I swung in through my window and detransformed, handing Tikki a cookie. A wave of pain crossed my face. I had never seen Adrien so mad. And he was mad at me. What was that black thing anyway?

"Hey Tikki. Sorry I acted so weird before. I'm fine. It's all out of my system now." I smiled a bright, toothy smile but she rolled her eyes, folding her tiny arms against her chest.

"Yeah right. Marinette I was there. And I know how close you and Felix were. You need to stop pushing it away. Was he drunk or something?" I shrugged, staring at the picture of the dead black cat I had drawn.

"I don't know Tik. I've never seen him act so weird and I can only hope he doesn't do it again." Hope. Another thing other than love I didn't believe in. I had had my hope dashed repeatedly so many times I just didn't have any left anymore. I felt like spiders were crawling up my skin as my thoughts went back to it. I felt a sudden urge to tear off my skin, scratch it off, rub off his touch from me but I was trapped. Trapped in a body I had wished to leave for so long. Trapped in my own skin and I couldn't get out.

"Marinette? Are you okay?" I smiled, touching a queer purple dot she had developed. All of them used to be black but one had turned purple. I tried asking her about it but she quickly changed the subject so I dropped it.

"Hey, there was this black thing I saw Adrien talking to. It was like it flew out of his pocket or something, I don't know but I couldn't see it and I was wondering of you knew what it was...? Tikki? Tikki are you-" I heard the bell jingle downstairs and sighed. Someone must've walked into the bakery. My "parents" were out of town for a pastry convention. Yeah right.

I sent a look to Tikki and she slipped into my bag. She sighed slowly, making herself comfortable and thought about Plagg. She missed him. He was an idiot but she missed him. I rushed downstairs and froze when I saw Adrien's blonde hair. I tiptoed up quickly and grabbed a blanket, rubbing my nose and cheeks to make them look flushed. I fake shivered and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked awful. Worse than usual anyway. Perfect.

I went down the stairs and rolled my eyes when Adrien stared at me with concern. I yawned and scratched the back if my head.

"Hey Adrien. What're you doing here?" He grinned.

"I came to help you. You look really sick Marinette. Not like in a bad way or anything. I just- uh-" I smiled as he tried to form words.

"Hey, isn't stuttering my thing? You should be at school. Isn't that talent show thing tomorrow?" I held in a gag. I was not going to that show. I didn't care if it was Alya running the whole thing, there was no way. She had begged me but I wasn't going. Even told me Adrien was gonna participate. "I heard you were gonna sing something."

"Who told you- Alya, right?" I nodded. He facepalmed, causing me to snicker. We were sitting down opposite each other. "Don't laugh. I just felt like it. I would love for you to come though. It would make it more special."

"O-oh." My cheeks went red. Was I blushing for real? Oh heavens no. I got up and mumbled out something about making hot chocolate. It took me a while to comport myself but I did eventually manage to swallow all my feels down. I was acting like a lovesick puppy. Or lovesick kitty. I smiled sadly as I thought about Chat Noir and gave Adrien his cup, smiling as I sipped mine. There was a comfortable silence- and it frightened me. So much I simply had to speak.

"We should bake something." I tried to make it a question but it came out like a demand. We were too comfortable around each other. I couldn't stand the fact that we could stay in silence without any awkwardness or tension. He nodded quickly and got up. I snickered silently as I watched his eyes travel the baked goods displayed through the glass. "Which one do you want to m-make?"

I facepalmed internally as I blushed but he looked so adorable I honestly couldn't help it. I remembered him talking about how he loved me to that little black thing and blushed harder. Then I remembered that he loved Ladybug. Confident, talented Ladybug. The one people looked up to. Not Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The pathetic clutz who spent more time on the floor than on her feet.

"That one." I was pulled out of my dark train of thought by his voice. I followed his pointed finger to one of my favourites, a classic and smiled as he meekly gazed at the floor.

"Chocolate-flavoured croissants it is." He whooped and grabbed my hand, dragging me behind the counter and rubbing his hands together. He was giddy, eyes shining. He looked like a child. An adorable child with a slightly unhealthy obsession for pastries. I looked away quickly. His happiness made me sick, yet, happy at the same time. Another thing to worry over.

. . .

Adrien and I looked at each other and laughed. We were both covered from head to toe in flour, butter, eggs and about a dozen other baking ingredients. It started pretty innocently when Adrien threw a bit of flour in my face. Yeah... didn't stay innocent for long. I could vaguely remember cracking an egg over his head while he returned the favour by pouring flour all over me. I flicked some butter on him, laughing at the mess we made.

"This is gonna take so long to clean up." I groaned. Parents or not, the actors always wanted the place spotless. I had gotten a beating or two from leaving it dirty. I sighed, wiping the grime off my face and reached for the broom but Adrien beat me to it.

"I'll help you." I rose an eyebrow.

"Really? You don't have to. I mean, do you even know how to use one of those?" His grip tightened on the handle.

"Yes. Yes I do. Just because my father is wealthy doesn't mean I don't do anything." I scratched the back of my neck. Damn Agreste, must've hit a soft spot there.

"Sorry." He nodded quietly and got to work. I glanced at him every once in a while as he swept. I would have to do it again once he left but at least he tried. I wiped the counters and tabletops, clearing out all the things we had used to wash them later. Oh fudge, he's too cute. Someone save me... He looked up once he was done, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Sorry about snapping earlier. I just... had a lot on my mind." I shrugged it off, about to get started on the dishes when I noticed something. There was a cut on his left eyebrow.

"Hey, how'd you get that-"

"I cut myself by accident while I was shaving my eyebrows." I blinked.

"Uh... what?" He chuckled awkwardly.

"You'd be surprised how often it happens. No biggie." I shrugged and walked over to him, using a cloth to wipe some butter off the side of his face.

"I was talking about the butter actually. How did you miss this? It's all over your face- dude I think there's some in your ear!" I giggled. He stared at me silently. I noticed his breath hitch but I thought nothing of it.

"Uh... I got a little distracted." I nodded quietly, half listening as I wiped his face. He was still staring at me. Oh glob tell me I don't have something on my face too. I would look so stupid...

"What distracted you?" He seemed to argue with himself internally before speaking.

"Uh... you actually." My eyes widened. It took one second for me to realise that Adrien freaking Agreste was about to kiss me and another one for me to react.

I...

Slapped him. Uh... whoops?