A/N: Heads up for you, lovelies - there's a 99% chance of no chapters for a couple of days. I'm going to be travelling out of town and this means no laptop until I get back.

27.

„No, Félix. I will not help you with this." Chloé refused to look at the blonde. When they were children, she had adored Félix as much as she'd adored Adrien. At one point, she'd even considered him her soulmate. They were alike, she and Félix, in that they both wanted only the best for themselves. But knowing that, she also knew that sometimes one's best was not necessarily the other's.

And she'd always had a soft spot for Adrien.

"Please, Chloé!" It was uncharacteristic of Félix to plead with her like this. She enjoyed it, even if she had already made up her mind to not help him. No argument was going to change that – she knew it was in her best interests to keep her mouth shot.

"No, Félix," she cackled. "I will not tell you where to find the klutz."

"I'll give you anything."

"Still a no."

Félix sneered. For a moment, Chloé wondered if he was going to hit her. She shook her head disapprovingly.

"I will never understand you Agrestes," she commented dryly. "There are plenty of fish in the sea and both of you keep going for the scrawny one."

It struck a nerve. Félix shot her a dark, intense glare. Chloé only smirked at that, glad that looks couldn't kill. And if they could, she would have been dead long before this conversation could ever happen.

"Trust me, Prince," she used his nickname tauntingly. "Bug girl and you would never work. He's too fucking nice." Her expression softened in pity. "You're better off cheering for your cousin."

"Why?"

"Because there are enough people out there," Chloé gestured at the world outside the window of her office, "who aren't on her side. I'll be honest with you, Félix. I don't like Marinette. But she makes the world a better place. And that's what I want for my future princess. A better world. So god help me, but from now on, I'll stand by her."

Félix grunted. Chloé never spoke like this, so he could tell she was completely serious. He let the door slam close behind him, but he didn't miss the woman's last words.

"You can't leave the world. But you can make it turn."

As Félix stalked the streets of Paris with mixed feelings in his chest and a sour look on his face, he didn't notice he was being followed until a beautiful girl had hooked her arms with him. She had hair the color of chestnuts and an unsettling smile on her face. Her eyes were hidden by a pair of dark sunglasses, fitting for the bright sunny day. Félix was intrigued, so he didn't pull away immediately.

"A little birdie told me you're looking for Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I believe I could help you," she spoke in a voice as sweet as honey. "I'm her best friend, you know."

It was easy to discern that she was lying. If she was really her best friend, she would not be flaunting that title so easily. Félix refused to believe Bug was dumb. But for the sake of entertainment, he played along.

"Is that so?" he asked, putting on the most dazzling smile that ran in his mother's family. Perfectly polite, perfectly fake.

"Yeah, absolutely! And as her best friend, I need to protect her, don't I?" she blabbered on. "And personally, I don't think Adrien is good for her."

"What's your name, miss best friend?" He tilted his head at an angle that made him look the most handsome.

The woman leaned forward and boldly brushed her lips against his ear, as she whispered hotly: "Lila, Lila Rossi."

He returned her movement with one of his own. He copied her to a T, but his voice was colder than ice and sharper than a knife. "Well, Lila, your birdie was wrong." He shoved her away from him. Baffled, Lila fell to the asphalt. The sunglasses hid the fact that her eyes had widened for a moment before narrowing into two angry slits. "Marinette and I will run into each other sooner or later. So I don't need your help."

He walked off, feeling worse than before. There was anger, frustration, envy. Regret for leaving London. Regret for not taking Lila up on her offer.

Satisfaction that he had done the right thing.

In the end, Alya had called Marinette anyway. She kept her promise to Nino, but she'd been unable to hide from her friend that she knew something. It was so hard to keep her mouth shut, not reveal the big reveal and be a good, supportive friend at the same time.

"So, is Hugo going to get any baby brothers or sisters?" she asked in an attempt to be inconspicuous about her secrets. There was a grin on her face, as Marinette flushed mid-bite and nearly choked on a piece of cake.

"N-no!" the bluenette stuttered, taken aback by Alya's brashness. There was nothing surprising about it – the woman usually got straight to the point.

"Well, is he at least a great kisser?" Alya wiggled her eyebrows, fishing for information. And information, she got. Marinette's eyes looked desperately away, as her face turned redder and redder and… "Oh my god, Marinette, tell me you've kissed."

Marinette's body slumped forward, even though her mouth argued vehemently that yes, they had.

"You haven't!" Alya declared loudly. Marinette looked around nervously to see if anyone had heard. "Come on, girl, what are you waiting for? How am I ever going to be a godmother, if you don't help me out here?"

Marinette didn't answer, blushing too hard to get even a single word out of her mouth. Alya laughed a little and leaned forward to rub her back. "You know, it's not that bad," she tried to comfort her friend. "Your relationship is weird. But that's okay. Haven't noticed him complaining."

"He probably wouldn't." Marinette buried her face in hands. She peeked at Alya through her fingers, trying to hide a small smile that was creeping onto her face. "But I don't want to make things awkward between us…"

Alya was this close to smacking Marinette on her head. Instead, she took her friend's hands and lowered them onto her lap, before screeching so loudly the bluenette winced from the pain.

"Girl, stop being an idiot and kiss the poor guy already!"