Marinette

Monday came. I walked through the hallways, Alya by my side.

'There he is!' said Alya, jerking her head towards Adrien, who was closing his locker. Nino was by his side.

'Oh God!' I froze. 'Alya, Nino's there! I can't talk to him if Nino's there!'

'Fiiiine,' Alya dragged out the word, rolling her eyes. 'I'll distract Nino.'

She strode up to them and grabbed Nino's arm, kissing him on the cheek. Nino blushed and grinned.

'Alya!' I heard him say. 'Hi.'

'Hi,' replied Alya, batting her eyes. 'Can we talk?'

She dragged him away. I was alone with Adrien in the hall. He noticed me.

'Hey, Marinette!' he said, waving. No turning back now. I started to walk towards him, dragging my feet.

'Hey, Adrien!' I said. I opened my mouth...

Chloe barreled into Adrien.

'Adrikins!' she squealed. 'I have missed you, like, so much over the weekend. Let's go.'

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him away. Adrien shot me an apologetic look. Chloe glared.

Adrien

Oh God. It couldn't be Chloe.

It couldn't.

Be Chloe.

And yet Chloe was dragging me towards class. 'So Adrikins,' she purred. 'I've got this awesome new TV in my room, and you should like so come over to check it out, it is awesome!'

I froze.

Crap.

Was this...

What?

No.

'Um- I - yeah - uh... Maybe? I might have piano after school,' I lied. Her face set into a scowl.

'I'll tell Daddy. He'll cancel it for you,' she said.

I swallowed. 'Sure!'

Marinette

'Well?' hissed Alya when we were walking home after school. 'Did you ask him out?'

'I couldn't!' I whined. 'Chloe was with him all day!'

We saw Chloe and Adrien getting into Chloe's car. I sighed. 'I'm a nervous wreck, Alya,' I said.

'Agreed.' said Alya. 'But you are not going to be sad about this, okay? You are going to dress up a little tomorrow, turn some heads. Trust me, it'll do wonders for your confidence. And then you can ask Adrien out, okay?'

I nodded and we walked into the bakery. 'So, you want to hang around for a while?' I asked her.

'Can't. I've gotta babysit the Sapotis today,' Alya rolled her eyes. I knew she loved it really.

'Call me, though, okay?' I said. 'We can chat.'

Chat Noir

I was waiting for Ladybug again. She was late for patrol. When she arrived, I could see traces of makeup under her mask - she never normally dressed up.

'Hello, M'lady,' I purred (literally), taking her hand and kissing it. She rolled her eyes.

'Hi, Chat,' she said, smiling.

'Are you wearing makeup?' I asked. She blushed.

'I was trying it on,' she said. 'I'm not very good at applying it. I never normally wear makeup.'

I sighed in relief. She couldn't be Chloe.

'Well, in my opinion, you look the cat's meow!' I said. She snorted.

'Oh my God, they're getting worse by the day,' she laughed. I winked.

'So? How'd it go with the guy?' I asked. She drooped.

'I didn't ask him out.' she said. 'He was with other people all day. Including my arch-enemy. Who likes him too. It's kind of a mess.'

I sat down next to her. She sat down too.

My mind was whirring. Who was she? I needed to know.

'Sorry about the guy,' I said.

'It's okay,' she said. 'I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear about guys. I - We should patrol.'

She stood up.

'I don't mind,' I said.

'You don't?' she frowned. 'God, I know I couldn't stand him talking about other girls in front of me. It just rubs in the fact he doesn't like me,' she froze. 'Crap, sorry. That was insensitive.'

'It's okay,' I said. 'Honestly. We're kind of in the same boat here.'

'What do you mean?' she frowned.

'Well, I like you,' she flinched a little. 'And you like someone else. Who likes you as Ladybug.'

Ladybug froze. 'Sorry, what was that?'

'Me and Adrien are - close friends. He told me he likes you too...' I lied, hoping she bought it. She smiled.

'Okay,' she said. 'Wait! You didn't tell him I was gonna ask him out, did you?'

'Um - no,' I said. You did.

'Phew. That would have been awkward.'

And we got up to patrol.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I didn't see them until now, because this is my first story and I'm still figuring the FF interface out. TBH, I had forgotten about this, but your support really helps! I will definitely be continuing this story.

Bug out!