[Narrator's POV]

Chloe stares vacantly at the ground as she walks through school, lost deep in thought. When she enters the classroom, Nathaniel flinches in alarm. He then takes a deep breath and grips the hem of his shirt before approaching her anxiously.

"Er, Hey...."

Chloe moves past him as if she didn't even notice he was there.

"...Chloe?"

Chloe slumps down into her seat and breathes a sigh, looking ahead blankly.

Nathaniel steps up to her desk and tries again, rocking on his heels nervously. "G-Good morning Chloe."

Chloe finally awakes from her daze and looks at Nathaniel. "Oh, Nathan...hi."

Nathaniel feels a flicker of disappointment. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No, no, nothing's wrong. Sorry," Chloe insists. "I'm just tired."

Silence falls between them but Nathaniel stays by Chloe's side as if waiting for her to say something. His heart leaps when finally she opens her mouth to speak--

"I'm sorry Nathaniel, but I'd like to sit next to Sabrina today. I'm not feeling well. Please give me some space..."

And with that, Nathaniel's heart has sunk. "Oh..." He says awkwardly. "Okay, nevermind then. Don't worry about it."

Nathaniel heads toward his seat but on second thought, he swivels round and flees from the classroom.

In the courtyard below, Lila is leaning against the wall pondering to herself while Sabrina uses the vending machine.

"Mari is Ladybug so Adrien has to be Cat Noir since they're an item, and there is no way those two would ever love anyone besides each other. And speaking of love, Nathaniel and Chloe's behavior makes me think Queen Bee...No, there is no way that little brat is a superhero. Argh! Seriously, I'm beginning to question everything now."

Sabrina pokes a can of cola into Lila's cheek. "What are you muttering about?"

Lila grabs the soda and cracks it open for herself. "Stolen."

Sabrina smiles smugly and holds up a second can. "I expected as much."

"Hey, your nickname is Rina right?" Lila says abruptly. "Like Rena Rouge."

"No, like Sabrina." Sabrina replies.

Sabrina blushes as Lila leans in, narrowing her eyes.

"Are you secretly fighting crime under the alias of Rena Rouge?"

"N-No!" Sabrina pushes Lila away from her and adjusts her glasses. "Don't be ridiculous. I was held captive at the school when Rena Rouge saved us all so we couldn't possibly be the same person."

"I wasn't there so how would I know?" Lila says teasingly.

Sabrina points ahead. "Ask Nathaniel, he was there. Nathaniel!"

Lila turns to see Nathaniel come running down the steps with his head down. As he passes them, Sabrina calls his name once more and he stops to face them. The moment Nathaniel lifts his head, the two girls shudder in shock. His usual calm is disrupted by his upturned eyebrows and tense frown, and the deep distress drowning his eyes.

"W-What's wrong? Did something happen?!" Sabrina questions.

Nathaniel's lip trembles as if it is too hard to even answer that question. Then, he sheds a tear and Lila clutches her chest looking horrified.

"Gross! Why does this make me feel so sad?" She exclaims. "Sabrina, we need to fix him stat!"

"Roger!" Sabrina salutes to Lila and grabs Nathaniel.

"Heh? Whah...? What's happening?" Nathaniel says weakly as Sabrina and Lila drag him away. "Where are you taking me?"

.

"So that's what happened on Saturday  when I went out to stretch my legs. I wonder what will happen between Chloe and Nathaniel today. I gave her as much encouragement as I could but she still seemed a little down. Reminds you of us, doesn't it?" Marinette smiles, placing a hand on top of Adrien's.

The corners of Adrien's mouth tug into a slight smile. He wants to do more. He needs to move more. To open his mouth and talk to her.

To the disappointment of the both of them, Marinette slips her hand away to open up her bag. "Do you mind if I catch up on some homework while I'm here? Ironic that I'm doing schoolwork whilst skipping school. I'm sorry if I'm being boring."

Sadness tugs on Adrien's heart. Desperately, he lulls his head back and forth to shake "no" but Marinette's eyes are down on her workbook. Adrien swallows and tries to build something up deep in his throat. He can feel it. He wants it. He just needs to choke it out. Mustering up all of his stength and will power, Adrien pushes the sound out.

"Mmn...Mma..ari...Mari..."

Marinette gasps and looks up at Adrien. "Y-You...!"

Adrien's heart is racing. Relieved and excited to finally speak the name he loves so much, he repeats it over and over. "Mari. Mari!"

Marinette drops her things and scoops up Adrien's hands to hold them reassuringly. "Yes, Adrien?"

"Mari...nette. Marinette. Marinette...Dupain...Cheng." Adrien's breathing becomes heavier with every syllable but he bearly notices. He can't concentrate on anything else now.

Marinette giggles, tears of happiness glistening in her eyes. "I heard you, what is it?"

Adrien huffs, his smile broadening. "Marinette...boo. bugaboo. Mari, my p-prinn..cess, my lady."

"That's all you had to say? Don't push yourself, mon chaton. I'm not leaving you, don't worry." Marinette exhales a light laugh. "Geez, you always were pouty when you didn't have my attention. No more schoolwork then, I'll just stare at you all day."

Marinette smiles cheekily and snuggles Adrien's hands to her face. The warmth from his fingers soon spread through his whole body, especially to his cheeks when she continues to gaze upon him...

"I," Adrien swallows again and takes a deep breath, making sure he can say the next part properly. "I love you...Marinette."

Marinette's heart flutters. "I love you too, Adrien."

"I love you." Adrien repeats eagerly.

"Mhm," Marinette smiles and kisses his hands. "I love you too. No matter what."

.

Meanwhile, a waitress at a nice little crepe cafe is humming to herself happily. That is, until the bell on the door chimes and she turns round to see her regular customer coming in.

"Hey." She says in a harsh voice. "Don't you ever go to school?"

"Don't you ever shut up?" Lila replies. "We need a strawberry milkshake here asap."

Lila claps her hands at the waitress before walking away. She and Sabrina sit Nathaniel down at the booth before sliding in opposite him, eyeing him closely.

Nathaniel sniffs and blinks at him. "You guys are really intimidating. I thought this was the heart healing place, how are you supposed to get me to open up by interrogating me?"

"No, no. We'll interrogate you for answers not to make you feel better," Lila says. "That's what the milkshake is for."

"Who did this to you?" Sabrina asks menacingly.

Lila cracks her knuckles. "Do I need to beat someone up?"

Sabrina gasps worriedly. "Did Chloe do something stupid or selfish?"

"What? Chloe's always stupid and selfish." Lila says.

"Don't say that, you'll make Nathaniel cry more!" Sabrina replies.

"Oh!" Lila slams a fist down into her palm. "So someone insulted Chloe! Ah man, we shouldn've grabbed her instead. No, wait, I insult Chloe all the time, would that mean I have to beat myself up?"

"I don't think Chloe would get heartbroken over someone insulting her, especially you." Sabrina says.

"Unless..." Lila's eyes widen wildly. "It was Nathaniel who insulted her!!!"

Sabrina brings a hand to her mouth in dismay. "I see!"

"What are you talking about?" Nathaniel whines in confusion.

"Your situation, obviously." Lila says. "If it's too painful to speak about we can keep fireballing some ideas cuz I mean, I think we're pretty close."

"No," Nathaniel replies. "Not at all."

The waitress comes by to slam a strawberry milkshake down on the table and Lila gives herself a slap on the forehead. "Well no wonder we're not getting anywhere. We started the interrogation without the milkshake!"

Sabrina gently pushes the glass toward Nathaniel, who accepts it hesitantly. "I still don't really get why I'm here...this is stupid." He mumbles stubbornly as he sips through the straw. "I don't wonna talk about this."

Lila leans back and crosses her arms. "Fine, we'll just sit here and watch you drink your milkshake. But what makes you so reluctant to tell us anyway?"

"I can't because...because..." Nathaniel blushes and fidgets with his glass. "B-Because it's about someone you know. It's embarrassing..."

"Well obviously we know it's abou--"

Lila elbows Sabrina in the ribs before she can finish.

"I understand," Lila says. "But you know you can trust us. Anything said here stays here."

Nathaniel sips away at his milkshake quietly, looking to be debating with himself over this.

"I'll prove it. I'll go first. This is really humiliating for me and it involves someone else you know but I'm trusting you to keep it to yourself, okay?" Lila continues. "A while ago, I confessed my feelings to a girl that already has a boyfriend and of course got rejected. I knew she was head over heels for someone else too but I just couldn't help it-- how stupid! Man, you're at least lucky that you got away. I didn't; I broke down and cried right in front of her. So embarrassing. But I'm way over it now because we talked it out and made things better, see?"

Nathaniel stares at Lila in awe. "I-I see...I promise I won't tell anyone then. I'm sorry to hear about that, and...and I get it." He looks down sadly. "The thing is...I confessed to someone, but I did it in a roundabout way. Because I was scared...And I don't think it worked. Maybe they don't trust me. Maybe I got rejected...Probably both. B-But I still want to be their friend. I still want to be with them...I think that's why I confessed in such a cowardly way, so that I could be selfish and pretend it never happened."

Lila hums with intrigue as she thinks back to the conversation she had witnessed between Nathaniel and Queen Bee.

"Wait, I have no idea what you mean. That explanation was super vague." Sabrina says. "What exactly took place?"

"I can't say. But the point of this was to make process my feelings by putting them into words and to feel better by expelling some of it, right?" Nathaniel smiles and pushes aside his empty glass. "I feel better now getting that off my chest so thanks for listening, even if you don't understand."

Lila nods. "Milkshakes work wonders!" She says passionately.

"No, I think you're missing the point again." Nathaniel replies.

After a few more minutes of relaxation, Nathaniel insists he is fine and heads back to school but Lila and Sabrina stay behind for crepes.

"I'm confused, why would Chloe reject Nathaniel? She loves him!" Sabrina says. "In all honesty I expect that she just misunderstood him."

"Well you can't say anything, you promised Nathaniel." Lila replies. "And how are you so sure that he confessed to Chloe?"

"Because he loves her too," Sabrina answers. "It's so obvious."

"Right? From the moment I saw those two I knew instantly that they are in love. I couldn't have imagined Nathaniel confessing to anyone else," Lila says. "So the person he confessed to must have really been...Chloe."