Adrien sprinted up the steps to Francois Dupont, backpack slung over one shoulder, late note clutched tightly in one sweaty fist.

His dad had been even more of a perfectionist than usual when it came to photoshoots lately, fussing over lighting and angles to a degree he never had before his mom disappeared. The result was that his photoshoot that morning had stretched even later than normal, later than the late pass from Natalie indicated he'd be absent.

Now, he had missed lunch and would have to join the class in the middle of 4th period—Mme. Mendeleiev's class. This sucked for two reasons:

1) Science was his favorite class.

2) Mme. Mendeleiev hated tardiness.

Adrien didn't stop running until he was just outside the classroom. Then he stopped and put his ear up to the door. Slowly, tentatively, he cracked open the door to the science lab and peeked inside; Mme. Mendeleiev had her back turned to the classroom and was lecturing and writing formulas on the board. Adrien opened the door just enough to slip in, tip-toed over to put the late pass on her desk, and scurried to his seat.

Shoulders hunched, he hurriedly pulled out his notebook and homework. He dug around in his bag—he couldn't find his pencil, where-?

"Monsieur Agreste. This is a science class, not choir practice!"

Oh. Oh no. He'd been humming again.

"Sorry, Mme. Mendeleiev," he apologized.

The teacher sniffed and turned back to the board. He waited until she was back into the flow of the lesson to start gingerly rummaging around for a pencil again.

"Psst." Nino elbowed him. In his hand was a spare mechanical pencil.

"Thanks," Adrien mouthed.

He started rapidly copying down what was on the board, only for Mme. Mendeleiev to erase it and move on to the next topic.

"Mmmm- mmmmm- mmf!" Adrien started to hum in distress before Nino elbowed him again.

Adrien bit down on his tongue. You could still hum with your teeth on your tongue, but it made it harder to do so accidentally.

Adrien, who had played piano for as long he could remember, had always been musically inclined. This wasn't like that. Half of the time, he didn't even realize he was humming. It was an unconscious thing, like breathing, or fidgeting, or picking at a scab. It wasn't even pretty, melodic humming. Humming probably wasn't even the right word—he was droning.

Plagg, as usual, had been totally unhelpful, which is why it had taken Adrien almost 4 months to realize that he was basically purring out of the suit.

"Yeah, duh," the little kwami had said when Adrien shared his revelation. "My holders always take on cat traits, but humans can't exactly purr. Didn't I tell you that?"

(Plagg had not told Adrien this.)

Knowing didn't really make a difference anyway. Adrien hummed, whether he realized it or not, and he did it every time he felt stressed, or embarrassed, or worried. He hummed when he was comfortable and happy too, but that usually happened around his lady, when he could purr for real.

Mme Mendeliev was really rocketing through the lesson now, so Adrien took a deep breath and tried to keep up.

Poor Adrien, Marinette thought, not for the first time, later that day.

She was lying in bed with Tikki nestled in her hair and her chemistry homework (Mme. Mendeleiev had given them homework over the break, it was so unfair) spread out in front of her on the blanket, but she was finding it hard to concentrate.

She knew how awkward and embarrassing it felt to be late to class, especially when it wasn't even your own fault. Marinette would totally be on time more often if it wasn't for that loser Hawkmoth. (She hesitated to call acclaimed fashion designer Gabriel Agreste a loser, but it was inconsiderate of him to make his son miss so much school.) Poor Adrien had continued humming under his breath all class. Marinette didn't fully understand the humming thing, but she thought it might be a kind of stress-induced vocal stim, the same way she needed big movements when she got worked up about something.

Marinette hoped Mme. Mendeleiev would understand about the vocal stimming. She hoped she wouldn't write a note to Adrien's father, or get him in trouble; if she did, Monsieur Agreste might pull Adrien out of school forever, and then Marinette would never see him again, and they'd never get married and have 3 kids OR a hamster!

That's what Marinette was thinking when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered miserably, so lost in her daydream that she hadn't checked the caller ID.

"Marinette!" exclaimed a relieved voice.

"Adrien!" Marinette squeaked. "What called you?"

"Listen, I need your help," said Adrien urgently, ignoring Marinette's way with words. "I've gotten myself into a sort of predicament…"

Five minutes later, Marinette was standing outside the front doors of College Francois Dupont.

They were locked.

She scanned the street and windows of the school consideringly. She snuck into the school all the time as Ladybug, of course, but she didn't want to get in the habit of using LB to do Marinette business. Besides, it would be weird if anyone saw Ladybug sneaking into a school after hours when there were no akumas around.

So, instead of yoyo-ing up and over, she shuffled along the side of the school to M. Monlataing's classroom. She was in luck—the absent-minded art teacher had left the window open again.

Marinette hoisted herself through the window and crept inside. She made her way through the dark halls on tiptoe, stopping every so often to listen for footsteps, or the jangle of keys.

Nothing.

The boys locker room appeared to be totally empty when she reached it. It sure sounded occupied, however —like someone was having a hushed conversation in the corner.

"... Adrien?" she whisper-called.

Immediately the talking stopped. There was a loud clang, like the sound of sheet metal warping.

"Marinette?" came a muffled voice.

She rushed over towards the sound; she still couldn't see anyone, but she could hear the little sounds of rustling when she knelt in front of Adrien's locker. "You weren't kidding," she breathed. "You really are trapped in a locker!"

"I know," Adrien said glumly.

"Are you on the phone? I thought I heard voices."

"Nope, it's just me… talking to myself… while stuck in a locker..."

The padlock was lying on the floor next to the lockers, so at least he wasn't locked in. Marinette tugged on the locker door:

It didn't budge.

"How did you even get in there in the first place?" Marinette asked. Her first thought was that he'd been shoved in there by a bully, like in an American movie—except no, that wouldn't make sense, because Chloe was the only bully around who might do something like that, and she liked Adrien.

"Well…"

"Actually, hold that thought! I'll be right back, I promise!"

She ran back out of the locker room to the nearest janitor closet; she returned a few minutes later with a can of WD-40, a screwdriver, a wrench, 3-in-1 oil, and a hammer for good measure. (Unfortunately, the school janitor didn't have a crowbar.)

"Okay, I'm back. Tell me everything!"

"I was kind of having a bad day," Adrien admitted. "And I got permission from my father to hang out with Nino after fencing today."

"But Nino's family is going to Morocco for fall break," Marinette interrupted. "They fly out tonight." It was strangely easy to talk to Adrien like this. Maybe it was because she couldn't see him, but maybe it was because she was focused on a task! She hoped it was the latter, because she liked seeing him. Which she could do again, once she got him out.

Focus!, she thought, and picked up the nearest tool: a wrench. She peered at the locker consideringly, but unlike with her lucky charms, no immediate uses for a wrench jumped out at her, so she put it down.

"Yeahhhhh." Even through the locker door, Adrien sounded embarrassed. "I know that, but I forgot Fall Break started tomorrow."

Marinette picked up a screwdriver. She would unscrew the hinges!

"So after fencing practice, I didn't have anywhere to be, and I thought I'd curl up in my locker."

"You went in there on purpose?!" she cried, momentarily derailed.

"It's cozy…" Marinette, ever attuned to all things Adrien, picked up on the slightly defensive note in his voice. "I like to curl up in small spaces, sometimes, I dunno."

Marinette considered this, trying to relate even though she didn't see the appeal. "Like a cat in a box," she said.

"HEH. Heh heh. YEP. Like a cat, or a- or a squirrel, or a stoat. Lots of animals like to hole up in weird places.

Unscrewing the hinges wasn't working; there wasn't much for the screwdriver to grab on to. She switched tactics and grabbed the WD-40.

"Why me?" she asked eventually, when she had sprayed the hinges, the edges of the door, and even the little bar where the padlock should go.

"Pardon?"

"Why did you call me for help?" she said, voicing the question she'd been wondering since he'd first called her that afternoon. She picked up the last tool in her arsenal, and started trying to pry open the door with the back end of the hammer.

"Don't be offended, but… you have a lot of quirks. So I thought, if anyone would be understanding of my quirks, it'd be you."

A warm feeling spread through Marinette's chest. A second later, the locker door sprang open, and Adrien tumbled out.

He blinked up at her, blinded by the light.

Marinette grinned down at him, still basking in the idea that she and Adrien had something in common.

"Yeah, I understand having a few quirks," she said, as she helped him up.

Adrien surprised her then by hugging her.

"Thanks Marinette!" he said. "You're the best!"

Marinette blushed a brilliant, cochineal red.

Oh my god, keep it together Mari, she thought. No nose bleeds!

He was still hugging her.

"It nothing!" She squeaked, and then mentally kicked herself.

Adrien was quirky. She was quirky. She'd just freed him from a trap of his own making and was still holding the hammer. They were both two quirky dorkasauruses, and she could speak in complete sentences to him. With no nose bleeds.

He finally let go, and instantly she missed his arms around her.

"It you- If you want, we could go back to my house," she said.

Adrien smiled his wonderful, soft-boy smile at her. "I'd love to, Marinette."

They chatted amicably as they walked out of the school together. A thought occurred to Marinette right before they reached the bakery.

"Hey Adrien, have you ever built a blanket fort before?"

A/N: I like reviews :)