Marinette trudged into class at a reasonable hour. Waking up before five will do that to you, I guess.

Alya waved at her and smiled. "Did you get my text last night?"

Marinette froze. "Yeah, yeah I did. I got busy and didn't respond to it, sorry. But, um, thank you. I appreciate it." She pressed her lips together, standing awkwardly in front of the seat she occupied every day.

"Sit down, babe."

"Right, right." Marinette slid into her seat, leaning into Alya's hug when she realized it was happening. "I do mean it. Thank you."

"You know you can always talk to me. Did you call last night?" Alya rested her arm on the back of Marinette's seat, determined to keep the closeness between them.

"No, I didn't, but I did look at the website you gave me."

"What website?" Nino plopped into his seat, turning towards them.

"The website, Nino." Alya stared at him like he should already know.

"Oh! Right. That. I'm glad you looked at it, Nettie. We're here if you need anything, okay?" Nino held out his fist, smiling when she bumped it with her own.

"Thanks, guys. I'll be fine, really." She smiled, hoping they wouldn't notice how it didn't reach her eyes.

"Well, in case you're not, we're still around. And Adrien. Where the hell is that kid, Nino?" Alya laid her hand on Marinette's knee, squeezing Marinette's fingers when they found hers.

"I think he had a shoot this morning. He'll be in after lunch. Let me double check that." Nino slid his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his texts. "Yeah, he'll be in after lunch. He said to say hi and he loves you guys. He also sent this selfie." Nino turned his phone around so they could see Adrien with a genuine smile and a little bit of stubble, flashing the sign language for I love you. "I'll send that to you both if you want."

"Um, duh!" Marinette and Alya looked at each other and laughed. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Alya and Nino knew, after all.

By the time they met by the steps after lunch, that was the universal contact photo for him.

"We missed you this morning, dude. Cute picture, though." Alya winked at him, laughing when he snorted.

"Leave it to Nino to show personal pictures to everybody."

"Actually, it's your new contact photo. At least for me, anyway."

"It's mine, too." Nino pulled up his contacts as evidence to his truthfulness.

"Wait, I thought I was the only one doing it!" Marinette shook her head. "And here I thought I was being original."

Adrien threw his hands up. "Great! Everybody's seen my secret bro pics! How could you betray me like this, Nino?" He pretended to be distressed, but his eyes betrayed amusement.

Alya jumped to his defense. "We definitely coerced him into doing it. Right, Marinette?"

"Yes, definitely! The secret bro pics were stolen. Mostly. Kind of." Marinette shrugged a shoulder; she knew that Adrien could figure out the truth.

"In that case, I forgive you, dearest Nino. I don't know what I would ever do without you." Adrien held out his arms to hug Nino, changing his stance at the last second to cup Nino's face and plant a loud kiss on his cheek.

"Gross! Dude! Not in public!" Nino rubbed the spot while the other three laughed at him.

Marinette took pity on him first. "I'm sorry, Nino. I know you like to proclaim your bro-ness behind closed doors." She reached over and took his hand. "That's why I'm forced to do this." She pulled him closer and left a kiss on his other cheek, complete with a pink lipstick stain.

Nino yanked his hand out of hers, scrubbing his face vigorously with his fingers. "Dude!"

Alya closed the small circle. "But how else are we supposed to tell the world we love each other?"

"You could just say it."

Alya glanced at the other two and whispered, "I love you."

Nino raised an eyebrow. "Why did you whisper that?"

"Because you guys are my world, bro." Alya grinned as Nino groaned and Adrien and Marinette whispered, "Bro."

Nino shook his head. "We're gonna be late for class, nerds. You need to spend less time online and more time being normal." He excused himself from the circle and turned around. "See you geeks inside."

Adrien pointed at Nino with his thumb. "Who's he calling a nerd?"

Alya pushed Adrien inside, Marinette close behind them. "Probably you, anime boy. Glad to have you back this afternoon, though. I'm gonna run to the WC before class. See you!"

"Bye, girl." Adrien waved and slowed so Marinette could match pace with him.

"You didn't tell me you had a shoot this morning. I just thought I had to be out at five like usual."

"Oh, sorry. Now that I think about it, we were talking about something slightly more important than my work schedule." He bumped into her. "I'll try to tell you next time."

"I don't want this whole thing to be all we talk about now. It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that—Buginette, it's a little bit of a deal for sure. But I understand." He held out his arm for her so they could walk together, which she accepted. "I'll tell you about my shoot instead. How does that sound?"

"Perfect. Thank you."


A/N: I hope this chapter felt a little lighter than the previous two. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, honestly. So...yeah. -wwot