This is actually a headcanon I've had for Alya for a bit longer.
I always pictured her as the suave, confident, witty girl but what if she just had one little, not even important weakness? What if the rational, logical reporter had one little irrational fear. And that's what I gave her.
And honestly, I like how that character transforms with this trait. It's not even important, just a little experiment I have for myself.
Enjoy~

"… And then! Then I told her, like, 'Marinette, don't even try that. It'll taste awful!'. And what does this girl do?!"

His laughter let her heart beat faster as he leant back on the couch, his glass tilting dangerously which resulted in a fit of giggles from her.

"She bites right into it?", he guessed, his cheeks warm and red from laughing so much and his golden eyes twinkling of joy.

"She bites right into it! And I told her it'd be awful! But no, Mrs. Smarty Pants had to go ahead and try to prove me wrong."

His glasses were slightly askew as he laughed out again, then he adjusted them and grinned at her widely, setting his glass down on the couch table before leaning back, letting himself cool off a little again.

"Oh man, what a dork your friend is…", he sighed, still chuckling from time to time before she also put her glass down, leaning onto the couch next to him.

"Yeah, she really is… And as it sounds like, your dork friend Adrien and her would be perfect together."

He laughed throatily, his Adam's apple jumping up and down because of the bent back position of his neck. She smiled at him then turning his head to meet her gaze, his eyes shining with joy. She sighed as his laughter faded, leaving a gentle smile that made her heart stutter.

"Maybe we should set them up together?"

She joined into his newborn laughter again, lightly nudging his shoulder.

"Who knows, maybe we should dump a drink on them.", the words left her so fast and without a second thought before they both had time to process it, suddenly a familiar warmth shooting up in both their cheeks before they averted their gaze awkwardly, his hand flying up to rub over the back of his head and her fingers beginning to fidget in her lap before she grabbed her glass again, letting the liquid gently splash around a few times and taking a sip.

The awkward silence luckily didn't hold for long since Alya's phone began buzzing in her pocket, causing her to apologize briefly and take the call. On the other end was Marinette, sounding excited.

"Hey, girl!", she exclaimed, causing Alya to flinch away and Nino to laugh.

"Uhm… Hello to you, too, Mari?"

Nino chuckled as he got up, taking the empty bowl which had been filled with chips before with him to the kitchen to refill it, giving the girls some privacy. He felt Alya's gaze in his back as he walked around the corner of the wall, out of sight. But he could still hear them talking, even Marinette on the phone.

"So, how was your date?!", the excited voice asked and he smiled to himself as he remembered how he had dumped the cola on Alya. He heard the girl on his couch shift, then humming.

"The date was-… Hm… Not what I thought to be. But nice in the end."

His fingers stilled as he listened to the smirk in her voice, letting his heart beat faster. The bag of chips emptied itself into the bowl and he shook out the last crumbs as he resurfaced from his stupor. Did she see this as the continuation of her date? Or did she consider calling the guy back? But why would she have wanted to get away from him then?

Nino frowned, folding the bag and putting it in the trash.

"Oooooh?", Marinette asked cheekily, "So I can assume that you might've found someone?"

Alya shifted again, apparently pulling his shirt to adjust it, according to the soft fabric sounds.

"Uhm, well, let's see about that. Anyway, Mari, I'll tell you the deets when I'm home again."

"You're not home yet?", the voice didn't sound high pitched anymore but much more worried. Nino busied himself with the dishwasher, putting all the washed dishes away to put the dirty one in. He could feel Alya's frown when she answered.

"Uhm, no?"

"Are you still with your date?", now she sounded panicked, probably worrying she interrupted something but Alya was fast to reassure her.

"Oh, uhm, well kinda but that's not the point. Why do you ask?"

"Have you looked outside recently?", the voice asked carefully. He heard Alya stand up and gasp.

"Ooh, oh no. I'll be home in a bit. Don't worry, Mari, I'll be fine. I'll just ask Nino to drive me home."

"W-Wait, who's Nin-"

A click and a break in Marinette's voice signaled him she had hung up. Just as he straightened up and turned back to the living room, Alya came walking around the corner, looking distressed.

"Everything alright?", he asked, trying not to look like he had been able to listen to Marinette as well. She probably thought he had just heard her responses.

"Uhm, well, yeah. Kinda. C-Can you drive me home now?", she sounded afraid, almost panicking. He hurried to get to her, around the counter, to softly put a hand on her upper arm, catching her flying gaze.

"Yeah, of course, right away.", he reassured her, "Why do you ask, are you okay? Did something happen?"

Her eyes jumped to the window where the sky had darkened dangerously, the clouds balling up into big, threatening walls, not leaving any sunlight to shine through. It looked like a storm would break out any minute, as far as he could tell through the never lessening strings of rain.

"Yes, something uh-… Yes. Can we go?", when she turned back to him her eyes were shining.

He immediately jumped, nodding and swirling around to wave her with him, leading them both into the hallway to put on their shoes and a jacket. He quickly gave her one rain jacket of his, briefly noticing how it hung on her thighs as she closed it. Despite her suddenly feeling uncomfortable he couldn't help but remark to himself how cute she looked in his clothes.

Much to Alya's relief, they were out the door and quickly getting down the stairs within seconds. Not that she wanted to leave, necessarily, she honestly wanted to stay with Nino for a little longer, but her chest already tightened again as she thought back to the dark, lowly hanging clouds. She didn't question that he left his front door open, or that the door on the next floor down, the second, was open as well. Nino halted in front of that door and she had to reach out for the railing not to bump into him.

"I'll be gone for a moment, Ma!", he yelled and a middle-aged woman peeked out of the door frame from the side.

"Alright, Nino, stay safe!", her gaze fell upon Alya and she smiled warmly, "Don't let him throw another glass of cola on you, dear."

Alya gave her best to smile back and nod, but before she could answer Nino suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

"Alright, Ma, bye!", he yelled, pulling her down the next flight of stairs, keeping her hand safely in his. Her fingers tightened around his hand after a short hesitation, but as soon as her smaller hand fit into his he couldn't help but smile. And despite the dull feeling of panic in Alya's chest, she couldn't suppress letting her shoulders relax a little at the safety his warm hands provided. She let herself be pulled down the stairs, neither wanting to let go as they reached the ground level, going out through the back to the garages. Only as the passed the door leading to his car she felt his hand around hers loosening up, gesturing her with his other that already held his key to go around the car to the passenger's side.

"Fiat?", she asked faintly, a weaker voice than she intended, but nevertheless a small smirk was hidden in her tone. He replied with a grin, nodding at her as they both reached their doors.

"Fiat.", his gaze was warm and she almost forgot why they were here as their eyes stayed connected. But a low rumble across the sky pulled her back into reality and she quickly opened the door, sliding into the passenger's seat.

He apparently got the memo as he pressed a button on the wall next to him, then opening his door as well and getting in. The garage door slid upwards as he fastened his seatbelt and started the car.

Once again, he looked over to her and noticed how she clenched her fists around the seatbelt on her chest, her eyes a little too wide and her lips pressed together. Was she afraid? Of-… Of him?

In the brief moment in which the garage had to open up he reached over, grazing her upper arm with his fingertips, causing her to flinch. With an apologizing expression he pulled back, catching her gaze as she turned to him.

"Are you okay? You look distressed."

She chose not to answer, instead wrapping her arms around herself and turning to the front again. Taking her silence as a sign to back off he carefully inched out of the garage, driving onto the street as the door closed automatically behind them.

"So, uhm-… Where do you live? Or should I drop you off somewhere? With a friend or somewhere public?"

"H-Home is fine…", she replied quietly, flinching at another thunder rolling through the streets. He nodded, keeping his eyes firmly on the road as the heavy rain clouded the view.

"Direct me?", he asked carefully, not wanting to seem invasive or creepy to her. She simply nodded, breathing through and straightening up, apparently finding distraction in the new task.

"Okay."

Around half an hour later they arrived in front of her house. He parked the car and stood up first, running around the car to open the door and help her out, feeling her shivering and stiffening up in his arms as he steadied her, leading her to the front door to which she directed him.

With shaky fingers she tried to unlock the door before he softly took the key from her, opening the lock for her. They got inside and she led him to an apartment on ground level, apparently hers. He unlocked this door as well, helping her inside and giving her back her keys.

"There you go.", he quietly said, smiling at her hesitantly. She tried to smile back but he saw the stray tears between the raindrops that rolled down her cheeks, "You're safe now. It's okay."

With hanging shoulders, he nodded at her and turned.

"Oh, and you can keep the clothes. Don't worry about that.", he murmured but just as he was about to go a lightning lit up the hallway and Alya silently yelped. He looked back to her as she shook her head.

"I-I'm not afraid of you, Nino…", she whispered, flinching when the thunder followed a few seconds later.

Finally, he realized what it was. She wanted to be home to be in a familiar environment. She didn't want to be away from him, she just wanted to be safe.

"You're afraid of storms?", before she answered she pressed her lips together, watching the brief illumination on his skin as another lightning flashed. He took her slightly nod and her fearful eyes as confirmation, "Well then. You're safe here. Just take some headphones and blend it out. And you got my number, I'm just a call away."

She swallowed thickly as another thunder crackled over the sky, feeling way closer and more threatening than before.

"I-…", she moistened her lips, looking away before making eye contact again, "I don't wanna be alone…"

He furrowed his eyebrows, turning back to her again and taking a step towards her, standing within an arm's reach from her again.

"So, uhm-… Call your friend Marinette over?", he asked, shrugging. He didn't want to offer to stay with her. Letting her sit in his apartment, while his whole family was there, while there was a very well visited restaurant down on ground level, that was fine to him. He knew she could feel safe with everyone, especially his family, around. But stepping into her apartment, with her scent all over everything, that would make his head fuzzy, and all of that completely alone?

They just knew each other for a few hours now. It was dark out and he didn't want to seem like a creep to her, now that he already knew where she lived.

But as another lightning flashed and her face contorted in fear he was there. Offering his arms without thinking, for her to have a grip, to steady her. And without even the slightest hesitation, she had her arms around him, shivering with the thunder that sounded in the distance, pressing her face into his chest.

And only as the rumble had faded and he had his attention back on her, he heard what she was whispering.

"… Please don't leave…", she repeated, tightening her hold around him. He didn't dare hugging her back but protectively held his arms around her, letting out a breath he didn't know he had held.

"If you don't want me to leave, I'll stay.", he replied, his heart hammering in his chest, "And as soon as you want me to, I'll be gone, deal?"

She nodded lightly and he thanked everything he kept his headphones on his neck at all times. With careful movements he pulled them over his head and put them around her neck, to signalize her what he was doing. She didn't resist as he gently stepped forward, nudging her into her apartment and closing the door behind them.

"Lock?", he asked and she shook her head so he kept it as it was. Carefully, he pulled off both his rain jackets from them, chuckling lightly at her unwillingness to let go of him. As both their shoes were somehow kicked off as well he glanced around, to assess the surroundings, and located the living room. She came along with him as he stepped there, careful not to go too fast and make her stumble. As soon as they were through the door she took the lead, pulling him to the couch and making him sit down. He finally wrapped his arms around her now, helping her to sit down next to him, with her legs over his lap. She still kept her face buried in his chest, shivering as she heard another low rumble from outside.

"Blanket?", he offered, getting a nod from her so he grabbed one from the end of the couch, spreading it around her shoulders and down her legs. After a bit of shifting and tucking in she was properly wrapped in the blanket, the warmth spreading over to him.

Next, he pulled out his phone, pulled up his library and grabbed the headphones around her neck, adjusting them over her ears. With a few swipes of his thumb he put on the playlist with his calm tunes, most of which he had mixed himself. As soon as the first one played, he felt her relax in his arms, slowly melting against him.