His movements were decisive yet slow, as the paintbrush carefully stroked another vibrant line of green upon the canvas. The art room at school was empty, silent, but he didn't mind much. This just meant it was quiet enough to concentrate, without anyone else there to make him feel self conscious about his work. He tapered off the line, lifting his brush from the surface, and leaned back slightly to inspect the painting he'd been working on for days.

He was certainly glad that his brush was far away from the scene before him, because when the art room door suddenly swung open it caused the poor male to jump in surprise.

"Sorry, sorry!" A familiar voice exclaimed, rushing over to meet the startled artist, bluebell eyes shining with concern. "I didn't make you mess anything up, did I?" The redhead sighed in soft relief, when he realized exactly who had burst in here with absolutely no warning and more noise than opening a door should make.

"It's alright… Did you trip when pushing open the door?" The girl with pigtails smiled sheepishly, eyes glittering with embarrassment, before she shoved him lightly, earning a grin from the boy as well.

"Oh hush Nath! You're being so mean, even after I came to get you!" Confusion suddenly glimmered in cerulean eyes, and he tilted his head ever so slightly to the side in questioning.

"Get me? What for?" Marinette rolled her eyes with a soft huff, as if he didn't know.

"You've been cooped up in here for days Nathaniel, days! Spring's started, and you aren't even around to enjoy it." The male slid his eyes to the right, unable to meet her gaze for the moment.

"What does it matter?" He spoke softly, fingers tightening around the hilt of his paintbrush. "There will be lots of warm days, no one's missed me yet."

That was clearly the wrong thing to say, because if Marinette was miffed before, now she was flat out annoyed.

"That's because you've been here!" She told him, her voice taking on a scolding tone. At this quick change, Nathaniel couldn't help but steal a glance at her face. Boy, were those blue eyes on fire. Though, it didn't really seem like it was from anger. A different emotion flickered in that gaze, and a slight frown graced his lips. He couldn't recognize it, it wasn't something he expected to be there.

"Please stop thinking that you don't matter to anyone, Nath." Her voice was quieter now, and as his cerulean eyes slowly widened, he quickly realized what he was seeing in her.

She was upset.

Not because he hadn't been joining them, not because of how he teased her just a little while earlier. She was upset because she was concerned about him. It took him a moment to respond, and just as he hesitated in the silence, Marinette didn't seem too keen to break it either. His heart thudded briefly, quickly in his chest. He remembered why he had a crush on her, on Marinette. He bit his lip, whether to avoid speaking, or to avoid shedding any tears, he didn't know. She was too bright, too warm for her own good. He didn't deserve her friendship, he knew that. She was brilliant enough to never even get akumatized, despite Chloe putting her down every single day, despite her awful luck that seemed to follow her around no matter how big of a grin she put on.

"Where's everybody else?" He finally asked. Even if he didn't deserve her, they were still friends, weren't they? What kind of friend would he be if he continued to make her upset like this?

She visibly brightened, and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. A small hand grabbed his own, and he barely had time to drop his paintbrush in the cup of water before he was tugged away from his painting, out of the art room.

As they exited the school, he rose a hand to block the bright light from the sun from reaching his eyes, squinting even though his gaze was more or less shaded. At the sound of their footsteps, Juleka glanced up, her bright eyes widening when she saw the two of them.

"Oh Marinette, you found him!" Rose turned her head at the exclamation, the small blonde now with a wide smile on her face.

"Nathaniel! I'm so glad you could join us!"

Kim smirked, crossing his arms as Max straightened his glasses next to him.

"In the art room I bet?"

"Our calculations were correct."

"Alix, you own me 5 euros." The feisty pink haired daredevil scoffed, reluctantly reaching in her pocket to find the cash.

"Dang Nath, I was so sure you'd've gone home already."

"Nette, did you drag him out here?" Nino looked amused, and the ebony haired girl only stuck her tongue out at him. Alya laughed, hooking an arm around Nino's shoulders.

"The more the merrier, eh?"

Nathaniel could only stare for a moment, before a shy smile came to his face, and the male hid slightly behind long cherry colored bangs. Marinette offered the nervous teenager a sympathetic grin, before reaching over to brush his bangs back and tuck them behind his ear, missing the dusting of pink over his cheeks.

"They want to see you, don't worry." She told him in hardly more than a whisper, and with wide cerulean eyes and a slight nod, she gave him a marvelous smile. "Now let's go, I bet all the flower buds in the park yesterday bloomed already!" Rose gasped at her words, quickly hurrying over to walk beside the class representative.

"Did they really? I'm so excited to see the daffodils! What a bright yellow, don't you think?" The girls chattered on, actually, it seemed like everybody was talking, smiling, laughing. Nathaniel tucked his hands into his pockets, pausing a moment in his step. Noticing his lag, Nino glanced back over the orange headphones circling his neck.

"You coming?" The redhead paused, but then nodded, quickly striding forward to catch up.

"I'm coming!"

The painting in the art room lay forgotten for now, which was well enough, as the new acrylic additions had to dry anyway. Had Marinette stayed a moment longer, she was sure to have appreciated the bright colors of spring flowers it depicted. Startling yellows, deep blooming reds, a pink as pale as cherry blossoms here and there, all surrounded by vivid greens and blues. She might've even spotted the small ladybug, hidden on a blade of grass in the corner. If she did, she would've laughed with delight.

She'll see it eventually.