Chapter 7: Fan Girls

~Marinette~

Marinette rushes down the stairs, snatching a croissant from the bakery as she heads out the doors for school. She pauses as she nearly runs into a familiar blonde.

"A-Adrien!" She startles.

He chuckles, "Good morning, Marinette." He carefully slips her backpack off her shoulders and slips it onto his own, "I came to walk you to school again. Looks like I showed up right on time."

Marinette stares wide-eyed at her backpack on Adrien's shoulder, she shakes her head, "I can carry that." She points to her bag.

Adrien chuckles, "I'm your boyfriend, remember? You shouldn't have to carry your bag with me around." He winks.

Marinette nods, eyes still wide.

"Shall we?" Adrien says as he holds his arm out to her.

Marinette smiles as she places her arm in his. This isn't real. This is a fake relationship. Don't make a scene. Don't get too excited. She reminds herself.

Adrien smiles at her as he leads her away from the bakery and to the steps of the school. They remain arm in arm the entire way.

"Did you sleep okay?" Adrien asks.

Marinette nods, "I did. What about you?"

Adrien smiles, "I did too. I went to bed at a good time and had pleasant dreams."

They continue making small talk as they head to their classroom, but are quickly interrupted by a horde of girls.

"Are you really dating?" One yells.

"Look! He's carrying her bag!" Another calls.

"Adrien! You can date me instead! I'll model with you!"

"Why did he choose to date you?" One asks Marinette.

"U-um…" Marinette begins, uncomfortable.

Adrien notices Marinette's discomfort and quickly does his best to ease it. He rubs soothing circles on her back as he carefully guides her through the crowd of fangirls.

"Are you okay?" He asks as they finally get away and into their class.

Marinette swallows, "Y-yeah. That was just a lot."

Adrien nods, "You just have to ignore them, Marinette. They're mostly harmless and will back off once they realize they have no chance." He pulls her in for a hug, "I promise that everything will be okay. They'll give up after a few days and then everything will go back to how it was."

"H-how it was?" Marinette asks.

Adrien smiles and grabs her hand, "Well, for the most part. Except that we're dating now."

Marinette blushes and nods her head.

A throat clears from behind them, "Are you two done?"

They turn to find Lila and the rest of the class staring at them. Adrien sighs and holds Marinette's hand tighter.

"Good morning Lila." He says with a hint of sarcasm.

"How long will you two keep up this dating charade?" Lila asks.

There's an audible gasp in the room, "Lila!" Alya calls.

Lila rolls her eyes, "Anyone in this room can tell that Adrien is only pretending to date Marinette." She says with false sweetness, "I just don't understand why he chose her instead of dating someone he actually likes."

Adrien tightens his hold on Marinette once again, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Lila, but Marinette and I aren't faking."

Chloe scoffs, "Please, you want us to believe that you chose Maritrash? I can't believe I'm agreeing with Lila, but you have to be faking. There's no way you would stoop so low."

Marinette begins to step forward to defend herself, but Adrien pulls her closer to him and speaks again.

"Marinette and I are dating. I care for Marinette deeply. She's beautiful, brave, smart, caring, and much better than either of you. If you can't accept that as the truth, then we don't need to be friends anymore." He says angrily before dragging Marinette to her seat.

He takes a deep breath and sighs before turning to Alya, "Can we switch seats?"

Alya nods, "Of course, Adrien. After that show, I think you two need to stay close together." She quickly collects her stuff, gives Marinette a knowing look, and makes her way to sit next to Nino.

"You can't just walk away! We were talking to you!" Chloe yells.

Adrien sighs and ignores her.

"Just leave it alone, Chloe." Marinette finally speaks.

Chloe scoffs, "I wasn't talking to you, Maritrash. I was talking to my Adrikins."

Marinette rolls her eyes and places a hand on Adrien's arm to stop him from speaking, "He's not yours, Chloe. He's not mine either."

"Ha! So you admit you're faking." Lila says.

Marinette shakes her head, "No, Adrien and I are dating, but he's not mine. He's his own person. He doesn't belong to anyone."

"Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloe seethes as she collapses in her seat.

Lila glares at the couple before schooling her expression into a sweet one, "Oh, I don't know why you feel the need to lie to us. I thought we were all friends here."

Marinette rolls her eyes and this time Adrien speaks, "Lila, the only one in this room that is lying, is you."

Marinette hides her cringe at the blatant hypocrisy in that sentence. Adrien clearly notices and squeezes her hand in reassurance. He knows she hates lying, but it's for a good cause. Everything will be okay. She's doing it for Adrien after all.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Adrien. I never lie." Lila says.

The couple roll their eyes and ignore the Italian.

Lila looks around the room and finds that most of the students are no longer paying attention to their conversation. Too lost in their own chats with one another.

Lila bends close to Marinette and Adrien and whispers so only they can hear, "I will reveal this relationship as the fake one it is. I hope you're prepared for the storm coming, because I'm the only one that will come out of it dry."

With those words she flips her hair back and makes her way to the back of the classroom and sits in her seat. Marinette looks to Adrien, but before they can address the threat Lila made, the doors open and an akuma walks in.

A/N - Hey guys! Sorry it has been a few days, but as promised, you will still get at least one chapter each week. My husband has been sick the past few days, so I haven't had much time to write. He is doing much better now though! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews! They mean a lot!