School?

Marinette thought it would be a walk in the park. Just stroll over, freak out over Adrien as usual, and listen to any gossip that Alya digs up. No sweat.

At least, that was what she had thought until she spotted Mr. Identity himself.

She let out a squeak and scurried straight over to Alya, who was waiting patiently by the lockers. "What's with you today, girl?" she laughed. Marinette sheepishly scratched her head. "Um… just really nervous, I guess?" she tried. Alya giggled. "You're always nervous, but that's not the point. You're avoiding Adrien."

"W-what? No. I mean, maybe? No," she weakly defended. Alya tapped her nose. "What's the scoop, Marinette? Why are you deliberately trying to avoid Mr. Perfect himself?" Marinette stared at her shoes, "No idea what you're talking about." Alya studied her for a moment, then said, "Be right back," and left.

Marinette sighed and looked at Tikki, who was perched in her designer bag. "What do I do, Tikki? It's not as easy as you think," she whispered. Tikki flashed her a thumbs-up, then whispered back, "It's okay, Marinette, just try to pretend nothing ever happened."

"Hey, Marinette."

She startled so bad she dropped her stack of books. Adrien stood in front of her, waiting. "U-um… hi?" she stammered. Inside of her bag, Tikki nodded approvingly.

"Alya told me that you needed some studying help this afternoon. I'm sure I can arrange something so I can come over today," he offered. Marinette's face was painted bright red. "Uh, I don't know, I just- I don't think you can- not that I don't want you to, but I just- don't need…" Adrien's face fell just a little bit. "I understand. Alya might have gotten a misunderstanding… oh."

Marinette followed his stare to Alya, who was laughing with Nino as they walked through the hallway hand-in-hand.

Marinette blinked. "Well, that was unexpected." Adrien nodded. "Seriously. Anyway," he said, turning back to Marinette. "I'm sorry if I startled you or anything, Alya just told me that you needed some help in chemistry." Marinette wanted to slap Alya. Chemistry? Really?

"...and I get it if Alya was just trying to get me away from my man Nino, I mean, they look happy together." Marinette snapped up. "Oh, uh… sure! You can… totally come over, uh, if my parents allow it- I mean, if my parents don't mind it- my parents don't care about it-" Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, I'll see you at three." He walked away.

Marinette turned to Tikki with large eyes. "Did he just…" Tikki nodded. "And did I just…" Tikki nodded again.

Marinette groaned.

"Marinette! You've got a visitor!"

Adrien waited expectantly outside as Marinette's parents called their daughter down. Plagg popped out of his jacket. "You sure if this is a good idea?" Adrien kept looking at the door frame. "It's a better idea than crying inside my bedroom. Besides, there's something about that girl…" Plagg wiggled his eyebrows. "Could it be that Cat Noir's got another playmate?"

Adrien's head snapped back to Plagg, and he shoved him inside his jacket. "Ow! Ow! Okay, sorry!" yelped Plagg. Adrien's green eyes glared back at him. "Look, Marinette's good at calming people down. If anyone can settle this, it's her." Plagg scratched his head. "So you're gonna let the cat out of the bag?" Adrien shook his head. "Of course not, I'm just gonna tell her that I have a few… problems."

Plagg clucked. "Yeahhh. Problems."

Sabine popped her head out of the door. "So sorry for the wait, Marinette insisted that she needed to do something first. If I know her, she's probably cleaning up her messes and things for a handsome boy like you." Adrien felt himself blushing a bit. "Uh, yeah. Thanks a lot," he told her, then went upstairs.

Marinette was waiting, casually on a chair and reading a magazine. "Whoa, is that Jagged Stone?" he said curiously, approaching Marinette. She slammed the magazine shut. "Yes! Yes, he is," she said, her cheeks glowing.

Plagg snickered inside his jacket.

Adrien took out his textbook. "So what did you need help on?" He noticed her staring. "Marinette?" She snapped to attention. "Oh! Um, page 547," she said.

Adrien flipped to the page. "Sorry, but you need help with… the theory of atoms?" he said, confused. He could vaguely remember her shouting the answer to that very same question. Marinette nodded, then shook her head, then hung it. Adrien found himself laughing. "Look, if you didn't need any help, just tell me. I'd be fine just talking."

Marinette's eyes widened, and Adrien wondered if he said something wrong. "Oh! O-oh, um… you see, Alya, she… ah… she…" She looked like a fish gasping for water. Adrien brushed some hair out of his face. "I get it. Nino told me about this." Her eyes widened even more. "Tell you about… what?" She almost sounded scared.

"Oh, about how much you wanted Alya and Nino to hook up."

Her eyes slowly returned to their normal state. "Oh! Yes, I really want them to go out, Alya always looks so happy when she's with Nino, and she's always bugging me about you and-" She covered her mouth.

Adrien cocked his head. "About who?"

"No one!"

He wished he had something interesting to say, until a certain red-and-black masked superheroine flashed in his mind. "Say, do you know Ladybug?"

That was when she absolutely choked. He sat up, startled. "Hey, you okay?" She smiled at him while clutching her throat. "I'm… just… fine," she rasped.

When she sat back up, Adrien almost had the impulse to say something… Cat Noir- like. "Looks like we've got ourselves in a hacking situation," he joked. Marinette's eyes widened, then she bubbled out a laugh. "Ha! Hacking… me coughing… heh…" She trailed off, leaving a none-too-awkward silence.

It was broken by Tom, who brought up some treats. "You kids ready to eat?" Marinette smiled a grateful smile. "Thanks a lot, Dad, but it's okay. I've brought something up already." Tom blinked. "Oh, okay then. Have fun!"

He couldn't have left a more awkward silence than ever. "You have snacks?" Adrien finally quipped. Marinette nodded, and took out a plate.

He gazed at the tarts that decorated the white plate. "That looks… delicious," he marveled. She blushed even more. "T-thanks, Adrien…"

He took one and bit through the gooeyness and the crumble of the sweet raspberry tart. "Did you make this?" he mumbled. Marinette nodded, clearly pleased with herself. "You're amazing, Marinette. You should bring some of these to class," he swallowed.

Marinette gaped at him, then laughed. "Oh! Yeah, um… yeah, I should, yeah…" she trailed off. Adrien stood up. "Well, I should go now," he said, dusting himself off. Marinette hastily stood up too. "Something wrong?"

She blurted out, "Ladybug and I are pretty good friends."

Adrien's eyes widened, he couldn't believe his luck. "R-really?" She nodded, almost eagerly. "You know her? In real life?" Marinette hesitated, then nodded again. Now, even Adrien couldn't hold back a huge smile. "Mind if you can introduce me to her? I'm in lo- I'm a big fan," he changed hastily.

Marinette frowned. "I don't think I can introduce you to her… but I can tell you what she likes," she offered. Adrien took it. "Thanks a lot, Marinette. Also, if you can…" He felt shy asking her this, but his catty side took over. "Can you arrange a meeting? Just me and Ladybug? I want to get to know her…"

Marinette furrowed her brow. "I don't think someone would like that…" Adrien blinked. "No? Who?" She fiddled her fingers. "You see, I've heard from Ladybug that Cat Noir likes to, uh…" Adrien practically burst aloud with laughter- this wouldn't be a problem at all. "Oh, that's not a problem. Cat Noir won't mind at all."

Marinette blinked. "He won't?" Adrien frantically tried to think of a response. "No, because… he and I are best buds! Yeah. He wants me to get to know his bugaboo too," he said, playfully adding his pet name for his pet bug.

Again, Marinette's eyes widened just slightly, then she sputtered out, "W-well, in that case, sure I can arrange a meeting for you two," she said. Adrien hugged Marinette tight before releasing her. "Thanks a lot, Marinette. I owe you one!"

With that, he left the Dupain-Cheng household with a happy heart.

Marinette sat heavily on her bed.

Tikki flew next to her. "It doesn't mean anything," she said uncertainly. Marinette's bluebell eyes were wide. "I just talked to Adrien. About things."

Tikki smiled. "Congratulations, Marinette!" She smiled big. "I just had a conversation with Adrien! For-" She glanced at the clock. "An hour and thirty! Without making a mess of myself!" Tikki clapped. "You've got a new record, Marinette. Good job."

Marinette's smile got even brighter. "Now, I can talk to him as Ladybug- oh no!" she yelped. Tikki momentarily fell out of the air. "What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to Adrien as Ladybug! If I act all stuttery and stammery with my words again, he'll know I'm Ladybug!" She smacked her forehead. Tikki flew in front of her. "Relax, Marinette. Here, I've got a solution." Marinette frowned. "What?"

"Just pretend he's Cat Noir. Or some other guy who really wants to know you that isn't Cat Noir."

Marinette took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'll just pretend that perfect Adrien is troublemaker kitty cat. No sweat. Whoo." She started to pump her arms. Tikki giggled. "Someone's nervous." She frowned at her. "No way, Tikki- ohhhh, yes I am!" she whined. "How am I supposed to pretend that Adrien is Cat Noir? It's just not possible!"

And just like that, Marinette forgot the possibility that Cat Noir and Adrien might as well been the same person.

And she liked it.