"Curfews are the bane of every superhero's existence," he said with a laugh. His eyes traveled to the sky for a moment as he took in the moon and what few stars the people of Paris could pick out against the light of the city.

He looked back at her and barely thought of what they should talk about. "Well, last time you were telling me about that boy you liked, but you never gave a name. Who is he? If you don't mind me asking."

Marinette stared at him for a second. Why did he want to know his name? She was unsure about telling him seeing how Chat was rich. He could know Adrien, but then again Adrien didn't have any friends before starting school. So it was probably safe to tell him. "Well aren't you a curious cat?" She chuckled. "His name is Adrien Agreste."

Chat smiled and his heart fluttered at the sound of his civilian name.  "Adrien Agreste?  That's right.  He's in your class.  I've met him once or twice.  Seems like a nice guy.  How long have you liked him?"

He did not intend to fish for information, but there wasn't really a good way to get to encouraging her without some depth to the conversation.  Although, he was curious if she really did like him from the beginning.

Of course he knew him. The whole upper class probably knew each other. So should she tell him anything more?  He said he only meant Adrien a few times so the chances of them seeing each other was slim. Plus Chat did seem like a trustworthy person. He always kept telling her he would keep her identity a secret.

"Um," she said and started to fidget. "When he transfered to my school. But it wasn't love at first sight. I didn't start liking him until a misunderstanding was cleared.." she was now red thinking about it.

Chat smiled while watching the blush forming on her cheeks.  For the umpteenth time in only the past day or so, he wondered how he was so oblivious.  All those times she stuttered nervously around him starting the day after she forgave him for that misunderstanding, and he thought he made her uncomfortable.

He realized he was staring at her and had to pull himself from his thoughts.  "That's quite a while.  You haven't told him yet, right?  Was that why you thinking about him last time?"

"Yess," Marinette stuttered and was even more red. "And no I haven't told him yet. I tried several times yesterday and failed." She placed her hand on her cheek. "I just talked to my friend about it, Alya. You know her. She encourage me tried again, but I'm not so sure if I can do it. It's frustrating because I'm a lot more confident than I use to be."

Chat nodded at The mention of Alya's name, glad she was able to get a hold Marinette.  He frowned, though, as she mentioned not being able to confess.  Even if he wasn't the one she was confessing to, it upset him that she didn't think she could do it.  She was strong and confident in all other situations.  He knew she could do it.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving he a reassuring smile.  "Don't say that.  You can definitely do it.  I'm sure he'll return your feelings.  He'd be a fool not to."

"Easier said than done," Marinette said and folded her arms. "Telling someone how you feel is one of the scariest things in the world. Anything could happen." she paused for a moment. It was nice to have two people supporting her through this. Well three if you count Tikki as a person. She just smiled at him. "But I won't let the fear get to me. I'm just going to keep on trying."

Chat grinned, glad to see "That's the spirit!  It can be scary to put yourself out there, but it's better than not knowing what could be, right?  

Chat looked back to the city.  It was getting late. There was still a chance Hawk Moth would send an akuma, but he doubted it. Most of the akumas on work days happened before a certain point. Hawk Moth must work normal business hours or something.  Then again, he also sent akumas during normal business hours, so there was no way to tell.

"Well, it's been a nice chat. It's getting late, though." He climbed back onto the railing and faced her as he crouched, his muscles ready to jump.  "Good luck, princess.  I know you can do it," he said before turning away and jumping off the balcony.

Marinette watched him leave before heading back inside. Once she got back into her room, she got ready for bed. She just smiled to herself. Her conversation with Chat strangely made her feel confident. Tikki floated around her.

"Why was Chat here?" she asked.

"He just stopped by to say hello."

"What did you guys talk about?"

"Hmm stuff," Marinette replied as she climbed into bed.

"What kind of stuff?"

Marinette just laughed. "Well aren't you curious?"

"Is that bad?"

"No. I just find it funny. He was just encouraging me to confess to Adrien. That's all."

Tikki looked away. She was trying so hard not laugh. She couldn't believe Adrien did that. Must be amusing to him.

"Something wrong?" Marinette noticed Tikki's strange behavior.

"No." Tikki just turned off the lamp by her bed. "Well, good night!"

"Night."

The next morning Marinette was stopped by Chloe as she was climbing the steps into the school. Marinette gave her a puzzled look until she shoved a magazine into her face. Marinette grabbed it and the front cover was a picture of both her and Adrien from their date at the amusement park. The title of the head line read, The Cutest Couple In Pairs. Marinette crinkled up the magazine in her hands. She couldn't believe someone thought that. It made her blush and all giddy inside. She hid her face behind the magazine. Chloe was not amused. 

"So are you?" she demanded. Her arms were crossed.

Marinette just shook her head.

"You're not?" Chloe looked shocked.

"Nope," Marinette somehow managed to say. She pulled the magazine away from her face. "But hopefully we will be soon."

"Well, will you look at that," said Bridgette who was walking by and had to partake in their conversation. She grabbed the magazine from Marinette's hands and studied the picture. She then handed it back to her. "Adrien has better taste in women than I thought." She then just walked away.

Chloe let out a scream of anger and stormed off into the school with Sabrina following right behind her. Bridgette just said that to get under her skin. Truth be told she didn't really care for Adrien anymore. But the fact that Marinette made so much progress with him over a year and in half annoyed her. She knew Adrien much longer than Marinette. It didn't make sense. She had to get back at Marinette, but she wasn't sure how.

Marinette was still standing on the steps looking at the picture. She was on cloud nine until Alya waved her hand in her face. "Earth to, Marinette."

"Huh?" Marinette blinked and looked at her friend.

"You were staring off into space."

"I guess I was," Marinette laughed sheepishly.

"What you got?"

Marinette just showed her the magazine.

"Nice. Hopefully it will happen soon."

"I know!"

Adrien made it home without trouble and got ready for bed.  Plagg was hovering in front of the desk, his arms crossed.  He almost looked disapproving, which was weird compared to his usual disinterest.  "What's wrong, Plagg?" Adrien asked as he pulled on his pajamas.

"Don't you think visiting your lover on her balcony as one of Paris's superheroes and giving her advice on how to confess to you is a little desperate? Or at least overstepping your boundaries by just a bit?"  He asked.

Adrien frowned. "I didn't plan to go there.  It just happened. It's not like I'm manipulating her into dating me. She wants to confess her feelings.  She just needs to stay confident in herself."

Plagg rolled his eyes, "Still seems like a stupid thing to do. You really are desperate."

Adrien waved his hand dismissively, "Think what you want. There was no harm done."  Adrien ignored Plagg's exasperated sigh and turned the lights off.

The next day, Adrien arrived at school in time to see Alya and Marinette talking on the front steps of the school.  A magazine was in Marinette's hands.  Was that a picture of them?  He walked up to them, a smile on his face. "Good morning, guys.  What's that?" he asked, pointing to the magazine.

"Adddrien!" Marinette spoke in a jumpy tone. She quickly hid the magazine behind her back. Her heart was beating fast. She didn't want this picture to ruin her confession. Also they were around their follow classmates and other students. "It's nothing! Nothing at all!" Marinette then ran off into the school.

Alya just slapped her head and shook it. She then patted Adrien on the shoulder. "She's something isn't she? Try to be alone with her today." Alya then went after Marinette.

Adrien just watched in confusion as Marinette ran away.  He nodded at Alya's question, but she was gone after Marinette before his nod was finished.  He could guess this was directly related to her feelings and probably some tabloid if there truly was a random picture of them on a magazine.  

"So, how was your Valentines Day?" Nino asked as he walked up behind Adrien.  Adrien jumped slightly at his voice before turning to face him.

"It was great.  Marinette and I went to the amusement park.  I haven't been there since I was little," he answered.  He suspected Nino knew the gist of what was going on, but he wanted to see how much Alya told him.

"Awesome, dude!  Are you two official yet, or are you still stuck on that other girl?"

Adrien shook his head, "Well, I'm over the other girl, but Marinette and I are not together yet.  She didn't get a chance to tell me, and Alya thinks I should let her confess first.  I hope that works..."

"Trust me.  Alya knows what she's doing.  She's been helping Marinette forever.  You lovebirds will be together before you know it," Nino said, giving him a friendly pat on the back.

They walked to class and sat down just as the teacher entered the room and began class.  Class moved slowly today, and most of the students looked ready to doze off.  It was even worse for Adrien because he was unable to catch Marinette alone before she and Alya went off for lunch.  It seemed like they had it planned before the weekend.  So, Adrien got lunch with Nino like usual.

The rest of the day went by a little quicker and soon everyone was packing up and heading to their lockers.  Adrien smiled to himself.  Now would be a good time to meet up with Marinette. 

He headed to her locker and walked up as she was opening her locker.  "Hey," he greeted her with a smile.

Marinette felt her heart flutter, when Adrien approached her. She moved her locker door so she could see him. He was smiling at her. She quickly moved the door again to hide her face. She was blushing. "Hi.." 

There was an awkward silence and Marinette started to panicked. Why wasn't he say anything? Was he waiting for something? She mentally hit herself to keep it together. This was her chance! She could do this! There weren't many people around. She closed her locker door and faced him.

"Um, Adrien," she began to say. "I.." Before she could finish her sentence Chloe came by and hit her with a yo-yo. She was doing the around the world trick. It smacked Marinette on the side. "Ow! Chloe!" She looked at her angrily.

"Opps my bad," Chloe said with a laugh and just walked away.

Marinette looked back at Adrien and all her confidence was lost. She slightly looked away. "I need to get going. See you tomorrow." With that Marinette rushed off.

Chloe was standing outside the school with Sabrina as she waited for her limo. She watch Marinette leave. A look of triumph was on her face. She could tell that Marinette didn't get a chance to confess.

"Um, Chloe," Sabrina spoke. The blond looked back at her. "Does it really matter if they end up together? I thought you were over him."

"I am," Chloe replied rolling her eyes. "But I can't stand see someone else with Adrien especially if it's Marinette. I flirted with him for years and not once did he a bat an eye at me. Then miss clumsy comes along and catches his attention?"

"I guess that makes sense."

"You and I are going to make sure Marinette doesn't confess to him."

"Alright, but she might outside of school."

"She won't if she doesn't have any confidence." Chloe gave her friend a sly smile.

Adrien hit his head against one of the lockers once Marinette was out of sight. He was pretty sure Chloe broke up their conversation on purpose.  Hopefully, Marinette wouldn't take this failure too seriously and get discouraged.  Maybe he should visit her tonight...

He had to stop by his father's office for a photo shoot before returning home. It was strange his father didn't join the team.  He usually did when the shoots were at his office.  Adrien shrugged it off as his father being busy with preparing for that fashion show.

He spent the rest of his evening doing homework until it was dark out.  Time to go.  "Plagg, we're going out tonight."

"Don't tell me we're visiting your will be girlfriend again," he said disapprovingly.

"Eh... That's not the only thing..." Adrien answered.  

"You're terrible.  Don't you think it's a bit stalkerish to appear on people's rooftops?"

Adrien frowned but shrugged. "I don't think it's that bad. She's never asked Chat Noir to leave.  Well, it's time to go.  Plagg, claws out!"  Plagg barely got the chance to complain as he was drawn into the miraculous.

He made a small attempt to patrol the city.  It was still too quiet.  Did that mean Hawk Moth was gearing up for something huge, or did their enemy just want a break? Or maybe he was looking to far into this.

He shrugged and traveled the rest of the rooftops to the bakery.