The photo above is a drawing of Marinette's outfit during this chapter :)

Marinette POV:

Marinette felt bad for how she had acted with her parents. They were just concerned for her, they had every right to be. She wasn’t acting like herself. She didn’t even know who she was or how to act anymore.

Everything was so messed up.

She had never felt so lost in her life. Everything she was certain of had been taken away in a matter of weeks and she didn't know what to do. First Adrien had started going out with Kagami, then her faithful partner had become as cold as ice.

She had gotten over Adrien and turned her affection to Chat Noir in days, but then felt herself finding yet another boy that had her heart beating in her chest. Then, just when she had thought she was over Adrien, she had begun to catch feelings all over again. Not to mention she had lost her status as class rep, something she had held since she had faced Darkblade.

She felt as if she was drowning in the middle of the vast ocean and as much as she screamed, struggled, and hoped that someone would pull her out of the icy abyss into the sun speckled surface.

But as much as she screamed her voice was overwhelmed by the rippling current and thrashing waves. Darkness had consumed her.

She could no longer fight. She felt so...hopeless. Lost.

She hadn't realized how long she had sat there, trapped in her own screaming mind, until her parents called her for dinner.

She groaned. She didn't want to face the real world. She didn't want to leave the sanctuary of her room. But to not leave would be selfish. She had to face her problems. She had to be a hero.

No matter how hard that would be.

She was Ladybug afterall. Though right now she did feel brave.

“Marinette,” She heard a sweet, soft call to her. She looked down to see Tikki softly tugging at the sleeve of her shirt. “You can do this.”

With that spark of hope she decided she needed to face her fears.

She went  downstairs for dinner.

She ate half of dinner in silence, listening to the dull discussion of the bakery, wondering when her parents would spring the question.

"So sweetheart, I know you don't want to talk, but is everything okay?" Her mom tentatively asked.

There it was. The question she'd been dreading.

She decided to tell them parts of the truth, they deserved to know.

So she told them about how she had gotten demoted as class rep, and her complicated love life, leaving out the details of Chat Noir of course.

No one could know. Not even her parents. She couldn’t put them in danger.

"Oh honey" her mom said once she was done, her grey eyes filled with sadness at her daughter's predicament.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart.” Her father said empathy clear in his voice.

"Well I was thinking maybe we should un-ground you, since you've been going through so much" her dad said.

"No, I shouldn't have blown up at you guys." Marinette protested, but her dad's mind was set in stone.

"Nope, we can't have you missing your date" her dad said, and that was that.

For the rest of the meal, her dad kept trying to bring up the topic of her date, to which Marinette immediately changed the topic.

She was happy things were fine between her and her parents again. Marinette felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She knew her life was a far way from normal, but maybe it wasn't so hard to get there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0-0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adrien POV:

Adrien fidgeted in the seat of the limo, to say he was nervous would be an understatement. He didn't think he would ever get the hang of dates, he felt so awkward and out of place.

He found it ironic how as Chat Noir he was known as a huge romantic while as Adrien he seemed to fail at anything related to feelings.

Why couldn’t he be as confident as his alter ego?

He felt the vehicle stop, and next thing he knew he was outside at Kagami's house. Kagami was already outside, wearing her usual pressed white uniform and red checkered tie. She looked as sophisticated and refined as ever.

He, being the gentleman he was, opened the door for Kagami, smiling softly at her as she climbed in. At least he could do one thing right.

He then told Gorilla to pick up Luka, they had planned that Adrien would drive everyone so they all got there at the same time.

Once Luka had been picked up, there was only one other person to be picked up, Marinette. For some reason his heart fluttered at her name, which he chose to ignore.

When they arrived at her house, both him and Luka climbed out.

Luka sent him an annoyed glare, “I’ve got this Adrien, she is my date. Just wait in the limo.”

Adrien turned away, embarrassed, and climbed back in the car. Why had he done that? He knew Luka was being entirely reasonable, but he still was upset. It was his car after all. And Marinette's his date an annoying voice whispered in the back of his mind, which he chose to ignore.

After a few minutes (presumably Marinette scrambling around in a hurry to leave the house), they were all in the car and on the way to the cafe.

It was a quiet and awkward ride to the cafe as Kagami sat in the corner sulking and Luka glared at Adrien, a possessive gleam in his eyes as he wrapped an arm around Marinette’s shoulder.

Marinette and Adrien eyes meet a few times during the silent ride and every time, Adrien felt his heart swell. He tried to make conversation but he felt nervous. Butterflies fluttered furiously around in his stomach and his voice was caught in his throat.

What was going on? He was never this flustered around Mari before?

Once they had parked, Adrien got out of the passenger seat. He held the door open for Kagami, and couldn't help but feel a tad of jealousy when he saw Luka doing the same for Marinette on the other side of the limo.

It's just because it's your car, he told himself, choosing to ignore the part of him that he was lying to himself.

Once they were out of the car, Adrien had a chance to take in Marinette's appearance. Her hair was in her usual pigtails but she had swapped her normal jeans and top for a light pink skirt with a long sleeved white top.

She looked beautiful. She always did but...wow.

He realized he was staring and he quickly turned away before anyone could notice, grabbing Kagami's hand and walking towards the cafe.

“Aren’t you going to say anything about how stunning I look Adrien. You’ve barely said two words to me.” Kagami hissed in Adrien’s ear in exasperation.

"Sorry Kagami, you look so wonderful there are no words to describe it." he told her. Smooth Agreste, he thought to himself, real smooth.

“About time.” Kagami said snidely as she reached up to plant a kiss on his cheek before grasping his hand in hers.

He realized he'd been neglecting Kagami recently. He needed to make things right. "Can I talk to you in private?" He asked, glancing back at Marinette and Luka who were making small talk.

Kagami's expression softened once she saw that he wanted to spend time with her. "Of course" she replied. Then, with more confidence than he would've had he politely asked the others to save them a seat and then Kagami dragged him into a quiet area.

"I realize I've been a sorta terrible boyfriend lately and I haven't been spending nearly as much time as I should with you." he began, hoping she would understand.

Luckily she seemed to understand and nodded, urging him to continue.

"This relationship thing is all new to me, so I'm sorry that I've been terrible, I promise I'll try to get better." he apologized. He really did feel terrible. Why did Cat ears make everything so much easier when it came to romance?

“I want this to work. I want to be the boyfriend that you deserve.” Adrien said trying to make his voice sound confident and sure. He  reached over and squeezed Kagami’s hand in reassurance.

Kagami smiled genuinely before pulling him into a hug. "I understand Adrien. It's new to me too. I guess I wish you prioritized me a bit more, but I get it. Let's head back"

“Okay,” he said in agreement as he softly held his hand in hers and turned around to lead her back.

Once they reached the table Adrien smiled apologetically at Marineete and Luka for being away for so long, but before he could sit down in his seat, he felt a hand reach out to touch his shoulder, stopping him.

He looked back to see Kagami with a confident gleam in her eyes. “Kiss me.” She whispered in his ear.

His eyes widened in shock, but before he suddenly felt as though he was Chat Noir.

With a boost of confidence he gave her a flirtatious grin, before he bent down and kissed her hand.

Kagami looked offended, before understanding and she sat down. Rolling her eyes and glaring at Luka and Marinette’s presence.

From the corner of his eyes he could see Marinette looking sheepishly away from the couple. He wanted to gauge her reaction….why?

He reluctantly shook that thought away. He’s main focus was his girlfriend….his Kagami.

The waitress arrived and asked what they wanted, and they all ordered. Kagami got herbal tea, Luka a strawberry milkshake, Marinette a Mocha, and Adrien a smoothie.

"I didn't know you drank coffee Marinette." Luka asked in curiosity. "You know it can stunt your growth" he remarked.

“I like coffee too Marinette,” A self-assured voice spoke up from Luka’s disapproving rant. Adrien then realized that it was his voice. He had said that. For some reason he had felt the urge to stand up for Marinette.

"Well when you get as little sleep as me, you start to live off it. The fact that it tastes great is just an added bonus." she replied.

Luka seemed to understand that she was done with the topic, so he told them about the article that said your drink choice represents you.

Kagami said something about how she didn't believe in those types of things, but that she thought it would be interesting to hear about.

"Well Adrien got a smoothie because he's a model and he needs to eat healthy" Marinette said, happy to change the topic.

"And Marinette got a coffee because we all know how messed up her sleep schedule is" Kagami laughed.

"I couldn't get to school on time if I wanted to, my alarm clock is out to get me!" Marinette declared, laughing as Adrien and Kagami laughed along with her.

"And it's a mocha and not a regular coffee because she's so sweet" Luka added, making Marinette's face turn dark pink.

Adrien didn't know why, but something deep inside him stirred. Was he jealous?

He shook the thoughts out of his head and turned back towards the conversation.

The rest of the date was all a blur, luckily the monster in his stomach didn't make a reappearance.