"Ivan who?" I pour hot water into three mugs for Kagami, Felix and I. Adrien would be here, but he had something at home. "He's in my class, Marinette. Apparently, he's the one who tattled on you when you fell asleep in class last week." I munch on a grape. "But why me? What did I ever do to him?"

I told Felix right after Cat took care of the problem, and oh boy, was he not happy. I wanted to go to Adrien's for a change of scenery and to see him after school, but he won't be home till later. "Maybe money?" Kagami says. "Though everyone in school loves you, so I don't know who would pay him off." "I'm not saying this right, but when you desperate for money sometimes you do stupid things."

"At least your safe, Marinette," Kagami squeezes my hand. "Yeah, but what if that had been a real spider? What if Cat or I had gotten hurt?" I sigh, sipping my tea. "Sorry, I have to stop thinking what-ifs." "In happier news, I love my frog," Felix grins at me. "At least that was a cute prank." My phone buzzes in my pocket. Adrien, asking me over. "Guess Adrien's done with his mystery chore. I'm going to head on over."

Felix goes with me, and Kagami heads off to the bookshop where Felix will meet her there later. We're let in, but Gabriel Agreste stands on the steps of the staircase looking intimidating. My hands sweat and I force myself to smile. "Adrien's work in school has been slipping because of you Marinette," he glares at me. "I heard you were helping with some schoolwork so I let you in."

I clench my fists together, trying not to see red. "I'm all for getting good grades, but Adrien needs friends." "He'll have colleagues once he finishes school. He doesn't need friends." "Those aren't friends, and Adrien needs people who care about him." "Hmmprh," Gabriel glares at me, then strides over to his office, slamming the door in my face.

I grow unintelligible words beneath my breath, for I don't like Gabriel Agreste. And to think when I was younger, I admired him so much. I head upstairs, Felix trailing behind me, and I knock on Adrien's door. "Adrien, its Marinette. Can I come in?" "Come in," I frown as Adrien's voice sounds strained and I hurry into the room.

I gasp as Ivan from school, is about to swing his massive fist at Adrien. Did they have a argument over me? "Ivan, I'm the one you want. Leave Adrien alone!" Ivan turns and for some reason he reminds me of a powerful built weasel villain. His body is thick with muscle, but he has beady black eyes. "Why would I do that, Marinette? Sure, I could beat you up right here and now, but it would cause you more pain to see your boyfriend suffer." "What do you have against me? Can't we talk it out?" "If we did that, I wouldn't get my reward. Now, were was I?" Ivan raises a his massive hand swinging it towards Adrien's face, but I my Ladybug instincts kick in, and I jump between them, taking the full force of the blow full across my face.

A bright white light fills the air, and I can feel myself going limp. Just then, I see Adrien take charge, and using the element of surprise, grabs Ivan and twists his hands behind his back. "You answer me or suffer the consequences. What reward and what deed to you have to do?" My vision is still blurring but in the corner I see Felix has transformed into Argos, his feather fan open. What is up to? "Gaby Aggy will come through for me," Ivan mumbles then somehow breaks free.

"Hold it!" Argos leaps forward, blocking Ivan's path. Ivan tries to shove him out of the way, but with Argos's strength, he's no match. "I can snap you right here, right now. Tell Marinette your sorry, and I might let you go."

Before I crumple to the floor, my vision grower darker and darker, I catch sight of Argos and shake my head. Then I fall to the floor…..

A cold feeling numbs all emotions, and I'm floating in a dark pool of water. I stare upwards, watching my breath come in little chilly white clouds, longing to see the sun….

My eyes flutter at first, then slowly open. Someone blond and white sits on my bed, smiling at me. Oh my, am I in heaven? The second thing I see is pink. "Is this heaven?" I croak. "Because its very pink." "Good thing pink's a lovely color then," a soothing voice says. Adrien's voice. "Adrien?" "Shh. You just rest. You blacked out after Ivan hit you, but everything's okay now." "What's so cold?" "A ice pack to help the swelling on your face go down. You were very brave to jump in to save me, Marinette."

"I would do anything for a friend, and your more then a friend, Adrien." "Boyfriend, then?" he asks, with playful tone. "Maybe in-between, for I like Cat too." Why is his smile growing wider? Ah, well, he's beautiful. "I can live with that. And by saving me, you've proven your once again my everyday Ladybug."

I sigh. With two words I could show him who I am. And the more I think about it I need to tell Cat soon, for unknown threats seem to be around us. And one of the most important lessons I've learned from the past, is don't hold secrets from your partner, but even thinking telling Cat, "Ladybug is Marinette" makes my palms sweat and my heart race. "Just rest, Marinette. I'll be right here to take care of things."

I fall asleep for a few hours, and wake up to the smell of mac and cheese. "Adrien?" I call out. Hopefully he's still here, for I would feel silly if I ended up talking to myself. "Right here," he stands up from my desk chair, a smile on his face. "Sleeping Beauty has arisen!" I laugh and wince. Ow. Not a good idea to laugh hard when your face is swollen. "I smelled the food. What are you up to?" I notice some kind of book on my desk. "If you were reading my diary, you'll be buying me coffee for a year!" Adrien grins and holds up his hands as I slowly climb down the ladder. I like how attentive he is, holding out his arms in case I fall. "Somehow I think I'd be doing that anyway, but no. This is my journal I was writing in." I blink in surprise. "I'm all for that, but you have one? Why?" "Because when I'm old and gray I look back on my life and my accomplishments. And….other reasons." "Okay," I let it go, not wanting to pry. "Should we go down to dinner?" "If you hold my hand."

Adrien gives a silly little bow and opens the trapdoor for me. "Ladies first." I walk by him. "Who are you, Cat?" I grumble.

The food is delicious but I head back to my room right after dinner. I wanted to wait for Adrien to come up, but I fell asleep as soon as I climbed onto my bed.

Another day, another day of slapping my alarm clock, I think. I grab my clothes I set out the night before and head off to dress in the bathroom. Wow, thank goodness we're having a few days off from school, because everyone would stare at my swollen face. Dressing in a sweatshirt and jeans, I head off to find scrambled eggs and to order Starbucks delivery.

I yawn as I pad into the kitchen, rounding the corner to find Adrien scrabbling eggs at the stove. "Am I still dreaming?" I ask, rubbing my eyes. "Well, if you are," Adrien smiles flipping some sizzling bacon, "its a very good dream." "I didn't think you knew how to cook." He nods. "I don't. But bacon and eggs are manageable. Oh, your Starbucks order should be arriving shortly." Just as he says that, the doorbell rings and Adrien delivers my hot hazelnut latte with a small bow. "I wanted to come check on you, and spend the day," Adrien explains. "And your mother called asking me for a favor."

Soon, I'm sitting down to breakfast with Adrien Agreste with the buttery morning sunlight streaming in on both of us. If you would asked me if I thought this were possible last year, I would have laughed. "Hey, this is good!" I tuck into my food. Adrien smiles at me, chin propped on his face. I blush for no reason. "What? Do I have foam on my face?" "I just think your really cute, Marinette." I lean forward. "Oh, I see what's going on here, Agreste. You want me to make you lunch, is that it?" "Well…" we burst into giggles. "Maybe when your feeling better, I might take you up on that."

"What was this favor Mama asked of you, anyway?" I take a sip of coffee before crunching into my toast. "She wants me to hand out fliers for Halloween in a Monster suit." I nearly choke on my drink. "What?" "Yeah, I said I do it." "Your not doing it by yourself, Adrien. I'm doing it with you." "You sure?" "Don't worry, if I get tired, I'll have an excuse to be a extra cranky monster."

I nearly regret my decision to wear the costume for mine looks like a very scary mountain goat with horns, while Adrien's is green and looks like Shrek's.

Handing out fliers is so much fun, and if anyone is rude, Adrien yells at them to get out of his swamp. When the fliers are gone, and our bellies ache from laughter, I tell Adrien I'm up to making lunch as soon as I rest for a bit.