Author's Note:

I do not own any of these characters.

Marinette had just returned to the movie theater after defeating Animaestro. Chloe stuck her finger on Marinette's chest. "Don't think I've forgotten about your little crush on my Adrikins. Just wait here. I'm sure Adrien will be over shortly to publicly humiliate you."

Marinette covered her face with her hands as she watched Chloe gleefully prance across the foyer of the movie theater towards Adrien and Kagami. "This is a disaster!" Marinette chanted those words into her hands as she watched Chloe through her fingers.

Marinette watched as Chloe cozied up to Adrien, with him having his usual look of disgust on his face as Chloe invaded his personal space. She pointed to Marinette and then pulled her hand back to her chest and appeared to laugh. Adrien looked over at Marinette in shock and then to Kagami when she said something. His face turned in confusion and he said something back to Kagami.

Adrien stepped out of Chloe's hold and looked back at Kagami briefly before heading towards Marinette with great intent, leaving a surprised Chloe staring at his back. Kagami looked at the blonde and said something that made Chloe turn towards her and huff visibly before turning back to watch what Adrien was going to do.

Adrien finally reached Marinette and pulled down her hands from her face. He looked at her softly. "I'm sorry I never noticed before. But I need to hear it from you. Do you like me as more than a friend?"

Marinette swallowed hard. If she played it off this time, she knew he'd never believe her when she finally got the courage to confess to him herself. She lowered her eyes and bowed her head. "Yes."

Adrien lifted her head up with a gentle touch of his hand to her chin. Once she was looking at him again, he continued, "I'm flattered, Marinette. Truly. I always thought you only saw me as just a friend. You even played it off the few times I tried to see if you liked me as anything more. And then, I thought Luka was the boy who held your heart. I never let myself see your feelings for me. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for any hurt I've caused you." Adrien rubbed the back of his neck as Marinette looked at him in shock. "Can... can we go somewhere else to talk?" Marinette nodded, still trying to process what exactly was going on, still unsure if she was being accepted or rejected. Adrien took her hand and led her out of the movie theater. Marinette looked behind them as Adrien held the door open for her. Chloe stomped her foot and walked away.

Adrien guided Marinette to a nearby bench. They sat down facing each other. "I'm kinda in new territory here, Marinette. Please be patient with me. I've only ever thought you could have feelings for one person at a time. But when Chloe told me about your crush, and then Kagami said she thought you were the one I was pining for, something inside me clicked and I couldn't deny it to myself anymore. I have feelings for two girls, and you're one of them."

"W-What girl udder about? Ugh! I mean... What about the other girl?"

"She's... never responded to my feelings. I've confessed several times, but she just wants to be friends."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Maybe..."

"There you are!" The pair of teens looked up to see another akuma victim hovering behind them. "Hold still. I've got a crush to bust."

"Chloe?" The teens said in unison.

"I'm not Chloe! I'm CrushBuster, and I'm here to bust your crush." CrushBuster fired a beam at them and Adrien knocked Marinette out of the way, causing them to tumble along the ground. He blinked at her under him and she smiled nervously... reminding him of the time Gamer had interrupted them at the park. He really had been blind to her feelings, hadn't he? He quickly pulled her up and they started running away amidst blasts of light from CrushBuster.

A red beam narrowly missed their hands as it flashed between them, causing them to separate and run in separate directions. Adrien ducked behind a dumpster as CrushBuster followed Marinette. Plagg showed up and smirked. "My, My. What a..."

"Plagg! Claws Out!" Cat Noir smirked as he left the alley. He really didn't need to get ribbed by Plagg right now and shutting him up like that just always made him feel better.

He quickly caught up with CrushBuster who was still hot on Marinette's heals. "Hey... Buster Brown! What's with all the hurt feelings?"

CrushBuster turned towards Cat Noir. "It's CrushBuster, you mangy alley cat!"

"Meow-ch! Someone rubbed your fur the wrong way."

"I don't have fur... but you have a crush on a certain bug I need to squash." CrushBuster turned and started firing at Cat Noir. He leapt and rolled and dodged as she continued to fire at him. He watched as Marinette was finally able to run away and hide in a nearby building.

It wasn't long before Ladybug showed up. "Lucky Charm!" A red and black spotted compact fell into Ladybug's hands.

"I'd help you with your makeup, but you're hopeless, utterly hopeless." CrushBuster fired towards Ladybug and she reflected the red beam back towards the akuma victim. CrushBuster was just a little bit quicker though and moved out of the way. Unfortunately, Cat Noir had been trying to sneak up behind her and was zapped by the beam instead.

CrushBuster laughed and then fled the scene calling out for Marinette. Ladybug just looked at Cat Noir as he looked at her. They blinked at each other a few times before Ladybug ventured to ask, "Are you okay, Cat Noir?"

Cat Noir felt around a little and then replied, "I think so. But, shouldn't we go stop her from finding Marinette?"

"Don't worry. I hid her in a really good place after I saw her run into that building."

Cat Noir looked over to the building and could hear CrushBuster calling out for Marinette from inside. "I hope so. CrushBuster is in the right building."

Ladybug's earrings beeped. "I think I should recharge before we try to finish this fight. Keep an eye on that building and make sure CrushBuster doesn't leave it."

"I'm concerned. The longer she's in there, the more likely it is she'll find Marinette."

Ladybug giggled. "No if I moved her to a different building from the other side."

Cat Noir grinned. "Good work, Ladybug. I'll keep an eye out while you let Tikki recharge."

"Thanks, Cat." Ladybug ran behind a chimney and detransformed. She gave Tikki a cookie and then called back out to Cat Noir. "I figured you'd be keeping me entertained with a pun or a story."

"I thought you preferred to keep things professional during a fight."

Marinette looked at Tikki in concern. "Cat? How do you feel about me?"

"Feel about you? What do you mean?"

"If I was to ask you out on a date, what would you say?"

"I'm sorry. But we're just partners. I'd like to think we're friends also, but really, we don't know that much about each other's personal lives."

Marinette looked really concerned now. "Oh. I thought you'd jump at the chance to go on a date with me."

"I'm not sure why you think that. I'm actually hoping to start a relationship with another girl soon. I just learned she's had a crush on me."

"Oh. I'm happy for you. I certainly wouldn't want you to reject her for me after all."

"Thank you, I think. But why would I reject her for you?"

"Never mind. I was just making sure."

"O...kay."

"Tikki. Spots On." Ladybug came back around the chimney to see Cat Noir staring at the building. "CrushBuster still in there?"

"Yes."

Ladybug and Cat Noir burst through a nearby window, causing CrushBuster to swing around quickly start firing at them. She hit Cat Noir several more times, but nothing new happened. The realization that CrushBuster could no longer do anything to the feline superhero caused her to panic. He quickly began to chase her.

Ladybug circled around and got on the other side of CrushBuster. CrushBuster ran head-first into Ladybug, causing them to tumble to the floor in a heap. Cat Noir picked up her wand and broke it in half. A purple butterfly exited it and started flying away. Ladybug's yoyo zipping out from the contorted mess and captured the akuma. After releasing the purified butterfly, a purple cloud enveloped CrushBuster and Chloe found herself tangled around Ladybug.

Chloe detangled herself from Ladybug and stood up. Cat Noir walked over to her. "I know it's difficult to not get the person you always hoped you would. But you'll never make yourself happy by making other people unhappy." Chloe dropped her head and nodded. She walked away quietly.

Ladybug walked over to Cat Noir. "I... uh... guess it's time to give everyone back their crushes." Cat Noir just nodded at her. "Lucky Charm!" Ladybug got a red and black spotted mask. She looked at it for a few seconds before throwing it into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" A swarm of magical ladybugs fixed all of the crushes, including Cat Noir's. Ladybug just looked as the broken wand transform back into the ladle she had used with Chloe to try to get Kagami away from Adrien.

When she looked back at Cat Noir, he just blinked at Ladybug and then started rubbing the back of his neck. "Wow. I can't believe all of the feelings that just flooded back to me."

Ladybug walked over and sighed as she placed a hand on Cat Noir's shoulder. "I'm sorry. But I think you understand... at least with your mind if not your heart... that what you feel for me is just a crush. Why don't you go back to that girl you were telling me about and see if you can have a real relationship with her."

"Thanks. I think I will." Cat Noir left the building with Ladybug looking after him somewhat crescent-fallen herself. After all, would she have lost her feelings for Adrien if she had gotten hit? She snuck over to another building and detransformed, still worried about whether her feelings for Adrien were more than a mere crush. She exited the building and looked back towards the movie theater. Adrien was waiting at the bench they had previously been occupying. She slowly walked back towards him.

"Been back long?"

Adrien looked up at her and smiled. "No. Just thinking."

Marinette sat down next to him and bumped his shoulder with hers. "What about?"

"Were you affected by the akuma?"

"No. I was able to get away when Cat Noir showed up. I was hiding in one building and Ladybug showed up. She hid me in a different building without Chloe seeing where I went."

"Ah. That's good."

"D-Did you get hit?"

"Yeah... I did. It was weird. My feelings for the other girl I was telling you about completely vanished. That is, until Ladybug fixed everything."

"Oh... really? I'm sure that was very confusing."

"It was. It made me realize my feelings for the other girl are just a crush. I actually bumped into her... and I was talking about you instead of flirting with her like I usually do."

"R-Really?" Marinette's eyes were wide. "What do think that means?"

"I think it means I should move on from trying to get her attention. I don't really know her that well. There are... things... we can't share about ourselves. It really keeps a wall up between us."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. It just is what it is."

"Before we were interrupted, you said maybe... "

"Ah... yes. I was going to say, maybe we could explore our feelings."

"I have a confession to make..." Adrien's face contorted in confusion. "After what happened just now, I'm concerned. I'm concerned that maybe my feelings for you are just a crush. I'm concerned that if I had been affected by the akuma that I wouldn't have felt anything for you until Ladybug fixed everything."

"That's... very honest of you Marinette. I appreciate your concern. It was very disconcerting having been affected. But... I certainly understand if you've simply had a crush on me and nothing more. There are lots of girls all over Paris that are in that boat. But you, you know me better than any of them. I'd like to think that if you got to know me better, that even if it was just a crush, it'd turn into something more."

"But I don't want to hurt you if it ends up just being a crush and nothing more. Your friendship is too important to me and I don't want to hurt you. It's already bad enough that I've already done some things I'm not too proud of. Are you sure you want to take a chance?"

"I'm sure. I want to explore these feelings. I promise I won't be mad at you if this ends up just being a crush and we don't work out. I promise I'll still be your friend. And, I promise I won't hold anything you've done up to this point against you. If this relationship blossoms, then great. If not, then we'll part as friends. After all, sometimes people are just better off as friends. And even if we end up being something more, I'd still want our base relationship to be friendship. That's the best foundation for any relationship."

"I think I'd like that."

Adrien showed up at the bakery Monday morning. Sabine and Tom greeted him. "Is Marinette expecting you?"

"Not really. I thought it might be nice to walk to school together."

"Wait here with Tom and I'll go get her." Sabine headed upstairs and Adrien looked at Tom. He was a big man and Adrien was certain he could easily be twisted into a pretzel by Marinette's dad, superhero or not.

"Did you enjoy the opening of the movie, Adrien?"

Adrien was pulled out of his thoughts. "I didn't really get a chance to see it. Marinette and I ended up talking until well after it had started."

"We noticed. Marinette didn't really say too much about what the two of you talked about."

"Chloe had informed me of Marinette's crush on me rather unceremoniously. So, we had quite a bit to talk through. I wanted firstly to make sure she was okay. I know Chloe can be a bit... well... Chloe, at times. It doesn't excuse what she did by any stretch of anyone's imagination. But it did cause me to take a long hard look at my feelings for Marinette."

"Hm. I see. I'm guessing from Marinette's mood yesterday and the fact you're here this morning, you and her came to an understanding."

"Yes sir."

"Good. All I ask, son, is... be careful with her heart. She's a very special girl."

"Yes, sir. Her happiness is my utmost priority."

"Excellent. Now... here are some pastries you can share on your way to school." Tom handed Adrien a bag just as Sabine and Marinette returned.

"Morning, Papa. You're being nice to Adrien, I presume."

Tom rubbed the back of his neck this time. "Yes, sweetie. I was just giving him some pastries for you to share."

Marinette kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Papa." She turned to Adrien. "Ready to go?"

Adrien held up the bag with the pastries and jiggled it. He opened the door and let Marinette exit first. He said his goodbyes to Tom and Sabine as he exited behind Marinette.

He held open the bag for Marinette and she pulled out a croissant for herself, leaving him the chocolate croissant. He pulled it out and crumpled up the bag, placing it in a nearby trash bin. The silence was comfortable as they walked and ate.

Adrien noticed they were eating with opposite hands, leaving the ones next to each other free. He reached over and took her hand in his. Marinette stiffened a little but relaxed after swallowing down the bite of croissant that was in her mouth extra hard. By time they crossed the street and were almost to the bottom of the steps, they had both finished their breakfast.

At the top of the stairs, they heard Alya's voice instantly. "Adrien! Marinette!" Once they turned to walk towards her, she noticed they were holding hands and nearly fell off the bench. This got Nino's attention and he turned to look at what she was staring at.

"Dudes!" Nino fist-bumped Adrien. "It's about time."

"W-When did this happen?" Alya finally managed to ask.

"Chloe outed Marinette's crush at the movie premiere." Adrien blushed a little. "I don't think her plan worked out the way she thought it would."

"It certainly did not," Marinette agreed.

"And you didn't call me as soon as you got home last night?" Alya huffed, closed her eyes, and turned her head away in a pout.

"Sorry, Alya. I... I was still processing everything. We'll spend some girl time together later and I'll tell you all about it."

Alya opened one eye and looked at Marinette. "All the deets? Nothing left out?"

"Nothing left out. I promise."

"Okay... I guess I can forgive you then." Alya turned back to Marinette and smiled brightly, causing the quartet of friends to laugh.

As the four friends entered Miss Bustier's class, Alya pulled Nino up to the second row and seated him next to her. "The front row is for the new couple. Besides, I want to sit next to my boyfriend after all. Just don't space out during roll call again."

"I won't," Marinette replied as she took her seat next to Adrien. Yesterday had been a major wake up call for her, after all. She was doubly intent on crushing her own crush on Adrien so they could have a meaningful relationship now.

Lila entering the room immediately changed her mood. "Marinette? Is your hearing acting up? Are you not able to sit on the second row anymore?"

"No, Lila," Adrien answered for Marinette. "She wanted to sit next to her boyfriend." Adrien knew he was taking a liberty with that statement as they hadn't really discussed it, but he was feeling overly protective of Marinette at the moment.

This simultaneously shocked Lila and got the rest of the students' attention. Several of the girls ran down to congratulate the new couple, unceremoniously pushing Lila out of the way in the process.

Lila grimaced as she walked up to her seat. She vowed to break them up. She concentrated on her negative emotions as much as she could, hoping to get Hawk Moth's attention. Unfortunately for her, an Akuma Alert sounded because Mr. Pigeon had just been akumatized again. By time class reassembled after people darted off in every direction, she didn't have the energy to fuel her negative emotions. But she knew it was only a matter of time before she was able to break them up.

Lila's misdeeds seemed to backfire on her from that point forward. Every plan she made seemed to blow up in her face. It was like some force of nature had suddenly turned against her. A few times, she could've sworn she'd seen a black blur leaving the scene just before disaster befell her. Lila finally accepted the fact she just couldn't break them up, even after successfully being akumatized two more times.

She had even failed to try to convince Adrien's father that Marinette was a bad influence. Apparently, she learned, he had already tried to break them up with disastrous consequences. Adrien had laid down the law after that incident and Marinette was now an intern with his company... and profits were never better. Gabriel no longer had any motivation to break them up.

It seemed to her, and everyone else, that Marinette and Adrien were inseparable.