Gabriel left not too long after the photographs of Adrien and Marinette were completed and he seemed genuinely impressed with what Marinette had to offer.  She showed initiative as a designer and had a face for camera, though she was a few inches too short to make it as a leading model, Gabriel would be more than willing to use her again.

Adrien was outside Marinette's trailer waiting for her to finish getting changed. She'd put on a tremendous display and he'd loved modelling with her. She was always so much fun to be around. Well, apart from a cheeky pun he'd made, which was replied to by her small sharp elbow placed into his ribs.

Once Marinette had finished changing back into her normal clothing she gave Tikki a cookie and a wink.

"I need to speak to Chat soon. Do you think you could sneak to Plagg and tell him to get Adrien to meet me in an hour on the Eiffel Tower? Tell him not to tell Adrien why though."

"You're actually going to do it, Marinette?" Tikki's eyes were gleaming. One of her favourite things as a kwami was when her ladybug and Plagg's cat finally got together. It was such a magical moment.

"I am. Well, I'm going to have a little fun first. We'll call it pay back for every time
I've been called 'just a friend'." Finally Marinette was ready to go and face her partner in anti-crime. They had one question left before the assignment was complete.

Tell your partner a secret.

Marinette opened the door to see Adrien in a conversation with a tall, blue haired boy. Luka. She walked over to them feeling slightly uneasy. What was he doing there? Placing a very Marinette smile on her face she said hello to Luka before being pushed to one side.

"Back off, Marinette. I don't want you stealing another one of my men." Lila had joined the group, linking arms with a shocked Luka. This must have been the plan Lila had come up with, Marinette knew she wouldn't just leave the day without trying to Get her angry.

It made sense considering she was silent during the shoot, although after what Adrien had told her about the threat he made she very much doubted Lila would react whilst Nathalie was around.

"Lila, I'm not your man. You told me to meet you here because you wanted to learn the guitar." Luka looked at Lila. He remembered what Marinette had told him about Lila. Of course, he didn't believe her. After all Lila had always seemed nice.

Bingo, Marinette thought, we've caught her in a lie ... again. She'd obviously asked Luka here to cause some friction between herself and Adrien.

Lila looked between Marinette, Adrien and Luka. The look in her eyes told them she was trying to come up with something; and fast.

"Lila, this needs to stop." Adrien spoke first. After his conversation with Marinette earlier he knew there would be no better way to show his loyalty to her than by standing up for her now.

"I don't know what you're on about Adrien?" Lila looked over at Luka. "He's been this way ever since I dumped him. He just can't seem to let me go."

"Lila, we all know that's not true, Adrien's never been with you." Marinette glared at Lila. As much as she wanted to remain calm around her, she just could not tolerate anyone who told lies.

"Lila, the melody coming from you is erratic. Are you sure you're telling us the truth?"  Luka looked the girl over. Perhaps he'd got this one wrong, after all it wasn't like Marinette to lie.

"Oh so now the girl who dumped you to go after someone more famous, is who you believe? I can't believe you'd do that to me." Lila did her best fake tears before running out the room. Luka went to follow her but was stopped by Marinette's hand on his arm.

"Luka, don't. She's not worth it."

Luka turned back to Marinette and looked at her with Adrien. He wanted to turn and follow Lila out, not to check she was ok but just to get out of the situation. His curiosity got the best of him though.

"So have you been modelling, Marinette?"  He asked her.

"I have. Monsieur Agreste asked me to be part of the photoshoot. It was fun." She explained. Adrien smiled down at her.

"She looked amazing."

"She always looks amazing." Luka's voice was a lot harsher than Marinette had ever heard him speak.

"I never said she didn't." Adrien looked towards Luka shocked by what he was implying. Luka began to turn away.

"At least I've always noticed." Adrien felt like he'd been slapped across the face.

"What does that mean?" He was astounded at what was coming out of Luka's mouth. He'd never seen Luka this way before, neither had Marinette. They stood side by side mouths gapping at an unusually irritated Luka.

"It means Marinette has been trying to get your attention for months and all you ever do is tell her what a great friend she is. If she was such a great friend then why haven't you made a move on her. You've never seen her as anything more than a friend. She deserves someone who adores her and treats her like the Princess she is." Luka wasn't one to speak out, but he needed to defend his ex-girlfriend. There was no way he was going to let Adrien brush past her again. Building her hopes up only to knock them down.

Marinette in the meantime couldn't seem to get her mouth to work, he'd used Chat's nickname for her. This wasn't going to sit well. She stood slightly behind Adrien, since he'd began to advance on Luka. Neither guys were confrontational or aggressive, yet something in side her was scared about where this conversation was going.

"You've broken her heart so many times Adrien." Luka continued.

"I don't understand why you're saying that. She is my Princess." Adrien responded to Luka, clearly confused by what was happening. Marinette knew he wouldn't let the Princess comment slide.

"The scarf, the trip to New York, you with Kagami. She'd be insane to continue to love you, yet here we are. I lost the girl I love because there's no way she'll give up on you." Adrien was shocked. He didn't understand half of what Luka had just mentioned, apart from she loved him. How could she love him?

"I ... I ... errrr ... what?" Adrien was stammering looking between Luka and Marinette. If possible Marinette would have the ground open up and swallow her right now. Adrien now knew, almost, everything and now she finally understood how Luka truly felt. No wonder he'd gotten akumatized the day they'd broken up.

"Luka, I'm so sorry. I never knew you felt this way." Marinette finally found her voice and spoke softly to Luka. "You know I love you and appreciate you but it just didn't work out the way you wanted it to."

"My heart has been a sad melody since you left Marinette. I would do anything to get you back. Our souls together are a perfect harmony of sounds." Luka stepped towards Marinette. Adrien side stepped slightly blocking Marinette from Luka.

"But our melody needs crescendos." Marinette looked at the broken boy so sympathetically she felt her own heart weep. She never meant for this to happen. Her heart was and always will be with the blonde boy standing near her; her knight in shining leather, her saviour. She was sure that if she didn't know Chat she would have been perfectly happy with Luka. But she had a soul mate and was lucky enough to know him.

"Mari, I wanted to do this another way but I suppose my secret needs to come out ..." Adrien called out to Marinette taking her attention away from Luka.

Marinette held her breath, please don't say you're Chat Noir! Please, please, please! Our identities must remain a secret from other people.

"I really like you. A lot, and today has helped me see what an amazing girl you are. I would love to be able to take you on a date. I've been an idiot for not doing this sooner." The words she had always wanted to hear had finally came out of Adrien's mouth, but this wasn't right.

Adrien is not the one she wanted to let her heart out to. Adrien was not the one who deserved it. Her leather clad partner needed to hear the words come from her mouth, in her alter ego form. He's the one she'd been doing wrong by.

"Look both of you. I don't want you falling out over this. You've always got on so well and I treasure you both in my life so much. I also need to let you both know there's actually another guy. I need to speak to him first. He means the world to me, he's my best friend. I'm really sorry. Both of you."

Both guys looked at her shocked then they looked at each other. In unison they spoke.

"Nino?"

"Christ no!" Marinette exclaimed.

"Well I suppose I should go, it seems Lila asked me here under false pretences." Luka stepped forward to say something more to Marinette before shaking his head and turning away. Once they were alone Marinette looked at a seemingly heartbroken Adrien.

"So there's another guy, eh?" He kicked the gravel under his shoe.

"Yup," was all Marinette could reply.

"What's he like?" Adrien was quiet and dull. Not a spark of the boy she knew was showing and she hated having to keep this from him.

"He's the cats pyjama's, he just doesn't know I think of him that way yet." He didn't even flinch at the statement.

Suddenly the WhatsApp group began to chime. Obviously Nino's facial had finished.

Heaven or Hell?
3.35pm

Nino: Yo dudes? Me and Alya were going to grab some ice cream about 5pm, you two up for it? Seems most the class are going to be there. So much for our date 💔

Alya: Don't worry, Nino. You'll still get your date treats 😘

"So what do you think?" Adrien asked Marinette, "I've still got the rest of the night to spend with friends, this could be fun." Marinette could hear the fake enthusiasm in his voice. She was hoping all that would change within the next hour.

"I need to just go and get something for the bakery and drop it back to my parents. Would it be ok if I meet you there?"

"Yeah, of course." Adrien seemed to perk up a little bit. Ice cream with friends was always fun.

"It's a deal, then we can go and play video games at my house." Marinette opened the message up ready to reply.