Alya was happy that Adrien understood her hint. She gave him a friendly smile. "I was going to eat in the park today." She grabbed her lunch out of her locker door and they made their way to the park.

They found a secluded bench and sat down. "I'm sure you're wondering how I found out." She had a smug look on her face. She really was proud of her detective skills. "I figure it out on my own. Last year I caught Marinette transforming into Ladybug. Then while at the ski trip I noticed how you two were so in sync during the snowball fight. So I had a little investigation. Our little interview confirmed everything." she gave him a wink. "So what's on your mind?"

Adrien stared at her as she spoke, raising an eyebrow at the interview comment. He gave really bad answers during that interview.  How did she know from that?  She really was skilled when it came to investigating. He was impressed.

He paused when she asked what was on his mind.  There was so much on his mind. Too much...  But Marinette was the most important topic right now, and Alya would know best about her.  "I think Marinette doesn't like me anymore..."

Alya shook her head. "Trust me when I say this. She doesn't hate you. There is no way that girl can hate you. She stole your phone once so you wouldn't hear an embarrassing message." She gasped. Alya couldn't believe she let that slip. Bad example. "Anyway!! Adrien, she does want to talk to you. I can tell. She was staring at you all morning. Also her trying to get your attention proves that. But for some reason something is holding her back. She won't tell me for whatever reason. I'm sure she'll come around. Marinette is bad at confronting people about her feelings. You should know that."

Adrien raised an eyebrow.  "She stole my phone?"  He asked, a bit of amusement in his voice.  She must have done it that time when she wasn't at the statue's unveiling.  He remembered having a message from an unknown phone number at the time. What kind of message had she left for it to be embarrassing enough to steal his phone?

He shook his head.  That really wasn't important right now.  He sighed at the rest of her words.  "Are you sure?  Just because she wants to talk doesn't mean it's a good topic.  Maybe she just doesn't know the best way to tell me we're not partners anymore..."  

He looked at the ground as he said this.  His heart ached with the fear that maybe, just maybe he'd lost her just because of this one major mistake.  His mistake that destroyed half the city and probably would have killed her if she hadn't resorted to offering her earrings in a last attempt to get him back.  He could still see the pain in her eyes...  He cringed at the thought.  Did all akuma victims remember so clearly?  They never acted like it.

"Do you really think Marinette would stop being partners just because you were akumatize? Just think about it, Adrien." Alya paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "I don't know all of the details, but I what I do know is she offered her earrings to get you back. If that's not love then I don't know what love is."

Adrien didn't respond.  Alya was probably right.  She was Marinette's best friend, after all.  But still...  Most akuma victims had only a vague knowledge of how akumas worked.  It wasn't their fault they fell prey to some invisible madman who promised them whatever they desired.  He knew exactly how Hawk Moth's powers worked and still fell victim to his words.  He was at fault.

"I said terrible things to her.  I would have taken the earrings and handed them over myself if she hadn't offered...  How can she still love someone like me?"

Alya raised an eyebrow. Why was he beating himself so bad about this? Unless. She looked in the direction of their school for a few minutes. She was trying think of something to say him. Something that will snap him out of this. Alya looked back at him when she thought of something. "She still fought for you despite you saying those words. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Adrien looked up at the sky as he thought about it.  Yes, it meant the world to him that she fought so hard to get him back.  She tried so hard to talk to him and refused to fight him even as he was about to attack her.  She offered her earrings to get him back...

"Hawkmoth, I know you can hear me. I will you give my earrings if you give me my friend back!"

His eyes widened as the memory came back to him in full clarity.  Even then, as he was ready to fight and potentially kill her, she thought of him as her friend rather than an enemy to be stopped.

He let out a sigh, "I'm so stupid... "

Alya just patted him on the back."No you're not. You're just lost at the moment. Marinette will come around. You should try to talk to her as well. Maybe that will motivate her. You still love her right?"

Adrien gave her a small but real smile. The first real smile he'd had in weeks. He hadn't realized how much he needed this reassurance.  He nodded at her question.  "Of course I still love her. I loved her before I even knew it was her," He said without hesitation.  He hoped Marinette would talk to him soon.  It felt good to know she still liked him, but he needed to hear it from her whether or not she blamed him for what happened.
 
Their conversation ended as it was time to head back to school. The secluded park along with being able to talk to someone about this boosted his mood, if only temporarily. Returning to school was enough to pull him back down with conversation about the weekend filled the halls again. There was no shortage of negative comments. Perhaps if it were Ladybug, there would be people defending her, but Chat Noir had always been less popular. It was no surprise the majority opinion would be negative.
 
Even Chloe and Bridgette seemed to be in sync in this distaste for Chat Noir. Chloe was obviously upset by the temporary loss of her room and all the expensive clothes in it. She had to stay the night in a small safe house with her father as they tried to stay safe from Chat Blanc. 
 
Bridgette tried to one up Chloe by talking about how she couldn't go shopping the entire weekend.  She also had a spa appointment that she missed, and the place could not get her in for another two weeks. Chloe reminded Bridgette that staying in a tiny safe house with her father and nothing but the clothes on her back was way worse than missing a spa trip that could be made up later.  Their argument was so absurd that it was almost refreshing.  Until the rest of the class used it as a springboard for their own conversations and complaints, anyway.
 
He made it through the rest of the day and left the school as quickly as he could. He couldn't stand the various conversations any longer. Trying to act like the constant jabs didn't bother him was exhausting, and he needed the silence of the car to relax.
 
"Hey.. Can we stop?" He asked Gorilla as they were passing a cheese shop. "I need to pick something up real quick at that cheese shop."  Gorilla looked at him through the mirror before shrugging and stopping the car.  Adrien went into the shop and picked up ten containers of Camembert.  The shop owner gave him a confused, borderline judgmental look but didn't ask questions.  Thankfully, Gorilla didn't ask either. They made one more stop at a bakery and headed home.
 
When he got home, Adrien took the cheese to his room. He was relieved to see Plagg awake, though still looking in a little out of it.  He placed all but one container on top of the mini fridge and took the last one to the bed.  "Hey. I brought you something," he said as she opened the cheese and placed it in front of his kwami.
 
Plagg perked up, his eyes gleaming as he slowly climbed onto the container and began stuffing the cheese in his face.  Adrien turned to Tikki and took a small bag of cookies from his bag. He handed the cookies to Tikki.  "Was everything good today?"
 
Tikki nodded, "He's still very tired, but we talked a bit here and there. The Camembert will help. Did school go well?"
 
Adrien let out a sigh. "It'll get better..." he answered, not quite sure how convincing he was. Tikki frowned, looking ready to ask a few questions.  Adrien continued speaking before should could, "I have to go talk to my father. I'll be back soon."  
 
With that, he left the room and headed down to his father's office.  He wasn't looking forward to this conversation. Would his father even buy his story about running away and basically disappearing while Paris was in a state of emergency? Hopefully, but he could always act the part of the troubled teen who wouldn't tell their parents anything. He didn't really feel that far off at this point.
 
He knocked on the door and waited a moment before his father told him to come in. His father remained seated as he walked in and sat across from him. There was a strangely awkward silence between them before his father finally spoke. "It's good to see you Adrien," he said. His tone was strangely subdued.
 
Adrien bit his lip. "I'm sorry I ran away..." he said, quietly.
 
Gabriel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Adrien..." He began, sounding tired.  He paused and Adrien stared at him in confusion. He looked like he wanted to say something important. But the moment passed, and Gabriel's eyes hardened to a stern expression. "I know you were feeling overwhelmed, and I'm sorry you felt that way.  But running away was incredibly stupid. You could have been hurt, and then there was a state of emergency and you didn't come home. Do you know how worried I was?"
 
Adrien focused on a spot on his desk as he tried to think of an answer.  "I know... I should have come home when your building was attacked. I just... I needed some time to breathe, and I couldn't get it here." 
 
Gabriel nodded, "I should have realized there was a problem when you came into my office Friday night. I will try to listen to you in the future. But you have to promise me you'll continue to keep up with your schoolwork and your modeling once you start working again."
 
Adrien gave him another confused look. This conversation was going completely opposite of how he expected. His father was angry, but he didn't have the same edge he usually did. In fact, he was surprisingly calm and willing to see his side of things. It was surreal, and he wondered if it was a dream.  "I will. There was just too much going on the past few weeks."
 
Silenced passed between them again. Gabriel finally nodded, "Good. Now go do your homework."
 
"Yes sir," Adrien answered. He left the room, still confused but also grateful for the complete lack of punishment.
 
Meanwhile, Gabriel stood and paced his office.  Lycca came out of hiding and floated above the desk while not getting too close. Gabriel was still upset about the failure.  "You were very lenient compared to normal.  Don't you think he'll notice?"
 
"I needed to be lenient on him. He's been punished enough," he answered quietly.  He reached his hand into his pocket and briefly touched the butterfly miraculous. Part of him had thought maybe he'd tell Adrien tonight, but there was no way he could. Too much had been done for Adrien to know.
 
Lycca frowned and said nothing. His chosen miraculous holder had lost his spirit, and the kwami was a bit worried the idea to akumatize Adrien had pushed Gabriel too far. He would have to help his partner get over this quickly and get him back to the original plan or Adrien and Ladybug would figure out something was off.

Marinette stood outside of school and watched Adrien's car drive away. She let out a sigh. She tried to talk to him, but he left too quickly. She didn't blame him. Chloe and Bridgette were being very unreasonable. He was probably going insane listening to them. Marinette felt Alya place her hand on her shoulder. She looked back at her.

"Don't give up," she said with encouraging smile. "Why don't you call him tonight? Or are you grounded from the phone?"

Marinette shook her head. "No I'm just grounded from seeing friends and I have to help out in the bakery for the next two weeks."

"Great then call him."

"No. This is something you talk about in person."

"True."

"I'll see you tomorrow. I need to get going."

"Alright. Tomorrow is a new day."

Marinette smiled a little at Alya and then headed home.

The next morning Marinette arrived at school bright and early. Today was the day. She was going to get over this stupid fear. She was going to let him know how she felt and that she still wanted to fight with him. She stood outside waiting for him. As Marinette waited she felt butterflies in her stomach. She was glad she skipped breakfast. When he did arrived, Marinette walked up to him.

"Adrien, hi," she said. Marinette smiled at him. She was proud that she able to say hi. Then fear struck her. She started to shake and then ran off into the building.

Adrien returned from his father's office to see Plagg looked far more alert than before. The container of Camembert next to him was empty, and the kwami was looking over at other containers on the mini fridge when he walked in. Adrien grabbed another container and headed over to the bed. "Here," he said as he opened it and handed it over.
 
"Ah, wonderful Camembert! Thank you," Plagg said before digging into the second container. Adrien smiled. Plagg seemed more lively now, too. Though, he didn't move much as he ate, and he definitely could not fly.
 
Tikki smiled before flying up to be at eye level with Adrien. "So, how was school? Did you get a chance to talk to Marinette?"
 
Adrien sighed and shook his head. "Everyone's pretty negative towards Chat Noir, and Marinette couldn't talk to me. She tried, but she ran away really quickly."
 
Tikki groaned, "Oh, Marinette..." She looked frustrated.
 
"It's okay... I talked to Alya at lunch. Apparently, she figured out who I was a while ago. Since she knew Marinette was Ladybug and she saw how well we worked together during the ski trip. It was nice to have someone to talk to," Adrien said. 
 
Tikki shook her head, ready to say something, but Plagg interrupted, "You never mentioned that girl knew about Marinette."
 
Tikki shrugged. "I didn't think there was an issue with her knowing. She promised to keep it a secret. I didn't think she would investigate Adrien."
 
Plagg nodded and took another bite of his cheese.  "So, what did your father have to say?" He asked.  He looked worried; probably because Adrien's father always made things worse.
 
Adrien took a moment to think about the weird conversation. "He wasn't happy, but... It was a like a slap on the wrist. I thought I'd be grounded for the rest of the year at this rate. Instead, I have two weeks to get myself back on track before I start modelling again."
 
"Huh, having Tikki here must be helping your luck," Plagg said. Tikki said nothing. She had a strange look on her face. Adrien shrugged it off and went to his desk. 
 
"I'm going to do homework and then get some rest. I didn't get any sleep last night," he said. He really didn't expect to get much sleep tonight either. Talking to Alya was more of a band-aid on his current state of mind than anything. He would still have memories plaguing his mind as long as people's conversation focused on Chat Noir and Chat Blanc. There would be no way for him to move past it until he could push the entire thing far back in his mind and focus on the present.
 
Adrien was able to finish his homework pretty quickly thanks to not having any other obligations. He looked over to the clock. It was 8:30. That was extremely early to go to bed compared to his normal time, but it would give him plenty of time to try and get enough sleep to actually feel rested in the morning.  He quickly grabbed the empty containers of Camembert on his bed and threw them away before getting into his pajamas. Plagg was already asleep, and Tikki was snuggled up beside him. 
 
Adrien turned off the light and got into bed.
 
The next time he looked at the clock it was 1:00 am. He couldn't tell how much of those four and a half hours was actually spent sleeping and how much was him trying whatever he could to get to sleep. He was on counting sheep when he got to 500 and gave up.  It looked like this would be another wasted night. He wondered how long he could go with so little sleep before he just wouldn't be able to function in normal life.
 
He heard the sound of someone shifting nearby and gently rolled onto his side to face the sleeping kwamis. "Plagg?" he whispered.
 
Green eyes shone in the darkness as his kwami yawned and stared back at him. "Can't sleep?" he asked, knowingly. He must have been awoken by Adrien's restlessness.
 
"No... How are you doing?"
 
Plagg slowly shifted to sit up without disturbing Tikki. "I still feel really weak, but it's only been one day. I just need some extra time to recharge. Cataclysm's supposed to be a one time per transformation thing."
 
Adrien frowned, guilt surging through him. "I'm sorry... I'm a terrible Chat Noir..."
 
Plagg shook his head quickly, "Don't apologize. You're not a terrible Chat Noir, and this wasn't your fault to begin with. I didn't mean to make you think that."
 
"How am I not terrible? I almost let the enemy win."
 
"Yeah, but you didn't. You resisted the akuma and broke Hawk Moth's connection."
 
"But I shouldn't have been akumatized in the first place. I should have been controlling my emotions. You tried to warn me, right?  That's what you wanted to say when I decided to transform that night? I should have listened, but instead I ran off and let myself be used by Hawk Moth. I failed you, and I failed Marinette." His voice shook as the words tumbled out. His emotions were getting the better of him again. 
 
Plagg quickly crawled over to Adrien and patted him on the forehead. "You didn't fail anyone. The only one here who failed was me."
 
Adrien stared at Plagg. In all his time with the kwami, he would have never thought he'd hear words like these. "What...?"
 
"I failed you, Adrien." Plagg answered. "Do you know why kwamis exist?" Adrien looked confused so he continued, "We're here to guide the miraculous holder. The miraculous could have easily held all of its power on its own, but then the user would be left to their own devices."
 
"I don't understand why that matters to this situation..." Adrien interjected. He sat up now and held out his hand for Plagg to crawl into.
 
"It matters because, as your guide, I should have acted sooner. It was no secret you were overwhelmed. I could see you getting worse. I talked to Tikki and we decided you needed to talk to Marinette, but I neglected to tell her how bad off you were. I thought you were still at a point where I could do it on my own.  Tikki noticed how bad off your were before I did, and she doesn't even interact with you. If I know Tikki like I think I do, she was going to force a reveal Friday night. It only failed because of your father's decision not allow guests. If we had made a move sooner, things might have been different. At the very least, I should have warned you that you could be akumatized. You're not a bad Chat Noir, Adrien. I'm a bad kwami." Plagg looked more serious than Adrien had ever seen him.
 
"But..." He began.
 
"No buts. Listen to me. You are one of my bests. You're dedicated, skilled, and you have a good heart. The only reason Hawk Moth was able to get to you is because you were so worn down that you weren't thinking clearly. Any person in your position would have done the same. The big difference is you were able to overcome it and break the connection. You're a great Chat Noir. Don't you ever doubt that."
 
"Plagg..." Adrien stared at Plagg, tears threatening to escape. He never realized his kwami felt that way. Plagg was so good at acting disinterested and unattached. "Thank you.." he whispered, bringing the kwami to his chest in the closest thing to a hug he could give him. 
 
"You're welcome. Now get some sleep. Things will get better."
 
Adrien nodded and placed his kwami back on the bed near Tikki before laying back down. Plagg didn't sit still, though. He moved to a spot next to Adrien and snuggled against him.  "Make sure not to roll over, okay?  Oh, and don't tell anyone I said nice things to you." He murmured.
 
Adrien actually laughed. "I'll do my best." The talk had lifted more of the emotional burden from his heart. He closed his eyes and was finally able to get a restful sleep.
 
Tikki opened her eyes and smiled when their talk was done. She knew Plagg cared about Adrien, but this was the first time he had admitted it.
 
The next day, Adrien arrived at school in a slightly better mood. His talk with Plagg and the 6-7 hours of real sleep had helped a little bit. Then his heart raced when Marinette approached him. Maybe she'd be able to talk to him today.
 
He opened his mouth to say hi to her after she greeted him, but she quickly ran off. Sighing, he headed into the school. Even with knowing she still liked him, it was still a little disheartening that she couldn't bring herself to talk to him. Talking to Plagg and Alya was all good, but she was the one he wanted to talk to most.
 
He walked through the halls to his locker and then to class, ignoring as much of the chatter as he could. It was a little easier than yesterday but there were still plenty of stabbing comments he couldn't get past. 
 
The classroom was worse, of course. He couldn't leave the conversation once trapped in the room. Thankfully, Nino was here today.  Adrien sat down and focused all of his attention away from their classmates, "Hey, Nino."
 
Nino stared at Adrien in surprise. It was the first time his friend had spoken to him in weeks. "Hey, dude. How's it going?"
 
"Better than the past few weeks. I'm taking a break from work. Where were you yesterday?" Adrien answered.
 
Nino smiled, glad to hear he was finally getting some spare time again. "My family visited my grandparents out in Lyon. They were broadcasting what was going on in Paris so my grandparents insisted we stayed another night just in case. They've been trying to get us to move out there ever since the akuma attacks started, but this i the first time my parents actually considered it."
 
"Oh.." Adrien answered. Nino raised an eyebrow.
 
"You okay? I heard your old man's building was the first thing attacked. Must have been a bad weekend..." He watched as Adrien tried and failed to hide a cringe. His friend suddenly looked very uncomfortable.
 
"Yeah. It was a rough time."  Nino frowned. There was something wrong here. Adrien suddenly looked ready to withdraw into his textbook. Like the sudden path the conversation had taken was too much for him. 
 
Nino opened his mouth to say something else when he felt something hit the side of his head, right above his ear.  "Sorry, Nino. I dropped my pen. Can you get it for me," Alya said as he turned to look. He nodded, wondering just how accidental 'dropping' that pen really was.
 
He grabbed the pen from the floor and handed it to Alya who whispered just loud enough for only him to hear, "Talk about something else," before smiling and taking the pen. "Thanks, Nino!"
 
Nino looked back to Adrien and noticed he relaxed a little. What did he miss this weekend that both brought Adrien back into their social circle and kept him from wanting to talk about the monster of all akuma attacks? 
 
Just as he questioned this, one of the conversations in the room erupted into speculation of what would have happened if Ladybug had lost the confrontation with Chat Blanc. Others in the class injected their own ideas and the conversation grew from there. Nino saw Adrien sink in his seat a little while resting his forehead on his hands so he could focus on the textbook in front of him. To anyone else he may have looked like he was trying to study, but Nino could just see his expression. He looked like he wanted to die.
 
“Adrien?”  Nino asked, trying to pull his friend out of the strange state he was in.
 
Adrien gulped and looked up while resting his hands on the desk. “Yeah?”
 
“You okay?”
 
Adrien nodded with a rather forced looking smile on his face.  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. And that was when Nino noticed the ring on Adrien’s right hand.  Sure, he knew Adrien wore a ring, but he suddenly had a feeling seeing it now with the way his friend was acting.
 
Adrien was having a really hard time for the past four weeks. He looked ready to crack right before the weekend.  He stopped talking to people around the same time Chat Noir stopped appearing in battle a few weeks ago. Chat Noir had to be in some terrible emotional state to be akumatized. Pair that with all the times Adrien disappeared during akuma attacks and there was something to the idea that Adrien was…
 
The teacher entered the room and broke up the conversation so she could start class.  Nino hesitated for a moment before ripping a small piece of paper from his notebook and scribbled the words, ‘Are you Chat Noir?’
 
He folded the note and waited until he was absolutely sure no one was watching before he slipped it to Adrien.  There was a very good chance his best friend was about to think he was crazy.
 
Adrien unfolded the note and froze as he read it.  His eyes widened, and Nino realized that maybe he wasn’t so crazy after all. The thought still didn’t prepare him for Adrien quickly shredding the note in as many tiny pieces as possible before turning to him and nodding. “Yes,” he whispered under his breath before turning back to his notes.

Marinette just buried her head in her text book, when class started. She wished people would shut up about Chat Blanc. He was gone now! She also wish she could talk to Adrien. She felt Alya pat her on the back. Marinette turned her head and gave her friend a sad smile.

It was finally Thursday one more day until freedom. One more day of listening to people talking about Chat Blanc. Marinette was getting to the point to of almost yelling at people. When will they move on? Marinette was tapping her pencil on her desk during the last class of the day. She was staring at Adrien. She needed to talk to him after school today. Yesterday was just terrible. She ran away from him three times. She was going to force herself and talk.

When the school ball rang indicating the day was over, their teacher rushed out of the room. She had a doctor appointment. Bridgette also ran out of the room. Today was her reschedule spa day. As Marinette was putting her text books into her bag another discussion about Chat popped up.

Kim turned to Max. "Do you think Ladybug will still work with Chat?"

"I would say so. The two are a great duo." Max replied. One of the few classmates who didn't turn on Chat Noir.

Marinette breathed in relief. That was most positive thing she heard all week. She got up from her desk and headed to the door. She was planning put her stuff into her locker and go wait by Adrien's locker.

"Ha!" Chloe laughed. She then turned to face the two boys. "If you ask me she's better off without him. Ladybug is superior in every way."

Marinette came to a stop in the doorway. Anger was slowly consuming her. She clenched her hand on the door way. How dare she insult her partner. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir were equal! The public never seem to understand this.

She was about to walk away until Chloe opened her big mouth again. She stood up from her desk. "In fact Pairs is better off without him."

Marinette's blood was now boiling. She would not stand for this. She turned around and marched straight over to Chloe. She raised her right arm and slapped her right across the face. The class fell silent and all eyes were on the two girls. Chloe's look of shock quickly turned to anger.

"You're going to regret that," she said and crossed her arms. "I'll make sure you get expelled."

"I don't care!" Marinette yelled. She was shaking with anger. "I will stand for you insulting people!"

Please," Chloe rolled her eyes. "I was only speaking the truth."

"Are you blind!? Ladybug needs Chat Noir and she will always need him! They're a team! You can't have one without the other."

Chloe stared at Marinette for a second. She shifted her body. "The way you're talking it sounds like they're a couple."

"They are." Marinette folded her arms.

"Oh? Got any proof?"

"Your father's ball."

Chloe was quiet.

Marinette smirked.

"Whatever. I'm still telling on you so wipe that smirk off your face."

"Oh, I wouldn't if I were you," Alya interrupted. She was now standing next Marinette. She pulled out her phone and showed her some kind of video. Chloe looked horrified as she watched it. "If you say a word to headmaster I'll post this on my blog. Which I might add has over thousand subscribers." Chloe just nodded her head. "Good."

"Ah!" Marinette shouted when she realized that she wasted time yelling at Chloe. So much much for trying to talk to Adrien. Her parents were going to flip.

Alya looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm late!" Marinette replied then ran out of the classroom.

Alya shook her head and then looked back at the class. "Well carry on. There's nothing to see here." She grabbed Adrien by the arm. "Come on, fluffy. You too, Nino." She then dragged Adrien out of the classroom with Nino following right behind.

Adrien was putting his books in his bag when Chloe inserted herself into Max and Kim's conversation.  He had gotten used tuning out as much of the background chatter as possible, but Chloe's words were really hitting home today.  He was about to turn to Nino to start any kind of conversation that would tune everything else out when he heard a loud slap.

He looked up and stared as Marinette and Chloe started arguing. Marinette had slapped Chloe... He wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not, but she was defending him.  Defending him while taking the chance of getting expelled. And then she said it.  Not just that they were a team but that they were a couple.  

His heart raced and all he wanted was to finally be able to talk to her.  But then the argument ended and she was gone. He sighed and let Alya drag him from the classroom.  Someday, they would get the chance to talk...

Adrien went straight to his room to check on Plagg when he got home. The kwami's condition seemed to have plateaued at strong enough to not be exhausted but not strong enough to use his powers. He was getting worried something about being akumatized had damaged the kwami's powers. Tikki seemed unconcerned, but he was still worried.

"Hey, Adrien. Did Marinette talk to you today?" Tikki asked. She asked this question every day now and every day she was getting more frustrated with Marinette; especially yesterday when he told her she ran away three times.

"No, but she got in a fight with Chloe and told her that we were a team and a couple," Adrien answered. A negative voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him that maybe she was lying just for the sake of yelling at Chloe, but his first talk with Alya was enough to keep those thoughts at bay.

"Oh, that's a good sign." Tikki said. Her expression looked more along the lines of, 'if only she'd say that to you', but he he just smiled and turned to Plagg.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

Plagg shrugged. "Getting there," he said while breaking into the eighth package of Camembert. He would need to buy more soon.

Adrien nodded and walked to his desk to start his homework. "Well, keep resting.  Hopefully, you good before the next akuma attack."  Adrien sat down and grabbed the first book from his bag. He was finally to the point where homework didn't take most of the night, so he wanted to get it done as quickly as possible to give himself some spare time.

His homework took him to dinner, and he headed down to the dining room intending to grab his food and eat in his room.  Unfortunately, his father ended up eating dinner at the table that night, and he had to go through a mostly quiet dinner with the occasional question about his schoolwork and how he was doing.  Finally, he was able to go back to his room only to find the kwami having a heated conversation.

"I need to go back to Marinette," Tikki was saying as Adrien entered the room.

"But Tikki, I'm not healed yet. You said you were going to stay until I was better."

"I did, but Marinette and Adrien could have talked by now if I was around to push her a little more," Tikki replied, crossing her arms. "Besides, you should be fine by now."

"But I'm not. Stay here a little longer," Plagg insisted, so into the discussion that he floated up to where she was flying.

Tikki raised an eyebrow. "Really, Plagg? Do tell me how you're up here if you're not better."

Plagg froze as he realized what he'd just done.  "I... Well... It's a miracle...?" He said, trying to sound normal. He was obviously fine.

"You've been faking since yesterday," Tikki said. 

Plagg sighed in defeat, "Well, excuse me for wanting to spend time with you."

"We can spend way more time with each other once those two actually talk to each other," Tikki answered. Adrien wasn't sure if they'd noticed he was listening. He coughed to try and make them aware of his presence.

"I guess you're right," Plagg said. He gave Tikki what could only be a mischievous look. Tikki smiled and nodded so Plagg looked to Adrien. "Hey, Adrien.  Come here."

Adrien raised an eyebrow but walked over anyway.  Whatever was going on couldn't be too terrible if Tikki was in on it. "What is it?" he asked.

Plagg didn't answer before flying to the ring and suddenly disappearing inside of it.  For the first time in Adrien's superhero career he transformed without his movements or pose, completely surprised by the entire event.  "What?" he asked as he the transformation ended.

"We're going to go see Marinette. You two need to talk," Tikki answered.

"But I can't just appear on her balcony," he protested.

"Why not? You've done it before."

Adrien bit his lip, not really having an answer.  "I..."

"We're going.  Come on," She ordered, suddenly looking way more intimidating than he ever would have thought possible.

"Okay..." He answered.

He had to admit, it felt great traversing the rooftops as Chat Noir again. The night air was refreshing and jumping over the bustling streets of Paris was exhilarating.  He kept to the shadows tonight to keep from alarming any civilians below. He didn't want anyone to see Chat Noir until he was back at Ladybug's side where he belonged. He wanted it to be obvious that Chat Blanc had not destroyed what they had or changed his devotion to the city.

He landed silently on the balcony. Tikki smiled at him, "You stand right over there. Be ready to talk to her when she comes out." With that, she headed inside to get Marinette.

Adrien waited, nervously. He was still transformed and could still leave the conversation for another time. The fear that she would blame him or for some reason take back what she said about wanting to fight with him again was bubbling up in him, suddenly overshadowing what he knew about her feelings. He almost wanted to run back home.

Marinette was sitting at her desk trying to do homework. Her thoughts keep thinking about Adrien. She wondered what he thought about her fight with Chloe. She stated they were couple. She wished she had the time to talk to him afterward. Stupid grounding.

Tikki flew down from the loft and tapped Marinette on the head. She jumped and looked up. "I'm home!"

"Tikki!" Marinette spoke and grabbed her kwami and pulled her into a hug. "Welcome back! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too!" Tikki returned the hug and then floated away.

"Is Plagg better?"

"Yep. He's completely recharged now."

"That's good." Marinette closed her math text book. All concentration was gone now. She had a feeling Tikki wanted to talk.

"Shall we go to the deck? It's a beautiful night tonight."

"Sure." Marinette rose up from her desk and followed Tikki up to her deck. This clearly confirmed that they were going to have a talk.

When they got up on the deck, they walked over to the rail. Marinette leaned over the rail and gazed out at the city. It was a beautiful night tonight. The moon was shinning brightly. She looked over at Tikki. She wasn't sure what to say to her. She bet that Adrien told her about her behavior this week.

"Marinette," Tikki begun.

She just stared at her kwami.

"Have fun!!" she yelled and flew back into her room.

"Tikki!!" Marinette shouted in confusion. She turned around to go after her kwami, but stopped. She saw Chat Noir standing on her rooftop. Her eyes widen. She fell into her trap. Marinette wasn't sure if she should be angry or happy about this.

Chat Noir detransformed and Plagg floated down to Marinette. "Hello, Marinette. It's nice to officially meet you." He just chuckled and then went into her room to join to Tikki.

"Uh..hi..," Marinette said to Adrien. She looked away as a blush formed on her cheeks.