{+}{+}{+}

Nathaniel and Marc cleared a table, placing the objects Marinette requested on it. The two only had to wait five minutes before the said bluenette hurried into the room.

She wore an extra pair of clothes she kept in her locker for, what Alya dubs it, "clumsy emergencies," clutching the damaged dress and mask within her arms. Marinette walked up to the table and placed the fancy gown on the surface.

"Is there anything else I can do to help?" Marc asked, still feeling guilty for ripping the skirt. Marinette hummed, thinking for a moment but shook her head.

"Not right now but I'll tell you when I need your help. Also, don't sweat it. I'm really not mad at you at all. I'm the dummy for using such weak fabric," Marinette reassured the writer before hunching over the desk. Marc frowned before feeling something comforting squeeze his shoulder.

Marc looked over at his comic partner, who warmly smiled and eased Marc's regret. The boys walked over and looked over the bluenette's shoulder to see her quickly sketch the top part of the dress. Marinette sat back in her seat, tapping the pencil's eraser against her chin in thought. She glanced between the dress and the sketch, trying hard to figure out how to fix it.

   Nathaniel could tell that his friend is struggling. His eyes locked onto the dress before shifting over to the half-done sketch. An idea began to form in his brain of what she could possibly do to maybe improve it rather than fixing it.

   "I'm not sure if this advice is helpful in any way..." the redhead began, "...but when an artist accidentally messes up their picture and there is no way to undo it, they don't redo the whole thing or try to fix it. They use that mistake as an opportunity to improve the picture."

Marinette hummed, knowing that that advice, while it's true, can be very risky. If she messed up again, there's no telling how it will turn out. She might even ruin the dress but it's a risk she'll have to take.

"Alright, let's try to improve it."

"Wait, don't you live across the street? Why don't you go get a new dress from your closet? I'm sure you have other dresses in there that could work," Marc suggested, "I just don't want you to regret anything before it starts. Trying to improve something can be difficult or make a lot worse."

"I'm glad you're worried, Marc, but it has to be this dress," Marinette replied.

"How come...if you don't mind me asking," the writer asked.

"Let's just say, it's going to help me find someone. If I can't find them, hopefully, they'll be able to spot me," Marinette answered, getting confused looks from both boys, who looked at each other as if the other had an answer. They shrugged and returned their attention back to Marinette.

"What if you sewed the bottom of the skirt enough up inside the dress to hide the torn-out part?" Nathaniel said. Marinette shook her head, "That'll look really weird."

"How about cutting it shorter off the bottom? Then, there is less likely any chance for someone to accidentally step on it again," Nathaniel suggested, making Marc wince.

"Maybe..." Marinette said, still feeling like it wasn't exactly right quite yet but something she'll probably have to do. If Marinette is going to have to change her favorite dress, then she wanted it to do it right.

"What about a fishtail?" Marc spoke up. Marinette perked up at the suggestion before looking at Marc with a smile.

"I like that idea," the bluenette exclaimed, starting to sketch out the bottom part of the dress, "Luckily, I've made a lot of fishtail-designed dresses in the past, so it shouldn't take too long and look really good."

Marinette looked down at her finished sketch with a smile. She stood up, readying the scissors and the needle and thread.

"I'm going to your help if we're going to get this done quickly, without making too many mistakes," she said to her friends.

"You can count on us," Nathaniel said.

"Especially, me," Marc insisted, "So, what do we do first?"

"First, I'm going to cut the skirt off and turn it around. That way, the damaged part will be cut off. The front part of the dress is a bit shorter so now that it'll be the back-"

"-it'll be less likely to be stepped on," Marc finished, cutting off the designer.

"Bingo!" She said, beginning to cut through the dress. She just hopes it will all turn out okay.

   Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of colors caught in the corner of her vision. She turned towards it, staring at a beautiful rainbow-colored painting sitting in the moonlight. Marinette felt something within her swell, brimming with confidence.

   "Yeah..." Marinette thought, grinning and returning to her work, "...this will turn out okay."

{+}{+}{+}

"Hey, Nino!"

Nino had just finished up his DJ shift and head over to Alya, who has been courteous enough to patiently wait for him to finish. The last thing he needed to do is request the next song, one of Alya's favorite and ask her to dance, of course.

Nino turned around after hearing his name being called. He jumped at the sudden approach of the short skater girl, practically dragging a poor blonde soul by the arm. Nino didn't recognize the blonde guy but felt kinda bad for him, knowing of Alix's...antics.

Alix is a nice, strong and respectful girl. She will do anything necessary to protect her friends and do some dangerous dares without any fear. Yet...she could get out of hand and over the top sometimes.

"Hey, dudette," he greeted back, once the two were standing in front of him, "What's up?"

"The ceiling, obviously," Alix replied, earning a slight snort from the blonde guy, "Anyway, I was wondering if you know anyone with a spare blazer for my recently acquainted friend here to borrow."

Nino turned his attention over to the blonde, who gave a little wave. Nino nodded back before returning to Alix.

"Why does he need a spare?" The DJ asked.

"It's a bit of a pit stains emergency. This dude needs to be in tip-top shape for his date, not this B.O. beluga," Alix explained, getting two very different looks from both guys.

"A guy emergency. Yeah, I definitely need to help you out with that. It's a part of the bro code," Nino said as if he is protecting his honor as a man, "I think we both have decently the same build. Luckily, I have a blazer stashed away in my locker."

"Why do you have a blazer in your locker?" Alix questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"In case I forget about picture day, which is all the time," Nino said, gesturing for the two to follow him to the locker room, "Let's go! I want to get back before this song ends."

Alix and Adrien glanced at each other with the same question in mind before following Nino.

{+}{+}{+}

"Done!" Marinette cheered, wiping the sweat off of her forehead, "and it only took about half an hour! New record!"

   Marc sighed in relief, finally able to breathe from suffocating on his worry. Nathaniel patted the writer's back as a way of silently congratulating for completing the remodeling of the dress. Marinette held it up, going over the lacy, red fabric one more time to make sure it is both functional and stylish. She nodded, deeming it suitable.

   "I'm going to go put this on. I think we're done and it looks even better than before! Thank you so much, you guys. I don't think I would've been able to finish so quickly without your help," Marinette said, voice filled with gratitude.

   "It's really no problem. I'm just glad we were able to fix it," Marc told the teen girl.

   "Alright, let's head back. I'm sure some people are wondering where we all went off too," Nathaniel suggested, motioning over to the door. Marc agreed, saying his final words, "I hope you enjoy the rest of the dance, Marinette."

   Once the door closed shut, Marinette hurried over to a giant canvas and speedily changed behind it, trying hard not to mess up her styled hair (Celine would lose her marbles, if she found one hair out of place after working so hard on it).

   The bluenette placed the mask back on her face, ready to return to the dance. She picked up her emergency clothes and rushed out the door, heading for the locker room.

{+}{+}{+}

   "I know it's here somewhere," Nino said, rummaging through his messy locker. Adrien looked over at Alix when hearing her impatiently groan.

   "Dude, you've been looking in your locker for ten minutes! Either, your blazer is not in there or your locker is a gateway to Narnia!" Alix said. Nino reappeared from out of his locker and scratched the side of his temple.

   "I could've sworn it was in here," Nino spoke under his breath. Alix moved over to look until seeing the jam-packed inside.

   "No wonder you can't anything," she said, "I'm surprised nothing fell out with how much is in here. Seriously, you've got a hoarding problem."

   "I wouldn't call it a "hoarding problem." More like, keeping stuff in case I need to use it again," Nino argued back, crossing his arms and holding his chin up. Alix raised an eyebrow, eyes trained back inside the metal containment until spotting something very odd.

   "Is that that macaroni project we did in like...first grade?" the short teen questioned, pointing at the dark blue construction paper with macaroni glued on. Nino peeked open an eye, finding the very project Alix is talking about.

   He looked at Adrien, who is majorly confused about what is going on, before shifting over to an unimpressed Alix. He stayed silent for a few moments until finally answering, "...maybe."

   Alix nearly ripped the macaroni project, trying to take it out and looked at the crappy craftsmanship of a music note. She glazed over it and scoffed, "You even got an A! Bogus! I knew Mrs. Odette had it out for me when she gave me that D!"

"Um...guys," Adrien tried to interfere but went unheard by the two students.

"Do you even remember why you got a D on that project?" Nino questioned.

"Guys?" Adrien tried again but once again was blocked out of the conversation.

"My creativity probably wasn't up to her standard acceptance or something," Alix offered her explanation.

"Guys," the blonde tried.

"You glued a macaroni smiley face on the back of Kim's head when he fell asleep," Nino bluntly said, making Alix pursed her lips and quint her eyes, thoughtfully.

"Oh, yeah," she spoke, recalling the memory.

"Guys!" Adrien finally shouted, gaining Alix's and Nino's attention, "...the blazer"

"Oh, right. Sorry, dude. I guess, we got a little distracted," Nino sheepishly said before perking up in realization, "Wait, I think I know where it is." Nino scrambled over to another locker nearby and put the code in. He pulled the small, metal door open. Alix gave the DJ a strange look while Adrien curiously watched. Nino smiled, pulling out the blazer from the locker for everyone to see.

"I found it!" He rejoiced, proudly presenting the blazer to Adrien. A swirling sensation stirred within him as he took the offered blazer, scanning the midnight-colored material.

   "Thank you, this is very generous. I owe you one," Adrien told the two, who gave sympathetic smiles.

   "It's on the house, dude. No sweat about it," Nino assured, patting Adrien's shoulder.

   "Well...maybe a little bit," Alix said, referring to the stains on Adrien's blazer. The blonde slid it off, making a mental note not to ruin Nino's blazer. It fits nicely, even though the DJ's body structure is different from Adrien's.

   "I'll give it back to you after the dance," Adrien said, earning a hum of acknowledgment from Nino.

   "Now," Alix began, smirking, "about that girl you're trying to find..."

   Before anyone else could get a word out, the locker room door opened. The three teens jumped, averting their attention towards a frazzled bluenette carrying clothes.

   Bluebell met emerald.

{+}{+}{+}

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Yay! They are finally going to meet after forty chapters! 😂

Sorry for that but I hope it will be worth the wait! See you next Saturday!