"Hey, I'm sorry you don't get to see the concert too," Marinette said.

Alya glanced down from the bed ladder. She was standing there, half way up the ladder, reaching for a portrait of Adrien wearing a tailored waist coat and a suit shirt with rolled up sleeves. Alya reached a little further, holding tight to the ladder bar as she did. The poster tore at the corners, but came off intact. Given that some of them had been glued up, Alya counted that as a win.

"What'd you mean? I'm going to watch it at home," she said as she climbed back down the ladder.

Marinette frowned. "At home?"

"Yeah. Someone's bound to post it online, I'll watch it then," she said.

Marinette glanced at Tikki. "But it's not the same..."

Alya laid the last armful of posters in the bottom drawer of Marinette's desk and dusted her hands off as she stood back up.

"If this all goes well you can buy me a ticket for his next concert," Alya smirked.

Marinette chuckled. She really did owe Alya so much. A concert ticket was nothing. "Deal."

"Besides, me and Nino are hanging out in his house tonight, after I'm done babysitting," Alya continued.

"Why?"

"Well his parents are out for the weekend, so he invited me over. we're supposed to be studying but to be honest we're more likely to watch a bad movie and laugh about it together."

Alya didn't mention how much the prospect of them just sitting on his sofa making bad jokes made her tingle inside. Or that Nino had convinced her to spend the night already by saying being alone in a dark and empty house made him scared and he needed a big bad wolf to scare the ghouls away. She knew he was teasing her, but the idea that she was the one he'd call when he was in trouble made her grin.

"Do you want to go over the plan again?" Alya asked.

"We've done it forty times Alya!" Marinette laughed.

"Another forty and you'll might remember it," Alya grinned.

Marinette grinned back. It was impossible to pretend that Alya didn't know what she was talking about. Everyone who saw Marinette and Adrien together knew she had a problem talking to him. The problem being that she couldn't. She couldn't string two sentences together without messing it up when she was with him.

"One last time, just to be sure," Tikki ushered.

Marinette nodded. One more time couldn't hurt. "Alright, one more time."

Alya cleared her throat expertly. "Right, when Adrien arrives, you'll text me. Then I'll wait five minutes before phoning you to make sure you know Nino is sick and I have to look after him."

"I suggest that we call the whole thing off, and - oh but what if he says yes?!" Marinette felt sick with nerve at the idea.

Alya laid a hand around Marinette's shoulders, and pulled her in to a supportive half hug. "Don't worry, he's been excited about this all week. He won't say no."

Marinette tried to calm her nerve but there was so much riding on this that she couldn't do it. Marinette fiddled with the shirt laid on the sofa, anxiously.

"Are you sure this will work?" She asked.

Alya shrugged. "If it doesn't then I'm going to take him to an optician because he's clearly blind."

Marinette gave a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan, "Alya!"

"What? Imagine him with glasses," Alya grinned.

Marinette wrinkled her nose as she imagined it. That messy hair, blurry tired eyes, glasses dangling off his nose, flapping the hair out of the way of his glasses. Chewing the end of the handle as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. The way the sun would glint off of them when he pulled his head back and laughed. The way they would magazine his shining green eyes, and their ability to see into her soul. the little anxious look he'd have when he lost them, and the surprised laugh of embarrassment when someone pointed out they were on his head. A smile curled over Marinette. He looked even smarter with those glasses on. So handsome. Alya chuckled.

"He can join Nino and me in the eyesight club. He can settle arguments about who's the greatest, me or Nino," she smiled.

"He'll choose Nino," Marinette stated.

Alya frowned. She wasn't wrong. Bros first and all that. "then aren't I glad he doesn't have glasses?"

Marinette gave a weak chuckle and agreed. Her mind was elsewhere. Namely on tonight. She felt sick. Queasy. Her stomach ached, and her mouth was filling with water like she was getting ready to throw up. Alya noticed that she was swaying. She guessed the poor girl's legs had gone weak with nerve.

"Mari don't worry. If this doesn't work, then we know it's time to get seriously blatant. Or to ask Ivan for advice," Alya suggested.

Ivan and Mylene had the best relationship of anyone their age. Everyone knew it. even if it had taken an akuma – the very first akuma – to bring them together. Marinette chose not to mention that Ivan had just been following her advice. Or that ladybug had given him the final push he needed to close that gap. They didn't have the ability to hope she or ladybug would help here. Although Ivan had actually managed to tell her how he felt, and managed to get her to agree, and now they were dating. Alya put that down to Mylene being smart enough to know she loved him too. If Adrien was too stupid to see that, as he seemed to be at the moment, this could all go pear shaped fast.

"Adrien's not stupid Alya, if he can't see what I feel it's because he doesn't feel it himself..." Marinette said, miserably.

"If he doesn't then he is stupid. There's only one person in the whole of Paris better than you, and that's Ladybug," Alya said, firmly.

Marinette perked up a little as Tikki giggled in the corner. Tikki agreed wholeheartedly with that statement.

"So, are you ready for one last try?" Alya asked.

Marinette took a deep breath. It didn't really help anything. She gulped and nodded. Alya smirked. They had gone through this so much that they could re-enact it without thinking, and yet Alya knew somehow, some way, it would get messed up. Maybe it wouldn't be her fault, maybe Adrien would say that he didn't want to go if it was just the two of them, maybe Adrien was that stupid.

"Ok, so I'm Adrien," Alya said. She turned around to prepare and get into character. Then, she swung back around, flashed her a flirty smile, and said, in her best Adrien impression (which was terrible), "Hey Mari-"

Marinette burst into laughter instantly. Alya's impression was terrible. Alya grinned. "What?!"

"That was so bad!" Marinette laughed.

Alya laughed too. "What'd you mean, that's what he sounds like! Hey Mari, baby-"

"BABY!?" Marinette howled. "When has he ever called anyone baby?!"

"Well what does he call you?" Alya asked.

She couldn't hide her grin. It was awesome to hear her laughing like that. especially when she had been so close to being sick just a few minutes ago. Marinette tried to regain control, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"He doesn't call me anything. the only person with a nickname for me is Chat Noir," Marinette pointed out.

She had run into Chat Noir a few more times as Marinette now. every single time he had called her Princess, or some variation of it. every single time she told Alya about it. it was easier to dish about the cat if she thought they were closer outside of costume. Otherwise Alya might think she had a crush on him. of course, that was insane. I mean, Alya was here, now, pretending to be Adrien so Marinette wouldn't get nervous later.

Alya groaned, "that was like three times maybe! How many people do you think he calls princess if he calls you princess within seconds of meeting you?"

Marinette shrugged. He could have a million princesses, she didn't care. Everyone knew she was his lady. More than usual now, since there was footage (on Alya's blog) of him arguing with the latest akuma for daring to call her their lady, because he was the only one who could call her that. They argued about it later, since it went viral, and agreed anyone could call her their lady, but she didn't belong to any of them. not even him. but, if he felt he needed a private nickname for her, he could call her bugaboo. It was a compromise she hated, but accepted, for the good of Paris.

"Come on, let's do this," Marinette insisted.

Alya cleared her throat again. she put on a half-hearted voice, and Marinette still grinned, but did her best not to laugh.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," she smiled back.

Alya nodded approvingly. Marinette wasn't pink. That was an improvement already. "Thanks for agreeing to come, tonight's gonna be awesome."

"Yeah, awesome," Marinette nodded. She fought the urge to say PAWsome. She'd been spending far too much time with Chat recently.

"ready to go?" Alya asked.

"Sure."

Alya made sound effects of the phone ringing. Marinette pulled a face.

"Oh, sorry, let me get this, it's Alya," She said.

"Less of the face, thanks, that's your best friend calling," Alya pointed out, pretending to be offended.

Marinette giggled, "sorry. Hey Alya, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much, I've been babysitting, and now Nino is chucking his guts up so I'm on my way over there with my mum's ginger soup to help him feel better. You?" Alya shrugged.

Her eyes twinkled mischievously. Marinette shook her head, laughing again. it was difficult to be serious when her best friend was standing in front of her, checking her nails like she was a bored teenager in a chick flick.

"oh no, is he going to be ok for the gig tonight?" She asked, trying to pin back the giggles.

"the gig tonight? Oh no, no, we won't be able to go to that. you'll have to go alone with Adrien and make him fall madly in love with you by singing along to Jagged Stone at the top of your lungs,"

"Alya," Marinette mumbled, blushed, then went back to acting, "that's a real shame."

"I know, have fun for us."

"I'll try."

Alya cleared her throat again, and put on a husky voice that was even less like Adrien than ever before. "What's happened?"

"It's just going to be you and me, Nino's sick and Alya's going to look after him... unless... unless you wanna call it a night instead," Marinette held her breath in fear.

Alya made a dramatic scene of twirling her finger into the air and lowering it to tap her chin thoughtfully. Marinette grinned, but her stomach was twisted with nerve waiting for her to give an answer. Any answer.

"I guess we should stop by, to make sure he's ok. but then we'll be late to a gig," Adrien-Alya said.

"Adrien is never late for anything," Marinette pointed out.

"Then grab your coat so we're not late for this!"

Alya grabbed Marinette's jacket from the pile in front of them and threw it so it landed on Marinette's head and covered her face. Marinette pulled it off, and laughed. Alya grinned. she took the jacket back, and picked up the shirt that had been knocked onto the floor. When she looked down at it, it made her smile wider. Alya had almost torn this limited-edition Ladybug themed Jagged Stone shirt in half while she fought a tug-of-war with someone for it. they had gone in seconds, and caused riots in the street. Alya got out of there with two. One in her hand, one up the shirt she was wearing. Marinette raced after her, terrified of the akuma that would definitely be caused by this later. But she had her shirt.

"And if he doesn't appreciate the effort that went into this outfit, he's not worth the effort anyway," Alya said, firmly.

"He'll appreciate it. he's worth it. he's perfect," Marinette sighed, dreamily.

Alya rolled her eyes. then her phone rang. Marinette jumped as it snatched her from her daydream. Alya smirked. her friend wasn't half ridiculous sometimes. She glanced at her phone. It was her mother, calling her home for babysitting. Alya stood up.

"I've gotta go. call me tomorrow morning, as soon as you wake up, and tell me, everything! No, actually, text me while it's happening!" Alya beamed, "I was the details."

Marinette laughed and promised to tell her everything as soon as she could. They hugged, and Alya headed back down to the bakery to say goodbye to Marinette's parents before leaving.

"I have a delivery ten minutes away from your house, give me a minute and I'll give you a lift," Tom offered.

"Are you sure?" Alya asked.

"Of course! we have to make sure you get home safe," Tom smiled.

"That'd be awesome, thanks," Alya beamed.

Tom nodded, and wandered into the back to get ready to go. Alya grinned. that would cut down on the time she'd have to spend with her sisters, and it would give her more time with Nino later! She wondered if Marinette knew how awesome her parents were.

Nino gulped down the glass of water dramatically after that incredibly fake coughing fit had sent him into a real one. Adrien watched him though the video chat they had been doing, with an eyebrow raised, and concern for his poor best friend's health.

"If your throat is that bad how are you going to yell tonight?" Adrien asked.

Nino gulped again, and took a sharp breath before turning back to the computer. "Dude, I feel awful. I don't think a concert is the best place for me right now."

Adrien's eyebrow rose higher. "really? I once watched you throw up a bad taco and race across a building, green in the face, because your favourite song came on, but a bad throat means you can't go to a concert?"

"That was different! That was a DJ concert, and I was there to win."

And in Nino's defence, he won. He passed out, but he won.

"So, you're going to let your girlfriend wander around the streets, alone, with me?" Adrien smirked.

"You won't be alone, Alya doesn't go anywhere without Marinette," Nino pointed out.

Adrien shrugged, pointedly, "I'm pretty handsome when I start singing. I could steal her away from you if you don't come…"

Nino suddenly got very serious. Adrien broke hearts with a smile, even if he didn't realise it at times. He was handsome, and funny, and charming, and KIND. That was enough to make him the most crushed on boy in the entire school. If he tried to, he could steal Alya. at least Nino had enough doubt to believe it for a minute or two.

Very seriously, he said, "don't you dare."

Adrien laughed brightly, "Do you think I would? Dude, I promise, I feel nothing but friendship for Alya."

Nino shifted in his chair. It wasn't like he and Alya were dating after all. he didn't have the right to stop her crushing on whoever she wanted. Now he felt uncomfortable.

"and what about Mari? Don't you like her?" Nino asked.

Adrien lit up. "Marinette?"

"Yeah dude, Marinette."

"sure, she's a great friend!"

Nino fought very hard not to roll his eyes. that stupid smile of his when he heard Marinette's name gave away his real feelings, to everyone but him. he really believed he wasn't in love with her. which is part of the reason Nino agreed to bail out of the concert with Alya. He couldn't be asked to deal with Adrien being so blind anymore. When Alya confirmed what everyone already knew (that Marinette was smitten with Adrien) Nino was delighted to help get those idiots together. before that, he was too worried about putting Marinette in an awkward position, and risking Adrien being hurt. He didn't want to be the reason his friends got hurt. Also, it meant that Alya would be spending the night alone with him.

Anything could happen!

"Adrien?!" a voice called off screen.

Adrien turned his head, his face falling. Nino's heart sank. He knew that face. Gabriel was calling him. Not for anything good either. Adrien gave him an apologetic look.

"See you tonight?" he asked.

Nino faked another cough, "probably. Listen, don't let him get you down. You're the best."

Adrien smiled a real smile for Nino, and nodded, "Not the best. That's you."

"ADRIEN!"

"Gotta go!"

The screen went blank as he hung up. Nino heaved a sigh. He really didn't like Gabriel sometimes. All he could hope was that Adrien had a good time tonight. If he realised he was in love with Marinette, that would finally be something to make him smile.