I know this is short, but more is on the way. This story takes place after the events in "The Reporter and the Artist", so I suggest you read that first.
Marinette and Adrien are dating. Alya ran the situation over in her head for the fourteenth time. They are not making any attempt to keep it quiet. They literally invited me and Nino on a double date right in front of Chloe.
AND CHLOE DOESN'T EVEN CARE.
Alya was confused. She wanted to reveal this information to Marinette, but she was too busy writing another note to Adrien.
"Nino!" She coughed quietly, quickly scribbling a note for her boyfriend. Nino gave the slightest turn of his head, indicating he was listening. Alya knocked the paper off of her desk and gently kicked it to Nino, who picked it up and read it.
Alya watched his head snap over to look at Chloe after finishing reading the note. Chloe shot him a look and turned back to whatever she was doing as if nothing had happened.
She did not look heartbroken or affected at all, in fact she looked rather happy.
Alya was very confused.
When the bell rang, she watched Chloe closely to see her reaction to Marinette and Adrien leaving together. She did not wish for Chloe to be sad, but was simply interested to see if Chloe would do something now that school was over.
Instead of marching over to confront Adrien, Chloe yawned, stretching her arms as a smile slowly spread across her face.
"Hey, Chloe!" Sabrina tapped her shoulder as Chloe pulled out a mirror to touch up her makeup. "Can I come over today?"
"Sorry, Sabrina," Chloe replied, "I've got work-" She inhaled sharply and coughed loudly, "I mean, um, you know, my dad has this thingy for me to do."
"Oh, okay." Sabrina sighed sadly.
"But, you can come over tomorrow!" Chloe told her quickly. "Yeah, you can sleepover and stuff."
"Really?" Surprise rang in Sabrina's voice.
"Sure!" Chloe smiled warmly, surprising her even more. "See you tomorrow!" She waved at her brightly and flounced out the door.
What the heck? Alya was even more perplexed.
"She's been replaced by a clone," Nino whispered.
Chloe practically skipped home. A little voice in the back of her head was trying to gain her attention with "Marinette and Adrien are dating,".
Oddly enough, the little voice did not gain her attention. She was too busy thinking about how her and Nathaniel were going to go to the Ladybug interview tonight after four glorious hours of planning.
She had an entire schedule planned down to the minute, spreading the time evenly out between updating the website, answering fan questions, planning out routes and meeting spots, and booking events to be at.
Her head was lost in the clouds. She never would've imagined having a job as this much fun. Usually this level of giddiness was reserved for shopping.
Chloe bounced up the stairs, ignoring the elevator. She always took the stairs nowadays, and had even bought a treadmill, working out and building endurance for mobile news stories.
She unlocked the door to her room and hopped inside, not bothering to lock it. Chloe knew Nathaniel would be right behind her.
The girl ran over to her closet and opened the secret compartment that now held her Golden Lens costume. A small flash drive was on the newly installed table. She snatched it up and ran her fingers across the smooth plastic.
It contained photos. Not from crime scenes or the news. It was a collection of pictures of her and Nathaniel, planning, studying, chasing the news, anything and everything they'd done.
Chloe heard the door open and close, then lock.
"Nathan?" Chloe called.
Footsteps sounded from her living room.
No response came.
"Nathaniel?!" When no response came, she stood up.
Chloe turned around, flash drive still in hand. No reply.
"What are you-"