Marinette finished her poem, and as soon as her parents fell asleep, she hopped out through her trapdoor to her balcony. She waited for Adrien to come, but Adrien wasn't the one to pick her up. It was. . .
"Cat Noir?!" Marinette said. "What are you doing here? I'm waiting for someone-"
Cat Noir answered, "Adrien Agreste, right? We're buds, and he asked me to bring you to his house without detection, mainly from his father."
"Why isn't he getting me himself?" whimpered Marinette.
Cat Noir recalled, slyly, "Doesn't he live in a fortress?"
"Touche," scoffed Marinette. "Let's just go."
***
They arrived swiftly, and unknowingly. Cat Noir dropped her through Adrien's bedroom window, and flew back through the bathroom window, greeting Marinette as Adrien.
"Hey, Marinette! Got your books?" he asked.
Marinette nodded. "I also- um- have something f-for. . .you."
"Me?"
"Here!" Marinette gave him her poem. Adrien read it aloud.
"'Your hair I did say was like sun, but truly, do you think that I'm the one? My eyes are blue, as said by you, and I believe our love, so true, but sometimes I wonder about you. Was I the one meant to read your words? Or am I just like flying birds, always stuck in one same routine, wondering what it all really means? So, do you love me? Is it true? Or will I forever be just a friend to you? Signed, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. . .' Oh, Marinette!"
Marinette held her breath as she listened to Adrien's reply. "Marinette, this is beautiful. . .but. . ."
Marinette looked down at Tikki in her purse and finished Adrien's sentence, "You love someone else, don't you. . .?"
Adrien ensnared Marinette in a hug. Then he admitted, meaning it fully. "I can't see why she'd love me anyways. I do love you, Marinette."
"How, though, Adrien?" asked Marinette, voice breaking. "I know that we're b-best friends, but I s-sort of mean-"
"More than that?" asked Adrien. "Your poems are beautiful, and I should've realized it earlier, that you are, too."
Marinette looked up at him, still laying in his arms. "So. . .you really- l-love me?"
CRASH.
The two rushed to the window to see a new akumatized villain. It was a new version of Lady WiFi, but something seemed different about her. Adrien took Marinette by the hand and led her to a safe place in his house where his dad would never find here.
"Stay here," he warned her. "I'm going for help."
Marinette waited for him to leave to scream, muffled, into the fabric of her purse.
"Why now, Tikki?!" she whined. "Whyyyyyy?!"
Tikki exhaled sharply. "Come on, Marinette! Transform!"
"Tikki, I can't focus now!" moaned Marinette. "How can I zoom through Paris with a yo-yo and a boy that looks low-key like Adrien?!"
Tikki shifted her eyes around (totally not becuase she knows who Cat Noir is and why he looks "low-key" like Adrien) and looks back at Marinette.
"Marinette," she says. "Say the words. I can help you through your Bug-Phone."
Marinette bit her lip. "Fi-i-i-ine. Tikki, spots on!"
