"Hello?"

"Nino, I need help."

There was a pause on the other side of the line. Then; "Is this about Marinete?"

Adrien flushed red. "Yes?"

Adrien heard Nino chuckle and the blonde had a feeling that even though his best friend could not see him right now, Nino probably knew that Adrien looked as red as a tomato. The thought made Adrien pout "Ninoooooo."

"I know I know. Look just- gimme a second okay? I'm with Alya right now and she'll burn me alive if she knew I was talking to you."

"Right." Adrien considered himself blessed that he hadn't had a chance to encounter Alya yet. He supposed that he wouldn't be alive right now if he had.

A few minutes passed and Adrien heard Nino make some excuse about a calling relative. He assumed that Nino had slipped out to somewhere private before the boy's voice rang through the phone again, "So. Marinette."

"Yeah. Nino I- "

"If you ask me, the gentlest way to let her down would be privately. Especially- "

"Maybe I'm won't have to let her down Nino."

A pause. "What do you mean?"

Adrien ran a hand through his hair, "I may have just come to the realisation that I like her back? Pl- A friend helped me realise that maybe the girl I was crushing after wasn't the best choice after all."

"Who were you crushing after?"

"Ladybug?" In that moment, Adrien's voice sounded high pitched even to himself.

"Dude- Ladybug?! She was Marinette's competition?!"

"Well now, I wouldn't say competition- "

"Duuuuude, no wonder you never looked at another girl! And, by the way, your friend is right. No offence but you have no chance at Ladybug my dude. For one, she wouldn't put a civilian in danger by even entertaining the idea of dating them and two; if anybody ends up dating Ladybug, its Chat Noir."

"Right." Adrien mumbled. He knew for a fact that Chat stood as much a chance as anyone else did with how things had been going until now.

There was a short silence in which Adrien assumed that Nino was soaking all the new information in. He spent the time picking at the ends of his shirt before Nino finally spoke up again. "So. Marinette huh?"

Adrien's blush, which had just resided, slowly crept back into his cheeks. "Yeah." He mumbled.

Nino chuckled in amusement, "Well, you better do something before someone else swings in and swoops her off her feet because, let me tell you, she is one hell of a catch."

"Nino, you have a girlfriend."

"Doesn't mean I'm blind my friend."

"Touché. How do I go about this though? I have no clue on how these situations work. Except from what I've read in comic books and mangas that is. I'm pretty sure those don't count."

Nino hummed in thought, "Well, thing is, Marinette's already smitten with you, so there's not much worry over whether she'll be up for it or not. I'd suggest going slow for now, 'cause Marinette gets easily overwhelmed when it comes to you- "Adrien winced. Nino didn't notice. "Why don't you take her out on a date? You know, get to know each other, make her comfortable around you, stuff like that. Take her somewhere where she'll be thoroughly occupied, y'know? Cause she can't be nervous if she's distracted."

"That's- "Adrien swallowed, "That's actually solid advice. I owe you one Nino."

Nino chuckled, "Anything for a friend dude. Alya's gonna flip when she hears this."

"Don't tell her yet," Adrien was already feeling much lighter now that he had a solid plan of action, "I want her to hear it from Marinette when I ask her out tomorrow at school."

He heard Nino whistle, "Eager, aren't we?"

It was Adrien's turn to laugh, "You have no idea how oblivious I can be. Now that I've been thinking about it, it's so obvious Nino."

"Dude, I know. I've had to watch you two from the day you came to class. You only realise now, but do you even know how painful it was for the rest of us?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You better knock her off her feet Agreste, 'cause Alya and I won't accept anything less."

"And here I though I'm asking Marinette out?"

"Marinette has a whole liege of people who'd give up their lives for her, you know? Alya's president of the 'Protect Marinette' squad and by default, that makes me co-president."

"Don't doubt that. I might have to steal Alya's title though."

Nino laughed, "You can try pretty boy. I'll talk to you later, yeah dude? Alya's starting to get suspicious."

"See you Nino. Thanks for the talk man."

"Anytime my dude. Nino out."

Adrien looked at the phone in his hand with a soft smile. He already had a rough idea about what he needed to do.

-

"Marinette!"

The girl in question froze on the front steps of their school as Adrien rushed up to her. She slowly turned to face him, an awkward smile on her face. "Hey Adrien."

He rubbed the back of his neck, something he did when he was anxious. Even though Adrien had had the whole weekend to think this through, that didn't make any of it easier. "Listen- ah- could we talk in private for a moment? Please?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, "S-sure! Uhhh..."

"Right," He moved to walk in front of her, "This way."

He could tell that his movements were stiff as he weaved through the crowd of students standing in the hallways. His whole being felt jittery with nervous energy which showed in the quake of his hands as he clenched them into fists by his side. He was not losing his nerve right now, not if he could help it. At least Plagg's warmth pressed right over his heart was some comfort.

They made it to the school library, which was mostly empty this early in the morning, except for the few students getting last minute work done. He led them through the rows of book shelfs to somewhere near the back, where he knew they'd have some privacy if they kept their tone of voices low.

He turned back to face Marinette as she looked around self-consciously. Adrien could make out that she was about as nervous as he was, if not more, by the way her eyes refused to meet his and the way she was fidgeting with her hands.

"Uhhhh..." Now that they were finally here, his words seemed to elude him.

"Why did you bring me here Adrien? Yo-you don't need to sugar coat things f-for me. I'd understand i-if you're here t-to tell me th-that you're not interested." It surprised him that she sounded quite sure of what she was saying, even surer than when she had confessed to him two days ago. Did she really have no faith in this? Was she so sure he was going to reject her straight out?

Internally, the mischievous- Chat Noir side of Adrien smirked. Well wasn't she in for a surprise?

"You've got it wrong." His voice was soft and quiet, but firm. Because right now, not only was this for him, but it was for Marinette as well. And he would soon come to realise that he'd go against the world if she asked him to.

"Marinette, will you go on a date with me?"

Her head snapped up from where she had been determinedly looking down at her shoes, bluebell eyes wide in surprise. He looked her straight in the eyes with determination as he waited for her thoughts to catch up with her. He could see that her mind was making progress by the way her cheeks started to flush an apple red. Her jaw had dropped open and he chuckled before his hand made it to the back of his neck. "I-I mean, if you want to, that is."

"W-w-w-w-"

"Listen." He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Take your time with your answer, okay? I don't mind." He paused as the school bell rang and sighed, "We- We have to get going to class now, okay?"

Marinette didn't respond as he moved past her, in the direction of the library entrance. His whole being felt somewhat lighter, but his mind kept snagging on the tiny fear that there was still a possibility where she could say no. And frankly, he was far too deep in now to take that answer too well. He may have just realised that he liked Marinette romantically speaking, but he had already cared deeply for her anyways, this was just an extension of it. Still, he turned to look at her over his shoulder. She was still standing right where he left her and knowing Marinette, it'd take her some time to unfreeze.

"Marinette?" She stiffly turned around to face him, bluebell eyes still wide in shock. He gave her shaky smile in response, "Don't leave me hanging, okay?"