"Okay, Grumpy pants, surely there's no way Adrien doesn't mean you." Alya told her friend who was still sulking until their lunch time, "I mean, how many girls in our school has freckles?"

"Many, Alya." Marinette murmured, staring at her lunch that was placed on the table, "And besides, the girl he was talking about might not even be a student here. What if she was a model like him? You know models, Alya, they're pretty and tall and,"

"And they're not you." Alya pointed out, "Now come on, you need to eat."

"I'm fine." Marinette shook her head no, not moving from her seat

"Marinette, it's not the end of the world, okay? So what if Adrien likes someone? He said himself that he hasn't told her yet. What if she doesn't like him back?" Alya asked

Marinette looked at her friend then raised a brow.

"Good point." Alya muttered then kept quiet, thinking of a good way to convince her friend that she should not feel down

The silence went on for about a minute until two people decided to join their table. Nino sat down on the seat next to Alya and Adrien took the last seat available, the one next to Marinette. Meanwhile, she did not even move a little. She just looked at their two guests then turned back to the food on the table.

"Are you feeling okay, Marinette?" Adrien asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder

"Yeah, I'm fine. Great." Marinette gave him a small smile

"You don't look okay." Adrien responded

"No, really, Adrien. I'm fine. No need to worry about me." She answered

Adrien turned to Alya, to whom he gave a questioning look to. Alya sighed then shrugged, not wanting to reveal her friend's secret reason of her misery. Adrien sighed then turned to his food.

Adrien looked at her then back to his food then to her then sparked up the conversation again, "Do you not like your food? We can share if you want."

"My food's fine. Thanks but no thanks." Marinette told him

"You know, if there's anything wrong, you can tell me. You can tell me anything, Marinette." He told her before starting to eat and socializing with the other people in the group

"Did you notice anything weird about Marinette?" Adrien asked as he and Nino sat on one table during their study hall session

"Yeah, she didn't touch her food, she didn't talk so much, she didn't stutter, and most of all, she looked sick." Nino answered, "I don't know about you, but I think something happened to her yesterday."

"Yeah, she looked fine yesterday. I wonder what happened." Adrien looked up and thought about it

Nino sighed. He knew exactly what happened to Marinette. According to Alya, she had been too bummed out about Adrien's interview the night before.

"So," Nino started, wanting to catch his brother from another mother in his small 'I like this girl' act, "girl with freckles huh?"

Adrien's eyes went wide and he blushed, although he hid it with a book.

"You're not telling me something bro. And this is a violation in the bro code." Nino stated, wanting to confirm if the girl was Marinette or not

Adrien flinched at the mention of the bro code. He and Nino had created a bunch of silly rules to follow as bestfriends. And of course, being a first timer in such things, Adrien lived and breathed the rules as if he would be killed by Nino if he did not follow it. And with this, the boy put down his book and put on the most serious face he could muster, albeit the blush still lingering on his face.

"Fine, I'll tell you." Adrien started

Just like I thought.

"Why the long face, my lady?" Cat Noir asked as he landed on the roof Ladybug was on

She just stared at the dazzling view she had of the Eiffel Tower. It looked marvelous. Just like his lady.

Oh who am I kidding? Nothing's as marvelous as my lady. Cat inwardly scolded himself as he sat down

"Do you like someone, Cat?" Ladybug asked him, her voice not as cheerful as usual

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Cat Noir responded

"Not like that, I meant like like." She explained

"Yes." He repeated

"As a civilian, Cat. There is no way you're going to say my name there." She told him

"Still, the answer's yes." He repeated once more

"Does this girl have anyone she likes?" She interrogated

"What's with all these questions? Don't tell me Paris' beloved hero went soft." He cracked a small grin

She shot him a short glare then looked back at the tower.

"Well, yes. She likes someone." He answered, "And in case you ask, no I don't know who the guy is but a friend told me that it might be me."

"You're lucky." She chuckled weakly, "Wish I could be as lucky as you."

"Sure but you don't know me. Well I thin you don't know me. But listen, this girl I like, I think she doesn't like the real me." He commented, "I mean she likes polished me. Scripted me. Not me me."

"You're Cat Noir, what's not to like?" She inputted, "Well, besides the puns that is."

"Hey, my puns are world class." He laughed at her lightly, "Come on, LB, if I'm someone to like, then you're even more so. Do you really think I'm better than you? My Lady, you're very wrong."

Ladybug smiled warmly at Cat Noir, "Thanks Alley Cat." She rested her head on his shoulder, "Do you mind?"

Cat Noir was beyond flustered. With the knowledge of Ladybug being Marinette, something about their partnership changed. And all of his flirting before was something he was sort of embarrassed now. He had been flirting with his shy classmate all the time!

"You know, you already met my civilian self. I was handsome, wasn't I?" He grinned

"What?" She shot her head up and looked at him, acting surprised, "That's impossible! I haven't met a handsome guy who constantly flirted with cat puns."

Cat Noir laughed, "You, my lady, are very adorable for that."

Ladybug rolled her eyes playfully, "Say, why are you even telling me this? I though we'd make sure we won't tell each other about our identities."

Cat Noir shrugged, "It's safe to talk about if we don't think about it. My Lady, please don't worry yourself thinking about me all night."

"As if." She punched his arm lightly, "Thanks for listening to me, Alley Cat."

"Any time, Bugaboo." He responded

"If it'll help, you also met my civilian self." Ladybug told him, "It's a really small world I tell you."

"Well there was this girl who was as great as you." Cat Noir pointed out

"And who might that be?" Ladybug raised a brow

Could Cat Noir really know her real identity?

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." He answered, "But you know me, always about you, Bugaboo."

"And you like her then?" Ladybug teased

Cat Noir shrugged, "In a world wherein you don't exist maybe."

"Huh, I guess I need to warn Marinette about a cat trying to find her." Ladybug poked his arm

"And I need to warn Adrien Agreste about that cute little bug admiring him." Cat Noir's eyes went wide as the supposed thought slipped out his tongue

"What?" Ladybug furrowed her brows

"I noticed the way you cared about him up at the Eiffel Tower with Volpina." Cat Noir answered, "It's not really hard to figure out since that's the way this girl in class looks at me."

"You can't tell him, Cat Noir. You need to promise me you won't tell him." Ladybug stated

"Okay but, you know, the kid's a famous one, are you sure he isn't-."

"Don't worry about that, kitty cat. Got that covered." She smiled at him

"Alya! He told me who the girl is!" Nino dragged his girlfriend out of the room just as soon as the girl had entered that morning

"Please tell me she's not something we should be worried about." Alya told the boy

"She's someone to be glad about." And at that moment, Alya's eyes lit up with happiness

"You're serious?" Alya asked, thinking that her hears were deceiving her

"Yes I am." Nino grinned, "Marinette is Adrien's special girl."

Nino saw Adrien walking their way and the two proceeded inside, waiting for the boy. For some miraculous reason, Marinette was fifteen minutes early to class and she was as cheerful as ever. Nino sat down on his seat and waited for his friend to sit down next to him.

"What's with the grin?" Adrien asked, "Something happened?"

"Will." Nino responded then started to nudge his friend

He nudged and nudged, "Hey, what's up?" Adrien asked out of slight irriation

"Good morning, Adrien." Alya's greeting sounded scripted to Marinette's ears that the girl looked up and caught the blond looking at his friend

"Oh, good morning, Adrien." Marinette smiled at him

"Good morning, Marinette." Adrien responded

Nino cleared his throat and looked at his friend as if he was expecting something different. Adrien sighed and, at the corner of his eye, saw Alya starting to take a video of the moment. He knew not to defy Nino and the bro code. After all, it was the bro code that gave Nino a girlfriend. Perhaps it could do the same to him.

"I-I mean," he was blushing now. Oh gosh. He was blushing in front of a very curious Marinette, "g-good morning," he smiled sheepishly, "Freckles."