Marinette wakes up confused as to where she is at first. The room is a lot more spacious, though, the colors are a lot darker than she's use to, not a spec of pink could be seen. Clarity makes its way into her head when she hears quiet giggling outside of the room. That's right, she had stayed at Nicole's house last night after falling into the river.

Struggling out from under the covers, she opens the door slowly, not wanting to wake anyone if they were asleep. To her surprise, all three of the girls from last night are moving about, looking ready to tackle the day.

A yawn escapes the blunettes mouth, the noise attracting the attention of the pale female.

"Coffee?"

Marinette shakes her head, "I don't drink coffee."

The blur of colors barrels towards her, narrowly stopping outside the door and avoid crashing into her, "Would you like some breakfast?" The others smile wakes up something in the tired teen, "I made blueberry muffins!"

Nicole slides her way between them, "Sof, she just woke up, give her a minute."

Sof runs back into the kitchen with a giggle. Much louder now that she knew everyone was awake.

The bleached brunette turnes to her, "Sorry."

The teen shrugs, "It's fine. I'm used to waking up in a frenzy because of school." A thought dawns on her, "Oh my gosh! It's Friday! I have school!"

Before her panic can take form, the lady dressed in all black speaks up, "Unless you have school at 6 AM, you're fine."

Relief floods in quickly, "Oh good." She looks up as she's lead to sit at their table, "So, I'm sorry to ask so late but what are your names? My name is Marinette."

The rainbow nearly jumps over the counter, "I'm Sofie! They call me Sof! Because I'm soft!"

Taking a closer look at the adult, she tries to make sense of all the colors and patterns splashed all over her clothing and body. Stickers in the shape of sweets with faces, stuck all over her cheeks, hair pins that make it hard to see what her hair looks like, let alone the rainbow of colors it seems to be dyed. At least she can tell her hair's in pigtails.

Marinette smiles at her before examining the one dressed in all black who sits at the counter, her shirt falling off both of her shoulders to reveal a spider web of mesh and a choker. The shirt is long enough to hide her black shorts but her knee high combat boots help to cover most of her legs.

They all look to be University age.

Sofia pokes the pale girl in the cheek, receiving a grumble before she says, "Zola."

Nicole sets a ton of food and an empty plate in front of Marinette when she sits at their table, "We didn't know what you would like so Sof cooked a bit of everything."

The bluenette smiles, "You didn't have to do that. I would have been fine with a muffin."

Black polished nails slide the muffin covered plate closer to her, "You can still eat some."

Marinette takes a muffin, only feeling bold enough to take more once the other girls take a plate of food and join her at the table. She has a sneaking suspicion they were waiting for her.

"So blue eyes, you planning on going to school or calling in sick?" Nicole takes a bite of something vaguely apple looking.

The teen nods, "I have to get to school. I can't skip or be late again, it'll get me in trouble."

An almost dark look passed over all of their faces before it disappears.

"Yeah, about that." Zola glances at the clock, "You know you don't have to go right?"

Sofia leans close, "Especially if you're getting hurt!"

Nicole runs a hand down her face, "Geez, talk about subtle."

Sitting in confusion, Marinette pauses in her eating, "What do you mean? I haven't gotten hurt at school before."

The rainbow moves closer, "At home then."

The deep worry on her face confuses her, until the boat girl gets her attention, "Sorry. I was concerned about you last night and I didn't want to lie to my roommates about why I had a teenager here. I told them about the first time we met and what you had said about bullies, then about you not being safe at home."

A few pieces of a puzzle she didn't know existed snapped into place, "Oh! No, no! I'm not being hurt or anything! My parents are great and really sweat people but yesterday uh-" she just barely catches herself before explaining what happened with Hawkmoth. Scrambling for words she starts to stutter, "M-my uh. Classmate! Came to my house! The one who's been making my life really hard! She's a liar and pretended to be my friend so I ran away!"

Sofia sits back in her seat, a sad look on her face, "You're bully followed you home?"

Zola finishes her food before walking into the kitchen and dropping her plate in the sink, the action seeming a little more aggressive than Marinette's used to.

"Zol, why don't you go grab blue eyes clothes out of the dryer. I know you hate it when I mess with the thing."

When she's finally out of the room, the teen leans forward and whispers, "Did I say something wrong?"

Nicole shakes her head, "No. Don't worry too much about it. Just know we've all been through some stuff. Anyway, go ahead and finish eating and when your clothes get in here you can change. You can either use my room or the bathroom."

Marinette smiles, "I'll change in the bathroom."

The other two continue their meal, seemingly satisfied. Zola returns after a few minutes with Marinette's clothes in hand, placing them on the small coffee table before she retreats into her room.

Checking the time, the bluenette finishes her food quickly. Snatching up her clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.

Tikki floats up as she changes, "Are you sure it's safe to go to school? I really think you should talk to Master Fu." She keeps her voice low.

Marinette puts on her shirt, "I'll talk to Master Fu as soon as I can, but I really need to get to school." A thought occurs to her, "Or maybe call my parents first." She winces at the thought, "What am I going to tell them? 'Hi mom and dad! It's your daughter! I ran away because you invited someone into our house whose been hurting me emotionally! I spent the night at a strangers house and- I DON'T HAVE MY PHONE!"

Her jacket falls out of her hands as she searches for either of the mobile devices she owns. Finding neither, she slumps to the floor, "Oh no. I left them both in my room. How am I going to call my parents?"

A soft knock draws her attention to the door, "You ok in there blue eyes?"

Marinette picks up her jacket and throws it on, "Yeah. I'm alright." She opens the door, "I just forgot that I don't have my phone with me. I don't know how I'm going to call my family."

Nicole fishes out a device from her back pocket, "Wanna use mine?"

The bluenette clasps her hands under her chin with a smile, gratitude already filling her chest, "Really? You would be ok with that?"

Nicole nods, unlocking the screen and flicking to the phone section, "Of course, I'm sure your parents are worried about you."

When the phone is passed to her, she's quick to enter in her mother's number, tapping the call button with nervous fingers. She raises it to her ear, apprehension making her stiff.

Her mom answers after the second ring, "Hello?"

Marinette gulps, "Hi, mom. It's me."

Her mom speaks quickly, "Marinette! Honey where are you?! You were gone all night, we couldn't find you! We called Alya, we called Nino, we called our neighbors, we called the police! You just went missing out of your room! Did you climb down the building? Do you know how dangerous that is?!"

The bluenette winces, glancing at Nicole before spitting out, "I'm ok, I'm ok. I'm alive mom. I'm at a friends house."

"Where?! With who? We called every one of your friends and none of them knew where you were!"

"Uh," she winces, "You don't know them. I haven't really talked about these friends."

"You tell us about all of your friends."

Her father's voice cuts over her moms slightly hurt one, "Is it a boys house? Young lady you need to come home right now, everyone is looking for you."

A flash of fear takes away Marinette's words. If everyone was looking for her, that meant Hawkmoth was too. She rubs her arm nervously, "I-I'm fine. It's not a boys house. I-Uh…"

Nicole sets a hand on her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts. Her voice is soft as she speaks, "Deep breath."

It's only two words, not even that extravagant, but the concern in the others posture reassures her just a little bit. Her parents voices are loud out of the tiny speaker, each more frantic than the last, the longer she takes to respond.

She makes up her mind then, "I'm going to school first. I can't be late again. I'll talk to you when I come home this afternoon, promise." Then she hangs up.

Nicole takes her phone back when it's offered, "That was pretty brave of you."

Marinette smiles, "Thanks."

A soft tap draws her attention to the person behind her. Sofia smiles and holds out a pair of shoes.

"Here, you can use these. I heard Nicole yell about it last night. They might be the wrong size but-" she trails off, her pigtails bouncing as she fidgets.

The shoes are just as brightly colored as Sofia seems to be, pastel colors splashed together with pictures of sweets with faces laughing.

Taking the shoes, the bluenette takes the shoes that are offered and tries them on, "Thank you, I totally forgot about that." It takes a little adjusting but they fit nicely after she tightens them, "They fit great! And their so cute." She stands up, "I'll make sure to return them as soon as I can."

Sofia smiles, "No need, their too small for me and I wasn't sure what to do with them. I'm glad they fit!"

Marinette hesitates, "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive!" Her fidgeting turns into excited hopping.

Nicole moves to the front door and unlocks it, "Mind if I walk you most of the way to school? Make sure you're safe?"

The teen turns and shrugs her shoulders, "If you want to, I can't really stop you."

Nicole laughs, "True, but if you didn't want me to go I wouldn't."

They step out into the brightly lit hallway, turning back to say goodbye before making quick work of the stairs and out into the world.

"So, I can take you back to where I found you, could you lead from there?"

Marinette nods, "I can do that."

"Great!" They start walking, the taller of the two slowing their pace for the smaller one, "So, figures I should share some things about me since we're friends now."

A hard blush covers the bluenette cheeks, "Y-you don't have to do that! I just didn't want my parents to be worried! Not that I don't want to be your friend, I wouldn't mind, you seem like a really cool person! Not that you're not cool-!"

A hand lands on her shoulder, "Whoa, slow down there. I was just teasing you. I don't mind, besides, I think getting to know someone new would be awesome."

Marinette tried to force the embarrassment off of her face, "I can tell you a bit about myself too, then we can really be friends."

They keep a comfortable pace as they walk, luckily they weren't too far away from their destination.

"Well, I like boating. As you know, the water is calming and I enjoy seeing all the people that come by. My roommates and I met a little before we started school, moved in together when they were assigning rooms. I'm also a huge fan Chat Noir."

The name has the teen pausing, not expecting her partners name to pop up, "Oh, really? I like Chat Noir too, he's very strong."

Nicole turns to her, "That's great. Most people I know prefer Ladybug. Don't get me wrong, she's an awesome girl but Chat's a little more laid back."

A sad smile sets across Marinette's face, "Yeah, he's super laid back."

"What else do you like?" She turns forward again.

"Um… I like designing clothes, I want to go into the fashion industry when I get older. I also enjoy baking! Oh! That reminds me, I don't want to sound rude or anything, but what was your friend wearing? The brightly colored one. I've never seen that style before."

They reach the bridge, easily switching positions as the smaller girl leads the way.

Nicole laughs, "Yeah, Sofia like this style of dress called Harajuku, it's popular in Japan."

"Huh, I'll have to look into that. Sorry, that was off track, what about you?"

"It's alright, I'm actually in university. I work the boats a side job and give free tours of the rivers to sad teenagers who want to get away from it all."

Marinette laughs at that, "Very funny. You don't actually do that," she peaks a glance at the other, "Do you?"

The smirk on her face is telling, "I do. But so far, you're the only teenager whose ever qualified for the position. Most people don't want to go on a lonely boat ride."

The teen frowns, "But I wasn't lonely, you were there."

A blush covers the tan skin, her hands sliding into her pants pockets, "Most people don't think that way. I'm glad you do though."

Someone Marinette recognizes from school passes them, their older than her but she's seen them a few times in the halls. The only reason this is important is because it reminds her where they were walking too.

"Oh! Crap, that's my school. Thank you for walking me here!"

Nicole waves at her, "No problem. When you get the chance, text me. Your parents have my phone number now so it won't be a problem."

The teen waves back at her, "Yeah! I'll do that as soon as I can! See you later Nicole!"

Marinette runs towards the steps with a small skip. She hadn't been this happy since before- she cuts off the thought. She wasn't sure how she was going to do much today, since her school stuff was at home, but with Tikki hiding in her jacket and some of her extra stuff in her locker, she was sure she could make do.

The bluenette makes it as far as the locker room before her good mood is threatened.

"There you are!"

Marinette barely suppresses a sigh as the familiar angry footsteps of her old friend stomp her way.

She manages to keep a straight face as she takes out her spare supplies, "Here I am."

Alya stops next to her, hands on her hips, "Your parents called me saying you disappeared last night and then I get a call from Lila saying you slammed a door in her face when she tried to visit you to say she was sorry. What did you even do to make her want to apologize to you?" She pauses before throwing an arm up, "And all you have to say to me now is 'Here I am'?!"

Marinette cringes at the bad impression of her voice, squeaky and very obviously it of the others voice range when it cracks, "I don't sound like that."

The brunette points a finger at her, "First of all, yes you do. Second of all, answer the question!"

Taking a step back, the bluenette closes her locker, "I said it before and I'll say it again, that's only one part of the story. If you won't listen to my half of it, then please excuse me." She tries to keep her happy mood tied tight to her heart. This morning had been to nice to let go of so easily.

Alya is basically vibrating with rage, "And what about Lila?!"

The feelings from yesterday threaten to come back, the shock, the pure feeling of betrayal, the anger. She shoves them down by hugging her books tighter, "What about Lila."

If it were possible for a person to be angrier, Marinette wasn't sure, but she has to be witnessing a volcano going off, "YOU SLAMMED THE DOOR IN HER FACE AND WOULDN'T EVEN HEAR HER OUT!"

Heart hammering in her chest, it takes much too long for the bluenette to respond, it's Tikki's comforting hug that brings her back completely, "I-I just want to go to class. Please move."

Alya doesn't move an inch, her one hand planted into her hip while the other points at Marinette aggressively, "ARE YOU IGNORING ME?! YOU REALLY ARE JUST A HEARTLESS PERSON AREN'T YOU? YOU DON'T EVEN CARE WHO YOU HURT AS LONG AS IT'S NOT ADRIEN."

The happy mood is dashed away, easily replaced by the now familiar betrayal and anger. She jumps over the bench to get around Alya, heart lodged into her throat at the thought of her partner, broken, trapped, and in need of a rescue that she still wasn't sure she could pull off. Especially not alone. Her feet move her automatically, her ears ringing with Alya's shouts of anger but not understanding her words. They didn't matter right now.

Her legs carry her to the classroom and up to the back row before dropping her unceremoniously onto the bench. They must be alone in the room, because her little Kwami is hugging her cheek.

"I'm so sorry Marinette." Her voice is so soft and broken.

Setting her stuff down, she cups a hand around the small form of her friend, "It's not your fault Tikki, but thank you anyway." Her one voice is soft, not anywhere near the raging volume that Alya had used.

The Kwami nods her head, "I know, but these past two and a half weeks have been a nightmare for you, and there doesn't seem to be anything I could do to make it better."

Marinette's heart warms, "You're so sweet. You have been doing everything you can to make me feel better. Just having you at my side has helped me more than you can imagine."

Tikki smiles up at her, giving her one final hug, "I'll always stay by your side as long as you want me."

With a whispered 'thank you', the Kwami returns to hiding in her jacket. It's quiet for a few minutes as she sets out her stuff, ready to take notes when class starts. Even after being comforted, however, a sense of dread hangs heavily on her mind.