Look at this beautiful boy ^

[Narrator's POV]

Alya: Yo Marinette, wonna come to Adrien's place with me?

Marinette: Why are you going to Adrien's house?!?!

Alya: A boy has been akumatized. My sources tell me that it is because his girlfriend dumped him bc she is in love with Adrien. Adrien is at his house, therefore the crazy villain will go there, Ladybug and Cat Noir will follow and so will the LadyBlog.

Alya: Anyway, you should take the opportunity to be all brave and supportive or whatevs. But I'm leaving like now so come or not. Free ticket to the Agreste household, all aboard the LadyBlog. Choot choo!

Marinette squeaks and drops her phone in a panic. "Adrien's in danger! Tiki, spots on!"

.

.

Adrien emerges fresh from the shower wearing his 'I <3 Ladybug' shirt and his ladybug boxers (red with black spots). In other words, his usual bedtime attire.

Adrien struts across the room, dancing and humming gently until abruptly stopping to pose dramatically.

"This song goes out to my lady."

Adrien flicks his hair aside and winks at his Ladybug poster. Plagg rolls his eyes as Adrien picks up his comb and begins singing into it.

"I am a cat, just chillin out. But in the night, she's all I think about."

Adrien closes his eyes, fully immersed in his serenade. He did not hear someone sliding down the side of his windows, nor did he notice Plagg suddenly hiding away in the couch cushions, he just continued to belt out his song.

"I feel so strong, when she's around. She picks me up, when I am down."

Adrien points to his Ladybug poster as he sings.

"Oh, oh, oh—Oh no you'll never know! Oh, oh, oh. My love can only grow! And when the moon is out, that's when she becomes—"

Adrien jumps around his room, leaping from his bed to his couch and doing three-sixty twists in the air.

"Miraculous! Simply the best! Up to the test when things go wrong! Miraculous, the luckiest! The power of love always so strong!"

Adrien slides across the floor on his knees for the big finish.

"MIRACULOOUUSSSS!"

Adrien's chest heaves in and out with exhausting passion. He opens his eyes and instantly freezes, kneeling before his open bedroom window where Ladybug is hanging from her yoyo. Her hand is clamped over her mouth. Her eyes are watering. Adrien's arms are outstretched after his big finish, clearly displaying his Ladybug pyjama merch. His entire bedroom is exposed, including the signed poster of Ladybug that Nino got him from the LadyNoir festival, the CatBug plushie that Marinette won him at the Story Book Parade and Alya's LadyBlog saved as his computer's home screen. Horror twists in Adrien's gut. He can feel the colour draining from his frozen face. Finally, Ladybug's muffled laughter escapes from her hand.

"Pfft—ahahaha, ahaha—HAHAHAHA!"

Ladybug finds the irony hilarious. The irony that she has spent years chasing after this boy wearing an 'I <3 Ladybug' shirt. This boy singing a song about how much he loves her. She laughs because this perfect supermodel is secretly a total dorkosaurus. Ladybug knew Adrien had a crush on her but she didn't know he was a fan. A couple months back she might have been upset that her crush only had eyes for her alter ego but now all she can do is laugh at the irony; it just goes to show how far she has come. Besides, his Ladybug pyjamas, his obnoxious singing and dancing when he thinks he is alone, it is all too adorable for her.

But Adrien doesn't see the irony, he only sees humiliation. Everything he has worked for, everything he has done to impress Ladybug, his entire reputation has just been shattered. Adrien feels hollow. He has no beating heart, only cold trauma. He is too shocked to even feel embarrassment. Adrien slowly drops his arms, but he doesn't have the strength to stand up.

"Whawa...whaaatarr you...doing here?" Adrien slurs absentmindedly.

Ladybug wipes the tears from her eyes as her laughter slowly dies down. "Oh...Oh, right." She lets go of her last few giggles as she climbs inside. "I'm here on serious business. Sorry for the intrusion, but you're in danger."

"What's happened?" Questions Adrien.

"A boy got dumped because his girlfriend is supposedly in love with you." Ladybug answers. "He has been akumatized of course and it is likely he'll want to hurt you."

Adrien sighs dramatically. "Let him come. I've already died from embarrassment."

"Please, you should see my room." Ladybug says. "I've got posters of my idols like Jagged Stone everywhere."

"You like Jagged Stone? Me too!" Adrien hops up off the ground, relaxing to the situation. "That's so cool."

It feels refreshing for Ladybug to interact with Adrien whilst her identity is hidden. There is no pressure. She wonders what it would be like if they became friends. If he would act differently, if she would get to spend more time with him and see more of him. Cat Noir just simply appeared before her as Marinette one day and asked to hang out, maybe...

Ladybug's gaze falls upon Adrien's themed pyjamas and she remembers that he is her fan. More than that, he has a crush on her. They couldn't become close, no matter how much she enjoys having him look at her like he does. She wants him to look at her as Marinette...

Adrien looks down at his shirt, his ears turning red. "Ah! How lame..."

"I was just admiring how fashionable your pyjamas are." Ladybug assures him. "In fact, I wouldn't mind a pair myself."

Adrien smiles bashfully. "You must think I'm such a dork."

"Ha! I'm the queen of dorks. Might be hard to believe with all this confidence masking my secret identity, but I'm a total mess. I humiliate myself pretty much every day." Ladybug says. "I like to think quirks give you personality. Besides, you've got a wonderful voice."

Ladybug smiles cheekily before turning away. She occupies herself by admiring Adrien's room. The bed where he sleeps, the desk where he works...

"Hm?"

Ladybug spots a framed newspaper clipping on Adrien's desk. It's from the school newspaper, more specifically, the photo of Adrien and Marinette together after winning the Story Book Parade. Ladybug blushes. Hanging on the photo frame is a familiar handmade charm. Marinette's lucky charm. A bracelet made from red string and beads. A bracelet that Marinette gave to Adrien last year during the Mega Strike tournament. She had never gotten it back but she didn't want to be a bother and decided to forget about it instead. Adrien never mentioned it, so neither did she. She had assumed that he either lost it or forgot about it during the akuma attack, but here it is. Right here, in Adrien's room, hanging on their photo.

Ladybug reaches out and takes it in her hands to admire it.

Adrien rushes to her side instantly. "Oh, please be careful!"

Ladybug looks up at Adrien curiously.

"It's my lucky charm." Adrien says, carefully taking the bracelet from Ladybug's hands. "I mean, I don't really believe in lucky charms—e-except yours of course, but you're magic. It's not like I think this brings me good luck or anything, it's just sentimental to me. Someone precious gave this to me so having it with me reminds me of her...it puts me at ease. She's a very optimistic person. If she were with me, she would be smiling and cheering me on. So having this little charm is like carrying her around with me sorta. It's like I always have her encouragement in the back of my mind. Does that make sense...?"

Adrien's words make Ladybug's chest feel warm and fuzzy.

"Y-Yes...I think that makes sense." Ladybug says, her cheeks flushing pink. "It sounds very nice."

Adrien smiles down at the bracelet before gently placing it back on the photo frame.

"Is that her?" Ladybug asks, pointing at the picture. "Is that the girl?"

"Yes that's her." Adrien answers. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng. If you like Jagged Stone, you would love her. She designed his latest album cover, isn't that cool? Marinette's super talented."

"Actually, I know her. She's the one who saved you when you were akumatized." Ladybug says. "You two must have a really strong bond. I've never seen someone fight off an akuma like you did."

Adrien smiles at the picture of him and Marinette. "Yeah, we're pretty close."

"This is such a cute photo of you two, are you dating?" Ladybug asks cheekily.

"What?" Adrien's voice cracks, his face turning red. "No, no, no. We're just friends. Good friends."

Ladybug sighs. "What a shame. You would make a great couple."

Adrien's computer dings. The LadyBlog has an update. Both he and Ladybug turn to look at the computer screen. A video from last night's ball pops up—a video of Ladybug and Cat Noir dancing together after the fight against Bubble-gum.

"Of course Alya was conveniently there to film this." Ladybug says.

"I think it's cute." Adrien replies, gazing at the computer screen. "You two would make a great couple." He adds, mimicking Ladybug's words.

The sudden smashing of Adrien's bedroom window has him and Ladybug whirling around. Ladybug steps in front of Adrien and swings her yoyo round as a shield. The boy who had broken in steps forward with a sneer.

"Who are you?" Adrien demands.

"My name is Heartbreaker. You should be the most familiar with the term, Adrien Agreste." Says the boy.

"Look I don't know who you are, I don't know who your girlfriend is and I'm certainly not in love with her." Adrien replies.

Heartbreaker looks around Adrien's Ladybug-crazed room. "I can see that..." He says, turning to them with a grin. "Looks like I'll just have to steal your love, just as you stole mine. It'll be killing two birds with one stone, considering how much Hawkmoth wants those pretty little earrings of hers."

"If you want me, then come get me!" Ladybug prompts confidently. "You could never break us apart!"

She pushes past Heartbreaker, leaps out the window and swings away on her yoyo. Heartbreaker immediately follows, which was no doubt her plan to get him away from Adrien. Of course Adrien knew he would have to transform and take care of the akuma some time, but he still wishes Ladybug could have stayed longer.

.

Bonus Scene!

Ladybug had lost sight of Heartbreaker. She is currently slinking around the city, quietly singing to herself.

"Miraculous, simply the best. Up to the test when things go wrong. Miraculous, the luckiest. The power of love always so strong..."

"Singing your own theme song?" Someone scoffs from behind her.

Cat Noir strolls out beside Ladybug with a smirk.

"As if I'd make up a song about myself!" Ladybug snaps. "This boy got it stuck in my head."

"What's wrong with having your own theme song?" Cat Noir asks as if personally offended.

Ladybug rolls her eyes continues sneaking around the rooftops in search for Heartbreaker. Cat Noir follows her closely, dramatically murmuring,

"Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da—Cat Noir. Cat Noir!"

Ladybug quickly grows irritated and whirls around to face him. "That's just the Batman theme song!" She snaps.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want something more jazzy like your own?" Cat Noir questions.

"Please no—"

Cat Noir strikes a pose and begins singing at the top of his lungs. "They look at me and think I'm cool. I'm Cat Noir, at night I rule. My ring is charged, with energy. My claws are out, just watch and see."

"Shh! Chat, shut up!" Ladybug stresses.

"It's Cat Noir! He'll beat your ass! The power is on when things go wrong!" Cat Noir screams. "It's Cat Noir! The handsomest! His charms are on, always so strong!"

Ladybug groans and slaps a hand on her forehead. "You're so lame..."