Marinette wasn't at school. No one knew why, not the teacher, and not even Alya. And the worst thing was that Marinette didn't answer his calls and messages.

Felix was done worrying without knowing what he was worrying about.

The physical education class ended, and he was walking through the corridor towards the dressing room, fully intending to escape from the last lesson to see Marinette, and find out what was wrong with her, when something caught his attention.

Usually Felix didn't pick up objects from the ground, but this time he had a special feeling that it needed to be done. And he trusted his intuition.

So Felix banded over to the floor to take a small round object from almost under the rack.

It was a black ear-ring.

His eyes widened when the ear-ring became red with black spots in his hand and a small red creature appeared in the air in front of him.

"Hello! My..." The creature started.

"Hide!" He whispered immediately, interrupting it, showing to his pocket, and looked back to make sure his classmates were far enough not to see the scene.

Felix was a quick thinker and momentarily recognized Ladybug's earring. And the creature must have had something to do with the miraculous powers, obviously.

It didn't take a genius to guess that Marinette had lost her earring and that's why she didn't get in touch. And it was necessary to prevent the possibility that someone else saw the little red animal-thing.

Felix hid in the bathroom before letting the creature out again.

"My name is Tikki." The thing said, when it floated in front of Felix again. "I am the qwami of Creation. Nice to officially meet you, Felix."

Felix was stunned by the talking thing. It had some gentle, but strong manner of speaking, just like Ladybug had. It even had big blue eyes, like Marinette's.

Felix had a feeling that Marinette wasn't an accidental choice for this creature to belong to. Whoever picked her for Ladybug's role knew their thing well.

"So, you are connected to her miraculous, right?" Felix asked, narrowing his eyes.

Tikki nodded.

"Does it mean that Marinette doesn't have another earring either?" Felix clarified. The creature wasn't with Marinette and appeared here, so it could mean a lot of trouble for her owner.

"No, actually my chosen one has another earring with her." Tikki responded.

"How come you are here and not with her then?" Felix narrowed his eyes.

"Ladybug miraculous is tricky." Tikki smiled. "Because it is very powerful, it was created this way in order to protect the world should it fall into the wrong hands." She explained. "Who ever possesses only one earring cannot transform. So it would be possible for me to hide one earring and prevent a bad person from using it."

"Did you hide the earring from your owner?!" Felix asked in disbelief.

"Of course not!" Tikki exclaimed. "She is good at hiding things from herself without my help." She smiled fondly. "But when she couldn't find the second earring, we decided that she'd renounce me, so I could appear next to the second earring once someone touched it. And bring it back to her."

"But people would see you!" Felix argued. The idea of this flying ball moving through the school alone, carrying a powerful magical artifact was disturbing. "I saw you!"

"Well, this was better than a lost miraculous..." Tikki answered embarrassedly. "And it was indeed very lucky that you were the one to find the earring."

"My name kind of implies possession of a certain level of luck." Felix smirked. "But I'll bring both the earring and you to Marinette myself. It would be safer." He insisted.

"Don't you have some classes to attend?" Tikki blinked worriedly at him.

"Maybe." Felix admitted. "But I was gonna go check on her anyway. And now, knowing that she is probably worried as hell, I'm not gonna let her remain in this state any longer." He stated.

"You care about her a lot, don't you?" Tikki smiled softly at him.

"I... uhhh..." Felix didn't discuss his feelings towards Marinette with anyone, even with his mother.

Though Amelie didn't need any confirmation from him to just see it herself. But it was unexpected to have someone asking him about it directly.

Probably the qwamis didn't particularly take into account the boundaries of personal information...

But for some reason Felix didn't feel like someone broke into his personal affairs without an invitation. Tikki was so sweet and friendly, and it (she?) seemed to really care too.

"I do care about her." He finally admitted.

"Perhaps your unconventional approach would be a boon to her." Tikki said thoughtfully. "Sometimes even I think she is too soft. And she definitely doesn't take good care of herself." She looked at Felix again. "I think you would perfectly complement her!"

"I... uh... not that I mind." Felix was even more stunned with this conversation. "Although I don't think Marinette sees me as... uh... as someone who could complement her."

The qwami grinned.

"If reading someone's letter every morning and every evening, even when she knows it by heart, doesn't count, then I don't know what does!" Tikki smirked at him.

"She... uh... really?" Felix didn't remember when was the last time he allowed himself to be open with all his insecurities in front of someone. Maybe the fact of Tikki being a magical creature made it possible for him? But it didn't feel wrong. "Do you think she likes me?" He asked. "Or does she perceive me only as a friend?" When did he get so pathetic to ask for love advice from... a qwami?

"I think any denial has its limits." Tikki smiled.

*

Marinette's parents were busy at the bakery, as per usual, so Felix was sent upstairs by himself.

"I'm not hungry, mom!" He heard after knocking at Marinette's door.

"What I bought isn't edible, but it greatly improves the mood." He said through the door in response.

The hatch opened and an agitated Marinette in her pajamas with loose, slightly tousled hair looked at him perplexedly.

Her eyes were a little red, but all her wild views, so real and natural, made Felix froze with cut breath and forget the goal of his visit for a moment.

"May I come in?" He asked finally, when the silence became too long and his eyes began to beg to explore her figure in pajamas...

Marinette seemed to realize that she was keeping him at the door — she was probably too deeply immersed in her worries — and made a step back automatically, letting Felix in.

"Felix..." Marinette sighed, when the door behind him closed. "Whatever you came for, now isn't the best time..."

"I heard you've lost something valuable." Felix said calmly, looking in her eyes, and opened his jacket.

"How did you... Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed, rushing towards her qwami. "But how can you be here?! And the ear-ring!.. Did you find it?!" She asked Tikki worriedly, grabbing her in her hands.

"I found it... with some bonus!" Tikki replied, looking at Felix.

Marinette looked from the qwami to the boy behind her, who slightly blushed on Tikki's words.

"I'm afraid the bonus would be me." He said, holding out the earring on his outstretched arm and looking away, not to make the situation as awkward for Marinette, as it was for him.

But it seemed Marinette had a different perception of the situation, as the next moment she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her own arms around his neck.

Felix was slightly taken aback.

He didn't expect such a manifestation of emotions, nor such closeness to the girl, which he spent a lot of time thinking about. Felix would call it dreaming, but dreams weren't real, and Marinette definitely was.

Especially now, snuggling up to him so hot in a thin pajama top...

"Thank you, Felix!" Marinette whispered, moving even closer to him.

Felix felt his muscles tense against his will and took a deep breath before holding her back, just a little, just to give her some comfort. NOT to push her closer to himself and feel all her warmth and softness...

In response Marinette hugged him so tight, as if he was the lost and found miraculous himself, and she couldn't live without it...

As it was written in one great book that Felix read a few months ago: 'I dream of feelings that have gone out of fashion, and then my hormones start to play!' That was exactly the situation he got himself in...

"Marinette..." Felix croaked in a low voice. "You are a very attractive young woman." He hinted, hoping that the girl would stop squeezing him, or realize that she could get an appropriate reaction behaving like this.

"Thank you." She said obliviously, taking his words as a compliment and ignoring the actual meaning of them.

"Marinette..." Felix tried again. "Men of my age are extremely sensitive to physical intimacy with the subject of their sympathy." He said, and not seeing any reaction from the girl, continued. "So if you don't let me go, then I'm afraid that I will soon be the one who can no longer let go."

Which was true, as Felix could hardly maintain his will to hold her back for real... But it would be totally inappropriate, given the circumstances of their first encounter!

Felix's words seemed to finally have some effect on Marinette, as she stopped squeezing him and froze, probably realizing how close they were entangled...

Then she jumped away and covered his eyes with her outstretched hand.

"Don't look!" She exclaimed. "I'm in my pajamas!"

"I... uh... noticed this fact." Felix spoke, forcing himself to turn his back to Marinette. More for his own sake... "I had no intention of invading your... privacy..." He added. "You must forgive me for my rudeness. But I wanted to make sure that Tikki arrived here safely and wouldn't be noticed by others."

"Of course she forgives you!" Tikki's voice intervened. "Right, Marinette?!"

"I'm sorry to... meet you like this, Felix!" Marinette hastily explained with growing concern in her voice. "I was desperate and couldn't think about anything else! When Tikki was renounced... I..."

"Marinette, please, calm down." Felix interrupted her recurring tantrum. "Don't make me turn back to comfort you..." He swallowed. What it cost him to remain a gentleman and not take advantage of the situation of her emotional vulnerability. But that wasn't the way he wanted to get this girl. "Everything is fine. Tikki is here." He reminded her. "And I'm leaving, so you two could have your reunion properly."

Felix made a step towards the hatch-door.

"Felix!" Marinette called.

He stopped, expecting her goodbyes.

"May I..." Marinette swallowed, probably choosing her words. "Would it be inappropriate if I hugged you again, just for a moment?" She asked in a begging voice.

The feeling of her need for him was so clear in her voice, intoxicating him, and hitting him in the head.

But Marinette was a girl. Besides, she was in a stressful situation, about which she couldn't even tell almost anyone. So, her weaknesses were forgiven to her automatically.

But Felix couldn't make a mistake on his part... and hugging a girl in pajamas in private in her room was not an exemplary behavior... but the need to be her support got the better of Felix's efforts to be a gentleman.

Felix closed his eyes and sighed.

"What ever you need, Marinette." He spoke in a low voice, feeling the full truth of his own words.

Marinette became very dear to him. And if before he broke down barriers only for his own sake, today he was ready to break down walls for her.

Marinette came up to him from behind and put her arms on his shoulders, pressing her head against his back. Though Felix couldn't even see her or hold her back from this position, for some reason Marinette's touch felt even more intimate to him, then when she held him tight a few minutes ago.

"Thank you, Felix." She said and sighed, sending waves of heat down his back. "I can't imagine what I would do without you!"

"I..." Felix swallowed. "I was glad to help you, Marinette." He replied, drowning into the sensation.

It seemed that at this point he couldn't imagine it either.