Marinette?

It was an out of body experience when he first saw her. He blinked, looked back at his paper while his nervous system reawakened, tethering himself with the sheet of paper between his fingers. He took a step back, but lost his footing, nearly stumbling over his two feet like a newborn fawn. A few snickers came from the crowd, but he couldn't care less. He got his gangly legs back up to the mic and kept on going. Swallowing whatever incoherent babble was about to escape from his lips as he tried to reconnect with his tongue again.

"I-I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss

Well a few of the verses, well they've got me quite cross

But the sun's been quite kind

While I wrote this song

It's for people like you that keep it turned on"

His cheeks became an uncomfortable inferno with both his last stanza and with Marinette staring at him as if he had grown an extra head while she waddled like a stiff penguin over to her seat, absently patted the sickly green cushion behind her and sat down.

"So excuse me forgetting

But these things I do

You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue."

As she smoothed down her skirt with every flick of her wrist, she lured him in, the fabric billowing like a red flag, a homing beacon through the dense fog.

Catching her eyes once again, twin sapphires twinkled brightly as they reflected off of the stage lights behind him. How alike they were to a barn sparrow's wings: light and airy, taking his breath away as she blinked owlishly, openly gaping at him.

"Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean,

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen."

Alya smirked, reaching over and tapping under Marinette's chin to close her best friend's mouth.

His breath hitched as he realized he had been caught staring, quickly tearing away from her blue velvet gaze.

"And you can tell everybody

This is your song

It may be quite simple, but now that it's done"

Done. It was as if his mind awoke with that last word. That meant the conclusion, the end, the grand finale.

Wait!

The song was almost over, and yet… Shaking his thoughts, he tried stuffing down his confusion erupting within as Marinette's cardinal red lips smiled warily at him. He smiled back wistfully.

"I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind

That I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world."

Red, what a beguiling color. From her warm cherry beret all the way down to her Earthy red skirt, she embodied the beauty of nature: leaves falling from a tree, a field of poppies, a ladybug colony.

…Ladybug.

…

…

Ladybug!

How had he gotten distracted from his task?!

He hadn't seen Ladybug yet!

His eyes darted around the room, but the only red he could see was merely six steps in front of him.

Marinette waved at him shyly. He felt his hand tug upward and wave back. She giggled, and he wanted to reach out and grab the sound, hold it in his hand, tangible happiness.

She was a wonderful person. The best, really! He was so lucky to have her in his life.

But…

"I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind"

Taking one last look around the room to make sure he didn't make a mistake, he raced against the timer of his set. His words once filled with hope now felt hollow as his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"That I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world"

He stared blankly at the audience; their cheers rubbed salt into his open wound. Past his friends sitting on the couch was a redless sea of people.

Luka clapped a hand on his back, a large smile on his face as he took the mic with his black polished fingers.

"And that was The Nook's own local celebrity, Adrien Agreste, everyone." Bringing the mic away from his face, he whispered, "Go and say hi to Marinette while I wrap-up open mic, okay?"

Adrien nodded absentmindedly as he stiffly moved one foot in front of the other. Six languid steps before he took a seat next to Marinette on the edge of the couch, as Luka closed out the show and packed up the stage.

"We uh—" Alya quickly stood, pulling Nino who keened as he was yanked off the couch.

"We need to get going! Nino's mom said he needed to be home around—" She checked her phone. "Ten-thirty tonight."

Nino's eyebrows shot up. "My mom said what?"

Marinette whipped her head around, shaking furiously. "Alya!" She hissed.

Alya ignored them as she smiled much too wide, competing with Jack Torrence on a madding level. "Yep! That's what she said, babe… be home by ten-thirty."
Nino threw her an incredulous look.

"Hey, one of us has to listen to her! And I don't make the rules." Alya shook her head, holding her phone up. "So, you know, we'd love to stick around and hang out, schmooze and booze with you both, but we have to get this kid home as I cannot be responsible for child endangerment nor the wrath of Mama Lahiffe for disobeying strict orders."

"Child endangerment." Nino scoffed. "I'm going to be eighteen soon!"

"And we are all eagerly looking forward to your official adult birthday roast, mon amor. But first—"

Alya bent down, whispering something in Marinette's ear before taking a step back and winking.

"You kids have fun—but not too much fun." Her eyes narrowed to slits. "And I'm warning you, Adrien: take care of my girl."

"See you later, dudes!" Nino yelped as she hooked onto his arm and wrenched him away.

"Okay… that was weird." Crooking his brow, Adrien stared at the space where his friends were just standing. Turning to Marinette, whose cheeks matched the color of her skirt, he asked, "Do you know what that was about?"

Her back straightened, clutching onto her skirt tightly as she avoided his eyes and squeaked out a "Nope!"

"Yeah, me neither." He slumped against the couch and craned his head back. The crowd was mostly gone with only a few lingerers talking to Kitty Section. The staff rearranged furniture and swept up the hardwood floor. Luka shooed some of the stragglers away—including the three fan girls from early on. He sunk lower into the couch, hoping to avoid eye contact with them. Choosing to focus on Marinette who seemed very interested in a loose string on the couch.

"So…" he drawled. "What did you think of my performance?"

Marinette's head swiveled toward him, acting as a dormouse caught by a predator as her tongue tripped over her words, "Y-you want m-my opinion?"

"Of course, I do. Your opinion is important to me." Adrien half-smiled. "And please give me honest feedback. I can't stand insincere praise." He winked, and she laughed shyly, a delightfully charming, purely Marinette sound.

She turned away, fixing a lock of her hair before facing him again. "Well… if I'm completely honest, I thought it was endearing." Her cheeks simmered to a pink, her ocean blue eyes met his again. "You captured the feeling of the song perfectly, and I think any girl would feel lucky if she knew that you performed for her. Especially me."

His chest warmed at the sentiment. "You really think so?"

"Yes." She eagerly nodded.

"Thank you, that means so much coming from you. You're really special to me, Marinette."

She instantly perked up, happily wiggling further into the couch. He wondered if he ever realized how cute she was before.

After a beat, she gingerly took his hand, slowly threading their fingers together. Her skin was soft, delicate, hand fitting perfectly in his. He admired the look of them together, breaking out into a large grin, mirroring her own as the two of them faded into a comfortable silence, hand in hand.

"Adrien, I w-wanted to tell you that I—"

"I wish Ladybug would have been here to see it."

"Wait…" She faltered, mouth popping open for a moment before she shook her head. "What do you mean by that?"

He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as he took a moment to gather his thoughts.

He still had no idea how he could have missed Ladybug! He had been here the entire night and well before then.

He would have liked for her to meet his friends face to face tonight. Well, he would have liked to meet her, period, but maybe there would be another time.

Call it wishful thinking, but he had this gut feeling inside that she would have molded into his friend group seamlessly. Even now as he sat here with Marinette, he imagined how well they would get along. After all, Ladybug and Marinette were so alike! And if they ever met? They would've instantly become best friends—he was sure of it.

"Ladybug." He sighed wistfully, her name both a burden and a blessing upon his lips. "She's a girl I've been writing to recently. We sort of became penpals out of the blue. She's wonderful. I think you would really like her. She's funny and witty. She has the craziest stories and the biggest heart."

A pang of longing hit him as he squeezed her hand. "I wanted to impress her tonight, so I recited 'Your Song' for her. It was one of my mother's favorites—she had once called it 'the most romantic, young lover's declaration ever created.' And I really wanted to share something special with her, but she didn't…"

Marinette sat silently beside him, a steady hand to hold as he worked through his feelings.

"She didn't come tonight. She said she would be here… and she told me she didn't break promises… I wonder what stopped her. I want to know why she didn't come."

Marinette removed her hand from his. He already missed her affectionate warmth as she brought her hands together and clutched them tightly. "Adrien, I, um, I can't… I don't—"

She sprang up from the couch, tugging on her sleeve as she said, "Sorry, I—I should probably head home. It's… getting late."

He cautiously stood from the couch, wondering why she was suddenly jumpy. "Are you sure? You just arrived. At least let me walk you ho—"

"No!" She held her hands out, waving them furiously. "No, I'll be perfectly fine walking across the street alone at night by myself. Totally fine. The crime rate is pretty low in Paris right now, anyways. Besides, who wants to commit crimes in the dark?"

His brows furrowed. "Almost every criminal. That's when most crimes are statistically committed. I know the twenty-first arrondissement is usually pretty safe, but Marinette, seriously, let me—"

"I'llbefine," she snipped, throwing her purse over herself and storming around the couch.

He didn't miss the silver lining of her eyes or her flushed cheeks. He didn't understand what he said or did wrong. He wanted to comfort her, to ease her pain. Before he could think, he darted after her, reaching out for her hand.

"Please, tell me what happened. Talk to me."

"I'll be fine. I promise."

He didn't let go of her. He couldn't let her walk away upset. He hated the idea of one of his best friends being in agony. He didn't know what to do as his stomach twisted into a pretzel, and all he wanted to do was pull her into a hug and make her pain go away.

After a few thunderous heartbeats, she sighed and glanced over her shoulder. "I… I hope you find the girl you're looking for someday."

She shakily smiled while the silver lining in her eyes became a watery pool as she removed her hand from his grasp.

As she stalked out the door, he was left stunned with his hand still outstretched.

Without his lady... And without a friend.