Marinette stood silently in her place, processing Adrien and Louise's words. Her heart raced with anticipation. She wanted answers. And even though she didn't know exactly what was going on, she wanted to tell Adrien not to go wherever Louise wanted him to go.

But Marinette's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Chloe exiting her limo across the schoolyard and walking towards her.

Oh great, Marinette instinctively thought. Time to get yelled at for absolutely nothing.

It was the first time Marinette had seen Chloe since her meltdown in Ms. Bustiers class the other day, so she was mentally preparing herself for the onslaught of insults.

However, to her surprise, Chloe was relatively calm. A little annoyed, but calm.

"Marinette. I know you want nothing to do with me, but I have a proposal for you," Chloe stated, leaning on one hip and crossing her arms.

When Marinette didn't reply, Chloe continued.

"I have been... less than friendly to you these past few years, but I'm finally willing to put aside our differences in order to fight a common enemy."

This piqued Marinette's interest. She raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"I have a plan to expose Louise. Once and for all."

Marinette was already on board. She opened her mouth to reply a simple "okay," when Chloe held out her hand abruptly. The over-the-top blonde pinched her eyes shut and wailed dramatically.

"I know, I know! You don't believe me at all! But trust me, Louise is evil. She needs to be stopped before she hurts Adrien!"

Marinette widened her eyes. "Chloe-"

Chloe flinched and interrupted once again. "Stop yelling at me! What more do you want? I know I'm a brat, but come on!"

"CHLOE!" Marinette yelled, silencing the blonde. "I was going to say, I trust you!"

Chloe blinked, the slightest hint of tears forming in her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes!" Marinette laughed, shocked by the entire situation. "Now, what is your plan?"

"Wow, I wasn't expecting your compliance at all," Chloe scoffed.

Marinette's desperation for answers really changed that.

Chloe cleared her throat, pulling out a pink notepad. "Anyways, this is my plan."

She handed the notepad to Marinette, who began reading the blonde's cursive writing.

Marinette gulped, rereading each sentence over and over again. "Are you sure this is going to work? I mean, it seems a bit farfetched."

"It will. Everything is put into place," Chloe smiled.

Marinette shamefully handed the notepad back to Chloe, as if she was apart of some criminal activity. She looked at the ground, unsure if she should tell Chloe what she had heard Adrien and Louise talking about.

"Chloe?" Marinette squeaked.

"Yes?" Chloe asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. She wasn't sure of what she heard, so it was best for her not to get Chloe all rowled up over a 2 second conversation.

Marinette fake smiled, crossing her hands behind her back as she weaved past Chloe to head into the school. "See you tonight at 6!"

Chloe smirked in victory, finally pleased that someone believed her. "Don't be late."

*

Tikki floated concerningly over Marinette's head, who was currently trying on different outfits in front of a body length mirror.

"What would you wear to this sort of thing?" Marinette pouted, holding a red laced dress over her body. She stared at her reflection.

"Definitely not that," Tikki giggled. "Think more casual."

"Fine," Marinette replied, heading over to her bed and picking up a pair of white skinny jeans along with a pink tank top and black, long sleeve cardigan.

Tikki looked unamused. "Marinette, that looks exactly like your regular clothes."

Marinette huffed defensively. "Just the color scheme!"

"Fine, wear it," Tikki laughed in defeat.

Marinette smiled happily. Standing in front of the mirror and looking back and forth between her regular clothes and the outfit she picked out, the realization dawned on her.

"I guess you're right..." her eyes then fluttered down to her clock and it read 5:47. She jumped in panic. "But I have no time! Gotta go!"

Marinette feverishly slipped on her flats and ran out the door.

*

Out of breath was an understatement.

This girl was on the brink of collapsing.

Marinette skidded to a hasty stop as she finally reached her destination.

The bowling lanes.

More specifically, the Bowling de Paris Front de Seine.

Yes, Chloe's grand plan was setting up a fake bowling party with her, Marinette, Adrien, Louise.

And lucky for Chloe, who had texted and invited the two lovebirds the night prior, had gleefully accepted the invitation.

Marinette sighed, inhaling sharp breaths as she was still very much exhausted. She checked her watch: 6:12. Late, but alive.

Despite her aching legs, Marinette speed walked into the bowling alley.

It was dark, except for a few obnoxious probe lights, and hecticly loud. The sounds of pins being knocked over became increasingly annoying for her.

It was hard locating Chloe and the others, the blonde hadn't exactly told Marinette where to go.

So she did what any other lost person did, she went to the front desk which was somewhat easy to navigate towards.

Exhausted and quite frankly over the whole bowling idea, Marinette smacked her hand on the front desk, causing the scrawny boy behind the counter to wake up from his bored slumber and twitch in surprise.

"C-can I help you?" he asked, fixing his glasses on his nose.

"Yes. Do you know which lane the party 'Bourgeous' is at?" Marinette asked, tapping her fingers impatiently.

"What?!" he yelled over the music.

"Do you know which lane the party 'Bourgeous' is at?!" Marinette screeched, taking every ounce of energy out of her.

The boy luckily heard her and turned to an extremely outdated computer, typing quickly on its keys. He squinted his eyes at the screen.

Long pause.

The boy continued typing.

Marinette checked her phone. The time was 6:20. She glanced up at the boy again. He was still typing.

A long line was beginning to form behind her.

Marinette was about to protest, however a glimmer of hope prevented her from doing so when the boy finally took his eyes off the screen and directed them towards her.

But this hope crumbled almost instantaneously.

The boys mouth dropped open in disinterest. "Uhhh how do you spell that?"

Marinette screamed eternally in her head. Nothing was worth it.

But, instead of going off on the boy who was obviously underpaid, Marinette put on her best smile. "That's okay. Can I have a small pair of bowling shoes please?"

"Yeah," the boy mumbled, turning around and grabbing a pair of bowling shoes. He slid them on the counter towards her.

Marinette read the label. They were larges.

"Thanks sir," she smiled through clenched teeth, turning around and almost heading out the front door. But she remembered her mission and instead weaved through screaming kids to find Chloe.

Marinette squinted, trying to look through the darkness. She was hoping that one of the probe lights would magically fall on Chloe's blonde ponytail.

Sounds of pins and bowling balls filled the air, which disoriented the already tired girl even more.

She would've tripped over herself if it hadn't been for the tall, muscular hunk that was standing in front of her.

Marinette couldn't see his face from where she stood. And it would be super creepy to lean in very close to a stranger. So she just relied on her sense of touch and hearing.

And of course, right as she heard the stranger intake a gasp of air to talk, the beat dropped to one of the obnoxious dance songs playing in the background, temporarily causing Marinette to almost go completely deaf.

Still, she tried her hardest to decipher his words as he spoke them.

It was something along the lines of:

"Hey, you okay?"

Marinette laughed like a fool, replaying the entire sequence of her almost falling on her face. She practically yelled at the top of her lungs to get her next words out. "I guess so. I'm just trying to find my friends."

That's when the stranger leaned in closer, revealing luscious golden locks and emerald green eyes. They practically shined as they honed in on hers. "Marinette?" he yelled over the blaring music.

She felt her cheeks blush. Adrien was 3 inches away from her face.

"Yes! T-that's me!" she exclaimed in surprise.

He smiled widely, still extremely close to her face. "You... have no idea how much I've wanted to talk to you since the principal visit."

Marinette felt her heart beating out of her chest. The music had finally died down a bit. The moment was perfect. Everything was perfect as she stared into his eyes. "Me too."

"I was a bit reluctant when Chloe invited Louise and I to this bowling party. But when I saw that you were going to be there, I couldn't say no," Adrien beamed proudly.

Marinette felt like she was going to pass out. Combined with the short distance between them and the words he had just uttered, she was on the brink.

"So, are we cool then?" Adrien asked sincerely.

Marinette smiled, unable to contain her excitement. "Yes."

Adrien finally backed away, expelling a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

Marinette's heart soared. She had no idea Adrien had such high regards for their friendship. It gave her even more of a reason to love the boy.

Standing there, Marinette decided that it was worth it for her to run all the way to the bowling alley.

"Lets go meet with the others," Adrien smiled, offering his hand to Marinette.

She paused, staring at his hand for a moment. Her dreams were coming true.

Grabbing it, Adrien led Marinette through the darkness and light of the bowling alley.

Marinette was so elated. Everything was feeling right again. Her dreams had come true in a way. Their fingers intertwined, she felt as though Adrien was guiding her to the light at the end of this entire mess.

But of course, Adrien had unexpectedly led Marinette to the darkness as well.

And her name was Louise.