AUTHOR'S NOTE: OK! First of all, I'd like to apologize for not updating quicker. Life has been kind of hectic in the past couple of weeks, I was in a show last week and tech week is a bitch for lack of better words. But to make up for it, I'm posting two chapters today since one isn't really sufficient enough to satisfy this little cliffhanger. So without further ado, a piece of trash that has somehow made it onto the page: enjoy.

Marinette was stumped.

Her jaw hung wide open, her bluebell eyes dilated in shock, and the hand that was currently encapsulated by her long-time crush felt limp and detached from the rest of her body. It seemed the entire school shared this moment of intense surprise with her, as by now any loitering students were gathered around the kneeling boy and gaping girl, whispering amongst one another as they tried to predict what would happen next.

Marinette was not very proud to say that she walked away.

In fact, walked was not an accurate description of her response, as it was more of a yanking her hand away, stuttering a quick excuse, and bolting with surprising speed from the premise, not stopping until she reached the threshold of her home.

She ran up the stairs to her room, calling out a quick greeting to her parents, and slammed the door, sliding down against the wooden frame with an agonizing screech.

Had- had he just asked her out?

To the winter ball?

As a date?!

A large grin split her face, going from cheek to cheek as she giddily laughed in solitude.

Adrien Agreste had asked her out!

Not long after she made this sparkling realization, her grin completely dropped from her face, and she slapped a hand to her forehead in shame. Yes, Adrien Agreste had asked her out, and she had totally ran away from him, without saying yes. She could die from embarrassment. Finally, her crush had asked her out, to a dance no less, and in the face of adversity, she; Lady Luck, hero of Paris and akuma-crushing 'goddess' had stuttered and run away. Would he take back his offer? Would he hate her now, thinking her escape was meant as a 'no'? She couldn't let that happen. All the times she had missed opportunities to win him over, she couldn't let this one pass her by.

'But then again..' she thought, doubting herself. 'What if it was all some kind of joke? What if he wasn't really asking me to the ball? What if-' Her musing was interrupted by a chime from her cell-phone. She reached into the pocket of her purse and saw several missed phone calls and texts. Tikki flew out from her purse and looked at Marinette groggily. "It's Alya," she said tiredly, "she probably wants to know why you ran from Adrien," Marinette sighed and flopped herself down on her bed, cell-phone in hand. "Tikki, what do I do? I might've just ruined my chances with Adrien, for good," she groaned to her kwami.

Tikki flew over placed a reassuring arm on her forehead, choosing her words carefully. "Marinette, the only way to know for sure is to talk to him directly. Explain to him what happened, he'll understand, I just know it." Marinette smiled and nuzzled her kwami, bringing her phone up to her face and sitting up. "You're right, Tikki. I just gotta be brave," She searched for Adrien's contact in her phone, typing out a message as if she were Ladybug, the boost of confidence compelling her to hit send, albeit with slight hesitation.

'My answer is yes. Don't forget to call me in the morning ;)'