Samantha and Chloé left the mall with Samantha sporting a fresh black eye and a bloody lip to match. The seething Eileen was pulled away by Lucas and blocked from touching Samantha again by Nino.

"Calm down, just breathe Eileen." Lucas kneeled in front of his wife, trying his best to calm her raging nerves. It worked for the most part but the girl was still staring down Samantha, ready to pounce on her again at any moment.

"What on Earth was that?" Nino asked, walking over to Alya and Marinette. Alya shrugged and watched as both blondes left the scene. "Eileen went berserk when Samantha mentioned... uh," she paused and glanced at Marinette who remained silent. "Adrien." She finished, apprehensive. "Oh." Was all Nino replied with.

A soft ding came from Marinette's phone and as she reached for the device, her eyes lit up slightly.

New text message from: Cole

Her finger quickly typed in the four digit code, her wedding day, then she pressed lightly against the screen to open the message, her eyes scanning the words once it had appeared.

« Hey, I just wanted to ask if you'd like to go out tonight. I'd love to get to know you better. »

Marinette smiled softly and replied to the message before placing the phone back into her bag. Alya eyed the girl and with a raised brow, asked, "Have plans tonight?"

"How'd you know?" Marinette asked, her eyes wide. There was no way Alya could read the message from where she stood, right?

"The light in your eyes gave it away." She replied with a smirk.

"What's so great about this guy anyway?" Nino asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't know," Marinette confessed, looking down to collect her thoughts. "There's just this... connection between us. It's hard to describe."

"Before this "date" happens, we should meet him, you know, to protect you."

Alya nodded in agreement after Nino spoke. "I agree! What if he's some... weirdo with intentions of kidnapping you then selling you onto the black market?"

"You have such a demented mind, Alya." Marinette said, giggling at her friend's behavior.

"I'm just worried is all!" She replied in protest.

Alya was also worried that this guy, who ever the hell he was, would help Marinette move on. Not that she didn't want to see her friend happy, because she did, but Alya also wanted to get to the bottom of Adrien and bring him home if he was still alive. Once she knew for sure, Alya didn't mind if Marinette moved on, it was her decision after all but if Marinette did move on and Adrien was still alive, things would get messy and heads would roll when Alya came into the picture. She was not the one who'd let others drag Marinette through the mud for their own benefit. It wasn't going to happen this time and she'd be damned if it did.

"Look Alya, Cole is a nice guy—"

"Who wants to steal your face and put it in a jar." Alya mumbled, not looking at her.

Ignoring her comment, Marinette proceeded with her sentence. "He wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

"How do you know though? It's been two weeks, you can't date a guy you've known for only two weeks!"

"But it doesn't feel like it's been two weeks. I swear that I've meet him before but I can't place where."

Alya's attitude perked up when a theory came to her. "Wait... what if, and hear me out, what if it's Adrien?"

Marinette looked at her, her facial expression blank. "Adrien? Where do you get that from?"

"Well, none of us have seen what he looks like and you said he's got blonde hair. Check one for Adrien."

"You also said his eyes looked familiar." Nino added.

"Check two!" Marinette sighed and shook her head. "Look Mar, I know it's crazy, but we can't cross it off the list."

"You two are insane." Marinette rubbed both temples, her blue bell eyes closed.

"I think the correct term is, conspiracy theorists." Nino said, proudly sticking out his chest. Alya laughed at him and nodded.

~•~•~•~

"Call him. Now." Lucas said through gritted teeth as he sat next to Eileen, away from the others.

"I can't—" she began before he interrupted her.

"You can and you will." Lucas handed her his phone and waited for her to take it. Once it was in her hand, Lucas stood up, his back to her. "If you don't tell him, I will."  Lucas made his way over to the group as Eileen dialed his number.

Nino and Lucas went into the store next to where Eileen sat while Marinette took the three toddlers to the small arcade across the way. Alya made her way into the store along with the boys when her ears picked up an interesting conversation.

"Hey Adrien, it's me. I left my phone in the room."

"Is everything okay?! You normally don't call this early."

"No, no everything is okay, but there's something I need to tell you."

Adrien furrowed his brows. "Okay, I'm listening."

"You need to come home, now. Things are getting out of hand. Lucas and I both agree that it's the best thing to do before... before he gets in the way."

His brows knitted together even more as she spoke. He? Who the hell was she talking about? Did Marinette find someone else...?

"Eileen, you're the one who shot down the idea of me coming back and now you're the one who's telling me to come back?"

"You're running out of time, Adrien! If you aren't home within this week, all hell will break loose. Just..." she sighed, closing her eyes. "Just come home."

Alya quickly walked into the store as Eileen ended the phone call and stood up. She watched as her friend walked past the store and once Eileen was out of sight, Alya crossed her arms.

"Not again, Eileen... when will you learn?" She mumbled to herself.

Nino noticed his wife at the door and made his way over. He tapped her shoulder once he stood next to her. "Everything okay?"

Alya nodded, continuing to look in the direction Eileen had went. "Yeah, everything's just fine."

"Do you really think Marinette will move on? She seems to really like Cole."

Alya shook her head and looked up at him. "No way. Marinette's heart is taken by Adrien and she will always love him. Nothing will change that, not even some new guy. Besides,"

Alya turned back to stare in Eileen's direction. "I have a feeling he's coming back soon."

Nino furrowed his brows in confusion and leaned closer to make sure he had heard her right. "Who is?"

"You'll see."

~•~•~•~
{A/N: I did not procrastinate while writing this chapter, for once!

Although I did before writing it XD

~miraculousduo♥️