Change of Plan

The Decision

A few weeks went by.

Ladybug and Chat Noir tried to meet up every night, but it wasn't always possible. Sometimes an akuma attack ruined their plans. Sometimes their busy schedules did. And sometimes they were rained out of their spot.

They were both disappointed when they couldn't get together. But they both always felt better at school when they got to hang out with their new best friends: each other.

Now that the option of being in a romantic relationship with Adrien was off of the table, Marinette was so much more relaxed around him.

She knew that Adrien and Kagami must have worked things out because the day after their discussion, he went back to being his cheerful self again. And she was genuinely happy for him.

She felt more at ease, and her personality was finally able to shine through. He found her so easy to talk to, and they started hanging out more and more throughout the school day.

It was crazy to think, but it actually worked out perfectly that they never dated. Marinette was happy with Chat Noir and Adrien was happy with Kagami. What could possibly go wrong?

"So, Alya is trying to set up a movie night again," Marinette told Adrien on their way out of the building at the end of the day. "I know that you're super busy but she wants everyone to go."

"I don't know Marinette," he uttered, putting his hand to the back of his neck. He really didn't want to cancel a night with Ladybug.

"Please? You need to say 'yes' so I can get Alya off of my back. Pleeeeeeeeeease!" she whined, grabbing his other hand and flopping it around.

Adrien chuckled.

"You can even invite Kagami," she continued. "Come on, it'll be so much fun!"

He scrunched up his face. "Why would I invite Kagami?"

"You know, so you two can still have your date night. I know you hate missing them."

"I... I'm not dating Kagami," he sputtered.

She paused for a second and then tilted her head. "You guys broke up?"

"No, we didn't break up. We never dated."

They stared at each other completely confused.

"But... your hot date? The girl that you upset and had to apologize to? Weren't you talking about Kagami?"

He blinked a few times, suddenly realizing what was going on. Of course Marinette thought that he was talking about Kagami. He couldn't exactly say that it was Ladybug. So she, and probably everyone else, naturally assumed that he was dating Kagami. "Uh no, I wasn't. I mean, Kagami's a great girl, but we're just friends. I was... talking about someone else."

Marinette blinked back. "Oh okay, I'm sorry. I always thought that you were talking about her. So, you're dating someone else then?"

He nodded. "Uh, yeah."

"Okay. Well, what's her name?"

Total panic. "Uh... uh..." he sputtered as he racked his brain. "Her n... name is.... her name is... Juliet."

And suddenly he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Marinette would never believe that.

She smiled. "That's a pretty name."

"Yeah," he replied relieved. "You don't know her. I uh, met her at a photoshoot."

"That's nice. Well, you can invite Juliet to go to the movies with us if you want."

"Oh uh, her parents don't let her go to the movies."

Marinette looked confused again. "That's strange. Why not?"