THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN A LITERAL DISASTER! Cheers to Jared who alerted me to the fact that it was still in the format code, hopefully this time everything will be okay!

~BH

Croissants and Metaphorical Dancing

Alya and Nino didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when they returned to class, much to Marinette's relief.

"Hi! I brought some croissants from the bakery over! Do you want some?" She smiled at them, they would just see it as her being friendly, but she was waiting for Adrien to get back.

"As if I would refuse!" Alya laughed, taking two and producing a serviette from her bag. "Nino and I went out to that little restaurant by the Eiffel Tower, but I will always have room for your parents' food!"

Marinette laughed with her, taking one for herself and offering the basket to Nino, who also took one.

"You're my favourite classmate right now" he said in a mock-dreamy voice, earning himself a glare from Alya.

"Who's your favourite classmate Nino?" Adrien asked, walking in stiffly as if he'd spent the entire lunch break alone in his house. Nino perked up, knowing how much lunchtimes bummed him out, and moved over so he could sit down.

"Marinette brought croissants over from the bakery!" Alya declared. "I'm sure Marinette will share with you, right Mari?" She nudged her, and Marinette pretended to look startled. Adrien admired her acting, and straightened his face so it didn't look like he just wanted to spend more time with her alone, and feed her croissants in her homely room and watch the stars from her skylight. Cringing it his cheesiness, he looked up to see Marinette looking shyly at him.

She looked as if words failed her, and when Alya and Nino turned away she gave him a wink that was so subtle he had to stop himself from flushing. Smiling and thanking her, he took a croissant from her, subtly lingering on her hand before taking the food, a gesture that he seemed to do a lot lately.

"Adriiiikins!" He heard a voice that did nothing but make him groan. Chloe zipped up to his seat as if she'd teleported, and knocked his croissant from his hand, which now lay on the desk.

"You don't want to be eating trash from her, do you?" She insisted, nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck. He gave her a look of disgust before realising it would be too out of character, and gently pushed her away.

"It tasted great for the few mouthfuls I got." He replied, smiling at her like he normally would, although now he felt he had the perfect excuse to throttle his neck. He could see Marinette watching the exchange with curiosity out of the corner of her eye. She knew he often stood up for her against Chloe, so she raised her eyebrows at him, almost as if she was signalling to him that standing up for her was okay. He wondered if Chloe ever truly upset her.

"I bet you're just saying that because she's right there, you're too good, Adrihoney!" She returned to his shoulder, sliding in on the bench Nino and Adrien sat on, much to Nino's disgust as he was almost shoved off his seat.

"It's okay," she continued, stage whispering. She used it as an excuse to lean in nauseatingly close to him, and he could smell her sickly manufactured perfume. He knew that if she was a nice person, he would probably like her- she was quite pretty and well dressed. However he knew that she wasn't going to change any time soon. Besides, he had found someone who was more naturally pretty with a heart of gold and original designs, so he wasn't complaining.

"You can tell me how disgustingly nice she is to everyone." Chloe went on, not feeling Adrien subconsciously stiffen. "She is so annoying, isn't she? I don't know why she still bothers coming here every day. At least the others shut up and let me be the queen I was born to be!"

Adrien shoved her off his shoulder again, this time with a little more force.

"No one can be as annoying as you, Chloe." He said, ignoring his Adrien-like tendencies to be forgiving and considerate to everyone and deciding to do what was right for once. "Marinette is a good friend, and I'd rather have a good friend who's nice to everyone than be associated with a girl that only thinks about herself."

Chloe almost let his comment slide, before she realised he was talking about her.

"Adrien, babe, I'm sure you'll come round. Maybe you're having a bad day, you must spend too much time around her." She insisted, before the teacher came back in to resume classes and she had to return to her seat. Adrien watched angrily as Alya comforted Marinette and Chloe was sniggering about something to Sabrina. Marinette didn't seem too shaken up about it but he still wished it was him comforting and reassuring her, and not Alya.

"Adrien actually stood up for me though!" He heard Marinette whisper with excitement. Alya squeezed her shoulder, and once again Adrien wished it was him touching her and holding her close.

"So he should, you don't deserve any crap from her." Alya replied, laughing at her friend smiling with nervous glee. Adrien wondered why he'd never noticed this before. He'd never really noticed how she would always look so excited whenever he gave her any attention or if he so much as brushed past her. He definitely noticed now.

He couldn't stop comparing her to Ladybug, or noticing how alike she actually was to her. He noticed the fierce determination in her eyes when she stood up to Chloe, or took control of a situation. She saw how caring she was when Alya was upset, or Nino needed help with his homework, or sometimes when she looked at him. He saw how selfless she was: he knew she'd brought in the croissants because she realised they didn't have lunch, and when Chloe knocked his aside Marinette sneaked a couple under the desk and placed him on his lap while Nino and Alya had their backs turned. He hated it already that they had to sneak around them, but they would find out eventually. Besides, if they were actually just discovering how they felt for each other, they both knew Alya and Nino would be overbearing to the point where they would potentially push them apart. Sure, they meant well, but Adrien and Marinette were both awkward and shy, and so used to putting other people before themselves. If it wasn't for Alya and Nino, Adrien was sure they would both continue to be pushed around by the world until they were just completely empty inside.

Class restarted, and Adrien ignored Chloe's glances over to his desk. He wouldn't ignore Marinette is she glanced his way, but she didn't. Alya assumed she was too embarrassed by her encounter with him before class to notice. Marinette was trying to suppress her laughter as she continued to ignore Adrien, while Adrien himself was getting more and more angsty. The back of her head was nowhere near as interesting. Even though it had only been a day since they'd discovered their identity, he was very conscious of the time they had wasted dancing around each other. He also noticed the new girl, Lila, trying to catch his eye too. He wondered if Marinette was bothered by this.

Marinette was very bothered. She noticed every time Chloe and Lila snuck glances in his direction, and was only slightly reassured when Adrien ignored them both. She was never a fan of competition. Even though she knew Adrien had always had a fascination with Ladybug, but the doubts would continue to remain about whether he loved Marinette just as much.

In next to no time, class ended, and Marinette hurried out with Alya, discussing plans for the weekend. Once again Adrien was left to wonder what she was up to, but now school was over he didn't see a problem with texting her. He started writing a text: Hey bugaboo, want to hang out later? I didn't cat-ch you earlier…

Realising that she might still be with Alya, he pressed the backspace until just the "Hey" remained. Adding a smiley face for good measure, he hit the send button and walked out with Nino, acting as if nothing had happened or changed. Nino had managed to get a set in a teen disco on Saturday night and had been rambling about it all day to anyone who'd listen.

"You're definitely coming tomorrow, right?" Nino suddenly asked, jolting Adrien out of his daydream.

"I'll have to see what my schedule's like, you know my father." He replied, feeling genuinely gutted that he would probably miss it. Nino's music was turning out to be incredibly promising, and he knew Marinette and Alya would be there to support him. Luckily Nino understood his difficult situation, and knew that if he could be there, he would.

"I hope you can convince the guy!" Nino said cheerfully, trying to ease his mind. "Text me if you can make it, okay? I'll get you a good spot!"

"Okay!" Adrien smiled, getting into the limo to head home. He pulled out his phone to see a text from Marinette: Alya wondered why you texted me out of the blue, that was a close call! Are you free tonight? We could hang out after patrol or something? I missed you today, Kitty xxxx

Adrien replied with an enthusiastic yes before scrolling through his schedule on a tablet left for him in a car.

She was going to see what she missed today.