Adrien was having issues with his mental well-being. He was partnered with Marinette, the girl who was causing so many chemical imbalances in his body that some days he found it hard to even think straight.

He slowly turned around to face her and saw she'd paled. He's elation deflated as he realised he was the reason for this beautiful girl looking increasingly green at the prospect of being his partner. The truth, however, was that Marinette was having her own inner turmoil.

She'd just found out he was single again. Well, he's been single for a while. She thought back to their time in New York where they'd taken the carriage ride around Central Park. They had been so close to kissing, just millimetres apart, when there was an akuma attack. Since that day Marinette had stayed clear, as much as possible, of Adrien Agreste.

She had been so embarrassed by her actions that day, especially as Kagami was her friend. Since then she'd made sure they never had time alone together. Whenever the fab foursome would venture out you could cut the tension between Marinette and Adrien with a knife.

Adrien replayed the exact same scene in his head, the only difference was he wished he'd kissed her. Something about her was magnetising and he was so close to finally understanding what this feeling was. However, the akuma attack distracted both of them and he'd felt embarrassed ever since. He should have just kissed her and then gone to transform, but no, his lady had won his heart again and he'd ran straight to her. He just couldn't work it out.

Madame Bustier instructed everyone to swap seats to sit with their partner. The noise in the room as defeaning as people moved around and began to greet each other, though everybody felt sorry for Nino. That was a pairing from hell.

Nino was not on Chloe's to tolerate list, and since Miracle Queen, where Chloé unveiled the additional superhero identities, Nino had lost his chance at ever becoming Carapace again. He hated her - completely and utterly hated her.

Marinette positioned herself next to Adrien giving him a small smile.

"Howdy partner." She said in a small voice.

"Nice to have you here."

Nice to have you here? What the hell are you on about Agreste? Where else would she be? Florida? Adrien mentally scalded himself for the ridiculous line and looked down at his desk. A glorious giggle pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked back at the blunette girl sitting next to him.

"Well, I wouldn't be anywhere else on a Monday morning." Her smile widened.

"Not if you wanted to graduate." He smiled back at her relaxing a little.

"Touché" she replied.

They stared at each other for a moment recognising something in each other's eyes. Their smiles began to drop when the tension built to an uncomfortable level. They'd been in this position before. They both knew it. Laughing together, staring at each other, tension building and then an overwhelming need. New York replayed again in their minds. What was going on? It was as though destiny wanted them to be together, it was daring them to immerse themselves in a power neither of them understood.

FLASHBACK - NEW YORK

Adrien had managed to sneak out the hotel suite he was sharing with his father and Nathalie. He'd arranged to meet Nino, Alya and Marinette in Central Park so they could go and do a bit of sight seeing together. He found them near to the Plaza Hotel, across the road from the entrance to Central Park. As Nino was congratulating Adrien for escaping, Alya let out a loud screeched.

"Come on! Let's go on a carriage ride." Grabbing hold of Nino's hand she led them to the park and queued ready for their turn in a carriage.

"Looks like there's only two seats." Alya said, faking sadness.

"How convenient!" Marinette replied to her friend through gritted teeth.

Adrien couldn't understand why Marinette seemed to disliked time when it was just the two of them together. She always seemed so awkward. He said to himself at the wax museum he was going to make more effort with her, he was determined they were going to be better friends.

Perhaps it's time to bring out the 'real' Adrien, he thought.

Marinette and Adrien slid into the carriage and positioned themselves at opposite ends. They sat in silence, both looking out at the area around them.

"Why did Eve want to leave the Garden of Eden and move to New York?" Marinette turned to face Adrien with a curious look on her face.

"I don't ... know." She wondered where Adrien was going with this.

"She fell for the Big Apple." She stared at him for a minute, gapping. He was cursing himself mentally, now he's really messed things up. All of a sudden she stared to giggle.

"Where do fat cows go on vacation?" Adrien thought he'd try his luck with another joke, he wanted to hear her giggle again.

"I don't know." She was staring to laugh already and he found himself smiling.

"Moo York."

"Woah! You're such a dork." She squealed through her giggles, before slamming her hands over her mouth. He placed one hand over his chest.

"You wound me, Mari!"

His smile was so wide at her reactions, he wanted more.

"Where do eggs go on vacation? New Yolk City."

They both began to laugh, moving slightly closer to each other.

"Ok, ok, I've got one." Marinette bounced up and down on her seat and turned to face Adrien. He couldn't contain his smile at her cuteness.

"What state do dogs like?"

"New Yorkie."

"I can't believe you know the answer to that!" Marinette whined.

"I can't believe you knew the joke. Now who's the dork?" Marinette gave him a little shove with her shoulder and the two of them laughed.

It was a strange feeling. Even though they didn't spend a lot of time with each other they seemed to have fallen into a synchronised rhythm; laughing, teasing and talking. As it reached the end of the carriage ride Adrien had his arm around Marinette's shoulders and the two were sitting a lot closer than 'just friends' usually do. They turned to look at each other and it was though time had stopped. He felt his eyes lowering to her lips and back into her eyes. Had they always been so beautifully blue?

She licked her lips unconsciously as the smiles dropped from both of their mouths. Their serious expressions were combining and asking what happens next. She stared into his eyes. Had they always been so electric?

They began to move in towards each other, an audible gulp from Adrien when all of a sudden the moment was ruined. Screams could be heard around them as people started to run. They looked back where they'd just travelled and saw a monster in the sky, it was time for their alter-egos to come out to play. Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand and pulled her off the carriage, running into the depths of Central Park.

"Stay here!" He yelled to her, pushing her up against the underside of a bridge and he ran off.

END OF FLASHBACK

Their staring match was broken by Madam Bustier explaining the rules of the assignment.

"Tomorrow you will not be attending school," loud cheers erupted around the classroom, "don't get too excited." She explained. "You will be spending the day with your partners." You could see the shift around the room as everyone looked at the person sitting next to them. All smiling apart from one pair; Chloé and Nino. Adrien felt his heart jump. A whole day with Marinette, just the two of them without the interruptions of Alya and Nino and, hopefully, no akuma's.

Perhaps he could hold her hand at some point? Though he wasn't sure whether that would be right in this situation. Should he buy her flowers or something for when he meets her in the morning? Though it wasn't a date, it would be nice to think of it that way.

Whilst Adrien was running through ways to please Marinette and get closer 'as friends' Marinette's brain went into overdrive; with fear being in charge of the controls. What if there was an akuma? How would she escape? Adrien's always been overprotective of her when one was near, yet she never understood why.

She turned her head to look at the blonde sitting next to her at the same time as he looked to her. They let out a single laugh before looking away again.

"Everyone owns a camera phone. Correct?"

A chorus of yes' circulated the room.

"Good. At the end of your hang out tomorrow you'll be taking a picture of your partner for the year book. The picture will represent how you see them. For some of you this could be the time to reinvent yourself, show the real you to your partner."

The classroom was engulfed with people deciding what they were going to be doing. Some were going to hang out and see a movie, others were mentioning going to Disneyland Paris, however Nino was cringing at Chloe's plans.

"Well as we now have the day off it's the perfect opportunity for a spa day, and unfortunately you'll be coming with me. Although, you could use a facial, and perhaps some kind of help with your eyebrows."

Adrien looked at Marinette nodding his head towards Chloé and Nino. They both started to silently chuckle as Chloé outlined their day of beauty together.

"So what do you think, Adrien?"

"Well, we're both good looking so we'll skip the spa day." Marinette's face went purple, it had been a long time since Adrien had managed to cause her to turn such a vibrant colour. As he looked at the change in Marinette's face and realised what he just said.

"It's not that I think your good looking, because you're not."

"What?" Marinette's eyes dropped and Adrien facepalmed.

"That's not what I meant, I meant you're stunning, I mean you're gorgeous, I mean ... oh wow is it getting hot in here." Adrien was showing true Marinette-itis. He wiped his forehead with his hand to find any sight of fever.

"What's wrong, Adrien? Cat got your tongue?" Adrien glared wide eyed at Marinette. She took a while to realise what she said before gasping and starting to twirl her fingers around each other. Adrien, on the other hand, began scratching the back of his neck. Not long after, the bell rang signalling the end of the school day and the pain of trying to make normal conversation. Neither had a clue how they would get on for a whole day together.

"I'll drop you a text later, Mari. I'm sure as soon as my father hears I have the day off school he'll schedule in an additional photoshoot." Adrien stated as the fab foursome made their way to the front of the school.

"That's fine. I can always come with you if you'd like? I'd love to see how it all works."

"Of course. Hey, Nino, are looking forward to your spa day with Chloé?" All of them laughed apart from Nino.

"My man's going to have such smooth skin for our date tomorrow evening." Alya reached up and stroked one side of Nino's face.

The boys were starting to hit puberty hard so it wasn't such a shock to see them both now displaying some type of facial hair, Adrien needed to shave at least four times a week to keep his clean cut model imagine.

The silver car pulled up at the curb and Gorilla climbed out signalling to Adrien it was time to go. He fist bumped Nino before hugging the girls.

"Text you later, Mari." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and pulled back. Why did he do that? They both thought as they stared at each other with wide eyes. He slowly walked back down the stairs and to his ride home. Shaking his head ... what was he seriously thinking?