Chapter three is up! Marinette keeps trying to avoid teasing from the girls while trying to help Adrien prevent cat-tastrophes. But are the girls on to something? Is their teasing unfounded?

And why is everyone getting Fruits Basket vibes from this story when I didn't think of that anime at all when writing this? 😅 But again, more comments and kudos means more content!

"Don't be bemused, it's just the news! Nadja Chamack, live! It's a hot one in Paris today, marking the first day in what's predicted to be an intense heat wave!"

The heat in the city was palpable, with people in swimsuits crowding near splash parks, people hiding under thick trees, staying indoors, and several small businesses turning up the A/C to keep cool.

"But the city is coming together to help everyone combat the heat! And other common sense tips for staying safe in this heat wave is stay indoors where there's air conditioner, go play in the water, stay hydrated. And always check up on your family and friends, especially if they're older, to see if they're doing okay."

There were even stalls that were providing ice water and sustainable bamboo hand fans for free for people. And volunteers were going around the city, making house calls for elderly folks that were more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.

Marinette was in her dorm room with Alya. They were watching the newscast on the latter girl's computer. They had their respective plug-in fans on, albeit on medium power, and some bamboo fans in their hands.

"Nadja's right," Alya said. "This is supposed to be one insane heat wave."

"The school doesn't seem to be that bad off compared to everywhere else in the city," Marinette commented. "Is that intentional?"

"Yes, it is deliberate," Alya said. "The school put in the vertical foresting in for this exact reason. Cuts the air pollution down, too. And the school's swim team is more than willing to share the pool with everyone else. Speaking of which, Kim and his girlfriend, Ondine, should be there right now."

"Wow, this isn't just a school, it's a community." Marinette said.

"Exactly." Alya agreed.

"Maybe we should check in on some of the others?" Marinette questioned.

"Not a bad idea," Alya said before giving Marinette another smug smile. "Sure you don't wanna check up on a certain blonde?"

"I'm sure Rose and Zoé are doing fine in this heat. Myléne, too." Marinette responded.

"Girl, not who I meant," Alya said, a deadpan expression. "I was talking about Adrien."

"Alya, please don't," Marinette responded. "You're making it sound like I'm getting a crush on him or something."

"Aren't you?" Alya asked, a not-so-innocent tone of voice. "I saw how you two were looking at each other after the escape room."

Marinette gave Alya a perplexed look, telling her, "I don't know what you're talking about. Yes, after talking to Adrien, I see him differently, but not like that."

Alya looked at Marinette in frustration before saying, "Have it your way, but I can tell something's going on."

Marinette shook her head in patient amusement, thinking, 'Alya's astute, as expected of an aspiring reporter. It's just that she's got things all wrong.'

She looked back at the news feed and saw some people were fanning themselves while sitting under the shade, and she could tell they'd just gotten out of the water from the splash pad, too.

'But this heat can't be doing his 'condition' any favors,' Marinette thought. 'It's such an insane thing to process.'

After finding out about Adrien's "problem," it wasn't easy to sleep with such information that night. Even now, it still hadn't quite sunken in. Celebrities and their families having secrets they'd rather be kept wasn't unheard of. This was on another level, though. The fact that he used to model must have made it even harder for Adrien to keep it from getting out.

'What else can I-' Marinette began, but her thoughts were cut off by a knock at the door. The girls turned to it.

"Hey, Marinette! It's me!" Adrien called from outside.

"Speak of the devil." Alya giggled, a teasing lilt to her voice.

Marinette rolled her eyes before standing up, her bamboo fan still in hand, and walking over to the door. She opened it to reveal Adrien was indeed there, and he'd dressed down to combat the heat. But his face was still red from it, and some sweat was beading down his face. He had a book in hand.

"Hi," Marinette greeted, casually. "What brings you over here?"

"I wanted to see if yo-..." Adrien began, only to see the look on Alya's face. "...If you needed help with any of your assignments?"

The expression on Adrien's face had an underlying pleading to it, and Marinette got the picture.

"Yeah, I was actually about to ask you to help me with my physics. It's one of my weak spots." Marinette agreed, smiling. She made a quick dash to her desk to get her physics book.

"Perfect." Adrien said with a nod.

"I'll be back later, Alya," Marinette said. "Shall we?"

"Let's shall," Adrien teased with a bow, and he gestured outside. "After you."

Marinette stifled a laugh as they left, unaware that Alya had watched the entire scene with a teasing, eager expression.

Adrien looked around and saw nobody was in the common area of the dorms. He sighed and said, "Okay, we're alone."

Marinette gave him a quizzical look. Adrien went pink in the face before shaking his head.

"N-Not that, um..." Adrien started. "I..."

"If it's about that, then it's good we're in private." Marinette said, her voice just under a whisper.

He sighed before saying, "Thanks. And thanks for yesterday in the gym, with the water and ice pack. It helped a lot."

"No problem," Marinette said, handing him the bamboo fan to borrow. "But how are you holding up in this heat?"

"Not well," Adrien confessed as he started fanning himself. "I was sweating through my bedsheets last night, and I woke up soaked."

"You didn't wake up... you know..." Marinette asked, trying to push out the image of Adrien switching into a cat and then back into an unclothed human. She went red-faced at the thought.

"I did," He admitted, his face also red. "I had to jack up the A/C in the middle of the night. And I took a cold shower to cool down, too."

"Yikes." Marinette said.

He gave a nod before saying, "Listen, I'm gonna need your help to get through this heat wave. You can imagine how it exacerbates things, making it easier for me to switch back and forth."

"Of course I'll help," Marinette spoke, still keeping it down. "And obviously, we gotta keep it hush-hush, especially during classes."

He smiled in response and said, "Purr-fect. It'd be a paw-sitive disaster if people got suspicious. Absolutely cataclysmic."

Marinette hung her head, groaned, and said, "Your library jokes that night were no page-turner, but cat puns? That's even worse."

She heard Adrien give a laugh. He questioned, "Back to physics?"

"Yes, please." Marinette agreed as she lifted her face back up and redirected her line of sight to the book.

Later that evening, Marinette had gone back home for Saturday night dinner, as she'd promised her parents. They'd just finished eating and were doing the dishes.

"It sounds like you're having so much fun at Miracle Lycée, honey." Sabine said after Marinette went on about her first week. Sabine was drying dishes.

"I am!" Marinette giggled as she wiped a plate and put it in the drying rack. "Friendly classmates, great teachers, challenging and fun classes. It's been bliss!"

"That's wonderful," Tom responded with a big smile as he put a few pieces of flatware in the dishwasher. He turned to give Marinette a "dad" look. "Now, about that boy you argued with..."

"Oh, him?" Marinette asked, casually while scrubbing down another pot. "I did what you said and talked it over with him during initiation."

"Initiation?" Tom asked, sounding a bit concerned. "What did you two have to do?"

"We just had to complete an escape room game in the library that some of the others set up." Marinette explained, to the blatant relief of her parents.

"Well, how did it go?" Sabine questioned.

"He took the first step to resolve things," Marinette began. "And you were right, calling him a male Chloé was unfair to him. But he also assumed I was a fan of his, which I reminded him about. He admitted I was right on that."

"So he took responsibility for what happened, too?" Sabine asked.

"He did. Once we explained our thoughts and feelings to each other, we made up. Then the rest of the escape room went well," Marinette explained further. "There were some puzzles that I couldn't have figured out without his help. He even tried to catch me when I fell off the step-ladder."

For some reason, the memory of Adrien's touch and his cologne bubbled up. She managed to fight off a blush.

"Well, I'm glad you two handled it like adults and buried the hatchet," Tom spoke. "Especially since you're in the same homeroom class."

"I am, too," Marinette agreed while putting another dish in the drying rack. "He's actually helping me out with my physics. The way he explains it makes it so easy to understand. And he's no slouch on the basketball court."

"Are we going to meet him one day?" Tom asked, sounding a bit too interested.

"Huh?" Marinette asked. "Meet him?"

"Yes. He sounds like a good person, you two just got off to a rocky start," Sabine elaborated, giving her husband a patient smile. "It'd be nice to meet another new friend of yours."

"Y-Yeah, it would be..." Marinette responded, thinking, 'I hope they drop the subject after this. I promised Adrien I'd help him keep his secret...'

"Speaking of friends, are you and Alya getting on okay?" Tom asked.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief at the subject change before asking, "Alya and I are like peaches and cream! It's so much fun having her as a best friend!"

"More proof that transferring you to Miracle Lycée was the right decision." Sabine spoke.

"Yeah! I'll use some of the money from commissions I get to help pay the fees," Marinette promised. "And get good grades to keep the scholarship."

"That's great, Marinette, but don't forget to enjoy yourself with your new friends," Tom spoke. "Maybe find the time to date?"

Marinette's hand tensed around the sponge in her hand, and she stuttered out, "N-N-No. No dating. Just friendship and studying, nothing more."

That seemed to put an end to the topic, and they kept cleaning up.

'Friendship and studying. Just remind yourself, friendship and studying.' Marinette thought.

"How about an Ultimate Mecha Strike tournament after we're done?" Tom asked, an eager tone of voice.

"I'd love that!" Marinette agreed.

The next day - a Sunday - the heat climbed up higher. A big chunk of the students were coming and going from the pool area.

Marinette herself was there, wearing a pale pink two-piece with ruffles on the top. Like her usual clothes, it was paired with dark grey accents. She also had her hair down, and was walking towards the side of the pool, where Adrien was.

"Thanks for doing this, Marinette." He thanked, a guilty smile on his face.

"It's no problem." Marinette responded.

He was wearing a pair of black swim shorts with one, bright green stripe on each side. Marinette could see his firm muscles. His arms and legs were quite buff on their own. And he had respectable abdomen muscles, too.

'He's pretty toned...' Marinette thought, a light pink dusting on her face.

Adrien gave her a cheeky smile and asked, "See something you like?"

Marinette's face went from pink to red and her eyes went wide. She shook her head to clear her thoughts before telling Adrien, "N-No."

She looked around to see if anyone was in plain sight before asking him, "Any trouble so far?"

"No, I've been doing what I can to beat the heat," Adrien responded. "But today's going to be even worse."

"Hence why you and I are going to be here for a good while," Marinette summarized. "And the water temperature is cold enough for us to cool down, but still a safe temperature. We should be okay."

"That's good," Adrien said with a relieved sigh. "I've been having hot flashes since last night, and it's uncomfortable."

"Waking up as a cat doesn't sound any better, either." Marinette added.

"It has its purr-ks." He joked.

Marinette face-palmed.

"Keep your puns to a minimum, please? Especially when there are others around." Marinette asked, annoyance in her tone.

"Sure." Adrien agreed.

However, he started breathing heavily and it seemed like he was beginning to sweat a bit more.

Marinette came closer and said, "Uh-oh, is it about to happen?"

"Y-Yeah, it's..." Adrien began, his breathing labored.

Marinette heard footsteps near the door to the pool area and in came the rest of the group, mainly the girls.

On impulse, Marinette jumped onto Adrien - to an onlooker, it seemed like she was jumping into his arms for a hug - and she catapulted the both of them into the water with a large splash.

They came up for air and Marinette started play-splashing Adrien, laughing. Adrien went along with it, also laughing.

"You two look like you're having fun." Alya commented, a sly look on her face.

"Oh, yes, we are! Nothing like playing in the pool to cool off during a heat wave!" Marinette said, but her behavior came off as sketchy.

"Then how come you two didn't wait for us to get here before jumping in?" Rose asked.

"We couldn't take the heat much longer." Adrien answered. Nino and Félix gave subtle, understanding looks.

"I totally get that! Whoo-hoo!" Kim chortled before cannon-balling into the pool, several feet away from the two. A huge splash of water drenched the two.

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other. Seeing how wet they were, they burst out in laughter.

The girls were giving each other knowing looks, some of them watching the scene in amusement.

Close to lunchtime, the group made their way to the dining areas. Adrien was sitting with his usual group, but this time the table was in closer proximity to where Marinette was sitting. And he seemed stable, like he wasn't going to transform. As she waited in the lunch line, she saw a few items on the menu that she was interested in, but a few things jumped out at her, too - items tailor-made to combat the heat. She looked over to Adrien and saw what he had on his platter. She got an idea.

Once she got her food, she walked over to Adrien's seat.

"Hey, Adrien, I got you some watermelon-mint salad and a coconut-lime cucumber water on ice." Marinette spoke as she put the items in front of Adrien's plate.

"Merci!" Adrien thanked before chowing down on the watermelon salad.

He heard amused chuckling from his company at the table.

'That should help regulate his body temperature.' Marinette thought.

Marinette giggled as she walked to her seat and sat down before eating. She heard giggling, and she looked up to see her friends giving her cheeky smiles, as if they were in on some joke that Marinette wasn't.

"What's the matter?" Marinette asked as she ate a bite of her own watermelon salad.

"Nothing." Alya said as she ate some of her own food. Marinette shrugged.

Later on, Marinette was in her room, doing an online search and some shopping.

"What'cha looking at, girl?" Alya asked, pushing herself away from her computer.

"Just looking up materials to make blackout curtains and handmade cooling neck wraps," Marinette explained. "It wouldn't hurt to have them on hand during a heat wave. I just so happen to have some leftover fabrics from my assignments to make them. I have the perfect orange fabric for you, Alya! And maybe Nino would like a jade green one... OOH, a yellow one with pink and blue accents for Zoé!"

"How about Adrien?" Alya tested, a cunning smile on her face.

"I want to give him a black one, but the whole point is to keep people cool. Black will just absorb the light and get hot," Marinette said. "So, maybe paler green to match his eyes... I'd better get his measurements..."

"Paying that much attention to him, are we?" Alya teased.

Marinette turned to Alya and said, "Alya, I'm making these neck wraps for everyone. Besides, the blackout curtains are for our room."

"Whatever, girl." Alya giggled before going back to homework.

Marinette gave a groan before continuing her research and shopping, thinking, 'Maybe I can make a few extra for a future assignment?'

That night, Marinette and the rest of the girls were in the library, having a movie night. Popcorn, soft drinks, the whole bit. The boys were having a video game tournament in the dorm. The girls' first chosen film of the evening was a romantic comedy with an enemies-to-lovers plot.

The leads had another encounter with each other that didn't go well. Once they met, they looked at each other with loathing. As the film went on, as the leads were continually forced together, they got to know each other, and their hate turned to friendship. And by the end of the film, they were twisting their own arms to admit, both to themselves and to each other, that they cared for one another. Not just as friends, but as something much more.

"What a great movie," Zoé said. "Great acting, well-written plot, consistent narrative."

"All of which make a good film great," Marinette agreed. "And likable characters, too."

"You know what the storyline reminds me of?" Alya asked before giving Marinette a sly smile. "You and Adrien."

Marinette whipped her face to look at Alya and asked in a flat tone, "What?"

"I see that," Myléne agreed. "The protagonists started out hating each other like you two did."

"I didn't hate Adrien, I just..." Marinette tried to say, only to fail when she couldn't think of a refutal.

"Yep, you couldn't stand him," Alix laughed. "And every time he tried to make nice, you gave him the cold shoulder."

Marinette looked the girls over and asked, "Did you pair me and Adrien up for the escape room on purpose?"

"No, we didn't, honest!" Zoé spoke. "That rule has always been in place, it was just a coincidence that Adrien sits in front of you."

"And you two made up, didn't you?" Juleka mumbled.

"Yes, Juleka, but the point I was trying to make was that unlike the film, it didn't take other people meddling for us to make up." Marinette responded.

"True. That didn't take as long as the movie, and you two have a much more buddy-buddy relationship now." Rose commented.

Marinette looked like she was about to squirm. She asked, "What are you getting at?"

She looked at all her friends, and they were all giving her teasing, knowing expressions, as if they knew something she didn't. Marinette's mind clicked.

"Hey, Adrien and I are only friends!" Marinette insisted, red in the face. "Why do you keep insinuating there's more to it than that?!"

"Because you two are acting like there's more to it than that," Alya said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Like how you hug-tackled him into the pool?"

"Getting refreshments for him." Myléne pointed out.

"Ordering the supplies to make DIY cooling neck wraps for him." Alya added, teasing.

"It's not just for him, Alya! I'm making those for all of us!" Marinette spoke.

"That doesn't change the fact that you two look like you're closer than friends." Sabrina spoke up.

Marinette face-palmed, thinking, 'It only looks that way because there've been too many times Adrien almost transformed with an audience!'

"Why don't you just admit it? You like Adrien!" Rose squealed, a big smile on her face. "You should kiss him!"

"What?!" Marinette asked, her cheeks turning pink.

"The seeds of love were planted in your hearts during initiation! And they're growing fast!" Rose spoke as she got up in Marinette's face. Her big blue eyes were sparkling, and she looked like the cliché romantic gossip fan.

Marinette held back a groan, asking, "N-Nonsense! Why would I kiss someone I am not crushing on?!"

"But you are crushing, aren't you?" Alix asked, confused. "And he doesn't seem to be objecting to your attention. I see the way he looks at you."

"Ditto." Alya agreed.

"I am not crushing!" Marinette responded, but her tomato-red face told a different story.

"Then what on Earth happened during the escape room?" Zoé asked, more concerned about Marinette's feelings.

"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Marinette all but screamed at the top of her lungs, her face still red as a beet. She came down from that high and she started breathing deeply.

She looked at her friends, who were giving her shocked expressions.

"Nothing at all?" Juleka mumbled.

"No," Marinette said to confirm. "The only thing that happened was that we resolved our fight. That's it."

"But friendship can always turn into something more," Myléne insisted. "Look at me and Ivan - I had no idea how he felt about me until he wrote me a love letter and put it in my locker. Before that, I always thought he was just a big o'l teddy bear that had the same passions for environmental protections as I did."

"Félix struggled to communicate his feelings for me, too," Kagami added. "I have a hard time with that, so I guess that's why we fit so well together."

"So, who knows what might happen." Sabrina suggested.

Marinette hung her head, frustrated.

She turned her face away before murmuring, "Not gonna happen. I learned my lesson the hard way..."

"Huh?" Kagami asked. "I don't think I heard you."

Marinette stayed silent, a sad look on her face. Tears were pricking at the back of her eyes.

"Marinette?" Alya questioned, sounding worried. She waved a hand in front of the designer's face.

Marinette snapped out of it and scanned all her friends.

"A-Anyway, Adrien and I resolved our spat and now we're friends," Marinette said. Her blush still hadn't died down. "Good friends. There's nothing wrong with that."

The girls gave Marinette skeptical, teasing expressions.

"Can we move on to the next movie?" Marinette asked, her voice terse. "Maybe a different genre than a rom-com? No horror, either?"

"How about a historical documentary movie?" Alix suggested as she looked up the movies in that particular section.

"I'm game for that." Juleka mumbled.

"Yeah!" Alya agreed as Alix pulled up a documentary about Rosalind Franklin.

Marinette breathed an internal sigh of relief while paying attention to the film.

When she reported the whole thing to Adrien, his reaction:

Full-blown laughter.

"The girls think you're crushing on me?! The boys were insinuating the same thing last night!" Adrien laughed, doubled-over and his arms around his stomach.

"It's ridiculous, I know," Marinette sighed, sounding tired. "But Alya's a sharp one - she can tell something went down. But telling them the truth is out of the question. So, what are we gonna do?!"

After several beats of silence, Adrien took a deep breath, looked at Marinette, and suggested, "...Why not just roll with it?"

Marinette looked at him in shock, asking, "Come again?!"

"Let them think we have growing feelings for each other," Adrien elaborated. "It's a reasonable enough assumption. And it's less work to convince them of anything else. They are right that our dynamic changed during the escape room."

"That's true..." Marinette conceded. "Maybe it is more convenient to just let them think there's a budding romance between us. They can just assume every time I have to duck out to help you that we're going on a date or hiding somewhere for a make-out session or something."

Adrien went red in the face before moving his eyes askance and stammering, "Y-Yeah... It's... convenient like that."

"You okay?" Marinette asked, noticing Adrien's change in manner.

*POOF!*

Into a cat, and he was sitting on the bench in dismayed irritation. Marinette looked at him in surprise, and she asked aloud, "Um, was that my fault?"

"N-No..." Adrien said, as though trying to deny something. Marinette just took out her bamboo hand fan and started fanning Adrien to cool him down.

"So... We're fake-crushing on each other?" Marinette asked.

"Y-Yeah... Fake-crushing. At least for now..." Adrien agreed.

"It's almost time for homeroom," Marinette said, putting the fan away and standing up. "I'll cover for you."

"Thanks." Adrien spoke as Marinette went to leave for their classroom.

Once she got in there, she made her way to her seat next to Alya.

"Hey, girl," Alya said. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, nothing," Marinette spoke, waving it off. "Adrien and I were just having a nice chat, was all."

"Just having a nice chat?" Alya asked, that sly look on her face coming up again.

Marinette gave a shy smile and said, "Yes. Talking with him is so much fun, I guess we lost track of time."

Alya gave a laugh before asking, "So, where is he?"

Subtle flinch on Marinette's part and she said, "Oh, he's... In the bathroom."

"Oh, his GI issues are acting up again. Nino told me that's something he deals with all the time. No biggie." Alya said with a shrug.

'So THAT'S the usual cover excuse.' Marinette thought before telling Alya, "Yeah, no biggie."

"So, what did you two talk about?" Alya asked, her "romantic gossip" face on.

Marinette panicked on the inside before saying, "Er, nothing important. Just, um..."

'Come on, think of something!' Marinette thought, trying to come up with an excuse. The lightbulb went off in her head at that moment.

"We were just talking about the possibility of us going to the ice rink at some point. You know, a cold activity to beat this heat wave?" Marinette said.

"Hey, not a bad idea," Alya commented. "Can Nino and I join in? Make it a double-date?"

"A double-date?!" Marinette asked, panic in her eyes again.

"Sounds like fun." Adrien commented from behind.

The girls turned to see Adrien - as a human - looking at the girls with his standard smile.

"It'd be great, having you two join us at the ice rink! Don't you think so, Marinette?" Adrien asked before putting had his hand in front of Marinette desk and leaning in a touch.

He kept his eyes on hers, his smile turned a bit flirty, and his arm was facing Marinette in such a way that his muscles were flexing in subtle, understated movements.

"I couldn't agree more!" Marinette spoke, all while maintaining eye contact. She was tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiling at him, keeping her arms at her sides.

"Then how about after school today?" Adrien suggested.

Marinette brimmed with excitement and said, "Perfect!"

"Then it's a date." He responded with a wink before sitting in his seat.

Marinette was red in the face as she repeated, 'It's a date,' in her mind on a loop.

"So, what was that about you two only being friends?" Alya asked, teasing.

Marinette rubbed her arms, looking at Adrien from behind with a stiff, awkward smile.

After classes, Marinette and Adrien made their way to the ice rink - luckily, it wasn't crowded. They were sitting in the bleachers, and putting their skates on. While Marinette was lacing hers up without effort, Adrien was looking at his skates in discomfort.

Marinette noticed, and she asked, "Something wrong?"

"I, um..." Adrien began, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. He looked at his skates before looking at Marinette out of his peripheral vision.

"Do you... Not know how to tie your shoe laces?" Marinette asked, looking at him with a questioning expression.

"N-No..." He confessed, hanging his head.

Marinette gave a snorting giggle. She stood up and said, "Let me help you."

She knelt down in front of Adrien and tied his skate laces up. She hadn't noticed Adrien was looking at her with red-tinted cheeks, his eyes were wide, and his breath seemed to hitch.

"So... I guess we'd better get our act together," Marinette said while standing up and sitting back in her seat. "I mean, this is because I mentioned the ice rink trying to cover for you."

"And I played along, so here we are now," Adrien conceded, sounding deflated. "Any ideas how to start?"

Marinette had to pause and think it over. But at the sound of Nino and Alya's voices coming in, Marinette panicked.

"Come on!" She hissed under her breath as she grabbed Adrien's hand and led him onto the ice, frantic.

Almost like fish to water, Marinette began skating like she'd done it a million times before. Out of her peripheral, she saw Alya and Nino coming in. She looked at Adrien from behind, and he gave a nod.

He skated closer to her and he began laughing, trying to make it sound natural and realistic. Marinette went along, skating and laughing.

The movements caused Adrien's button-down to flutter and slide off. He took his hand away to readjust the shirt, his movements decisive and sharp, all while keeping eye contact with Marinette.

Marinette, despite herself, smiled at him and moved a bit closer. He took her hand, causing her heart to throb.

"Let's pick up the pace, Marinette?" He asked, a determined smile.

"Oh, you are on. Race ya!" Marinette said as she let go of Adrien's hand and started skating faster.

"Hey, wait up!" Adrien laughed before chasing after her.

Nino and Alya had barely gotten on the ice when their friends skated past them, getting a bit too close. Nino flailed, almost falling over, only for Alya to catch him under his arms.

"Not so slick today, are we?" Alya teased.

Nino laughed as he stood tall and looked at his girlfriend, a blushing mess. They started watching Marinette and Adrien race around the ice rink.

"Gotcha!" Adrien laughed as he caught up to Marinette and pulled her into a hug from behind.

The pair laughed as they slid on the ice. They took each other's hands, and began spinning around like it was Ring Around the Rosy. Unbidden, Marinette noticed something about him.

'Wow, he's pretty handsome in this lighting. His hair and eyes shimmer,' Marinette thought, a smile growing, only for it to turn into a scared expression. 'What did I just think?!'

"Marinette, is everything okay?" Adrien asked, his face turning worried.

She shook her head, put on the mental brakes and turned her face away. She caught sight of Alya and Nino.

"Alya! Nino!" Marinette called as she let one hand go and waved at their friends.

"Hey, girl!" Alya said, whilst Marinette let go of Adrien's other hand and skated over.

"Sorry we started without you," Marinette said. "I couldn't help it."

"No problem," Alya laughed. "You two looked like you were having a crap-ton of fun!"

"Oh, we were, we were!" Marinette insisted, pink-faced and trying to act natural.

Nino skated over to Adrien. The blonde was looking at Marinette, his body language seeming despondent. His hands were clenching and opening, like he was itching to hold something.

"Hey, dude, you okay?" Nino asked under his breath.

"I'm fine, just..." Adrien asked as he kept watching Marinette. "I didn't want her to pull away. Why'd she do that?"

Nino looked between the blonde and the girls.

Adrien skated closer and said, "Hey, Marinette, wanna get back to the race?"

"Oh," Marinette said, turning to look at Adrien. "Yes, I'd love to! Alya, Nino, you two wanna join us?"

"Sounds great!" Alya agreed.

"I'm in!" Nino said, smiling.

"Then let's race!" Marinette said with a smile.

The four of them lined up as follows: Adrien, Marinette, Alya, Nino. They were all in racing positions, and Nino was in charge of the countdown.

"Trois, deux, un, aller!" Nino counted down and they were off, starting their first lap around the rink. The sounds of their skates intertwined with their banter and laughs, like all was right with the world.

Marinette found herself behind Alya, and yet in front of Adrien. Nino was at the back. Marinette looked ahead.

'I gotta pick up the pace!' Marinette thought as she started skating faster, all but zooming past Alya and making a good distance away from her best friend.

"Hey, don't leave me in the dust! Or rather, ice shavings!" Alya laughed before going faster.

Marinette kept going, and once she made her first lap around the rink, she felt herself get jerked about. She turned and saw Adrien had taken her arm and was giving her the same cheeky smile he'd given her at the pool the other day.

"W-What?" Marinette asked.

"Got bored of this race." He said.

Her face went beet red and she let out an anxious giggle as Adrien pulled her away from Alya and Nino and they went back to skating together.

"Did they just ditch our race?" Nino asked as he caught up with Alya. They both slowed down to watch.

"Yep," Alya said with a laugh, crossing her arms and watching in amusement. "And at the rate things are going, the ice on this rink is gonna melt."

Nino flinched a bit.

Marinette kept holding Adrien's hand. While it felt good, her stomach on the other hand was twisting about, and not in a good way...

Okay, that's a cliffhanger! At least, that's what I wanted it to leave off at. Okay, so coming up, Marinette and Adrien's "faking the feels" plan is working... Maybe a bit too well?