"Oh my gosh, Tikki, last night went like a fairytale..." Marinette spun around in her room the next morning as she got ready for school.

"Yeah. How awkward is it going to be now around Chloe?" Tikki giggled.

"Oh no! I completely forgot about her!" Marinette groaned.

"Don't worry, Marinette! You can tell her that you've got Ladybug by your side, so she'd better stay away!"

"Ha, good idea, Tikki!" Marinette chuckled as she swung her backpack on her back and opened her side purse, "okay, get in Tikki!"

Tikki flew into her purse as Marinette walked down the stairs.

"Hi Sweetie! Ready for school? Do you need to take more medicine? How's your head? Do you need a big breakfast this morning?"

"Mom, Mom! I'll be fine, don't worry!" Marinette laughed as her mom bombarded her with questions.

"I'm sorry, Marinette. Just... After what had happened last week..." Marinette looked down at the ground as her mom explained.

"Yeah, but finding out that OUR daughter is the guardian of Paris, I couldn't keep in my excitement! I'm so proud of you Sweetheart!" Marinette's dad said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Aw, thanks Dad, and you too Mom. I gotta head to school, though. I'll see you guys this afternoon! Bye!" Marinette called as she headed out the door, down the stairs, through the shop, and out the front door.

"You're so anxious to get to school! That's a first!" Tikki giggled.

"Well, maybe I'm not anxious to be at school, maybe it's just someone I'd see there." Marinette thought happily as she thought of Adrien. Then she started panicking again, "wait, what do I say?! What if I just make a complete fool of myself?! Oh, this is gonna be a disaster..."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine! Just pretend he's Cat Noir! You always act normal around him!" Tikki said.

"Yeah, but now that I know he's Adrien... I'll end up seeing Cat Noir so differently now... What if this messes things up?! Ugh, now at the same time, I wish we wouldn't have figured out each other's identities..." Marinette groaned, then gasped, "but... He kissed me... I kissed him... We KISSED... Oh my gosh..."

"If you're brave enough to do that, and even brave enough to defeat Hawk Moth, then talking to him should be a piece of cake!" Tikki smiled comfortingly as they walked up to the school.

"Thanks, Tikki. I really hope you're right."

_________________

"You kissed her?!"

"Well, technically, she kissed me back..." Adrien scratched his neck as he explained what had happened the night before to Melodie on the phone. He looked out the window of the car as his bodyguard drove him to school.

"Wow, when I told you to talk to her, I didn't mean for you to go THAT far..." Melodie chuckled.

"Apparently, she's had a crush on me for a while..." Adrien shrugged, "so what about you? I heard about the appearance of Butterfly at a robbery in Orléans last night."

"Oh yeah? Haha, well, Butterfly is amazing! She's so strong, and so pretty too!" Melodie chuckled.

"Huh, she sounds a lot like my twin sister..." Adrien smirked, "I'm proud of you, Mel."

"Yeah, thanks." Adrien could practically hear the smile on her face.

"So do you have to feed him cheese? Or is that just Plagg?" Adrien asked.

"No, that's probably just Plagg. Nooroo eats sunflower seeds." Melodie laughed.

"Oh. Lucky." Adrien smirked as he looked out the window, "Look, I gotta go. We just got to school." Adrien said, then he saw Marinette walking up at the same time as he pulled up.

"Okay. Have a good one! We can talk after school then." Melodie said, "bye!"

"Yep. I'll call you." Adrien replied, then hung up, "Thanks again." Adrien called to his bodyguard as he grabbed his backpack and got out of the car.

"Adrien! Hi!" Marinette greeted as he walked up to her and they gave each other a hug, "so, uh, I've been meaning to talk... About Chloe..."

"Don't let her bother you." Adrien replied as they walked to their first class side by side, hand in hand.

"So how did Melodie like her little gift?" Marinette asked.

"She's tried it out. Last night, actually. She's been getting the hang of it." Adrien answered as they walked up to the closed door of their first class. He turned the knob, but Marinette stopped him.

"What about our being Ladybug and Cat Noir?" Marinette asked, "I heard about what happened at your fencing class..."

"I don't know..." Adrien sighed, "it wouldn't matter. Besides, we'll get through it together right?" Adrien gave her hand a squeeze, and she nodded.

"We're late, anyways. So how much worse could this day get?" Adrien shrugged as he opened the door and they walked in. All eyes were on them, even the teacher's, which was odd, because usually, if someone was to come in late, they do it quietly and no one really pays attention. But this time, everyone was staring at them. They looked at each other, then noticed Chloe stick her tongue out at Marinette.

"Sorry..." Marinette apologized to the class as she slowly made her way to sit in the empty front row seat, because Nino had started sitting with Alya ever since they were dating, and she awkwardly had to sit next to Alya and Adrien sat next to Nino. But now Marinette could sit with Adrien in the front seat, and Chloe stared daggers at her for it.

Suddenly, before Marinette or Adrien could sit down, Alya and Nino stood up and started clapping. Marinette and Adrien stared at each other in shock. Then they saw Kim and Max stand up and join them in applause. Then Juleka, Rose, Alix, Nathaniel, Ivan, and Myléne joined them. Even the teacher. Sabrina stood up and tried to convince Chloe. Eventually, Chloe just rolled her eyes and stood up too.

Marinette and Adrien turned around to face the entire standing class as they applauded to them.

"Thank you, Ladybug and Cat Noir!" Alya shouted as she recorded everything on her phone, "for saving Paris!"

"And for saving us from Hawk Moth!" Nino added.

"You guys are so cool!" Alix nodded.

"We should really feel honored that Ladybug and Cat Noir are in our class!" Max said.

"Thanks so much!" Ivan shouted.

"You guys helped me feel included in the world." Juleka smiled as the class continued clapping, and the rest of the class took their turns saying their words of appreciation. Marinette and Adrien had huge smiles as they listened and thanked everyone. As they started settling down, Chloe walked up to the two.

"Okay. I still don't really like you, and you're still a dimwit for stealing Adrien from me." Chloe said as she clenched her fists and peered at her. Marinette just rolled her eyes as Adrien started walking forward in anger and annoyance, but was stopped by Marinette.

"Thanks for getting straight to the point." Marinette crossed her arms.

"That wasn't the point." Chloe said as her fists unclenched, "I just wanted to say... Thanks for saving me that first day... When Stoneheart threw me off the Eiffel Tower."

"You're welcome." Marinette smiled, "Chloe, you may be a pain, but I'm sure if you tried, you can be nicer to everyone. Because I know that there's something inside you that everyone can learn to love. You just need to express it, and maybe be a little more kinder to everyone." Chloe looked down at the floor, then smiled up at Marinette.

"Anything for Ladybug!" Chloe grinned and walked back to her seat.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief as she sat down next to Adrien.

"That was really well-said, Bugaboo." Adrien smirked as he held his face right up to hers.

"I learned that from a certain kitty. That over time, you can fall in love with someone once you get to know them a little bit better." Marinette smirked, and gave him a little peck on the lips, then turned her attention back to the front of the classroom as Adrien blushed. He turned to the front and took Marinette's hand under the desk.

"OMG, my OTP in the making here..." Alya whispered to Nino as she pulled her phone out and started recording Marinette and Adrien. Suddenly, they saw smoke rising outside from a nearby building.

"Way to ruin our day..." Adrien groaned.

"Gotta go." Marinette smirked as she pulled Adrien out into the hall, "duty calls. Tikki, spots on!"