"… Am I not good enough?"

You have someone you like?" Marinette's head snaps to her left side as she hears Nino's words to Adrien. How great. Adrien likes someone just has to be the first thing she hears in the morning.

'I don't want to hear it – but… I want to know who it is. Ugh!' Marinette curses as she shakes her head slightly. She knows that eavesdropping on someone's conversation is bad, but she can't help it. She wants to know who the girl Adrien likes.

"Yeah, but…" says Adrien, averting his gaze from Nino. He does have someone he likes, but he can't possibly tell him that it's Ladybug – one of Paris' well-known superhero. "She's… uh… not in this school so you don't know her." He lies, hoping that Nino will buy it and drop the topic off.

'She must be a model too.' Marinette thought as she stares at the ground. They're having P.E today – one of the things she hates – and of all games, it's volleyball.

'It would be nice if the girl he likes already has someone else – no, I'm not that selfish.' Marinette bit her lower lip as she shrugs those thoughts right away. But still, deep inside her heart, she's a bit jealous. Well, at least she's a bit thankful that it's not Chloe.

Marinette knows that right from the start, she has no chance to be with her crush. Alya told her before that she should try to confess to Adrien to see if she has a chance or not. Marinette brushes the idea off since she can't even utter a complete sentence in front of him without stuttering and humiliating herself – looking like a complete idiot.

"…Nett!"

"…Ball!"

"Huh?" Snapping out of her thoughts, she takes a look towards the direction of the voices – only to be hit by an incoming ball, slamming in her face real hard – knocking her straight to the floor.

Marinette felt something drip from her nose and she knows that it was obviously blood. She covers her eyes using the back of her right palm – as if it will decrease her embarrassment if she does that, ignoring the pain in her nose. In the distance, she can hear Chloe and Sabrina laughing as if they just saw a freaking comedy act.

'This is so humiliating.' Marinette thought as a tear rolls down her right eye. Everyone saw the whole thing, including the boy she likes… Adrien. She wants to get up – she has to go to the infirmary to stop her nosebleed, but she doesn't have any energy or will to do so.

"Stop it! It's rude to laugh at someone who got injured!" She hears someone shout, and her brain knowing that voice too well recognized who it was – Adrien. However, the two girls aren't paying attention to his remark as they continue to laugh – that made Marinette snap.

"Did you see that? That was so hilarious!" Chloe laughs. Not listening to what Adrien just said. "She got hit by a ball right into her face!" Her laughter grew louder and louder – it was enough to send Alya fuming too.

"Chloe you bitc–" Alya is about to run to where Chloe is currently standing and strangle her, but Nino – who was just right beside Alya – manages to stop her from creating another scene by grabbing her wrist. "Let me go! She did that on purpose, she hit Marinette! I saw the whole thing!"

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" Chloe rolled her eyes. "She was stupid enough not to hear all those warnings."

Marinette wipes the blood from her nose, standing there while her hands ball into fists. Chloe did this on purpose – it was always like this.

"Shut up!" A scream echoed throughout the gymnasium. "All of you just shut up!" Marinette has her brows furrowed – almost like it was stitched together – her face was flushed with deep red in both anger and embarrassment as blood drips down from her nose; tears threatening to roll down from her eyes the second she decides to blink; biting her lower lip, she turns around and storms off to the infirmary.

This is why she hates Physical Education.

Adrien is about to run after her, but Alya already beats him to it so he just left the two alone. Who is he kidding? If he went there instead of Alya, what will he say? He isn't the type of guy who's good at comforting sad people – for all we know, he's still better at flirting and creating horrible puns as Chat Noir.

8

"Marinette, please calm down." Tikki pops out of Marinette's purse as soon as she enters the infirmary. The nurse had an emergency and left after taking care of Marinette's nosebleed. The bleeding is gone, but the throbbing pain in her head is still there.

"If you won't calm your anger down, it might catch Hawk Moth's attention. You don't want Chat Noir to deal with you if you get possessed by an akuma – Ladybug will not appear to purify it… it's the worst case scenario – I don't even want to imagine." Tikki smiles at her as she takes a deep breath.

"You're right Tikki. I shouldn't let my emotion take over." Marinette sighs. The doorknob started to turn so Tikki quickly hides inside Marinette's purse. A few seconds after that, Alya enters the room.

"Hey," Alya says as she sits beside Marinette who was sitting on one of the beds in the infirmary and without saying anything, she just hugs her tightly. "I won't ask you if you're okay – because obviously, you're not – but I just want you to know that Chloe and her slave Sabrina will surely get what they deserve..."

"No, I'm okay," Marinette whispers as she lets go of Alya. "I don't want you to avenge me Alya. Don't let your anger consume you." She doesn't want her best friend to be possessed by an akuma for the second time. "They'll get a taste of their own medicine someday… even without you or me doing it."

"Oh, Mari..."

"But," Marinette cuts her off. "I embarrassed myself in front of everyone! In front of Adrien! Oh God. Alya what should I do? Adrien might avoid me after seeing me snap like that –"

"Mari," says Alya, but Marinette was still mumbling incoherent words – Alya grabs both of Marinette's shoulders and practically scream (a bit) at her face. "Hey! Stop it. Adrien won't do that, he's not that type of person. You're just exaggerating!"

"I know, but still... I heard that he has someone he likes." Says Marinette as she frowns. Of course, he also likes someone, it's normal for everyone – especially at their age.

"So what?" Alya laughs. "Oh come on Marinette, I didn't support you with all my might just for you to give up when you heard them talking about his crush."

"But..."

"No buts! I say that we'll figure out who your rival is."

"You mean we'll stalk him? That's creepy Alya."

"Are you serious? You practically stalked him before – that's why you have his complete schedule. Knowing one person's name wouldn't be hard."

A comfortable silence filled the room before the two girls broke into fits of laughter – making both of them temporarily forget what happened earlier.

"I'm proud to call you my best friend," Marinette says. "You're crazy."

"It's not just me," Alya corrects her. "We are crazy."

"Marinette." Tikki looks at her sympathetically; her mood instantly turned sour when she found out that the love of her life likes someone else this morning. On the top of that, she humiliated herself in front of him. "Don't be sad."

"Tikki, the boy I love is in love with someone else. It will be weird if I will be happy about it, you know." Says Marinette as she stares at a poster of Adrien on her wall. "To be honest, I was kind of jealous when I found out." Even with her talk with Alya earlier, she's still sad about it.

"I know."

"But still… I can't cheer him on. I know it's the worst thing you can wish for someone else's love life, but…" Sighing, Marinette lays down on her bed as she closes her eyes. "I hope it doesn't go well for him."

The next morning – for some reason, Marinette isn't late for class. Arriving earlier than usual, she decides to leave her bag on her seat in the classroom and decides to take a walk around the school while waiting for her best friend to arrive.

Just as she's about to walk out of their classroom, she bumps into someone who is about to enter the room. Being a bit smaller than the person she bumped into, she hastily looks up to apologize to the person, hoping it isn't Chloe since she doesn't want to deal with her bratty attitude right now – well, Chloe is about the same height as her so it probably isn't her.

"I'm sorry – Oh, Good Morning, Marinette." Marinette's mouth opens slightly as she saw who it is. Smiling down on her was none other than her crush – Adrien Agreste.

"H-Hello Adrien… uh." She's stuttering again. 'What should I say?' Marinette glances at him nervously. "You-You have bed hair." Marinette immediately slaps her forehead with her palm. Out of all the things she could've said, it was about his hair. 'I'm so stupid.'

"Huh?" She hears him say in confusion while she keeps her attention glued to the floor. After a few seconds, she hears him chuckle – causing Marinette to look at him. He's currently combing his hair using his fingers. "Don't tell anyone." He said as he puts his index finger over his lips and gave Marinette a quick pat on the head afterward, making her face redder than it already is.

'What. What. What. Oh God. This is too much – I'll die.' Marinette thought as she felt her face heating up. Adrien is adorable in front of her is too much for Marinette to handle. She's going to have a heart attack.

8 8 8

She continues to walk out of the classroom when she spots Alya walking with Nino in the hallway a few meters away from where she is standing. She couldn't wait any longer. She wants to scream at Alya (not literally) about how Adrien acted towards her – it's normal for the two of them to fangirl over their crushes, especially Marinette.

"I'll borrow her for a bit." Says Marinette to Nino as she grabs Alya by the arm and drags her off to the girls' washroom, making sure no one is around besides them.

"What?" Alya asks her best friend, raising an eyebrow in the process. She crosses her arms over her chest and waits for Marinette to say something.

"It's..." Marinette trails off as she bites her lower lip – trying to suppress a squeal from coming out of her mouth but failed miserably. "It's Adrien!" She shrieks, a broad smile appearing on her face.

Alya rolls her eyes but smiles anyway. "Let me guess, you saw him smile. Pretty normal since he's a human too —"Marinette abruptly grabs both of Alya's shoulders, startling the brown haired girl.

"No! I mean yes? He did smile at me – but that's not it! He... He patted my head!" Marinette shakes Alya's shoulders as both of them squeals in happiness. Such small gesture from Adrien could make her so happy and make her day complete.

"But girl, did you find who the girl he likes is?"

"Ah." Marinette stops, her mouth hanging (slightly) open. She forgot. She was so absorbed with fangirling about Adrien's gesture earlier that she forgot about it. "Actually, I didn't. How am I supposed to do that anyway? Walk up to him and say 'oh hi Adrien, can you tell me who is the girl you like so that my best friend and I can murder her then I'll have you for myself.' "

"If we're going to murder all of your rivals then Chloe should have been dead by now." Alya rolls her eyes at her.

Marinette sighs. "Why am I the one to who have to do it, though? You know it will be too painful for me to hear him actually say the name of the girl he likes."

"It's bearable, Marinette." Says Alya as she reaches for the door knob. "I'll help you, don't worry."

8 8 8

"Dude, you haven't told me the name of the girl you like." Nino nudges Adrien as he keeps his voice low in order for the teacher not to notice them talking in class. "It's all because Chloe interrupted."

Marinette's eyes were glued on the board – so that it won't be obvious that she's eavesdropping – but her ears are paying attention to what Adrien will answer next. Adrien, on the other hand, was quite thankful (for once) for Chloe's interruption earlier.

"Why do you want to know anyway?" Adrien asks as he turns his head to Nino's direction.

"It's nothing." Nino shrugs. "I'm just curious. I mean, knowing who's the crush of the famous Adrien Agreste will be quite fun."

"You just want something to use as a blackmail, do you?"

"What? No!" Nino stops for a moment as a smirk appears on his face. "Well, maybe a little."

Nino kept on pestering him after that – they were scolded twice by the teacher because of that so Adrien finally gave up and decided to tell him.

"Fine, I'll tell you!" He hisses. "It's Ladybug."

"What?"

"It's Ladybug – the girl I like..." Adrien answers Nino without even taking a glance at his best friend.

"What?"

This irritates Adrien, he already mentioned Ladybug twice now. He abruptly turns to his right side. "I told you! It's Lady…" He stops as he sees a rather surprised Marinette standing beside their chair. Apparently, the teacher called Marinette a few minutes ago, so she's currently on her way back to her seat when she heard him. "…Bug"

Oh.

Oh.

Nino is sitting on his left side.

Marinette is standing on his right side.

"Y-You like Ladybug?" She blurts out, but not enough for Chloe and the other people to hear, it was only Alya, Nino, Adrien and her who heard. "I mean! I, uh… didn't hear anything… yeah, I didn't." She quickly adds, fidgeting her hands nervously as her face quickly burned and probably as red as a tomato right now – leaving a confused Adrien staring at her.

"Seriously?" Marinette whispers to herself as soon as she sat on her seat – covering her face with her palms to hide her embarrassment.

Adrien likes her.

No.

Adrien likes her as Ladybug.

She feels stupid. Her rival was her alter ego all this time.

"Aren't you supposed to be happy?" Tikki asks Marinette as soon as they arrived in her room. "Adrien likes Ladybug – you."

"I know Tikki. It's just that…" Marinette sighs. "He likes me – but as Ladybug, not as Marinette."

"What are you saying?" Tikki lands on Marinette's shoulder as she stares at her. "It's only the costume that makes you different. If Adrien likes Ladybug's personality, then he likes Marinette as well. I don't see any difference in the way you act with or without the mask and costume – Ladybug and Marinette have the same personality because they are the same person. Maybe Adrien just doesn't notice this about you because you act differently around him only."

Marinette stays quiet, processing every word Tikki said.

'Tikki's right. I act exactly the same round, my classmates – except for Adrien.' She thought.

"You're not going to reveal your identity, right?" The silence made the kwami uneasy. "Hey…"

"Of course, I won't!" Marinette beams, smiling at the kwami on her shoulder. "I promised you back then that I won't reveal it to anyone."

"Then… what are you going to do?"

"I'll make him like Marinette instead!" She grins. "I mean, I won't be Ladybug forever. If he liked Ladybug then he'll definitely like me as just Marinette." She stands up and walks towards her workplace, where she sews and designs. "His birthday, I'll give him the present I will make and greet him myself – unlike last year. I'll start there."

8 8 8

The thumping of Marinette's heart increases as she grabs Adrien's wrist – stopping him from walking and causing him to look behind him. Making sure Chloe or Sabrina aren't around, she decides that now's the perfect opportunity to ask him. Marinette bites her lower lip, hesitating whether she should do this or back-out.

"A-Adrien…" She gulps the lump that is forming in her throat. It's now or never. "Can you wait for me in this classroom after class? I have something to say… and give to you."

Being smaller than him, she glanced up to see his reaction. They are currently standing in front of their classroom – and it's currently lunch break. Adrien stares at her and afterward gives her a slight nod. "O-Okay, I will."

Time seems to pace 100 times faster for both Marinette and Adrien after it was five minutes before the bell will ring, Marinette excuses herself by telling a lie that she had to use the washroom. Alya winks at her while Marinette grabs the medium sized box beside her that is wrapped beautifully overnight as she walks out of the classroom.

'Take a deep breath.' Marinette looks at her reflection in the mirror. 'You can do this.'

Marinette takes one final glance at her reflection and heads outside when she heard the bell rang. She decides to wait for the other students to leave the school – especially Chloe and Sabrina. She notices Alya walks out of the classroom and gives her a thumb up – meaning everyone already left and its Marinette's cue to go inside the classroom.

She walks up in front of the classroom; her pounding heart is the only thing she can hear. She hesitantly grabs the door knob, her hands shaking nervously. 'This is it.' She takes a deep breath as she turns the knob to open the door.

Standing in the middle of the room is Adrien Agreste – her crush. The setting sun sets the whole classroom in an orange hue – complementing his golden hair as he gazes out of the window, not knowing that Marinette entered.

'He really stands out.' She smiles as she walks beside him.

"It's really pretty, huh?" Marinette speaks up. Adrien turned to look at her – looking a bit surprise at her sudden appearance. "I mean the sunset."

"It is." Adrien smiled, reverting his gaze to the window. A comfortable silence starts to fill the atmosphere between the two teenagers for a few minutes until Marinette decides to speak.

"Happy Birthday, Adrien." She hands over the medium sized box earlier and smiles at him. She did it. She greeted him without stuttering.

"Thank you." He smiles back at her and just like what he did before; he pats her head – sending Marinette blushing furiously.

'I'm really sorry for falling in love – no, I'm glad I fell in love with you, Adrien. As for the courage to tell you this in person… I just don't have it in me or in Ladybug yet. But I'm sure that my feelings for you, aren't a lie – and it definitely won't lose to anyone.' Marinette thought as she smiles once more at the boy in front of her.

A/N:

So yeah, I was practically so excited to publish this since yesterday (but hey, 3K words are by far my longest XD) so I'm sorry if I miss out any grammar or spelling error when I edited this. And yes, it's based on HoneyWorks' song with the same title. I was originally planning to do Confession Rehearsal but someone already did that so I did this one.

P.S: I think I'll stick to Angst for after this. Lol