The employees of the pizza place didn't look happy to have a pack of teenagers take up all the seats of their restaurant. That didn't stop the class from laughing loudly and being, well, a pack of teenagers.

Marinette was laughing along with everyone. Maybe a little more on the quiet side, but still. She was happy that her parents hadn't grounded her after all her sneaking around, and she'd survived with just a serious talk. The class hadn't hung out together for a long time, but Marinette hoped that this day might mark the start of a new type of class atmosphere.

They had gone through many different conversation topics, but some people kept bringing the challenge back up. Some people meaning mostly Alya. "Didn't Chloe's victory include for you to stop bugging her, Mari?" she laughed.

"I mean, I can't bug her anyway since I'm not a bug," Marinette cracked a smile. She felt a bit silly referencing Chat Noir, knowing nobody would get it.

Adrien's soda fell over, but luckily there wasn't much of it left anyway. He hadn't bought anything else but that one soda. Rose immediately went and got him more paper than was really needed. Marinette wondered when he had gotten so clumsy.

"Uh, sorry guys," he said while finishing up cleaning the table. He glanced at his clock before standing up. "This was really fun, but I have to go home now. See you tomorrow!"

He would be the first to leave. Many people said their disappointed goodbyes to Adrien as he tried to make his way to the door. It was difficult because the students had pushed a lot of tables as near together as possible.

Marinette didn't want him to go yet. Now that she had discussed her feelings with Chat Noir, her need to talk to Adrien had only grown stronger. She shared a quick look with Alya and before she knew it, she was standing up aswell. "Adrien, wait up!"

But he had already stepped through the door. Marinette hastily muttered her goodbyes to everyone and ran after him. The whole class was giving her teasing looks but she didn't have time to try and convince them that it wasn't like that. And that would've been dishonest anyway.

The light of the setting sun hit Marinette's eyes the moment she got outside. She yelled out Adrien's name again and watched as he turned around.

"Marinette?" He looked confused, and Marinette questioned if it had been a good idea to follow him after all.

"Hello," Marinette said and cringed at herself. They had already greeted each other. "Do you have a second?" she asked. She didn't want to cause him trouble if he was in a hurry.

"Yeah, my ride's not actually here yet. I just wanted to be early." He walked towards Marinette. "So, what's up?"

Great question. "Well, um..." Marinette searched for the right words. Was she really going to do this? It felt a bit ridiculous. But she was in a good mood today, and the sky looked perfect right now. Suddenly the feelings she'd been keeping inside of her for a year were trying to come out, all at once.

When Marinette didn't say anything, Adrien cleared his throat. "I thought it was really cool what you did today. I mean, I thought you were really cool before this aswell."

Marinette made an effort not to turn away. The light coming from behind him made his hair look almost golden. "I think you're really cool, too."

Adrien didn't answer to that. They just looked at each other until it was Marinette who cleared her throat. She clenched her hands into fists in a desperate attempt to get more power for what she was about to say. But she still wasn't sure about just how she was going to say it.

"I want to know you, Adrien," she blurted out. Had it been too direct? It was the truth, at least. "A-and not as Adrien Agreste, the model. Just as you, whoever that is," she explained.

"Mari..." Adrien started. He smiled in a way that looked more sad than happy. "That's nice of you, but I'm not really worth all that."

"And why not?" Marinette took a step forward. She had no tolerance for these types of conversations anymore.

"I'm a pretty simple guy," he sighed. "I make lame jokes, spend way too much time watching cartoons, and I have a bad habit of sneaking out of the house at night instead of sleeping," he took one more step closer to Marinette. "I can be really petty and hypocritical. And even though I'm basically bashing myself right now, I'm also super arrogant."

Marinette gave into a wide smile that was forcing its way to her face. "Was that supposed to scare me off? Because you honestly sound pretty okay."

"Okay?" Adrien let out a laugh. "Wow, I've never heard a compliment better than that."

"Would you prefer the word passable?" Marinette crossed her arms and made sure to keep her head up.

Adrien didn't use a come-back, but didn't seem to back away either. "Let's go watch a movie this weekend."

Marinette's smile dropped and a dumb-founded look replaced it. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. You wanted to get to know me, right?" He smirked and glanced behind himself. A gray car had arrived. "I'll text you the details. Bye, Mari."

As stunned as Marinette was, she couldn't let Adrien go just yet. Adrien was opening the door to the car when Marinette made one more declaration.

"I like you!"

Adrien looked the most taken aback Marinette had ever seen him. He stared at Marinette with an expression that was anything but relaxed. "What?"

"I like you, Adrien! Like, a lot. And not just as a friend," Marinette laughed. A thousand bricks were lifted off her chest. She had finally said it.

Adrien's face was red. Very red. "Me? I-I'm the guy? I thought..." he muttered a lot of things but Marinette just happily stared at what a cute, bumbling mess he was. "Mari, that makes me happy, insanely happy, but I recently got my heart broken by this one girl, and uhh..."

"Don't worry about it!" Marinette put her left thumb up. "I'm not expecting anything. I'll say it again someday." Once she would know the true him, and could mean the words in a new way. Right now she was content with how things were going.

Adrien looked relieved. And still red. He was about to get into the car, but it seemed like he still had something to say. "I'm actually going to eat dinner with my dad tonight."

From the way he said it, it would've been easy for anyone to tell that it meant a lot to him. "I'm so glad to hear that."

"We talked. About getting a cat, and other stuff. You know." Adrien flashed one more smile, waved and got into the car.

Marinette watched as the car pulled to the driveway. When it was gone, she let herself lean against the wall and have a breath. She stayed there until the sun was completely gone.

o - o - o - o - o

Marinette had always known that shoes were hard to make. And yet it still surprised her how frustrated she got.

Since Alix was too proud to let Chloe buy her new shoes, Marinette had offered to make a pair for her. But making shoes as a gift for a friend only placed more pressure on her to succeed. Even after all the research she'd done she still couldn't seem to get it right.

Still, she did need the practice. But just a small break couldn't hurt.

Marinette glanced at her clock. She knew she would have to fix her sleeping schedule at some point, but at the same time she was a hardcore believer in the fact that sleep was for the weak. She decided to cool out on the balcony for a bit, not bothering to put on a jacket. Her pajamas would be fine.

It wasn't the best of nights. Gray clouds were covering most of the sky, blocking any stars from Marinette's view. Traffic was very apparent.

But it was all kind of calming. The lights from the cars and curtained windows made for an interesting sight. And Marinette was high enough from the ground so that the traffic was more like background noise.

What a day. Marinette's thoughts reverted back to what Adrien had said. There was another girl. She had been speculating it for a year, but when she finally got it confirmed, she wasn't all that crushed.

It did sting a little, but not enough to make her stop trying. Even after all that pining after him, Marinette felt as if she had not been giving the two of them a chance. Always thinking she wasn't good enough for anyone.

But she was ready to let herself have a shot. Marinette blushed thinking about how they were going to see each other soon. She would need to start making hersef a date outfit. Wait, no, it wasn't a date.

Marinette continued daydreaming and didn't notice that someone was standing on the roof until she heard a knock on the metal.

Her immediate thought was of Chat Noir, but when she turned around she quickly realized that it was a completely different silhouette.

The red superhero's color was dullened by the darkness, but she looked just as majestic as usually. Her flowy hair and firm stance were easy to recognize.

"Marinette," Ladybug said. She stepped down from the roof and was now standing on the same balcony as Marinette.

"L-Ladybug!" Marinette jumped back. She wanted to act cool, but she probably already blew it. "Hi. Uhh, good to see you?"

"It's nice to see you, too." Ladybug smiled a little. "I apologize for my surprise visit, but I saw the light from your window and thought this was a good chance to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" Marinette pointed at herself in confusion. She regretted her outfit choice. "About what?"

"About how I haven't been fair to you," Ladybug said as she sat on the balcony railing. She sighed before continuing. "Last Saturday, and in general."

Marinette considered sitting down with her, but concluded that it wasn't very safe. She decided to lean on the railing instead. "What do you mean?"

"It was out of line for me to ask you to be Chat Noir's friend. I know chaton wouldn't want me to meddle in his relationships," Ladybug said and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. She looked at Marinette, who could never be sure whether the superhero's eyes were blue or purple.

"Ah." Marinette had forgotten about Ladybug's request. "Don't worry about it. I understand that you did it out of care for him." Even though she had rejected him, Marinette was sure that Ladybug never had ill intentions when it came to Chat.

Ladybug nodded slowly. "Also," she started. Marinette wondered what else there could be for them to talk about. "You remind me of a girl I used to know. And I feel like I have been judging you based off of her, which I shouldn't have. You're your own person and you're great for different reasons."

Marinette blinked. She really had not been prepared for this type of talk. "Thank you."

Ladybug looked up at the gray sky. She seemed to be lost in thought. Marinette stayed quiet with her.

"Oh!" Ladybug turned back to Marinette. "And I really liked that post you made. The dress was lovely."

"You saw that?" Marinette could feel herself blushing. She hadn't expected to get feedback from Ladybug herself.

"Of course! I always read the blog." Ladybug smiled a bright smile. "Man, today's technology is amazing."

Her smile was contagious. "Hey, Ladybug." Marinette thought of what a great hero Ladybug was. She wasn't just skilled, she was also very kind. "I'm really glad Paris has you."

Ladybug just looked at Marinette. Her smile seemed to get wider, if that was possible at that point. Marinette thought that even the most confident people needed to hear compliments every once in a while, and wished that she didn't seem weird. "Thank you. I'm glad to be here," the hero said.

After some silence, Ladybug let out a breath. "I should probably get going," she said and got up on the balcony railing. Her balance didn't let her down. Literally. "With the new information we have on akumas, I'm fairly certain things will change. If we ever get any complicated cases in the future, I'll be sure to give you a call. I think you'd make a great superhero."

Marinette laughed. "Thanks, but I think we're fine with just you and Chat."

"Whatever you say." Ladybug took out her yo-yo. "I really do believe that you're a good person. I hope you know your value."

With that, Ladybug jumped off. She quickly disappeared out of sight.

Marinette was left alone on the balcony. The cold air was starting to get to her, but that was fine. Her pigtails probably looked messy, and all in all it would've been smart to go back inside. But still, the moment was nice.

She smiled to herself.

"I think I do."

A/N:

So that's it!

Thank you very much if you've made it this far! I can't believe I actually finished it. I feel tempted to go back and edit the heck out of my previous chapters, but I like seeing my writing improve through the story so I don't think I will.

I have a lot that I feel like saying but I think I'll just let the chapter speak for itself. This has been a fun ride. :)