The final bell rang, signalling the end of school. Nino looked nervously at his friend. He had told Adrien about his predicament, and his friend had promised to help. Adrien returned Nino's troubled look with a smile and a thumbs up, a way of saying, I got your back.

That comforted him, and Nino let out a breath of relief. He watched as Alya walked past him and headed out the classroom, but not before giving Nino a glance and smile. He beamed at her, and she giggled quietly before leaving.

Once the classroom was empty, Nino grabbed his bag from the floor and searched for the gift.

"Here it is," he said with relief, placing the journal gently on his table. It was a thick medium-sized red journal with black polka dots.

Adrien blinked at it and laughed in amazement. "Ladybug!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, man," Nino nodded, slightly bashful. "I saw it and thought of her."

"She'll love it," Adrien said sincerely, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Nino smiled and hoped he was right.

"Let's start wrapping! And no, that isn't the cue for you to start rapping songs, Adrien."

It took almost half an hour to wrap the gift. Nino and Adrien somehow ended up sprawled on the ground. Nino stretched out his arms and held up the gift, like how Rafiki presented Simba to the pride lands. Adrien stared at it with a finger on his chin.

"It doesn't look right," said Nino. Not right was right. The alignment of the red wrapping paper was so out of place that its pale red underside could be seen. The tape holding the paper in place was far too obvious and unsightly, with slightly raised bumps and very far from straight.

The gift, frankly, was horribly wrapped.

"This won't do," Nino shook his head. "We gotta start over."

"No worries," Adrien shrugged. "I brought emergency wrapping papers!"

Adrien took out a roll of wrapping paper from underneath his desk with a grin on his face. Out of gratitude, Nino squealed manly.

This time, it took them more than half an hour, several long wooden rulers, double-sided tape, sweaty palms, and incredibly unnecessary precision to wrap the gift.

But it was worth it, for the gift looked perfect.

Almost.

Adrien held his breath and stared unblinkingly as Nino slowly and carefully stuck a ribbon to the centre. When it was done, the boys cheered and danced around the classroom with joy at their success.

They failed to realise that the recipient of the gift was standing outside the classroom, staring at them through the window. When they did notice though, it was far too late as Alya was already doubling over with laughter.

The boys rushed out to regain their dignity.

"How long were you standing there?!" Nino exclaimed. Adrien hid the gift behind him as he stood behind his friend. He hoped his face wasn't as red as the tip of Nino's ears.

"Relax," Alya said, laughing. "I only saw everything from the moment you two started having a mini-dance party in there. Haha! What were you doing anyway?"

Nino turned to take the gift from Adrien and pouted at Alya, who was laughing still. He held the gift out for her to see but held it close to him instead. "Well, I was going to give you a present, but since you've made me feel embarrassed, I guess I'll just keep it for me and Adrien."

"Wait! I'm sorry!" Alya said between laughs. "I promise I'll stop laughing. I'm really sorry! But anyway, I thought it was cute!"

"Really?" Nino smirked and Adrien laughed. Alya nodded enthusiastically, a wide grin on her face.

"Okay then, apology accepted."

Nino handed Alya the gift and she held it gingerly in her hands.

"Open it!" urged Nino, the nervousness from earlier on completely dissipated upon seeing the look on her face.

Alya carefully opened her gift, making sure not to rip the wrapping paper. She was sentimental about things like this and loved to keep the wrapping papers that her gifts come in. Once she laid eyes on the gift, her jaw dropped and morphed into a bright smile. She even did a tiny wiggle dance too. She looked up at Nino and wrapped her arms around him.

He relaxed into her, hugging her back tightly. "I love it," she said, her words muffled by his shoulder. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it."

Alya pulled away but kept her arms around Nino. "But, what's the occasion?"

Nino simply shrugged. "No occasion. I just wanted to give someone special to me something special."

"Oh, Nino," Alya whispered, hugging him again. She opened her eyes and smiled at the friend she had almost forgotten. "And thank you, Adrien."

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "I just helped to wrap it, that's all. Anyway, I think I should get going. See you guys tomorrow!"

They said their goodbyes, and Adrien headed to his locker to drop off his books. Alya and Nino remained where they were, talking quietly and excitedly. They paused abruptly when they caught sight of Adrien stopping dead in his tracks, a few feet away from them.

"What's wrong with him?" Alya asked curiously.

"I dunno," Nino shrugged. "Is that the gym? Maybe he saw something inside."

Alya suddenly smacked Nino on the arm, excited. "Marinette's in there!"

"Oh yeah, she goes to the gym on Tuesdays right? Adrien does too, but he uses the gym in his house."

"Looks like that won't be happening today. Look!" Alya pointed to their friend, who was walking back towards the locker room. His face was blank and he looked as though he was in a trance.

They followed him silently, hiding outside, under the windows so that Adrien wouldn't see them. Once he was done, they watched as he walked back to the gym. When he stood outside the doors, unmoving, Alya gave Nino an alarming look. To which Nino responded with a shrug.

But still, he tried to formulate a theory. "I think Adrien is becoming fond of Marinette. He's gotten to know her better, so I think he's beginning to admire her. Although, I really don't know why he's acting so shy and weird. He's not normally like that."

"Does he like her?" Alya asked, hopeful.

"Not sure. Maybe? We don't talk about these kind of things all that much."

"Well then start talking about it!"

Nino laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll ask him about it tomorrow. For now, do you think there's any way for us to get Marinette out, so that Adrien would have no choice but to go in once she sees him standing outside in training gear?"

"How do we know he won't turn into a cat and run away?"

Nino shook his head confidently. "My man Adrien won't run. He's a brave one."

Alya smiled at Nino lovingly. "He's not the only one."

"Aww," squealed Nino, clasping his hands together and holding them against his chest.

"Which is why you're going to go inside to take Marinette's bottle. She'll have to go outside to grab another when she gets thirsty."

"Hey!"

It worked. Nino had sneaked into the gym and snatched Marinette's pink bottle away. They only had to wait a few minutes before Marinette went outside and bumped into Adrien. They hid inside the locker room that was beside the gym, listening in to the conversation, and waiting until Adrien and Marinette finally went inside.

They then crouched outside the gym and watched their friends through the window. It was only some time later that Alex and Kim walked towards them.

They looked like they were heading into the gym, so Alya put a finger to her lips and motioned for them to crouch down too.

"What are you two doing?" Alex whispered.

"Watching Adrien and Marinette. Aren't they cute?"

Curious, Kim and Alex peeked in through the windows. There were Adrien and Marinette, but all they did was run on the treadmill. They weren't even talking, save for occasional glances. "Okay…?" said Kim questioningly.

"They're not doing anything." Alex pointed out.

"They're bonding," Nino said.

"This doesn't happen very much," Alya added.

Alex snorted. "We can tell," replied Kim. "I'm guessing you want those two to be alone in there?"

Alya and Nino nodded, giving innocent smiles to their friends.

"Fine," Kim sighed. He turned to Alex and grinned. "I guess we're going swimming today."

"Sounds good," she nodded, smiling at him. "We're leaving, and you two should too. Give them some privacy. I bet something will only happen between them the moment you two leave."

Alya and Nino considered this, and eventually decided she was right. True enough, the moment they left, Marinette and Adrien began their little competition, followed by the fateful falling-on-butt.

A daily update! Final chapter coming tomorrow. Thank you for all the support :)