A.n- And here's the next chapter. Just wanted to thank you all for the feedback I have been given and hope you continue to stand with me in the story. If you're interested in being my beta just hit me up, I'm still looking for one. Italics are flashbacks.

Chapter 4: Helpless

Adrien stood stone still flowers in his hand in front of the apartment door. It was strange that he battled countless villains and still had his palms sweat at the thought of visiting his girlfriend. Despite being gifted in the looks department, most girls wanted to date him because of his money, status, or to get to his Dad. Amelie hadn't asked for any of that. If he was honest with himself, there were moments that the redhead made him feel alive. That he could unleash certain parts of his Chat behaviors, and she wouldn't only accept it, she would embrace it. This was new territory for him.

He found his courage and closed the gap between the door and his body and gently knocked. He could hear shuffling within the apartment which increased his nerves. They were supposed to go out to a new coffee place today, he hadn't texted her that he was on his way.

The door swung open to reveal Marinette, whose face was covered in what he assumed was flour. It seemed that the apple hadn't fallen too far from the tree.

"Hey Marinette."

She couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away, it was complete. After a couple days of frustration and who knew how many cups of coffee, the project was complete. She wouldn't change anything about it, the dress had her own "Marinette" flare to it. After her project got approved, she would get a chance to create this masterpiece by the end of the semester.

A knock on the door caught her attention, but she couldn't move. It wasn't like she was expecting anyone to visit, it was probably one of Amelie's friends. When the knocking persisted, Marinette didn't have much of a choice, she couldn't keep them waiting. She was expecting a delivery or the neighbor who needed to borrow some sugar. Adrien Agreste holding a bouquet of flowers was one of the last things she envisioned.

"Adrien?" She felt her breath hitch when her eyes traced down to the purple lilacs. "What are you doing here?" This was the first time that she had seen him since fate had brought them into one another's lives again. It wasn't that she was avoiding him, it seemed that they had conflicting schedules which prevented the meeting.

"I stopped by to see Amelie." His eyes jumped from her face to the purple flowers. "They're too much aren't they. I walked into the store, and I saw these,"- His cheeks burned after Marinette reached out her hand on his arm to calm him.

"They're beautiful Adrien." The gesture caught them both off guard and she pulled her hand as quickly as she had extended it. She needed to calm herself before she revisited the girl in middle school that stumbled over her words.

"But just so you know, if you want to impress a girl like Amelie, her favorite are roses." Her eyes drifted to the floor, fighting the blush brewing. Of course, out of all the choices that were available at the flower shop he had to pick her favorite. She believed that with every gift came a message and if he only knew what those purple lilacs meant.

"Thanks," he offered a friendly smile and their eyes connected.

"I'll put those in water," she offered. He gently held out the flowers without hesitation. Electricity seemed to jump from his skin to hers without a word having to be said.

"Adrien! Are those for me?" Marinette retreated to the kitchen to tend to them, if she left it up to her roommate the flowers would only die faster.

It was weird seeing him here visiting Amelie, they had gone on a couple dates, but every time Marinette secretly hoped it was their last date. Whether that made her a bad person she had yet to decide, but regardless the sight of Amelie kissing Adrien sent her straight to her room.

"I see that you took my advice about the flowers." Marinette cursed mentally, after all the time they had been friends, it wasn't supposed to be awkward between them anymore. Adrien was with Amelie now, and she was happy for them, but it was too soon. It would be her life that after all her feelings got stirred up again that the model would get together with her roommate. She had her opportunity and passed on it. This conversation shouldn't be any different than with an acquaintance on the street...except it was Adrien. His emerald eyes made her knees weak every time that he looked at her. She couldn't help it.

"Yeah, I really appreciate it." An awkward silence fell between them when it hit her that he was still standing in the doorway. Her feet couldn't move faster as she stood back to let the model inside.

"I'm glad," she replied. She didn't know what was worse, stuttering beyond belief around him, or making her replies so short that she couldn't mess up the conversation.

"Are you doing some baking?" Adrien pointed to where the flour in question would appear on his own face. Marinette's hands flew up to her cheeks, but she was sure that the damage of the blush was already done.

"Yeah, I'm making some chocolate chip cookies for one of our floor mates old Mrs. Petit. She had a tough week and I thought I would make these to cheer her up."

"You're always thinking of others, it's one of the things I lo-like about you." Marinette's brow rose at the stumble but didn't have the courage to call him out about it. You could love your friends too, she loved Alya and Nino but that was more as sister and brother than anything.

"I would kill for one of your Dad's croissants." Adrien sighed leaning against the outside kitchen counter. The blue-eyed girl smirked, one thing that didn't change was how Adrien felt for his pastries.

"I could put in a good word for you. I know people," She teased. It was strange to talk about her parents like they were celebrities, but their bakery had grown in popularity. They had to sell the old store to move to accommodate the new business.

"You would do that for me?" The blonde placed his hand on his chest in appreciation to play along. Her smile grew further and the two bursts into laughter. They hadn't had anything like this since senior year of high school.

"You know Marinette, we should get coffee sometime, catch up. I want to hear all about your school…as friends of course." This time the red color tinted the tips of his ears and all she could do was stand there. Why now?

"That sounds"-

"Oh Mar-Mar, good you won't believe what just happened." Her excitement was enough to entice the girl. She was surprised that she hardly noticed that she was there with Adrien in the room holding flowers for his girlfriend no less. It wasn't that her roommate was a bad friend in any aspect she got distracted easily, and the fact had put a slight strain on their friendship. Amelie didn't give Marinette a chance to respond, "Bellamy just texted me, turns out I owed him a favor and he wants to collect." Marinette's stomach churned, she had an idea where this was going, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Oh really? What did he want?"

"I kinda promised him that he could have a date with you." Memories of her time with at the zoo when she agreed for Alya to go on a date with Nino. Now she understood her best friend's frustration; although they were happily together now, Alya still gave her grief. Amelie had different taste in guys than she did, and if she thought this guy would be perfect for her, that was a red flag within itself."

"Not going to happen." It wasn't even because she had no interest in the guy, but her workload and her secret life of Ladybug wouldn't allow for it. Hawk Moth wouldn't stop attacking Paris because she was on a date.

She wasn't sure but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Adrien's body relax at the words as if he was as against the idea as she was. He was the protective type when it came to his friends, she told herself because that's all they were, friends.

"Do it for me?" The green-eyed girl started to bat her eyelashes as her lips turned into a pout.

"Amelie, she said she didn't want"-

"I'll do it." It wasn't her constant asking or her whining that had won the raven-haired girl over, it was the knowledge that if she didn't say yes that it would continue. Besides what could one date hurt, the worst thing would be that she would waste a couple hours of her life and never see him again.

"What?" Adrien and Amelie replied in unison except in very different tones.

"On one condition, it won't be till after finals." It was easy to keep her head on straight when it came to this considering there were no feelings involved towards this guy. School and saving Paris took priority over everything else for the next two weeks.

"Marinette you don't have to do this." The blonde's words were lost at a squeal leaving the Redhead as her fingers typed furiously on her phone.

"No taking it back, I just texted Bellamy." She threw her arms around her roommate in delight. "Maybe if you two hit it off we could double. Wouldn't that be amazing Adrien?" Before he could answer Marinette cut in.

"Let's not get too carried away. It's just one date." She could feel the heat from his stare on her skin. She understood his concern about the situation, but they weren't fourteen anymore, she could make her own decisions.

"I think I'm going to go." He couldn't bring himself to watch the rest of this train wreck to unfold.

"But Adrien, I thought we made plans for this afternoon."

"On the way here, I got a call from my Father, I have to go in to do some photos for a magazine." There was a certain level of guilt that flooded through him. Excusing the times where Paris needed his alter ego, he never had to lie to her before. The thought of going to lunch with her was too much for him to handle, but if he told her the truth it was bound to start a fight.

Amelie took the flowers from the blonde and hugged them close to her body.

"Are you sure you can't get out of it?" She ran her hand down his chest playfully, but Adrien didn't allow his body to react.

"You don't know my Father." He threw a glance over at Marinette to find her eyes already glued to him. "Sorry," for a moment he didn't know who he was apologies to. Marinette for the antics of his girlfriend, or Amelie for bailing on their plans.

"Text me when you get off." She leaned in for a kiss, but Adrien moved his head, so her lips landed on his cheek instead.

He found his eyes wandering back to the raven-haired girl, he only wished that he could read the various emotions flashing over her face.

"Sure." His words lost any confidence that he meant to carry. "Bye Amelie...Marinette." Her name seemed to linger on his tongue longer than he was used to. The fact only caused the urge to leave to increase.

"What was she thinking?" He huffed. He needed to blow off some of this energy that was swirling inside him. his first instinct was to change to Chat and spend the night jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Plagg emerged from his pocket and circled around his owner.

"What do you mean?"

"To set Marinette up with some guy that she barely knows, he could be dangerous or hiding something."

"Says the guy running around in a black leather in his spare time." The Kwami's comment was met with a harsh glare.

"That's different and you know it." Adrien snapped back in annoyance. If Plagg thought he was winning points in the cheese department, he was mistaken. He did know the combination to his safe after all.

"It sounds like you're jealous." The comment caused the model to take a step back in shock. Usually his interactions with the black cat were mild teasing at best, but this was different.

"Jealous?" He parroted fighting the urge to grit his teeth. He was Adrien Agreste, the face on most billboards in Paris, he couldn't be…

"I'm just acting as a concerned friend, Marinette didn't want to go, she said so herself. Amelie basically trapped her into it."

"Didn't she agree to go?" The kwami was wondering if he was listening to the same conversation.

"You didn't see how she reacted when Amelie told her. Trust me, I would be doing her a favor if…" His voice trailed off as the corners of his lips tilted up in a Cheshire smile.

"Where are you going with this kid?" Plagg had seen that smile on hundreds of Chat Noir's before, a horrible idea was coming.

"Wouldn't it be a shame if Chat Noir"-

"No." The kwami didn't even give his chosen a chance to finish. He would have gone along with any other plan Adrien had, but this was suicide."

"Think about it, this guy could be a creep, I'll just stay back and watch and if she needs me then I'll step in. I need to know that she's safe." Plagg rolled his eyes trying to decide how much Camembert to demand. If Adrien was one thing, stubborn was the word that came to mind.

"And what if she has a good time?" Adrien's jaw tightened at the words. That couldn't be possible, he had a bad feeling from the moment that his girlfriend mentioned it. He was doing the right thing, he was the superhero after all. He had a sense for these things.

"Not possible." Plagg shook his head back and forth. Humans were the strangest creatures.

"If you say so." The answer was enough to put the blonde at ease. This conversation would be put on the do not discuss, and not another word about it would be breathed.

"Plagg, claws out."

A.n.- Now the story is really kicking off. For those of you wondering, purple lilacs represent first love. Let me know what you think! I have to add some scenes in Adrien's pov because there will be important scenes later that I'll need, plus it's fun to write. Till next time!