Marinette had always thought Adrien would be the one for her. He was kind, caring, gentle, thoughtful, and so many other amazing things it could take her days to list them all. She always thought she'd be upset when the day came where he'd get himself a crush, or a girlfriend, and she'd spend days in her room crying her heart out. What she didn't expect was to actually be happy for him, when he'd told them about her one day.

When Alya had asked her why she wasn't upset, she'd absently replied, "I don't know."

-x-

You see, Chat Noir had been visiting her for the past few months or so. They'd talk, laugh, eat snacks, and overall have a good time. He was now a constant presence in her life, in both her lives, and she couldn't imagine it another way. No, she wouldn't. He was her best friend (aside from Alya, of course) and she needed their Friday Movie Nights, and their gaming matches on Wednesday, (And of course, their study sessions aka the only reason she was passing school right now; Seriously, who enjoyed physics?). But she was getting off track. Whether she was donning her Ladybug outfit, or she was just Marinette, they were friends. Just friends. No matter how much she may possibly- No! She chided herself, You do NOT like him like that. You are JUST friends. Nothing more, nothing less. She smiled to herself, in silent victory. Besides, Chat didn't feel anything for her, other than friendship, and she wasn't going to jeopardize that.

She hopped on her bed, a book in hand. They had to read the next chapter for homework, and she was going to get a head start on her homework, before Chat came over for their weekly study session. Tikki perched on the top of her book.

"You know, Marinette," She commented, "you didn't seem very upset when Adrien told the group he had a crush."

"Well, Adrien deserves to be happy Tikki, even if it's not with me. I'm sure that when he gets the courage to ask her out, and she says yes, she'll be one of the luckiest girls on earth. And yeah, it hurts, but I'm lucky enough to call him my friend." She didn't have the heart to tell her kwami she'd asked herself the exact same thing. "Do you think there's another reason for it?" She couldn't help but wonder.

"It doesn't, by any chance, have to do with a certain leather-clad hero, would it?" She teased.

Marinette blushed.

"Tikki! I told you, Chat and I are just friends."

"Are you trying to convince yourself of that, or me?"

"Tikki!"

-x-

A few days ago, he'd told his friends he'd had a crush on a girl, whose name he couldn't mention, though he could in his head. Ladybug. She was the most amazing person he'd ever met, and she was the one for him. But apparently, Plagg thought otherwise.

"Your going to visit your girlfriend today, right?"

"Huh? Ladybug and I don't have patrol until tomorrow." Honestly, he thought his kwami would be aware of his schedule by now. "And she's not my girlfriend. She's made it perfectly clear how she feels about even being in a relationship with me, romantically."

"Not Spots, Princess."

"Oh, yeah, we're going over today."

Plagg flies away.

"Hey, wait! She's not my girlfriend! She's just a friend!"

-x-

"Tikki, Chat and I are just friends."

"But you don't want to be." She smiled, secretively.

"It doesn't matter what I want. It's just the way things are."

"But you like him."

"No, I don't."

"What do you like about him?"

"Huh?"

"What do you like about Chat?"

She rolled her eyes.

"He's kind, caring, overdramatic, my partner. He's sweet, super smart, like seriously I'd be failing school without him." They bother laughed at that. "He... He's always there when I need support, a good laugh, or someone to rant to, other than you, of course. I wouldn't be who I am today without him. I..."

She looked up at Tikki, her face turning a lovely shade of pink, and that was when Tikki knew Marinette finally realized...

"Oh my god, Tikki! This cannot be happening! I like Chat! What am I supposed to do? He's coming over in, like, half an hour, and I have to talk to him."

"You've talked to him before."

"But this is different. I like him, and he only sees me as a friend. What am I supposed to do, Tikki?"

"You could tell him."

"Tell him? So he can reject me which will ruin our friendship, and then I'll never be able to work with him as Ladybug because everytime I see him, I'll think of that moment, and-"

"Marinette! What if he likes you back?"

"He doesn't Tikki. If he did, he would've said something by now."

"Maybe he was to caught up in other things to realize his feelings, like someone else." She teased.

She laughed, but Tikki could tell it was forced.

-x-

Adrien paced back and forth in his room.

"Plagg, Marinette is just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less." Seriously, was Plagg even listening to him?

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"But what about all those things you do with Princess? You've never done them with Spots. And you've starting flirting with her less and less as you spent more time with Marinette. And then you stopped flirting with her at all, and that became a thing between you and Princess..."

Adrien droned out his kwami, as he began to think about what Plagg was saying. Sure, he'd stopped flirting with Ladybug, and had been doing it more with his Princess, and yeah, he'd been doing some things that, to the public eye, would look like a secret rendezvous. And okay, maybe he visited her more often than not, but it was only because she wouldn't talk to him at all as Adrien! But he did have to admit, she was kind of cute, with her constant pink blush dusting her cheeks, and how she'd do this little silly dance when she was super happy about something. (He may have lost a few games during their gaming marathons just to see her proud smile.) Okay so maybe...

"Oh my god, Plagg! I have a crush on Marinette!"

"Finally!"

"What am I gonna do? I have to be over there in, like, seven minutes!"

"You talk to her, kid."

"But what do I say? This is different! What if she says no? It'll destroy all the progress we've made in the past few months!"

"You'll figure it out on the way. Right now though, you have a Princess to see."

He took a deep breath.

"Your right. Plagg, Claws out!"

-x-

She heard him before she saw him. The little tapping of boots on her balcony, signifying his arrival. She took a deep breath, as Tikki gave her an encouraging smile, before going to hide. She nodded, before going up on her bed, opening her skylight, and poking her head through. They locked eyes, a blush adorning both their features.

"Hey."

"Hey, come on in."

Maybe they'd be okay after all.