A/N: We're approaching the end! As I've said before, thank you guys so much for the support! The first chapter of the sequel is already in progress, so look forward to that soon after this is finished!

Enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Home

He wasn't much of a reader, but it definitely helped to serve as a distraction. And right now, he needed one more than anything.

However, his relief was short-lived. He was interrupted from his reading when a pair of hands slammed down onto the table.

"Adrien, we've got a problem."

"Alya!" Adrien hissed, glaring at her as his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "We're in a library!"

"Then come with me." She grabbed his arm, and Adrien barely had enough time to gather his things together before he was dragged out of the library and into the hallway.

She seemed rather worried, anxiously looking around to make sure the two of them were alone. "I hate to ask you for favors right now, but it's sort of an emergency. Your so-called "friend" is spreading rumors about Marinette."

Adrien's jaw fell slack. "Chloe?!"

Alya nodded, her hands already balling into fists. "That's right; you wanna know what she's been saying? She went around saying that Marinette's… dated all the guys in our class."

"Dated? You mean…"

"I use the term loosely, but essentially, yeah."

"But why… why would she..?"

"Because she's a terrible human being with a black hole for a heart! Why else?"

He had always known that Chloe and Marinette didn't like each other, but Adrien couldn't imagine that she would take it that far. Sure, Chloe could go to the extreme about some things, but to think that she would care about petty revenge enough to start spreading rumors and gossip about someone like Marinette, the last person that deserved to be the victim of nasty rumors like… like that.

"Please, I need you to tell Chloe to back off, and to tell everyone that the rumors aren't true. You're the only one she'll listen to."

He really didn't need to be convinced further. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll tell her. But what did Marinette do to make her react like that?"

"Don't even try and blame this on Marinette," she warned. "Chloe asked her to sit with her at lunch just so she could antagonize her and Marinette retaliated by telling her that she wasn't in the mood to deal with it. Chloe got embarrassed and well, here we are."

He'd heard enough, holding up a hand to stop her. "Alright, just… don't let Marinette find out about this."

"Why? Doesn't she deserve to know?"

"No, I don't want anyone picking on her because of what Chloe said. It's best if she doesn't hear about it. I'll handle it; otherwise the whole school will think that they're in some sort of feud with each other. It could get blown out of proportion."

"They are in a feud with each other, have you paid attention this past school year at all?!"

"Alya-"

"Please, fix this, or I will, and my method is a lot less nice than yours is," she warned.

Adrien gulped and nodded, suddenly fearing for Chloe's life as Alya stormed off.

"What's the deal with that Alya chick? She's got a lot of nerve, asking for favors after she threatened you."

"She didn't threaten me," Adrien clarified through the closed bathroom door. "Alya wouldn't do anything like that. She's just looking out for Marinette. Besides, I don't like Chloe spreading rumors just as much as she doesn't. And she was right; Chloe wouldn't listen to her or Marinette. I'm the only one who can stop her."

"You guys are so dramatic. Speaking of that, is Ladybug your girlfriend now?" Plagg asked through a mouthful of Camembert.

"Oh come off it, Plagg. She doesn't… you know, like me like that," Adrien shouted back in response from the bathroom.

"You could change that. Your charm and good looks, thanks to me of course, could win the heart of any girl!"

Adrien smiled as he fondly remembered the way Ladybug would occasionally flirt back if she was feeling up to it. Of course, it was just playful banter all in the name of good fun. Yeah. That's it.

"Not Ladybug. She's different. She doesn't fall for that."

"Apparently she does. Since when has night patrol ever been date night?" Plagg asked incredulously, a hint of suggestiveness in his tone.

"She was joking." After drying his hair with a towel, he stepped out of the bathroom. "Plagg, have you seen my phone? I could've swore that I-"

As if on cue, he heard the sound of his cellphone going off, only to find that he had left it underneath the blankets on his bed.

"Hello?"

"Adri-kins, hey, it's me!"

"O-Oh, hey Chloe. What's up?"

"Nothing really, just having Sabrina do my homew- I mean, just hanging out with Sabrina. But I called to ask you something."

He didn't like where this was going. "Okay, what is it?"

"Let's go out later tonight. I'll have a limo take us to the nicest restaurant in town. It'll be fun."

"Chloe-"

"Great, what time can we come-"

"Chloe." She grew silent, and Adrien took that as his cue to continue. "I know what you've been saying about Marinette."

"Wha… What do you mean?"

"You've been spreading lies about her. Did you even think about that before you opened your mouth?"

"I-I… she embarrassed me, Adrien! She made me look stupid in front of my friends!"

"So you decide to lie about her and all the other guys in class to get back at her?"

"Adrien-"

"You know, I thought we were friends, I really did. Even when you acted awful, I was still your friend because you were the only one who knew what it was like to be me. When we were little you were like me, but now you're just…"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"We're done."

"Adrien!"

Click.

"Wow…" Plagg murmured. "You sure told her."

Adrien sighed, tightly clutching his phone. "I just don't get it. I know Chloe's not perfect, but… she's the one person who understood what it was like to live my kind of life. The only difference is that she likes it. She's not always a good person, but she's not completely heartless either. I've seen it. But I was just so disappointed in her that I…"

The kwami shrugged. "I'm glad you got rid of her, she sounds like a drama queen to me."

He chuckled at that. "You think so?"

"Any more Camembert?"

Adrien decided to pretend that he didn't notice the abrupt change of subject. "…In the fridge."

"Are you happy now, Marinette?"

Marinette barely managed to suppress a groan. Just what she needed on a Monday morning. Chloe.

She turned around, prepared to tell the girl that she just wasn't in the mood today, but was surprised when she saw trails of mascara running down her cheeks. "Chloe…"

"D-Did you put him up to it? Tell him a-about the rumors?" she asked, her voice choked with sobs.

Marinette arched a brow in confusion. She knew full well that she was not obligated to be worried about her, but she had never seen Chloe like… like this. "Rumors? What rumors? Chloe, what's wrong?"

She sniffled, wiping at the mascara stains on her cheeks, smearing her powdered blush in the process. "Adrien doesn't want anything to do with me anymore, and it's all because of you-"

"No, it's because of you," Alya argued, stepping in front of Marinette as if defending her. "You started those rumors and they backfired on you. This is your fault."

Chloe looked dumbfounded. "My fault?!"

Alya nodded. "Yes Chloe, for once in your perfect little life, something is your fault. And now, you finally get to face the consequences of your actions. If you want to earn Adrien's friendship back, then I suggest you tell everyone that the rumors aren't true." She turned back around towards the school, grabbing Marinette's arm. "Let's go Mari."

Once they got inside, Marinette wrenched her arm out of Alya's grasp. "Hey, was that necessary? Don't you think you were a little hard on her?"

Alya froze and turned to face her, laughing humorlessly. "This coming from the girl that has hated Chloe Bourgeois since, well, forever. Aren't you glad that she's learning her lesson?"

Marinette's eyes narrowed. "Well, I just… no, never mind. You know something about those rumors. What is it?"

Her amber eyes widened, the light of the sun that was leaking in through the doorway reflecting off of her glasses. "I don't know what she said; all I know is that she was spreading rumors…"

"Then why did Chloe come to me? Why did you defend me? Is… were they about me?"

Alya lowered her head in shame. "I wanted to tell you, but… Adrien and I decided that it was for the best that we didn't. We didn't want this to get blown out of proportion any further, and we both figured that you probably didn't want to have to deal with that, not right now. I'm sorry that I kept this from you." She suddenly lifted her head, smiling confidently. "But don't worry. Chloe's gonna fix this…"

Had she really let it come this far? She had thought this was solely between her and Adrien, but had she really become so distant from everyone? First Adrien, then Chat, then her parents, and now Alya and even Chloe…

"This blew out of control, way too fast. This… this…"

"This is all my fault…"

Alya blinked owlishly. "Huh?"

She couldn't let this go on any longer. No more of this. No more feigning ignorance when it was clear that nobody believed it, that nobody wanted to hear it anymore. No more excuses.

"All of this is happening because of me. This is affecting everyone, I… I have to…" She pulled Alya into a quick embrace. "I'm sorry that you got dragged into this. Thanks for looking out for me, and will you get my homework for today?"

Taken aback, Alya nodded. "S-Sure, no problem…"

"Thanks." The dark-haired girl grinned and turned around towards the exit, running for all she was worth back in the direction of her home.

"Marinette, where are you going?!" Alya yelled after her.

"Home! Don't wait up!"