Alya was pulling a blanket over her friend's sleeping form when her mom knocked on her door. A moment later Melena poked her head around the door to announce that supper was being served. Upon seeing the small form laying in her daughter's bed, she gave her daughter a questioning look.

"Alya," she asked quietly, "Why is Marinette sleeping?"

"She was exhausted so I told her she could sleep a little bit before we ate." She bit her lip as she looked down at the resting girl. "She just fell asleep so I'd hate to wake her up. Can we save some for her to eat later?"

"Sure, honey," Melena said thoughtfully. "Though I am a little concerned for her. We'll wake her after we're done to check to make sure that she's okay."

"Okay, Mama," Alay said as she gingerly stepped over Marinette's purse and made her way to the door. Her mother stepped back to allow her daughter to leave the room before shutting off the main light. She was about to shut the door as well when she decided against it.

It was just the two of them when they finally sat down to eat. Alya's siblings and father had left to go fishing in the country for the weekend. Normally the whole family would have gone together, but, with how busy Ladybug had been lately, Alya begged to stay home. She kept talking about how she just had to be there to cover the latest attacks.

Melena had always trusted her daughter. She had proven herself to be responsible time and again, but she always worried for her safety when she searched the skies for superheroes. Most nights she came back with stars in her eyes and a fingers itching to post about the latest scoop. But there were a few nights that her daughter came home with a look that didn't belong on her youthful face quite yet. And, since attacks could happen at any time, she did not feel comfortable leaving her home alone all weekend.

Normally conversation easily flowed between mother and daughter, but instead there was a long lapse of strained silence. Melena decided to give her daughter some time to come clean about the situation of her own accord. But, no matter how long she waited, Alya refused to say a word of her own. Melena let out a sigh before she looked at her daughter with a serious expression.

"Do her parents know what she does?"

Alya's eyes flew open at her mother's words as her food-ladened spoon hung suspended halfway to her mouth. It was obvious that she had not expect her mother to have guessed the situation. It then quickly dawned on her that she should try to play off the situation so she stuffed her face with her food and attempted to look nonchalant. Her mind was moving a mile a minute as she attempted to come up with an explanation. She finally found the words when she swallowed the big bite of food and filled her spoon again. She did her best to meet her mother's eyes, but she found her eyes going to her mother's spoon instead.

"You mean skipping classes and flaking out on plans? I'm pretty sure that they do. They grounded her for it a little while ago. I'm sorry that it's such a last minute thing, but I just couldn't leave her there after the akuma attack."

"Alya," her mother said sternly as she set her spoon down and crossed her arms. "I understanding that you're trying to protect her, Lord knows that she probably deserves as much protecting as she can get, but you aren't fooling me."

Alya's face immediately fell. She had known her best friend's secret for less than a day! What kind of best friend was she? She had promised that she wouldn't tell anyone. Marinette would never trust her ever again. What if she no longer wanted to be her friend at all? What if she started to hate her? What if-

"Honey, take a deep breath." Alya hadn't realized that she wasn't really breathing, but now that she noticed she found herself breathing too much. Her mother immediately pushed her chair back with so much force that it clattered loudly onto the floor. She quickly came around to take her daughter's face into her hands. "I want you to take slow and deep breaths, okay Honey?" Alya nodded slightly as her mother began coaching her breathing.

It took quite a few minutes for her mother to calm her down, but, once she was able to breathe properly again, her mother took her hands in hers and looked at Alya with worried and determined eyes. The teenager could feel some panic well again as her mother began to speak, but her mother immediately squeezed her hands gently and slowly - a silent reminder to take calming breaths.

"Alya, yes I was able to figure it out, but I'm not going to tell anyone about this. From how many times you and your siblings talk about superheros, I understand how important it is for her family's safety." Marlena gently tucked a wayward hair behind her daughter's ear before continuing. "I'm sorry that I made you panic. I only asked if they knew so that I could know what to tell them when I call them. It's pretty obvious to me that she didn't contact them and I'm quite sure that they're very worried about her at this moment. I know that it would put their minds at ease if they knew where she was."

"I don't think that they know," Alya said quietly as she looked away. The feeling of remorse and trepidation began to course through her as she thought of what her best friend would think of her once she found out that her best friend's mother knew her secret now. Marinette had gone a whole year without anyone finding out, and then Alya, foolishly, had caused her to blow her cover for two people! She couldn't face her anymore. She-

"Alya, everything is going to be okay," her mother soothed as her daughter began tear up. "My finding out isn't any of your fault. You did everything you could to hide her identity from me. It wasn't your fault that Marinette is a bit too tall for that old blanket to cover up her feet as well." She chuckled as she wiped Alya's tears away. A ghost of a smile could be seen on her face before it disappeared into a grimace. Her mother sighed before continuing; refusing to lose her humor for her daughter's sake.

"Besides, now she has two people who can help her if she's ever in a pinch again. And she can know, without a doubt, that she is always welcome in our home if things ever get tough out in this crazy world. How does that sound?"

"I suppose," Alya mumbled.

"Great. Now let's finish supper up so that I can call in her first cover story," Marlena winked at her daughter before going around to the other side of the table and carefully righting the chair. The rest of the meal was spent in silence, but there was a distinct lack of the previous tension.

They were just finishing up when a groggy Marinette walked through the door. Alya greeted her as best as she could, but it was difficult without meeting her eyes. Thankfully, Marinette wasn't able to pay her any mind through her muddled state. Instead, she carefully limped to the table and sat down in an empty seat besides Alya where she promptly laid her head on top of her folded arms.

"Good evening, sleepy-head," Melena said with a big smile. "Are you hungry?"

"I don't know," she mumbled into the table. "I heard a loud bang so I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Oh, yes, everything is fine. I just accidentally knocked over my chair," the older woman said sheepishly as she collected hers and her daughter's plates. "I hope you don't mind that we let you rest. Alya mentioned that you were exhausted after the akuma attack so I thought that letting you sleep was the best option."

"'s fine," Marinette slurred. Melena looked at the girl in concern as she set down the plates on the kitchen island. She then came to the tired teen's side and looked her over critically. It was obvious that she was in no shape to be doing much of anything.

"I don't think that you should go home tonight. In fact, I almost wonder if you should stay with us for a couple of days until you can get your energy up." Marinette pushed herself up into a sitting position while shaking her head.

"No, I should be fine after staying one night." She considered the girl before her. It looked as though she was barely staying awake at the table as her head nodded down occasionally.

"I suppose that we can see how you're doing tomorrow," Melena, though not convinced, decided to compromise for the time being. She shared a look with Alya before continuing. "I'm going to call your parents to let them know that you're staying over. Would you like me to go over and pick up anything for you?" Marinette shook her head. "Alright, Alya you go ahead and warm up a small portion of the food while I let them know about Marinette staying the night."

"Okay," Alya said as her mother walked towards the living room to place the phone call out of ear-shot of the teens. "I'll be right back," Alya said soon afterwards. Marinette watched with hooded eyes as she prepared a plate to reheat for her. She blinked once, twice, and by the third time that her eyes were opening there was a plate of hot food being set before her. In all honesty, she wasn't too hungry, but Marinette did her best to eat because she knew that she would need it to regain her energy in case of another akuma attack.

As she ate, a small amount of energy came back to her. Some of her weariness had lifted enough that she noticed that her friend was abnormally silent. She had expected that Alya would need some time to get used to the idea, but, with how excited she was when Marinette revealed it to her the silence seemed to be off.

She blinked a few times in an attempt to focus on her friend. Alya was messing with her phone, which was something that was normal for the blogger, but her shoulders were hunched. The hand that was not occupied with her phone absently twirled a strand of hair. All of these were normal tics for the girl, but, after a few moments of observation, Marinette spotted her friend biting her lip -a habit that she only partook in when she was nervous about something.

What on Earth did she have to be nervous about?

"Alya?" She asked as she set her utensils down and turned to her friend. Immediately Alya looked up from her phone and smiled sheepishly. "Is everything okay?" Alya was about to reply when her mother entered the room and interrupted the two.

"Well, Marinette," she said as she sat in her previous seat, "Your parents are concerned about your health, but they agreed to you staying here. They said that if you need to stay longer that you may, but if you need anything either you'll need to get it or I'll need to go by to pick it up. Apparently tomorrow they have a big order to fill and won't be able to drop anything by themselves."

"Oh yeah…" The teen said before sighing. "I was supposed to help with that order, too…"

"They said not to worry at all. Apparently they weren't affected by the akuma attack so they were able to work ahead during the lull."

"That's good to hear," she said as she attempted to stifle a yawn. She looked down at her half-finished food with a frown. Marinette hated to waste food, but it was becoming difficult to keep herself awake enough to eat anymore. She willed herself to take a few more bites anyways, but, when she almost dropped the spoon into her lap Melena put a gentle hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Don't worry about finishing. If you're too tired to stay awake anymore, you should go on ahead and go to sleep."

"Okay," she said wearily as she pushed herself away from the table.

"Would you like to change into some my old pajamas before you go to bed?" Alya asked tentatively as she stood up with her friend. "I'm sure that we could find a set that would fit you." Marinette considered it for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't think I'd be able to stay awake long enough," she said sheepishly. "Where should I sleep?"

"You could sleep on my bed." Alya said with a shrug.

"But won't you-"

"It's not a problem, Marinette," The mother interjected gently. "We have an extra mattress that Alya can set up. Besides, if you can't stay up long enough for us to find you some sleeping clothes, how on earth will you stay awake while I inflate a mattress?" She chuckled lightly as she gently guided the girls in the direction of Alay's room. She watched in bemusement as her daughter's best friend flopped back onto the bed. "Alya, dear, let's go ahead and get that extra mattress for you set up."

Alya turned to follow her mother out of the room, but a tug on her shirt caused her to look back at her exhausted friend. She could clearly see concern marring friend's expression as she used what little energy she had to hold her friend in place.

"You'll tell me what's bothering you when I wake up, right?" The blogger could feel her friend's eyes search her face. She had hoped that Marinette had forgotten her interrupted question. But, after the amount of time that she had spent around the other teen, she should have known that she would have been stubborn about insisting on making sure that her best friend was okay. If there was anything that she had learned about her best friend it was just how fiercely she cared about other people.

No wonder she was a superhero.

"Yeah." Alya said as she gently pried her shirt out of Marinette's grip. "Don't worry too much about me right now, though, okay? Just focus on feeling better right now." The superheroine looked as though she wanted to protest more, but a wave of exhaustion hit her and she found that she could not. She carefully retracted her hand back, snuggled under her best friend's covers, and nodding.

Marinette watched with heavy eyelids as her friend left the room to locate Melena. Something about the situation made her feel uneasy, but her sleep-addled brain couldn't quite pin-point what was wrong. She tried to fight through her sleep for a moment or so in an attempt to puzzle through what was off about the situation, but that proved to be far too difficult for her.

She would wait until she woke up to find out what was bothering Alya.

A/N: Thank you so much for the positive response to this! It really means a great deal to me. I don't know when I'll get the third part of this done, but please be watching for it in the next few weeks!

As always, thanks for reading and, if you have any thoughts or comments leave them in the reviews!