Reader's POV

The night after our hug, I slept way better than I expected. I mean I had an amazing night with her and Alya nonetheless, it seemed like an excellent way to end a great time.

My blankets, sheets, and mattress were soft as ever. I never wanted to get up, until someone woke me.

"Come on (Reader,) get up! We gotta start your tutoring."

Marinette? She was the last person I thought would wake me up, I figured it'd be Adrien.

"M-Morning to you too Marinette." I said

"Good morning."

"Yes, we already established that." I said smirking

"Alright Mr. Quiet and Sweet, out you go!" She said pulling the blankets off me

As soon as she tugged on them, I was already getting out of bed.

"What about breakfast?"

"Adrien already made it, sent me to get your lazy butt outta bed."

I noticed she was still wearing the pajamas he gave her last night.

"Come to think of it," I said rising to my feet walking out the door

"Yeah?" Marinette asked

"I wouldn't mind if you kept them on for the rest of the day. They suit you pretty well." I said chuckling

"Weirdo." She said rolling her eyes smirking

"Flirt."

"Me!? A flirt....you must be thinkin' of someone else." She said poking my nose walking out with me

Breakfast went by smooth and sweet. Literally, the butter on the waffles was smooth, and the sweet part was from the powdered sugar.

"I don't care if I have to kidnap the chef, I'm getting his recipe!"

"No, you're not." Adrien said

Ah dang it, said that out loud.

"Hey." He added

"Yeah?"

"How awesome of a cousin am I?"

"Uh....really awesome?"

"Really? That's all you gotta say?"

"Yeah, you're an awesome cousin, you're the coolest!"

"How awesome?"

"What are you getting at? ....Fine, you're the greatest cousin ever." I said starting to chuckle at this odd conversation

"So great that I ended up finishing your homework while you were out on the town last night?" He said revealing my backpack with some sheets filled out

"Y-You didn't have to do that."

"I did. BUT!" He said intently raising his finger

"Oh great, there's a but."

Adrien chuckled.

"Except your French homework."

"Fine with me." I said

"Perfect! Let's get started!" Marinette said

"Can I at least take a shower first?" I asked rhetorically

Without hearing a reply, I made my way to the bathroom; locking the door.

Feeling completely refreshed, my hair still dripping; I made the short walk back to my bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and I saw what looked to be Marinette leaning over my bed; like she was looking for something.

I cleared my throat as I heard her gasp when she turned to face me.

"Mari, you know I'm fine with having others in here, but can you vacate for a minute?"

"Say no more." She frantically said rushing out

Guess I'll ask Adrien for a key after our tutoring session.

"Sheesh." I said drying my hair while I finished the rest of me

I tossed the towel on the bed grabbing my outfit for the day.

Figured I'd wear all black today, since for some reason I wasn't feeling to upbeat. Then again, I'm not extremely upbeat to begin with.

A black pocket shirt, black skinny jeans, my black reversible belt; and gray high top shoes. Accessories' wise, I tossed on my black cross necklace with the Our Father written on it, and matching ring; plain black bracelet and black snap-back hat.

A knock came to my door.

"(Reader?)"

"Coming." I said unlocking the door

"You left your glasses in the bath-"

She stared at my outfit, then back to me. Doing a double take on the ring and necklace.

"Room." She concluded handing them to me

"Oh, thanks. Shall we get started?" I said slipping them on

"Um y-yeah, s-sure. Adrien gave me your b-bag when I c-came back up."

I now noticed said bag was at the foot of my bed.

So that's why she was leaning over the bed earlier.

"C-Cool, l-let's get started."

An hour later, our tutoring session came to an end.

"Aaaand! Done! Now see, French wasn't that hard was it?"

"For now it's easy, seems like I'm getting a grip on it." I said looking up from my desk to the clear skyline

Her voice became softer.

"You're doing great (Reader,) if we keep this up, I know you'll pass. Plus, you did all the work.....I'm so proud of you, you're making great progress."

"Thanks Marinette." I said

"It's okay to call me Mari....you know that right?" She said

"Yeah. But when Adrien called you that last night, I thought that was a thing you and him had."

"I thought I told you, goof." She said playfully shoving me sliding my chair to the right towards my walk in closet

"We're not an item." She blushed

"Do you want to be?" I asked

Her cheeks turned stop light red.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you.....do you want to be with Adrien?" I asked

The air between us thickened. Suddenly she slide her chair to me, taking my hands in hers dragging me with her. All the while not falling off my seat.

"I'd love to, but...."

"But?"

"I feel like he doesn't notice me. The real me and not as just some classmate."

Her shoulders stiffened.

"I'm so scared and shy to tell him. I'm still a stuttering mess when I try to talk to him!-"

"Marinette." I said putting my hands on her shoulders

She locked eyes with me as her shoulders remained tense.

"You aren't some classmate to him, or anyone! You're not some classmate cause you're special! You're not some classmate cause you're a straight A student, class rep, AND a member of several clubs, AND a French tutor! To me, those don't sound like things some classmate does, it takes a great, outgoing, excellent person like you to do all those things at once!"

"....Are you serious?" She asked

"Yes, I am."

"Well alright."

"Alright."

"It's settled; I'll tell him my feelings tomorrow."

"Scared and shy? Yeah right." I said smiling

"I just needed a.....push I guess."

"There's your push." I said

Marinette looked down, I did the same and saw that we were still holding each other's hands.

We didn't let go, I felt her thumbs grazing the back of my hands.

"Your hands are really soft."

"Y-Y-Yours too."

I did the same with my thumbs, her skin is so soft it isn't human.

"Softer than clouds and silk." She said

Her fingers unlatched from mine and ran across my palms.

My hands copied her movements, we both stopped at our fingertips.

"Calluses." Was all she said

"Yeah, they'll heal."

On a dime she got up and pulled me into the same tight hug she gave me last night.

"Thanks for giving me the courage I needed. Whether things work out with me and Adrien or not, thank you." She said

"You're welcome Mari."

Though our exchange ended, we still didn't separate till Mari broke the silence.

"It's time for you to hold up your end of the deal, (Reader.)" She said

"Alright, let's get to it." I said

Untangling from our hug, her lesson started. I went through the basics: how to hold the pick, strumming, tuning it; and finger exercises. Here I thought she never held a guitar before, but I was proven wrong when she seemed to quickly pick up my instructions.

"Good start Mari, even struck your first chord!"

"T-Thanks, this is actually fun. I think I'm starting to see why you love music so much."

"It's a great pastime, and like you said; it's fun."

She handed my guitar back, I zipped it up swiftly.

"(Reader?)"

"Yes?"

"You're sweet. You'll make someone really happy one day."

I blushed.

"Thanks Mari."

Later that night

New Text Message

From: Alya

Alya: Hey (Reader!) I hear you're a master at French now!

Reader: I wish :P

Alya: Marinette told me how great you did, seems like you'll pass.

Reader: In time, hopefully. How've you been?

Alya: Fine, all is good on the home front. I miss seeing you though.

Reader: XD

Alya: Think of joining any other clubs yet?

Reader: The video editing club seems decent, who do I talk to?

Alya: Just go there after your classes and ask the President to join.

Alya: Did I mention they have a videogame club too? ^_^

Reader: How many clubs are you allowed to join???

Alya: As many as you want

Reader: Seems like I got a lot of choices to make. Speaking of which, who's President of the music club?

Alya: Yours truly! ;)

Reader: Sweet!

Reader: You have a key to the room?

Alya: Yep, I lock up when the day's done.

Reader: Oh hey, hilarious stunt you pulled last night! Had no clue you'd do that.

Alya: I still can't believe it worked! You should've seen the looks on your faces!

Reader: Yeah

Alya: So, are you gonna thank me yet?

Reader: Yeah. Thanks Alya, for everything! Thanks for you and Marinette showing me a taste of night life here! Tell your Mom I said thank you again as well. She's really sweet.

Alya: Will do (Reader!)

Incoming call from: Alya

I hit her picture.

"Heyyyyy! There's my favorite Westerner!"

"Hey Alya."

"Sooooo, Marinette tells me you're teaching her guitar!?"

"Yep, seems like she gave it a shot before. She picked up on the basics rather quickly. I'm impressed."

"You seem to be the guitar aficionado; you write a song for her yet?"

"Alya!" I blushed madly

"Haha! You know she's got the hots for Adrien." She said winking

"Speaking of which, I gave her a "push" on confessing her feelings. She said she'll tell him tomorrow."

"Look at you! Playing match maker already!"

"I just wanted to help her out."

"Let's hope it goes well."

I then took into account what she was wearing, a flannel pajama shirt and gray shorts. Her attire seemed to hug her....figure and emphasize her curves.

"Hmhmmm. Like what ya see (Reader?)"

Aw damn it.

"With all due respect, all those curves and me with no brakes." I chuckled

"Hahaha! You're so corny! Corny, but sweet. I like that." She blushed

"Y....Yeah."

"You want a closer look?"

All I could do is stare at her, unsure of what to say next.

"I.....It's okay if you do.....I know you're a nice guy and all." She said blushing again

Alya brought the camera closer towards her body.

"I.....I don't kn-"

Incoming call from: Marinette

I answered her call.

Alya moved her camera back to her face just before Marinette joined the call.

"Hey Marinette!" I said

"Awwwww! Just when things were getting good! Well, I'll leave you two to it, bye!"

Alya disappeared from our group call.

Marinette rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Should I even ask?"

"Either Alya has a really weird way of getting to know me, or she's a massive flirt." I said rolling my eyes

"Trust me, I've never seen her flirt."

"Cause you were seconds late." I said

"So, what'd you do?"

"I answered your call, that's what. Haha."

"Oh you know what I mean, ya goof!"

"I told her I wasn't sure about something, then you called; and I answered. That's it."

"Mhmm." She said rolling her eyes

"Thanks again for teaching me guitar, it was awesome!"

"You're welcome, I'll teach you some different techniques next time."

"Sounds great! Goodnight (Reader.)"

"Goodnight. And DON'T chicken out with telling Adrien how you feel tomorrow!"

"I won't! I promise, Bug's Honor!" She said raising her right hand

"What?"

"Uhhh....IGOTTAGOBYE!"

Call Ended.

"Bug's honor? That's.....wait. What? Nah! Oh, I don't know. I'll ask Alya at school."

Hey! I'm back! Bug's Honor, bet ya didn't see that comin'! Glad to hear so many of you are loving this story! I'll work on the next part ASAP!