•••

"You know, I'm really digging that necklace you have on.", Alya said as she and Marinette licked their ice creams.

"You do? Thanks!"

"That stone looks...different. Did you make it?"

"No, actually. It was gifted."

"Who gave it to you?"

"Uh..a very special friend."

"Ooh...a special friend you say?", Alya teased as she wiggled her eyebrows. "Does this special friend happen to have 'Agreste' as their last name?", she asked with a smug smile.

Marinette just rolled her eyes as she continued to enjoy the delicious delight, leaving Alya to her giggling fits.

"Anyways, how are things with you and Adrien?"

Marinette finally shifted her gaze from her ice cream to her best friend, who had that curious spark in her eyes.

"Same old, I guess. I still do stutter like an idiot around him and find myself at a situation of not being able to form coherent sentences. Not to mention, getting lost in his eyes.", Marinette sighed dreamily as she closed her eyes in contentment. "It's crazy. It's been 2 years but my feelings for him show no sign of going away anytime soon. If possible, they've deepened somehow."

"Well then. I guess you're pretty much going to kill me if I tell you that the love of your life and Nino are on their way here."

"WHAT?!"

"I might've invited them for ice cream. And, you might want to clean that ice cream moustache off of your face."

"Hey girls!"

Marinette squealed and ducked behind Alya as she hurriedly tried to clean off her face from the cold dessert. Finally, satisfied that everything was nice and clean, she finally looked up to find a befuddled Nino and amused Adrien.

"H-Hey!"

As if the presence of Adrien wasn't flustering enough, seeing him wear her handmade scarf made matters ten times worse for her.

He returned her gesture with a warm smile before he made his way to her.

"You got a little something right there.", he said as he pointed the spot just above her lips.

"I-I do? O-Oh uh...is it gone now?" Marinette asked as she tried to clean off her face.

Adrien gave a short laugh before bringing his own hand closer to her face.

"Not exactly. May I?"

Not waiting for her reply, he cleaned off the cream from her face as Marinette flushed a deep red. It took everything in her to block her sniggering best friend and Nino fist bumping from her view.

"There. All clean now."

The duo walked towards Alya and Nino. Alya fixed her eyes on the baby blue scarf around the model's neck before recognition rushed in.

"Oh Adrien, you kept that scarf around?"

"Oh this? Yeah, it's my favourite actually. I love it a lot!"

"Ooh is it now?" Alya subtly teased as she nudged her best friend with a smug look.

"It's odd actually.", Nino laughed. "Dude's wearing a scarf and coming to eat ice cream."

"Hey! It's quite chilly out today!" Adrien replied, defensively.

"If you guys are done bickering, I have news!" Alya interrupted.

The other three looked over to the aspiring reporter with curious eyes.

"I just found out the Mayor's plans to honour Ladybug and Chat Noir this year!"

"Amazing dudette!"

"You did?", Adrien and Marinette asked simultaneously.

"Yes, yes I did. After all, I'm the best reporter in business. Unofficially." Alya playfully boasted before bursting into a gentle laughter.

"Yeah, no kidding." Marinette added.

"So what is it Alya?"

"Well, If my sources are correct, the Mayor plans to organise a carnival in their honour this year. And to express their gratitude to the life saving duo of the city, he would be urging the Parisians to help with the preparations. Well, most educational institutions anyway."

"They want the students to help out? Amazing! I'm so gonna DJ this event!" Nino babbled on excitedly.

"Oh, I can already tell it will be grand and totally amazing! Especially when Ladybug and Chat Noir will make their special appearance."

Whilst their two best friends chatted animatedly about the whole ordeal, Marinette and Adrien were faced with an inner turmoil. How on earth were they going to be present as their civilian and superhero self at the same time?

"..And Marinette.", Alya begin. "Don't you dare ditch me this time at the carnival and run off to who knows where."

Things just got a whole lot harder.

———————————

"Marinette? Could you pass me the paints?"

"Sure thing Rose!"

As she handed the blonde the cans, Marinette felt a burning pain in her chest.

'Not again.', she thought.

"Something wrong Marinette?", Rose asked, concerned.

"No, nothing. I'm absolutely fine!", the bluenette replied cheerily, even though the burning pain was killing her.

"Looking for excuses to get out of work Dupain-Cheng?", an obnoxious voice echoed. Chloé.

"Not everyone is like you Chloé.", Juleka retorted.

True though, while everyone worked hard to prepare for the carnival, Chloé strutted around like a spoilt rich brat that she was.

Turns out, Alya was correct after all. A day or two later, the Mayor announced his plans to the public. As for now, the students were working hard to prepare for the festivities to make this a success and show their gratitude for the superhero duo.

"Man, this is a lot tougher than I thought. The. Damn. Speakers. Just. Won't. Work. Ughhh!" Nino grumbled angrily.

"Did you guys wonder that Ladybug and Chat Noir could totally be working in the carnival preparations as their civilian self?" , Adrien asked, chuckling.

"Y-You think? B-But didn't uh Ladybug at that s-she was about um 5000 years old?" Marinette asked.

"Nah, I don't think that she is that old. It was obviously a bluff to have Alya and other people off of her trail. Besides, she is too cute to be that old." Adrien smiled and winked at the working bluenette.

Marinette felt like exploding with emotions as her heart beat at an alarmingly fast rate.

Before she could choose how to react, she found her face to be very close to Adrien's.

"You got a little something on your nose Marinette."

He then touched the tip of her nose briefly with his fingers, before drawing himself away and laughing.

Marinette felt something wet and cold on her nose when she snapped out of her daze.

"H-Hey!", she tried to come off as angry but her emotions for the laughing boy got the best of her. Laughing alongside him, she tried to rub off the red paint off of her nose.

———————————

Q. Ooh Marinette felt pain? But why? Any ideas?

The next chapter will be the reveal(sort of) of the unknown, so stick around to find out ;)

Phew *wipes sweat*. This was a long one. Hope you enjoyed it!

I'm currently having a meltdown seeing the new episodes. Never thought I'll hate someone more that Lila. Looks like the mlb fan fics have found a new ultimate villan.(Kagami). Ps I loved Luka so damn much!!

Please vote and leave your precious comments for this story. Share and spread the word :)

Now I shalt go and study for my Monday Exam!

Au revoir!
Belle💕