This story is dedicated to my eldest daughter, who introduced me to the Miraculous Fandom and my husband, Adrian, who is my very own Chat Noir (puns and all)

Marinette skipped into class without a hint of the previous late night in her twinkling bluebell eyes. It wasn't like her to be early to school, but her head was swirling with excitement. Laying her sketchbook out in front of her, she lost herself with adding finishing touches to the design she had begun the night before. Even if she wasn't going to be wearing the dress herself, she still desperately wanted to win the contest.

It had been announced that Mayor Bourgeois was going to be hosting a charity auction event in the ballroom of Le Grand Paris Hotel with the event being partnered by Gabriel. The night would consist of musical interludes from famous stage productions in between the auctioned items. The centerpiece of the show was going to be a duet performed by Adrien and Chloe. While that made Marinette cringe slightly inside, she was determined that her dress would take centre stage on the night. As part of the charity event, a student design would be worn by Chloe and then auctioned off, with the design being chosen by Gabriel Agreste himself.

Marinette was so focused on her work, she didn't hear the clatter and chatter of the other students as they began filing into the room. Most of the lycée class was involved in the event and it was going to be the highlight of the spring break.

"Hey girl, what brought you in so early, did a certain blonde model have an early photoshoot today?" Alya slid in beside Marinette taking a peak over her shoulder as Marinette rolled her eyes at her. "Is that your design for the competition?"

Marinette nodded as she turned her sketchbook for Alya to see. Nino slung his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder and let out a low whistle. The dress was in three layers in an egg shell pink. To the left hand side was a butterfly motif to represent the Gabriel brand and a delicate floral design throughout. The top of the dress was off the shoulder with a long sleeve that came down slightly over the hands. It was elegant and sophisticated and Marinette hoped it would be enough to impress Mr. Agreste.

"Wow Marinette, that is stunning! You have to win for sure!" Marinette turned her head to see a familiar pair of green eyes shining back at her. Despite herself, she could feel a blush growing over her face at the compliment and the genuine look of amazement in his face.

"Th..thanks Adrien." She could seriously kick herself for stuttering. Over the last two years she had gotten so much better with the stuttering and verbal diarrhea she had suffered from when around Adrien. The first year she knew him, she could hardly make a coherent sentence. It was embarrassing to say the least. She had made a conscience decision that despite still having a crush on the model, she would rather have his friendship then alienate herself away with her more bizarre behaviours. Alya was a huge help in that endeavour by enlisting Nino to make sure Adrien and Marinette had opportunities to be included in group outings like going to the movies and lunchtime shenanigans, innocently hanging out with their best friends. While they were rarely alone, the chance to just be a real friend to Adrien brought with it a lot more happiness to Marinette then chasing her tail as she had done as a 14 year old. She had gotten to see a side of him she hadn't really known before, a funny and goofy side, that she had to admit just made her crush on him even more. Marinette knew though that she had made the right decision and having Adrien's friendship meant the world to her.

Soon other classmates began clamouring around to admire Marinette's sketch, all agreeing that she should win and reaffirming to her how talented she was. Adrien could see the pride in her eyes at how much her friends thought of her work. It reminded him of the twinkle he would see in Ladybug's eyes when she defeated a difficult akuma, or figured out the cryptic clues of her Lucky Charm. He wondered how she was. It had been weeks since he had seen her. His thoughts were brought back by an unmistakable shrill and two yellow clad arms wrapped around his neck.

"Adrikins! Isn't this the most exciting thing you have ever done? You and me singing a duet. I knew all those years of private singing lessons would pay off one day." Before Adrien had a chance to respond, Chloe had moved her attention over to Marinette.

"Is that my dress Dupain-Cheng?" She asked as she swung the sketchbook around.

"It's my design for it." Marinette responded. "I'd have to win the competition first."

Chloe eyed the dress for a moment before looking back at Marinette. "I have a special request to be put on the dress, I will tell you about it later. Since it is being auctioned off, it should include something more personal of the wearer don't you think?" She finished off with a flick of her hair.

" Well, yeah I'm sure I can do that. But like I said, it would have to win first." Chloe gave a dismissive wave.

"Don't be ridiculous Marinette. I know Adrien's father well enough that he will be all over that dress. Come Sabrina, we need to talk shoes." Chloe turned with a dramatic flair, her high blonde ponytail flying, as Sabrina followed her to their seats.

Marinette was still confused by Chloe actually being nice to her, but like many changes over the last few years, Chloe seemed to have matured somewhat. Perhaps it was because she was a part time heroine or maybe her admiration for Ladybug that made her want to be a better person. Perhaps it was Adrien's calming influence around her, or that her mother was around more. Whatever it was, it made Chloe one less thing Marinette had to worry about, especially with Lila back in the class again.

"How pathetic." Marinette heard under someone's breath. She caught the jealous look in Lila's eyes as she entered the room behind the other students. A look that was not lost on Adrien, who also hear her comment. Lila had been gone most of the previous school year due to her mother's diplomatic commitments overseas and Marinette couldn't help the disappointment she felt when she saw her back for the last year of school. Lila knew that Marinette saw through her, and she hated her for it.

Before Lila had a chance to get involved in the conversation, Miss Bustier entered the class and the students dispersed back to their desks. Marinette looked down at her design and let out a deflated sigh. Maybe the dress wasn't good enough? Her mind started to ponder whether she should really enter the contest or not when a warm hand began patting hers.

"Don't worry about Lila, you know you've got this." She looked up to see Adrien's reassuring smile followed by a cheeky wink as he turned back around. For a moment it almost looked like a certain black cat she knew. She didn't like to admit it, but she kind of missed his lame puns and flirty ways.

"Alright class." Miss Bustier announced clapping her hands and bringing the class to attention. "I know you are all very excited for the charity auction and everyone's roles have been delegated. We still have about 4 weeks before the event, and I know many of you are well into preparations, but there is still plenty of school work that needs to be done before spring break. If you can all get out your history books and turn to page 56."

Adrien lent down over his backpack, carefully trying not to wake up Plagg as he got his book out. Greedy little sod had already eaten most of his cheese and was now passed out in a food coma. Smiling to himself he put the bag back down and opened his textbook, but his thoughts were not on the lesson, rather on the bluenette sitting behind him. It really bothered him that anyone would think badly of Marinette the way Lila clearly did. Marinette was such a sweet and kind girl, and had been a really good friend to him. One of the first he made when he started school.

Despite their friendship being better than it had been after they first met, Adrien still felt there was so much about her he didn't know. He wanted to know and it surprised him how important that was to him. As much as he loved Alya and Nino, they would often become quite wrapped up in each other. He didn't necessarily mind, it meant he and Marinette could spend more time together, but sometimes he just wished he could spend time with just Marinette on their own. Maybe she doesn't want to spend time alone with me, he thought. Maybe she felt more comfortable being around him in a group? She didn't seem as nervous around him like she used to be, and he was glad for that, but it felt like there was still some kind of barrier there - an invisible wall like Ladybug had.

Over the last 12 months there had been fewer and fewer akuma attacks, and the ones they had were hardly worth the effort. Poor Mr. Ramier had been akumatized into Mr. Pigeon so many times they had lost count, but he was always so easy to defeat it was over in a few minutes. Even then, there hadn't been any akumas for weeks and he would only see Ladybug briefly before she would be gone again. When they first became heroes, they saw each other almost everyday, akuma's were so frequent and intense and they would often patrol the city at night, talking and bantering for hours. Now time spent together was few and far between, with only the occasional patrol just to keep up appearances. While Chat Noir would often get out for a late night run through the city, he had the feeling Ladybug didn't transform often outside of an essential need. It made him sad that his Lady was more out of his reach then ever, but maybe not as much as he thought it would. If absence was supposed to make the heart grow fonder, why did his feel more distant.

Before Adrien knew it, the bell had rung for lunch and he quickly gathered up his things. "Dude, you coming to lunch in the park today."

"Sorry Nino, I've got a photoshoot to promote the charity auction so I won't be back today." Out of the corner of his eye he saw a look of disappointment on Marinette's face. It almost felt like his heart skipped a beat to know that she would actually miss him not being there. Maybe she did care after all. "I'll see you all tomorrow, oh and Marinette," he put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her straight on, "the competition closes today, so make sure you get that design in, ok."

"Y..yep, yeah, sure. I will." Marinette stumbled out, taken off guard by the intense look in Adrien's eyes. "I'll go home and do it right now." With that the model smiled and left and Marinette followed him out with her eyes. Was that a smirk on his face?

Up in her room above the family bakery, Marinette bit into a pastry with one hand as she moved her computer mouse around with the other. Tikki watched with interest above her shoulder as Marinette clicked the send button.

"That's it Tikki, it's in. Now we just have to wait until Friday to find out."

"I'm so proud of you Marinette." Tikki said, hugging Marinette's cheek. "Both Adrien and Chloe loved your design."

"I still can't get used to Chloe being nice to me. I mean, one day she's calling me for everything and tripping me over and the next she was complimenting me on my baking and ordering a dozen macarons."

Marinette sat back in her seat and looked at her collage of photographs she kept on her wall. She had taken down most of Adrien's photoshoot pictures with that fake smile he puts on for the cameras. Now they were replaced with that genuine, beautiful smile she first saw that day in the rain. The one he keeps for his friends. Friends.

"Tikki, do you think Adrien will ever see me as more than just a friend?" It was times like this when Tikki hated keeping secrets the most. She could hear the sadness in Marinette's voice and desperately wanted to tell her it would all work out.

"People can grow and change you know Marinette. Your not the same person you were at 14."

"Your right Tikki." She hugged the little red Kwami. "What would I ever do without you."