Marinette was playing her solo for the competition when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. She stopped playing and opened the door. She gasped. Standing in front of her was Adrien.

"Adrien" she started frantically. "It's not 3 already? Is is?"

Adrien laughed. "No"

Marinette sighed in relief and gestured with her free hand to come in. Closing the door, she wondered to herself. "What is he doing here?"

Adrien sat down on her bed and looked at her. "That was a beautiful piece. What's it called?"

Marinette looked taken aback then just shrugged. "It's a piece I played for Solo Ensemble night a month ago. It's called "Balmoral Castle" by J.S. Skinner,"

"Will you play it for me?" he asked her.

"U-um...s-sure," Marinette went back to her music stand and put her flute to her lips. She played the whole song without a missed note. When she was finished, she smiled inwardly, then looked at Adrien. He was staring at her with his mouth wide open. She laughed.

"What?" he asked after shaking his head.

"You better close that mouth before a bird comes a poops on it,"

Adrien gawked at her playfully, then walked over to her and took her free hand.

"Marinette, would you like to go out for lunch with me?"

Marinette felt a squeal coming on, but she shoved it down for later.

"Um, sure,"

"Great! Let's go,"

"Wait, now?"

Adrien nodded and Marinette looked at her clock and realized that it was almost 12:30. Her stomach growled at her. She looked at Adrien. He was watching her with a steady gaze.

"Alright, just let me put my flute and music away,"

Marinette put her music in its folder and put her flute in its case. Then, she put them both in her closet and locked it, putting her key around her neck. Adrien looked at her curiously.

"The last time I left my music in here without putting it somewhere safe, someone came in here and ripped my music to shreds. I couldn't play in the Soloist Competition last year. So I decided to be a bit more careful," Marinette gave him a smile, then grabbed her purse and a wad of cash for lunch.

"Alright, I'm assuming you asked my mom if it's ok to take me," Adrien nodded and Marinette felt the squeal coming back, but she shoved it further down.

"Not in front of Adrien" She thought to herself as she closed her door behind her.

The restaurant that Adrien had taken her to was a nice place and had plenty of choices on the Menu and Marinette was having a hard time choosing something.

"Do you know what you want?" Adrien asked her.

Marinette looked up. "I'm having a hard time deciding between the bacon burger or the tomato soup,"

Adrien laughed. "Do you need a second opinion?"

She nodded.

"Alright, the soup is delicious, the burger is fatty."

Marinette put the Menu down. "The burger it is,"

Adrien laughed again. "She's a joker,"

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him, then ordered her drink and the burger. When the waiter left, Adrien looked at her from across the table with a gaze she couldn't ignore.

"Do you have something on your mind, Adrien?"

He must've realized he was staring because he ducked his face, then he looked back at her.

"Actually, I want to know more about you,"

"Oh, what do you want to know?" she asked as she took a sip of her iced tea.

"What do you do during your free time? Do you cook? Do you play video games? Do you…."

Marinette nearly choked on her tea as she laughed. "Whoa, whoa, one question at a time. Here, I have an idea. Let's take turns. You ask a question, then I'll ask a question. Ok?"

Adrien nodded and they began.

When their food arrived, they were still at it, and when they got back to Marinette's house to practice for their duet, they were still at it.

"I'll be back in an hour with my cello, ok?" Adrien said when they got to Marinette's front door.

"Ok," she said with a nod. With a wave, she entered her house and hurried upstairs so that she could get some more solo practice in before Adrien got back with his cello. However, when she entered her room, she stopped and dropped to her knees. Her flute case was on the floor and her mouth piece was missing. Sitting next to it was a pair of scissors and her music, torn up. Her folder with the music she and Adrien composed was untouched and her closet stood wide open. A lock pick was sitting next to it. Marinette picked up her flute case and sat back on her feet. She pulled out her phone and dialed her mother.

"Hello? Marinette? What is it?" her mother said at the other end.

"Mom, did anyone come by while I was out? You know, before I left?"

"Actually, yes. Your friend, Sabrina told me you borrowed her Science book to look at notes and that she needed it back. I was busy, so she went on up to grab it. By the time I was finished, she had already left. Why?"

"Mom, Sabrina is Chloe's best friend. She broke into my closet, ripped up my solo music, and took my flute mouthpiece," Marinette heard her mother gasp.

"Do you have proof? She did steal something. Maybe we can get the police to work it out. Until then, come down stairs, we're going to go get you a new mouthpiece and print out some new music for you,"

"Mom, we can't…."

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Her mother snapped. "Get down here."

Marinette hung up and closed her case with her remaining pieces of her flute and went down stairs. Her mother was talking on the phone and she had her lips pursed. She waved Marinette to get in the car, then she hung up.

"I reported your missing flute piece to the authorities and told them everything. They will get your piece back, but we are going to get you a knew one, just in case," Sabine said as she got into the car.

Marinette nodded and looked at the time, one o'clock. They'll get back in time.

Sabine drove to the local music store and told Marinette to wait in the car. Marinette decided it would be a bad decision to argue, so she sat in her seat for an hour, texting Alya about everything that had happened.

From: Mari

To: Alya Awesomeness

Dude, she totally figured out that I have the solo for the competition.

From: Alya Awesomeness

To: Mari

The question is...HOW?

From: Mari

To: Alya Awesomeness

…...Plagg wouldn't tell her, and neither would you.

From: Alya Awesomeness

To: Mari

Did u ever think that maybe Chloe doesn't know.

That maybe she's jealous about you

Playing with Adrien?

From: Mari

To: Alya Awesomeness

That could be it…

From: Alya Awesomeness

To: Mari

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, you don't think so.

From: Mari

To: Alya Awesomeness

Nope

From: Alya Awesomeness

To: Mari

Girl, think about it.

How did she know?

From: Mari

To: Alya Awesomeness

I don't know. She could've been spying on us,

Or overheard Plagg talking to me.

I just...don't know.

Marinette leaned back into her chair and watched her mom come back out, with a...present? She sat up as her mom opened the car door and held the present to her. She took it and looked at her mother.

"Your father and I were going to wait until Friday to give this to you. As a surprise, because we are so proud of who you have become and what you are fixing to do,"

Marinette looked at the package wrapped on her lap, then to her mom.

"I think I'm gonna wait till dad can see me open it," she said as she held the box carefully.

"Not a problem," her mom said as she pulled out her phone and opened Facebook Messenger.

A few seconds later, Marinette's father looked back at her through the screen of the phone.

"Well," her father said eagerly. "Open it!"

Marinette laughed and opened the gift. Her laughter stopped and turned to a gasp when she finished. In her lap sat a case she recognized as a flute case. She turned to her parents who were smiling at her and hugged her mom.

"Thank you guys sooooooo much!" she said through her tears of joy. She was never going to allow her flute to be in the wrong hands ever again.

"What do you mean?" her dad asked through the phone. "You haven't even looked inside yet. That's the best part,"

Marinette giggled and opened the case. She gasped again. Inside the case was a red flute. She put the pieces together and nearly cried again as she blew the first note out of it. It was the best gift ever. She could never thank her parents enough.

"Well, time to get your solo music from Plagg," Sabine said as she hung up the phone and put the key in the ignition.

Marinette nodded and put her flute back in it's case, then hugged the case tightly to her chest. She is never going to let it out of her sight...ever.

Plagg was more than happy to give her another copy of the song, after hearing the story. By the time Marinette got home, it was 2:30. She bolted up to her room and picked up the mess Sabrina made, then set up her music stand. By the time she was finished, it was 3 o'clock and her mother was calling her down stairs.

"Hi Adrien," Marinette said as she walked down the stairs, but what she saw made her stop in her tracks. Adrien was there, waving cheerfully, and almost apologetically. Because, so was Chloe.

"Hi, Marinette," she said as she clung to Adrien. "So nice to see you,"