People do crazy things when they're in love.

Maybe that was why he had basically crashed her party. It made sense to him when he came up with it in his head, but as he thought about it later that night, he cursed himself. In acting upon his idea, he had only made things worse. Showing love and affection was hard for Adrien as his family life had no perfect example of it. After his mother disappeared, there was nothing that screamed "loving" to him from his father or anyone else around him. Except his friends. And Ladybug, in her own way. Well, Ladybug was actually Marinette the whole time, who, when he thought about it, was especially loving and encouraging when she wasn't falling over herself. At least, that's what he remembered her being like before they went their separate ways.

Adrien was back home now, having just returned from his little charade at the party he had invited himself to.

"You probably just messed up your chances even more just by doing that."

"Thanks for the comforting words, Plagg."

He sighed, knowing nothing he could do now would change anything.

"Maybe you should talk to her."

"And say what? What can I say that I already haven't?"

Plagg shrugged and tossed a huge slice of camembert into his mouth, rubbing his belly in satisfaction.

Adrien sighed,

"You're no help."

He slumped down in his desk chair. Looking back on it, she was there. She had always been there. There were so many moments he remembered: her standing up for anyone she saw was being wronged, their gaming escapade, school dances, the Lila situation, and every single time she worried about him as Ladybug. She was there. It was always Marinette. Realizing how often she turned up in his life, he felt so stupid for not picking up the signals that she was attracted to him. Being in that environment was brand new to him. Having never gained experience interacting with other people his age, it was obvious he wouldn't be able to reciprocate the same mannerisms, words, and feelings exactly. When he had first joined their class all those years ago, they all thought he was someone like Chloe merely because he was friends with her. But in all that haziness, Marinette gave him a chance. He remembered her not liking him at all when they first met; he had even thought she hated him. But after explaining his situation to her under the dark clouds and the ever-pouring rain, holding out an umbrella to her so she wouldn't go home soaking wet, she knew. She listened. She understood. He realized that was probably what made her start to like him. His realness. He had never spoken to anyone about how he felt. Adrien remembered reading somewhere that venting to strangers about one's problems helped more than a close friend. It was then that he decided a) there was a loophole with him as Marinette wasn't exactly a stranger then and b) that's what made her his friend in the first place and so agreeing with the "experts" was never going to happen.

Sitting there, he tried to think of a thousand different ways to show her that he was sorry for whatever discomfort he caused. Flower? Lame. Jewelry? Cliché. A note? Preschool. Adrien racked his brain, flipped through the books in his library, clicked through his computer, nothing fueled his brain. Nothing could inspire him. Nothing gave him an idea. What he needed was luck. He opened and closed a desk drawer a few times, trying to see if going through mundane actions would help. That's when he saw it. Something he had completely forgotten he had. He plucked it out of the drawer and smiled. Memories flooded back to him. That day she gave it to him. He had never returned it.

Later that night, Marinette sat on her bed, looking through a bridal magazine. Tikki was helping her bookmark certain pages of items she thought were pretty.

"What are you thinking about Marinette? You're a little quiet."

Marinette pulled her knees up to her chest, an action she hadn't done since she was very small.

Her mind went back to that day. In the rain. When he had given her his umbrella. He had shown her such kindness. He wasn't the stuck up, Chloe-like, snobby rich model she had first thought him to be. Adrien was real. More real than the photos of him she used to have hanging up on her bedroom wall. More real than the sort of quiet boy who sat in front of her all those years ago in Mme. Bustier's class. To her, Adrien was more real than when he was Chat Noir. She smiled to herself and chuckled. Chat Noir. What a strange and yet, interesting, guy. Of course, now that she knew Adrien was Chat Noir, things felt a lot different.

It meant that the tall, black leather clad kitty who flirted with her all those year? That was Adrien.

All the teasing, all the confessions of love, all the silly puns? Adrien.

The protecting behind his baton, the words of encouragement? Adrien.

There were times she did feel a little shy around Chat and that was when she knew he would watch her leave, with an awestruck smile on his face. That was when Marinette felt the most vulnerable. There was always the fear of letting Chat down, because she knew how amazing he thought she was. Now that she thought about it, maybe a part of her sensed that it was always Adrien behind the mask. Always Adrien.

She put the magazine away, curling up under the sheets.

"Do you think he hates me, Tikki?"

"Why would he hate you, Marinette?"

"I broke his heart….I was so ugly to him earlier….how am I going to face him again?"

Tikki sat on Marinette's head, thinking.

"You just have to move on, Marinette. Adrien was only being nice, but he doesn't hate you. I don't think he ever could. He waited too long to tell you. You're with Henri now, things will work out."

Marinette sighed and admitted it to herself. She said it out loud so that she wouldn't start thinking irrationally again.

"You're right, Tikki. I guess I just got caught up in old feelings. Besides, I'm sure he'll be okay. Maybe after telling me those things tonight, he can move on. He probably has other things to worry about."

Tikki gave a confident smile and nod before yawning.

"Let's get to bed. I think you have to order those things you marked tomorrow morning if you want them in by the wedding."

Marinette yawned too and turned out the light.

"Yeah...I know Henri will like those little table markers….I really like them…."

She dozed off to sleep quickly, mumbling a bit more about the wedding. The back of her mind was quiet now, but not completely silent.

The next morning, Adrien woke up still in his desk chair. His face was resting against the keyboard and he had been working on an email to someone when he had fallen asleep. The imprinted keys left a few red marks on his face, but he ignored them when he stood up to stretch and look in the mirror. In his hand he still held the lucky bracelet, the one Marinette gave to him when they were both practicing for the Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 tournament, a tournament he ultimately gave up his place for after Marinette tried to give up her own so Max could participate. That wasn't the only situation he had seen Marinette shine in. There were plenty of examples he could pull from their time together in school. And even more from their work together as Ladybug and Chat Noir. There was nothing Marinette couldn't do. When she set her mind on something, she always accomplished it. She was lucky. Like a ladybug.

The bracelet had gotten him through extremely hard times. He kept it in his pocket every day since she had given it to him. To borrow. There had been various times where he'd remember to give it back but then the situation would deem it necessary for him to hold onto it. He knew every bead, the feel and the colors. Sometimes when he felt sad or frustrated, he'd take it out and look at it. He stopped after a few years because work and life would get in the way. There were less moments as he grew older. He had somehow put it in the desk drawer and forgotten about it until now. He ran the beds between his thumb and forefinger meticulously before standing up and stretching. He was going to give it back to her.

Right now.

As he walked down the street, Adrien was quickly thinking of what he wanted to say to her once he saw her.

"Just try not to screw it up or scare her with another declaration of love."

"I'm not trying to do any of those things, Plagg. I just want to talk to her."

"Yeah, but now it seems every time you try to do that, all she gets out of you is word vomit."

"Look, I've been planning this whole thing out. Everything should work out okay."

Plagg thought for a moment.

"Y'know, come to think of it, she used to say the same kind of word vomit-y things to you, once upon a time."

Adrien ignored that last comment but as he approached the bakery, his hands became a little clammy. His breathing quickened and sweat formed on his forehead. He was getting nervous. A wave of uncertainty fell over him and he stopped walking, extremely tempted to simply turn around and go home. He stopped across the street, near Collége Fran oise Dupont. It looked exactly the same as it had ten years ago, when he first started attending school there. Where he first made friends. Where he first met Marinette. He could see through the frosted glass of the bakery across the street that she was inside. He took a deep breath, his exhale coming out in a shaky movement. Adrien Agreste had never been more nervous in his life. Of course, this probably wasn't the last time he'd be this nervous but at this particular moment it seemed as though his life depended on this conversation with Marinette.

"Well, are you gonna go or what?"

"I'm thinking, Plagg."

Plagg said nothing else, simply shaking his head and darting back into Adrien's coat pocket to munch on a piece of cheese.

It's now or never. He thoughts. Adrien took a deep breath. He waited for the walk sign on the crosswalk to blink on and he calmly walked across the street. When he got next to the windows of the shop, Marinette wasn't inside anymore. He signed and started to turn back until he heard the bell jingle on the door. Someone else had walked in. He peeked into the window again seeing an old woman had been the one who opened the door. Marinette was soon inside again, helping the customer. He slowly walked back to the door, opened it, and stepped inside with enough time to hear the tail end of the small conversation.

"Oh well, that's very wonderful! Congratulations on your engagement, Miss Dupain-Cheng."

"Thank you, Madame. I'll have your order out in a moment."

The old woman turned around and smiled at Adrien when she heard the bell jingle,

"Oh, this must be him! How very handsome!"

Marinette looked up, a smile on her face at the thought of Henri surprising her.

"Adrien!"

He waved politely. "Hey Marinette."

The old woman smiled happily.

"My, you two make such a lovely couple! You are very lucky to have Miss Dupain-Cheng, young man."

Adrien, not wanting to disappoint the old woman, especially one so nice, just nodded and smiled.

"Oh no...he's not…"

"Well, I need to get going dear. How much do I owe?"

Marinette focused on the woman's question.

"Um...that will be ten euros please."

"Thank you, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I look forward to seeing you again. And you, young man, take care of her, okay?"

Adrien nodded again and smiled shyly,

"Of course, Madame."

The woman left with a satisfied smile on her face and once the little ring of the bell silenced, Marinette looked at him with a frown on her face.

"Hi."

"Hi. Can I help you with anything?"

Adrien knew that face; she had given it to him the first time they met. It hadn't been the best first impression.

"I just….came to apologize."

"I've heard your apology already, Adrien. You don't need to do it again."

"Yes I do."

Marinette turned away from him, starting to place various pastries onto display racks around the small shop. She was trying to ignore him.

"Marinette, please…"

Tikki's small voice came from the small pocket in the apron she was wearing.

"Marinette, just listen to him. You won't do any good ignoring him."

She sighed and put the tongs and tray she was holding down.

"Fine."

Adrien took a breath.

"Marinette...I'm sorry. I...did something stupid. And I know this sounds like a schoolboy apology. But really….I am sorry. For everything. For intruding on your engagement party. For wanting to continue something you can't. For…. For never noticing you. For making you feel invisible. I'm sure super popular model Adrien Agreste never made you feel like you were important back then. I was never good at talking to anyone….girls especially. You were my first real friend, Marinette. And I should have known better. I should have realized that you had feelings towards me. I….I honestly had never had a girl like me before. And now…..at 25….I can't get girls to stop wanting me. That sounds so conceited….I'm sorry….I just…..here."

He held out his fist and opened it, revealing the lucky bracelet.

Marinette's expression changed from a frown to a small open mouth of surprise.

"...that's…."

"I forgot to give it back to you….if I'm going to be honest….I kept it on purpose. It really is lucky. All these years...I….held onto it because I knew that I'd need luck….from the luckiest girl I know."

She gingerly took it from his hand and looked at it. It was still the same bracelet, but it had been with him this entire time. She remembered giving it to him when he lamented about not being good at playing Mecha Strike 3. Goosebumps had run down her skin when she had decided to do that. Back then, just the thought of them being alone together made her knees weak. Now here they were, alone with the bracelet. Just like before.

"I…"

"You should take it back. You'll need it for…..for when you get married….and move away."

She could hear the sadness in his voice.

"Adrien…."

"I should go. I'm glad I got to give it back to you...after all this time. I promise that won't happen again. I might just forget to return something to you altogether."

He chuckled before turning to open the door.

"Adrien…."

She took his hand and made him turn around, her arms enveloping him in a hug. Fireworks went off inside his brain and his legs felt heavy. His arms moved around her in a hug back. There was a moment of silence between them. He took in her scent, a mixture of honey and strawberries. It was lovely. She took in his too, a slight hint of mint and fancy cologne.

"Thank you."

"Thank you for letting me use it."

They stayed like that for another moment before the door opened.

It was Henri.

"Mari! I have a surprise for you!"

Adrien and Marinette were still hugging when he moved his head around the bouquet of flowers he had brought and he laughed a little awkwardly.

"Henri!"

Marinette quickly took Adrien's arms off of her and ran up to Henri, kissing his cheek.

"These are for you."

"You're so sweet!"

Adrien cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I'll be going now….uh….thanks for taking the….bracelet...Marinette."

"Bracelet?"

"Oh, um...he found an old bracelet I used to have when we went to school together."

"Ah, how nice of you to give it back. You're a good man, Adrien."

"Thanks. If you'll excuse me….I need to go home now. I have a….meeting tomorrow."

He quickly moved past them and out the door, hurrying across the street and back home before either of them could say anything else.

"What was that about?" Henri asked.

"Oh, nothing. He's just a bit tired I guess. But these flowers are beautiful."

"I knew you'd like them. Let's go put them in a vase, shall we?"

The two of them walked up to the apartment where her parents were enjoying lunch. Marinette couldn't help but feel ten-thousand different things all at once. The feelings she had tried to push away the night before were coming back. At full force.

Adrien shut the door to his room and sat at his computer. He was finally home and he was even more miserable than before.

"I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot. You're just….very unlucky."

"Thanks. Now I know why I was chosen to be the black cat and nothing more."

"Don't say that! I'm the one who gives you those powers and I happen to find that the black cat is the coolest out of all the miraculous."

He furrowed his brows and moved the mouse on his computer. The email he had been writing was still there, but he noticed a new message in his inbox. He clicked on it and his eyes became wide.

FROM: ga

TO: aagreste

SUBJECT: Return

Adrien,

I'm coming to Paris in 3 days. I would like to speak with you about a matter concerning the company. Nathalie will be by to make sure things are in order. She's happy to come out of her long vacation so make her feel welcome in the house again.

-Father