"And what, might I ask are you children doing out here so late?" Ms. Bustier questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I was worried sick when I went to check on you and you weren't in your rooms!" The older woman swiftly moved her hand, using it to place pressure and massage her temples.

"I-it's my fault Miss Bustier!" Marinette chimed quickly, much to the disapproving glances of the other three standing with her.

"I wanted to show them around and explore the city since I haven't been here in such a long time." Explained the bluenette, hoping that she would go easy on them, knowing that Marinette was a good student and would never purposely try to get the other's in trouble.

"Marinette, you should've thought to ASK before you left the hotel. I was worried you'd snuck out and something happened to you all!" The woman let out a heavy sigh.

"I can't just let this go without a punishment, you guys. So for now, you're going to have to miss out on the coronation."

"What?!" The group exclaimed in shock at their punishment.

"But miss, the coronation is the whole reason we're here for-" Marinette tried to object, even though she realized she couldn't exactly not go to her own coronation. She wanted her friends to be there with her.

"Well, you shouldn't have snuck out." She spoke simply.

"Ms. Bustier, isn't there another way you could punish us? Like, make us write an essay or something?" Alya suggested, hoping that she'd change her mind.

Ms. Bustier stopped and sighed, closing her eyes for a minute in thought. "Perhaps that is a bit too harsh. Especially since you are all usually good students..." She took another pause.

"Okay fine, you can still go for now. I want each of you to write me a 5 page essay explaining why sneaking out is dangerous and when you get back to school, you'll have detention for a week and cleaning duty. That's all for now so don't let anything like this happen again, understood?" The woman narrowed her eyes and the group who nodded in understanding.

"Hurry on now, off to your rooms." She shooed them away before walking back to her own room.

"Let's never do this again." Adrien muttered out softly, laughing and rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm really sorry guys, but, you didn't have to take the blame for it! I was the one who pushed you into going in the first place." Alya frowned lightly and gave her best friend a gentle hug.

"Don't worry, I just didn't want you guys to get in too much trouble for it." Marinette smiled softly.

"I think it's definitely time to call it a night dudes. It's been a wild one." Nino laughed a bit and the group nodded in silent agreement.

Alya gave Nino a gentle kiss on the cheek, waving to Adrien before taking Marinette's hand and headed back to their room.

Immediately, the young bluenette jumped into bed and buried her face into her pillow, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Well, tonight was interesting wasn't it Mari?" Alya asked as she changed for bed.

"Yeah, it turned out to be so messy. Not what I was expecting..." Marinette groaned into her pillow.

"But, hey. Look at the bright side, you got to spend some time with Adrien tonight, girl~" Grinned the ombre haired beauty.

"Mhm, it was so awesome!" The girl turned to the side and smiled happily to herself.

"Honestly girl, I don't know why you keep stalling. You might as well just ask him out and get it over with. You'll never know what he thinks if you never ask him!" Alya commented as she placed her glasses down on the nightstand.

"It's not so easy Alya. I'm not as confident as you are. And what if he rejects me? I don't want to ruin our friendship because of this..." Marinette pouted.

"Marinette, you can't just keep silent because if you don't tell him, I can promise you that you'll end up regretting it. Think about what I'm saying alright, let's just go to sleep." Alya sighed quietly.

The two girls eventually fell asleep.

Next Morning: 7:30 Am, Marinette and Alya's Room:

The next morning, both girls had woken up early and got ready for their day.

Marinette couldn't get what Alya had said the night before out of her head. As much as she hated it, she knew that Alya was right and if she didn't say anything, eventually one of the millions of other people who liked him would end up confessing.

The pair left their room and headed outside to go join the others for breakfast.

As the group ate, they chatted, enjoying their meals. Chloe was beside Adrien and the two were having what looked to a be a pretty casual conversation with Chloe of course, doing most of the talking about something that Marinette couldn't make out, though she was obviously bragging to him.

Miss Bustier soon stood up, calling for the kids attention.

"Everyone, today you'll have a free day to explore the city and experience some of the life here! Be back by 12 for lunch and then after that, I want all of you back by 5 o'clock however because the king and queen have invited us to have dinner with them tonight."

The other began talking loudly, excited expressions on all their faces as Miss Bustier cleared her throat.

Soon they hushed and the older woman continued to speak. "And, Miss Lila Rossi will be joining us today too. She's made time between all her activities to come and join us for the remainder of the trip and will be here at around lunch time to join you guys."

Marinette tensed up slightly and she gripped her arm lightly and Alya nudged her, trying to get her out of her head.

"Girl, you'll be fine, we'll make sure Lila won't get anywhere near you." The ombre haired girl assured her and she nodded her head lightly.

"Well, anyway, finish up your breakfast and you can be on your way." The teacher hummed lightly and sat back down as the kids continued chatting amongst each other.

Soon, they'd finished eating, Nino and Adrien (with Chloe along on his arm) made their way over to Marinette and Alya.

"What should we do today guys?" Adrien questioned curiously, his hands resting in her pockets.

"Hm, well, let's just go exploring, I'm sure we'll find something to do and a bunch of stuff to see! Like paintball or ice skating." Marinette chimed and Alya thought for a moment.

"We'll probably join you later, right Nino? You guys should go have some fun together!" She pushed up her glasses, grinning and looking at Marinette who was blushing gently.

"Huh? But paintball so-" Nino stopped himself as Alya gave him a look and it click what she was trying to do. "Yeah. Yeah! Me and Alya are gonna go hang for the day." He made his way over and put an arm around his girlfriend. "You two have fun without us."

"Um, hello! I'm here too!" Chloe huffed lightly, crossing her arms over her chest in slight annoyance.

"You want to hang out with us?" Marinette furrowed her brows lightly.

"Is that alright with you Marinette?" Adrien asked politely, not wanting either of his friends to be uncomfortable.

"Yeah, yeah! Of course it's fine with me, I just- wouldn't you rather spend the day with Sabrina?" Marinette questioned.

"Ugh, not today. I want to spend a day with my Adrikins~" She looked up at him and grinned. "And I guess you too Maritra- Marinette." Chloe rolled her eyes a bit.

Alya gave a sympathetic smile before she an Nino headed off outside to go do couple things together

Adrien awkwardly pulled himself away from Chloe. "Well, um, let's go off and do something." He managed a light smile and the trio headed out together.

A quite uncomfortable awkward silence fell amongst them, with Marinette looking off to the side, Adrien walking with his hands in his pockets and Chloe buried in her cellphone.

Marinette began coughing lightly, mentally scolding herself for forgetting her mask, knowing how bad the dust in the air could be for her lungs (sliding in a lung condition? maybe uwu)

"You alright Mari?" Adrien asked, turning towards the girl as she coughed.

"Y-yeah. There's just a lot of dust I guess. We should get face masks." Marinette suggested and Chloe rolled her eyes slightly.

"Alright, where can we buy them?"  Adrien asked.

Marinette glanced around for any place that might sell them. "Oh, over there! I think they cell them." The girl grinned and they made there way across the street.

"Ugh, look at these things. They're so ugly! Ridiculous!" Chloe groaned lightly and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the wall.

"I'm NOT wearing one of those, you two could get them if you want." She scoffed.

"Suit yourself, Chloe." He shrugged slightly and brushed his fingers through his hair.

They bought the masks, Marinette and Adrien chatting with the server. Though Marinette's chinese was considerably worse. She could understand what they were saying, but speaking was her problem she definitely wanted to start learning a bit more.

She put the mask on her face and the trio headed out, walking together down the street.

A couple of minutes later 9:03 AM: Skating Rink

After a bit of walking, an ice skating rink caught the bluenette's eyes.

"Oh look! Ice skating! Do you guys wanna go?" Questioned Marinette as she looked back at the two blondes

"Definitely, it sounds like a lot of fun!"
Adrien grinned and looked at Chloe, seeing if she wanted to come.

"Only if we can go shopping afterwords. I want to bring back some clothes." Chloe hummed softly to which the other two nodded in agreement.

They headed inside and Adrien paid for them, grabbing skates and sitting down to put them on. 

Marinette had a little bit of trouble getting on her shoes so Adrien decided to help her the the laces.

"Here you go Marinette!" He grinned lightly, causing the bluenette girl to blush before getting up.

Slowly, the group made their way onto the ice, trying to adjust to the ice. Chloe slipped and fell, winching a bit and Marinette held her hand out.

"Thanks..." Chloe said quietly as she pulled herself up with the other females help. "I mean- hmph!" Quickly, she pulled her hand away from Marinette and began skating away from them.

Marinette couldn't help but be slightly annoyed, at least she'd gotten a thank you from her.

Adrien came up behind her, resting his hand on her shoulder and giving am apologetic smile. "Let's go skate together, Mari." He offered and she nodded.

Gently, he took her hand and lead her further onto the ice. They began skating together, both unsure of what they were doing and they twirled around together, making circles and holding onto each other.

Marinette smiled, glad to just be with Adrien and spend some time with him. He pulled her closer as someone came skating behind her, throwing them both off balance and tumbling on the ice.

Marinette's cheeks flushed bright pink as she realized she was laying on top of Adrien. They both began to laugh, not moving for a moment and just laying on the ice.

"Are you okay Adrien?" Marinette asked lightly and he nods.

"Yeah, sorry, I should've just said something before pulling you like that."
He answered in a sheepish manner, averting his eyes away from her.

The two shared another light laugh.

"It's okay! Thanks." She slowly got up, held her hand out to him and pulled him up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chloe approach and she prepared to be berated, except, it didn't come.

Chloe just looked somewhat sad. "You guys okay?" She questioned lightly, not looking at either of them.

"Yeah, we're fine Chloe." Adrien assured her, unaware of the blonde's sad demeanor.

"We should head back for lunch." Marinette chimed in to the agreement of the other two.

They made their way off to the side of the skating rink and took off their skates, putting back on their shoes and heading out of the building.

Another awkwardly silent walk was due and they soon arrived back at the hotel.

Hotel: 11:50 AM

Miss Bustier was at the door and wrote down something quickly on her notepad in her head.

"Ah, welcome back you guys, go ahead and grab some lunch!" The older woman tucked some hair behind her ear and moved to the side.

Marinette, Adrien and Chloe headed inside and made their way to where their food was being served, only to see Lila there, chatting with the others.

Immediately, the bluenette tensed up and Adrien nudged her and smiled gently at her, his arm around her shoulder supportively as they walked towards the table together.

The bluenette took a seat with Alya and before Adrien could sit, he was engulphed in a hug by Lila. "Adrien, hey~!"

"Um, hi, Lila." Adrien managed an awkward smile and gently pushed her off.

"I'm glad to see you again! I was super busy with helping out the Duke of England, but, I couldn't miss the princess' coronation! She's actually my friend you know~" The girl grinned lightly and flipped her hair.

Marinette couldn't help but tense up. Again she was lying about being friends with her, god it was so frustrating. She felt a squeeze on her shoulder and looked over to see Alya giving her a stern look.

The girl took in a deep breath, restraining herself from confronting the brunette and turning away.

"Uh yeah. Sure Lila." Adrien did his best not to roll his eyes and look at Marinette. He knew that Lila was lying and how frustrating it was for Marinette to have to hear her, though he was glad that she wasn't saying anything.

"Oh shut it Lila, like any of us believe you. You're such a liar, it's utterly ridiculous!" Chloe rolled her eyes in annoyance and rested a hand on hee hip.

"What would you know Chloe? You don't believe me, then I can get the princess on the phone right now!" Lila spoke, tilting her head up with a smirk. She hoped her bluff would work.

"Ha please! I dare you!" Chloe stuck her finger at Lila's chest as the brunette scrolled through her phone.

"Lila, please just stop it. I don't know why you feel the need to lie all the time, but it's getting frustrating." Adrien spoke, crossing his arms over his chest and sighing heavily.

"What do you mean, Adrien?" She feigned innocence, though it hurt that he didn't believe her.

"Stop it, seriously." Adrien sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Lila gently bit down on her lip with the rest of the class now watching them attentively. She wracked her brain, trying to think of a way to win his favor again and looked over at Marinette who seemed content. She glared quickly at the girl, mouthing behind a hand that she would ruin the bluenette's life and make her suffer.

"Adrien, I'm... Im sorry. I just said it because..b-because I wanted to impress you!" The girl exclaimed, lacing her fingers together in front of her. Marinette covered her mouth.

"I-i love you Adrien!" Lila grabbed his hands and held them. "I just want you to accept my feelings."

Marinette could feel tears welling up in her eyes and before she could cry, the girl got up and dashed outside of the hotel, trying to stop the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"M-marinette!" Adrien called out as he saw the girl leave. Quickly, he pulled his hands away from Lila

"Mari, oh no..." Alya muttered quietly.

"Look Lila, I-i think it's really sweet that you like me like that, but I don't feel the same way. Now, please, I need to go find Marinette." He didn't know why Mari had run off like that, but he was worried about her. As he started on his way after her, Lila wrapped her arms around him.

"A-adrien, no! Please just give me a chance. Why do you care so much about Marinette anyway? I'm sure she's fine!" Lila smiled weakly, tilting her head up.

"Marinette's one of my best friend's Lila. She means the world to me and all you're doing is upsetting her. I'm going to check on her!" He quickly pulled away and began heading outside, running in the direction where he's seen Marinette go.

"Mari...what happened...?" The blonde mumbled quietly to herself.

Status: Unedited
Word Count: 2812 (My Longest Chapter I think)
A/N: Thank you guys so much for being patient with me! I've been struggling to find my motivation to write this story for the longest time, but I had so much fun writing this chapter for those who are still reading. I'm sorry if its bad, it's been a long while since I've written anything. I'm not gonna say when I think the next chapter's gonna be released because I hate breaking promises, though I will try my best to upload more consistently. Thank you everyone for continuing to read this crappy book I've been writing for the past 3 years now.
It's hard to think this story's almost three years old and we still haven't even gotten to the main plot point yet. There's still a lot more left for me to write and thanks for being patient with me 💞 Let me know what you think of the time skip things.

Once I get closer to the ending, I am gonna pose a question of what to do after this, but, that's for another chapter.
Until next time, look out for each other and stay positive
This is
XxxSunkistStarlightxxX

Signing Out

Peace!