Adrien blinked slowly as he sat up. Shaking his head, he pushed the dizziness out of his mind and gathered his surroundings. The first thing he thought was pink, and when the shadows disappeared from the corners of his eyes he finally realized where he was.

Marinette's room.

He had fallen asleep last night, and, like always, she had covered him in a fluffy blanket and left him breakfast. Man, someday he would have to make this up to her.

Something buzzed at his side and he picked up the phone as he stood to his feet. A text notification appeared on the black screen and he couldn't keep the grin off his face.

Have a wonderful day, Chat. 3 ;)

Something bubbled up inside his chest and his cheeks grew a shade brighter, sending her a quick reply. Smiling widely, he stuffed the device back into his pocket and began to fold up the blanket. Placing the ball of fluff on her bed, he walked over to her desk, the plate of bacon, eggs, and croissants greeting his grumbling stomach. Normally, something like this would have been good, but knowing that Marinette did it made it one-hundred-percent more meaningful.

Looking down at the note next to the plate, he carefully examined the way she wrote. Her beautiful handwriting was so familiar to him, but each time he found something new he loved about it, much like her. The way she curled the ends of her a's, the way she hearted her i's. Everything about her was so adorable.

But she was also brave, confident, and sassy beyond belief. She was so familiar to him and yet so mysterious. It was like he knew her from somewhere else as well as here, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Picking up the small note, he read it over once.

Hi, Kitty. I've got to go to school. Breakfast is on the desk. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Don't let the haters get you down. ;)

-Marinette

Adrien laughed and shook his head, sticking the paper in his pocket and pulling Plagg out of his jacket. "Come on, Plagg. We've got to get back before Père realizes I'm gone."

The kwami rolled his eyes but consented and Adrien left, a grin on his lips.

Chloe took it a step too far.

Adrien was sitting with Nino, Alya, and Marinette at one of the picnic tables outside the school eating lunch, enjoying each other's company when she popped out of nowhere. No one even heard her, and when they finally notices her presence, it was too late.

"CHLOE!" Marinette suddenly shouted and her three companions immediately jerked their heads her way. "GIVE IT BACK!"

Adrien tried focusing on what was in the blonde's hands as she kept backing out of Marinette's reach. It was a book of some kind and as she made a quick turn several papers fell out.

His eyes widened. It was Marinette's sketchbook.

"Chloe, give it back!" Alya stood and tried to grab the book but the blonde jerked it up, out of her reach.

Chloe snickered. "Aww, Marinette. Why can't I see?"

Marinette huffed, bottom lip jutting out. "If you had wanted to see it, Chloe, you should have asked!" She jumped, hand snagging the back cover and trying to pull it back into her possession. But Chloe's hold on it was stronger, and since she was taller, she had the upper hand. And soon, the tension on the sketchbook became too much. There was a terrible hhccccsshh sound and Marinette gasped.

Adrien and Nino jumped to their feet and raced over to where Alya was stooping to pick up the fallen papers, but Marinette hadn't moved. He glanced up to see her staring at her half of the sketchbook with tears brimming in her eyes. Adrien's heart clenched and he stood.

"You've done your damage, Chloe." Marinette whispered, her voice frighteningly soft. "Just give me the rest of my sketchbook, please."

"Oh," the four friends looked back at the bully only to find her opening her water bottle and holding it over the cover. "What was that?"

"Chloe please!" Marinette's shoulders fell.

"Don't you dare!" Alya scowled. "I will punch you, Chloe, so help me."

"Ooops!" She tipped the container and the water spilled all over the cover, soaking into the papers underneath and ruining all of Marinette's designs. Beside him, Marinette choked back a sob and watched as Chloe finished off the water bottle, to the last drop before throwing the pile of soggy papers at her feet.

"That's for fourth grade, Freckle Face." Chloe sneered before walking past Adrien with a wink. His hands fisted at his side and he forced the protective creature in his chest to back down. He would take his anger out on the akuma later.

Marinette stooped down to pick up the mushy mess at her feet, her hands shaking. Alya and Nino crouched to help her, her best friend placing a hand on her shaking shoulder, her grip soft but firm. Adrien lowered to their level to see tears running down her face and his chest tightened in a painful way.

Marinette was the sweetest person he knew (no doubt she had gotten it from her parents) and she was always ready to be nice to others. She didn't deserve this. Chloe wasn't very nice to people, but she had always seemed to have a certain hatred for Marinette, and it had only increased when she and Adrien had started hanging out more.

But, also because of Adrien's influence, Marinette had become more patient and nice to Chloe. Don't get him wrong, she still stood up to her and told her off, but she did it in a way that was more teaching than rebuking. She would try and tell her that what she was doing was hurting other people and that she didn't have to be like that to be popular or get attention.

Marinette was trying to be better, and for that Chloe hated her even more.

And so here she sat, hand covering her mouth to block the small sobs that escaped her lips. Adrien's chest was almost screaming from the pain emitting from his heart. His Princess didn't deserve this. She was so much better than Chloe.

She was almost as amazing as his Lady.

Almost.

And, coming from him, that was a really prestigious rating.

"Just for the record, I like your freckles." Adrien said quietly as he helped gather the few remaining sheets of paper, if you could call it that now.

Marinette laughed, wiping her eyes. "Thanks."

"I'm going to kill her." Alya seethed. "I'm going to punch her pretty little face and smear all her perfect makeup and break those stupid heels she wears. I'm gonna-."

"Alya." Her friend laid a hand on her arm. Alya glanced up, eyes bright and nostrils flaring. "Chloe isn't worth it."

She stared at Marinette with the same shocked expression as Adrien and Nino. What? "Mari, she literally just destroyed your sketchbook. The one thing that you cherish above almost everything else you own. All your designs from the past two years were all crammed in here and now they're all lost! Oh..."

Marinette had begun to cry again and her head fell, her entire body seeming to crumble as Alya described the situation. "Oh, Mari, I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm sorry."

"No, no." She swallowed and shook her head, meeting her friend's eyes. "I know. It wasn't your fault. Thanks for helping me guys." She took the soggy papers from their hands and placed them between the ripped covers. "And it's really okay."

There was a moment of silence where Adrien was trying to come up with a nice way to say that she was wrong and that this was not okay when she said it herself.

"No, no, it's not okay." She shook her head again. "But it will be. I will be. It's just a sketchbook." Her lips quivered and Adrien had the sudden urge to kiss all her pain away. His eyes widened and he felt his face heat up. Nope. Don't think like that. You are in love with Ladybug.

Nino bumped her shoulder. "Hey, how about we go get ice-cream. Free period is next and we don't have any studying to do right now. That's how we used to do it in Elementary School."

Marinette smiled at him, wiping away the rest of her tears. "Thanks Nino," she grinned. "That sounds great."

"Wait, you two knew each other in Elementary School?" Adrien asked, the warmth still in his cheeks.

"Yeah." Marinette smiled fondly at the DJ. "He used to be big prey of Chloe's."

"Not as big as you were." Nino argued. "But it's because you were the only person to stand up to her." he glanced at Adrien. "She's a fireball, let me tell you. You should have seen her. Actually, I have a video of when we were in 5th grade and she was having a showdown with little Miss Prissy Princess. Hold on, I have it somewhere here-."

Marinette stopped his hand from delving into his back. "Yeah, no. That's never seeing the light of day."

"Chloe went to your school?" Adrien met her gaze. She shrugged. The great thing about being friends was that Marinette didn't stutter around him anymore. They were comfortable around each other.

"I've known Chloe since 3rd grade." she said. "I've known this idiot since 1st." she jutted a finger to the black haired boy beside her.

"Hey!" Nino protested, but grinned anyway.

"I've always been the one she picks on the most." Marinette added.

"Because you're the only person that she can't hurt. She never gets under your skin. You're like Ladybug. Invincible." Alya winked.

For some reason, that caused Marinette to start laughing a disbelieving laugh. The trio stood there watching as her shoulders shook and she tilted her head back, her laugh bubbling and lifting into the air.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she finally managed through her diminishing giggles. "I'm sorry, but who told you that? HA! Gosh, I don't have enough fingers and toes to tell you the amount of times Chloe has gotten under my skin, and I know for a fact that I am nothing like Ladybug." she snickered. "Pfft. Like Ladybug. You're funny."

Adrien tilted his head. She was right, of course, she wasn't Ladybug.

"Now come on!" She gingerly placed the soggy remains of her sketchbook into her backpack and threw the bag over her shoulder. "I was promised ice cream."

"You really are the happiest person I know." Alya mumbled, shaking her head with a smile.

"I still agree with Alya." Nino said, linking his arm through his girlfriend's. "You are like Ladybug."

Marinette rolled her eyes and glanced back at Adrien. "You coming?"

Adrien grinned, picking up his backpack. "Of course."

Her eyes gleamed and something very familiar shone from her blue irises. Curiosity spiked. Like Ladybug, eh?

He would have to look into that, wouldn't he?

Hiyah Guys! Sorry I haven't been on in a little while! School has been really stressful and time consuming lately and I haven't had much time to even sleep, so writing has been slow and a difficulty. But I'm on Spring Break, now, so hopefully I will have time to write some more! Thanks for being patient!