At first Marinette wanted to vanish into thin air. When she'd seen Adrien at the door, her heart sank. And then it started to beat again. And not in a crazy way as usual, it was quite normal beating. It was as if her "Marinette-like" clumsiness had been replaced by "Ladybug-like" calmness. She glanced instinctively at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. It was five to ten. She noticed Adrien saw her glance at the clock. She suppressed a giggle and winked to him.

She tried to distract him from the mess in the kitchen, but she was in a lost position. And she knew it. This couldn't be explained anyway. Mom plunged her even more, telling Adrien that this mess was done by Marinette. And when mom added the text "a way to a man's heart is through his stomach", Marinette thought for a moment that there was no place on the Earth where she could hide. With a ruined reputation. She tried to play down the message – quite obvious – and turn it all into a joke. Hence the rolling the eyes and silent "Sorry about that."

But Adrien blushed despite this. So, he had to feel embarrassed. It was comforting for Marinette that she didn't feel the warmth on her cheeks, that would mean she didn't blush this time. Which didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed. But at least she pretended not to be.

"Leave it, darling." Mom took the sweeper from Marinette. "You have a lot of work ahead. I'll take care of the kitchen."

"But mom..." Marinette protested.

"Take your plates and get to work. Time is a priceless value. It's better to have it saved for having fun in the evening."

Hearing this, Marinette blushed at the thought of what her mother might have meant. Did she suggest a date? Fortunately, Adrien didn't catch the hint. Or maybe he assumed that Marinette might have other plans for the evening. After all, he'd said something like that yesterday. Wait, how was it going? That he couldn't assume that she had no plans for Saturday. So, he accepted the thought that she had a life. All she had to do now was to confirm this status.

Why did she care so much about that he wouldn't get to know her feelings? Or rather, how did it happen that she didn't care anymore about his attention? Silly question. That was such an obvious reason. She let Cat Noir kiss her and look – these were the results!

She sighed heavily.

Adrien raised his head and looked at her with curiosity. And his hand unknowingly went to his neck. It was as if he remembered the last chemistry lesson when she sighed and blew to his neck.

Marinette took the tray with the waffles and drinks and headed upstairs to her room. Adrien followed her without a word. Sabine watched them in astonishment, and when the trapdoor closed behind them, she smiled under her breath, she shook her head and started cleaning the kitchen. She loved cooking with her daughter, but their great fun always ended in the same way – with a total mess. And yet she continued taking this risk, hoping that one day her daughter would finally control her clumsiness. After all, practice makes perfect...

***

"I apologise for my mom." Marinette sighed as soon as she put the tray down on the desk.

"You have nothing to apologise for." Adrien answered quickly.

"I don't know what came to her head." She ignored him. "She saw yesterday evening that you walked me home and I think... she made a theory. I'm sorry."

"You really don't have to be sorry!" He smiled at her. "I don't feel hurt. It was even... nice..." he added, blushing a little.

He looked away, embarrassed, which made Marinette uncomfortable. Suddenly the air between them thickened.

"Do you...? Uhm... Do you cook often together? With your mom?" Adrien asked after a moment, just to break the awkward silence.

"Always on weekends. We rarely have time for this during the week. Therefore, the more I value these moments." Marinette quickly replied to keep the conversation going and to ease the strange tension between them.

Immediately she noticed that she didn't help. Adrien lowered his head, and she remembered that he had recently lost his mother. She felt terribly embarrassed again. Their meeting today was a never-ending failure from the very beginning! Surprised, however, she felt the Ladybug's self-confidence again – or rather her own self-confidence, which she revealed while being Ladybug.

"Hey, I'm sorry!" She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned over him.

She smiled shyly as he looked up. They stood side by side for a moment, looking closely into each other's eyes.

"I know you miss your mom." She whispered and looked away. She was afraid that she would see something in his eyes that would make the situation even more awkward. He was a guy after all. Guys don't cry. Unless they were fourteen-year-old sensitive half-orphans whose mother had disappeared under mysterious circumstances...

"I know what will help you." she said bravely, turning away. Slowly she went to the desk, giving him time to recover composure after this strange conversation, and reached for cups. "You must try our famous chocolate. It's a cure for all sorrows."

She handed him the cup and he finally smiled back at her.

"It was very nice what you said." He whispered after a moment. "You're a good friend. You know... I'm not used to..." he suddenly stopped, embarrassed.

"To what?" She asked breathlessly.

"That people are good. You know, so selflessly..."

"Well, you know?" She exclaimed in surprise. "Although... When I remember, who you were friends with half a year ago, nothing will surprise me."

"Chloe is not so bad..." he sighed, and she was surprised how quickly he caught her hint.

"Sure..."

"Did you know that Alya suspected Chloe was Ladybug?" He asked her in a completely different tone, as if the magic chocolate of Dupain-Cheng really worked wonders.

Marinette laughed.

"How did that come to her mind?!"

"Nino told me yesterday morning. Before Lady WiFi attacked us. I mean Paris. She attacked Paris." he muttered confused.

"All Alya. She draws conclusions before collecting a complete set of information!"

"She's just inquisitive. She's really determined to discover Ladybug's identity."

And to make easy the work of Hawkmoth... Marinette thought.

"Why?" Adrien wondered and Marinette realised that she said it aloud. She blushed.

"Well, the guy always wants the Ladybug's and Cat Noir's miraculous, right? Well, if he finds out who they are, it will help him to get what he wants. If I was Hawkmoth and found out who Ladybug and Cat Noir are, I would start by kidnapping their loved ones. Or beloved ones. You know, give me the miraculous, and nobody gets hurt."

"But you're not Hawkmoth?" Adrien asked with a half-smile, and Marinette laughed:

"Do you think I could really be him?"

"This plan sounded very plausible."

"If I was Hawkmoth, I wouldn't share my plans with anyone. Even with the famous model, Adrien Agreste." she said and winked to him.

"Can we forget for a moment that I am a known model there?" He grimaced.

Half a year ago I didn't even know that you exist... she thought.

"So, you were probably one of the few!" He laughed, and she realised again that she had said it aloud. What the hell was going on with her?!

***

"Okay, maybe let's get to work." Marinette ordered.

It was better to occupy her head by doing homework, because apparently, she was thinking out loud today. Last thing she needed was to tell Adrien what she felt to him. Or rather, she used to feel. Cat Noir effectively pushed him out from her heart. Finally, she was able to behave normally in front of Adrien, and that was a good side of that.

"You're right. Our chemistry project is marked by a mysterious bad luck." He replied.

"I don't think that Professor Mendeleiev would accept such an excuse if we don't manage to prepare it on time." She joked.

"You're right." He laughed. "How will we do it?"

"I have no idea." She sighed. "If we begin to bore with definitions, everyone in the class will fall asleep."

"But we must certainly give some definition. Maybe about uses of bases?"

"What do you think of showing it on a big poster?" Marinette suddenly came up with an idea.

"Great idea!" Adrien looked at her with admiration, and she blushed. Well... He rarely looked at her like that. Not to say that never before.

"Wait a second." She jumped up from the chair and walked quickly to the cabinet. After a while, she returned to the middle of the room with a huge roll of Bristol paper. "I think it will work."

"How do you want to do it?" Adrien asked, getting up from his chair and kneeling next to her on the floor.

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure we'll figure it out soon." she murmured and began drawing a draft of the poster.

When Sabine opened the trapdoor at noon to ask the kids if they were hungry, she saw an unusual picture – both were kneeling on the floor on a large sheet of paper, with books all around, and eagerly drawing and talking one another.