"Girl, we got a 411!" Alya said into the phone.

I sighed, "What is it now, Als? Nino get bubble gum stuck in his headphones again?"

"No girl! A real 411...Adrien has a photo shoot at the park. Alone. A depressingly lonely photoshoot," Alya said, though her voice hinted at something more.

Here we go again, "Alya, I know you ship us, but seriously. Me and Adrien are just friends. Is that so hard to comprehend? That a boy and a girl can hang out together but not be in a relationship. I mean, just look at you and Nino!" I argued.

"Nino doesn't count. He's like a brother to me," Alya said defensively.

I nodded, "That's exactly how I feel about Adrien. Besides, I can't go. I'm babysitting...Oh no! Manon! Please don't play with that hat...it has sharp pins sticking out of-"

"OW!" The little girl cried. She ran over to be holding out a finger, "Marinette, the hat BIT me!"

I scooped up Manon into my arms and desperately searched for a band-aid while I talked to Alya, "Mari, take Manon with you! You know I love that girl. Come on...at least do it for Manon. A growing girl like her needs lots of sunshine and exercise."

"Marinette! PPPLLLLLEEEEAASSSSEEE I wanna go to the park so bad!" Manon begged, giving me her most heart-wrenching baby doll eyes...how anyone could say no to those eyes, I'd never know.

"Okay, okay! Just please don't give me those sad little eyes!" I said, giving in as I put the band-aid on her bleeding thumb.

Manon whooped with happiness, then grabbed my hand and began to pull me out of my house.

"See you there girl!" Alya called before hanging up. Between Alya and Manon, I was a giant pushover.

...

"Come on! Show me the fire! The spaghetti! The JOY!!!" My photographer ordered.

I tried to give him my best model smile, but I was so tired. I'd begun setting up patrols for the city...I'd tried to get Scar to do them with me, but after a while, I gave up. Last night I'd been up till 3:00 am patrolling the entire city. You never know when an Akuma might strike.

"No, no, no!" The photographer said, pulling me from my thoughts, "This is all wrong! Stop smiling like you just got a scratchy sweater! Smile like...like...umm..."

Then, I noticed something. Two teenagers were walking towards the carousel, a little girl on one of their shoulders.

One had long chestnut hair in a ponytail, while the other had black, almost blue hair, up in twin pigtails.

Marinette seemed to notice me, and turned my way, smiling brightly and waving. Alya waved too.

I smiled waving back, "AHA!!! The smile has emerged! It has EMERGED! No moving! None! Don't do it! No movement! Oh, yes! The spaghetti has been served!!!!" The photographer cried in joy.

So I tried to freeze.

I probably looked silly, because then Marinette started making silly faces at me, and it took all my self-control not to laugh.

The photographer turned to see what I'd been waving at, then smiled, "You three! Come here!"

So then, Marinette, Alya, and the little girl on Alya's shoulders came over.

Marinette waved again, "Hey Adrien."

"Adrien! Hey! What a crazy coincidence meeting you here! Isn't it such a crazy coincidence meeting him here, Mari?" Alya asked, brightly...though a bit weirdly.

Marinette shot Alya a look I didn't quite understand then said, "Whatever you say Als."

"Adrien, you're done for today. I got what I needed. But your bodyguard doesn't come for a while. You can relax until then. Go have fun with your friends...especially the one with adorable pigtails" Said the photographer with a small wink. I smiled and thanked him, my cheeks blushing red.

I walked towards my friends when the little girl on Alya's shoulders suddenly leaned down and grabbed onto Marinette, swinging onto her like a monkey, "MARINETTE! I wanna go ride the carousel!" She cried.

Marinette looked at me, "I promised Manon we'd ride...wanna come?" She asked.

I nodded, "Sure!"

So we walked towards the carousel, "Come on Manon, you're old enough to walk," Marinette said, setting the little girl down.

Manon nodded and ran around us while we talked. I noticed Marinette had a small bag from her bakery.

When I asked about it she smiled and nudged Alya, "Well the truth, Adrien, is that we knew you'd be here. Alya spotted you and thought you were looking kinda down. So she called me to come help her cheer you up. Since I was babysitting Manon, I brought her with me...and after getting on shoes, begging for snacks and a bunch of other stuff on Manon's part, I remembered how tired you've been in school lately. So, I brought you something I thought might help," She gave me the bag.

Inside was still warm croissants and a cup of coffee.

I was amazed that she would do something so nice for me, "Thank you Marinette!"

I pulled out the coffee and took a sip. I nearly spit it out with my amazement, "Mmh! That's so good!"

Marinette giggled, "I thought you'd like it. It's my favorite kind!"

I took another big sip, "Well you have good taste then!"

Marinette smiled, "I'd hope so-"

"Marinette has awesome taste! And not just in coffee. She wants to be a fashion designer! You should see the dress she made me. She's so crazy talented," Alya cut in proudly.

"Really? That's cool!" I said.

Marinette nodded, and somewhat blushed, "Ya...you're dad's been my idol ever since I can remember. I love his work!"

"I know he'd be glad to hear that," I said.

We got to the carousel. After paying the man, we all climbed on.

"Come on Manon, let's go ride the ponies. Mari, why don't you and Adrien take one of the moving benches that way he can eat?" Alya suggested.

Marinette frowned for a moment then nodded, "Okay...hey Als..." Marinette whispered something I couldn't hear.

Alya just shrugged in response, then disappeared with Manon.

I found a bench and sat down, Marinette following.

...

"Okay...hey Als..." I said aloud, then leaned towards Alya, "I know what you're trying to do, Missy! Don't go playing matchmaker when I'm the one being matched up. You wouldn't want me doing it to you," I whispered.

Alya shrugged, then ran off with Manon.

That girl...what was I gonna do with her?

I went and sat by Adrien, who was eating one of the croissants.

As the ride began moving, we started talking.

"So, how'd you get into fashion?" Adrien asked.

"Well, I've always loved designing, ever since I was little! I'd always be drawing dresses or hats...I don't really know how that started though...then when I was about ten my Grandma taught me to sew a bit...but she's always traveling, so most of it I had to pick up myself," I explained.

Adrien nodded while he finished his second croissant and reached for another.

"But the day I fell in love with fashion was one I'll never forget. I was window shopping with my old babysitter, Bridgette, when I saw the most gorgeous dress! But it was paired with an awful giant white sun hat that totally brought the outfit down. Bridgette always knew how I was feeling...I swear she was magical! Anyhow, she took me into the store. Then she went right up to the clerk and told her that she couldn't stand the ugliness of the outfit when it had so much potential...The clerk must have recognized her...Oh! I forgot to say. Bridgette is a famous fashion designer in America, Japan, and France, but travels a lot to be with her husband. He's a model...anyhow, Bridgette took down the manikin from the window and set it in front of me. Then she said, 'Go on Buganette. Make it beautiful.' So I did."

I got a bit dreamy eyes as I remembered the day, "I remember finding a belt, and a piece of jewelry, and these gorgeous boots...and in the end, I had something I was truly proud of. Me and Bridgette walked out of the store and watched the front of the shop form a coffee shop close by. After a few minutes, a group of girls came by. Then one stopped by the window display...she was admiring my work! She and her friends went inside. So, the manikin was brought down. The girl bought everything on it! I'd never been so proud..." Then, Marinette blushed, "Oh sorry...I talked a ton!"

But I smiled, "I like hearing you talk. You're very interesting, you know? The way you see the world, and how you can make it beautiful. I wonder if my father used to be like that...my mother said he was. She'd tell me that my dad would bring her flowers with glass jewels inside each to make them sparkle in the sunlight...or that he'd tie flowers to light posts so they'd liven up the streets...It's kinda hard to think of him doing that now though," Adrien shrugged.

Suddenly, the ride came to a stop.

By now, you probably know this is the day when Aurore was akumatized...however, in this version of time, Aurore wasn't akumatized. Because she won! If you remember, in the correct timeline, Manon voted...who knew one little girl's vote could change so much. (Even though the media had stated that Mireille had won by a ton of votes) Instead, a man named Mathias was akumatized into 'The Man With Messy Hand-Writing' the following day.

Scarlet Lady and Chat Noir defeated him. (Though as you could probably guess it was mostly Chat Noir.)

Oh! And just a heads up...Well, it might come as a surprise to you, but I tried to stay out of the superheroes' way. After all, I didn't have powers, so I left the akumas to the heroes. I was just a normal civillian...so as this story continues, you should know that there were a ton more Akuma attacks. I just only named the ones I was it.

Anyhow, as the weeks passed, and turned into two months, Adrien's crush was on me grew...and it became obvious to all...well, to all except me. And Chloe. And Sabrina.