor's daughter," I muttered back.

Chloe took one look at Sky and forgot about Adrien. "So," she said sweetly and batting her lashes, "are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." She put a hand on his arm. "You don't want to be hanging around with this lot," she confided to him, turning and giving me a dirty look.

Sky didn't look impressed. He picked her hand off gently and stepped back. I didn't know how he acted so calm. I was fuming. I was just about to confront her when Bloom put a hand on my shoulder. Her expression was just as scary as I remembered before she would strike against those that were evil.

"I've got this," she growled.

She stormed past Sabrina and walked right up to Chloe's face, standing in between her and Sky. Adrien quickly realised he was in a danger zone, smart boy, so he came around to stand with me. We both waited with bated breath.

Chloe scowled at Bloom. "Do I know you?" she said arrogantly.

"No," Bloom said evenly, "but I know all about you."

"Well of course you would," said the blonde, not seeing the threat in front of her. "I'm the mayor's daughter. Everyone knows about me."

"Oh yeah? Well let me tell you this." Bloom put her hands on her hips. "Clearly, you don't know anything about yourself. You have no idea what a horrible, vindictive person you are to others around you."

Chloe fumed. "How…how dare you!"

"And don't even think about flirting with my man," Bloom said, edging closer to Chloe. "He's MY fiancée and no-one, especially not you, are going to get between us."

Victoriously, she showed her the ring.

I didn't know who was more surprised, me or Chloe. But I knew which one of us was more pleasantly surprised than the other.

Like the brat she is and forever will be, Chloe huffed and ran off with Sabrina by her side. I looked at Bloom with awe.

"Respect," Adrien finally said. I guess I wasn't the only one who was impressed.

Bloom shrugged. "She had to be put in her place. And after I learned about how mean and spoilt the mayor's daughter is, I had to teach her a lesson. No one insults my friends and gets away with it. And no-one hits on Sky."

She walked up to him and held his hands. Looking up, she mockingly told him off. "You're mine. Don't forget that."

Sky grinned and kissed her forehead. "Yes ma'am," he joked back.

Smiling, she turned to look at me but recoiled slightly.

"Marinette? What's wrong?"

I glared at her. "You didn't tell me you were engaged!" I said, emphasising the e-word.

Bloom laughed nervously. "Um, well, I guess it never came up…"

"Marinette's right you know," Adrien admitted grudgingly, "Sky, I can't believe you didn't bring this up." However, Adrien broke into a grin and elbowed Sky knowingly.

I couldn't help but break into a grin myself. "I'll forgive you," I said, wagging a finger at her, "on one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You have to invite me to your wedding!" I squealed.

Bloom and Sky both blushed to the tips of their hair. Adrien winked at me. I knew what he was thinking. We had found their weakness. Oh, this was good. I'd have to use this against them later.

My eyes drifted to two sets of eyes that had been constantly staring at us throughout this entire exchange.

Alya and Nino were gawking at us, shell-shocked. I looked at her regretfully. I mouthed the word 'sorry', and 'explain to you later'.

"Shall we go?" Adrien asked.

I nodded. Waving at my two dumbfounded friends, I turned and joined Adrien, Bloom and Sky, as we walked to the bakery.

Right now, I didn't think about the way Adrien had stood up for me, the way Bloom put Chloe in her place or the fact that I had hell of a lot of explaining to do later to Alya.

Right now, I had to win.

Adrien

We all walked together to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Sky and Bloom walking ahead of us. I still wasn't used to the fact that Bloom was… a fairy. It sounded so surreal. But I knew I could trust her. It was hard to explain, but her presence made me feel reassured, and warm.

The day had dragged so much, as Marinette and I recalled all we had to endure in class today; the only day I was excited to do something after school was the day class had to be the worst and we got the most homework. Typical. My luck didn't work as well as Ladybug's.

Ah. A sharp pain hit my chest.

Thinking about Ladybug often rendered me that way. I was so confused lately.

The day we met, the day she saved us all was when I knew for certain I would love her, no matter who she was, with or without the mask. Her beauty lay in her courage, not simply her looks. I loved her because of her bravery, her kind-hearted soul.

But she rejected me. Not once, but many times. And now, when finally she was opening up to me, my feelings wavered.

I blamed my rotten luck.

Yet my luck brought me to Marinette, so it couldn't be that bad. She was just as amazing as Ladybug, but in her own, special way. She was witty, charming, sweet, kind and also brave. She was…something else.

When I saw Sky shower his affections on Bloom, my heart yearned to pull Marinette close to me. To have her in my arms and never let go. But I told myself to snap out of it. I couldn't break her heart, or Ladybug's.

I had promised myself that I would never hurt Ladybug, even if it meant that my life would be at risk. And without really knowing it, the same was applying to Marinette. Sub-consciously, my thoughts always lingered to the sweet, black-haired girl when I was Chat, wondering if she was safe, if she was alright. Despite the fact I knew she could handle herself, I still worried.

"We're here!" Marinette announced brightly, as she led the way in, breaking my thoughts. I closed my eyes and took in the scent of freshly baked croissants, gateaux and crème brulées. It was heavenly.

Unwillingly, my mouth made a 'Mm' noise.

I heard a soft tinkling laugh. I looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

"Adrien! How good to see you again!" Marinette's mother walked up to me, and warmly gave me a hug. Tom came by too, and hugged me soon after. I supressed the tears that were welling up in my eyes: I'd never felt so at home before. This was a thousand times better than my real home, where everything was so strict, so…loveless.

Sabine and Tom greeted Sky and Bloom, and gave us a box of macaroons to share. With a warm smile, they left us to go back and tend the bakery as we lounged on the couch once more.

"Your parents are the best, Marinette," I said truthfully, "not only are they so nice, they're superb at baking, too!" I exclaimed, biting into a green macaroon. Mm, pistachio flavour, I relished.

Marinette grinned. "They are pretty awesome," she admitted, "but honestly, they can be really intrusive sometimes! Just wait and see how many times they come over to check on us!"

I laughed but gazed a little wistfully in the direction of the two bakers.

Suddenly, I felt a soft pressure on my hand. Surprised, I looked to see Marinette holding my hand.

She smiled at me earnestly, peering into my eyes with a knowing look. "You can be part of my family any time," she said softly. I blushed.

Behind her, I heard a cough.

I glared at Sky.

Marinette let go of my hand with a jolt. "I mean, uh, you can all be a part of my family, too!" she said nervously, before composing herself. She smiled in their direction. "You guys are practically family, anyway," she corrected.

I felt a warmth spreading through me, a warmth I hadn't felt in a long time. I grabbed the hand that Marinette had dropped when holding mine. This time, she looked at me, wide-eyed.

"Thank you," I said softly. She smiled, hiding her eyes. Bloom came over too, nodding in my direction, and knelt beside Marinette, grabbing her other hand.

"Yes, thank you Marinette," she echoed. "Thank you for having us in your family." Even Sky came around and knelt beside Bloom, putting a hand over the Bloom's, which was on Marinette's hand. He smiled kindly at her.

With all of them here, it really did feel like home. I couldn't believe how fortunate I was to find myself in with people in this large world that truly loved me for who I was.

I grinned at all of them. Looking back at Marinette, I met her eyes.

"So," I countered, "you ready to lose?" I smirked.

I saw the fire in her eyes ignite. "Never Agreste. Never."

Sky

The gaming tournament was pretty epic. Adrien was right, as I suspected he would be. Marinette was legendary at video games.

True, I wasn't a stranger to video games. They were quite the pastime at my school, Red Fountain, but I couldn't compare to those two.

First, it began with the trash talking. I decided I would have to tutor Adrien and perfect his comebacks because he was getting shot down by the black-haired girl.

"I am on fire!" Adrien yelled in triumph, as he and Marinette were playing together against the computer generated characters.

"Yeah and since you were too busy messing around, you're actually on fire," Marinette pointed out with a roll of her eyes, as the opponent struck a bolt that put Adrien's robot alight. With a yelp, he pressed some controls and the fire went out.

Their paired game ended. "That was awesome!" Marinette exclaimed, "but I was the one doing all the work, though," she said, staring accusatorily at Adrien.

He huffed. "How about we go one-on-one and see who's really the best, then?" he offered, raising his eyebrows.

"Adrien, you and I both know that I'm going to win," Marinette pointed out.

The green-eyed boy opened his mouth to say something smart before he digressed. "Yeah, I know," he mumbled in defeat. Marinette smirked before choosing the next level.

"Hey, how about you guys join in, too?" Marinette asked, bringing out two more controllers. "We can do girls vs boys, or maybe you two vs us two…?"

"Sounds great," Bloom said, taking the controllers and handing one to me. "How about we play boys vs girls first," she said with a wink in my direction. "I know Sky just can't wait to lose against me."

I shrugged. "Only if the forfeit is that I get a kiss from you."

That made her go red. She composed herself quickly, though.

"Not a chance, Sky. If I win, I get to choose your punishment."

"Fine." I looked over to see both Marinette and Adrien flushed in the face. I tried to look apologetic. "Sorry about that," I said with a grin.

"Well you're engaged after all…" Adrien muttered under his breath.

I chuckled. He wasn't about to let that go soon.

And so it continued, all four of us competing with each other. Sadly, I did lose against Bloom, and as a consequence, I had to wash the dishes for the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. Sabine and Tom tried to stop me but I didn't really mind. Funnily enough, I enjoyed doing chores. It gave a feeling of accomplishment.

"Here," Marinette said, coming beside me and placing a small box beside me near the sink. "This is to say thank you for helping out."

I tried to refuse but she just smiled and walked away, going back to do homework. Bloom had decided that it was long past time for both Adrien and Marinette to stop 'fighting' and actually get some work done.

I smiled to myself. After finishing drying the last plate, I went over and sat beside Bloom.

"So how's it going?" I asked the pair.

"Almost done," Adrien said, looking up. "I'm so glad I came over tonight, Marinette's amazing at history," he said with awe.

Marinette blushed. "Stop it, Adrien, you know you're way better than I am," she said, looking down.

"Wow, I must have missed something," I said with mock surprise. "No cocky comments? No comebacks?" I looked at Bloom accusatorily. "What did you do to them?"

She nudged me playfully.

"Nothing," she said. "They've just decided to get along for once."

"For once?" they both said at the same time incredulously.

Bloom and I laughed. I opened the box that Marinette gave me. Inside, was a cupcake, very delicately decorated with the Eiffel Tower.

"Wow, thank you Marinette!" I exclaimed. "Did you make this yourself?"

She gave a shy grin. "Yep!"

"You have to teach me!" Bloom said with awe. In no time, they were both arranging times when they could come over and decorate together.

I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes. I wondered if Papillion would know about that secret training session we had last night. It wouldn't be good. If he had found out that we were training harder from our side, he could decide to make things from his side stronger, making it tougher for us.

Speaking of training, we would have to arrange another session. I started thinking back to my own training sessions. Obstacle course, we had done. One on one? But we had already done that in civilian form, when fencing. Maybe Master Fu would have some ideas, but at the present, it wouldn't be wise to contact him now. If Papillion found out about the other Miraculouses…

No. It was best not to think about that.

I grabbed the remote, turning on the TV in hopes of distracting myself. The news channel came up.

"And yet another akuma attack strikes Paris again," the reporter began, "this time with double the havoc."

Bloom, Adrien and Marinette's heads snapped to the screen.

"Locals say that the female calls herself Mistress Detention while the male is rumoured to be called Master Mind. It has been observed that Mistress Detention has been capturing people and has managed to vanish them somewhere unknown while Master Mind has been manipulating people's minds in order for them to obey him."

In alarm, we all looked at each other. I caught Adrien's eye and hoped he had started thinking quick on how to get out of here and into action.

"Well Marinette," I said loudly, "Adrien and I should probably get going now…"

"Wait," she said and I stopped in my tracks. "Once all this chaos is over, can both of you at least send me some sort of message, or sign, to tell me you're both alright?" Her gaze was firm but her voice wavered.

I knew Marinette cared for Adrien but I didn't realise until now that she cared so much. And, despite not knowing her as well as Bloom, it seemed she had already begun caring for me, too. I was grateful for it. I always saw her as my little sister, although a very brave and sassy one at that.

I looked at Bloom. She nodded her acceptance.

"Okay," I agreed. "Once all of this is over, Adrien can send you a text, how about that?" I grinned.

Marinette blushed and muttered something incoherently. I managed to guess what she meant to say, though.

"Wait, you're telling me Adrien hasn't even given you his number yet?" I said with mock surprise. I turned to face Adrien with a stern face. "Well you better do that soon, haven't you?"

He was red and sweating now. Luckily for him, Bloom saved him.

"Sky I think that's enough pestering Adrien. Don't worry Marinette, I'll make sure Adrien has your number if you don't mind."

The black-haired girl just mumbled "it's fine" before staring at the ground again.

I chuckled. "Well," I began brightly, "shall we start heading out, then Adrien?"

And I hoped you enjoyed that chapter! Thanks for reading!