Sunday was spent working on homework, much to Marinette's chagrin. Or, more accurately, it was spent with Marinette attempting to work on homework and utterly failing. The longer she stared at the math equations on the paper in front of her, the harder she found it to concentrate.

Instead, Chat Noir's words swirled continuously in her head.

Should she confess to Adrien? Could she? For Ladybug, it would have been easy. When she was Ladybug, she didn't have to worry about being clumsy or saying the wrong thing. The anonymity was exhilarating and seemed to make everything—even saving the day—relatively easy.

But could Marinette do it? So far every time she had tried to make her feelings known she had bungled things. And this wasn't just anyone. This was Adrien, only the coolest, most handsome, kindest, most amazing guy in the entire school. He was so nice to everyone—even her stuttering, awkward self on occasion. And he could have literally anyone he wanted. Why would he even be remotely interested in her?

You deserve to be happy, Chat Noir had said.

Marinette's breath caught for a moment, recalling the pained smile that had accompanied his words. Chat's advice had taken her off guard simply because he had just been so sweet. Of course, Marinette always had Alya rooting in her corner. But Chat's encouragement had been … different.

For a moment, Marinette let herself consider the possibility that Chat Noir had actually been serious about her. Alya was right—he had seemed rather despondent throughout the entire battle last night. And although that could just be because she had been so obviously angry with him, there was something that made her hesitate to completely write it off. She was glad he had apologized. She could see now that he hadn't meant to embarrass her, which made it much easier to forgive him. And yet, even after his apology things hadn't gone back to normal.

What if Chat Noir really did have a thing for her?

She could feel her cheeks begin to grow red, and she quickly tried to erase the thought from her mind. Smooth talking, flirtatious Chat Noir? Why would he pay attention to her?

Suddenly, her heart sank. No, not her. Ladybug. Even if Chat Noir really had been serious, he could only be interested in the quick-witted superhero. Not goofy, shy Marinette. Chat had already met the real her, and he had obviously not shown even a glimmer of interest in her. Why should he?

Marinette forcibly stopped herself there. No more thinking about it—she was just going to hurt her own feelings.

She sighed heavily, glancing down at her half-finished math homework. Okay, it was time to concentrate and get back to work. She picked up her pencil and looked at the next problem.

… But then what about Adrien? Should she tell him how she felt, and risk blowing everything for good? Wasn't it good enough just being around him and admiring him from afar?

Surprisingly, she realized that it wasn't. Watching him everyday, so shy that she could barely manage to say hello properly, wasn't really interacting with him. If he turned her down… Just thinking about the possibility made her heart ache. But, well, if he did turn her down, then so be it. At least she would know.

Tomorrow, she would tell Adrien.

"I can't believe I missed it!"

"There, there," Marinette said, trying to console Alya. "There are probably plenty of times you miss out on Ladybug's and Chat Noir's adventures."

Alya's pout only grew more pronounced. "You're not helping, Marinette! I want to capture ALL of it! Instead, I had to learn from the police blotter that they were saving the city Saturday night?"

Marinette rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help a small smile at her friend's antics. "Didn't the blotter say it happened around midnight? You were probably sound asleep by then anyways."

Alya groaned, slamming her locker shut. "Oh well. Next time, for sure, I will be there!"

"Haha, that's the spirit!" Marinette told her, closing her own locker. Hopefully from a safe distance, she added silently. Alya was going to give Marinette a heart attack, the way she kept throwing herself into the fray. It was hard enough to save the day without also worrying herself sick that her best friend was going to get hurt.

"I'm worried about them, too," Alya added, sounding more serious as they started toward the classroom. "Things didn't end on a good note last week. I was hoping to see if they had figured it out. "

Alya's concern took Marinette off guard. She was trying to figure out how to respond when Alya added, "You were right, by the way."

"About what?" Marinette asked, completely confused.

"About Ladybug," Alya told her. "I went back and re-watched the video. It was obvious that she was really nervous. I was so worried about Chat Noir that I didn't even notice. It just made the whole thing even more depressing, honestly."

"Oh… yeah," Marinette said. Hearing Alya acknowledge it was an odd mix of gratifying and relieving. Then, hoping to change the topic, she quickly added, "But well, hopefully they can work things out!" Hopefully we already have, she added silently.

"Yeah," Alya said, smiling back at her.

They walked into the classroom, and Marinette's gaze was immediately drawn to Adrien, who was talking with Nino.

Do it, she told herself. Just tell him you need to talk after class. It's no big deal.

Her palms were sweating, and Marinette wasn't sure if her voice was working properly. Who was she kidding? It was totally a big deal. She couldn't just walk up to him like that!

No, no! She couldn't give up again! It couldn't be that hard.

Adrien looked up as she walked past, gracing her with a dazzling smile. "Hey Marinette, hey Alya."

Marinette froze, mind suddenly going blank.

Just say it! she screamed at herself. She opened her mouth, no words coming out.

"Can we talk later?" It's not that hard! Adrien was staring at her in concern now, and Marinette could have sworn Chloe was giggling behind her.

YOU IDIOT, SAY SOMETHING AT LEAST!

"H-hey," she squeaked. Adrien gave her an uncertain smile, and Marinette quickly scurried to her seat, safely out of his view, her head hanging in shame.

This … wasn't going to work.

Alya patted her shoulder, shooting her a sympathetic look.

Thankfully the teacher walked in then, saving her from any more agonizing embarrassment. Marinette did her best to pay attention and take notes, but she kept getting distracted watching the back of Adrien's head.

Okay, she told herself. That was admittedly pretty bad. But you still have time! Just talk with him when class is done. Deep breaths. Words. It'll be fine. Hopefully. God, even the back of his head was perfect.

The wait was agonizing. The morning dragged by slowly, and Marinette was fairly certain she only took in about a tenth of what the teacher was saying.

Finally, the bell rang for the lunch break. Marinette took several deep breaths, getting herself ready.

"Oh, Adrien!" Chloe said suddenly. Marinette watched with horror as Chloe came over to Adrien and grabbed his arm. "Let's grab lunch together!" Then, not waiting for him to reply, she dragged him out of the classroom.

Marinette watched them leave, not believing her luck. She had completely missed her chance!

"You coming, Marinette?" Alya asked, glancing down at her in concern.

With a groan, Marinette banged her head down onto the desk, waving Alya on. "You go ahead. I'm just going to sit here and contemplate what I'm doing with my life."

"Alright, well I'll see you after lunch," Alya said before heading out the door.

Marinette watched as the rest of the class meandered out of the classroom, taking their chatter with them.

Why was this so difficult? It was just a few words! Well, okay, a few admittedly embarrassing and potentially heart breaking words. But how hard was it just to spit out one measly little sentence?

Adrien, I like you, she practiced in her head. Just like that. All you have to do is spit it out.

It was ridiculous to spend so much time agonizing about his answer when she couldn't even get the words out in the first place. For a few minutes she just sat there, mentally prepping herself.

Eventually, Marinette pushed herself up from her desk with a sigh and glanced at the clock. Class had already been over for a good ten minutes now. She needed to get going home for lunch. She sullenly slung her bag over her shoulder and headed to her locker.

She opened the door to the locker room, then froze when she came face to face with Adrien.

"Oh, hey!" he told her with a heart rendering smile.

"Hey!" she said, voice coming out an octave higher than usual.

God, there wasn't even anyone left in the locker room! What was he still doing here? Stupid, Marinette scolded herself. Now's the perfect chance!

"Well," Adrien said, opening the other door, "I guess I'll see you later!"

No, you can't miss your chance! she thought frantically. Just spit it out!

"Wait!"

Adrien paused, hand on the door, and looked back at her. Heart pounding, Marinette forced herself to continue.

"Well, I just…" She took a deep breath and screwed her eyes shut tight, forcing the words out. "I've just … always really liked you. And… and I was wondering if you'd want to go out with me sometime." The last bit came out all in a rush, the words hanging in the air between them.

She stood there for a moment, eyes still squeezed shut, as the silence stretched on. When Adrien didn't immediately reply, she carefully opened one eye, peeking at him warily.

Adrien looked completely shocked, mouth slightly open. Oh, god. Even flabbergast he looked unbearably cute.

He blinked, then blurted out, "Why would you like me?"

Marinette gaped at him, completely surprised by the question. "Why?" she asked, struggling to find the words. "I mean, you're so genuine, and kind, and really patient with people, and a great friend, and I really admire you, aaaaand I'm rambling now I'm sorry."

Idiot! she screamed at herself, snapping her mouth shut as her face turned bright red. Adrien still looked like he didn't quite believe her, or that he didn't know what to say, or perhaps some combination of the two.

The silence stretched on unbearably, making Marinette grow more and more red with each passing second. Unable to bear it another second, Marinette quickly looked away, stomach sinking. "Right, well, sorry to spring that all on you." She was rambling again! "I'll just leave now—"

"No, wait!" Adrien said, grabbing her hand. The sudden contact hit her like a bolt of lightning, oddly reminding her of how Chat Noir had grabbed her arm Saturday night. Turning even more red, if possible, she shoved Chat from her mind.

"Sorry," Adrien said, a faint red gracing his own cheeks. "You just … surprised me. I wasn't expecting it."

"Oh, yeah," Marinette said with a quiet laugh. He hadn't let go of her hand, and her mind was still screaming in incoherent delirium.

"I would like that," Adrien added.

Forcing her brain back into motion, Marinette looked at in him confusion. "What?"

"I would like to go out with you sometime," he told her.

Marinette was pretty sure her jaw was somewhere on the ground right now. She struggled to force words to start working again. "Yeah," she told him, a big, goofy grin breaking across her face. "Me too."

"Would you want to catch a movie tomorrow night?" he asked her.

"Yeah!" she said, voice somehow managing to stay at a normal level. "That sounds great!"

"Cool," Adrien told her with a small smile. "Well, I'll talk to you later."

Marinette watched him leave, then forced herself to slowly walk to her locker. After a moment, when she was sure that Adrien was far enough away, she burst into excited squeals.

Oh my god. Oh my GOD! She waved her arms excitedly, trying to calm down somewhat. She had to text Alya. As she pulled out her cell, she realized that she also had to thank Chat Noir. He had been the one to push her to do it, after all. For a moment, she felt a pang of guilt. Then she quickly shooed it away. He couldn't have been serious about her, right? Either way, nothing was going to ruin her happiness. Tomorrow she had a date with Adrien!

She found herself wondering if it was possible to die of happiness.

A/N: Starting to write this chapter was a ton more difficult than it should have been for no discernible reason. I was having a hard time trying to find a song that perfectly fit the mood that I was going for. I wanted one that portrayed the fluttery, jittery feeling of Marinette trying to work up the courage to talk to Adrien. I eventually settled on My Love by The Bird and the Bee. I also listened a lot to Jump5's All I Can Do xD Warning: this fic comes with an above-average dose of teeny-bop music.

Also, when Marinette is considering all the reasons why Chat Noir would never be interested in boring old Marinette, all that kept coming to mind was a scene from Sekaiichi Hatsukoi when Kisa thinks of every excuse why Yukina wouldn't be interested in him, and winds up hurting his own feelings xD SO ACCURATE.

When I originally was writing the scene where she confesses, and he asks her why, I was going to have him say, "I'm not that great," and have her say something to the effect of "Okay … I mean, that sounds fake, but okay." Buuuut, it just didn't feel like the type of thing he would say at that moment, so I decided against it. xD

Get ready for this fic to start earning its name, by the way, in the next few chapters. It should hopefully be a fun ride. Next chapter will be the date (which might possibly wind up being two chapters long)!

Thank you guys so much for all the follows, comments, and for reading! You guys never fail to make me smile ^^

As always, feel free to come hang out or chat with me on Tumblr (Konekat)! I just hit 200 followers today, and in celebration I'm doing a short fic/drabble give away. If you follow me, you can submit a drabble request (for shows/fandoms I'm into obviously, including Miraculous Ladybug). I'll be picking three to fulfill. You can see more about it on my blog.