Marinette felt the coils tightening in her stomach as she stared down at the letter. This letter could be the start of her grand, whirlwind romance, or it could be a punch in the gut if the guy completed the challenge but decided he wasn't interested in her. Unnerved would be an understatement of the year for her.

She glanced over at Alya who nodded furiously, encouraging her to just rip the letter open and get it over with.

Marinette nibbled on her bottom lip, delicately ripped the flap and slowly peeled back the envelope, discovering a ripped notebook paper neatly folded in thirds. Unfolding it, she took a deep breath and started to read.

Dear Ladybug,

I found your letter, I hope you don't mind.

I solved your riddles and thought I'd reply.

This boy is intrigued by the girl behind:

Witty, funny, similar tastes as I.

Your shining radiance must know no bound,

A bewitching wordsmith, innovative.

In awe, truly, marveled at what I found:

Challenging and clever and creative.

Crashing into me, Cupid's arrow shot.

Plucked from the chapel, holy artifact.

Mysterious, thrilling, and hard fought,

A noble adventure, perfect in fact.

May I request something simple from you:

Lovely Ladybug, shall we continue?

Liquid. Marinette was melting, gradually turning into a puddle of affectionate goo. Her gaze softened as she read it again. Thirty seconds ago, her bottom lip was mere moments away from being gnawed off. And now… she couldn't remember why she was so worried. Her heart thrummed like a hummingbird's wings. She could willingly and easily lose herself in his delicate speech and quadratic lines.

And this guy, he – whoever he was – wrote a poem. A poem that he intricately thought out and designed specifically for her!

"Wow," she wistfully said, lushly sighing, longingly staring at the beautifully written wording. Someone pinch her - she must be dreaming.

Alya must have heard her plea because she felt a sting on her arm.

"Ouch!" Marinette cried as she rubbed her sore spot, shooting Alya a dark look. "What'd you do that for?"

Alya smirked and shrugged. "I want to know what future Mr. Ladybug wrote. It has to be something super sappy if it made you swoon so loudly," she said, her hand stretched out in eager anticipation.

The heat in Marinette's cheeks rose to an uncomfortable level as she passed over the letter.

Alya grabbed it, read it and whistled lowly. "Oh, 'wow,' was right. You found someone as cheesy and over the top as you." She nudged her with a wink. "Fu was right. You two are definitely going to be in love in no time."

Marinette brought her hands up to her cheeks as a smile formed on her face. "You really think so?"

"Definitely. Honestly, call me impressed. Your crazy idea worked after—" Alya trailed off, gasping.

"What? What's wrong?!" Marinette panicked, her whole body tensing at the sound.

"It's just… did you see the name?" Alya pointed beneath the last line.

And there, written at the bottom of the page was a name she never would have anticipated.

Thank you for the adventure,

Adrien

Marinette's jaw hit the floor. An atom surely split inside of her. Her mind exploded into everything and nothing all at once, melting like a sundae on a hot summer's day and seeping out of her ears. A blank space in her skull leftover as the reality of her existence came crashing down on her.

She blinked one, two, three, four… seventeen times, thinking that maybe this time the name would appear differently. That maybe she had read it wrong or had hallucinated, but… it stayed the same. The name that she had been pining over for four years stared back at her in ridicule.

Alya clicked her tongue, looking at her with a sly grin, her eyebrows dancing. "It's definitely a twist, but…"

"A twist?" Marinette whispered in disbelief.

"A twist?" she asked again with a venomous bite. "No, the game Twister has twists. A Murder Mystery party has twists. Cyclones have twists!"

She was breathing heavier as the words tumbled out. "This is just… insane! I mean, out of all the people who could have picked up my letter and read the clues and had done the challenge and then wrote this—" She inhaled a large breath, counting to five, feeling her love life floating away as she breathed out, "—beautifully written sonnett."

She whined like a dog being denied a bone. "Why did it have to be Adrien?" She gripped the edge of the table, her fingers turning pale from the force.

"We don't actually know if it's Sunshine," Alya tried to soothe.

Marinette was seriously doubting her best friend's sleuth skills right now. "How many Adriens in our age range visit this bookshop? Huh? How many?!" She was slipping, grasping for something, anything, to hold onto, she knew she was, but who could possibly stay calm at a time like this.

Four. Years.

Four years of torture and nonsense and scheming to gain his attention romantically. And then all it took was a red letter to get it!

Alya hummed. "Adrien is one of the most popular names in France," she suggested. "I'm sure there's more than just one Adrien that visits The Nook."

"Yeah, right," Marinette mumbled bitterly.

"Maybe you could ask for a lock of his hair just to be sure it's not him," Alya chuckled.

"Not. Helping," Marinette seethed, wanting to shove Alya right off her chair.

Alya schooled her features, patting her shoulder. "I mean… there's a chance this might be Sunshine…. but he's kind of obtuse when it comes to love. Could he even write something like this?"

Marinette groaned loudly, throwing her hands over her ears and hitting her forehead against the table.

Alya waved her hand, dismissing Marinette's manic state and then gently shook her. "Come on! You have to admit, this is exciting. There's a lot of fun in the mystery of not knowing who you're writing to. Like an anonymous pen pal."

Marinette lifted her head off the table. She didn't care if she had a red mark on her forehead as she slumped in her seat. She stared across the room at the other café goers. How happy they seemed, content in whatever mundane daily livelihood they had going on in their lives. She bet they would take one look at her and her reddened forehead and pity the boyfriendless girl.

On second thought… she did care about that stupid potential forehead mark. She grabbed her mirrored compact from her bag and checked her forehead, suppressing a groan. "An anonymous pen pal who also happens to be named Adrien," Marinette complained. "I don't want an anonymous pen pal named Adrien."

Alya hummed in thought. "It's incredibly romantic when you think about it. Who doesn't love the 'strangers to friends to lovers' trope?"

Marinette put away her compact, satisfied that there wasn't a red mark. She sat there silently brooding and without anything else to occupy her hands, she picked at the end of her sleeves, tugging at the material.

Her heart was a collapsed balloon, once filled with the air of hope, now empty and sagging from life's crushing ironic twist. His name had to be Adrien. Any other name would be just as sweet. So why did it have to be his?

All she really wanted right now was to stuff her face with a pain au chocolat and wash down her pathetic life with more coffee.

Alya pitifully looked down at her befallen friend. "Hey, I'm rooting for you here. You were the one who wanted to leave this to fate. Live a little bit! Write something back to him that makes me want to barf from how sugary sweet it is. You did a great job writing the Ladybug challenge."

Marinette shot her a doubtful look. Her fingernail scraped against the thread, trailing the inner pattern weaving in and out. She had been so distraught, she hadn't noticed the other person eavesdropping on their conversation.

"What's the Ladybug challenge?" Luka asked, holding a pot of coffee.

Alya straightened, grabbed her empty "Matcha Do About Nothing" cup and held it out. "Have I told you how much I appreciate you today?"

"Ah-ah, flattery doesn't work on me," he warned, gesturing down at the table. "First, you have to tell me what the Ladybug challenge is. Then you can have more coffee."

Alya clicked her tongue. "I'm so sorry, that information is confidential." She tacked on a wide smile, raising her arm a little bit more, further pushing the empty cup toward him.

Luka seemed unamused, sporting a look of boredom at her antics.

"Coffee first?" Alya asked, fingers drumming around her cup. A few beats passed before she tacked on a desperate "Please."

Luka raised his brow, patiently waiting for the answer he seeked.

This song and dance between the two of them was usually entertaining for Marinette, but she couldn't concentrate on anything but the brown liquid sloshing around in the glass pot, taunting her like the letter writer's name. Everything was out of reach for her, it seemed.

Luka gently swirled the coffee pot in his hands, turning it over as he thought. "Hmm, that's too bad. I guess this freshly brewed light roast will just have to wait. Maybe I should make my rounds first. You guys seem fine without this." He took a step back along with the hot, steaming pot.

Marinette perked up. Did he say light roast? Nectar from the heavens, the holiest and the most caffeinated bean is exactly the kind of pick me up she needed. She couldn't allow him to walk away, so she blurted out, "The Ladybug challenge isn't really a challenge."

Luka and the tempting, glorious caffeinated bean juice stopped in their tracks.

She continued, word vomiting, "I wanted to put myself out there, you know… romantically. So I left a letter with the fake pen name 'Ladybug' in a book. And, well…" She trailed off, not really knowing where she was going.

"And someone actually responded!" Alya chimed in.

Marinette half smiled. "It's silly, really. Me putting all of my hope into a letter." She looked down at the poem her pen pal wrote for her. "And it's honestly even crazier that someone actually responded to it."

"Wait, does this mean you're moving on from Adrien?" Luka asked, his expression somewhere between sympathy and perplexion.

Marinette felt her blood drain from her face. "I…"

"Yeah, she's moving on from one Adrien to another." Alya winked.

Luka's eyebrows knit together. "Uh-huh." He leaned over one of their extra chairs, placing the coffee pot on their table.

"You know, it's okay if you're not ready," he soothed. "Sometimes things aren't meant to be or it wasn't the right time. It doesn't mean that he won't hold a place in your heart anymore." His voice was calm and reassuring as he added, "I'm happy for you, either way, and I'll always be here for you if you need me."

Marinette's heart warmed from his sentiment, feeling lucky to have supportive friends.

He was right. Alya was right. She shouldn't second guess herself anymore. She looked down at the letter and smiled. Fate had intervened, and it said 'move on' from Adrien… To another Adrien.

She still couldn't wrap her head around that, but maybe everything would work out in the end. It had to work out… right?

Luka poured them fresh cups. "Well, I hope everything works out for you, Ladybug." He winked before moving onto the next table.

Alya took a sip of coffee, humming in approval. "I swear, nobody makes coffee like Luka. Fu needs to give that boy a raise."

"Yeah…" Marinette looked down at her "Shall I compare thee to a cup of Joe? Thou art more stimulating and warm" cup. She rolled her eyes and huffed a laugh.

"So… are you going to respond?" Alya asked, talking into her cup, eyes peering over the rim.

A half smile lingered as Marinette thought about Luka's encouraging words. She nodded. "I think I will."

"Atta girl!" She tapped on Marinette's notebook. "Maybe you should write a dirty limerick. And then you guys can have a secret competition to see who could be the dirtiest." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Marinette rolled her eyes, countering, "You and your weird obsession with Sarah J. Maas books. This isn't the Spring Court, Alya. I'm not going to write something like that after this heartfelt poem!"

"You're no fun," Alya exasperated, placing her coffee on the table before leaning over and draping herself over Marinette's body.

"Get off of me!" Marinette playfully shoved her.

Alya brought her hand up to forehead. "Oh, no. If only I wasn't being crushed by my best friend's refusal to take my advice. Why have you forsaken me and ignored my sound wisdom?"

"Alya," She groaned, pushing her with all her might, unsuccessfully. She threw up her arms. "Have you been secretly taking your sister's protein powder? Why are you suddenly so strong?"

Alya winked. "No protein power needed. I just have a stronger willpower than you."

"How about we compromise?" she strained as she struggled to come up with a thought, blaming it on blood loss as her arteries were being crushed.

Alya tapped her chin in thought as she settled in further on Marinette's legs. "Alright, you've piqued my interest. What do you have to bargain with?"

"I'll babysit the twins."

"Psh, my younger sisters might be little gremlins but they're house trained now. Try again."

"I'll do your physics homework."

"Why? So I can fail alongside you?" Alya teased, clicking her tongue. "Next."

"I'll give you two Christmas presents."

Alya pursed her lips in thought. "Two presents, huh?"

"Two," Marinette confirmed, hoping that was enough to get her off her legs. Two presents was no big deal! She could make two presents in a week! Use of her legs, however, was a much more pressing issue.

"It better not be two socks or a pair of gloves. It has to be two separate gifts," Alya countered.

"Yes, yes," Marinette said. She could feel her legs becoming numb from the pinched blood vessels. She would agree to anything at this point. "I know. No weaseling my way out of this one. Pinky swear." She held out her pinky, wishing that Alya would latch on and move her deadweight body off her legs.

Alya stared at the finger dangling in front of her, taking her sweet time to mull over her options.

Marinette's nose twitched, nearly seconds away from calling for help. Nino had to be around here somewhere…

But before she could, Alya's pinky latched onto hers. "I accept your terms," she grunted as she sat up. "It's always a pleasure doing business with you."

Marinette rubbed her legs, trying to revive them. "More like pleasure in taking advantage of me."

Alya laughed. "What are best friends for?"

Marinette felt static webbing through her thighs as her blood rushed back. To distract herself, she brainstormed how to respond to Adrien's letter. It had to be something, cheesy… caring, like he had done. She looked down at the silly Shakespeare mug. Maybe she could throw in a pun or a silly line? Would he like that or was that too cheesy? She shook her head, deciding to save the cheese for another letter.

Reading over his letter again, she smiled, knowing exactly what she wanted to reply.