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   Marinette was locked away in her room.

   Even though Plagg was in her company, she still felt the bitter loneliness eat at her. Bluebell eyes blankly stared at the ceiling. The smell of Camembert was the only comfort she could seek, filling the room with its stench.

   "You know, moping around like this is just a waste of time," Plagg said, mouth full of cheese before swallowing, "You know what isn't a waste of time, Camembert cheese. Now there's something to talk about instead of this brooding teenage stuff."

   In his own way, Plagg was worried about Marinette. Yet, he wasn't like Tikki. He didn't know what to say or do to comfort the heroine. Plagg knew only how to cheer up Adrien and he was more of a mess than Marinette. Right now, Adrien was probably having the time of his life, his dreams of a family becoming reality.

   The Kwami sighed before practically swallowing the whole entire piece of cheese. Suddenly, the miniature cat sensed something and hid out of sight. Marinette was still in a daze before hearing the sound of knocking coming from...the window.

   Bluebell eyes trailed off to the side to see an upside-down boy in a ladybug suit. Misterbug sheepishly smiled at the girl and waved a hand. The bluenette was taken aback by the sight of her partner. She quickly jumped out of bed and went over to the window, opening it up.

   "What are you doing here?" Marinette asked, quietly. Misterbug lowered himself and flipped over until he was balanced on the window sill. Marinette glared at the bug hero and crossed her arms as Misterbug jumped to the floor.

   "I could be asking you the same thing," Misterbug retorted, making the bluenette flinch. Misterbug felt bad for his rudeness and continued, "Sorry, I just wanted to check up on you."

   "W-Why would you d-do that?" Marinette stuttered, a blush painting her cheeks. She cursed within her head at the display of feeling and tried to force the blush away.

   "I think you know why, Milady," Misterbug said, now crossing his arms. Marinette's gaze cast down to her feet and felt her hands grip her arms. She took in a shaky breath, processing the information still. She had been all day when knowing. Marinette knew he knew about her identity and that he knew she knew his.

   Misterbug patiently waited for Marinette to reply but he knew that she wouldn't. Green eyes were drawn away from the girl and towards the sleek, white piano. He smiled a little before glancing at Marinette then back at the piano.

   Without thinking much of it, Misterbug grasped his hand into the bluenette's. Marinette was surprised by the sudden action and didn't have time to freak out when she was being dragged over to the piano.

   The bug hero paused at the piano's seat and carefully pulled it out enough to sit on. Misterbug sat on one side of the seat before looking up at the confused girl. With a soft smile, he patted the open spot on the seat. Biting her lower lip, Marinette hesitated before slowly sitting on the seat.

   "Before my mother disappeared..." Misterbug began, setting his fingers on the keys, "...we would always play the piano at least once a day. It somehow always cheered me up when I was sad."

   Marinette noticed his smile dropped a little into something of sadness.

   "When she disappeared, I hadn't touched the piano for months. Almost a whole year," he said, softly playing the piano. He wasn't able to play it like he could do in the other dimension but tried to grasp onto what he could through muscle memory. Within a trance, Marinette watched his fingers press the keys and listened to his story.

   "Then, a stressful day came. I was tired, hurt, and just wanted to be alone..." he continued, "But...I didn't want to be alone either. Before I knew it, I was playing the piano again. Of course, I may have been just a bit rusty."

   Marinette perked her eyebrow up which caught Misterbug's attention.

   "Okay, a lot rusty..." the hero muttered, admittedly and made the bluenette giggle. His smile grew before continuing his story, "I didn't feel as sad or alone anymore once I played the piano again. Cause, when I play, I can imagine my mother sitting next to me and playing along."

Marinette stayed silent, the soft melody filling the room's cold atmosphere with soothing notes. The air between them wasn't awkward or uncomfortable but reassuring. It was like she just needed his very presence there to cure her sadness.

His words.

His smile.

Just him.

Marinette decided to take a small risk and placed her head on his shoulder, still watching his fingers press the piano's keys. She felt his body jerk but relaxed a second later. The bluenette's heart quickened as her emotions began to spiral out of control. A subtle pink touched the plains of her pale cheeks.

"Hey...Adrien..." Marinette paused after testing out his name on her lips. The blonde was shocked and proud all at the same time. He hummed in acknowledgment, waiting for her to respond.

   "Do you think we'll ever get back to our dimension?" Marinette asked, timidly. Misterbug stopped playing and looked down at the girl sitting next to him. He could see the tiredness and defeat but some hope shining through the barriers deep within bluebell.

   Misterbug...Adrien immediately answered, not having any second thoughts to make him hesitate as he says, "Of course we are. We're the cat and bug team. We can do anything when we're together."

   "You mean the "bug and cat team?" Marinette corrected, jokingly and let a genuine smile replace her frown, "How could I forget that we're unstoppable?"

   "Sometimes, it's a nice reminder," the bug hero said but the bluenette shook her head, "I should already know this without having to be reminded."

   "Maybe," Adrien hummed, "Either way, I've got your back no matter what, Bugaboo."

   Marinette hugged his arm as a way of being thankful for this wonderful boy next to her. She didn't know where she would be today if he hadn't inspired her to keep going and fight.

   A yawn escaped her lips and she nuzzled her head further into his shoulder. Misterbug chuckled, "Someone tired?"

   "Not in the slightest," Marinette replied, not wanting her partner to leave quite yet. The blonde rolled his eyes at her stubbornness before picking up the tired girl into his arms.

   The bluenette's hazy mind didn't comprehend what was going on until she was under the covers of her bed. She could feel flips in the pit of her stomach and internally freaked out with what had happened.

   "Goodnight, Marinette," Misterbug quietly said, ruffling her hair a little. Before he could get very far, a hand caught his wrist. Green eyes turned towards the blushing bluenette, who stared down at her blanket.

   "M-Mari?" The bug hero stutter, heart skipping a beat when seeing how cute she was.

   "Can..." Marinette began, embraced for what she was about to say. She kept opening her mouth and closing it, trying to not make it as weird as it sounded. She felt like a little girl, who was scared of the dark all over again.

   Somehow, Misterbug knew what she was trying to say and smiled.

   "Yes, I can stay until you fall asleep," he said, making Marinette's head shot up in disbelief. Misterbug sat near the edge of the bed, letting a leg hang off the side. He didn't dare move anymore onto the bed unless it was necessary. Marinette didn't seem to mind though as she laid down.

   In the mitts of things, their hands somehow found each other. Their fingers weaved together and clasped one another tightly as if it were their las lifeline.

   Everything seemed right in the world at that moment.

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Wow, this felt like a cheesy chapter. Oh well, I love cheese so let there be cheese. XD

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!