Getting to school was Adrien's top priority that morning. Not that he was normally late as he craved to get out of that cold mansion as fast as he was able, but that didn't stop Nathalie from being surprised about his over the top eagerness. He practically leapt out the door!

Adrien held his breath when he entered the classroom. This was it. This was the day he was to ask out the woman of his dreams. His hand raised but pulled back a bit to see Marinette's desk empty. Of course she wasn't going to be here yet. She always came in either late or right as the bell rang.

"Hey dude!" The look on Nino's face was enough to cause a smile to appear on Adrien's face.

Taking a seat, Adrien waved back. "Hey man! How are you?"

"How am I?" Nino chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "How are you? You've got the biggest smile I've ever seen!"

With a faint flush of his cheeks, Adrien bit his apparent large smile and played it cool. Was he already being that obvious? "Oh, I'm-"

"Has your Pops finally chilled off a bit?" Nino asked while studying his best friend.

"Ahem."

Adrien turned around and gulped.

"Good morning to you too Adrien," Alya leaned forward with her fingers interlaced. The look on her face did nothing to ease Adrien's nervousness and the way her eyes were basically eating him from the inside out had the poor boy shaking.

"Good morning Alya," was all he could get out through his unsteady breathing. He sat there, awaiting the attack. Time ticked away as she continued to stare him up and down without a word. The smile on her face seemed so over exaggerated and off that the uncomfortable amount of silence that accompanied it grated on Adrien's nerves. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to turn around and focus on unpacking his books for the upcoming lesson.

No other word from her. Did he survive? Or was his death going to come later when he least expected it? What was it that had Alya on him like a lion devouring its prey? His brain struggled to compose a reason for her sudden odd behaviour. He must have done something! Was this how Marinette felt whenever Alya interrogated her? Marinette seemed to have a good tactic for deflecting Alya's pondering questions but that girl was persistent! He was sure she had caved a few times.

His heart suddenly stopped.

What if.

No.

Does Alya know of Marinette's secret identity?

If she did, Adrien applauded her. Alya wasn't known to be the best secret keeper and with owning the Ladyblog, keeping quiet was quite the feat.

No. Marinette would have never told anyone, not even her best friend. As Ladybug she was so adamant about secret identities being kept secret.

Adrien automatically sat up straight and did his best to clear his busy mind when Miss Bustier walked in. "Good morning everyone!"

"Good morning Miss Bustier!" The class' voices blended in together as the bell rang.

Adrien took out his tablet and began twirling the pen in his fingertips. His eyes did their best to focus on his teacher but they continuously fought his better judgement by looking at the door. Was she going to come in today? Of course she was! She was just a little late. This was normal.

"Okay, I'd like us all to start with our usual exercise."

Adrien's eyes shot back up front. What usual exercise?

"Hi Alix! Your hair is looking very flawless today!"

Oh right. That one.

"I'm sorry! So sorry!"

Adrien's heart stuttered as a blue blob soared past him and plopped into the seat behind him. The wind from her scurrying whooshed around his nose and all he could smell was fresh bread. Warmth flower to his heart. She was here!

Miss Bustier merely shook her head. "Marinette, is there any reason why you're late?"

"I know, I'm really sorry. I'm um…" She played with her fingertips. "I'm not good in the mornings."

A chuckle escaped their teacher's lips before turning into a supportive mother smile. "Well now that New Years is coming, maybe that could be your resolution? To wake up earlier?"

Adrien couldn't help but turn around a bit for a peak. She was so beautiful. Her eyes. How could he not recognize those eyes!?

"I'll work on it," Marinette simply said as she began emptying her bag to get ready for the lesson. "I'm really sorry, again."

Miss Bustier nodded and then focused on the morning exercise.

"Hey Marinette," he greeted quietly enough to not disturb the rest of the class' exercise.

"H-Hi Adrien!" Her voice squeaked. It obviously came out louder than she had wanted it to because a hand was quickly slapped over her lips.

The flush on her cheeks was far too adorable and it took everything in Adrien's body to act normal.

The necklace!

The boy peered at her light coloured skin. Empty. That dug hard into Adrien's stomach for a brief moment but then he couldn't help but beam at her. As much as he wanted to see her wear it every day, he admired how smart she played while protecting her Ladybug identity. No wonder he hadn't figured it out until now. She must have really panicked when she realized she had worn it to school yesterday. Sending her a sweet smile, Adrien turned back around to pay attention.

Doing so was far harder than he ever imagined. It was a good thing that he had already been taught this subject from Nathalie so he could afford to drift off in thought.

Adrien's ears twitched when they picked up whispers from behind him. Clearly two other girls were suffering the same fate.

"Alya I can't!"

"Just do it! Seriously do it!"

"I can't!"

"Come on girl!"

"Alyaaaaa!"

The last one came out more like a whine. It was obvious Alya was back to torturing poor Marinette about something. Adrien did his best to pretend he didn't hear it nor was curious about the subject they were discussing.

The rest of the morning flew by, despite a certain girl eating Adrien's attention. It had crossed his mind to invite her out to lunch but with Alya stuck on her side, he knew it would only lead to disaster given how Alya had acted before class.

When the bell rang, Adrien began packing up his things in a quick manner. His phone buzzed against his leg indicating the Gorilla had arrived.

For whatever reason, the class had emptied quicker than what was normal. Maybe the cafeteria had something good today that required them to fight for it. Adrien let out a tiny laugh. That would be a hilarious sight to see.

Peering down at his phone in his hand, he had a few minutes to spare which was good. His bladder was screaming at him for release. A short text was sent so the Gorilla wouldn't worry about why Adrien wasn't on time. With his bag slid over his shoulder and hurried footsteps, the men's washroom was in sight.

"I can't just ask him!"

Adrien's sneakers emitted out a sharp squeak from the abrupt stop.

"I can't even talk to him without sounding like a freak!"

The women's washroom. The voice was coming out from the women's washroom and it sounded like...

"Trust me girl! He definitely likes you!" Alya's voice echoed loudly. The tone of her voice was urgent. "I would never do you wrong! You know that!"

"But it doesn't make any sense!" Marinette's voice was just as loud as her best friend's but hints of insecurity flew throughout it. "I haven't done anything to make him like me!"

Adrien stopped chewing down on his lip, not realizing he had started doing it. Whoever this guy was really had the nerve. Marinette was perfect the way she was! She didn't have to change!

"I can't put my finger on why but he was staring at you today too. I am not crazy!"

The guy was staring at her? Adrien stood there, hurting his brain. Who had stared at her recently? Nobody specifically had talked to her more than normal and he hadn't seen anyone staring at her. Not that he was really paying attention that is. Darn it, if only he paid more attention! A sweaty palm worked its way through his bangs, messing them up in the process. It sounded like this guy was finally noticing her. He was going to lose to this guy if he didn't work fast! The possibility of it being Luka still lingered deep in his thoughts. It was completely possible that her and Luka could have talked today at some point. Maybe that's why she was late and she was too embarrassed to tell the truth? It would explain why he hadn't seen any guy talk to her or stare at her. No, Marinette never lied.

"Oh god!" Marinette shrieked. "It was totally because my hair was a mess yesterday! I fell asleep on my chaise and I just-" Her voice paused before a bunch of panic gibberish began spewing from her mouth.

"Girl! Girl just relax!" Alya's voice clearly wasn't helping as the panic continued.

"He totally saw me with my messy hair and I just, no wonder he was staring at me! He was probably so horrified and I- arugh! Noooo! I'm so doomed Alya! So SO doomed!"

Messy hair? Her hair looked fine. To him anyway. This guy clearly didn't deserve her if he ridiculed her over a few untidy strands.

"I can hear your angry growls from down here." Plagg popped up out of his shirt and rolled his eyes. "No need to get rattled over it."

"Plagg!" Adrien hissed, shielding the kwami from view with his hand. "Someone might see you!"

"Yeah yeah," Plagg ducked down a tad before looking past his chosen's hand. His green eyes stared up at him. "But seriously, calm down loverboy. Before you do something stupid."

"I'm not-"

"Adrien?"

Adrien must have jumped three feet in the air. When his shoes touched the ground again, his heart jump started and immediately jolted. His entire body began to shake and sweat with the world turning into slow motion.

He was still standing there. Right outside the girl's washroom.

"Adrien? Are you okay?" Alya tilted her head sideways at him and was clearly awaiting his answer.

What should he say? He was listening to their conversation and they knew it! That was definitely a bad idea! Never again! Snooping never ended on a good note! Just wait until Alya tied him to a pole and began beating him to a pulp with a chair! Then she'd call all of their classmates to join in! But then maybe Ladybug would swoop in and save him. She'd carry him bridal style and then-

"Adrien!"

From the loud shout, Adrien blinked, memory of where he was coming back to him at a snail's pace. He looked from girl to girl as his brain fog cleared. Alya's brows were furrowed as she stared at him and Marinette's face had a look of concern on it but he could not miss the tomato colour spread across her cheeks.

"Oh uh-" A hand scratched the back of his neck. "Hey."

"Hey," Alya replied with a confused voice.

The mere silence was an obvious attempt to get Adrien to say more and it clearly worked as he began to form some sort of response. Getting caught sneaking around was always awkward.

"I was just going to the washroom," he explained, tightening his sweaty fists into balls. "I forgot where it was for a second." An awkward, unattractive laugh escaped him and he didn't know what else to do but flee. Before he knew it, he was waving to the girls and wished them a good lunch. As he speed walked towards the men's washroom, his jaw tightened at the thought of what kind of look he was receiving from behind.

There was no way he was going to turn around to check.

Hey guys! Here's another chapter! The other one I posted was far too short for my liking haha. Thanks for all the nice comments you all left! I'll be continuing this story on a more regular basis!

Merry Christmas again!