"It's been two weeks, kid," said Plagg, exasperated. He had been summoned to Adrien's side for the fourth time in two days, and the young man was looking more and more disheveled each time he saw him.

"Why haven't you asked Marinette out for a coffee yet?"

"I really don't know, Plagg. And it's not even like I don't want to—I'm just…I don't know, afraid? I'm afraid I'm going to end up telling her that she wasn't just imagining me in her bed and I'm afraid I'm going to tell her about being Chat Noir and I just…I don't know if I can handle it."

If you told her you were Chat Noir, that would solve about 90% of your problems, thought Plagg, sighing internally.

"All it takes is a text, kid. You don't even have to call her, if you're nervous talking over the phone or asking her in person after rehearsal."

Adrien shook his head.

There was no doubt that he felt extremely drawn to Marinette; he had always admired her work ethic, and now that he was getting to know her, he was definitely starting to fall for her, especially after spending an evening alone with her in her apartment (even though he had been a cat at the time).

At the same time, he felt a little confused about what he really felt; he still hadn't forgotten the feeling of Ladybug's kiss on his lips, and he really wanted to know who she was, especially since he knew she was a dancer at the POB as well.

But perhaps it would have been selfish for him to wait for her to reveal herself. After all, she had said she already liked someone, and it wasn't like he wasn't interested in Marinette.

He was going to do it.

He was going to ask Marinette out for a coffee.

Tomorrow.

"Do you think Adrien likes me, Tikki?" asked Marinette, as soon as she arrived, accompanied by her customary whirl of sparkles and light.

"Of course he does, Marinette."

"Then he must be shy. Otherwise he would have texted me by now, right?"

"Perhaps."

Marinette sighed. "Tikki, why is it that you never give me straight answers to any of my questions?"

"I just told you that Adrien likes you, didn't I?"

"Well…yes, but that's not my point."

Tikki tittered lightly, her auburn curls glistening in the dim light of the kitchen.

"Don't worry so much, Marinette. Things will work out the way they're meant to in the end."

"That doesn't actually answer my question."

"Marinette, sometimes things are uncertain for a reason. Go with the flow, let fate take you where it will."

"I prefer planning for my fate, thank you very much."

Tikki simply smiled serenely as Marinette's phone buzzed.

"Ohmygod—Tikki—it's Adrien!"

"Why don't you see what he has to say?"

"He…he wants to know if I'd be interested in getting coffee with him tomorrow afternoon after rehearsal!"

"See? I told you things would work out."

"Whatever, Tikki. You're still way too mysterious."

"I like to keep an aura of mystery about me. Adds to my allure."

"Of course it does."

The next day, Adrien waited outside the studio for Marinette to emerge after her rehearsal.

Plagg appeared as he squeezed his fingers together nervously, beads of sweat forming at his temples.

"What are you so freaked out about? The two of you are friends! It's not like she's going to eat you. Calm down, kid."

Adrien nodded. "I know. I can do this. It's just a coffee date."

"Yes, you can. You're Adrien Agreste, Chat Noir, the coolest cat in Paris."

"I thought you were the coolest cat in Paris," replied Adrien, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I am, but there can be two," said Plagg. "It's a tier, not a competition. And once you realize that, you can stop accidentally summoning me every time you get nervous."

"I'm sorry about that, I've just been really anxious the past few days. Père has been acting really strange lately, and this whole thing with Marinette has me really stressed out.

Plagg put a reassuring hand on his chosen's shoulder.

"I know things are tough for you, kid. But chin up. I chose you for a reason. You can handle this. It's just a short coffee date. And if it goes well, that's when you can start thinking about dinner."

Adrien smiled gratefully and then jumped as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked down to check who it was, expecting it to be Marinette. To his surprise, it wasn't her; it was from his friend Kim, who he hadn't talked to in a while.

Kim: Hey, I need some advice. Can you come over?

Adrien: I'm busy for a couple hours, but I can swing by in the evening if that works

Kim: That's fine.

Kim: Um…this is going to sound weird, but can you bring some food with you? I need sustenance and I can't leave my apartment right now

Adrien: Sure, I'll stop at a bakery before I come over

Kim: Thanks, dude

As Adrien put his phone back in his pocket, curious about what was going on with his friend, he felt a soft poke on his right arm and looked over to see Marinette standing there.

"Oh! Marinette! You're here!"

"Yes, it's me," she said, smiling at his enthusiasm. "Hope you haven't been waiting too long!"

"Not at all," replied Adrien. "Ready to go?"

"I've been in rehearsal for the past five hours with only a ten minute lunch break, so yes, I would say I am very, very, ready for some coffee."

Adrien laughed and patted Marinette on the shoulder. "It's hard being a professional ballet dancer, isn't it? Why are we doing this again?"

Marinette looked up to the sky and sighed before turning her head to Adrien with a dramatic sigh. "Destiny, Adrien. Everything happens because of Destiny."

"Wow, that's so philosophical. Very deep."

"Thanks, it was the fortune I got in my fortune cookie last night," she countered, sticking out her tongue.

They walked down the street toward the cafe in silence for a few moments, each wondering what to say next, when Adrien perked up and turned to her with a smile.

"You know, maybe I should start getting Chinese takeout more often. I could use some direction in my life, even if it's from a little slip of paper."

Marinette laughed. "What, being the most popular rising star at the POB isn't enough direction for you?"

Adrien shrugged. "You know what I mean."

"Actually, I don't," said Marinette, brows furrowing. "Isn't dance your passion too?"

Adrien's eyes widened as he realized how he sounded. "No, no! I mean yes! It definitely is, but that's not what I mean. It's the other stuff that's going on. It's a lot to deal with."

"Do you feel like talking about it? I mean, it's okay if it's too personal…I just want you to know that I'm here for you, if you need a friend," replied Marinette in a torrent of words, hoping she didn't sound too intrusive.

Adrien nodded slowly as they stopped in front of an empty table by the entrance of the cafe. "Actually…that would be really nice."

"Oh good, I'm glad…I'm always here to lend an ear," said Marinette. "Alya said that Nino mentioned that he felt that you could use someone to talk to other than him, since he's not sure that he can give you the best advice."

"Was Nino talking about me to her?" asked Adrien, raising an eyebrow.

Marinette flushed and laughed nervously. "Umm, well, no…actually, I might have asked her to ask him about you a little bit?"

"Oh!"

Adrien felt a warm flush spreading across his cheeks as a waitress appeared to take their order, and he was grateful for the momentary distraction as they both ordered two coffees. Marinette had asked about him. She wanted to be there for him. It was new, and unfamiliar, and nice, and—overwhelming.

"Why won't the kid just tell her he likes her?" whined Plagg as Tikki patted his head with a chortle.

"Don't worry, he won't have to. I think she's going to get there before he does."

"I don't want to hear it," retorted Plagg with a scowl. "If your chosen hadn't decided to hide her identity, they'd both know the truth by now and this wouldn't be an issue."

Tikki sighed. "Why is it that you always forget how complicated humans are? Sit back and enjoy the ride a little bit, will you?"

"How can I enjoy the ride when the ride isn't cooperating? Look at him, he's sitting there with red cheeks and twiddling his thumbs when he could be asking her to dinner. If he gets any more nervous, he's going to accidentally summon me, and that's going to make everything even worse."

"You should be used to this by now. You always choose the ones that need a little bit of a boost. You're drawn to it, you want to help them."

"You're making me sound so much mushier than I actually am."

"I don't think you realize quite how mushy you are. You're as sentimental and soft as camembert underneath that tough exterior of yours."

"How dare you compare my favorite food with my least favorite emotion?!"

"Hush! Marinette's about to say something."

"Umm…Adrien?" asked Marinette as she gripped her half empty coffee cup, her voice oddly high pitched.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, what is it?"

They had been talking about many other things after their drinks had arrived, veering away from their original topic of conversation to subjects such as movies (Adrien loved romantic comedies and Marinette was more of a television person) and pets (Adrien loved cats and Marinette talked about the kitten she had received from a stranger who had unfortunately disappeared the very next day, causing Adrien to turn bright red, for whatever reason).

But the whole time, Marinette had been thinking about the fact that she had actually told Adrien that she had pressed her best friend for intel on him, and that he might have been freaked out by her keen interest.

"You don't…mind that I asked Alya to talk to Nino about you, do you?"

Adrien shook his head. "No, of course not! I guess I'm just a little surprised? But definitely flattered."

"So you're okay with it?"

"I mean, yes—well—I haven't really thought about it, since we've been talking about so many other things. But please don't worry about it! I don't mind at all. It's nice, that you cared enough about being my friend to try and find out more about me."

Marinette laughed with relief at his polite response. It was so very Adrien Agreste, and she should have known better than to worry about what he would think. In the short time that she had started getting to know him better, she had learned that Adrien was not one to judge anyone for being curious about other people—in fact, most of their conversations consisted of him gushing about what he had learned from Nadja and recaps of his conversations with Nino. It was clear that Adrien loved being around people and listening to them talk, and more than anything else, it was one of the things she was growing to love about him.

For a long time, Adrien had been a dancer Marinette had admired and someone she found to be extremely attractive, but now that she was finally getting to know him, she was learning about his quirks too—and it was the warmth wrapping around her as she finally felt like she was beginning to know Adrien as a person that gave her the courage to ask him the next question:

"Adrien…would you like to get dinner sometime?"

Marinette waited breathlessly as Adrien gaped at her for several seconds, his mouth formed into a small moue, as he processed her question.

"I—um—yes!"

"Yeah?" Marinette echoed with an excited squeak.

"Yeah! Um, how about next Wednesday? You don't have evening rehearsal that day, right?"

"No—no, I'm free."

"Great, so, um—do you want me to pick you up at your apartment? It's not too far from a really great restaurant I know."

"Sure!"

"Cool!"

"Wait, Adrien—how do you know where my apartment is?"

Adrien gulped. He couldn't exactly explain that he knew where Marinette lived because a vengeful jealousy spirit had turned him into a cat and two magical beings had dropped him off in front of her front step, so he made a flimsy excuse about flipping through the dancer's directory looking for someone else's number and coming across her address in the book and remembering it.

He didn't sound convincing even to himself, but Marinette at least pretended to buy it (even though she had a smile dancing around her lips), and they parted ways back at the studio, agreeing that he would pick her up at 7pm and that they would go for dessert afterward.

"You owe me five euros," announced Tikki.

Plagg shook his head. "Three. She asked him on the date, but he was the one who made the plans."

"Fine. But you have to admit that I was right."

"I will admit nothing."

After waving goodbye to Marinette, Adrien took a brisk walk to the neighborhood where Kim's apartment was located and grabbed a bag of croissants from a boulangerie two doors down from his building. It occurred to him as he was walking into the door that Marinette's parents owned a bakery and that he could have perhaps extended the coffee date longer by going there with her, but then again—perhaps she would have felt awkward introducing him to her parents before defining whatever it was that they were.

Whatever it was, it was pleasant, and Adrien was glad that Plagg had pressed him to take courage and move forward. Adrien knew from experience that his father was always the most unpleasant to be around during casting, and just as predicted, Gabriel had been in an extremely unpleasant mood over the past few days.

Adrien had the feeling he was going to need some happy moments to hold onto over the next few weeks, as they moved into their second production of the fall season: Sylvia, a beautiful ballet that was going to be performed for the first time in six years, and for whom a lead dancer had not yet been selected.

But Adrien wasn't going to think about that now. He was going to focus on his friend Kim, who was obviously having issues of his own.

As he rang the doorbell, there was no answer, so he rapped on the door itself, and after a few moments, Kim finally answered.

"Oh, Adrien, it's you! Thanks for coming man, I really appreciate it."

"Of course, Kim, is everything okay?"

"Come in, come in, I'll explain everything in a minute."

Walking into the apartment, Adrien was taken aback by the fact that nearly all the lights were off, and the kitchen was a mess. But more surprising was the fact that Kim was dressed in a pair of sweats and looking as though he hadn't showered in a few days.

The Kim that Adrien knew, a high spirited and confident sports reporter with a sporty style that he wore proudly, was not usually this sloppy.

Something was obviously very wrong.

"Kim, what's going on? You seem down."

"I am. I haven't told anyone else yet…but Max broke up with me a few days ago."

"What? Why? I thought you both were doing great. What happened?"

"Well, it's a little complicated. Have you…have you heard of aromanticism?"

"I'm not sure…is that the same thing as asexuality?"

"Not exactly. Asexuality has to do with sexual attraction, or lack thereof—but being aromantic means that you don't have romantic attraction, either."

"Oh, okay, I see. But what does that have to do with you—oh, wait…I think I get it..."

Max had never struck Adrien as someone who was searching for a romantic relationship, but he knew that Kim and Max had been best friends ever since lycée, so it wasn't that much of a surprise when they announced that they were dating.

"Max told me that he's both aromantic and asexual and that he doesn't feel like he can commit to me the way I want…and he feels like I deserve someone better than him because he doesn't feel comfortable being that person, even though he still wants to be friends."

"Oh Kim, I'm so sorry—"

"Did you know I was the one who asked him out?"

"I mean, it doesn't surprise me—"

"He said that he had never had romantic feelings for me, but he said yes, because I was his best friend and he wanted to make me happy, but honestly, I started noticing him becoming more distant from the very beginning. I tried to ignore it for a long time, but Max was actually the one to bring it up. He told me he couldn't do it anymore."

"Is there anything I an do to help?"

"I know he still wants to be friends, but I need some space. I feel lost, you know? Like I lost my best friend. And I know that Max knows that I'm hurting, but he can't do anything about it, and you're the only person I could think of calling. I feel like you would get it."

"Well…I'm not sure if will make you feel any better, but maybe if you do something else, it can help you take your mind off of things. Nino and I are going to see a movie by one of his favorite directors tonight—do you want to come?"

Kim's eyes brightened as he looked up. "That would be great, man. Thanks!"

"Actually, we're going to get dinner beforehand too—Nino just texted me to tell me that he's on his way right now. Can you join us? Or would you rather swing by later?"

"No, I can come now."

"Great! Let's go then."

As they walked down the hallway, an extremely petite young woman with short pink hair entered the hallway, walking quickly, arms swinging with purpose.

Kim's eyes widened and he gaped at her as she came closer.

"Who is that?" he whispered, as Adrien smiled broadly.

"Hi Alix!" he said cheerfully.

"Hey, Swan boy," she said by way of greeting, before turning her gaze to Kim, clearly giving him an onceover before passing by.

"You know her?" Kim asked, eyes wide.

Adrien nodded and smiled. "Oh yeah! She's a dancer with me at the POB."

"How have I never seen her here before?"

Adrien grinned. "Probably because she just moved here! She's hosting a housewarming party this weekend and said we could bring any friends we wanted. Do you want to come? I can be your wingman."

"Oh—well…"

Adrien's face paled as he realized he might have gone too far, considering that it had only been a few days since his friend had ended his relationship.

But Kim didn't seem to see it that way—in fact, his cheeks even seemed a little rosy as he considered the idea.

"You know what? I think I will come."

"Well then, it's settled! You're coming with me to Alix's party."

"Does that mean I'm your date?"

"I guess so! Don't worry, I won't cheat on you."

"Are you telling me that the Great Adrien Agreste is still single? How is that possible?"

Adrien flushed and laughed. "Well, about that…"

Nobody in Alix's family had ever really understood where she gotten her passion for dancing. With a history professor for a father and an older brother following in his footsteps, everyone expected her, at the very least, to be a studious child who excelled in school.

What they had gotten instead was a compact, spirited spitfire who personified the Shakespearean phrase "Though she be but little, she is fierce."

On her seventh birthday, her father had taken her to a performance at the Paris Opera Ballet, where she was riveted by the performance, and once she returned home, she informed her father that she was going to be a dancer, and that was that. Within two years, she was a student at the Paris Opera Ballet School, and there was no turning back; family tradition and academia be damned.

Alix thrived under the tight constraints of the Paris Opera Ballet School. Though she had a rebellious streak, she respected the strict, no-nonsense attitude of her teachers, and she quickly became a top student, recognized for her avant garde style and sharp technique.

She found fast friends in Marinette and Aurore, who shared her ambition, and she lived and breathed dance. Though she knew Marinette had eyes for Adrien Agreste and Aurore flirted with many of the boys in the school, Alix had never given much time of day to boys, though she liked them. It wasn't that she didn't want to; it was more that nobody had ever caught her attention. And after all, she moved fast; she doubted that she could find someone who could keep up with her. And if he couldn't, well, that was going to be his loss. Alix Kubdel did not look backwards for anyone, and she had no plans to change that anytime in the future.

She had to admit though—that tall boy that had been standing next to Adrien Agreste when she had walked down the hallway just now…something about him was intriguing. He'd looked a bit dazed, but somehow underneath, Alix felt that he could be a kindred spirit. One that she wouldn't mind making out with.

Alix had always made fun of the concept of love at first sight and she sure as hell wasn't about to admit it to anyone, but she was secretly hoping that Adrien would bring the cute stranger along with him to her housewarming party. She had said it was an open invitation, after all.

Adrien returned home after the film to a dark house, with nearly all the lights out except the one in his father's office. The only other light that was on was in the small office near the front of the mansion, which belonged to Nathalie, who was also his father's assistant in addition to her role as managing director at the POB. It was clear that she was working a late night; perhaps trying to figure out details of casting, which was turning out to be far trickier than anticipated. A guest ballerina from Italy named Lila was going to be starting a residency at the POB soon, and there had been rumors that she wanted the role of Sylvia, but given that she wasn't going to be in Paris until the production was already halfway through its run, it was necessary to find someone in the interim—someone who was talented enough to take on the role, but not popular enough to take the buzz away from Lila, once she finally arrived in town.

In the time that had passed since Mrs. Agreste's passing, Nathalie had also become a maternal figure of sorts—a cold and stern one, that was, but at least Adrien felt some semblance of care underneath her no-nonsense exterior.

He wasn't sure if he was reaching or if he was making it all up in his head, but he much preferred believing that Nathalie genuinely cared for him, at least a little bit.

She looked up from the papers on her desk to nod curtly at Adrien as he walked inside.

"Hello, Adrien. Care to explain why you're so late?"

"I was at a movie with Nino and Kim."

"Your father will not be pleased. You know that you need your rest if you are to look your best during all the cast photoshoots this week. You need to go to bed immediately."

"Père has no idea who to cast as Sylvia, does he?"

Nathalie narrowed her eyes and pushed her glasses up. "When did I say that?"

"Come on, Nathalie. You and I both know that he only asks you to stay here late nowadays when he's too stressed from casting."

"Your father is a busy man. He cannot afford to waste a single moment."

"Nathalie, you're the Managing Director of the Paris Opera Ballet. Why are you still pretending to be my father's assistant? You don't need to be at his beck and call."

"My working relationship with Monsieur Agreste is between me and him, and it is none of your concern. What is your concern, however, is the fact that it is almost 11pm and you are standing here and arguing with me unnecessarily. Did years of training at ballet school not teach you the importance of sleep?"

"Nathalie, I'm not a kid anymore."

"Then act like the adult you are."

"I'm going to go talk to him."

"It would be better if you spoke to him in the morning."

"He doesn't even come to breakfast anymore. This is the only chance I'm going to have to see him in person for the next week."

"Then you should have spoken to him at dinner."

"Let's not pretend that my father and I have a healthy enough relationship that he comes to meals at normal times."

Nathalie's stern gaze softened slightly as she sighed.

"You will find him in his office."

"As per usual."

Although Gabriel's eyes were locked to his desk as Adrien entered the room, he nodded in acknowledgement.

"You're late. You know how I feel about that."

"Père. You're overthinking this casting. Just pick one of the girls from the corps de ballet—you know that once Lila's here, everyone's going to want to see her."

"I refuse to have any ordinary member of the corps de ballet represent my company in anything but the best light. The ballerina chosen to dance Sylvia must be the personification of everything the Paris Opera Ballet represents, but she cannot outshine Lila."

Adrien shook his head. "You're looking for the impossible. Any dancer you choose will want to put her best foot forward."

"That is a matter of perspective," said Gabriel, finally looking up at his son with a cold stare. "Any obstacle can be overcome with enough determination."

"Not the one obstacle I know you're running away from," murmured Adrien, matching his father's stare with a steely look of his own.

"This is not up for discussion, Adrien."

"Burying yourself in work isn't going to change anything."

"As I said, I do not wish to discuss this. If you want to continue standing in this office, I cannot have you wasting valuable time. Either say something productive or go to your bedroom. It is late enough already."

Adrien scowled and leaned forward, ready to shoot back with a retort of his own, when he was suddenly struck by an idea.

"Fine. I can discuss something productive. I think you should cast Alix Kubdel as the interim Sylvia."

Gabriel frowned. "Explain."
"She's a talented dancer, with the same spirit as the character of Sylvia herself and a unique style that is nothing like Lila's professional polish. She's young and new and doesn't yet have a name among audiences. It will be good for everyone."

"You say that she is much like the character herself—what if audiences prefer her to Lila? What will happen then?"

"That's doubtful. Lila is an international star, and three performances by an unknown are unlikely to change the hype surrounding her. Especially considering that Sylvia is hardly a popular ballet like Swan Lake or The Nutcracker."

Gabriel nodded slowly. "I will consider your thoughts."

On Saturday night, Marinette arrived two hours early along with Alya to help Alix set up for her housewarming party. After rushing around like a madwoman and making sure that all snacks and beverages were in place and with easy access, the two girls were ready for the guests to arrive—just in time for the arrival of the first two guests, two fellow dancers in the corps de ballet.

A steady stream of guests soon started filtering in, and Marinette was relieved to see how well it was all going, although she kept looking over at the door as the guests continued to stream into the apartment, in search of a young man with neatly combed blond hair and a sweet smile who had said he would try to be there on time.

As the noise from the party grew louder and louder, Marinette felt very grateful about the fact that the building had a very tolerant landlord named Master Fu and most of the residents of the floor coincidentally happened to be out on holiday that weekend, so there was nobody to complain about the rowdy guests in Apartment 15.

When Adrien finally came walking through the door, a young man she didn't recognize accompanied him. But from the way Alix's entire being seemed to focus in on him as he walked through the door, he clearly wasn't a stranger to her.

"Hey Swan Boy!" Alix shouted over the crowd, immediately capturing their attention. "Introduce me to your friend!"

Marinette laughed as Adrien and his friend flinched at her friend's piercing voice. After years of living with Alix, she had grown accustomed to her blunt, strident tones, but she knew that despite the fact that Adrien liked her, he had not interacted with her much, and Alix was someone who always made a forceful impression on people.

Adrien's friend had a strong broad jaw and jelled hair, and though his demeanor seemed friendly and engaged, his eyes were sad, and Marinette noted that Adrien kept glancing over to him as they moved through the crowd towards Alix and Marinette, as though he was trying to make sure that he was comfortable with everything that was going on.

"Hi Alix, thanks for inviting us! This is my friend Kim. He actually lives right down the hallway from you."

"It's nice to meet you," said Kim, extending a hand with a friendly smile as he looked down at the hostess of the party, who was easily more than a foot shorter than him. Up close, she was even cuter than he had remembered, and a thousand times feistier.

Alix smirked and leaned up to look Kim in the eye as she shook his hand and quickly dropped it.

"Likewise. So tell me, Kim, how do you feel about drinking games?"

Kim blinked in surprise before narrowing his eyes with a smirk of his own, and the air was suddenly filled with an electric tension that was palpable to anyone who was watching them—in particular Adrien and Marinette, who exchanged surprised looks.

"I love 'em."

"How do you feel about dares?"

"Even better."

"In that case, I dare you to come with me to the kitchen."

"I dare you to tell me why."

"I dare you not to ask me stupid questions."

What's happening? Adrien asked Marinette silently with his eyes.

I have no idea, she responded with a shrug.

Should we say anything?

No, let them have their fun.

Adrien nodded and followed Kim and Alix into the kitchen while Alya, who had been watching their silent exchange from across the room, walked up to Marinette.

"Girl, now what was that all about? Is there something you're not telling me? You haven't given me any updates since you went to get coffee with him three days ago. Don't tell me you're secretly boyfriend and girlfriend already."

Marinette smiled and shook her head. "No, no—it's nothing like that! We're getting dinner on Wednesday but I think both of us want to take it slow. I feel like it's going well, but we're still getting to know each other."

Alya raised her eyebrow in surprise. "The way you both seemed in sync though…it's unusual, don't you think? The Marinette I know has never been so calm when it comes to a boy she likes."

"It's hard to explain, Alya…it's only been a short time since I've been getting to know him, but I really feel like there's something there. I know it started out as a crush from afar, but I just feel comfortable around him now. Like—I was the one to ask him out to dinner, isn't that wild?"

"Mademoiselle Etoile is growing up!" said Alya with a little cheer. "I'm so proud! When's the wedding?"

Marinette rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "Calm down, Lady Wifi. It's just dinner."

Alya's eyes flashed fire. "What—when did Nino tell you about that nickname? I'm going to kill him! Nino!"

Marinette burst into laughter as Alya charged after her boyfriend, who was innocently chatting with Myléne in the corner of the room and hightailed it for the kitchen as soon as he saw her running towards him.

In the kitchen, Kim and Alix were in the midst of a champagne chugging competition. Adrien, Ivan, and Nino (who had managed to escape relatively unscathed after Alya attacked him) cheered on Kim, while Juleka, Rose, and Myléne shouted for Alix. Aurore stood by the sidelines, arms crossed, lips twisted in disgust. She had purchased the champagne for the evening and had expected for it to be a classy party, but she should have known better, considering it was Alix. She should have saved the purchase for a party that Marinette would have hosted instead.

Kim was quickly falling behind, and lowered his glass as soon as he realized there was no way to beat Alix at the game.

Alix slammed the glass down and delicately wiped the foam from her lips with a big grin as Kim whistled in awe.

"Alix, you are so crude sometimes," commented Aurore lightly.

"Calm down, Odile," said Alix, rolling her eyes. "This is my party, anyway. Learn to loosen up a little bit."

Alix shrugged at Kim, who looked concerned as Aurore sniffed and walked away.

"Don't worry about her, she's just got her feathers all ruffled ever since she became the evil swan queen for a few hours."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that!" said Kim, eyes widening. "What exactly happened?"

"Nobody really knows," started Rose, as Alya and Marinette walked into the room. "Most of us had already gone home for the evening that night."

Alya's eyes lit up as she realized what the others were talking about.

"Oh! You're talking about the strange incident from last month, aren't you? Everyone in my media class has been talking about it nonstop and wondering if it's going to happen again. Aurore and Theo—he's one of the other dancers, Kim—they were both possessed by some sort of dark energy or something that made them believe they were actually characters from Swan Lake before they were rescued by two. Isn't that wild?"

Kim shook his head. "But how did they return to normal? I heard something about superheroes or something?"

Alya pursed her lips. "Well, Aurore and Theo have both mentioned to the media that two people named Ladybug and Chat Noir saved them. They both seemed to be dancers as well. So maybe they're dancing superheroes?"

"And they said that they're here to be the protectors of Paris!" chimed in Myléne.

"That's super cool, I wonder if anyone got actual video footage of them," murmured Nino. "Alya, do you know if anyone's got anything? I think it could make a great documentary."

Alya shook her head. "I don't know, but I'll ask. I have some classmates in my course who live not too far from the studios. Maybe one of them got something."

"Dancing superheroes—how romantic!" crowed Rose. "Don't you think so, Juleka?"

Alix smirked as Juleka nodded with a small smile at the petite blonde, her cheeks flushing dark red. "Okay, you two, get a room already."

Adrien was uncomfortably warm at the turn of the discussion. As flattering as it was to hear his friends get excited about the idea of Ladybug and Chat Noir, he wasn't sure what he would say if they asked him about it. Dealing with his father's increasing strictness over the past few years, he had become a practiced liar, but nothing he had ever done had compared to his double life as a superhero now, and he wasn't sure how he was going to deal with this kind of pressure—it was all still too new. He was going to have to speak about it later with Plagg.

And then Adrien noticed his own worry reflected on Marinette's face. She, too, seemed uncomfortable with the way the discussion was going, and as he saw her brows furrowing together, her eyes darting back and forth nervously as she listened to their friends' chatter, he was struck by a strange thought. Was it possible that she was his lady? Was it possible that Marinette was Ladybug?

He was going to have to find out.

"Oh, thank god," said Plagg. "At least he's starting to connect the dots."

Tikki sighed. "That's more than I can say for Marinette."

"Give it time," mimicked Plagg. "Isn't that what you always say?"

"Yes, and for good reason. They're going to have the discussion tonight. I have a feeling in my bones."

"You had a feeling in your bones that tonight's dinner would be good too, and you were wrong."

"My specialty is the human psyche, not food."

"Sure, make all the excuses you want. I'm still not going to let this go."

Marinette felt a sense of relief when the discussion finally switched from the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir to the movies that everyone was watching, and she walked over to Adrien, who was standing alone in a corner, looking pensive.

"Hey stranger! Are you having fun?"

Adrien smiled warmly at her. "I am. Are you?"

"Yes, I've been looking forward to this party for a long time. Alix has been hyping it up ever since she found this apartment."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Adrien, as they fell into a silence. Marinette could feel a question in the air, and turned to him.

"Call me crazy, but I feel like there's something you want to ask me."

Adrien's eyes widened. "How did you—"

"Call it instinct maybe, but honestly, who knows?" replied Marinette. "Does that mean I was right?"

Adrien hesitated before taking a deep breath and nodding, trying to be calm, though he could feel his pulse starting to race. What if he was wrong?

"I have a question for you—this might sound weird, but—are you—"

"TIME TO PLAY A GAME!" shouted Alix, charging towards them. "No more time for chit chat! Everyone in the kitchen!"

Marinette looked at Adrien, eyes twinkling. "Let's finish this conversation later? Maybe we can both lose at the game and come back out here to talk."

Adrien smiled, though his heart was still racing. "Sure."

"So, Tikki, still think you're going to win this bet?"

"The night is still young, my dear spirit of destruction."

Once everyone was gathered around the kitchen table, Alix rapped an empty beer bottle on the edge to get their attention.

"Okay, everyone! Listen up! We are going to play Slap or Kiss!"

"What is that?" asked Myléne. "I've never heard of it."

"Me neither. Is it like Truth or Dare?" asked Alya.

"Nope! We are going to go around in a circle and spin this bottle. Whoever it lands on has to leave the room, and we will decide whether they get kissed or get slapped."

"Well, that doesn't sound very nice!" commented Rose with disappointment, flushing prettily.

Alix laughed. "Okay, guys, I'm adding an extra rule to the game. Nobody slaps Rose or makes her slap anyone or I will deck them."

Adrien spun the bottle first, which landed on Nino, despite Marinette's wishes that it would land on her. After Nino grinned and left the room, Alya ran up to Adrien and whispered something in his ear. Her voice was so low that it was impossible to tell what she was saying, but a wide grin spread across Adrien's face at whatever it was, and when Nino came back in the room, Adrien bowed to him in a way that reminded Marinette very much of her cheeky battle partner, before gently clutching his right hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

"Nino, my best friend, I have a confession to make. I've secretly been in love with you for years, and I'm afraid I must steal you away from your girlfriend. We can live together happily ever after, what say?"

Nino grinned and played along. "Oh my, this is a revelation! I'm sorry, Alya, but I think I have to leave you. Adrien's offer is just too good to pass up."

Alya waved her arms dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, go on ahead. I paid him to take you off my hands, anyway. I don't have the time to deal with you anymore. I'm going to marry Marinette instead. Mari! Let's run away together and leave these losers behind."

"Sounds good to me!" crowed Marinette, snaking an arm around Alya's waist and sticking her tongue out at the boys. "We don't need them anyway."

Next to spin the bottle was Aurore. When it landed on Alix, she snorted as she left the room, and it was no surprise to anyone when she came back in that Aurore lightly smacked her on the cheek with a satisfied smirk.

"Is that enough revenge for one night?" said Alix, with more patience than anyone had ever thought her capable of.

Aurore raised an eyebrow. "I don't know yet. We'll see."

Following Aurore was Juleka, and when the bottle landed on Rose, everyone knew what the outcome would be. Still, it was amusing to everyone, who knew that Juleka had it bad for Rose, to flush as dark red as a cherry when she bent down to kiss her on the cheek as the petite blonde giggled sweetly.

After Juleka was Alix, and when the bottle landed on Kim, everyone in the circle started whooping and cheering as he left the room, grinning broadly.

"I think you should kiss him, Alix," said Alya. "We all saw you staring at each other the whole night. This whole dare thing is obviously your weird way of flirting with each other."

"I can confirm that!" chimed in Marinette. "Whenever Alix likes a guy, she either punches him in the arm or challenges him to a game. I don't know why."

"Hey now, Marinette! Stop giving away my trade secrets!" protested Alix. "That was for your ears only."

"Sorry! I was just trying to help!"

"Like hell you were," muttered Alix, as Rose clutched her arm.

"Oh, Alix, if you like him, you should kiss him! He has sad eyes."

Alix's eyes suddenly grew stormy and dark. "No! I am not kissing him for the first time in front of all of you!"

"It doesn't have to be on the lips or anything," pointed out Myléne. "It could be on the cheek or something too!"

Nino looked back and forth between Alix and the door. "Um—so a minute has passed, do we have a consensus on what she's doing before I go get him?"

Alix tossed her head. "I am not kissing him. He might be sexy as hell, but I barely know him. Can we at least go on a date first?"

"Okay, okay!" said Marinette, putting her hands up. "Nobody is forcing you to do anything you're uncomfortable with. Do what feels right. Nino, go get Kim from the hallway."

Nino nodded and brought Kim back into the room. It was clear from the look on his face that he was expecting at least a small kiss, so when Alix rushed towards him and slapped his cheek so hard that the sound reverberated across the room, almost everyone cringed along with him, afraid of what was to come next.

"Oh—" said Kim, touching his palm to his cheek, which was flaming red from both the force of the slap and the embarrassment flooding him. "I—uh—ow, you have a strong arm. I, uh—actually, never mind."

Alix's face fell; she had misread Kim entirely, and although she had meant it all in good fun, she immediately realized that she had accidentally hurt his feelings. It was obvious to everyone that she had gone too far, and she had no idea what to do about it.

The guests fell silent; nobody else was quite sure what to do either, and Adrien and Marinette looked at each other in dismay before Marinette noticed the tub of cookie dough she had left to thaw on Alix's kitchen counter and had an idea.

"Okay, everyone, I think that's enough of this game for tonight! This housewarming party is now officially a girls' sleepover. For those of you who decide to stay, there are extra blankets and pillows in the closet. For those of you who are going to call it a night, we will see you at rehearsal tomorrow."

Most of the guests dispersed, though Alya, Rose, and Juleka stayed behind, while some of the other boys, including Adrien, lingered to help clean up the mess.

Kim slowly walked towards the door, his happy mood from before low once more.

Adrien ran up behind him and grasped his shoulder.

"Hey, Kim, I'm so sorry about earlier—are you okay?"

"I'm fine, seriously. I just guess I misread her—maybe I deserved it."

Adrien shook his head. "No, no—Alix doesn't dislike you at all. She likes you a lot, I promise! She just comes across that way and I think she was a little nervous—she's really confident, but Marinette's mentioned to me that it takes her a little bit of time to warm up to people, and sometimes she can act a little strange."

Kim smiled wanly. "Well, that's good to know. I think I'm ready to call it a night, though. It's been a long day."

Adrien sighed and nodded. "I understand. You know you can call me if you need me, right?"

"I do. Thanks—I appreciate it."

Adrien watched with dismay as Kim trudged down the dark hallway and goosebumps rose up his skin. He didn't have a good feeling about tonight, and his instincts were telling him to keep his senses aware.

Hawk Moth walked towards the window, holding the wooden butterfly box in his arms. He was surrounded by a pulsating wave of dark energy that was swirling with a keen sense of anger, mixed with sadness, and a blow to the ego, so pure and vivid that he knew it was the perfect moment to strike again.

It was too late at night for him to create an illusion like before; and anyway, the first attempt had not gone as well as he had hoped it would. Though he still had residual powers from the first emotional possession, he knew he had to try something different—and this time, he would succeed.

So late at night, it was the perfect moment for him to try something different than before. Though he still had residual powers from the first attempt, Hawk Moth was sure this new technique would serve him far more effectively; in fact, he wasn't sure why he hadn't tried it before.

He was going to invade the dreams of this young man and woman who were so distressed; cast a spell so enticing and bewitching that they wouldn't even realize they were in his grasp—and best of all, they would already be unconscious; half the legwork was already done.

He pulled a small blue bowl stuffed with soft white cloth out of one of the compartments of the box in addition to a large red vial labeled pride, calmly humming a pretty orchestral theme as he poured the liquid onto the cloth and watched it spread across the fabric.

Soon, they would be his.

Marinette wasn't sure at what point she had fallen asleep, but when she found herself walking barefoot around a magical forest glade that was so vivid and colorful that it couldn't be real, she knew she had to be.

It was an odd dream; though the forest was beautiful and green, she still felt uneasy, like there was an invisible undercurrent of darkness wrapped around her, and she couldn't shake the feeling.

She heard the sounds of rushing water nearby, and ran towards it, feeling the dirt between her bare toes. It was a shallow but quickly moving river, with small polished rocks scattered throughout, creating a small bridge that shined in the bright sunlight.

As Marinette peered into the water, she was surprised to see that she was dressed in white robes, with an olive wreath around her head as her hair fell loose to her shoulders. A quiver of arrows was strapped onto her back, and two gold bracelets jingled on her wrists—in short, she looked like a Greek nymph in a painting in the Louvre, or like a character out of Sylvia, the ballet that they were currently performing, and she was starting to get nervous about it.

Across the river stood a young man who looked familiar and strange at the same time. He could have stepped out of the canvas of a Greek painting himself, but the one odd detail about his clothing was that it was all black—something that made Marinette do a double take, and want to look closer.

Because every single instinct was telling her that the man across the river was Chat Noir, even though the wobbly, hazy, dreamlight was making it impossible for her to see him clearly.

Even though Marinette couldn't make out the details of his face, she could tell that he was gazing at her too.

"Mon chaton?" she called out. "Is that you?"

"My lady?" he responded. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Chat Noir! Wait, I'm coming!"

Marinette stepped onto the first rock to cross the river, but as she lifted her foot to step onto the next rock, a gust of wind lifted her up into the air and across the water, forcing her to fly into his arms and knocking him to the ground.

Even though Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists as she prepared for the impact, she felt no pain as they fell.

It had to be because it was a dream, and she wasn't really there.

Still, somehow, she could feel the touch of Chat Noir's skin, and the feeling of his breath against her hair, and she looked up, expecting to find sharp green eyes behind a mask. What she found instead was soft green eyes in a familiar face she knew and loved, staring at her in shock.

Because the man across the river was someone she knew, but it was not Chat Noir. It was Adrien Agreste, and she was lying on top of him, cradled in his arms.

"Marinette?" he whispered, eyes wide. "Are you my Ladybug?"

"Yes," she whispered back. "It's me."