Adrien had not gotten any sleep that night either, mind wide awake going through all the girls he knew at school who could be his Ladybug. He had already ruled Chloe out due to the unfortunate Lady WiFi incident, which didn't help him as there were 42 other females in his grade and he couldn't even be sure that the two of them were the same age. She could be a year down or even a year up, which expanded the range he had to search exponentially.

He couldn't believe he didn't know her well enough to know who she could possibly be in their real lives, especially since it seemed like they knew each other more than just passing in the hall. Her eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue, he thought that'd he be able to recognize them anywhere. He sighed and thought about what she had said the night before. Maybe I am blinded by her superhero persona, he thought. Maybe I'll ask Marinette and Alya who they think Ladybug is, they're usually pretty perceptive.

"This is why I prefer cheese to girls," Plagg said, in noticing Adrien's change in demeanour.

When he arrived at school, Chloe tried to kiss him as per usual, which he expertly avoided before ducking into the classroom. Alya and Marinette were already in their seats and looking at him as he came in, so he waved. Alya smiled and waved back, but her seat mate only gave a little wave before returning to her notes. He shrugged when they started whispering to each other and walked over to where Nino was talking with Kim and Rose. They were discussing a movie Adrien had yet to see because his father thought it was too "inappropriate" so he tuned them out and opted to look around at his classmates. His eyes kept zeroing in on the two girls who were whispering intently with each other. It looked like Alya thought whatever Marinette was saying was crazy, and at one point her eyes flickered over to him before going back to their conversation.

"Adrien?" Nino asked, snapping him out of his daydreaming.

"Yea?" he replied and noticed that Kim and Rose weren't there anymore.

"I said your name three times. What's got your attention so much that you didn't hear me?" Nino followed his gaze to the two girls. "Moving on from your heartbreak so soon? Good on you dude."

"What are you talking about?"

"Marinette is cute dude, and I've seen you eyeing her from time to time. Unless you're looking at Alya and in that case, I'd like to remind you that I've been trying to get her to go out with me for a month now."

"Marinette?" Adrien repeated and took a good look at her. Nino was right, she was pretty cute, the chinese-french mix working out well, giving her porcelain skin and beautiful dark hair. "Hm, I guess I never really noticed that I was doing that..."

"Nothing cures heartbreak like new love!" his friend exclaimed and clapped him on the back. "Although it may be too soon for the whole 'love' thing. But you might as well get to know her more before making that decision."

"Ladybug already has my heart, but I supposed it wouldn't hurt to get to know her better. She's really opened up to us since when I first came here."

"Dude, I know you're not new anymore, but I'm pretty sure I've told you before that she was never that quiet to begin with. That was just you, but I can't blame her. Being a model is intimidating."

Adrien thought about that and shrugged. "Well as long as she's not scared of me now. Makes it less awkward to have someone to talk to while Alya continuously shoots you down."

"She'll say yes one of these days. Her responses have gone from 'no' to 'maybe' which makes me hopeful. I think she's just more interested in Ladybug and Chat Noir right now. She thinks they're secretly dating, which would be a total bummer for you."

"They aren't." Adrien said immediately.

"Touchy subject, I get that."

"Come on, class is about to start."

Adrien couldn't get the comment Nino had made out of his head even a week later. Sure, he'd always seen Marinette as pretty, but he started noticing more things about her. Small things he hadn't noticed before, like her laugh when Alya or Nino told a joke, how she hung onto every word whoever was talking to her said, making them know she was listening intently, but most of all, how she got a soft look on her face when she thought no one was looking. He wished he could be the one to sit behind her so he could observe these things without being obvious, but to Nino it had become as such.

Marinette hadn't noticed much of a change in him, but she attributed it to the fact she was now seeing both sides of him in one instead of being just Adrien or just Chat. She sighed as she sketched while the teacher handed out some marked assignments and looked up to where she usually saw the back of Adrien's head but to her surprise, she ended up looking at his face.

He turned away quickly when she noticed him looking at her, and she cocked her head. "What's up?" she leaned over and asked.

"N-nothing! Just wanted to see what you were up to. You've been really quiet today."

"Oh, I've just had a lot on my mind lately."

"Yea I know what you mean. It's been a crazy few weeks, hasn't it?"

She sighed internally, knowing it was her fault he may think that way. "It really has. I've barely had any time to do some designing what with school and stuff."

Adrien nodded his agreement. "We should do something this weekend, you, me, Nino, and Alya. Just the four of us."

She glanced over at the two in question who were having their own conversation. "Maybe Alya will finally say yes to him and we can stop forcing them into situations together."

He leaned even closer to her to whisper, "Why hasn't she said yes yet, anyway?"

"She really wants to focus on her hobbies right now. Aka the Ladyblog. I keep telling her she'd have time for both since he's really good at capturing people on film and would make a good partner, but she just waves me off." she whispered back.

"I think it's about time she said yes."

"Maybe we should help them along?"

Adrien smiled a real smile for the first time in what felt like forever and nodded before the teacher shushed the class to get back to the lesson.

Marinette smiled back before he turned around. What am I thinking? I just broke his heart, I shouldn't be trying to get closer to him like this on purpose. He's supposed to come to me. Although I suppose all of us going out this weekend was his idea. Maybe I'll indulge myself in this fantasy of him falling for me for a little while... she thought.

Phew this was a long chapter. I'm done for the day bye now guys