Marinette was doomed.

She was so freaking doomed.

The young teen collapsed into her desk chair with her head in her hands, a dry sob escaping her throat. Alya sat next to her, arms around her shoulders, trying to find a way to channel all her anger into something productive (Marinette said that beating Chloe's face in wasn't productive. Alya disagreed).

Nino had called about an hour earlier to check and see if Marinette was alright after the sketchbook fiasco, and she was honored that he was willing to do so. They had been friends since Elementary School, but as of late he had become almost a good of friend as Alya. He was the stranger one of their quartet.

Adrien had put his arm around her before he had been pulled into his father's limo to head to his next photo shoot, which meant more than he would ever know. Ever since Alya and Nino had started dating, Adrien and herself had been hanging out much more than they would have otherwise, and therefore they got to know each other. While their two best friends were sucking each other's faces at the table two behind, they would play a game of 20 questions while tasting each other's smoothies. Or, while Alya and Nino held hands and walked ahead of them at some art museum, Marinette and Adrien would walk behind and discuss things like family stuff and school situations.

As they got to know each other, Marinette had stopped stumbling over every single word and noticed that he was a human just like her, and Adrien saw that she wasn't just the stuttering girl who could never talk to him. She was pretty amazing too.

He wasn't just a middle school crush. Sure, he was that, but he had also developed into one of her closest friends, and for that she was eternally grateful.

Not that that was giving her any help right now.

"I'm going to die." Marinette mumbled. "I'm going to shrivel up and die."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna make Chloe shrivel up and die." Alya's voice dipped to a growl at the end of her sentence.

Marinette groaned. "I'm not worried about that right now." She whispered, tears threatening the edges of her vision.

"Then what is it?"

"Alya, what's today?"

"The 23rd… Holy shi-!"

"Watch your language." Marinette snapped, slapping her friend's shoulder despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Mari, I didn't even think about that! I completely forgot you had the meeting with Mr. Agreste tomorrow!" Alya's eyes were bigger than tea cup saucers. "Oh God…"

Her friend sighed heavily, shoulders slumping. "Yeah, tell me about it. I can't do it now. Not with this thing in a complete mess."

They both looked at the remains of the sketchbook that was scattered across her desktop. Some papers were still intact and Marinette had been treating them as if they were made of the Crown Jewels, but most of it was either soaking wet, unrecognizable, or both.

Wonderful.

Just great.

Someone kill me please.

"Ayla, hand me that trash can; I think I'm going to be sick."

Her best friend rubbed her back comfortingly. "How about we sit down and watch some Disney? That always seems to cheer you up, right?"

The image of her and Chat watching Beauty and the Beast the week before flashed in her mind. What would Chat tell her to do? Let Chloe walk all over her and give up? No way.

A certain surety coursed through her and she grinned.

"Oh, what's that for?" Alya asked. "Have you finally decided to let me beat Chloe into a yellow and white pancake?"

"Yes." Marinette blinked. "I mean no. At least, not like that. We'll get back at her, don't you fret, but we have to fix this first."

"How?" She raised an eyebrow.

Marinette turned to smile at her. "Together."

"That's my girl."

"Booyah!" Chat yelled, throwing both hands into the air with a grin. Marinette, under the disguise of Ladybug, rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "You are such a child, Chat Noir."

"Hey, we just defeated an akuma. I believe that that deserves a booyah."

She laughed. "I suppose you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

"You know, usually I would lie to make you feel better, but no. No you aren't." she said playfully.

"Me-ouch!" he placed a hand over his heart, mocking pain. "You wound me, My Lady!"

"Not nearly as much as you do me, my dear Kitty."

"And what on earth do you mean by that?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Think about how it feels to have to put up with you every day."

"What's with the cat-attitude, Ladybug!" He stated dramatically. "My personality is amazing and only second to yours!"

"Oh, Chat," she laughed, shaking her head and reaching up to ruffle his hair. "You are really an idiot."

He leaned forward and smirked. "An idiot that you looooove." His nose scrunched up and his eyebrows furrowed before a look of delight enveloped his face. "You smell like chocolate. And," he took another sniff. "Pastries? Wow. Ladybug, can I get that made into a perfume?"

Marinette's anxiety ebbed slightly. "Very funny, Kitty."

Chat grinned, the type of grin that parents used when they looked at their kids. Love. Something in her heart warmed at the sight of it and a smile of her own slipped onto her lips. Lately, ever since Chat had become more-than-friends-but-less-that-couples with Marinette, she had stared returning his flirts, winking as she left, accepting when he kissed her hand and complimented her.

Because, if she was honest with herself, her feeling for Chat had grown. He wasn't just her annoying, reckless partner anymore. He was her friend and someone she could always rely on.

And if she was really honest, he was a bit more than a friend.

"Chat?"

His ears perked up and the dazed look in his eyes disappeared. "Yes, My Lady?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything." He answered without hesitation.

She gave him a knowing smirk before seating herself at the edge of the building, feet hanging over the nothingness of the air. "And you have to answer seriously."

Chat bit his lip, fake worry creasing his brows. "I don't know, Ladybug. Could be difficult. But I will try."

"Thanks." Marinette looked away from him and out into the Parisian skyline. "Have you ever met someone, and you aren't really sure about them at first? Maybe they're a bit shy, or annoying, or maybe even a little mean, and you just don't know whether they're worth the time?"

His eyes and tone were as sincere as she had ever heard when he replied. "Yeah, yeah I have."

"But, but then you get to know them," Marinette said, her shoulders shrugging. "And you realize that maybe, maybe there's more to them? More than just the shyness, or annoyance, or rudeness? More than what you see at the first glance? And you start hanging out and you start noticing that you aren't uncomfortable around them anymore. You start smiling more often when they're around. You start laughing longer and feeling like you're cherished. And suddenly, they aren't just someone you know; they've become your friend. And then you are together almost every other day and you're watching cheesy movies and laughing at the other's terrible baking skills-." She bit her lip, praying she hadn't said too much, but Chat didn't seem to catch her slip up, so she continued. "And you tell each other jokes. But you also talk about deeper things like how you feel. Your insecurities, the things that you love. The things you love about them. And suddenly you aren't just friends, you're best friends. And, and maybe you start having these feelings towards them that you don't know what to do with. But you know for a fact that they are no longer just your best friend."

She met his eyes. "And maybe you don't want them to be just that."

Chat stared at her, taking a bit too long to answer. He seemed not only to be thinking over everything that she had said, but also looking at her. Her face, her eyes, her nose, her lips, her hair. Like he was trying to fit together pieces of his mind puzzle.

Marinette glanced away and Chat cleared his throat.

"Yeah, yeah, I suppose I've felt that. I know this girl that used to drive me up the walls. But, after everything we've been through, I know she's much more than a friend."

She glanced over at him, and to her surprise, he wasn't looking at her anymore. He too, had been staring out over their beloved city, his eyes glazed and a soft smile on his eyes.

He looked happy. Truly happy.

"Well, maybe we both need to tell them." She whispered.

Chat met her gaze and grinned. "Maybe we should."

They departed, and as Marinette entered her room that night, she thought over what Chat had said, the way he had looked at her. Sure, she didn't really know who he had been talking about, but part of her wished that he had been talking about her. That the dreamy smile on his face had been caused by her. That she could make his eyes light up like that.

Don't be ridiculous, she thought.

Little did she know, that a hop, skip, and a car drive away, Adrien was laying in his bed, marveling over the way she had spoken, the way her eyes had sparkled, the smile that had taken over her lips. And he too, hoped that she had been talking about him. He hoped that he was the person she was talking about, the one she thought was more than just a friend.

And, as he sat there, he compared Marinette and Ladybug and thought about all the similarities between them, and the gears in his mind started moving.

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