Marinette was a popular little girl. Caring, fun loving, and loyal, she never lacked for friends. But she only had one best friend. Alya Cesaire and Marinette Dupain-Cheng bonded on the first day of Pre-K, when Chloe Bourgeois tried to pour glue in Marinette's hair. Alya noticed at the last moment, and managed to knock the glue out of Chloe's hand. Naturally, Chloe screamed bloody murder and insisted Alya was trying to glue her hair. Their teacher was able to see through her dramatic accusations though, choosing to relocate Chloe to the opposite end of the room, just to be safe. This cemented two very different relationships: the close friendship between Marinette and Alya, and the fierce rivalry between Marinette and Chloe. Yes, Marinette had only one best friend and she was content. That is, until Adrien Agreste shyly walked into her first grade classroom.

Adrien was a very lonely little boy. While he knew his parents loved him, he yearned for companionship. He had just one friend, Chloe Bourgeois, whose father dumped her off in Adrien's room at the Agreste mansion anytime he and Adrien's father, Gabriel, needed to meet to discuss event venues for Gabriel's fashion business. Since he didn't have any other friends to compare her to, he assumed that all kids their age were spoiled brats who whined if they weren't the center of attention all the time. After that first day playing with her, Adrien was exhausted and seriously questioning his desire to have more friends. But even with Chloe as his first and only friend, he still wanted more. All of the cartoons he watched on television featured groups of friends. Even his parents had a group of friends they entertained at least once a month after Adrien's bedtime (he knows because he may or may not have snuck out of his room on these occasions to pretend these people were his friends too).

When Adrien was seven years old, he finally plucked up the courage to ask his mother how she met her friends.

"Mama?" He asked as he was getting ready for bed one night in June, "How did you find your friends? Did their Mom and Dad's know yours?"

Emilie Agreste paused, considering his question and trying to figure out where it had come from seeing as how they had just been engaged in an animated discussion about which book to read once Adrien was in bed.

"Well Kitten, yes and no. See, we all met in elementary school. As we grew closer, our parents decided to set up play dates, where we could play while the parents became friends too."

Adrien pondered this for a bit as he finished brushing his teeth and climbed into his bed. He reached for his stuffed black kitty his Mom had given him last year for his birthday and hugged it to his chest as he said, "Why don't I go to school, Mama? Am I not good enough for friends too?"

It was at this point that Emilie was finally able to see how lonely Adrien really was. Sure, she knew that his Father kept him far too sheltered. She had many arguments with Gabriel over Adrien's lack of social interactions with kids his own age. Each time, Gabriel would insist that Adrien had everything he needed and as such didn't require outside relationships that would distract him. He would end the discussion by returning to his work or changing the subject to what upcoming events still needed to be coordinated. She had thought that she was protecting Adrien from disappointment by spending as much time with him as possible, in the hopes that he would be content with her affections. It was a foolish thought, but it was all she could come up with. Now she felt the tell tale pricks of tears in her eyes as she heard the gaping loneliness in his voice. A loneliness no seven year old boy should have.

"Of course you are, Minou! Your Father has been determined to have you homeschooled by his assistant, Nathalie. However, if school with other children is what will make my little boy happy, then I will speak to your Father until he sees reason. But you might need to give me some time, okay?" She looked down into Adrien's eyes as they lit up.

"Really, Mama?! Thank you sooooooooo much!" The little boy all but bounced in his bed before suddenly stilling. "Mama! I'm not a little boy! I'm a BIG boy! A big boy that might get to go to school and make friends and have slumber parties like they do on the cartoons we watch and - "

"Slow down, little Kitten! I know you're excited, but its bedtime. Now, no more talk about this for now. Give me a chance to speak with your Father and I'll let you know what he says, as soon as he says it. Until then, it'll be our little secret, okay?" She leaned in close to Adrien with a finger to her lips and a big smile on her face. She pulled him in for a hug and a kiss before reaching for his favorite bedtime story. He snuggled up to his Mother, giving her a big squeeze around her middle, before closing his eyes to dream about what having friends would actually be like.

And that was how, roughly three months later, Adrien Agreste came to be standing in front of Marinette Dupain-Cheng's first grade class. He was both exhilarated and terrified to be there. He hadn't realized that he would be paraded to the front of the class. While he wasn't unfamiliar with the eyes of many people upon him due to Gabriel's insistence he learn how to model the Agreste brand, it felt strangely more intimate because these were people his age. These weren't nameless faces in a crowd, at least, he hoped they wouldn't be for much longer. He only saw one critiquing set of eyes, belonging to Chloe no less. Every other pair was glued to his face with excitement. One girl with midnight hair that almost looked blue, worn in pigtails, was openly smiling at him with such warmth he felt it spread across his cheeks. She was looking at him like they had known each other all their lives, which was odd because he felt like he had known her all his life. Even though he'd never seen her before this moment. What an odd feeling. Breaking the gaze with the smiling girl, he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be saying his name, age, and what he wanted to learn this year.

"My name is Adrien Agreste. I am seven years old, and I would love to learn how to make friends this year." He gave a small wave and ducked his head before falling silent once more. He hoped that he would be able to sit down soon.

"Thank you so much for joining us, Adrien. Please go ahead and take your seat next to Nino. Nino, please raise your hand so that Adrien knows where to go." Mme. Brielle lightly ruffled Adrien's blonde hair as she smiled down at him. Adrien gladly retreated towards the second table towards the back of the classroom, where Nino was turned around in his seat excitedly waving his hand around. That's when it hit him: the pigtailed girl was sitting across from Nino. Next to her was a girl with long brown hair, black glasses, and a mischievous smile. He approached the table with a smile that shone down on all of them, but his eyes were trained on the girl with the bluest eyes he had ever seen.

He slid into the seat next to Nino and turned to him in greeting but was interrupted by Nino's enthusiastic "My dude! So glad you're sitting with me, now the force is balanced once again."

At this comment, he pointed first at Alya, then at Marinette. Adrien didn't have a clue what that meant, which must've shown on his face because the girl with glasses started laughing before saying, "Nino, don't break our new bestie!" She turned back to Adrien still smiling, "What Nino means is that he's glad you're a boy and not another girl. Chloe sat with us for three days and Nino's head almost exploded. By the way, my name is Alya. This here," she threw an arm around Marinette's shoulders and squeezed her close, "is my best friend, Marinette. Trust me, you're gonna love sitting at our table. Especially during…."

Adrien distantly registered that Alya was still talking, but his entire being was now focused on Marinette. He felt a pull towards her that he didn't have words for. The only thing he knew was that this girl was going to be a very big part of his life. And he wanted to get started down that path right away. He gazed at her with a quiet intensity that he was only slightly surprised to notice her returning before leaning across towards her and whispering, "Hello Marinette. I have a feeling me and you are going to be the best of friends. Is that okay with you? I know Alya said she's your best friend, but I'm hoping you'll have room for me too." Marinette's eyes went wide for a moment before she softly giggled and leaned towards him to whisper back, "You seem pretty sure of yourself, Adrien Agreste. I like that. So, I'll tell you a secret: I feel like we already are the best of friends. If that's okay with you, it's okay with me."

Adrien's answering smile was nearly blinding.