(A/N): Here's the extra chapter as promised! Was gonna post sooner but WiFi was down. 

Hope you enjoy! :-)

  Marinette and Alya momentarily paused their conversation as they both stared at Adrien and Nino...who were standing a few feet away talking quietly among themselves with serious expressions on their faces. 

"What do you think their talking about?" Alya curiously asked Marinette as she casually placing a hand on her hip. 

"I have no idea," replied Marinette uncertainly. The boys had been talking for a while now, but it was what they were talking about that made her uneasy. 

Was Adrien exposing her secret to Nino?

Wasn't this what Befana warned her about?

Marinette could feel heat rising to her cheeks as the scenario began to form vividly in her mind. No, he couldn't have told Nino. 

  But what if he did? Her mind continued to press her with this question. But instead of answering it, she tried to avoid it as best as she could. 

I'll ask him about it later, she decided. 

"Girl, you're always zoning out on me," Alya's suddenly laughter suddenly snapped Marinette back to reality. 

"Uh, sorry," she smiled apologetically. 

"No worries. Anyway, I was asking if you know who that guy is over there with Nino."

  Marinette's eyes once again fell on Adrien. His emerald green eyes were focused on Nino as he spoke, and the evening sunlight almost made his golden curls seemingly glow. He stood with his hands in the pockets of his black leather pants, only taking his right hand out once to rub his neck-- a small habit of his that Marinette had noticed not to long ago. When his eyes finally met hers, Marinette's heart nearly skipped a beat. 

He rolled his eyes and waved to her with a knowing smile. She smiled back and shyly waved back, slightly embarrassed for being caught staring at him. 

She realized just then that she didn't answer Alya's question. 

"He's...uh...my escort," she told her. 

Alya raised an eyebrow. "Your escort?"

Marinette nodded. 

Alya laughed once more, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're an entire mystery, but I'm not gonna make you tell me anything you don't want to...even though I'm dying to know how you grew your hair that long."

"Well, you know, I just shampoo and moisturize regularly," Marinette joked. 

"In that case, maybe you could share some of that shampoo with me."

Both girls laughed. 

Finally, Adrien and Nino walked towards them, though Nino appeared confused as ever. 

"Marinette," said Adrien. "We need to find a place to sleep for the night, and also do something about food and a new change of clothes."

"You guys could just come crash at my place," Alya offered. "We have only one spare room though, so you'll hafta work that out on your own."

"Uh, no thanks," said Adrien quickly. Roaming on the streets with nothing but an armful of weapons and pure independence had made him a little skeptical of accepting handouts. "We wouldn't wanna impose or anything."

Alya crossed her arms, and snorted. "Fine then. Have fun finding another place."  

"Come on, Adrien. It's getting late, and we can't go around asking everyone for a place to sleep without any money or food," Marinette said to Adrien. 

"And my offer is free of charge too," Alya added. 

"But Alya, you have 3 sisters, your cousin, and your parents living with you...including me," pointed out Nino. "Your house is gonna be packed."

Alya gave him a wink before saying, "Don't worry, I got this. You guys can help me finish delivering these papers, then we'll go home...and tomorrow we can all go to the Festival together."

Adrien was about to protest, but after seeing Marinette's pleading eyes, he sighed and finally said, "Ok, fine. Let's go."

"Great!" exclaimed Alya. She picked up the stack of papers that were laying on the ground and handed each of them a small pile.

 "Then let's get this party started."

**************

"Alya! Alya! Alya!"

"Alya, look what I drew in my notebook!"

"Alya, come play house with me!"

"Alya, my doll has a new dress, come see!"

  Alya's house was filled with noise and ruckus as the four finally had arrived at sundown. Her little twin sisters, Ella and Etta, were running up and down the stairs and around the foyer with  impressive amounts of energy, and they were accompanied by their cousin Manon, who was also participating in their enthusiastic play. Alya's mother, who was wearing a plaid housedress with a white apron, came to greet her daughter and her friends.

"It's about time you came home," she said to Alya, gently brushing a stray curl from her eyes. 

"Sorry, Mom. Just got a little sidetracked," replied Alya, as she around, apparently looking for someone. "Where's Nora?"

"She's working upstairs with your father," Mrs. Cesaire answered. Her eye widened as she caught sight of Marinette's hair. "Who is this?" she asked pleasantly a moment later. 

"Oh, that's Marinette. And over there is Adrien," Alya explained. "They need a place to sleep for the night, so I said they could stay here. Is that okay?"

Mrs. Cesaire brightened. "Of course, that's perfectly fine. Though I'll admit, it will definitely be crowded tonight." 

"That's what I said," Nino interjected. 

   Alya shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Come on, guys," she said to Marinette and Adrien as she began to walked towards the wooden stairs. "I'll give you a tour of the place, and then we can eat."

The three followed Alya up the wooden steps that lead to the floor above, though Adrien slightly felt awkward and out of place being in her family's house. 

Marinette, on the other hand, was excited and eager to socialize more with Alya and her family. 

Alya lead them down a long hallway with lanterns hanging overhead, picture frames on the walls here and there, and a soft rug on the floor. They passed several rooms before Alya threw open a door on the right. "This'll be your room for the night."

The room was dark-- the only source of light came from the window at the far end of the room, where moonlight spilled out onto the wooden floor. Marinette could make out a small well-made mattress in one corner, and a small wooden table with an unlit candle that stood in another corner on the left. 

"What do you think?" Alya asked.

"It's more than enough, thank you so much, Alya," Marinette smiled gratefully. 

"There's only one bed though.." Adrien mumbled, but Marinette quickly stepped on his foot to silence him. 

"At least you guy's have a bigger room," commented Nino. "I have the smallest room in the entire house."

Alya huffed. "That's only because your room has a closet. Also, try staying in a room with one of your sisters constantly in your way and two others bouncing off the wall in the next room."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"Anyway," Alya said with a playful roll of her eyes. "Let's go back downstairs. My mom should be finished with dinner soon."

************

   In the upstairs room, Marinette slipped into the white cotton-laced nightgown Alya had lent her, her heart content and her belly filled with food. 

Eating with the Cesaires was a whole new experience she encountered, and she enjoyed every minute of it. The dinner table was filled with friendly chatter, not to mention covered with delicious food Marinette had never tasted before. Mrs.Cesaire had graciously allowed her daughter's guests second helpings, not to mention third or fourths--  if their stomachs could handle it. Marinette had especially found Alya's sisters  and little cousin extremely entertaining. She smiled in amusement as she remembered Manon saying that Marinette had "the prettiest black hair ever"...only to start an argument with her cousins about whether Marinette's hair was black or if it was navy blue.

  A sudden knock on the door reminded Marinette that she was supposed to inform Adrien when she was finished dressing so he could change into his own pajamas-- a pair of loose trousers and an old t-shirt he fished out of Nino's closet. She quickly snuck his leather satchel underneath the mattress (she had been hiding it in the folds of her petticoat underneath her dress the entire time) and opened the door, her long hair trailing behind her. 

She found an impatient Adrien on the other side of the door. "Took you long enough," he grumbled. 

"Don't be a sour kitty," Marinette smirked, moving toward the side so that he could come into the room, then stepping out into the hallway before closing the door behind her. 

After Adrien dressed, he reopened the door, expecting to find Marinette waiting on the other side. 

When that wasn't the case, he poked his head out of the room and looked left and right. 

She wasn't in the hallway at all. 

He finally found her sitting on the grass out in the backyard, a pillow and blanket in her arms and her hair laying in midnight-colored heaps around her. 

"Uh, what're you doing?" Adrien asked, not attempting to hid the amusement in his voice. 

"I'm about to make my bed," answered Marinette matter-of-factly. She place the pillow behind her and unfolded her blanket. 

"I told you I'm the one who's supposed to be sleeping outside," said Adrien. "You are supposed to be upstairs."

"But I feel bad that you always have to be the one sleeping outside." Marinette pouted. 

"I told you I didn't mind it."

"Liar."

Adrien chuckled as he lowered himself down next to Marinette, laying his back onto the ground with his hands folded behind his head and a twinkle in his eyes. "Would I ever lie to you, bugaboo?"

Marinette snorted. "I'm pretty sure a pretty boy like you is capable of lying."

"So you think I'm pretty, huh?" Adrien smirked. 

Marinette blushed. "I'm--well, I-- I was just...I didn't mean it like that," she finally said, twirling her thumbs nervously. 

Wait...why was she nervous all of a sudden?

"Well, here's a little secret," said Adrien. "I think you're pretty too."

"Wait, what?" Marinette almost shrieked. She really needed to calm down. 

"Yeah," he continued, "As in pretty darn stubborn when it comes to who sleeps where."

Marinette let out a small laugh. "Well, maybe if you would just stop arguing with me then I wouldn't be stubborn."

"Who says we're arguing?"

Shaking her head in amusement, Marinette laid her head down next to Adrien's with a tired sigh. Both stared at the stars in deep thought, and Marinette began to wonder how big gases of hydrogen and helium could look so beautiful from so far away. 

"Adrien?" she asked a moment later.

"Hmm?"

"Did you tell Nino? You know...about my hair and stuff?"

Adrien turned his head to face her. "No. What's makes you think I'd do that?"

Relief flooded through Marinette's mind, washing away the uneasiness she had been previously feeling. 

"Just asking," she answered quietly. 

"Hey," Adrien joked. "I may be a major thief, but I'm definitely not a liar. Besides, you'd probably strangle me with your hair if I did."

"I actually wasn't planning on strangling you if you did, but now that you mention it..."

"Okay, okay. I get it."

As they laughed once more, Marinette could feel her eyelids grow heavier and her body longing for sleep. She pulled the blanket up over her chest and folded her hands above her stomach. 

"Looks like someone's tired," teased Adrien.

Marinette smiled tiredly. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's obvious that it's me."

Another peaceful moment of silence passed between them. 

"I can't believe we're actually going to see the Flight tomorrow," Marinette murmured dreamily. 

Adrien chuckled. "Yep."

"Do you know," Marinette asked with a yawn, "that tomorrow will officially be my first birthday outside of my tower?"

"Really?" Adrien said softly. 

"Mm hm." Marinette let out another yawn before finally shutting her eyes. "Tomorrow is more special that you think-- to me anyway."

Adrien watched as Marinette drifted off to sleep, a sweet smile on her lips. He waited a few minutes before finally rising and gently scooping her up in his arms and walking back into the house and up the wooden stairs. Once he reached the room, he carefully laid Marinette onto the matress and tucked her in, making sure she was warm enough underneath the wool blanket. He gazed at her face a moment more before finally whispering, "Sweet dreams, Princess."

He then went back outside and after making himself comfortable on the ground with Marinette's blanket and pillow, closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. 

(Author's Note):

FINALLY DONE!! And wrote over 2000 words, too. *gives myself a pat on the back with a smirk*

Don't forget to vote, share, and comment comment comment, hehe. Your comments absolutely brighten my day and I love reading every single one of them. 

Anyways, ya gurl is about to go rest her fingers and take an anime break. 

See you guys next weekend..and stay Miraculous!