To be completely honest, Adrien was terrified of taking medication. The potential side effects scared him and since he's supposed to be alert when saving Paris as Chat Noir, he felt like he shouldn't take anything that compromised his focus. But depression was hard to beat without medicine. He'd been suffering for years and when Nathalie found out about it, she put her foot down and got him put on antidepressants.

The little bottle felt like a weight in his bag as he picked it up off of the trailer's floor. The photo shoot for his father's winter line was done and it was time to go home. He had to miss an entire day of school for this, but he didn't really mind. Since Nino was banned from his house, Marinette was the one to bring his assignments to him.

This was the one thing he liked about missing school since he'd get to spend time with her afterwards. She was more comfortable around him now that they had known each for a while, and although she still had that adorable stutter, they could hold a conversation. In fact, he'd lie to her and after skimming the notes, he'd tell her he didn't get it and ask her to talk it over with him just to get to spend some extra time with her.

And speak of the devil, his phone started to ring and the selfie he'd taken with Marinette a few weeks ago popped up on his screen. That had been such a fun day. His father had bailed on a Disneyland trip and Adrien had taken Marinette in his place. The picture was of them about to face a thirteen story drop on a ride and Marinette's face was priceless.

"Hey, Marinette. What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing much. I have the homework and notes for today and I was wondering if you were home from the shoot," she said.

"I just got done and I'm heading home now. It'll probably take me about twenty minutes to get there."

"If I leave right now, I can make it in less than five. Do you want some time to rest before I come or would you rather get this over with?" He chuckled. If he had his way, their study session would never end. There was no such thing as trying to get it over with.

"No, I'm fine. Come over soon," he replied.

"Oh, okay! Sounds good! I'll see you when you get home!"

"Yeah," he said. "I'll see you then!" He grinned, eyes flitting towards the sky to thank whoever was up there that he'd get to see Marinette today. Adrien was stopped in his tracks as he collided hard with someone twice his size. He fell back onto the ground, as did the other body, and their bags went flying, contents scattering everywhere.

"I'm so sorry!" Adrien apologized, sitting up and extending his hand to help the other guy up.

"Don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've been knocked down by someone smaller than me," Grégoire said with a soft smile. He'd known Adrien since he was a baby, as he was a protege of Adrien's mother. He started reaching for his stuff, cuing Adrien to do that same. After all, he needed to get home before Marinette got there; the last thing he wanted to do was keep her waiting. "Who were you talking on the phone with? I saw that smile. I know when a guy's in love."

"Oh, it's. uh, she's just a girl in my class," Adrien said, feeling heat rush to his face. Grégoire grinned as he put away his pill bottle.

"Sounds like she's more than that," he teased. "Have you made a move yet? Or are you still too in love with Ladybug?"

"S-shut up! That was years ago!" That was when I thought we had a chance, he added silently. And that was before he'd gotten to know the real Marinette.

"You should take her to the wrap party we're having. I'm sure taking her to a party like that would make her fall right into your arms." Adrien snorted, grabbing his cell phone and standing up.

"She's not really into those kinds of parties, but she'd like to make connections. She's going to be a fashion designer someday."

"Then bring her along! After all, your dad's the one that's throwing it! I'm sure he'd let you have a friend come along!"

"Thanks, man. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you." Grégoire had a point. His dad liked Marinette enough; maybe he'd let Adrien bring her along. It would be nice to not stick to Grégoire and his partners' sides through another party. And it'd be a good excuse to go shopping with Marinette and see her in a cute, fancy dress. They could dance the night away and then they'd take a break and go and look at the stars. And then he'd give her his jacket and get enough courage to kiss her and ask her on a real date.

I'm getting ahead of myself, he thought as he and Nathalie got into his car. There's no guarantee she'll even want to go to the party.

"Nathalie, I'm having a friend over once we get back to the house," he said.

"Who is it?"

"Marinette."

"Is she staying for dinner?"

"I . . . Probably not."

"Then good." The cabin fell silent as they drove through the streets of Paris. It was only once they arrived back at the mansion did Nathalie speak up again. "Remember to take your medication before Marinette gets here." Right. His medicine.

Adrien stopped by the kitchen to get water and some baked camembert for Plagg before going up to his room. The black kwami shot out of his bag as soon as the door was shut.

"I can't believe you kept me in there for so long! Do you realize how bored I was?!" Plagg complained before devouring the cheese dish.

"Sorry, buddy. I thought you'd be used to it by now," Adrien said. He fished through the bag and brought out the pill bottle. Just holding it in his hands made him feel sick with nerves. Just get this over with, he told himself. He put the tiny pill in his mouth and washed it down with the icy water.

"You can't imagine how horrible it was! I tried spending the time playing School Idol Festival, but I ran out of LP and Love Gems to restore it back. Also, you have four new Ultra Rare cards thanks to me," Plagg said.

"Thanks." A shrill beeping filled the room and Adrien quickly picked up his cell phone to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Marinette! I'm so sorry! The boulangerie got swamped and I can't leave for another twenty minutes! But I'll head over there as soon as I can leave and I'm bringing some éclairs for us to snack on!"

"Hey, don't sweat it. It's fine. I'll see you then." He hung up and sighed; so much for seeing her soon. Well, at least she didn't completely cancel, he tried to cheer himself up. To pass the time, he checked the Ladyblog and played video games on his bed. He in no way exerted himself, and yet thirty minutes after he'd gotten home and started resting, it happened.

All of a sudden, Adrien felt a wave of alertness punch him in the gut. It felt as it he'd opened his eyes for the first time. He could hear every little noise occurring in the home. He needed to move. He needed to get up and do something. There was way too much energy in his body and he needed to get rid of it before he exploded.

There was a knock on the door and he jumped a mile. Plagg smirked before taking his food into Adrien's closet to eat in peace. Adrien sprinted to the door and threw it open. "Hey, Marinette!"

"Hey, Adrien," she replied back cheerfully, walking into his room. "How'd the shoot go today?"

"It was good, really good." Why did it feel like his heart was racing? Sure, he had a little crush on her but it wasn't like he freaked out all the time when he saw her. Maybe he was having a reaction to the antidepressants. It wasn't necessarily a bad feeling, though; in fact, he felt good, better than he had in ages. "How was school?"

"It was fine. Nothing unusual happened. Well, Nino got sent out of Chemistry because his phone went off and his ringtone was inappropriate, but that's about it," she replied, making Adrien laugh. She looked exceptionally beautiful today. He could see the traces of eyeliner around her gorgeous blue eyes and her lips looked soft and so, so pink.

"You look really nice today," he spoke aloud. She blushed hard and seemed to revert back to her old self, stammering thanks and looking like she was about to freak out.

"T-thanks. I-I, um, where should I put all of this?" she changed the subject, lifting the box and stacks of books in her hands ever so slightly.

"On the coffee table is fine. Thanks for coming over," he said.

"No problem! I like helping you," she said. She plopped down onto the couch and he sat beside her. "So, where do you want to start?"

"I don't know. History, I guess." She nodded and started reading from her notes. God, her voice was so lovely. He could honestly listen to her talk all day. Her stammering, not so much. But when she talked he loved it. Sure, she sounded a little fake reading from a piece of paper, but he still enjoyed it. It was just a little tick that he liked. One of the days I'll have to ask to record her talking, he thought.

But even with her lovely voice he found it hard to focus. His thoughts would jump to history to the éclair he was eating to little details in his bedroom. Focus, Adrien! Focus, he told himself, trying to tune back into Marinette and keep listening to what she was saying but for the life of him, his mind didn't want to stay on it.

There was just a smudge of vanilla custard on her lower lip that she didn't seem to notice. Marinette kept talking and Adrien found himself staring at the spot and her lips. They were so pink. A voice in the back of his head wondered how they'd feel kissing him. Although it made him guilty that his affection was split between Marinette and Ladybug, in the back of his mind he knew Ladybug would never reciprocate.

"Hey, you have something on your lips," he pointed out, leaning towards her. "I'll get it." Her lips were so soft, softer than he could have ever imagined. Even without the smudge of vanilla custard on her lips, she tasted so sweet. His hands grabbed her waist and pulled her in closer. Fire was going through his veins and his head was screaming for more of her. Arms wrapped around his neck and she deepened the kiss, tilting her head and giving him more access.

It felt as if his body was in control and not his mind. He would have never kissed her like this, as if they'd been dating for months, during a study session. Sure, they were friends, but he would have only given her a chaste kiss. But his body had other things in mind and was in control. He was pulling her closer, squeezing her tight, pulling her onto his lap.

Her face was bright red when they broke apart. It was only a split second before she leaned back into him, lips crashing into his. Who would have thought either of them would have initiated a kiss? The way the heat from her body seeped into him and the softness of her skin was driving him crazy. He needed more. He needed more or her and he had no idea how to indulge himself in more of her. All he could do was kiss her harder and try to satiate his thirst the best he could.

When his crash came, it hit him like a train.

The euphoria was gone in a snap and left Adrien feeling tired. He slumped back into the couch, breaking their kiss and closing his eyes. He'd never felt this awful before in his life. It felt as if all the energy in his body had been sucked out of him and an ache seemed to creep into his head.

"Adrien, are you okay?" Marinette asked, hand resting on his shoulder.

"No," he replied bluntly.

"Did . . . Did I do that?"

"No, you didn't."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Just . . . just get off my lap. I'm going to lie down." She moved over and he laid down on the couch, resting his head and Marinette's lap. God, what was wrong with him? Was he getting sick? Was this some reaction to the pill? If this was what the side effects were, he wanted to switch to another medication immediately.

"You look really sick. Should I go get Nathalie?" she asked, running a few fingers through his golden hair.

"No. It's her fault this happened," he muttered.

"What?"

"She found out about my depression and made me go on some meds. Can you go check the bottle and make sure I can take a painkiller? I feel like crap." He sat up enough to let Marinette stand before falling back onto the plush couch.

"Nathalie was just trying to help, Adrien. And you do need some medication to help. Just not this kind." He could hear the rattling of pills as she picked up the bottle. "Uh, Adrien?"

"What?"

"Why do you have a bottle that has the name 'Jean Dupont' on it?" Adrien shot up and immediately regretted it, feeling his head swirl. Moaning, he stood up and joined Marinette at his desk. He carefully read the label. It was addressed to Jean Dupont and had medical mumbo jumbo written on it.

"What in the world? This isn't mine, but I don't know . . ." The image of Grégoire grabbing a pill bottle flooded his mind. "I had a run in with someone early. I must've take his meds by mistake. But I don't know why he'd have 'Jean Dupont' on the bottle instead of his actual name."

"Do you want me to call him?"

"Please. He's under 'Grégoire' in my phone." Adrien flopped onto his bed and pulled Marinette with him. He unlocked his phone before handing it over to her. As she went to his contacts and rang up the model, Adrien curled up against her, burying his head in the crook of her neck. She didn't seem to mind, putting a protective arm around him.

"Hi Grégoire, this Marinette, I'm a friend of Adrien Agreste's. I'm with him right now and it seems like you guys got your medication mixed up." Pause. "No, no, it's fine! I'm sure you can swing by and pick it up from him. I need to ask, though, what kind of medicine is it? Is Adrien allowed to take painkillers with your meds?" Another pause. Adrien could hear faint yelling coming from the other line. "Well, yeah, he took one. He thought it was his medication. Why? Could it hurt him?" A third pause and the look that dawned on Marinette's face chilled Adrien. "I'm sorry, it was what?" Oh man, was she mad. Adrien made a mental note to never get her angry. "I can't believe you'd bring that to a photo shoot! A photo shoot where you had to work! Ugh. Just get here with Adrien's medicine before I dump all your cocaine down the toilet."

"What?!" Adrien piped up, feeling sick to his stomach. Did I do cocaine?! Marinette hung up and phone, handing it back to him with a sour pout on her face.

"It was cocaine pills. He brought cocaine with him to a photo shoot! I can't believe him! How irresponsible can you get?! I know addiction's serious but why take it out in public where something like this could happen or he could get caught with it?!" Marinette was rambling,

"There's no point in freaking out about it. What's done is done," he said. Truthfully, he was furious about the mix up but it wasn't like there was anything he could do besides take a painkiller and relax. "And you're loud."

"Sorry," she grimaced. She paused, resting her head on top of his. "I'll go get your meds once he gets here."

"Thanks. And Marinette?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay for dinner?"

"I'd love to," she replied with a smile.