The bell rang and tired students all but leapt from their seats around her, streaming for the door and home and a break from the preparation for the semester's upcoming finals.

Marinette put her books away with a sigh. Her responsibilities as Ladybug had been weighing on her heavily with finals coming up and a million other projects for Jagged Stone, Kitty Section, and her own designing, nothing to say of the huge research paper in French History. A paper whose instructions she had missed when XY had gotten akumatized after an unfavorable reception of his newest album and she'd had to "run to the bathroom" for the rest of the class period. It was a miracle she hadn't been suspended or expelled with how many times she'd just disappeared from school.

She tried not to resent her Ladybug duties as she tiredly pulled herself to her feet—after all, she loved helping people and swinging around Paris with superpowers was amazing. But the responsibilities had caused her grades to drop, something her parents luckily attributed to her increasingly busy designing schedule. She couldn't help but feel she deserved some little reward for her hard work—after all, she spent a ton of time saving people, nothing to say of the painful injuries that she had to fight through each time. Being thrown around Paris came with consequences, even if she was healed by Miraculous Ladybug. She needed a break, or a reward, or something to make things feel a little easier. She grabbed her bag off her desk.

"Hey Marinette!" The familiar, sweet voice of Adrien said to her. She about jumped out of her skin and dropped her bag that she'd been about to put over her shoulders. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he apologized, helping her pick up a couple spilled books.

"Fine, you're so fine, I mean, it's fine, not that you aren't fine, but…um…" Marinette said hurriedly. She could have slapped herself. What was she even babbling on about? "Did something you need? I mean, you need something?" she asked, trying to pull herself together. The sight of her beautiful, sweet crush after a draining day was not helping her form sentences.

"Oh, um, yes, actually I was wondering if you could give me some advice?" Adrien asked, looking up at her from under his lashes with his beautiful emerald eyes. Her heart stuttered, then raced. Like anyone could say no to that look. Not that she wanted to anyway.

"Of course," Marinette said. "Anything for you!" She blushed slightly as she realized what she'd said. "I mean, because you're a friend and that's what friends do, you know, help each other. And stuff." She forced herself to stop babbling. He was going to change his mind if she didn't get it together.

"Great, thank you," he said, eyes showing clear relief. Marinette's heart melted a bit at the look. Oh that she could always make him look so happy! To relieve him from his horrible father and busy life.

Marinette shifted on her feet awkwardly for a moment. "Where…?" she asked, not sure if he wanted to stay there or go elsewhere.

"Um, could we just talk here? It's empty and I kind of don't want Lila or someone spying. The last thing I need is someone overhearing and putting it all over social media. That would be embarrassing!" Adrien explained. Marinette squeaked in agreement as she thought of the time she had foolishly let Jagged Stone film a TV show in her bakery, which ended up in all of Paris seeing her collage of Adrien pictures. She definitely didn't want her true love to suffer that kind of humiliation!

"Sure," Marinette said, sitting back down at her wooden desk. Adrien walked around it to sit on its bench beside her. He sat there uncomfortably for a moment, toying with a metal ring on his finger. Marinette looked at the ring as he did so. It was something she hadn't really noticed much before. But it seemed familiar….was he wearing it in his photoshoots? She couldn't quite remember. She'd been too focused on his beautiful face.

"So, I have a crush on this girl, but she never seems to… um… well, I want to win her over, but I can't seem to figure out how. I don't think she's too interested," he said, blushing and looking down. Marinette's jaw about dropped and she barely caught her gasp of surprise before it escaped her lips. Someone wasn't interested in the most beautiful, wonderful, kind, gentlemanly (and did she mention beautiful?) boy in Paris, maybe in the world? They'd have to be insane! Who was this stupid girl? She'd give anything to be her! It killed her that she knew the girl he loved was someone else.

"Oh, wow. Um, can I ask who it is?" she questioned hesitantly. "It might help me figure out how to help you better." Ugh, this was going to be the Kagami incident all over again!

Adrien blushed more deeply, eyes focused on the ring on his finger as he twisted it around. "Um, OK, but please promise not to laugh?" he asked awkwardly. Marinette looked at him for a moment, meeting his eyes as he looked up with vulnerability all over his face. Laughing was definitely far away from her mind as she had yet another conversation with her crush about girls he was interested in that were not her.

"I would never laugh at you Adrien," she promised sincerely. "Especially not about who you love."

Adrien smiled at her, a sweet, affectionate smile that made her cheeks burn. If only that smile meant more than friendship…. Adrien looked away, smiling shyly at some memory.

"Well, you see, I, um, I'm in love with Ladybug…" Adrien drifted off as Marinette gasped, her eyes shining brightly. Ladybug?! She was competing with herself for her true love's affection? Suddenly being Ladybug didn't seem like a sacrifice at all. Not even a little bit. Her exhaustion seemed to melt away as it was replaced with happiness. All the days of staying up late to finish projects she otherwise could have done during Akuma attacks didn't even matter. Not if it meant Adrien was in love with her! She could sing from the rooftops in joy! And perhaps she would do just that if she had a chance to transform later that day.

"You think it's stupid, don't you," Adrien said, his face falling. Marinette looked at him in shock, just to realize that she hadn't said anything in response to his confession.

"No, no, not at all! Not even a little bit! I think it's wonderful and romantic! In fact, you should tell Ladybug exactly how you feel! As soon as possible! Well, maybe not during an Akuma attack because that could be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt, but outside of those as soon as you can! You would be perfect together!" She said enthusiastically, grinning so wide she wasn't sure how it still fit on her face. The look of shock on his face clearly said this was not the response he had been expecting.

"You, you really think so?" He asked hopefully. "You don't think it's stupid?"

"What? Of course not! Why would I think that?" Marinette demanded.

"Well, I mean, she's the savior of Paris and I'm just a stupid fashion model. She's kind and beautiful and cares about everyone and kicks evil's butt! I'm not much in comparison," he said, looking down sadly. Marinette felt her cheeks blush at the compliments and was grateful he wasn't looking at her. Marinette blushing at compliments to Ladybug would not make sense to anyone else.

"Adrien Agreste, you are amazing and Ladybug sees, I mean, I'm sure Ladybug can see that, or will when you talk to her, or whatever! I'm absolutely positive she will be ecstatic to find out someone as amazing as you is in love with her!" Marinette said resolutely. Ecstatic was an understatement. Adrien perked up at that.

"So you don't think she'll just turn me down? I mean, she does that to Cat Noir all the time, and he helps her save Paris on a daily basis," Adrien said hesitantly. "Surely if he doesn't have a chance, neither do I."

It took all of her self-control not to scream in frustration or roll her eyes. She had turned down Cat Noir for him! But she couldn't exactly tell him that. Marinette was not supposed to know these things about Ladybug. "Adrien, you are the kindest, sweetest person in the whole world! Cat Noir is great at saving the city, but you're a different kind of awesome. The kind that is there for his friends and stays positive even when life gets hard. The kind who gives his umbrella to a stranger in a rainstorm and takes gum off of people's seats when bullies are trying to get them. Don't sell yourself so short!"

"I don't know, it would be awkward if I said something and she just straight rejected me. Or what if she just blew me off or something? What if she has no idea who I even am?" Adrien said worriedly.

Marinette wished desperately that she could just tell him she knew Ladybug wouldn't reject him, but she simply couldn't, and not just because Tikki might kill her in her sleep if she did. She wracked her brains for a way around the conundrum. Aha! She had it! "Well, you are pretty famous. I'm sure she knows who you are—your face is plastered all over the city. Hey, who knows? Maybe Ladybug is one of your admirers, just like you're one of hers." There!

"You really think that might be the case?" Adrien asked hopefully.

"Yes. Even if it wasn't, you said one of the things you admired about her was her kindness. So I'm sure whatever happens, you'll feel better afterwards. Right?" Marinette asked.

Adrien smiled brightly. "You're right Marinette! Thanks for talking to me, you always give the best advice! If you ever need anything, just let me know, OK?" Adrien said, looking at her.

"OK," she agreed, a bright smile on her face as a blush spread across her cheeks yet again. At this rate they would never stop being red.

Adrien skipped off happily and Marinette sat there, thinking. She had some plans to make—Ladybug needed to have a reason to go somewhere Adrien Agreste would be.

As soon as Adrien disappeared Tikki popped out of Marinette's bag. "Marinette, you need to be careful! Anyone close to Ladybug is in danger!" she warned.

"I know Tikki. I'll be careful. But that doesn't mean I can't come across Adrien as Ladybug too," she said, an excited smile on her face.

"Being a superhero isn't about your own personal gain," Tikki warned her.

"Yeah, but this isn't just about me. Think how happy it will make Adrien," Marinette countered.

Tikki sighed. "This is a dangerous game, Marinette. Be careful or you and the person you love will get hurt!"

"Of course, I know being careful comes first! I'll make sure there's no way anyone but Adrien knows we like each other. But if he's in love with Ladybug, he's certainly not a danger to her. It'll be fine! No, it will be more than fine! It will be wonderful! We can get married and have our hamster and three kids…" Marinette's eyes glazed over as she slipped into a daydream.

Tikki didn't look entirely convinced, but she let it drop as Marinette shook herself out of the daydream and opened her bag for Tikki to fly back in. Standing and putting her backpack on, Marinette headed home, feeling like she was walking on sunshine the whole way there.

Author's note: Special thanks to sidsinning on Tumblr for letting me use their drawing for the cover. Check out the original post of it here: post/182515389596/ladrien-needs-more-appreciation-tbh