I know it's been forever, but my life is finally starting to settle down. I graduated college, have a stable job, a roof over my head, and have decided to return to all of my fics in the free time I'm able to carve out. I'm sorry for the wait, but with any luck it won't be happening again. Thank you too everyone who stuck through the long wait to continue reading and kept up their reviews during the wait, they honestly filled me with motivation every time I got a new one. Speaking of, there was a question in one about some of the french abbreviations I use, so I'm going to clarify real quick. Mme=madam (miss/mrs.), and M=Monsieur (mr.)Without further ado, I bring you the story.Disclaimer: still don't own ML. I do own the ML pop figures that came out though, so that's really cool.

Adrien watched in satisfaction as the young red head jumped and glanced around. his eyes were slightly panicked as he searched for the cause of the warning hiss. Adrien was so pleased by the reaction that he didn't even feel the need to silence the Kwami currently laughing in his pocket as loud as he could without drawing attention. He saw Marinette's eyes flick to Alya in confusion before turning back to Nathanael.

"You were saying?" she prompted, bring his attention back to her.

"Oh, right. Uhm. I was just wondering if you were planning on going to the dance with anyone in particular," Adrien could have sworn that the boy looked in his direction swiftly at those words, "or not."

"Not yet, no. To be honest, I was originally going to go with Alya, but since those plans have changed I'll probably end up just going by myself. I know I'll still have fun though. How could I not with all of my friends to hang out with?"

Adrien had to grip the sides of his seat to keep himself from doing anything brash as he identified the relief in Nathanael's expression for what it was.

"Come on kid, it's time to put on a bit of the ol' Chat Noir charm and ask her before the scrawny tomato gets a chance." The voice that flitted through Adrien's head sounded suspiciously similar to Plagg's, but he couldn't argue that it had a good point. Unfortunately, his Chart Noir luck seemed to far outweigh the charm. Just as he had built up the confidence to ask Marinette, Chloe entered the room and made a beeline for his seat.

"Oh Adrikins! I finally decided on the dress I'm going to wear for the ball. We'll need your tie to match of course, so I went ahead and ordered one for you from the same designer that's creating my one-of-a-kind gown. You won't have to worry about it at all."

"That's great Chloe, but I was about-"

"Would you like to go with me then?"

Adrien's words were cut short by the sound of Nathanael's soft voice and his eyes quickly turned back to the pair, much to Chloe's dissatisfaction.

"Oh, I-" Marinette's face began to brighten witha rosy blush, but Adrien couldn't tell if it was due to happiness or embarrassment. His focus was transfixed on her every movement as she shyly looked at him from the corner of her eye before darting her gaze around and her cheeks reddened tenfold.

"You don't have to answer now. Just, promise you'll think about it?"

The appreciative smile she sent towards Nathanael left Adrien's knees weak, but he could only imagine its affect on the other boy.

"I promise."

With a soft smile of his own, Nathanael nodded and the headed for his seat in the back. Adrien's stomach churned uneasily as he saw Marinette follow his rival's retreating form with her eyes. Her attention then turned to Chloe, who upon inspection was still rambling on about something regarding the dance.

"Is everything alright Marinette?" He heard himself ask, not liking the way her manner subtly shifted to some form of somber acceptance.

"Everything's fine Adrien. I just had a small realization is all." With that, she took the seat beside him and opened her design book to begin sketching.

Adrien found himself staring at her dumbfounded, barely registering the sudden silence that encompassed the classroom. At a glance he noticed everyone staring openly at Marinette. Chloe in smug victory, Nathanael with hope, and everyone else held a mixture of sadness and resignation in varying degrees. Even Plagg had stopped snickering at the drama that had previously surrounded him. Adrien felt as though he'd just lost something, although he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

Chloe broke him from his internal analysis when she suddenly kissed his cheek. "We'll finish discussing this later Adrikins." There was a gleam in her eyes as she spoke, but she didn't see the need to elaborate on her choice to leave the "conversation" for now.

It wasn't until the lesson started that he realized Marinette hadn't stuttered, stumbled over her words, or even blushed when speaking to him. He wasn't sure what that meant, but something told him it wasn't good.

Classes passed by slowly as he periodically check on Marinette throughout them. Her smiles seemed dimmer and the spark that so often showed in her eyes was missing. He wasn't sure what he could say to help her, but was determined to try. When he turned to Nino for help after school he was surprised to find that even his friend had adopted a slightly more somber mood that usual. When asked though, all he said was that he too was worried about Marinette.

He visited the bakery again that night after transforming, hoping she would confide in his hero persona even though she hadn't to his civilian one. Her balcony was empty when he arrived, but the light to her bedroom was on. He listened closely to make sure she was alone before tapping on the real door. He waited, but there was no response. Just as he was debating whether to knock again or simply go home, it began to open.

Marinette had a small smile that did nothing to hide her defeated expression. "Hey Chat." Even her voice came across saddened.

"Princess, what's wrong?" His concern for her was palpable.

She sighed and dropped the smile before motioning for him to enter her room. It was easy to slip in the trap door and land silently on the bed beneath it. Once seated he didn't hesitate to pull her in to a hug. He didn't want to be too forward, but she seemed like she needed one and he couldn't help wanting to comfort her in some way. He let out a relieved breath when her arms encircled his waiste. She didn't cry, but he gently ran the claws of one hand through her hair when her breathing became a bit ragged.

Despite his desire to get to the bottom of what was causing her pain, he held his tongue and was simply there for her. His eyes scanned the room for some sort of answer to what had upset her but found nothing. His eyes did however catch on a nearly completed dress on one of her mannequins. "Even when she feels down, she continues to work on things to make others happy." The thought made him even more determined to lift her mood.

"Thank you Chat. I really needed this." Marinette squeezed him a little tighter before reluctantly pulling back. "I know you want to know why I just had a little breakdown, but it's there any way we could put that off for a bit? I really don't feel like talking about it right now."

"Of course Princess." He cupped the side of her face to keep her in place before continuing. "Just know that when you are ready to talk, I'll be here. Purr-omise." A small laugh escaped her at the pun and lifted his spirits. Before moving away from him, he caught her face's pink tint, causing him to smile. He hadn't realized just how much he missed being the cause of her blushing. He searched his mind for a topic other than the one she'd specifically asked him to avoid and recalled the dress he'd seen.

"It looks like this dress is almost done," he said while making his way over to it. It was a baby pink chiffon dress with a sweetheart neckline. The cinched waistline and off the shoulder straps were lined with silk flowers, a slightly darker shade of pink in color. The floor length skirt was also rimmed at the bottom with the same roses and given volume by layers of chiffon over a taffeta base. In all it was reminiscent of a classic princess ball gown with a modern twist. There was a pink and silver mask with delicate silver filigree on the table beside the dress as well as a silver toned drop necklace with pink roses and crystals along the length, matching earrings, and elbow length pink silk gloves that matched the roses on the dress.

"I take it this is for that dance of yours?" he asked with a smile.

"It is." He was happy to see her expression brightening at the subject he'd chosen. "All that's left is adding a couple more roses to the back and it will be done. Then I can move on to the next one." She pointed to another mannequin that simply held a strapless purple sheath dress. "I'll be adding a black lace halter to the bodice, leather corset to the waist and strips of purple and black tuille to the skirt for that one." The mask beside it was a midnight purple with black feathers on one side and sat on a pair of short fingerless black lace gloves.

He watched quietly as her expression continued to brighten while explaining her plans. His own smile grew with her excitement. It was a relief to see the spark she had been missing during most of the day. By the time she was done, his tail was swaying back and forth in mirth.

"That's better." She turned to him curiously at his words. "You look far more beautiful when smiling purr-incess."

Her face quickly turned red and she looked back at the dresses to avoid his gaze, but Chat was happy to see that the smile had not disappeared.

"Three more dresses left to make, and one that still needs designed," she said while looking over the sketches splayed across her desk.

"I have no doubt you'll pull through princess." His words were soft as he debating what he wanted to say next. Gathering his courage, he decided to go for it. "May I ask if there's a lucky prince you're considering going with? You are quite a cat-ch after all." There was a small dip to her smile that she wasn't able to hide, and Chat wondered if he should have just kept his mouth shut.

"There was someone, but I'm afraid I lost my chance. It wouldn't have been as more than a friend-date anyways, but he's going to be taking someone else." There was a dejected note to get voice that made him want to change the subject, but she continued before he could. "A different boy in my class asked me to go with him though. I haven't decided what to tell him yet, but he wouldn't be there worst person to go with. He's a good friend and I'm sure we'd have a fun evening. Besides, I'd feel kinda of bad if I said no. He's really shy, and I know it took a lot of courage for him to even ask.

Chat had the sudden urge to tear his claws through something. Of course Marinette would be too sweet to turn Nathanael down, and on top of that there was some other guy out there she had her heart set on who was obviously too blind to see her worth. "Would you be willing to go with me?" The words were out of his mouth before he even really thought about it.

And there we have it everyone. By the way, I will be taking suggestions for Marinette's dress color scheme. The options are pink/black, green/black, pink/red, or red/black. Just put your choice in a review; I'll tally them up and pick the most popular. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up on Friday, so you have until then to get your vote in.

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~Sana