Adrien took in a deep breath. He could feel the anxiety slowly beginning to take an unnatural hold on his trembling body. The nervousness was so overpowering, that nothing but regret started to control his frail mind.

A moment of unbearable silence had passed by, before the unsure teenager hesitantly glanced up from the piece of paper that was trapped between his fingertips.

He hadn't planned out what he was going to say, but he knew that he needed to hurry up, and think of something. People were starting to get agitated, which in turn contributed to all the unwanted whispering and mocking laughter, that could be heard throughout the entire auditorium.

All of a sudden, the blond felt very angry. He didn't care about the fact that all the students were talking or even laughing. No! He was furious about the fact that everyone was continuing to talk about Marinette behind her back!

He quickly waited for the host to exit off of the stage, before mentally preparing himself for what he was going to say.

Taking one final look at the single sheet of music, Adrien no longer felt anxious or afraid. The shyness had completely dissipated, leaving behind a victorious young man, who wasn't afraid of anything! The confidence seemed to possess his entire body; giving him strength that was almost supernatural.

To him, nothing seemed to matter any more. Nothing, except for Marinette. She was the whole reason he was up there... A small part of him wished that he didn't have to be in the spotlight, but deep down he knew that it was all worth it in the end.

The world needed to know that she was innocent. And right here and right now was the perfect place to prove it.

Adrien deeply exhaled before momentarily closing his eyes. After getting his thoughts in order, he finally knew what he needed to say; he just hoped that everyone would be willing to listen to him...

With all eyes still watching his every movement, he could feel the pressure slowly beginning to intensify. He swallowed hard, before bringing the microphone up towards his mouth.

Almost immediately, he took a step forward and stared into the invisible eyes of the unknown students. His once bright green orbs were cold and they were unknown...

Even though he couldn't physically see their expressions, he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were all terrified.

Not wasting any more time, the now confident teen slightly turned his head until he could partially see Marinette's face. Without even a single hesitation, he gave his beautiful girlfriend a very sweet smile before slightly winking.

Marinette, who was watching from behind the stage could feel the heat instantly rise to her cheeks. She was still a little confused as to why Adrien was there, but his kind, honest gesture helped her to feel a little more comfortable.

Without saying anything at all, the bluenette immediately returned his kind gesture. Her caring eyes seemed to glisten in the artificial lighting, bringing out the deep, mysterious shades of ocean blue, that were previously concealed beneath the many layers of unfathomable pain and uncertainty.

Right there, Adrien could tell that she trusted him, but she was still doubting herself... He knew that Marinette was trying to be strong for him, but the fear in her eyes was almost impossible to deny.

Instantaneously, his heart began to race with sympathy and desperation. He needed to speak up before it was too late!

After what felt like an infinitely long period of time, the blond eventually turned his full attention back to the audience.

Clearing his throat, he hesitantly spoke up, "Uhm... Hello everyone..? I'm just going to say a few things before I start... So, please listen very carefully!" his voice was serious, and his stare was so intense, it was almost deadly.

A moment of unrelenting silence filled the atmosphere for the umpteenth time that evening. No one dared to say anything, as everyone impatiently waited for Adrien to continue with his 'Ted talk'.

"As you all know... There have been a lot of rumors going around the school. Which is very unfortunate to say the least," his tone was sad, yet firm, "And even though these rumors have been denied countless times already, most of you still continue to spread lies about a specific student. I don't even need to say her name, because all of you already know who I'm talking about!"

Feeling the acute anger begin to stir up from within his unsteady soul, Adrien instantly clutched his jaw shut. He was having an extremely difficult time trying to keep his unrelenting, negative emotions under control.

He quickly took in another deep breath, as he broke eye contact with the enemy.

"Because verbal 'evidence' is apparently not sufficient enough to prove her innocence, I have put together some 'real' evidence; that will leave no one capable of denying the hurtful truth. And yes, the truth does hurts, but it's better than a comforting lie!"

Reaching for his cell phone, he quickly held the device out so that everyone could see what he was doing.

"With the help from a few friends, we were able to aquire a live video of Lila admitting to lying about the Instagram post; stating that it was nothing more then staged propaganda to make Marinette look bad."

Despite the silence that still lingered throughout the entire building, the murmuring was slowly starting to increase in its intensity.

Ignoring the indistinctive mumbling, Adrien quickly placed his phone back into his pocket before continuing his rambling.

"I have successfully sent all of the evidence to the school's website. After you take a look at everything, you will no longer have any doubts about Marinette being guilty; because she's not!" the blond instinctively clenched his hands into fists of untamed frustration.

While he was standing all alone, not knowing if anyone even cared about his over-the-top speech, a pair of bright blue eyes never left his agitated body.

Marinette's eyebrows came together as a single crease formed in the center of her forehead. She didn't know what she was feeling, but the warm sensation that was slowly starting to devour her insides made her think that it was nothing but good.

Her mouth involuntary opened wide as she silently continued to listen to her boyfriend's every word. He was just so sincere, that she couldn't help but blush.

'When did I get so lucky?' She thought out loud.

"Telling people you're innocent is really not that big of a deal, you know..? If he were to give you a brand new car or perhaps take you on a romantic trip to Rome... Now that's a big deal!"

The young baker mentally face-palmed, realizing that she had unknowingly said her thoughts out loud, and some obnoxious individual had unfortunately heard her.

Frowning, the girl slowly turned around, wondering who could have possibly said that... And to her surprise, it was none other than Chloé Bourgeois...

She immediately frowned, completely forgetting that her 'friend' was unfortunately still there...

"Sorry, what..?" Marinette uncomfortably questioned.

Walking up to her 'friend', the blonde slightly smiled as she glanced over at Adrien for a moment before turning her attention back to Marinette.

"I'm just joking!" she instantly held out her hands in defense when the bluenette's face dropped, "He's very lucky to have you, Marinette!" Chloé honestly admitted before giving her a small smile.

The violinist gave the blonde a confused look, but nevertheless smiled in return.

"Really..?" she immediately raised an eyebrow.

Chloé nodded her head before softly tapping her friend's shoulder, "Indeed! You are an amazing person, and-" her voice was extremely weak, and her eyes seemed to conceal sadness, "I... I'm really sorry about everything."

Unable to keep eye contact any longer, she immediately looked at the floor. It was evident that the mayor's daughter was suffering very intense feelings of mental anguish, guilt and regret.

No matter what she tried, she just couldn't seem to forgive herself for what she had done.

Seeing that her new friend was quite despondent, Marinette quickly wrapped her arms around her stiff body. When she unknowingly tightened her grip around Chloé, the baker suddenly spoke up.

"It's okay! I've already forgiven you... So, please don't feel bad... What you did was honestly terrible, but it's in the past now. So there's really no use trying to change what's already been done."

Chloé didn't say anything, but slightly nodded her head before letting go.

The bluenette was about to say something when Adrien's soothing voice distracted her. Without thinking, she quickly glanced back at him, as she waited in anticipation.

Adrien quickly looked back again, in hopes to see Marinette's unknown reaction, because he needed her to hear everything that he was about to say.

The moment their eyes instinctively met, the blond instantly felt a little uneasy. He was content knowing that she was patiently listening to every single useless word he spoke, but a small part of him was terrified that she wouldn't accept his apology.

Before hesitantly looking away, he gave her a loving smile and took in a deep breath.

In a confident voice, he verbalized his thoughts, "But anyway... I'm not here to give you all a Ted talk. I'm here for Marinette! I wrote this song some weeks back, when I was initially going to confess my feelings to her, but unfortunately due to all the unnecessary drama and chaos, she never got to hear it..." his face instantly fell, remembering that day as if it were just yesterday.

Marinette was so hurt when she thought he had betrayed her, but he was just greatful that she eventually believed him...

The young woman could feel her heart rate begin to accelerate as the world around her slowly started to cave in. All she could comprehend at that exact moment, was the word 'song'. All this time she was oblivious to the fact that Adrien had initially planned out how he was going to confess; and it was with music too!

Her body felt like jello; right there, she melted into a big, gooy puddle of indescribable emotions.

As she continued to look at her adorkable boyfriend, everything suddenly became crystal clear. At that insignificant moment, her lips involuntarily turned into a beautiful, sad smile.

Nothing but love and contentment flowed throughout her veins, however she was incapable of expressing any of those overpowering, real emotions. Instead of doing anything, her body immediately froze to the core. Her entire being felt trapped underneath the weight of so much love and adoration that it was almost impossible for her to even fathom the reality of that very moment.

Thoughtlessly, Marinette began to picture scenarioes and draw up various conclusions in her mind; wondering what it would have been like if she had known sooner...

Interrupting her thoughts yet again, the blond spoke up.

Walking towards the grand piano, he glanced at the piece of paper, before smiling to himself. He had never felt so ready in his entire life! He was ready to pour out his emotions in front of everyone, because his Princess deserved it!

He wanted everyone to know how he felt about her. He wanted the entire world to know just how much he loved her...

Without looking at anyone, he quickly sat down on the chair, placed the single sheet of music in front of him, and momentarily shut his eyes.

Allowing the wonderful tranquility to consume his soul, he let his fingers rest upon the black and white piano keys.

When the exact moment had arrived, he knew that it was finally time.

"This song is dedicated to you, Marinette!" he happily declared.

With that, Adrien played the first note on the grand piano. His surroundings seemed to fade away into nothingness. At that moment, he was all alone in a world where music had somehow become tangible.

The distinctive tunes were surrounding his once shattered soul, as his heart began to beat to the sound of his unconditional love for his Princess, Marinette.

He continued to express his feelings through his music, personifying every word, thought and feeling that he was unable to verbally express.

As his spirit and the sweet melody from the instrument merged into a single entity, it became evident that Adrien truly did love his Princess.

The lyrics were insanely powerful; highlighting every single detail about why Marinette was so special to him.

The words were simple, yet complex, sad, yet glorious, but most importantly, they were undeniably beautiful! As his girlfriend continued to watch and listen to him play the song with great enthusiasm, she had somehow managed to fall in love with him all over again...

She knew that he was a talented musician, but this just proved to her that he was absolutely exceptional! She could honestly just stand there for hours, watching him immerse himself in the art of such depth and wonder.

What felt like an eternity, eventually came to an end; concluding Adrien's original piece of music.

As his fingers hit the final note, he slowly opened his eyes, waiting for everyone's unknown reactions. His heart was agrestively pounding against his ribcage and his mind was racing with uncertainty. He honestly didn't know what to expect, but he was hopeful that Marinette had some positive feedback for him.

First one second had passed, then two, then three, but still everyone remained dead silent. The pianist was slowly starting to loose his confidence, not knowing what they thought. He swallowed hard as he anxiously waited for any sort of a reaction.

And just when all hope seemed lost forever, the sound of applause erupted throughout the auditorium, signifying everyone's approval.

Adrien hesitantly stood up from behind the piano. He tried to smile as he awkwardly waved to the audience, thanking them for their gratitude.

Immediately after bowing for the last time, he made his was over to the stage curtain. The blond hardly cared about everyone's opinions; all he cared about was Marinette's. He needed to know what she thought...

As the noise of excited shouts and cheers instantly faded away into the background, all he could hear was the sound of his beating heart. The anxiety was intensifying with every passing moment, and he felt like he was going to explode!

It felt like everything was moving in slow motion. As Adrien began pacing towards Marinette, his beautiful emerald green eyes lit up the minute he saw her gorgeous smile.

Without having to even say anything, he already knew that she loved it. Despite the fact that her eyes were laced with tears, he knew that she was joyful.

When he eventually made it back to her, he gave her a sickly sweet smile, before gently wiping her tears away.

"So... Did you... uh... like it..?" the blond nervously scratched the back of his neck while hopelessly glancing deep into her mysterious, bluebell eyes.

Marinette didn't say anything for a few seconds. She gave him an unsure smile as she reach for the hand that was still resting upon her tear-stained cheek.

She began rubbing her thumb along his very sensitive skin, which caused Adrien to unknowingly shudder at her unexpected touch.

Not answering her boyfriend's previous question, the bluenette gently placed her soft lips up against the back of his hand, "Follow me..?"

***