Do you have a pencil and an eraser?

Because I want to erase your past and write our future.

.

Marinette plucked the sticky note off her spot on the table. She smiled as she read the written print. Alya looked at it from behind her. A grin spread across her face when she finished reading it.

"Another note from your secret admirer?" she asked, nudging Marinette with her elbow. "How about tonight we–"

"No, Alya." Marinette shook her head, placing the sticky note on a page in her notebook half full of them. "I told you that I really don't want to know who wrote these. I'm flattered that they like me, but you know who the only person I like is."

Alya wrapped her arm around Marinette, positioning her friend towards the entrance. "Yes, Marinette, we all know you like Adrien. Speaking of which! Isn't that him now?"

Following Alya's finger, Marinette's gaze landed on Adrien. He was laughing about something Nino was saying. Looking gorgeous and perfect as usual, not a hair on his head was misplaced. In the morning light, he seemed to glow like he had some kind of halo around him. Marinette sighed as she took in his features. Looking at Adrien would never get boring.

Just then Adrien glanced to where Marinette was standing. Their eyes locked. The work around Marinette was freezing. People were fading out until they became nothing more than smudges and background blurs.

And then it crashed. Burned like the Hindenburg. Erupted like a volcano.

Everything inside Marinette was twisting, turning like butter. She snapped her head to the side, fiddling with the edge of one of the sticky notes she'd placed in her notebook. There was a kind of pressure dominating her, frying her nerves. Adrien had looked at her–actually looked at her long enough for them to share a moment together.

It'd left her breathless. Unsure of reality. Questioning if her heart could handle itself or if her lungs would continue to work properly.

One quick look back and Adrien was still staring at her. He smiled and gave her a wink as he turned to look back a Nino.

Marinette fell into her seat, clutching her bag to her chest. Something was happening, and she wasn't sure if she was going to make it out alright in the end.

.x.

"Good work today, Chat. Thanks for saving me."

Ladybug leaned against the cool brick of the building behind her. She closed her eyes, letting her body relax as she molded against the wall. Chat's fading footsteps filled her ears as her breathing evened out.

He knew she didn't want him to see her detransform,but she also knew it was selfish of her opposing it on him, forcing him to restrain himself from something she could tell he wanted almost as bad as humans needed air to breath.

She should be more responsible, Marinette told herself.

"Don't fall asleep here, My Lady, it's not safe."

Chat's face slapped her awake. She jumped up, flinching at how close his voice had become. When had he gotten so close?

Leaning forward, Chat smiled, pointing to himself. "If you need a lift home, you have a willing contestant to walk you back."

A beep silence both of them.

"One more tick," Chat mumbled, brushing his fingers against Ladybug's ears.

He looked entranced despite the panic prickling through Ladybug. Any second she could detransform and yet he was still standing right in front of her. He'd finally find out about plain Marinette, and she didn't know why her heart ached at the thought of seeing his face fall in disappointment.

Instead of saying something tacky like Ladybug thought he would, Chat pulled back and smiled. It wasn't pleasant, coated in a sadness she didn't quite understand. Or how even though he was standing right in front her, they felt like they were standing worlds apart. If she reached out now, she could touch him, but would it even get through?

Before she could manage to pull together her jumbled thoughts, Chat stuck his hand out straight for her face. Her heart hammered inside of her chest. But instead of touching her, his finger poked her forehead as yellow filled her vision.

A post it note was stuck on her forehead. Ladybug pulled it off, looking at it quizzically as she read the written print.

.

Can I have a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas this year?

.

She looked back at him, her mouth agape. "Are you the one that's been leaving me these notes?"

Chat smiled. "What notes?"

No reply was ever said as Chat turned away and left quickly before her Miraculous transformed. Like the wind, he was there and wasn't–the picture inside of her heart.

.x.

Marinette sighed, drumming her fingers against the table in front of her. Lunch break had ended with more questions left unanswered then she would have liked. She was almost positive once she matched up the handwriting that Chat was the one giving her the notes with awful pickup lines.

Which meant he knew who she was. Marinette froze when the thought repeated itself through her mind. But how did he find out? And how was he getting these notes to her?

There were so many question. When she thought connected one thing to something else, it was like a trick as more questions popped up than answers came.

"Marinette!" Alya called, waving a couple stapled papers at here. "Here take these already. I called your name five times and you didn't answer. What in the world were you daydreaming about, girl?"

Marinette shook her head, giving Alya an apologetic smile. She was about to tell her that she was thinking about Adrien again when something yellow caught her eye. On the second page was a bright yellow sticky note written in the same handwriting as the previous ones.

.

If you were a vegetable you'd be a cutecumber.

.

"Alya, where'd you get this from?" Marinette asked.

Alya gave a questioning look as she glanced from Marinette to her paper. "From Adrien. Why?"

"No reason really. Thanks."

Sinking back into her seat, she looked back to the yellow sticky note stuck between the pages.

Adrien? Marinette looked in front of her, watching the back of Adrien's head as he looked down at his paper. What a silly thought. It must have been stuck on there before Adrien got it.

Yet Marinette couldn't tell if she was happy or sad about thinking that way.

.x.

The thing about having time to think is that it's eternal. Unless one makes an effort to stop themselves, they never will. Thoughts are all consuming, tearing a mind apart from the inside out.

One focus. Ten roughly bitten nails.

It wasn't every day that Marinette thought her brains out–especially for something that wasn't school. However, the more she thought about it, the more confused she got. Her feelings conflicted with each other. While she wanted to make a rational decision, it was hard to do when everything felt like she was biased towards one side or the other.

Marinette sighed as she walked up to her locker. Another yellow sticky note was placed on it. Despite everything that she was telling herself, a smile grew on her face as she read the handwriting.

.

Do you believe in love at first sight–or should I walk by again?

.

She shook her head, peeling the sticky note off her locker. They were getting worse each time another one appeared. But it was something about the note that left her staring at it quizzically. Did the stupid cat really mean it?

"You'll have to walk by again," Marinette mumbled. "I must have missed it."

A blush crept over her face and she shook her head, shoving the sticky note in her bag. It was then as she was sticking it there that she turned around to see Adrien standing next to her. She screamed, jumping back to bang her head into her locker.

Adrien winched, reaching a hand out like he wanted to help Marinette as she groaned in pain. "Are you okay?"

"Okay–me?" Marinette laughed, waving her hand. "I'm always fine. N-not that I'm saying I'm fine. I mean you're fine. I mean it wasn't fine as in attractive, but fine as in a state of well-being."

He watched her with a scrunched face and nodded slowly when she laughed to him. "Well, I Just wanted to give you this. You dropped it and I thought the proper thing to do was return it."

In his hand, Adrien held a yellow sticky note. Marinette squeaked, plucking the paper from his hand. She hoped with everything in her he didn't read what it said. He'd get the wrong impression for sure. Like she was flirt. Or that she liked bad pickup lines.

Nothing from her worries came true. He smiled at her, gave a quick goodbye before walking off. Part of Marinette wasn't happy that left so fast, but she looked at the sticky note in her hand instead of back to Adrien where she wanted to. She had to assess the damage incase he really did see what it said.

.

Are you a tower because eiffel for you.

.

Marinette's eyes widened as she read the note. Her body jerked up. She searched for Adrien desperately with her eyes. He was almost out of sight, but just before he'd disappear from her vision, he turned around. With a grin of his face, he winked at her.