Author's Note: *blasts through the door* I am back sweethearts. I have a lot in store for you. For those who want to read only the story, I would suggest going to fanfiction net, those who would like to read my friends' and I's notes on the chapter, go to archive of our own. (I personally think that they are hilarious and disturbing at the same time.) Without further ado. There we go. Don´t just skip the first part, because you think you know it, I added a LOT of new jokes.

For those reading with notes:

[Author = me]

[Fairy = best friend, amazing author, Littlest1 - check out her story "Rise of more Supers"]

[Snow = best friend, partner in crime]

Prologue

"Chat Noir stop it!" Ladybug gripped her yo-yo hard out of frustration. Seriously, what's wrong with these boys nowadays?

"Yeah listen to her Kitty." An orange-gloved hand reached for Chat Noirs chin and pulled it up. "She obviously knows what she's saying." His hand was promptly slapped away by the hero clad in black.

"The same accounts for you Vulpin." The heroine rubbed her temples. "I don't know what you are fighting about now and I don't care, but this needs to stop." To emphasize her words Ladybug stomped towards the quarrelling boys and pulled them down by the ears, effectively separating the quarrelling heroes.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Why are you doing this my Lady?" Green eyes looked up pleadingly. Chat Noir almost seemed like a small sad baby cat. Vulpin on the other hand held his head low, probably to spare himself from the pain of Ladybugs iron-grip.

"We have no time for all this. There is an Akuma loose and destroying the city! Pull yourself together, you're acting like little kids." After a good menacing glare the heroine let the boys go and straightened up. "Let's go. We can't waste anymore time."

"I bet I'd make a prrretty kitten." Chat added with a smirk.

"Chat, stop with the puns and come." Ladybug was one pun away from throwing her yo-yo at her partners head.

"Whatever you wish my Lady."

xxx

"Gotcha! Bye-bye, little butterfly."

"Good job, Ladybug." Chat Noir held his fist up for their usual after battle routine.

"Good job, Chat Noir."

"So, now that this is over why don't we-?"

"Well done, Ladybug!" Chat Noir gritted his teeth. Why did this guy always have to interrupt when he tried to talk with Ladybug? Vulpin came running up to them and held his hand out to the hero in the dotted red suit. "You were amazing as always." Ladybug took his hand and squeezed it a little bit before letting go. Much too soon for Vulpin, not too soon for Chat Noir.

Chat tried to regain his composure and started over. "As I was saying-." Chat Noir got interrupted by a quiet peeping sound.

"Sorry I have to go." Ladybug gabbed her yo-yo and got on her way, with a slight wave. The only ones still on the scene were Chat Noir and Vulpin. They would have continued their little argument, if they both hadn't used up their miraculous powers. Well it was still early, something between three and four in the morning.

"Kitty."

"Foxy."

Fighting could wait for another day, both thought secretly. It was Monday and that meant school.

What the heroes didn`t know was that they all had the same history test later that day. Staying up late, or in this case getting up too early, was probably not the best idea. Unfortunately the teenagers didn't choose when someone got akumatized.

xxx

Marinette massaged her scalp. She had a strong headache since morning and it wouldn't get better. A part of the raven-haired girl guessed it was because of lack of sleep, but another part told her that it was also stress.

Leading a double life was fun, but it wasn't always easy. Of course, it had his benefits. As Ladybug Marinette could be confident, help people and lead a life full of adventure.

Unfortunately, every coin has two sides. While Ladybug saved people, Marinette disappeared. Most of the time she could come up with an excuse, but she got in trouble more often than not. Some time ago, Marinette was even grounded for missing her classes.

Sometimes Marinette wondered if Chat Noir also got in trouble, because he had to save Paris from the Papillion. She guessed not, since he always joked around and tried to flirt with her. Well he was the same age as her, as far as she could tell. Vulpin also seemed to be her age. Maybe he was a little older, since he seemed more grown up. Well, as long as Chat wasn't around. Did he get in trouble?

"-ette? Marinette!" Marinette jerked up and looked in the turquoise eyes of her teacher Caline Bustier. Damn. The undercover heroine was in trouble again.

"Yes, Ms. Bustier?" Now it was time for damage control. Marinettes heart beat hard in her chest. Was it her turn at reading something? Please let it just be her turn at answering something about the last lesson.

"Marinette, may I ask why you aren't paying attention?" Not the kind of question she expected.

"Well… I was…" Marinette franticly searched for an answer, but failed to come up with something on time.

Seeing the shock and desperation in Marinettes face Ms. Bustier decided to grab the problem by its roots. "It seems that you don't have an answer to my question. I will have to send you to Mr. Damocles' office. The new school year has barely started and your grades are already far worse than ever before."

A hand landed on her shoulder. Marinette turned to her left. Alya, her best friend since, what she felt like an eternity. Alya didn't need to say anything, just a look from her was enough to comfort her.

"Ha ha ha! That's typical of Marinette. She always manages to fail! I wonder, how she even made it this far." There it was. Nothing was worse that listening to Chloé's shrill voice making fun of everything. Well she didn't make fun of Adrien. Adrien Agreste wasn't part of Chloé's family, but when it came to her, they were practically engaged.

"Stop it Chloé, you aren't any better than her! When was the last time you did any homework yourself?" Trust Alya to stand up for you, when you need it. She was really a true friend.

"Of course I am better than-"

"Ms. Bourgeois, Ms. Césaire, I think that's Marinette`s issue, not yours." Marinette almost forgot that she was in trouble. The raven-head was just standing up to head to the principal's office, when she was stopped. "Marinette, please stay here until the end of the lesson I have important things to announce."

Marinette sat down again to listen to the announcements. As soon as the teacher wasn't solely focused on her, two certain boys turned around.

One of them was a certain blond. He was handsome, strong, smart and kind beyond believe. He was the super model Adrien Agreste, son of the most famous and talented fashion designer in the whole world, Gabriel Agreste. It was a secret that Marinette probably had the biggest crush in the history on that boy. Unfortunately, Marinette couldn't hold a single conversation with him without stuttering or tripping over anything, even after knowing him for a year.

His best friend Nino, the other boy who turned around, was another case. He was a nice and cool guy. He always hung out with Adrien and was a true friend. He was to Adrien, what Alya was to Marinette, a true friend. Marinette enjoyed going to music shops with him. They liked hunting for cool and old music tracks. Maybe that was the reason, why Marinette found it so easy to talk to him.

Both boys gave her a comforting glance before turning to face their teacher.

"Unfortunately your history teacher has caught the flu and can't teach you for at least a week. I will be his replacement, but you won't have time to play around. I have your latest history tests with me and trust me, they didn't turn out well." That was another bad sign. Mrs Bourgeois continued. "I know that your teacher is new and that you aren't used to his teaching methods, but that is no excuse."

"You don't have any luck today Marinette." A little red Kwami peaked out of her purse. "Pssht, Ticki. What if somebody sees you?"

"Marinette, you failed the test." What? "I hope you do better next time." Marinette picked up her test sheet and looked over it. Almost every question was wrong or indecipherably written.

"Oh that looks very bad." Alya peeked over her shoulder. "Your parents are going to kill you."

"Nathanael, what`s this? History is usually one of your strong subjects. You only answered half of the test." A certain red-head turned even more red. Marinette could remember him almost falling asleep on his desk that day.

The reason why she remembered this so clearly was because she saw him hitting his head on the table, which made him Chloe's punching bag for the day. Even though Marinette protected him, being someone who knew more about sleep deprivation that she wanted to, the redhead didn´t seem to mind. He was rather far down the rabbit hole on that day.

"You are lucky. Since so many of you got a failing grade your teacher decided to see this as a practice. This test won't influence your grade, but you will have a retest on Friday." Well it seems that she did have some luck. Since so many of her class got a failing grade, she may be able to convince her parents, that the test was too difficult in general. She just had to rock the re-test.

"Hey boys! What do you think of a study group?" Alya had leaned forward and was now close to falling off the table. She either had some crazy balance skills, or a deal with the devil.

"Yeah sure." Nino answered with a lazy grin.

"I have time." Adrien jumped on the chance to spend time with his friends. He didn´t have much free time during the summer since his father included him in some oversee projects.

"Marinette, what about you?" Oh no, there they are again. Those deep green eyes. She could get lost in them. What would their kids look like? Would they have his eyes, her hair? Would the- "Of course she will come."

This couldn't be happening. Did Alya just set up a group date with Adrien? Well it wasn't a date, but it was time with him, the most amazing pers-

"Then everything is settled. How about today at the bakery?" Alya was now officially an angel.

Nino hummed in agreement.

"Fine with me." Adrien answered with the sweetest smile, Marinette had ever seen in her whole life.

Alya was a god.

xxx

The lesson ended with a ring and Marinette headed to the principal's office. Well, always better than hearing Chloé's whining. She had a big drama fit because she didn´t get included in the study group. Well, as if she would study.

Marinette was just about to enter the office, when someone bumped into her. "S-sorry." It was Nathanael.

"No problem Nathanael. Are you ok?". Marinette looked the boy up and down, searching for any bruises.

"Yes, I am fine." Nathaniel`s voice was small and very quiet. Before Marinette could continue their conversation, the redhead escaped.

"Well that was a bummer." Marinette was truly concerned about Nathaniel now. The raven didn't get around to talk to him after the Evillistrator-incident. Maybe he hated her now. The thought made her feel bad. He was a very nice boy. Quiet, but very kind and devoted to art, and insanely talented. Marinette had hurt him a lot, intentional or not.

A little piece of paper on the floor caught her attention. It was a beautiful sketch of the Eiffel Tower and its surroundings. It was certainly Nathanael`s drawing style. She would have to give it back to him on the next day. She sighted. Another thing on her never ending to-do list. She should put "apologizing for hurting you months ago and not having the guts to talk to you" to her list.

"Marinette, you need to go to the principal's office." A little head poked up from her purse. Tikkis kind eyes calmed and soothed the worried girl. "Thanks for the reminder Tiki."

xxx

The principals office was the same as always. The bookshelf needed a little dusting, the plant that stood on the windowsill sprouted a new flower and the red history book was still open on the same boring page. The quill beside the desk lamp was new. Mr. Damocles also seemed to have rearranged his growing collection of owl figurines.

It was truly sad, that Marinette was so familiar with the principal's office, that she noticed such small changes.

Marinette sat in front of the principal's desk and awaited her inescapable doom. She prayed with all her mind, that he wouldn't call her parents again. If her dad got wind of this, she would be stuck at home. Maybe he wouldn't even allow her to participate in the study group with Adrien, a fate worse than house arrest.

"Ms Dupan-Cheng, what brings you here?" Mr Damocles was a strict, but also a very kind person. Today the stout man seemed to be in a very good mood. Unfortunately, it dimmed the moment Marinette stepped inside the office.

Marinette, having months of experience at dealing with her director, learned over time, that being straightforward and honest was the best way to get away relatively easy in comparison. "I- I didn't pay attention in class. I was distracted."

"Why were you distracted?"

"I… I don't know. I just can't seem to concentrate in class."

Mr. Damocles stroked his beard and started thinking. He thought for a long time. To say it was nerve racking would be an understatement.

The director thought so long that Marinette's fear made way for further grumbling. Did Vulpin get in trouble for being a hero? Probably not, or not yet. He appeared a little more than a month ago, in the middle of the summer holidays, after the strong storm that flooded the streets. Speaking of trouble. Did Alya ever get in trouble? If so she never told-

"Marinette." Oh. Shit. The heroine was in serious trouble. Mr. Damocles only called her by her name, when she was one hair away from hell.

"I know being a teenager can be very tiring. You may not believe it, but I was also like you at some point in my youth." Oh no, he started a speech about how irresponsible she was. Marinette felt awful. Wait! What?

"Yes, I skipped school and didn't do my homework. But let me tell you one thing…" Mr. Damocles could relate to her? He understood her?

"If you find something that drives you, you can excel in both studies and as a person and I think I have the perfect solution for you." Marinette was too shocked to find an understanding teacher, ehem director, that she could just nod.

"You will represent our school in the international cultural exchange program for students." Marinette felt her body fall into herself. It was as if some unknown force had smacked her in the face. "You will work with a randomly chosen student of Europe on a project of your choosing. You will get extra credit and some of your overall absences will be excused, depending on what you come up with."

xxx

Marinette walked the familiar way home. Well walking was an understatement. She stormed home. Her feet were heavy. It felt as if she was wading through knee high water. The raven had suddenly so much unused energy that she might have been able to walk through mud without a hint of slowing from her normal pace. Marinette didn't care.

The heroine it feel like she was caught in a silent storm, everything was either pulling her down or throwing her around. She could hear nothing and nothing could hear her. She wanted to scream out of frustration.

As soon as Marinette set foot into the bakery, she got swooped up by Alya. Marinette was sitting on her couch within the minute. "Ok sugar, what happened?"

Marinette fiddled with her jacket before finally breaking down. She didn't cry, she almost never did.

What she was feeling wasn´t sadness, but rage. "I have to do a project for school in order for me to find my drive again and if I fail, I'll get kicked out! Isn´t it enough that we get piled with homework from the get-go? Hello? We are students. We need-"

"Woah, woah! Slow down Marinette, did he really, really say that?

Marinette puffed out a frustrated sigh. "Not really really…"

xxx

"So that's what it is." Alya sat in Marinette's chair and browsed through the website of the international cultural exchange program, short SICEP. After a gruelling version of "20 questions" she slowly got the truth out of her little too dramatic friend.

"Marinette, this exchange program isn't so bad. It's a great chance from what I've been reading. You won't have to repeat if you fail, it's a way for you to better your overall average and learn something on the way. Just wait and see."

The raven-head redid her pigtails for the tenth time. "Are you sure?"

It was cute and exhausting at the same time when Marinette had her little depressing phases. "Yes I am sure. Let´s fill out this application form really quick."

"I just wanna skip doing it all together. You said that they can't fail me." Marinette huffed. She peered over Alyas shoulder, who filled Marinette's data into the online form.

"No you won't skip it. I know you. You would never let your partner down, because you are not in the mood. The way I know you, you will probably be outdoing yourself by the time you start. Face it, you are a workaholic." Alya stood up and gave her best friend a hug. "You can do it girl. Now, did I miss anything?"

Marinette sat down on her chair. "Everything seems good to me… Wait you forgot the A in my name. Aaaand send."

Alya was already standing at the trap door. "You should go change, the boys will arrive in 10 minutes and the only thing that looks good right now are your pigtails.

The change from confused, to shocked, to desperate, to angry was funny to look at in the least. " Alya why, didn't you tell me sooner? Adrien will be here in 10 minutes and I look horrible, he will hate me!"

"9 minutes."

"ALYA!"

Alya giggled and fled down the stairs in the safety of the bakery. On her way down she oh so kindly reminded Marinette of another important thing. "Maybe you want to take your posters down!"

An even more desperate shout that sounded suspiciously similar to her name was heard from above the stairs. Alya smiled and called her boyfriend Nino. "Hey Nino! Can you stall for time, Marinette needs to clean up her room. She would be very embarrassed if Adrien saw it in a less than perfect state.."

"Sure. I can get you only 10 minutes top, but I'll gladly take a bag of cookies as my payment."

"How does a bag of cookies and a kiss sound?"

"I'll manage 15 minutes."

xxx

to: .

cc:

Subject: Student`s International Cultural Exchange Program - Application form

Student`s International Cultural Exchange Program - Application form

Name: Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Age: 15

Gender: female

Representative of the Country: France

Representative of the City: Paris

School: Collège Françoise Dupont

Principal: Mr. Damocles

Sincerely,

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

e-mail: -cheng

xxx

Marinette managed to hide the last photos of Adrien the second said model came in through the loft hatch. "Wow, the last time I was here it was much tidier."

Marinette felt a dull pang in her chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Nino had seemingly kicked or pinched Adrien. His look indicated it.

"I meant, last time I didn't see all your projects over there. It's cool that you like designing. Last time everything was stored away. Can I- can I look around?" Adrien asked with a very shy tone to his voice.

The pain in her chest went away as promptly as it came and got replaced with a fuzzy feeling. "Of course you may. I can even show you everything. Look at this! Do you remember the hat I made for the contest last time? I liked the design so much that I made a sketch for a fitting mix of a suit and casual clothes. Oh and this is a dress I am making for Alya, since she will attend the wedding of her older cousin in a week and one of her sisters dumped colours on the dress she bought. This is a purse I am making for my mom and this a scarf for my dad, since he liked the color. This is…"

Marinette was so absorbed in talking to Adrien, that she only stopped when Alya grabbed her on the shoulder and pointed to the set up study circle, consisting of her couch and two soft beanbag chairs on the floor. She didn't even realize that her parents brought all of them some biscuits and milk.

"Oh I- I am so s- sorry Adrien! I didn't talk to mean –eh. Didn't mean to talk to you- eh too much to you. I am sorry. I must have bored you." Marinette wanted to slap herself.

Here she was, talking to the most perfect person in the world without a care, probably boring him to death or telling him stuff he already knew. The worst thing is that, after she realized her mistake she started stuttering again. The raven-haired girl thought she got that a little under control by now. Marinette blamed the stress.

Adrien probably thought she was stupid now. Who would date a stupid girl, that can't even talk, or read the mood. Even just being friends was out of the question.

"Please don't be sorry. You didn't bore me. I actually kinda liked the way you talked to me. If you don't count Nino I never was at a friend's house and I was truly happy when you showed me something. At home I have so much space that I don't know what to do with it. Your room seems much more homey."

Adrien threaded his fingers through his hair and gave her a slight smile. His brows were furrowed and Nino immediately saw the hint of sadness in his bro's eyes. The heroine on the other hand was flying on cloud seven. Adrien liked her room! Adrien liked talking to her! Maybe she did have a chance with him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have a test on friday and I don't want to fail. I barely passed last time." Nino decided to step in at exactly that point in the conversation, before it could get unpleasant.

He did want to support his former crush and help her to get together with his friend, but right now she was in danger of stepping on a sore subject way too soon. Maybe when they were a little closer, she could talk with Adrien about it, but not now.

Alya and Nino seemingly liked to put Marinette in uncomfortable, but also desirable positions. The pair had taken over the beanbags and left the raven-head and the blond to sit on her couch.

"So how much do you all know?" Alya, her best subject being history, asked.

xxx

Nathanael searched through his bag. "Where is it? I am sure that I had it somewhere."

"What are you searching for pal?" A dark orange fox like creature was sitting on Nathanael's desk. "I thought your head was attached to your body."

The redhead grabbed the nearest thing on his left, a slipper, and threw it right at the fox kwami in front of him. "Shut up Whitt and help me search. I lost one of my study papers for art class."

Whitt easily dodged the slipper and flew on Nathanael's desk. "I don't know what I did to deserve such a clumsy and lovestruck miraculous bearer." His voice was as teasing as it could get. It was obvious that he liked the redhead very much.

"I know you love me." And said redhead knew it too.

"Instead of making lovely eyes at me, search for your lost piece of whatever it was." Whitt yawned and laid down on the desk. His voice couldn't be more neutral as he said: "Surely its not the one with the Eiffel tower on it. That one was actually good. I understand that the girl with the raven pigtails took it with her."

Nathanael's eyes widened. "You knew where it went and you didn't tell me!?" It took only a month of being Vulpin for him to be able to translate Whitt's words to it's original meaning: You let your paper slip out of your bag and Marinette found it, but I didn't tell you till now, because I wanted to tease you.

"It's exactly as you thought." Sometimes Whitt seemed to know exactly what his bearer thought, but said bearer didn't know that it was from eons of experience. That and the little thing on the floor was easier to read than the newspaper. Right now he stared up at him with a not so convincing mean stare. Plus he was so easy to tease: "Seems like you need to visit your crush to get your paper today. You know that you have to finish it till tomorrow."

"Sometimes I hate you." – "Love you too."

xxx

Normally Nathanael visited the Dupain-Cheng Bakery only when he forgot to bring his lunch to school.

He came by often enough for his face to be known by both Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng, but not often enough to be considered a regular. This didn't stop Sabine from giving him a warm welcome and a little suggestion for the day. Little did he know that he was Sabine's favorite victim, ehem taste tester, for new pastries.

"Hello Nathanael. Are you here to buy a little snack? Do want to try one of my new pastries, it is on the house. I am sure you will like this one." Sabine held a tray full of little pastries with a fine golden-copper crust.

Even if a little alarm bell in his head was ringing, Nathanael couldn't bring himself to tell Sabine no, so he took a pastry in his hand. He was just about to eat it, when a little cough from his backpack reminded him of his original reason to go to the bakery.

"I was a- originally hoping that I could speak with Marinette. You know I go to her class and I kinda dropped my essay and I think she found it and has it right n-"

"Of course I know that you are her classmate. Marinette told me about you. You are the boy that draws those really cute pictures. She is upstairs." Sabine probably intended to stop the redheads rambling, a minor version of his typical freak out. Little did she know that Nathanael was one hair away from a major freak-out right now.

As soon as he shuffled up the stairs and reached the living room, he did break down. "She likes my pictures…" Overwhelmed with the compliment he hid his face in his hands and crouched down. He wasn't really good at receiving compliments.

A little laugh startled Nathanael out of his dumbstruck playing ball on the floor. Whitt had at some point left the bag pack and landed on top of the bookcase beside him. The orange kwami nearly threatened to fall of them at any given moment. "Cute! You draw cute pictures! Are you sure she wasn't talking about you? You went as red as those little hearts that come out your ears, when you see little pigtails."

Nathanael jumped up. He nearly hit his head in the process. "Wha-!? I do not-"

"Blush easily?"

"No!"

"Have a crush on Marinette?

"No!"

"Have a crush on Ladybug?"

"I mean-"

"Seriously, one could think you have a pigtail fetish."

"What? No, I am-!"

"A cute little snuffle fluffle smoll smoochie little pumpkin doll?"

"How can you even pronounce that?"

"Forget why you are here?"

"Forget why I am here? Forget why I am… My essay! Whitt sometimes I could really strangle you." Nathaniel grabbed the fox by it's tail and put him back into his bag. If he was now redder than a tomato Whitt had the generosity not to make an additional comment about that too. Well, the redhead got to hear enough tomato jokes as it is.

"Ow! It's a fact that you love me, so be more gentle. One of these days you will really kill me."

"Does the old man say that he would rather be suffocated with love?"

"As if you could ever come close to a functioning relationship. I swear the day you get a fiancé I will eat a whole plate of Plagg's Camembert cheese."

Translation: Confess you dumbass, I want to see you happy.

"Says the guy who didn't manage to confess his love for a certain kwami for over 5000 years."

"I hate you." Whitt closed the bag pack he was in. For him the discussion was over.

"I know you mean love." A little huff was heard from inside his bag. Nathanael skipped up the stairs. This little argument helped him to calm down. Better go now, before his nerves got the better of him again.

xxx

It was one of these moments where time seemed to stand still. Nino wasn't sure if they would laugh about this situation later, or try to forget it. All members of the spontaneous study group were currently lying on a "cuddle pile", as Alya used to call it.

It started when Mari started to get frustrated over the dates of important events and proceeded to eat every cookie she could reach.

A little while later Adrien got hungry, so Alya went downstairs to get more to eat. In the meantime, Mari froze up and Adrien made everything worse, by talking directly to her. He probably wanted to distract himself from his growing hunger; they did skip lunch in favor of cookies, all of which were devoured by Marinette.

A little while later Alya appeared with a plate full of quiche. The quiche satisfied Adrian's stomach, but it made Nino himself turn tired. Alya needed a break now and by the end, everyone was moping around.

Out of nowhere, Alya sprang up from her beanbag and began tickling Marinette. With newfound motivation, Nino imitated his girlfriend and attacked Adrien. Both turned out to be extremely ticklish and held onto each other for dear life.

Soon everyone grew tired and just laid there in a "cuddle pile" of limbs and other body parts. Nino came to his senses first and therefore noticed the new presence in the room. Soon everyone stared at their redheaded classmate, who stared back in kind.

All of a sudden, Nathaniel gasped and gasped again. Tears were falling down his face.

"Shit!" Ayla's best friend and sister in all but name, got up from the couch with such a force, that almost everybody hit the floor. Intentional or not, Alya was the only one left unharmed and on the couch.

While Marinette was quick to stand up, her ability to act stopped there. She stopped moving where she was standing, and only stared at the new arrival in the room. Alya could swear that the pigtailed girl stopped breathing for a moment.

Nino and Adrien landed on the floor with a big grunt from both of them. While her boyfriend needed some time to gather his bearings, and wiggle into a sitting position, Adrien jumped up and ran up to their classmate. "Nathanael, what's wrong?" Adrien was up so fast, that you could think he stood up while falling. He rushed up to his classmate. One step away from him he froze. "Nino, what should I do?"

In the meantime, Nath was rubbing the tears in his eyes away. His gasps grew more frantic he started shaking uncontrollably.

Nino, being his greatest friend and top advisor in anything the model had to ask in regards of social interactions with people who were not business partners, shouted the first thing that came to his overwhelmed mind: "Dunno, pal just hug him!"

Nathaniel was franticly trying to rub the tears out of his eyes as Adrien enveloped him into a bear hug. Several moments passed. Not being able to move or apparently breathe, made the redhead even more panicked. "It doesn't work! He won't stop!"

What had caused the normally so meek and quiet boy to burst out in tears like that?

Alya took a deep breath and counted to 5 in her head. Sometimes having many little siblings helped her to look at situations like this… more calmly. The people around her weren't fighting, or trying to hide a mess from their mother, so it was a little different from usual.

To say that everybody had made his or her own assumptions, on what happened, would be like telling somebody that the sky was blue.

Nino couldn't think of anything that could have hurt the redhead so deep on an emotional level, so he assumed that he hurt himself while getting up the stairs. Nathaniel could have sprained his hand while opening the trapdoor, or something.

Adrien thought that Nathaniel might feel a little outcast and lonely. He knew that Nathaniel had failed the test too, maybe he wanted to be included in the study group, but was too afraid to ask. He was always alone in class; maybe he was just too shy to make friends. Seeing the group having fun must have hurt him a great deal. The blond made a promise to himself, to talk more often to the artist, he knew exactly, how it feels to be alone in a room full of people.

Marinette would bet her whole collection of Jagged Stone fanmerch, on the fact that it still had to do with the broken heart Nathaniel had over her. She did hurt him a great deal during the Evillistrator-incident. While she was only trying to save him, she never had the chance to apologize to him. This had to be the worst birthday the redhead ever had.

Alya took a quick glance around and lowered her eyes.

Alya knew what was going on, but she would give up on a scoop on Ladybug, to know how the redhead would have reacted without that "thing".

"Marinette! Grab some bread from the kitchen! Nino, pour me a glass of milk. Adrien! Let the poor guy breath!" The Martiniquaise gave her orders with a face that said, "Dare to defy me and you will go to hell and back"

Startled, everybody jumped up to do the task they were assigned, while Alya hauled Nathaniel to the couch.

"Here is the milk, Alya, but why-?" – "Just give it to me Nino." A glass of milk was snatched out of Nino's hands. The content almost spilled on the flow, if it wasn't for Adrien's quick reflexes and a very spectacular jump dive, that put even swimmers to shame.

Nino grabbed a tissue and started to wipe his friend's hands, while Alya took care of the distraught redhead.

With a practiced ease, Alya helped Nathaniel drown the glass of milk. The crying stopped considerably, but Nathaniel was still desperately gasping for air.

Marinette choose that exact moment to arrive with a stack of breads in hand. "Nathaniel, do you have any allergies? I have normal black bread, gluten free baguette and sunflower seed bread."

Nathaniel shook his head, a clear no.

"Seriously?" Alya looked at her friend with a perfect are-you-kidding-me face. She knew that it was important in the food industry, but Marinette's shop mode wasn't exactly appropriate right now. The brown haired girl grabbed a bread at random and gave it to Nathaniel. "Here, eat. Slowly."

"Yes seriously." Marinette's I-am-not-kidding-you-face was also perfect. Ok, Alya had to give it to Marinette, you shouldn't joke with allergies.

"Good thinking girl." If the spectacled girl had a hand free, she would have given her friend a thumb up.

The redhead gobbled the bread down at record speed and almost choked on a not properly chewed piece. The Martiniquaise gave Nathaniel another glass of milk, Nino was quick on the uptake and refilled it as soon, as the redhead let go of it.

Adrien and Nino both stood in front of the girls who were taking care of the new arrival in the room. Both had the same idea on what had happened, none. Why where the girls talking about bread right now?

Marinette noticed Adrien's and Nino's confusion and decided to give them a little lesson about the food industry: "It's about allergies. In the food industry, it's very important to pay attention to that. Giving someone something they are allergic to can kill them in the worst-case scenario. Ever noticed the little letters besides the shop menu?"

"Ahhhhhh." The boys looked at the pigtailed girl in admiration, even Nathaniel nodded in agreement. Marinette was truly considerate.

After that, the room went silent. The conversation got into a complete standstill.

"…"

"I thought I was going to die." Nathaniel broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled in the room. He felt so much better after this immense burn in his throat, calmed to an endurable level. It still hurt, but at least it didn't feel like drinking lava anymore.

"… Sorry, if I am insensitive, but what happened?" Nino got his bearings back first and asked the question, everybody was dying to ask at the moment, well at least the boys.

Nathaniel sniffed and took the tissue that was offered to him. After blowing his nose, he started to talk, unsure on how the people around him would react.

Now that the panic had subsided, he felt pressured at everyone's criticizing eyes on him. The redhead shrank into himself. "Erm… Well I came here to get- I mean to ask for something, but then I saw you and suddenly my throat was on fire and I couldn't breathe. Then Adrien, I mean then I couldn't get air, and it hurt so much, and my ears- I mean eyes started tearing. I didn't know where I was and tried to talk, but everything burned. Everything was spinning and then I drank and-."

"Nath, Nath. Sweetheart stop." Alya gently took Nathaniel's hand into her own and patted his hair.

The Martiniquaise enveloped the red-head into a gentle hug. She tried to be as comforting as possible. Nathaniel reminded her of her little siblings in a way, she couldn't stand to see him all uncomfortable and pressured. She sadly missed the jealous looks her boyfriend was shooting towards their direction and continued patting Nathaniel's hair.

"Can you give me the thing in your hand please?" Deciding, that it might be better, that she did the explaining for the artist, she took over.

Everybody stared at the redhead's hand, which was clutching something golden.

Alya gently pried the object from his hand and put it her palm. It was a crushed pastry.

The Martiniquaise broke a little piece off the already started pastry off and put it into her mouth. She suddenly started coughing and reached for her half-finished glass of milk. "Knew it."

"Not again!" Marinette grabbed her pigtails and shouted at whatever entity was in the sky, or the roof. Why does life like to punish her so much?

"Damn that really hit home. Say Nathaniel, did you try one of Sabine's new pastries?" hazel eyes locked with turquoise eyes.

"What? Why? Yeah, I took one bite, but I didn't know it would- I mean woah, that one suddenly got really spicy." The redhead answered with a confused frown.

Alya enveloped Nath in another hug, effectively pressing the flustered redhead in her chest. "Poor you. You didn't even realize that you ate the equivalent to a time bomb."

Nino's eyes narrowed even more, the small flash of jealousy panging at his heart grew bigger. Not noticing this the spectacled girl continued to coddle the artist.

"Ehem. I don't want to interrupt, but what happened?" Nino tried to somehow put an end to this situation and asked the question that would hopefully shine light on this mystery.

Alya sat up and looked at the group, feeling very smug. It always filled her with glee to inform people of things they didn't know, the best part about a reporter's job, if you ask her. "As most of you are probably aware, Marinette's mom likes to try out new pastries."

"I can second that, but most of the time, they don't turn out that great. Mum usually has a long streak of failures, before finding the one recipe that makes everyone addicted." Marinette agreed with a very sour face. Her mood was down in the dumps. She just crossed her arms and continued to pout.

"While I was waiting for you downstairs, I saw a giant pile of Piri piri beside the oven. This pastry-" Alya held up the poor crushed food.

Marinette continued Alya's sentence, as if she had spoken all along: "-is made with said Piri piri. A phase my mother had for over 3 weeks. I cannot even taste anything at the moment, with how many of those I had to try."

"Nathaniel accidently ate something that is spicier than my mother's super spicy curry." Both girls looked horror-stricken. Nino had to cough, remembering the curry and not being able to imagine anything that could be even remotely spicier than Mrs Césaire's curry.

"…"

"OHHHHHHHHH!" As realization hit the boys, all tension finally left the room.

Nino was glad that his classmate wasn't actually hurt. Well, Nathaniel got hurt, just in a very unintentional and may he say, unusual way. If he didn't know how painful it was to eat too spicy food, he would have laughed. Alya was still holding him in her arms though, which made it harder and harder to stay sympathetic towards the artist.

Adrien was glad that his fear of Nathaniel feeling, like he was being left out was wrong. He did hope that. Nathaniel was still often alone in class. The model made a mental note to start talking to Nathaniel more.

Marinette was beyond embarrassed. Of course it wasn't about her. She did hurt Nathaniel a lot,but that didn't mean that he still had some feelings about her. Assuming something like that would make her very narcissistic. She wasn't Chloe for god's sake.

"I am so sorry Nathaniel." Marinette walked over to the redhead and looked him into his eyes. He looked down, but Marinette tried not to be discouraged. It stung a little, but she hurt the redhead deeply and she knew that. "Ermm, do you want to stay here and…"

"Learn with us for history?" Adrien completed Marinette's sentence. The model decided to gather his wits and start to act on his new found resolution to make friends with Nathaniel. A quick glance at Nino suggested that he wasn't happy about that.

Adrien felt his heart think. Marinette didn't seem to mind, but why was Nino suddenly so angry? The model couldn't come up with a thing, which confused him even more. The model decided that had to talk with Nino about it later.

"That's a great idea! Nathaniel is even better than me." Alya interjected. "Hey do you understand that part? I never understood how we should interpret this source in regards to…"

Unable to leave now, Nathaniel awkwardly moved around the couch and answered the Martiniquaise as best as possible, being praised like that made him feel uncomfortable; he wasn't used to it at all. Sure it felt nice, but he never knew how to react. "I am not that good. You are better than me, I am just lucky sometimes."

Alya grabbed her heart in mock hurt. "Don't you dare compliment me like that. I know you are better than me. You always finish first and I cannot remember how many perfect scores you got."

"Seems like that is decided, that we will learn together." Marinette got comfortable on the couch too and grabbed her history book, those damned dates won't be able to stop her.

The boys settled on the beanbags on the floor and continued reading their books. Well, they acted like they were reading their books. Nino was sanding dark stares into Alyas and Nathaniel's direction while Adrien kept stealing glances at Nino, trying to figure out what was wrong. None of the boys learned a single new fact after that.

xxx

Nathaniel was thankful for being included. It was nice of the quad to go out of their way, to include him. It made him feel warm.

While he did like being included, he did feel like he was intruding somehow. His classmates had probably just invited him to make up for the pastry incident. The redhead wanted to go as soon as possible, but he found himself unable to leave.

Marinette left the room at some point and came back with a plate of sweet brioches, with jam and orange juice.

"Don't worry this time, the food is sweet." The pigtailed girl assured the redhead after he eyed the pastries with suspicion.

The evening went by quickly. Nathaniel managed to explain some things to Marinette that Alya gave up on the seventh try and Alya could concentrate on explaining Nino a system she used for remembering dates.

As the evening went on Adrien decided to offer Alya his beanbag, so she didn't have to kneel on the floor and be more comfortable explaining things to Nino. He joined Nathaniel and Marinette on the couch.

xxx

At nine in the evening the group decided to call it a night. It was only Wednesday after all. The test was on Friday. Now it was everybody's own job to review and study.

Marinette walked her classmates to the front door of the bakery, to bid them goodbye. "Good bye guys. See you tomorrow in school!"

A sneeze broke the flow of the conversation.

The three secret superheroes simultaneously grabbed their noses and apologized, each being sure, that it was their own kwami trying to remind them of something.

"Wow. That is either a sign, or a new kind of flu coming around." Alya looked very impressed at that coincidence.

A second sneeze interrupted the conversation again.

Marinette facepalmed and grabbed her nose as if it was running. She had forgotten that she wanted to give Nathaniel his sketch back. Thanks to Tikki's sneeze, she remembered in time.

"Ah, I am so sorry. Nathaniel, you dropped one of your sketches today. I have it in my room. Wait a moment, I will get it." With that the raven haired girl rushed up the stairs.

Nathaniel looked so horror struck, that one would think, they cut him straight from a horror movie. Even after getting his sketch back, the artist would have to stay up very late to finish it and there was still patrol. "Ah! Yeah! Sorry." If stuttering wasn't bad enough, the redhead made a fool out of himself, by answering to the air, where Marinette stood a few moments ago.

Nathaniel adjusted the collar of his jacket. His stupid partner, liked to "help" him in the worst possible situations. He should be glad, that Whitt reminded him of his project, but his timing was very poorly timed, or timed perfectly to be uncomfortable, Nathaniel would never know.

Adrien looked more embarrassed and tried to search for a convenient excuse. Plagg liked to play tricks on him very often, so he was kind of used to it. "Wow, it seems like I am not only allergic to feathers, but also to some kind of pollen too." He felt like he had to offer an excuse too, but immediately regretted it after hearing how stupid he sounded to himself.

Marinette arrived with the sketch in hand after a few minutes and gave it to the artist, who put it into his bag and left as soon as it was safely stored away.

Nino offered to bring Alya home, while Marinette was away, which the brown haired girl gladly accepted. Since it was on Adrien's way, the model suggested to take the two via car. His father still hadn't let up about the security policy.

Marinette waved her three friend goodbye and watched them drive away. It was always a strange feeling to see friends drive home, while you were the person, who just had to get up the stairs.

At that moment, Marinette stopped dead in her tracks. She chuckled in her hand and smiled to nowhere in particular.

"Marinette, what's so funny?" Tikki took the chance and popped out from Marinette`s jacket.

"I just noticed, that nobody asked, why Nathaniel suddenly appeared in my room. They just rolled with it."

Author's Note: My favourite notes that my friends wrote.

[Snow's Thoughts: Again, how is it possible for you to be insecure? You don't mind being flirted at by a "mysterious" guy while you wear a halloween costume.]

xxx

[Snow's Thoughts: You truly live a double life: Heroine at night, hooligan at school. Marinette in the streets, Ladybug in the sheets]

xxx

[Snow's Thoughts: Yeah, help my baby. Hug the shit out of him. I mean look at my poor baby. Who wouldn't want to help him.]

[Writer-Thoughts: I wanna help him. I wanna hug him. I wanna strip him naked. I wanna tie him to my bed, so he won't be able to escape.]

[Snow's Thoughts: And i want to kidnap him and photograph him naked in an abandoned warehouse and leave im tied up to the rats…. wait what?]

[Writer-Thoughts: There is actually a manga about that. Well without the photographing and more sex. Ewww I don't wanna have sex with the pumpkin, I only wanna cuddle him]

[Snow's Thoughts: Wait who said i want sex with him? I want to photograph him naked, that's different]

[Writer-Thoughts: I was talking about the manga.]

[Snow's Thoughts: Oh ok XD ah well. I still want to photograph him. And cuddle him]

[Writer-Thoughts: I wanna have tea with Whitt.]

[Snow's Thoughts: Aw fuck yeah, that too!]

[Writer-Thoughts: Oh boy.]

[Snow's Thoughts: This is getting out of hand]

Author's Note: Here we have some off topic conversations, that I had while writing. Enjoy.

[Snow] I barely cry in movies, etc. I only cried after one movie, got burning eyes after one another, cried only during one book and while watching one TV show / Anime. It's really hard to get my to cry with stuff like this.

[Author] Do you think I could make you cry, if I barely kill Nathaniel in my story? Or let him die?

[Snow] No. Not cry. I would jump up and down like an idiot and call you all sorts of names, but I wouldn't cry. I would write a whole AU in my Snow-notes with a ghost Nathaniel. I swear to god, I would do this. I would haunt your story and characters with my baby boy. If you dare to kill him, I can't guarantee for anything in my Snow-notes.

[Author] Oh please do.

xxx

[Snow] *talking about a manga* That doesn't make sense. A dislocated shoulder hurts like hell. He won't feel anything down here. At least for the first 10 minutes.

[Author] How did you get that? *starts reading it too*

[Snow] Reading the manga. Did you know? According to a study, the birth is the most painful thing one can experience. The pain equals the pain of several breaking bones.

[Author] *several minutes later* It's actually amazing.

[Snow] What are you talking about?

[Author] There are so many women in the world. And a birth is the most painful thing according to the scale, but there are still so many women, who put themselves through the pain. Ok, we have painkillers, but those who don't have them…

[Snow] *hella complicated explanation of scientific facts about how the brain of a woman covers up the pain after the birth to distract her*

[Author] Ahhhhhh. That reminds me of a fanfiction.

xxx

[Author] *noticing a typo in the chat* Stay in the cat? I think you wanted to write stay in the car.