Flashback
"Hello?"
"Nino, I need help."
There was a pause on the other side of the line. Then; "Is this about Marinete?"
Adrien flushed red. "Yes?"
Adrien heard Nino chuckle and the blonde had a feeling that even though his best friend could not see him right now, Nino probably knew that Adrien looked as red as a tomato. The thought made Adrien pout "Ninoooooo."
"I know I know. Look just- gimme a second okay? I'm with Alya right now and she'll burn me alive if she knew I was talking to you."
"Right." Adrien considered himself blessed that he hadn't had a chance to encounter Alya yet. He supposed that he wouldn't be alive right now if he had.
A few minutes passed and Adrien heard Nino make some excuse about a calling relative. He assumed that Nino had slipped out to somewhere private before the boy's voice rang through the phone again, "So. Marinette."
"Yeah. Nino I- "
"If you ask me, the gentlest way to let her down would be privately. Especially-"
"Maybe I'm won't have to let her down Nino."
A pause. "What do you mean?"
Adrien ran a hand through his hair, "I may have just come to the realisation that I like her back? Pl- A friend helped me realise that maybe the girl I was crushing after wasn't the best choice after all."
"Who were you crushing after?"
"Ladybug?" In that moment, Adrien's voice sounded high pitched even to himself.
"Dude- Ladybug?! She was Marinette's competition?!"
"Well now, I wouldn't say competition-
"Duuuuude, no wonder you never looked at another girl! And, by the way, your friend is right. No offence but you have no chance at Ladybug my dude. For one, she wouldn't put a civilian in danger by even entertaining the idea of dating them and two; if anybody ends up dating Ladybug, its Chat Noir."
"Right." Adrien mumbled. He knew for a fact that Chat stood as much a chance as anyone else did with how things had been going until now.
There was a short silence in which Adrien assumed that Nino was soaking all the new information in. He spent the time picking at the ends of his shirt before Nino finally spoke up again. "So. Marinette huh?"
Adrien's blush, which had just resided, slowly crept back into his cheeks. "Yeah." He mumbled.
Nino chuckled in amusement, "Well, you better do something before someone else swings in and swoops her off her feet because, let me tell you, she is one hell of a catch."
"Nino, you have a girlfriend."
"Doesn't mean I'm blind my friend."
"Touché. How do I go about this though? I have no clue on how these situations work. Except from what I've read in comic books and mangas that is. I'm pretty sure those don't count."
Nino hummed in thought, "Well, thing is, Marinette's already smitten with you, so there's not much worry over whether she'll be up for it or not. I'd suggest going slow for now, 'cause Marinette gets easily overwhelmed when it comes to you- "Adrien winced. Nino didn't notice. "Why don't you take her out on a date? You know, get to know each other, make her comfortable around you, stuff like that. Take her somewhere where she'll be thoroughly occupied, y'know? Cause she can't be nervous if she's distracted."
