"Marinette!"

Straight after the shout, two arms wrapped around the girl's form, pulling her into a hug as she grunted from the impact. It took her a moment to gain her bearings, and return the gesture by patting the person's back.

"Oh my gosh, Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe exclaimed, whilst shifting to gaze at her head-on. "Do you know how worried I was?"

"I- umm...why?" she finally decided to ask, attempting to brush off the question. One of her hands sifted through the locks reaching down to her chest in a clear display of anxiety.

Chloe gained a deadpan expression. "Isn't it obvious? Because of the whole Chat Blanc debacle last night."

"W-What are you talking about?"

She rolled her eyes. Concern leaked into her tone as she assured, "Mari, there's no need to hide it. It was pretty easy to figure out who that alley cat was crazy about when he mentioned his 'Princess' in love with Luka."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marinette quizzed on instinct, before covering her mouth and feeling a blush start up on her cheeks.

Her friend grinned. "Oh, come on. Those goo-goo eyes you give each other just prove it. Plus, you've kissed him more times than I can count."

"On the cheek!"

Tikki - who had been munching on a cookie within a spotted purse - smirked with mischief in mind, then gave a nudge to her owner's leg. That only made her turn a darker shade of pink.

"Chloe..." she whined.

"Kidding, kidding..." she joked, as she readjusted the bag at her side. "Anyway, we better get to class. Adrien's at a photoshoot today, so he won't be there." She let out a sigh, grunting, "We'll have to deal with those losers on our own."

"Don't you mean Adrikins?"

"Ew, he's like a brother to me - a younger one despite his age, since his father is as stiff as an ironing board and doesn't know how to raise a kid."

"I agree with you there, Chlo," the designer remarked, nodding along while beginning to enter the school building. Stone steps led up to double-doors, that were open and allowed the duo to see the pupils bustling about inside DuPont.

A teen adorning a light cyan shirt waved at Marinette from across the hall, making her beam and do the same. Aurore sent a nod in greeting from next to Mireille, and she returned one too.

Chloe opened her mouth to start another conversation, this time on the topic of their upcoming project. She pointedly ignored the rosy hue on her friend's face whenever mentioning Chat Noir.

Soon they reached the door to their classroom, that, once opened, caused the people within to quiet down until there was almost no noise at all. Marinette sucked in a breath, then stepped in beside the Mayor's daughter and made her way to one of the two desks at the front.

As she sat down, she tried to ignore the stares fixated on her frame. The female beside her noticed her discomfort, and whipped around to glare everyone into submission. Some glanced away, while others seemed to catch the hint and carry on their chatter like nothing had happened.

The baker spoke of a quick whisper of gratitude, then took off her backpack to remove her necessary items. That included several pens, erasers and a fresh sketchbook, that she flushed lightly at when remembering who had gifted it.

It was when she had just placed a pencil against parchment that she caught a familiar voice call, "Marinette?" She faced the person in confusion, only to see Mylene and Alix with expressions of worry.

"Yes?" she said, tilting her head. Her voice was curt yet respectful, giving off an aura that was unlike what they were used to.

Alix queried, "Are you okay? We saw what happened yesterday with the akuma and thought that you got hurt."

"Yeah," Mylene agreed, shivering. "Chat Blanc was really scary. Me and Ivan saw the footage of him taking you from Luka and to the top of the Eiffel Tower."

Marinette blinked, processing their words. "What footage?"

"It's on the Ladyblog," the skater supplied for context. "Haven't you seen it? Alya managed to record it and got thousands of views."

"Thousands?" she breathed, complexion pale. "B-But how could she post that without letting me know? Or, or asking me about-"

Chloe grabbed her by the shoulders in a sudden movement, spinning her around to gaze straight into her eyes. "Marinette, I need you to stay calm with me, okay? Take a deep breath and let it out."

The bluenette did so, forcing her chest to slow in its inhalations as she was unaware of her classmates looking over to where they were. Chloe grimaced at them, shaking her head before moving to embrace her deskmate.

~*~*~

"Are you sure about this, Luka?"

"Yes, my Melody," he replied, whilst lifting up a hand to trace soothing circles on her back. "It will never have a chance of happening if we don't ask him."

Marinette bit her bottom lip. "I know, but...what if he doesn't want to?"

Luka opened his mouth to speak, yet was cut off by a tapping on the nearby hatch. He froze - as did Marinette - as she slowly peeked up to see a figure in black leather staring straight in.

Pink dusted her features. She maintained contact with his emerald eyes the whole way to the trapdoor, only breaking it once it was open. Chat Noir flicked his gaze between the two, before speaking up in a nervous manner.

"Should I come in?"

He hesitated at her confirmation, but managed to ever so slowly leap onto her bed's mattress. It shook from the added weight of him and his friend, as they both slid down the ladder leading down and landed on soft carpet.

"You can sit on the chaise if you want," she offered, beam gracing her expression with an arm gesturing to the furniture. He walked over to it, then sat down with a curious glint in his pupils.

"So, Chaton..." the designer started, fingers twiddling with each other and feet digging into the floor. "About what happened yesterday, I...we wanted to ask you something."

Adrien nodded.

"You, you know about how me and Luka feel about each other, right?"

The ears atop his head bent until they were facing down. "Yes, Princess. I...I know that you only love him, and I-I'm sorry about me getting akumatized. I should've known-"

"You're wrong!" she shouted, coming forward to snatch one of his clawed hands. It was such a swift action that it took them both a moment to comprehend it, prompting them to share matching blushes. "I mean, I do love Luka but I love you as well."

Chat Noir felt a breath hitch in his throat. His false ears perked up as he rasped, "R-Really?"

"Really," she agreed, raising an arm to reach and cup his chin. He leaned into the touch, nuzzling her delicate skin in a motion that made her chuckle. "...Which is why we wanted to ask if you'd like to go out with the two of us."

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, as did his jaw. The teens in front of him had cautious looks - even Luka, who he now realised to have been sitting on a nearby chair. He switched his focus between them, the answer on the tip of his tongue going ignored as he instead questioned, "W-What do you mean?"

"We're asking you on a date, Kitty," she giggled, her nerves relaxing slightly as she grinned. "For tomorrow night, specifically. It would be a great opportunity to get to know each other better. If you agree, that is, since you obviously haven't decided yet and might not even be interested in a poly-"

The hero cut off her rambling with a finger. His face was a dark hue, that only increased in severity when he met their eyes with his. He hunched his body inwards the smallest bit. "I-I would be okay with that," he whispered, before turning to Luka and carrying on, "If you are."

The male gained a closed-eye smile, now at ease with the whole situation. "I am, as long as you're comfortable with it all."

Marinette sighed in relief, as she ruffled Adrien's blond tresses and started to scratch at them near to his scalp. He shuddered. A purr echoed in the room along with his murmur of, "I think I will be..."