"So has anyone got any ideas as to what the girls are doing?" Kim and the guys we're currently in the school dance studio preparing to rehearse their showcase ideas. Now without sounding too big headed, they were sure they would retain their winning streak. After all, what could the girls possibly do to beat them?

"Mylène is avoiding me. No texting and no talking and worst of all no kisses." The guys all gasped at Ivan's dilemma. The girls were ruthless when it came to competitions. The great bakery cook out from three years ago still rang sore for the majority of the boys, especially Adrien.

"Alya?"

"Nothing, she keeps distracting me every time I ask." Nino replied.

"Too much information there Bro," responded Kim.

"Marinette's not talking either," the guys all stopped what they were doing and looked at Adrien.

"Marinette?"

"Yeah," Adrien bent down to tie his shoelaces completely oblivious to the looks aimed at him from the other guys.

"When did you ask Marinette?"

Adrien stilled. As far as everyone knew they were blushing messes around each other and couldn't say more than a few words.

"She was with Alya and I just mentioned it in passing." He shrugged. They didn't need to know that, thanks to their alter egos, they had their very own bet. One Adrien was going to work damned hard to win.

Before anything else could be said the door to the studio burst open and Max appeared. Grin on face, but unhealthy out of breath. He was seriously going to need to build up his cardio if he was going to survive their set.

"So I've spoken to Ms. Bustier and yes the West End counts too."

The guys all cheered and high-fived each other. Thanks to the show currently performing at the Hippodrome Casino, they were green lit to go.

"The girls won't know what hit them." Kim said, limbering up and getting ready to practise.

"Did you actually tell her what we were doing?" Adrien asked, he still wasn't sure this was going to go down well, and he was quite sure his father was going to kill him.

"Nope," he said.

Yep, this definitely wasn't going to go well.

Meanwhile, in Marinette's loft space, the girls, plus Nathaniel, were trying on their costumes. All dressed in black, apart from Rose who was dazzling in white, the girls only had one thing on their mind.

"What do you think the guys are doing?" Asked Rose.

"Something insane. My guess is something like either Rock Horror, or, maybe Kinky Boots?" Alix replied.

"Ha! I'd pay good money to see Ivan in heels." Myléne pulled on her fishnet tights so Marinette could put in the designer rips and tears.

"Let's be honest, Adrien has the sexiest legs." Alya commented, causing Marinette to stab herself with the scissors. "Don't you agree, Marinette?"

Everyone looked at the raven haired girl as she blushed a ferocious pink tinge. Alya's face told her everything, and sometimes she wondered if she should get a new best friend.

"They're ok, perhaps a little chicken-like. What about poor Nino, though? Does he know you stare at his best friend's legs?" Marinette announced, causing a rupture of laughter to come from the girls. Alya glared at her friend, payback's a bitch sometimes.

Nathaniel, who had been sitting quietly in the corner of Marinette's room, finally spoke out.

"Do you ever just sit and watch the guys playing basketball? I mean - some of their legs are amazing. Like Kim, thanks to all his swimming training, they're really toned but not in the thick tree trunk way"

"Ok, Nathaniel, which guy would look best in high heels?" Alix went and sat next to her red haired friend and stared at him quizzically.

"Well, um, do I need to answer this?" He looked away from Alix's intense glare.

"Now that you've said that - yes!" Myléne was intrigued now too.

"Well, I suppose Kim has the legs, and, um, body, but the best overall would be ..." Nathaniel mumbled an answer, obviously out of his depths talking about this to a bunch of gaggling girls. It was one thing to talk about Marc, his beloved, but to talk about the other guys in his class felt wrong. Mainly because most of them had a girlfriend who was currently in this room.

"Who did you say?" Rose quizzed.

Nathaniel shuffled uncontrollably in his seat.

"Adrien."

"Too right," Marinette slammed her hands to her mouth as the words came out involuntarily.

"Ha! I knew you still liked him." Alya pressed. When Chat Noir's identity was revealed to Alya, suddenly Marinette 'didn't like him anymore' and Alya believed that as much as she believed that Tom and Sabine's hot chocolate tasted crap, which of course it did not.

"I'm just telling the truth. He has the best overall body - fact. It doesn't mean I like him again. I told you all, I'm over my crush on him." What Marinette failed to mention was that being over the crush only came from falling hopelessly, and desperately in love with him.

Marinette shrugged her shoulders and moved her head down to concentrate on the leggings Alya had just pulled on. There was no way she'd show her friend that her partner in crime had such an effect on her. There's no way she'd let anyone know that her heart, once again, was committed to loving Adrien Agreste.

"He is kind of sexy," mumbled Juleka, shocking all her friends. "I can appreciate the finer bodies in life, it's not like I'm crushing on him or anything."

And with that, the conversation about Adrien Agreste's body was over, at least for now.

••••••

"You know what, I'm not doing this anymore!"

As Marinette went to make her exit after their obligatory 'pound it', Adrien grabbed her waist and slung her over his shoulder.

"Put me down," Marinette shouted, pounding her fists against his back. She was strong in her super suit, but Adrien with his added gym work made him stronger, much to his dismay.

"I don't think so, Bug. Not until you talk to me." Adrien responded. He launched them into the air, landing on a rooftop. As he landed his ring and her earrings bleeped, three minutes until deactivation.

"Chat, I need to go. I've got a lot of work to do."

She went to launch her yo-yo only to be pulled back by the wrist.

"I'm not asking to talk about the showcase. I just need to talk to you. You know how this works." He indicated between the two of them with his hands flapping around like wild fish.

She looked him over and sighed. He was right, they did need to talk. The lack of one on one time with Chat/Adrien, felt like going cold Turkey from a caffeine addiction. Yes, the others were playing this game with their partners, but they weren't magical soulmates, the embodiment of a whole from two separate halves.

"I've missed you." She whispered, turning her head away. She hated feeling so weak around him. She never felt like this when they were two separate people, having the combination of Chat being Adrien just created this incredible male she was lucky enough to know.

"I don't believe you. Look at me and say it," Adrien said.

"Stop being so smug. You know I've missed you and I also know you've missed me."

"I've never denied it." He walked closer to her and ran his hands down over her upper arms before circling them around her waist and pulling her into a hug.

After no more than three seconds she moved her arms, looping them around his waist too. Placing her head on his chest she succumbed to the regular heartbeat echoing through her ears.

He began to stroke her hair and she felt the most relaxed she'd been in weeks. Chat was her safe place and when she became all frantic and crazy it was Chat that would calm her down. Letting out a sigh, she snuggled in closer.

"So about the girls' routine?" His sultry voice joined the faint thump of his heart in her ears.

"I think you'll all like it," Marinette said, taking a deep breath of his scent.

"Oh really, and why's that?"

"It's sexy."

"Really?" His hands began to move up and down her back, dragging his nails up her spine causing her to shiver with anticipation.

"Yeah, you know, dramatic, sassy, a killer routine."

"Killer you say? Does that mean you're doing what I think you are?" His fingers continued grazing over her back.

"If you think we're doing Ch-" suddenly Marinette stopped and moved back away from Adrien. "You're a swine, Adrien Agreste, an absolute pig of a man." She slapped his stomach in anger. He almost had her.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think, Bugaboo? And using my civilian name in public too, tut tut" Adrien smirked at his partner, he was so close to getting what he wanted. He would have been a legend amongst his friends, but dammit the bug was too smart yet again.

"You," she poked him hard in the chest, glaring at him with daggers for eyes, "were trying to seduce me into telling you our routine."

He looked away and crossed his arms over his chest. The smile was still plastered on his face and she was using most of her control to stop from giving him a right hook in the jaw.

"I don't know what you're on about, LB. I could never seduce you, you don't like me that way."

Adrien was pushing every single one of her buttons as he knew it too. She could feel her boiling point rising and she was a matter of words away from yeeting him off the rooftop.

"Stay away from me for the next week, Kitty, or I swear you'll regret it."

Marinette took out her yo-yo and swung it to the next chimney, her moves erratic from the fire burning in her veins.

"I love you too," he shouted after her, allowing a soft chuckle to leave his lips. He was so, so close it was annoying. But one thing was for certain, the game was on, and he was going to win.

•••••

It had been a whole week since they'd last spoken and Marinette was on edge. Ok, so they had spoken, but it was more her bossing him around during akuma attacks, and if she was being honest, she was being more bossy for the sake of it. He was a smug son of a gun for pulling that on her. She was so close to giving away their routine.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Nathaniel was sitting with Marinette on the steps in front of the school. Only three hours away from showtime.

"I am, and I'm positive we're going to win this year." Marinette said sure of herself. There was no way she was letting smug Adrien Agreste win, if someone was going to take him down it would be her.

"Any idea what the boys have planned?" He asked.

Marinette looked out at the pavement in front of the school as Kim and Max said their goodbyes to Nino and Adrien. The latter turned around and dropped Marinette a wink and she felt her blood boil.

"Not a clue, but the war is almost over."

•••••

The girls made their way into the auditorium and took their designated seats. The boys were going to start the show and the girls were ending it, which meant the girls could view the boys performance before having to get themselves ready for their own.

Alix had arrived early to bag the seats on the front row for her team, after all, if the guys were going to embarrass themselves they wanted to be able to heckle them properly and there was no better position than the front row.

Before long the lights dimmed and the curtains opened. Mr. Damocles stood centre stage with the spot light beaming on him, and the girls looked over to each other, sitting on the edge of their seats ready for the guys to enter the stage.

With the introduction complete, the lights dimmed again and movement could be heard. Rose grasped Juleka's hand causing a chain reaction down the line, each girl fighting to keep their hearts beating normally. However, that idea was dismissed as five guys stood on the stage, dressed in perfectly tailored suits. The guys had came prepared, and they had most certain decided to play to win.