A/N: Hey everyone! I saw Troublemaker, and I just had to write a fic about it! I hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the dialogue from the locker scene.

"Hey, Marinette! I was just wondering if you liked me? No, no! That's too direct. I need to be subtle. Hey, Marinette! What have you been up to lately? Or is that too nosy? What do you think, Plagg?" Adrien turned around to face his kwami.

Plagg just stared at him, disinterested. "I don't know, and I don't care. I told you, kid, cheese is a lot less complicated. You should stick to that."

He flew to Adrien's bag, knowing there was some camembert stashed in there. Meanwhile, Adrien groaned.

He normally wouldn't be stressing about talking to Marinette. But this was different. If anyone had told him before yesterday that Marinette liked him, he would've laughed and said that she was just a good friend. Now, he knew better. The evidence was literally staring right back at him on his TV. If that wasn't enough, when he had gone to face Troublemaker at her house, he had found dozens of pictures of him throughout her room. There was no use denying it. Marinette Dupain-Cheng had a crush on him.

After he got home, he had seen that his phone was being blown up with texts and missed calls. Most were from Nino, but one was from Alya. Knowing that the blogger would be pissed if she had to wait any longer to hear from him, he decided to respond to her first. Their conversation was simple and to the point. Alya did not want him to address the situation at all, and she said it was best to stay away from Marinette for a bit. He had tried to protest, but she insisted and ended the call.

He had hung up, frustrated. He felt bad for Marinette. She was humiliated in front of all of Paris, including him. Not only that, but her family's bakery had faced an akuma attack. She must have been scared and worried the entire time. He knows he would've been.

Now, she had to go to school and face everyone. He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't show up. But if she did, he wanted to talk to her about it. Despite what Alya may think, he didn't think leaving her hanging like that would be a good idea. He wanted to let her know that even though he knows about her crush, they can still remain friends.

The only problem was that he wasn't sure how to approach her. He didn't want to sound nosy, but she must know that he already knows. Even if he hadn't been tuning into the show, it was all over social media. People had seen her before, thinking she was his girlfriend. After the broadcast, people are shipping them, saying that they would make a cute couple. He cringed when he had first saw it, thinking of how mortified she must have been when she saw #adrienette trending.

Looking into the mirror, he said, "Hey, Marinette! How are you? I was kind of concerned after watching the show yesterday, and I was wondering if everything was alright. That sounds better, right? Then, I can reassure her that we're still good friends."

Plagg zoomed towards him, holding a slice of cheese in between his paws. "You sure are putting a lot of effort to tell your friend that you two are just friends."

Adrien blushed. "Well, I don't want her getting the wrong idea. I mean, sure she is a great person. She's very talented, and independent. Not to mention, she's very sweet and pretty...B-but I don't like her like that! She deserves to know that I don't feel the same way. Then, she can find a guy who likes her back."

"Hmm. Maybe you're right. If you think about it, she would be good with that Luka guy. He's obviously interested in her."

"Wh-what? You think he likes her?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Adrien scrunched up his nose at the thought of Marinette and Luka together. For some reason, that bothered him. "She could do better."

"Like who? You?"

"No! I'm devoted to Ladybug. She's my true love, and as soon as she gets over her crush on that other boy, I can confess to her again, she'll tell me she feels the same way, and we'll live happily ever after."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "You know, you could always see where this goes with Marinette. Ladybug isn't giving you any signals that she feels the same way, and you aren't bound to her. You're allowed to like other people."

With that, Plagg flew away and left Adrien alone in the bathroom to ponder over what he had said. He felt like his heart was pulling him back and forth.

Okay, Adrien, you've got this. Just let her down easy. Who cares what Plagg says? You love Ladybug, Adrien thought.

He was currently hiding in the locker room, praying that today would be the day she didn't come to school late. He stared at the clock, seeing that there were still another fifteen minutes before class started. She still had time, and so did he.

His palms started to sweat a bit. He didn't think getting ready to let someone down would be this hard.

He peeked past the lockers and saw Marinette sneak in. She was obviously trying her best to be discreet, but she didn't need to be. He was the only other person in there.

She opened her locker, and he walked up to her. Her locker door was blocking him from her view, which he was grateful for. He schooled his expression and prepared himself for the inevitable.

"Phew! Hopefully, he didn't see me," Marinette said.

Her back was turned to him. He lifted up his hand to wave and said, "Hi, Marinette!"

"Ahh!" she squealed. He frowned.

"How's it going? After what happened at your place last night, I-I was worried―"

"Oh, so you watched the show then!" She began to laugh nervously.

I was worried. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to turn her down, after all. She was getting nervous just at the thought of what happened.

"Well, look. About what you saw on the show, the totographs in my room," she started, but Adrien cut her off.

"You mean, the photographs?" he asked, confused.

"The grotographs! Exactly! It, it's not what you think. See, I'm really into fashion, and, um," she said, defensive.

Adrien couldn't help but find it a bit adorable how she tried to lie about her crush. He also couldn't help but let some of his inner Chat come out.

He leaned in close and smirked at her. "Are you lying?"

She pushed him away. "No! I'm so not into you! I mean, sure I'm interested in you, but not in that way. Well, you know, haha."

She somehow got more adorably flustered. As cute as it was, he decided to give her a break. "Haha, just teasing."

He put his arm around her and was surprised when she didn't turn completely red. "I understand, don't worry. I've gotten used to having lots of fans and photographs of me everywhere. Even in the most unlikely places."

She let out a cute giggle that for some reason, made his heart skip a beat.

What are you doing? You love Ladybug, he thought to himself.

"As if someone would have a picture of you under a bed, right?" she asked, jokingly.

That snapped him back to their conversation, and he took his arm off her. For a second, he thought about how he was betraying his Lady, But then, he remembered what Plagg had told him. He could like other people, including a bright blue-eyed girl who already likes him.

"Hey, I was wondering, since you're into fashion so much, you could come watch my next photoshoot," he offered. He knew that by doing this, he was allowing himself to admit that he felt something for Marinette. But maybe he did want to see if he and Marinette could work out.

"No way! For you? For meal, f-for r-real?" she asked. It'd take a while before she was fully comfortable around him, but if he could wait over a year for Ladybug, he could wait for Marinette.

"Yeah, they're pretty long and boring. But if you were there, it'd definitely be more fun. What do you say?" he grinned at her. It was the truth. If she were there, it would be so much more fun. He could also get her to relax a bit more around him. Maybe she'd have more pictures of him to add to her collection.

Oh, wow! YES. Um, thank you Adrien," she gushed. She gave me a bright smile, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Great! I'll keep you posted then. See you later in class," he said, walking to the door.

He stopped and turned to say, "I'm glad to have you as one of my fans."

She looked at him, a bit shocked. A rosy hue appeared on her cheeks, and he really wanted to kiss her right then and there. The only time he's ever felt like that was around Ladybug, but it looked like another blue-eyed beauty has snuck her way into his heart. It took her crush being revealed for him to open his eyes, but at least now, he knew.

He kept walking, opened the door, and waved at her one last time. He left, wondering how he was supposed to get his heart rate back to normal.

The bell rang, and he ran to class. Once he sat down, Nino looked at him, curiously.

"Dude, I know that you probably saw the pictures, but can you please not question Marinette about it. She can be pretty sensitive, and she doesn't need heartbreak right now."

He smirked at him. "We already talked, and everything's good between us."

Nino raised his eyebrows at him. "Really? She didn't cry when you let her down?"

"Who says I let her down?"

Marinette burst into the classroom. She stuttered out a few apologies to Mme. Bustier, and went to her seat. As she passed Adrien, he winked at her. She blushed and gave him a small smile.

Satisfied, Adrien turned back to face Nino, who saw the whole interaction. He looked shocked.

"Woah, man! You and Marinette?" he whisper-yelled.

Adrien shook his head. "Not yet. But maybe one day. I want to get to know her better first."

Nino nodded approvingly and turned to face the front. Mme. Bustier had started her lecture. While everyone else around him was listening and taking notes, Adrien daydreamed of bluebell eyes, raven hair, and an adorable blush.