"It's not that bad. You'll be gone only for a month."

"The whole month, Plagg! Can you— Can you even imagine how many akumas Hawk Moth can release by the time we will be back?!"

The small black creature rolled his eyes. He knew his chosen was dramatic, though he didn't expect him to be dramatic that much.

"Listen here, kid." Plagg flew in front of Adrien's face. "I know you're nervous and all, but seriously, it's not that bad. Ladybug is strong enough to handle an akuma alone, moreover I'm sure ol' man will send someone to help her. You just have to relax and have fun, when would you have this chance again?"

"Old man?" The blonde asked with confusion. Plagg huffed in annoyance and began explaining in monotone voice as if he was doing it for like hundred times before.

"Great Guardian. He's the holder of turtle miraculous, also the one who knows all about every one of them and the one who keeps them safe." He said chumming on piece of cheese in his tiny paws. This kid was asking way too many questions, and black kwami never liked questions, especially ones that were related to the whole superhero thing. He was just so tired of answering on them again and again.

Adrien sighed not really feeling better than he did before. What if this someone would do something to her? What if Ladybug is gonna like him more? What if she wouldn't want to be partners with Adrien after that? He shook his head in order to get rid of that kind of thoughts. Plagg was right. He can't do anything about it so he just needed to relax. There still was one problem though. He couldn't. He just couldn't stop worrying.

The sudden buzz interrupted his thoughts. Boy picked up his phone to read a message from Nino: 'Hey, dude. Guess u r free today? What r u saying 'bout hanging out w/ Alya and Mari at the afternoon? Sounds good?'

That's it! He was going to spend his last day in Paris with his friends.

'Sounds gr8! When and where?'

'Will pick u up at 3pm. B ready'

Adrien looked at the clock. 1:47. He still had plenty of time. What should he do?

"Probably say something to Nathalie"

"What? Did I—"

"Yeah yeah, you were thinking out loud. Now gimme my cheese!"

~~~

"Oh My, Alya! What did he said?" Marinette squeezed Alya's shoulders hearing another buzz from her phone.

"Nino said that Adrien's ok with it"

"Squeeeee! Do you think he will like it?"

Alya gave Marinette another 'girl-get-yourself-together' look. Seriously, Mari was an awesome person and amazing friend, but sometimes... Yeah, sometimes this girl was just acting silly when things come to her crush

"I'm sure he will love it. Girl, relax. Everything will be just fine. No need to be so nervous".

"I can't help it. You know how much it means to me" the blue-haired girl suddenly stoped with worried expression on her face.

"What if I say something stupid? Oh! What if I do something stupid? What if– What if something goes wrong and I'll hurt him? What if there's an akuma attack? What if—"

Alya sighed.

"There's absolutely nothing to worry about. More like he would be thankful if you hurt him. I'm sure he doesn't want to go anywhere."

Marinette chucked at her BFF's statement. She was right, there was literally nothing that could go wrong. She just couldn't help but worry, after all it isn't going to be just an average afternoon. It will be the whole afternoon that she will spend with her sweet Adrien.

~~~

"So, what are our plans for today?"

"Not telling you or Alya's gonna kill me"

The model rolled his eyes chuckling at his friend. Even though Nino and Alya were dating for two months now he still acted like at the beginning. Remembering that it was an accident that they got together was even funnier. Who would have thought that while he was trying to get Nino to confess to Marinette a sudden akuma made Ladybug to shut the DJ with Alya in a cage and this will bring them together. Fate was such a strange thing sometimes. Thinking back to that day and that akuma was always sending shivers down his spine. There were two reasons to it. First, he got so scared when LB jumped into T-Rex's mouth. He thought he would never see her again. She teased him for a few weeks about it. He could see why, how he possibly could have thought that Ladybug would just do something so dangerous without a plan. And second, that he was trying to set his Princess with Nino. Not that he didn't want his best friend to be happy, but thinking about it now made him feel slightly stupid. Plagg liked to joke about all this situation and to call him 'lover boy'. Adrien usually just laughed it off, but came to realization that he may have had a tiny crush on her, even though those feelings were nothing comparing to his love for the spotted super heroine of Paris.

"Dude, you ok?" Nino's voice returned him to the real world.

"Sorry, were lost in thoughts".

DJ nodded not pushing on getting the answers, his friend were going to have a tough day tomorrow and he didn't want to affect their plans for today.

"You're lucky we're almost there"

The green-eyed model smiled in anticipation of the good time. 'Hope it will go well. I don't want any akumas to ruin my afternoon even if I would get to see M'Lady one last time'

While two boys were making their way to the Place des Vosges Alya was already there sitting on the black-and-green underlay with the bucket full of different kinds of juices. She soon noticed a blue-haired girl making her way towards the young reporter who she called her best friend.

"How is that you're not late today?"

"Ha ha, very funny, Alya. I'm not always late"

"Yeah, you're only late for school all the time"

Marinette huffed and, placing her bucket with croissants, macaroons and some other pasties, sat down near her friend.

"Have you even known that you're leaving near the oldest planned square in Paris and one of the finest in the city which was a fashionable and expensive during the 17th and 18th centuries?"

A short laugh was heard and a male voice asked:

"Since when you're interested in history of Paris's squares, dear?"

"Since I've been waiting for you three for nearly fifteen minutes now" Alya deadpanned still standing up and kissing her boyfriend on cheek. Marinette couldn't help but smile at the couple.

"So... um... s-sit down, and... uh... w-we're h-having a p-picnic"

'Agh! Good going, Marinette. Why am I always all so stutter-y around him? Can't I say at least one sentence without foaming at the mouth?'

Adrien just smiled at the shy girl and settled himself down near Marinette on what received another awkward smile from her.

"So, again, what are our plans for today?"

He could see Nino opening his mouth but Alya quickly interrupted him saying that Mari should told him, since this all was her idea. Said bluenette sent a death glare at her BFF and turned to her crush.

"As I a-already t-told you w-we're now having a p-picnic a-and then w-we will go get s-some ice-cream I-if you want of course and... uh... then m-me and Alya were planning t-to go on the Grande Roue de Paris w-when it's dark" she said with not so much stuttering. Through months Adrien and Marinette grew close enough for her only to stutter when she was nervous or when she couldn't find right words. Though Adrien thought it was cute and sometimes even wanted her to stutter a little bit more. Alya gave Marinette two thumbs-up and Nino a 'told-you-so' look but blonde didn't really get it and just shrugged it off.

Some time later, when four friends were done with pasties from Dupain-Cheng's bakery, they were walking through the square talking on different topics. It was all good till Alya mentioned something about her Ladyblog and the topic changed to the two heroes of Paris. At that moment they were standing in the que for an ice-cream since it was Sunday and a lot of students were hanging out.

"I'm telling you he is in love with her! Have you at least seen how he acts toward Ladybug?!"

Alya was trying to convince Nino that Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug. 'Which is true' thought Adrien but decided not to join in the conversation in order to protect his secret identity.

"Even if it's true, I think he should quit trying" a girl who was standing in front of them joined the conversation "If I were Ladybug I'd never gave a chance to some side kick like him. He barely does anything".

'Is she related to Chloe or what?'

"He is not a side kick" surprisingly Marinette, who was quite till that moment, spoke up. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are a team. And what did you mean 'some side kick like him'? He's pretty cool, you know"

"And how would you know that?"

Marinette crossed her arms. Her bluebell eyes shining with anger as she speak.

"He has saved me a couple of times. And what I'm trying to say is that he is as amazing a superhero as Ladybug. Even she said that he's her partner."

Adrien just stood there watching the girl in awe. It was so rare to see Mari like that, defending someone, staying up to someone who was rude. No one has ever said anything like that about his alter-ego before, except Ladybug. The green-eyed model never knew Marinette was interested in him and his lady. She, of course, watched Ladyblog but never mentioned being Ladybug's fan, or Chat's for the matter. There were two groups of fans: ones who were only fans of Ladybug and ones who were excited about both superheroes. Adrien, at least, has never heard of Chat Noir's fans. Not that he was complaining, Ladybug deserved that attention, she was perfect. But standing there, seeing his friend protecting him even without knowing it, was very pleasantly.

Marinette noticed Adrien's amazed look but it didn't really occurred her at that moment. She was really only trying to protect her kitty from another hater. She didn't know he was there but she just couldn't stand someone talking about him like that. She barely even noticed amazed looks Alya and Nino were giving her.

"Don't tell me you're his fan."

"And maybe I am. So what? Why don't you just shut your mouth and buy your ice-cream already so we won't need to hear you anymore?"

The girl huffed angrily but didn't say anything. She really went to buy herself an ice-cream and left, giving one last glare to Marinette.

"Whoa, girl! Who knew you had it in you! It was sooo awesome! Also, I thought you're not interested in our heroes?"

"Err..." and as soon as the question were asked she lost all her previous confidence and became nervous again. "I'm not... I mean... I am... maybe a little... I mean... I had to stand up for him?"

Alya chuckled giving her a knowing smirk.

"Uh... if we're done with the topic... let's go grab some ice-cream?"

~~~

They got to the Grande Roue de Paris just in time to see sunset from it. Alya of course was trying to get Mari and Adrien sit in the cabin for two but they all were already taken, so they choose another one for four people. The view from the top was stunning. Even as Ladybug she could have never made it in time to the Eiffel Tower to see the sunset.

Paris was beautiful city in any time of the day. In daytime, when the bright sun was shining and it seemed like you can see every single person on the street and every single flower in the park. At night, when the sun went down and Paris explodes in million lights, when the Eiffel Tower itself shines like you have never seen before. But standing there, in the small cabine of the Ferries wheel with her friends, watching dusk was simply breathtaking. Everything and everyone in that time of day was as if glowing from inside. No wonder why there always were so many pairs walking through Paris exactly at the sunsets. It was magical. Marinette could feel sun beams touching her skin softly as if they were trying to cheer her up, reassure that everything is going to be okay at the end, no matter what is happening now. And she believed them. She thought of the most important people in her life. Her parents... Alya... Adrien... Chat... And two of them were leaving. She wouldn't see both of them for a month. The whole month without her crush. The whole month without her partner. And yet, she couldn't see the similarities and connect the pieces.

"I've never thought Paris could be so beautiful..."

"Yeah..."

~~~

Everything went perfectly according to the plan. As though luck was finally at Adrien's sight, at least ones. Alya and Nino left him with Mari after the wheel, since their homes were in different way from theirs.

"I can walk you, if you want"

"R-really? I-I mean, I'd love to! If it's ok with you?"

"Sure"

They were walking in silence. That kind of silence, that can only be shared between real friends or very close people. Neither wanted to ruin it, because there were no words needed.

Finally reaching Marinette's house they stopped, standing in front of each other, looking each other in the eyes, thinking of the day.

"Thank you, Marinette" he said softly while pulling her into a tight hug. "Thanks for everything. I'm glad I have a friend like you"

She slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging Adrien back. Neither of them moved, enjoying the warmth of the hug. Marinette closed her eyes leaning a little bit more into him, memorizing his smell, something she won't be able to sense in a while.

"You're welcome"