Centre of Affection

A/N; So I'm back! Did ya miss me? Did ya? BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE SLOW UPDATES!

"Are you okay, Lila?" Marinette whispered, tilting her head to the side.

"Perfectly fine." Lila lied.

In all honesty, she was apprehensive. She had never seen Dean fight – but judging by his form, he probably could. What if he was able to beat them all? What if she had to stand by and watch Mari have her heartbroken? Or worse – she was the one that broke her heart by ignoring her?

Too many things could go wrong – and she hated thinking about it.

There had to be something to take her mind off it.

"So Mari, what about the costumes for the others?" Lila asked, distracting herself from her depressing thoughts.

"OH – Adrien, Nath and Dean are bringing their own costumes. I just need to finish making mine tonight." Marinette giggled, smiling at her desk mate.

God, was she glad she had decided to give Lila a second chance.

"Can I see your costume?" Lila asked.

Marinette waggled her finger in Lila's face. "Nuh-Uh, no one is seeing it until the performance."

The brunette pouted. "Why not?"

"Would it be a surprise if I showed you?"

"Well no…" Lila trailed off.

"Exactly! Well, if you could gather the boys, we could run through the script."

Lila nodded, taking off in the direction of the spare classroom the boys were in, even though they had finished their work.

She wandered through the empty corridors, thinking about the small half-asian girl she had come to recognise as her best friend.

If she lost her now – the only person that gave her a second chance, Lila had no clue what she would do.

Something drastic and bad for her health, probably.

She stopped before the door, taking in a deep breath.

Lila pushed the door open, striding in.

"Look at that, the clingy rat is back." Dean chuckled, leaning on a window ledge.

"Don't call her that." Nathaneal growled.

Dean stopped dead in his tracks. Things just got interesting – very interesting. It seems he wasn't the only one who was after someone other than Marinette.

"Tomato, she's a parasite. Surely even you can see that?" Dean mocked, mischief in his ruby red eyes.

Lila balled her fists. She was about to start defending herself when Nathaneal beat her to it.

"That's rich coming from you – someone who finds joy in breaking hearts. Lila is nothing like that, she's sweet, smart, funny and beautiful. Keep your nose out of it."

Dean smirked. Lila and tomato head would be too wrapped up with each other in the fight to even notice him beating the hell out of blondie.

Adrien glared. This – while it was great they liked each other – could be very problematic. It meant Lila probably wouldn't fight Nathaneal because she wouldn't want him to get hurt. That would mean he had to fight Nathaneal, leaving Lila to fight Dean.

While he didn't doubt she could beat him up – Adrien wanted to be the one punching Dean in his perfect teeth.

Then again, it was also good news because Nathaneal wouldn't be trying to win Marinette's affection – he would be winning Lila's.

But – if he could get Nathaneal to fight with himself and Lila, things might work in their favour.

That way, Adrien could still beat the crap out of Dean, and Lila and Natheanal wouldn't have to go against each other!

"Snap out of it blondie." Lila hissed sharply in Adrien's ear.

Adrien shook his head. "Yes?"

"Mari wants to run through the play, and she sent me to round you all up."

Adrien nodded, running a hand through his hair. He wandered over to the door, and reached for the handle.

Dean heard Lila's demand, strolling over to the door. As Adrien clasped the door handle, he put an iron grip on his shoulder.

"She will be mine. They, won't be able to do a thing about it. Too scared they'll hurt each other." He whispered raspily into Adrien's ear.

Adrien shuddered. He knew it was true – it was all too true. It was clear Lila and Nathaneal wouldn't want to fight each other. It was very clear.

They had to have Nathaneal on their side. Otherwise Lila, no matter how strong she was, would crumble. There was no one who could just resist the pull of love like that, even his cold hearted father had loved once.

He narrowed his eyes, and hit Dean's hand off his shoulder.

"Just you wait and see." He hissed.

If the worst came to worst, Chat Noir would be the one to finish the job. He took one last look at Dean, and walked on.

Dean watched Adrien's figure disappear through the hallways. He clicked his wrist, glaring at the blonde's back.

"Watch out, Agreste. I don't take kindly to those who try to ruin my plans." He murmured, a dark look settling on his face.

Lila watched the whole scene unfold, walking over to Nathaneal.

"Dean doesn't know what he's about to get." She hissed, balling her fists.

The red-head put a calming hand on her shoulder. Both went pink from the contact, but neither wished for it to end.

"M-Mari wants us to p-practice." Lila mentally berated herself. Stuttering? That was so not flattering.

Nathaneal nodded his head, words leaving him. Lila slowly moved his hand off her shoulder.

Maybe she didn't feel the same way.

Nathaneal felt his head drop to look at the floor, a strange emptiness welling up inside him.

Lila looked at the hand that was now dangling by his side.

By doing this she might die of embarrassment – but it would be worth the warm tingly feeling she got inside whenever they touched. She cleared her head, and took his hand in hers.

Nathaneal's head snapped upwards at the sudden contact, his face becoming the same shade as his hair. He looked down at the nervous girl by his side and smiled.

Maybe she did feel the same way. Anything was possible – he lived in a city where people spontaneously turned into monsters after all.

Dean glared at them from over his shoulder. Romance – what a trivial thing. Tears – heartbroken tears were more appealing to him. The sight of a girl breaking down was what drove him. Especially if he was the reason they were reduced to a mess.

He turned back towards the corridor, and marched towards the class they were usually in, the class Chloe was in.

Lila and Nathaneal followed after him, sneaking glances at each other whenever they thought the other wasn't looking.

And that was what made them happy.

They made each other happy, and that was true love.

Marinette tapped her foot against the ground. Where were they? She did sense an unsteadiness in the group earlier – maybe she shouldn't have just brushed it off as just last-minute jitters. Today was the day before the performance, and they've had very little practice.

But it seemed like more than that, then again, maybe it was just her being silly. What if it wasn't though? What if there was something seriously wrong among them?

The door to Madame Bustier's class creaked open, drawing Marinette's attention to it.

Adrien walked through the door, a smile plastered on his face.

Marinette felt her cheeks heat up immediately, and she desperately tried to remember how to speak again.

Adrien spotted Marinette, waved, and made his way up to her, his smile becoming wider.

"Hey!" He greeted.

He said one word – just one – and Marinette's brain became jelly.

"H-Hi."

"How's the designing going?" He asked, sitting next to her.

"G-good. I'm putting the finishing touches on it, like what kind of stitches I want to use in certain places, and deciding the shade of gold ribbon I want to use on the front of the dress." She became more confident with each word, talking animatedly about her design.

"Sounds good. Could I see it?"

Marinette giggled, if she showed it to Adrien, Lila would get offended that she didn't show it to her first. But, if she acted like it was a surprise, no one would get offended.

"It's a surprise s-silly."

Adrien nodded.

"But, you can help me choose the shade of gold for the front!" She exclaimed.

"T-That is, if you want to." She added shyly.

"I would love to." He leant even closer to her.

Marinette's brain was sloshing around in her skull. No longer was it jelly, it was a liquid, a liquid of pure fangirling. Adrien wanted to help choose the shade of gold going on her dress!

She attempted to regain her composure, and held up to sample cards of gold.

"W-Which one?"

Adrien tilted his head to the side. They literally looked the same. He tilted his head to the other side, looking for some difference to make itself known.

"Uh, the one on the left?" He suggested, still looking for a difference. HE knew better than to ask what the difference was, Marinette could obviously tell the difference, no matter how subtle it was.

(Or how non-existent it was in Adrien's case. He was a model – not the designer.)

"Yeah, it's so much brighter than the other one."

Adrien squinted, still trying to find the difference.

"Yep it sure is." He pretended he could see the difference, nodding convincingly.

Alya watched the two interact, nudging Nino.

"What?"

"Look! Mari and Adrien!" She exclaimed, taking a picture with her phone.

"You're obsessed." He yawned.

"No I'm not! Adrienette forever!" She grinned.

"I thought it was Madrien?"

"Same thing, you idiot. Now shut up and watch."

"Whatever you say."

Dean walked through the door, looking around the room for Chloe.

The blonde girl grinned like the Cheshire cat. Bad boy did care afterall.

What a plot twist.

Dean waved to her, strolling over to her.

Sabrina looked suspiciously at Dean from next to Chloe. What did he want? To take her place as Chloe's forever BFF?

No way was she letting that happen. Chloe was her everything, her best friend, her mentor, and her idol.

In no way was that creepy.

Chloe stretched. "Took you long enough to get here."

"Why? Missed me?" He teased.

Chloe snorted. "Don't kid yourself."

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"I missed having a proper massage, Sabrina is about as useful as a slinky in a bungalow."

Sabrina nodded. She had to learn to be able to suit Chloe's needs better. That was what a good best friend would do.

"Ah. So Queen Bee wants a massage then?" He smirked.

"Queen Bee demands a massage." Chloe retorted.

"Oh really?" He drawled sarcastically.

"I do decree."

Lila and Nathaneal stopped in front of the door, and turned to face each other.

Uncertainty flickered in Lila's eyes. This was the part where they either walked in, uncaring about what the others thought, or they walked in separately, choosing to put their reputations above all else.

Then again, the reputation of possible being Nathaneal's girlfriend was better than the reputation of being a liar.

Both were neverous, but being happy is more important than nerves.

Nathaneal pushed the door open with his free hand, face spontaneously going red again as the class looked at them.

Marinette grinned from the back of the classroom.

"Adrien, look at that!" She whispered.

"What about Lila and Nathaneal?"

"Their hands!"

Adrien found himself grinning too.

Of course Chloe would have been the one to ruin the happy mood.

"What did I tell you? Idiots love idiots. Proven." She sneered.

Sabrina bit her lip, Chloe seemed to really be digging her grave this time.

Not that that would stop her from being her loyal bestie.

Marinette felt anger boil up inside her.

Adrien could feel the anger radiate off her, and slid to the side, preparing for the bluenette to blow up.

"Chloe!"

"What Mari-Trash? Only peasants can't accept the truth. Lila's a liar, Red-head is a shy incapable thing that no-one cares about."

Just as Marinette was about to retort, Alya stood up.

So what? She may not like Lila, but the girl at least deserved a chance to be happy.

"Leave them alone Chloe – who are you to judge? You lie, you steal, you bully." Alya barked.

"Yeah! Leave them alone!" Nino shouted, putting a hand on Alya's shoulder.

"They're more wanted than you!" Ivan shouted from the corner of the room.

Shouts stopped Chloe dead in her tracks. The class – they supported Lila and Nathaneal.

It gave Lila a warm tingly feeling, they were willing to look past all the lies she told to help her.

A/N; That concludes the end of the chappie. Yeah yeah I know, no fight yet. The suspense is real. Even I have no clue what'll happen. I love all you guys so so much! Thank you all for reviewing, following and supporting me! It means so much. If any of you have watched NCIS and/or Inuyasha, I'm going to be starting a crossover on that soon!

-LT xx