-ADRIEN-

"You lost out, man." Nino sighed, folding his arms.

Adrien immediately felt regretful.

He had wished that he hadn't uttered a single word to his invidious, and strident Conrad.

Adrien pressed his fingertips to his temples as Alya sat next to him on the bench awkwardly, as Nino paced back and forth in utter contemplation. Alya pressed her lips into a tight line.

Adrien couldn't have felt much more fractious in his life than he could have at this current moment. He couldn't think of anything else he'd rather do more, than to simply have this conversation in front of Alya herself.

Of course those thoughts were complete sarcasm on his part.

"I... I didn't...blow anything." Adrien stuttered.

Alya snickered at his response.

"Apparently, neither did she..." She muttered under her breath, which Adrien perceived almost immediately.

Adrien clenched his jaw, blush immediately flushing against his cheeks in instant embarrassment. He sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

"Someone kill me. Please, someone kill me. Inject me with the most toxic vile this world has to offer." Adrien groaned into his palms.

This was probably one of the most embarrassing conversations he's ever had to make. He necessarily didn't have to make this conversation, but at this point it seemed unavoidable at this point. It was almost tedious...perhaps utterly tedious.

"I took into consideration Marinette's situation. I didn't go in for the one track minded move. I actually took my time. I thought girls liked that kind of stuff." Adrien mused, his brows knitting together.

Alya touched her chin thoughtfully pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, as Nino scoffed. Adrien's eyes bounced between the two almost pleading with the two vicariously.

"We do..." Alya eventually spoke. "I mean, I do." She admitted guiltily. Nino flashed her a look of utter astonishment,especially to his own ignorance in that department.

You learn new things everyday.

"So what's keeping you?" Nino asked, his arms folded in disapproval as he eyed Adrien down like a preying hawk.

Adrien clenched his jaw at the thought. He was increasingly growing more and more annoyed with how much distraction that seemed to taunt Marinette, as well as himself the moment the two got intimate. It was as if fate was against it.

The thought of it dropped a stone in stomach, and dried out his libido faster than anyone could have possibly imagined.

"It's that Nathanaël, kid." He explained, his voice flat and tedious. "He keeps calling when she and I...just start doing anything." Adrien explained.

Alya looked at him, her expression completely reprimanded as her eyes switched to Nino.

"Ignore it, the calls bro. The moment you feel that, when you get a hard on, you put it right into her hips." Nino declared adamantly. "Spice yourself up by just making out with her."

Adrien rolled his eyes as he breathed through his nose.

He couldn't remember the last time he actually had a full fledged make out session with Marinette. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even remember the last time he actually had a hard on, save for the last sexual encounter with Marinette, which was a really really long time ago.

"I can't. Especially if I know it's him, it drains out my libido completely. I can't drive on something I don't have, even if I use my anything else." Adrien explained flatly, his teeth tugging at his lip as he briefly went over the many oral techniques he had become too flaccid to perform inside of his head.

Alya breathed out, her head shaking as her fingers pressed to her temples. Nino, didn't seem to make another word as they all dragged out the silence in thought.

Adrien ignored the shudder of embarrassment that threatened to run down his spine.

Nino seemed to remain in his obdurate state of mind, because he glared at Adrien with a cocky grin.

"Then you haven't been doing it right." He seethed in cockyness and excitement.

Adrien furrowed his brow, and whipped his head up to glare at Nino in utter pique.

Alya seemed to groan beside the two, her grey orbs scowling Nino at his boastful pose.

"What do you mean he hasn't been doing it right? He got her pregnant!" She riposted. "Quit pretending to be a know it all. Adrien has been in this game long before you have."

Adrien gave Alya, a relieved and thankful expression.

Nino flinched, his boastful aura immediately began to deflate as he sighed and looked at Adrien.

"I don't want to see this guy as a threat. I see the way he looks at her. I'm scared that he'll change her mind about us." Adrien explained. "I feel like everything I do is in vain."

Alya looked at Adrien in perturbation.

"I...I'm aware that Nathanaël...might have some feelings for Marinette. I wouldn't think Marinette would change her mind about you." Alya breathed, resting her hand on Adrien's shoulder. "I know, Marinette. You just have to trust me on this."

Adrien kept his gaze away from both Alya and Nino. He was too caught up in his perpetual anger over the situation. He couldn't bring himself to look at his friends.

He could only hope Alya was right. He sighed, breathing through his nose.

He knew she was alone with him now. It took all his willpower not to march down there that exact moment. The worst part was that Adrien had always sworn to himself that he was content with his loneliness before he met ladybug/ Marinette. If that wasn't enough, Louis came into the picture. He realized that his reason for living was for naught if it hadn't been for them.

He finally looked at Nino briefly, whose face had changed to a completely different matter.

Adrien was relieved at that. He swallowed hard before offering a tight smile to Alya who waited anxiously for a response from Adrien.

"Alright... I trust you..." He breathed.

-MARINETTE-

Marinette waited patiently. Her eyes scanned the paper in front of her. She chuckled softly to herself as she awaited Nathanaël to return from the restroom.

Marinette found herself constantly going over the same sentences tediously.

His handwriting was completely obscure. She understood at that moment why he had such great talent at drawing.

She only hoped he would stick to it, and make something about it. Although she didn't share feelings for Nathanaël in the romantic lustful sense like Adrien, she cared for him deeply. She wanted to see him happy, she wanted him to succeed. He was really a nice kid with a kind heart. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.

Her pen tapped against the scrawled piece of paper as she thought silently.

Half the reason of her caring, nagged at her inner being, scowling at her like a tiny person threatening to erupt. She needed to be honest with him.

"If you really care for someone, you have to be honest with them" she recalled Adrien once saying during her early stages of pregnancy. She smiled warmly at the thought of his voice. She almost felt giddy.

Somewhere along the lines she could hear her son's laughter, the sound almost making her laugh. She couldn't wait until he started talking...she hoped that wouldn't turn out to be a bad thing. She couldn't wait until he was competent enough to keep her secret. She wanted him to know. She had appeared as ladybug around him once more, or maybe twice, and it didn't take long for the little one to catch on that ladybug was his mother.

He was his father's child.

Marinette felt her sudden surge of happiness suddenly leave her, leaving a desolated stone in its place right in the pit of her stomach. It made her uncomfortable.

Adrien had been acting so cold to her lately. She'd noticed he'd go to her, but not as much as he pulled away. He wasn't the same Adrien since Louis was born. It worried her significantly that her and her son could have been at fault for this unanticipated permute.

It only made her feel worse about herself and the situation.

Nathanaël slowly entered the class, a soft smile on his face as he carefully approached the desk of interest. Marinette slipped out of her internal suffrage.

She looked down at Nathanaël's personal essay paper, her eyes scrutinizing a few more scratched on sentences.

Nathanaël pulled a chair out from beside her meditatively, his eyes fixed apprehensively on her as she wrote down a few suggestions on the margins of his essay.

"I'm surprised you could read my handwriting." He snickered.

Marinette smiled warmly as she watched him briefly, her eyes wandering to her finished revised pile of papers sitting neatly on the end of the desk.

"Just barely by the scraps of my fingernails." She teased. "It's a good thing the final draft will be typed. I almost felt bad for Ms. Bustier."

Nathanaël bit his lip as he withheld laughter.

Marinette smiled warmly as she continued to scrutinize his rough draft.

"This project wasn't as hard as I thought." He breathed carefully. Marinette took his statement into consideration and nodded. It would have been a lot more easier if the two of them didn't get distracted as many times as they did.

"I won't lie. I felt awful for Nino. He got stuck with Chloé. I wonder if they actually got anything done." He sighed.

Marinette looked up at him wth a grimace.

"Y-Yeah. I imagine Chloé isn't one of the best people to work with." Marinette spoke, shuddering at the thought. She had recalled working with Chloé on a physics project a really long time ago, and how well that went.

Obvious sarcasm.

Chloé didn't do much of anything. She inwardly grimaced for Nino. He was more than likely doing most of the work. She knew he wouldn't be that much of a walk over. If Chloé wanted to pass, she needed to do her personal draft on her own.

Marinette felt a sick twinge of satisfaction at that. She was becoming less patient with that bratty minx.

"Yeah, I agree. I heard she kicked Adrien Agreste in the nards over some girl." He muttered, pulling Marinette straight from her overwhelming train of thoughts.

She cleared her throat, her body tensing at the situation. She managed to pull a taut smile on her face as she looked at Nathanaël.

"Wow..." She spoke, folding her arms carefully. "I didn't take you to be the type of person easily subjectable to gossip."

Nathanaël gave her a sheepishly grin as he shrugged.

"My life isn't as eventful as I make it out to be in my drawings." He joked.

Marinette giggled, pressing her finger tips to her lips. Marinette breathed as she slid the paper towards him carefully.

"All done." She piped, with a grin.

"Thanks" he replied, smoothly, a thoughtfully wink followed suit. Marinette simply snickered as she reached for her own revised paper. She was glad that was over for the most part.

She hummed as she placed her papers inside her bag. Inside Tikki waited patiently, being quiet and sure not to be crushed by anything Marinette threw in there.

"Seeing as though the project is nearly done...have you decided to go to the dance?" Marinette asked curiously.

She wasn't sure if Adrien was going with her, but she'd like to go there anyway to hang out with Nathanaël platonically if he felt up to it.

Nathanaël flashed her a timid grin before he nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course...that is if you stay true to your promise." He stated softly.

Marinette looked at him with a weary smile.

"I'll be there." She responded.

Nathanaël seemed to beam right away in his eyes and his smile. Marinette felt ecstatic seeing him like this. Her guilt slowly crawled up her spine, only screaming at her worry that he was taking this the wrong, and inadvertently leading him on.

Marinette watched as he stood up.

"I'll be honest. I'm not up to avoiding the wallflower status." He snickered. "So be nice, and help me slow dance?" He mused, reaching his hand out to her.

Marinette looked up at him, awkwardly.

This was weird. Marinette knitted her brows together, and blinked a few times.

"Wait... You want to slow dance? Now?" She asked incredulously.

Nathanaël chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Well...yeah, why not? Our revisions are done. I thought we could spare a few extra minutes." He explained, with a hopeful smile.

Marinette breathed out, his hopeful smile and gleaming eyes nearly breaking her heart.

She couldn't flat out tell him no. It would crush him. He must've built so much courage to ask her, and Marinette didn't want to attack his self esteem and joy.

And so, she offered a warm smile and took his hand.

He carefully led her to the front of the classroom, her eyes fixed on his, as his were on hers.

Marinette carefully wrapped her arms around his neck, as Nathanaël nervously placed his hands on her hips.

They both began to sway silently. Marinette slowly blushed unintentionally at their awkward position. She could tell by the immense blush on his own face, that he reciprocated the same feeling.

Dancing with no music seemed to be a thing she had with Adrien. It felt a little odd to do the same with someone else. The thought only made her more sad.

"You're pretty good at this." She complimented softly.

Nathanaël looked up at her with a warm smile.

"You really think so?" He asked as the two swayed carefully in the space between the first step and the teachers desk located in the front of the classroom.

Marinette nodded softly.

"Yeah, I would say you've done this a billion times." She joked.

Nathanaël smiled, his eyes traveling down her face. Marinette swallowed hard as he pressed closer to her.

She felt shivers of anxiety run down her spine as she felt every single dip and contour of his body against hers.

Marinette couldn't will away all the doubts she had at that very moment. She hoped he would at least want to stay friends, but she made a promise to Adrien that she was adamant on keeping. She remained undaunted with her commitment to her boyfriend. She knew he'd do so for her if the roles were reversed.

Her fingers slowly untangled themselves from around the base of his neck as she slowly brought their swaying to a careful halt.

Her eyes timidly continued to stare through his shoulder. She was so afraid of severely disappointing him, she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye.

"N-Nathanaël...I have to-" her voice was cut off when Nathanaël breathed in rigidly. His fingers curled around her chin softly lifting her face up.

Marinette looked up at him in utter surprise, her eyes wide, and her cheeks flushed as he swiftly pressed his soft lips to hers in a quiet and gentle kiss.

Marinette froze, his lips slightly quivering against hers.

Marinette couldn't process the thoughts that raced through her mind immediately at that moment. She couldn't catch most of what she was thinking as she held herself completely still, not even responding as he kissed her. Two things she knew were for sure. One: this wasn't right, these definitely weren't her boyfriend's lips, the kiss didn't feel right although she was sure Nathanaël meant well.

Two: Marinette was at fault. She had been giving off the wrong vibes. The boy had no idea, and finally lept into a sea of a void of the unknown with nothing on his back but complete courage. She couldn't deny this but she could feel that these were deep, true, genuine feelings that he held for her.

Marinette should have been honest. From the very beginning, she knew this, she knew she should have done this.

Poor boy.

Marinette immediately slid her hands to his chest, her eyes slowly lidding calmly as she was going to push him away softly and explain to him everything she should have from the very beginning.

Before she could do anything, they both heard a violent snap from the doorway leading towards the outside of the classroom.

Nathanaël and Marinette pulled away from each other faster than the speed of light.

Marinette watched in horror as two pieces of a snapped pencil toppled to the ground.

Adrien stood in the doorway, his fist clenching so hard his knuckles were deemed white. His eyes flickered rapidly between Nathanaël and Marinette.

"I forgot something...I'll guess I'll get it later." Adrien seethed through clenched teeth.

His expression so furious it almost frightened Marinette.

Marinette felt the numbness in her scalp as her heart dropped, beating erratically on its way down.

She was at loss for words. She wasn't sure how much he had seen, but she knew he had seen enough by the look on his face.

"A-Adrien... It's...its not." She stuttered.

Adrien breathed out, as he whipped around leaving the doorway instantly, evidently not caring to hear her explanations.

"Adrien, wait!" Marinette cried, her hand reaching out briefly. She started to run after him, but was stopped when Nathanaël grabbed her wrist softly.

Marinette looked back at him, tears already wielding in her eyes.

"Marinette...what's going on? Are you alright?" He breathed, his lips still flushed red from the kiss.

Marinette shook her head.

"Nathanaël, I'm sorry. I can't talk now." She said shakily as she slipped her wrists from his grasp and ran straight out of the classroom, leaving all of her belongings in the inside without a second look.

Marinette even left Tikki behind.

"Adrien wait, please listen to me!" Marinette begged as she skipped a few steps on the way down to catch up to him, before he was gone completely out of the school.

"Adrien!" She cried again as she gripped his hand.

Adrien turned to look at her, yanking his hand out of hers.

"No! I don't want to hear it!" He snapped, his eyes looking into hers as she cried silently. "I took your word for it, Marinette! I freaking trusted you! I TRUSTED YOU!" he yelled, drawing attention from the very few people who had exited the boy's locker room from that evenings fencing class.

Marinette usually would have felt embarrassed at the scene, but she had no time for that. Adrien had just yelled at her for the first time during their entire relationship, it shattered her to pieces.

"No, A-A-Adrien i-i-i-it wasn't-" Marinette began to sob as she reached for his hand once more. Her grip trembled as she attempted to wrap her fingers around his.

"LET GO OF ME!" He snapped, yanking his hand away from her. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Marinette flinched, immediately retracting from him, tears streaming down her face.

With his anger well spent, Adrien turned without giving her a second look and began storming away.

Marinette remained adamant, as she ran after him.

"Adrien it wasn't like that at all! Adrien, please listen to me!" She sobbed as she followed him off the school's front steps.

"Adrien!" Marinette cried, still trying to grab on to him once more.

Alya and Nino both came from the end of the street. Their hands locked loosely as the two began to approach them.

"What happened?" Nino asked, his eyes wide as he took in Adrien's expression as he stormed towards them.

Adrien hadn't uttered a word. He simply pushed through the both of them, forcing them apart immediately.

Alya gasped as Adrien violently pushed through them.

Marinette barely had enough time to catch up with him, before she tripped over her own feet. Her tears blurred her vision, and her anxiety tightened her chest.

Marinette fell over, her chin scraping against the sidewalk and bleeding.

Alya rushed over to her, holding her hand and helping her up as best as she could.

Nino looked back as Adrien slowly disappeared from his sight.

With a grimace, he joined Alya in helping up a gross sobbing Marinette.

"Marinette, what happened?" Nino asked. Marinette looked up at Nino with pink eyes

"I...just...and...it...He...just" Marinette sobbed, her gibberish chopping from the anxiety heaving between her cries.

Nino listened in, trying to calm her down.

Alya looked up towards the school doors with a grimace.

Nathanaël looked down at them, his hands shaking as he held her stuff and his own things. It was only a matter of time before he lost his composure too.

A/N: Lots of angst and stuff! Haha sorry it took so long for this update! I had to brush up on my French because I'm planning a trip to Paris next summer! Yeeee! I'm officially a diehard fan girl please help meeehhh! Anyway next chapter will have heavy mature content. I will place warnings before hand but if you are uncomfortable with intimacy, I suggest you skip a portion of the next chapter. I'm already working on the new chapter as we speak. I want to give a shout out/ Dedication to fanfiction user with the pen name name: powerpufffan159, because YOU ARE AWESOME!

Have a great night, my loves!

-Kate.