The day he had waited for had arrived. It was time for the concert. Jagged Stone and his crocodile pet, Fang, had been brought in a limo to the location and he was busy primping and preening in a dressing room, gently crooning to himself.

Nino's booth had been set up with advertisements done by none other than the Illustrator, whom he would hopefully get the pleasure of meeting today. There were small radio station prizes and games. He even had name tags for all of listeners made out, just in case they wanted to advertise themselves. He was prepared as prepared could be.

What he had not prepared for was Adrien.

Oh, sure, he knew his friend was coming. He knew he planned to meet up with Ladybug, and Nino was really hoping Alya would catch it on video like she had planned. She had scouted the park and found several places to hide- be it behind bushes or benches or trees, Alya had a spot covered. But Adrien refused to tell Nino where they would meet. And Marinette was equally as hush-hush about it. He prayed for a miracle. If anyone could make radio romance into real love happen, it was those two.

Marinette fiddled with her hair in the mirror. Somehow, even though she had never met Chat Noir in person, she wanted something more than what she normally did with her hair. She looked at her expression and felt trepidation seep through her. What if she wasn't good enough for her friend? She really only had Alya and Nino, her cat, and her parents.

Chat had worked his way into her life, crash landing, and she had Nino to thank for that- but, if she were to lose this friend over how disappointing she was in real life, she wasn't sure how she would take it.

Grabbing her curling iron and parting her hair, she began to get to work. Her cat Tikki wove her way through her thin legs, nearly knocking her over and causing her to burn the tip of her ear. That was going to sting. She sidestepped her cat, and continued making ringlets around her head. Once finished, she brushed out the tight curls into short cascading waves, landing at her shoulders. She clipped her bangs to the side with a red barrette, a subtle nod to her Ladybug identity.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had talked again on the phone, every night for the past few. They joked and laughed and flirted and it made Marinette feel like she was part of something. How crazy was it that calling into Nino's show as a favor to Alya turned into her being part of some radio community that people loved? It made her feel like a minor celebrity.

They agreed to meet at the concert. They didn't want to decide on a specific place, rather they would both wear a small article of clothing that would represent their personalities- a red barrette for the Ladybug, and a black bracelet for the black cat. If fate wanted them to be together as much as Alya and Nino wanted them to be, they would find their other half.

She traipsed back into her room, padding over to her closet where she had her attire hanging, just waiting to be put on.

She pulled the comfortable high-waisted denim shorts on, and the pink top on, and accented her outfit with a pair of black hi-tops. She felt powerful and ready.

Marinette gave herself a final look-over in the mirror and nodded. It was time to meet her black cat.

She tried texting him to let him know she was coming, but he hadn't responded, and then she was driving and couldn't safely check her phone every few minutes like she wanted to. She hoped he showed up.

Fishing her phone out of her pocket as she arrived, she tried dialing Chat Noir. His phone went straight to voicemail. She hung up. She really hoped he was there and maybe...maybe he was busy, so he wasn't checking his phone. Yeah. That was it.

She didn't know why she felt like today was the day to approach him, but there he was in the crowded park- a blonde head she would know anywhere as her boss' son and frequent conversational partner.

Marinette deftly made her way through the crowd, using her small stature and pointy elbows to make it quickly through the crowd. She sidled up to his side and took a deep breath before tapping his shoulder. "Adrien Agreste, what are you doing here?"

He whipped around, a bit startled. "Ah! Marinette, hey! What are you doing here?"

"I was just here for Jagged Stone. He's my favorite artist."

"That's pretty neat, me too," he said without making eye contact, bright green eyes scanning the crowd.

Marinette turned, trying to see what he was seeing but finding nothing. "Um...are you looking for something?"

He sighed. "More like someone." He sounded so dejected, but he never stopped glancing around.

"Well, maybe they'll show up later. If you're not here with anyone maybe, um, we could- well, that is, if you want to, but we could maybe hang out? Together?" She cringed as she felt the word-vomit tumble out of her mouth, eyes crinkling in worry.

His gaze landed on her eyes, but he was looking without seeing. "I'm waiting for someone to show up, and I really don't want to make plans with someone else."

"We could hang out until they get here? And then we don't have to anymore."

"Marinette, I already told you I'm waiting for someone important, and you're not her. Can you just not bother me right now?"

Marinette deflated, shoulders slumping after her previous bravery at his cold words. She could swear she saw something akin to regret in Adrien's eyes, but then it occurred to her that maybe she didn't even know what that looked like on him. They were acquaintances at best, no matter how much she had dreamed of more. That somehow hurt more than his blunt rejection. He opened his mouth to say something, but she didn't give him the chance. "Yeah. Okay. I'll see you around."

Marinette walked away as quickly as she came. She hoped she had turned fast enough that he didn't see the first tears streaming themselves out of her eyes.

First, Chat Noir doesn't show, then Adrien acted like a jerk. She wasn't sure how much more she could take.

She pulled out her phone once again to check for Chat. Still no word from him. She dialed and listened to the ringing, and the robotic voicemail tone answered, so she left a message.

And another one.

And another one.

And she couldn't find Alya anywhere. She took to wandering around, voicemails to Chat going from worried to hurt to defeated. The tears wouldn't stop coming.

She was right. He knew she would be such a disappointment that he didn't bother to show, and didn't even have the decency to tell her.

Lost and stumbling through the crowd with blurred vision, she ran into someone and they grabbed her elbow. "Mari? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She glanced up and saw the black glasses frames and cute forehead mole that belonged to her best friend, and she collapsed in her arms, finally in a safe place. "Alya...he...he never showed up. Chat Noir isn't here and then Adrien was rude to me and I just want to go home and-"

Alya paused. "What do you mean?"

Marinette hiccuped and tried to brush away some of the tears. "He won't answer his phone and it keeps going to voicemail. I'm not even worth it to him," her voice broke once more. "I thought we were friends. I thought...I dunno. I thought maybe we could be more. But I obviously don't mean anything to him. Als, I just wanna go home."

Her best friend nodded. "I'll get you home." Marinette noticed the quietly seething anger. "And then I'm going to have a talk with my dear boyfriend."

When Alya carried that look on her face, everyone knew to beware. Marinette was thankful that it wasn't directed at her this time.

Adrien hadn't had any luck all night. He supposed his black cat moniker was fitting. He had wandered around, said hello to Nino and a few others he recognized, and tried to avoid any students of his that he saw.

He had been standing back by Nino's booth, watching people check in and finally seeing faces to match up with people he's only ever heard speak. His main reason for standing by the booth was in the small hope that Ladybug would check in. They had said they wouldn't, but maybe she would, and it would be fate that they would meet in the one place they said they wouldn't.

He might be overthinking this.

But he had to make a good impression in person.

He saw Cupid and Timebreaker meet up- they were apparently rivals on different track teams back in their school days, is what he gathered from eavesdropping.

Queen Bee turned out to be none other than Chloé Bourgeois, the mayor's daughter and childhood friend of Adrien's. No wonder she had no issue getting Jagged Stone to play for a small college station. She was a force to be reckoned with.

She was speaking to a lithe, shy redheaded man, twirling her hands in large gestures and pointed statements. He seemed both intimidated and intrigued with her, and when he spotted a drawing pad in his arms, Adrien deduced him to be the Illustrator. Huh. Odd pairing, but he hoped whatever they had going on worked out.

The Gamer showed up, a short man with glasses who looked like he was smarter than anyone in the nearby vicinity, followed shortly by two girls- one with short blonde hair, and one with long black hair and purple streaks. From the monotone voice, he could deduce the purple-haired girl was Rose, but the blonde was also Rose. He was confused, but it seemed to be an inside joke. Whatever. They weren't his lady, that was for sure. He would recognize her anywhere.

But she was nowhere to be found. And it made him irritable. Their interactions were the highlight of his life for months now, and he couldn't even find her? Fate was playing a cruel joke on him.

Which is why, when kind, intern Marinette approached him, he was callous and rude to her. He wasn't fully aware of what he said because he was busy looking for Ladybug. Any female that passed, he was looking for a red hair clip. His black bracelet sat proudly on his left wrist, waiting to be noticed. No one even bothered to look. He thinks he told her she wasn't important, and Adrien immediately regretted it. Those were words that would come from his father, not him. Before he could apologize, though, the girl was gone. He would have to find her again to make it up to her.

Maybe he could ask her on a date if this whole Ladybug thing didn't pan out? No. Have faith. It will.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and tried to power it on. All his phone did was flash a red battery sign at him. Crap. Plagg must've knocked his phone off the charger when Adrien took his afternoon nap, and he didn't bother to check its charge before rushing to get to the concert on time.

Adrien walked back to Nino's booth. If anyone would have a spare phone charger, it was the DJ. He was currently kicked back in the metal fold-up chair, sneakers on the desk and legs crossed.

Adrien observed that the only name tags left on the desk were the ones belonging to Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Hey, Nino, my phone's dead. Can I borrow your charger?"

Nino nodded and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Got one back here. Come on over and charge."

Adrien walked behind the booth and pulled Nino's orange duffel bag off the ground, rooting through it until he found a charger. Now to find an outlet.

Plugging the charger into the outlet and then into his phone, his screen came to life. His phone started vibrating like crazy in his hand, missed texts and calls coming in one after the other. All from Ladybug.

Hey CN! Leaving my house now, can't wait!

I know we agreed no name tags but are you here? Haven't heard from you today!

Chat? I hope you're here. Text me.

Five missed calls from Ladybug.

Four voicemails from Ladybug.

Oh no. He pressed play on the first.

Hey, Chat. It's me, Ladybug. Obviously. Just calling to let you know that I'm here and I can't wait to meet you. Come find me! It'll be a game- whoever finds the other first wins and gets bragging rights and has to buy the other a drink. Game on!

Next voicemail.

Chat? I hope that you're okay and nothing bad happened. Just let me know. I'm worried about you.

Hey. It's me. If you didn't want to come, you could've just said instead of ignoring me. I would've taken it lightly. But, after all, you were the one flirting. I think I had the most to lose. I'm mad at you, I think. But I'm sure we can fix this, right?

She sounded mad, but upset. He didn't want to open the next voicemail, but he knew he had to press play. When he heard her thick voice laden with tears, he visibly paled.

Chat Noir. It was not nice of you to treat me this way- making my life fun and exciting and then not showing up. Not that it's any of your business but I tried talking to this guy I like, and he was rude to me, told me I wasn't important. And you didn't show up either. You showed me I was unimportant. I guess fate didn't want us together after all. You really are as unlucky as a black cat, because you've lost me. I never want to talk to you again.

He could hear her crying. The sound broke his heart. He didn't mean to, but he unintentionally ruined any chance he had with her. He felt his heart starting to shatter. Stupid dumb romantic heart of his.

Adrien placed his phone on the table and, over his shoulder to Nino, said, "I did something really stupid. I think I need your help."

Hearing nothing but yelling and crowd noise, he was forced to turn around to try and garner sympathy and help another way. What he saw made him gasp in surprise.

There was a woman that had a fist in Nino's shirt, pulling him halfway across the booth's front table, eyes wide and angry. "You tell me where that cat is, and you tell me now, Nino Lahiffe. Nobody makes my best friend cry and get away with it."

Nino's eyes swung wildly to Adrien. He managed a sheepish smile and wave- something Adrien would not have dared had he been in that position. "So, Adrien, this is my girlfriend. And you better run."