The Dating Contract

Hey Princess

"Oh Tikki, tell me last night was just a dream!" Marinette squealed as she quickly got ready for school.

"You want to forget what happened? I thought you liked Chat Noir." Tikki asked

"Yeah, I do! But- I mean I don't, but I do like not in an 'I love you' kind of way but like you're a good friend kind of way you know? But not even that, I'm talking about the part where Alya showed up and posted that picture of Chat Noir and me!" She whined as she paced back in forth in her room Tikki flying closely behind her

"I'm confused. Do you like him or not? And I thought you wanted to get revenge on Lila. Not that I agree with it but Chat Noir helped you do that right?" Tikki reminded her as she zipped up Marinette's book bag for her

"Yeah... that was so cool of him!" Marinette looked at her computer's screen saver of Chat Noir and sighed dreamily.

"Marinette, focus you're gonna be late!" Tikki pushed herself against Marinette's face to try and get her attention.

"Right! Thanks, Tikki, let's go!" She said, grabbing her book bag and ran down the stairs.

At school, Marinette could feel everyone's eyes on her as she walked up the steps. She kept her head down and tried to ignore the whispering.

"Marinette!" She turned her head at her name and saw Alya running up the stairs.

"No prince charming to whisk you away this time, explain!" She shouted as she dragged her to the bathroom and locked the door behind them.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Alya it's just... we agreed to keep our relationship a secret for the sake of his and my safety," Marinette explained

"And I get that a 100% but dang girl, you sure know how to keep a secret! Makes me wonder what else you're hiding!" Alya said and leaned in closer to Marinette who was pressed back against the wall.

"Haha... nothing, that's it, that's all you caught me!" Marinette held her hands up in defeat to try and keep Alya away.

"Okay, I'll believe you... for now!" Alya squinted her eyes at Marinette and leaned back, allowing Marinette to finally breathe.

"Hey, what do you think Ladybug will say when she finds out?" Alya tilted her head to the side and looked at Marinette for an answer.

"Um, actually she knows already," Marinette admitted

"Ladybug knows? Wow, all 3 of you are great secret holders! How'd she react when you told her?" Alya asked excitedly, wanting to know every little detail of her favorite superhero.

"Well, Chat Noir was the one who told her, not me. She didn't believe him at first but she's rooting for us now! No jealousy at all, she's perfectly happy!" She smiled, knowing that what she was saying wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.

"Wow, as expected of Ladybug!" Alya beamed proudly

"Fine, I'll stop interrogating you now, let's go to class!" Alya said and turned to walk back to class.

Marinette reluctantly followed, knowing that once she was back in the classroom, her relationship with Chat Noir was all anyone would ever talk about.

Back in the classroom, she felt a hand grab her wrist as she walked up to her desk.

She looked down at Adrien as he let go of her hand and asked, "So, Chat Noir?"

"Haha, yup!" Marinette laughed, feeling a bit shy talking to Adrien about it, after all, he was her ex-crush. Only a month ago she was still stalking him