This is a fic that I wrote back when season four was airing! I had a daydream about it and I just had to get rid of the plot bunny lol.

Marinette walked towards the classroom, eager to start her day. As usual, her face was adorned with a chipper smile that greeted everyone as she entered the room. When she made it inside, her eyes immediately went to the seat right in front of hers. Normally, the smile of its occupant was enough to make her heart race in her chest and fill her cheeks with a fiery sensation. Today, however, things were different.

Adrien would usually start his morning by chatting with Nino and getting caught up on his notes. Instead, he stared blankly at the board in front of the classroom with his head resting on one of his hands. Marinette's smile quickly turned into a frown when she noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

Her head turned to Alya, who was giving her a look as she subtly pointed to Adrien with a finger. She nodded and returned a nervous glance to her best friend as she approached the boy.

She walked up the steps as if she were going to her seat, but stopped right next to his desk. "H-Hey, Adrien," her heart palpitated in her chest as she awkwardly waved at him. "Good morning."

His tired eyes met hers and he managed a little smile. "Good morning, Marinette," he said quietly. He sat back in his seat and stretched. "Sorry, I didn't really sleep that well last night."

Marinette exchanged glances with Alya, who silently encouraged her to keep going. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," she said to him. "If you end up falling asleep in class, well, I don't mind giving you my notes."

He let out a laugh. "That's very sweet of you, but it's probably better if I do my own work," he reached into his backpack and pulled out a notebook. "Man, I almost forgot to actually get out my notes too."

She opened her mouth to speak once more, but Ms Bustier entered the room. "I-I guess I'll talk to you later," he nodded to her as she walked up to her own seat.

Alya scooted in closer. "He's been like that all morning," she told her. "Even Nino doesn't know what's going on."

"He told me that he didn't sleep well," Marinette said as she got out her books. "Maybe he just needs to wake up a bit."

Her best friend scooted back to her own seat. "Hmm, maybe, but it would also be a good opportunity for you to try talking to him some more."

Marinette sighed. "We'll see about that."

As the day went on, Marinette could hardly keep her eyes off of Adrien. At times, everything seemed normal. He'd occasionally yawn and slump over in his seat to write. What was unusual for him, though, was the number of times he excused himself to the restroom. He would always return with red, blotchy eyes and told everyone that it was just his allergies. At one point, both Rose and Sabrina offered him a bottle of medicine.

There were not any pigeons nor any feathers that Marinette could see, but she tried not to question it.

The end of the day soon came and everyone got their things together before bustling out the door.

Marinette watched as Adrien left the room with Nino, leaving only her and Alya behind. "I think you should hurry and try talking to him," she turned to see her best friend talking to her.

"Alya, he said he's fine! It's just his allergies and he's tired," she turned to start walking down the steps towards the door.

Alya raised a brow as she followed closely behind. "Are you sure you believe that? You seem to know Adrien and all of his mannerisms," she moved to stand in front of her.

Marinette's cheeks flushed. "Pfff, no I don't! That's crazy, you're crazy, I-I'm crazy!", she moved out of the way to keep walking before letting out an awkward laugh. "If there was something wrong with Adrien, don't you think I'd be the first to know it?"

Her best friend stared at her, a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. "Okay, if you say so," she walked past Marinette, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go meet up with Nino."

"Right behind you," Marinette followed closely behind as she picked up her pace. As they walked outside of the school's entrance, she spotted Adrien's bodyguard still standing next to his car.

Nino approached her and Alya. "Hey, where's Adrien?", asked the latter.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, he told his bodyguard he would be back in a few minutes," he put his arm around Alya. "Dude seemed to accept that."

Marinette sighed and tilted her head down. "I hope he's okay…"

She looked up when she felt Alya's hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should go try to find him."

Looking up at her best friend, she gave a half smile. "O-Oh, I-I don't know, maybe he just went to the bathroom, that's all," she continued walking with them down the stairs. "Surely he will be back soon."

Alya smirked. "Mhmm, you sure are trying so hard to not be alone with Adrien," she teased. "Who are you and where is Marinette?"

Marinette responded with a laugh as she and Alya continued to tease each other. Nino looked on as he made it to the bottom of the steps, turning his head as his ears picked up a sound.

He ran back up to get the girls' attention. "Uh, hey, you two might wanna see this," their laughter stopped as they followed him down to the bottom of the steps. He led them to the side of the steps and pointed at the concrete wall.

Adrien had placed himself in the corner, where he sat on the ground with his knees pulled up to his body. His head lay in his knees, leaving his face out of view.

"Oh…oh, this is not good," Alya spoke softly as she looked over to her best friend. "Marinette, I think you should go."

Marinette's heart picked up speed in her chest. "I…m-maybe Nino should check on him," she looked at her friends, who both gave her sad glares. "I'm…not the best with words."

Alya turned to her and placed both of her hands on her shoulders. "Now you and I both know that is a lie," she gave her a knowing wink. "Adrien needs a friend, he needs you, Marinette."

"Yeah, I couldn't get him to talk to me this morning," Nino chimed in. "Maybe he'll talk to you."

Marinette turned back to look at the boy in the corner. An aching pain in her chest joined in as her stomach did flips. Her heart felt as if it would burst as she began walking towards Adrien.

Her feet moved hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure she should be proceeding with this. There was always the possibility of him recognizing her presence and telling her to go away. That is something she would understand, but it wouldn't hurt any less.

As she approached him, she heard him sniffling between his legs. The aching in her heart grew stronger as she silently cleared the lump in her throat. "H-Hi, Adrien," she jumped back as his head quickly popped up.

Adrien quickly wiped his eyes as he looked up at her. "Oh, hi," his voice was soft and low as he spoke. He continued to look up at her, blinking back any tears that threatened to spill out.

Marinette stood there silently for a moment as she examined him. His face was still red and blotchy just as it had been earlier. Taking a deep breath, she managed to regain her composure. "I, um, thought you looked pretty lonely over here," she spoke in a low tone, as if not wanting to startle him further. "Mind if I sit down?"

"I kind of wanted to be alone, but," he looked down at his legs. "I could never turn you away, Marinette."

A fiery sensation went to her cheeks as she blushed. "Oh, okay," she said awkwardly as she sat down next to him. He rested his head on his legs, using his arms to pull them further into himself. She sighed as she looked at the sad little ball. It was very obvious to her now that he had been crying. His face was red and his eyes swollen, along with wet stains on his pants.

Her first instinct was to place a gentle hand on his knee. "Adrien," he looked up at her with watery eyes and she could almost feel her heart shatter. "Are you okay?"

Adrien's lips quivered as the dam threatened to break. He turned away from her as a few loose tears dripped down his cheeks. "Not really," his voice cracked. "But I-I can't really tell you. It's something very personal."

Marinette scooted in closer to him, brushing a piece of loose hair away from his face. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me," she gave him a small smile. "Just know that I'm here for you."

He sniffled as he slightly gained his composure. "Thank you, Marinette," he turned to her as he ran his fingers through his hair. "C-Can I ask you something?"

"Of course"

He turned away from her. "Have you ever been afraid that you'll lose someone?", he swallowed hard and rubbed at his eyes. "Someone whom you love so, so much and yet…sometimes it feels like you're so close to losing them?"

Marinette frowned as his question sent a shiver down her spine. Suddenly, her mind flashed back to a world covered in water. Everything was bright as the broken moonlight glistened upon the now demolished city of Paris. Chat Blanc's eerie voice echoed in her head.

" It was our love that did this to the world, Milady."

His bright blue eyes left an imprint in her mind as she flashed back to reality. She looked over at Adrien, who was now looking at her with a concerned look on his face. Marinette straightened her back up against the wall as she cleared her throat. "Y-Yes," her voice cracked a little. "Yes I have."

He shared a knowing glance with her as he turned back to look at his legs. "It's…not a great feeling," he let a few more tears slip down his cheeks before adjusting himself to sit criss-crossed. "That's all I can say."

Marinette bit her lip as her heart pounded in her ears. She reached over and placed a gentle hand on top of his. "I understand," she gave him a small smile. "And if nothing else…" With a trembling hand, she used her thing to gently wipe a few tears from his cheek. "You have me."

Adrien looked up at her as his rosy cheeks burned from her touch. He grabbed her hand from his cheek and pressed it to his chest. "Thank you, Marinette," his face softened as he looked at her. His green eyes glistened in the sunlight as a small half smile formed on his face. "I'm really glad you decided to check up on me."

Her cheeks burned with a high intensity as she took her hand back. "O-Oh it was nothing really, I just, um," she looked off to the side and played with her fingers. "That's what friends are for, right?"

He wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeve before nodding. "Mhm," he then threw his arms around her neck as he pulled her into a hug. "You're an amazing friend."

Marinette yelped in surprise as she felt his arms wrapping around her. She happily returned his gesture by wrapping her own arms around his torso, pulling him closer to her as his warmth surrounded her. "I'm always happy to help," she laid her head on his shoulder, taking in his sweet scent. "And if anyone asks, I'll just tell them it's your allergies."

Adrien pulled back from their hug as he broke out into laughter. His lungs erupted with a sound that always filled her ears with joy. "Sounds good to me," he then stood up and offered her a hand. "Come on, I don't think I can keep my bodyguard waiting much longer."

She grabbed his hand as she pulled herself back up to stand. "No, probably not," she looked back at his puffy, red eyes. "How are you doing, now?"

He looked down at his shoes, pouting his lips. "Better, but still not fully okay," he looked back up at her, trying to hold back any tears that tried to spill out.

Marinette fidgeted with her fingers. "That's okay," taking a deep breath, she stood up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Just let me know if you ever need to talk, okay?"

Adrien gasped in surprise as he placed a hand on his cheek. His lips curled into a little smile as he watched her look away with pink cheeks. "I will," he took one last glance at her before grabbing his bag and walking towards his car.

She stood up against the wall, her heart still pounding in her ears and her cheeks burning with a fiery sensation as she watched him walk off. "Did-Did that really just happen, Tikki?" She looked down to see the kwami poking her head out of her purse.

"I guess it did, Marinette," she said in her squeaky voice. "You are a very good friend to Adrien, you know that?"

"Do you…do you think there's a chance I could be more than that to him someday?" She looked back up to see Adrien waving at her.

Tikki giggled as she watched Marinette shyly wave back. "Anything is possible."

Adrien closed the door behind him, buckling his seatbelt. He looked out the window as they drove off, ignoring the itching in his eyes.

"So, what was that with you and Marinette?" Plagg asked quietly from inside his shirt."

Adrien turned to him, shaking his head. "Marinette was being a good friend," he said, cleaning the lump in his throat. "She's amazing."

"You said the same thing about Ladybug," the small kitty gave him a smirk.

"I know, but," Adrien felt heat returning to his cheeks. "This is different from Ladybug." He looked down as he played with his ring. "Marinette is special."

"In what way?", asked Plagg.

He laid his head back on the seat. "I…honestly don't know yet," he smiled as his heart began pounding in his chest. "But maybe I'll know someday."

The kwami laughed as he slid back into his shirt. "Hopefully."

As Adrien stared out the window, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was different. It wasn't the first time that Marinette had kissed him like that and he had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last. Could there be something more between them?

Only time would tell.

I know some of y'all may be wondering about my Adrienette story, A Melancholic Miracle. Don't worry, that story will still go on. I just need to find the time and energy to finish the next chapter. Hopefully that'll be soon. Until then, see ya!