Sorry for the hiatus, I wanted to get it right and there's an issue which I believe needs addressing before I delve into Lila so I've rewritten this chapter to accommodate it. I hope you enjoy!

It felt like hours.

That was because it had been.

Lila sat in a small room on a deceivingly comfortable looking sofa. The thing was like sitting on a bag of bricks, and smelled vaguely like the bottom burps of all the people who had been there before her.

She was disgusted.

Her mother was also inside the station, but Lila had been given an appropriate adult due to the woman also being questioned. The older Italian had been very vocal of her daughter's unnecessary detainment, stating that Lila was entirely the victim after being dumped; the look the two officers shared after Carmilla Rossi had her outburst however, told Lila this was so much worse than she had originally anticipated. The younger Rossi did not even need to focus on her thoughts as her mind immediately began replaying all the instances that could have been manipulated to portray her as the one in the wrong: coming up with feasible explanations to counter whatever had already been said.

Sat on her own after meeting with her appropriate adult briefly, she stewed. The Italian was in no way in the wrong with the way she had conducted herself, and her truth was going to be heard.

'He never said no. He said we were friends. Adrien smiled at me, he wanted to help me, and I got that bitch back into school for him! She always got in the way… I'm gonna make sure she never gets in the way again!' Lila clenched her teeth in an attempt to keep her cool, getting angry was not the answer. 'Even. Getting even is the answer, and I will prove that she is the problem and always has been! When I'm out of here she will get what's coming to her, that little pathetic bitch will rue the day she ever met Lila Rossi!'

"WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS ABOUT?!" Chloé's voice pierced through the air of the Agreste mansion as she stormed through the front doors. Meeting a stern looking Nathalie, after being let in by the assistant, Chloé looked past her to see if she could spot Adrien. "THERE ARE POLICE CARS AND REPORTERS AND FANS BLOCKING THE GATES, AND I HAVE TO BE CLEARED BEFORE I CAN ENTER!" She stomped her foot and threw her arms to her sides before continuing to scream at a blasé Nathalie. "THIS IS RIDICULOUS! UTTERLY RIDICULOUS!"

"Miss Bourgeois," Nathalie spoke calmly, shocking Chloé into ceasing her tirade. "Please can you refrain from shouting. Adrien is just finishing off with his-"

Chloé took a deep inhale to calm herself, "is it true?"

Nathalie tilted her head, "is what true?"

"What the class is saying." She threw her hands up with frustration. "Is it true that Lila has been lying? Has she really been causing trouble for my Adrik-"

"My son does not belong to anyone, Miss Bourgeois," Gabriel interrupted as he walked into the foyer from the dining room, "my son is his own person."

"I thought you were with Adrien," Nathalie turned to face him fully as he started walking towards the two females.

"No," Gabriel rubbed his forehead, "as Marinette has already given her statement, Adrien asked if she could be the one to sit in with him."

"Is that allowed?"

"Being as she is the one who has the majority of the evidence and Adrien is struggling to remember some of the many incidents, they have allowed her in, to walk through the documents so he is able to talk about them in a chronological order. She is in no way prompting him though."

"I see," Nathalie pursed her lips and turned back to Chloé, "they shouldn't be much longer, if you want to wait upstairs with Nino and Alya-"

"They're here too!?"

"Yes."

Chloé took in a shaky breath as her eyes began to water, "wh-why did no one call me?"

Both Nathalie and Gabriel shared a look before the older Agreste placed an apologetic hand on the blonde's shoulder. "It has all happened rather quickly Chloé, I'm sure that Adrien will appreciate you being here now. How did you find out about all of this anyway?"

Chloé blinked back the tears that threatened to ruin her mascara and sniffed before answering quietly. "Kim called me and Sabrina earlier this morning… he said that the rest of the class were not being sent in because of the way the school has dealt with Lila and her treatment of Dupain-Cheng and Adrien." She finished off quietly with her head down, "I saw the post she put up last night, and I knew she was causing trouble then but-" the blonde cut herself off while trying to stifle a sob, "I couldn't bring myself to believe that Adrien had picked… her."

Gabriel and Nathalie both felt rather awkward with this uncharacteristically vulnerable Chloé standing before them. The two adults both glanced at the other while Gabriel retracted his hand and cleared his throat. They knew Chloé had harboured romantic feelings for her childhood friend for a long time, it was something that had never really been broached by any of them but it was common knowledge. The door to the office opened and Chloé's head snapped up to reveal streaks of mascara running down her cheeks.

Her piercing blue eyes focused on the blonde who exited and the hand he was holding onto tightly.

No one said anything while Chloé refused to acknowledge the teen beside him, and an awkward tension descended around the occupants of the room. Pursing her lips, Chloé turned her attention to the top of the stairs where Nino and Alya had just appeared: her eyes narrowing as her jaw clenched uncomfortably.

"I can see now that I'm not wanted."

"Chloé-"

"No Adrien," she stared at him with dull eyes, "I think it's pretty clear who you consider to be your best friends." As she turned on her heel, she found herself prevented from going any further as a hand snaked around her wrist. Peering through the corner of her eye, Chloé could see bloodshot green pleading with her to stay, but the hotel heiress could not look at him. "Please let me go."

"Will you please stay, Chloé? I do need to speak to you."

"I think we have gathered everything-oh."

All eyes turned to Roger Raincomprix as the man exited Gabriel's office followed by his colleague. His beady eyes travelled from Chloé, to Adrien, to the adults standing awkwardly, and then to the three teens who had congregated at the bottom of the stairs. "I will be in touch," he cleared his throat, "thank you for your time and if you remembered anything further," he handed a card over to Nathalie, "please contact me directly. This is a delicate subject, and it needs to be handled in the right manner."

"Thank you Lieutenant," Nathalie nodded quickly, "we will contact you if we have anything further to add."

"Well," the man shifted his gaze once more over the others in the room, "I will see myself out."

Scurrying over to the door, the redhead man placed his hat on his head and stepped out of the door, leaving the occupants of the house to deal with that situation while he made his way to the station. There was a long list of people to take statements from that he still needed to contact, and Roger Raincomprix could already tell that this matter was far from over.

Nadja Chamack stood outside the gates of the Agreste mansion.

The woman had her script of what she was supposed to say from her superiors, but Nadja had been given an incentive to go against those at the studio. With her air-time smile in place, and the cameraman counting down silently to signal when rolling would start, Nadja knew the decision she was going to make.

Scandalising a story that had no substance was not something she was going to do again: she learned that mistake after becoming akumatised and losing her job briefly. Although this decision may end up with her losing her position at the studio permanently, her integrity as a broadcaster was more important and Marinette was a good kid. The seasoned newscaster was in no way going to throw her under a bus when the reality was how her good friend's daughter was the victim of a jealous teenager.

No.

Nadja had her morals, and the woman was not going to let the bigwigs at the station tell her to throw them away for the sake of entertainment.

"Don't be amused, it's just the news, and I'm standing outside the Agreste mansion where the son of world renowned fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste, has been under fire for supposedly dumping his girlfriend in favour of his classmate…"

Sabine's heart dropped as she watched her friend begin her opening of the broadcast. The petite woman was well aware of the decision Nadja was required to make, and she hoped that she was going to do right by Marinette. Their guest had only spent a short amount of time in their apartment, but Kagami Tsurugi was comfortable enough to reach over and give Sabine's hand a squeeze of reassurance.

Nadja furrowed her brow while looking intently into the camera, and Sabine knew this was when she would find out if the broadcaster had been swayed to go with tales over truth.

"...I can confirm, after speaking directly with close friends of Adrien Agreste, that the post shared on social media causing a divide amongst his fans was completely, one hundred percent, false. The teenager, who will remain nameless due to legal reasons, is not, and has never been a girlfriend of the blonde model. I have a statement from close family friend, Kagami Tsurugi, which has since been verified by the Agreste camp, here, which documents her own relationship status with the supposed two-timing blonde."

Nadja took out her earpiece before the screen cut to an advertisement of the latest car to be released by the Tsurugi family, and the two Asian women let out a sigh of relief. Sabine squeezed Kagami's hand before the younger dark haired female smiled at the baker's wife.

"It has been confirmed on national television that Lila was lying."

Sabine troubled her bottom lip, "yes, but your statement was not read out-"

"Do not worry Mrs Cheng," Kagami smiled confidently, "Alya will make sure my statement is broadcasted to the masses."

Adrien stood awkwardly with an emotional Chloé who was unable to look at him. The way she held herself was completely reminiscent of every time her mother would abandon her in favour of her life in New York, and Adrien felt awful.

The blonde had his reasons for keeping her away from all of this circus however: he had similar issues with how she could be all over him. Adrien did not want to tar Chloé with the same brush, even though it seemed like double standards. The model had always humoured her because of their friendship, but now that Chloé was standing in front of him, he had to speak with her about her behaviour towards him.

"Chloé, you know I love you right?"

Blue eyes lit up and her mouth opened as the hotel heiress launched herself to wrap him up in a hug. Adrien saw it coming however, and prevented her from embracing him as he was not finished in what needed to be said.

"Chloé," he hesitated with a sympathetic frown creasing his forehead, "you have got to stop doing that without warning."

The teen took a step back from Adrien, shaking her head slightly as if to work out if she had heard him correctly.

"You are my oldest friend Chloe," Adrien continued while twisting his lips, "but sometimes, the way you push people away from me, and the way you talk down to my friends… well it's not good Chlo."

The blonde female took in a shaky breath as an expression of disbelief morphed her features. For once, Chloé was speechless, and Adrien took full advantage to explain further.

"When we were younger, I had very little awareness of what happens outside in the real world." He rolled his lips while trying to gage how to put what he wanted to say into words. "You got me into school and I will forever be grateful to you for that but-"

"But you don't need me anymore," Chloé's face contorted with anger as she pursed her lips, "is that it?"

"No Chlo, that's not it at all…" he rubbed the back of his neck while watching her features soften, "I just… I just have a better idea of what happens out there now… and the way you will suddenly jump on me, I know that it's something-gah! I wish I knew how to say this properly."

Chloé narrowed her eyes at him angrily, "oh just spit it out Adrien, you had no problem hurting my feelings by not including me in this matter, so why are you so arsed about it now?!"

The teen's outburst had Adrien raising his eyebrows with a mixture of surprise and annoyance, he suddenly had no problem putting his feelings into words.

"I feel like you think you have rights to me, and that's not on." Not letting Chloé rebuke his words when she opened her mouth, he held his hand out and shook his head before continuing. "I don't like the way you grab me, I don't like the way you unexpectedly hug me, and I really don't like the way you obviously try to segregate us from the rest of the class."

"But I love you-"

"And I love you Chlo," Adrien levelled her with a sympathetic head tilt, "but I see you like a sister and nothing else." The blonde female began tearing and Adrien placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look straight at him. "In the past Chlo, you've tried to kiss me, you had me sign things that have implications that we are more than what we are… it makes me uncomfortable, and I don't want our friendship to suffer because of it. Do you understand?"

She nodded and clumsily wiped away the fresh tears that were trailing mascara down her cheeks. Chloé sniffed softly, "I-I'm sorry Adrikins, I never meant to make you feel like that."

"I know," he held his arms open to show she was welcome to embrace him, the blonde heiress gladly found comfort in his warmth when he pulled her to him. "I also know that sometimes you are as oblivious as me when it comes to these things, but I also know that I need to be more blunt when it comes to how I express myself."

From the wet patches now seeping through his shirt, Adrien was aware that his oldest friend was silently sobbing, but the small nod confirmed that she heard what he had said. "I'm not as bad as Lila, am I?"

Adrien snorted, "no, definitely not." He released her and held the tops of her arms while wincing with a smile, "you've never touched my bum for starters, and you're not as cruel and manipulative as Lila either."

The teen smiled unsurely at him, "but I can be."

Adrien's brow furrowed with a teasing smirk, "you have your moments, I'm not gonna lie, but you don't hide it Chlo, and I know that deep down it's because of how self conscious you are."

She wiped her nose and looked away from him while retorting weakly, "you're ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." She sniffed and Adrien smiled softly at her, causing Chloé to puff out a long breath, "I guess I have to be nice to Dupain-Cheng now then, huh?"

Adrien raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms with a semi-serious expression, "come on now, you can say her name."

"Baker-"

"Chloé."

It was no more than one minute after taking out her earpiece, that Nadja Chamack and her cameraman were hustled into the grounds of the Agreste mansion. Gorilla made sure to keep any unwanted people from getting through the gates while they bolted up the stairs and Nathalie opened the door. Alya was standing behind the assistant with her phone already in hand, in preparation for picking up where the station cut off, and wasted no time to begin live streaming when Nadja gave her the nod. Finding a blank wall to film in front of was surprisingly easy, and Alya was really impressed with the way the lighting of the foyer illuminated them perfectly.

"Alya Césaire here, and I have the wonderful Nadja Chamack to continue her broadcast after being taken off the air by the bigwigs who wanted to make a spectacle of the situation. I would like to remind the viewers that this information is regarding minors, and some information cannot be given out due to legal reasons. Nadja?"

"Thank you Alya," the older woman smiled thankfully at her protégé before looking directly into the phone's lens while Alya shuffled to get out of the shot. "If you missed my earlier broadcast, I was explaining that I have a statement from a Miss Kagami Tsurugi which states her relationship status with Adrien Agreste.

"It reads: 'I Kagami Tsurugi, would like to clarify that before I left to live in America several months ago, myself and Mr Agreste were actively courting. The fact that' blanked out name 'has insinuated that herself and Mr Agreste were dating for over a year, as it is stated in her social media post, would cause me to wonder why they have waited until now to release an image and make these claims…'"

Adrien came down the stairs with Chloé following closely behind and went to stand next to Marinette. The ravenette jumped when the blonde brushed her hand to take it, and upon realising he was next to her, Marinette leaned into him and Adrien gladly put his arm around her shoulders.

Glancing around, the green eyed teen found his chest swell with warmth as he saw his father paying close attention alongside Nathalie who was diligently screening calls; Gorilla stood in front of the closed double doors, keeping guard in case the mansion's perimeter was breached; the cameraman spotted him looking around and gave him a reassuring thumbs up; Nadja continued to deliver her broadcast with confidence, putting her career on the line to protect both him and Marinette; Alya was proudly supporting them by filming Nadja with Nino standing strong at her side; and Chloé was there, making an effort to accept the new norm that Adrien had outlined for her.

The blonde kissed Marinette softly on her temple, loving the perfect way that her frame fit within his, and the teen felt complete. Adrien decided then and there, that even if things did go south with Lila and the report they made to the police, that he had everything he needed in his life.

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter and how you think it's going :)

I thought it was important to address Chloé and the way she conducts herself around Adrien, so I hope I did that justice. And Kagami is the guest at the Dupain-Cheng's! I would love to see the teen build relationships with others in the show so I'm sorry if it's not canon, but in my head, I believe that it could happen with Marinette's parents.

Thank you for the reviews, follows and the faves! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know your thoughts.

Take it easy =^.^=

Lady Rhi X