Chapter 2:

Marinette knew something was up.

Chloe had been turning down every hangout invite she's given her in the past few days. She had even called Luka, Kagami and Nino to see if they had heard from her and they hadn't been very helpful. They had only reassured her that Chloe was planning something and that there was nothing to worry about. Of course they had also denied being able to hang out either, saying they had to get some stuff done before the weekend.

She was getting worried. What if she had finally lost the rest of her friends to Lila's lies?

No. She couldn't think like that. It would only end up going bad. They still had their big sleepover they were planning tonight at Chloe's dad's hotel and nothing her friends had done had shown any sign of bad intent.

Everything was going to be fine.

"Marinette, why not call Izuku if you're worried. He's always been able to ease your worries." Tikki spoke up, causing the girl to look up from her sewing machine that had been off for the past few minutes while she was lost in her thoughts.

"That's a good idea, Tikki." Mari nodded and smiled at the little kwami as she pulled out her cell phone.

The line had rung a few times, more than usual as Deku had always answered the phone pretty quickly when she called in the past.

"Hey Mari." Deku's voice finally answered, he sounded panicked and slightly out of breath. "What's up?"

"Hey Izuku." Mari smiled at hearing her cousin's voice. "Am I interrupting training or something? You sound out of breath. Kacchan's not bullying you again is he?"

"N-No! I was just-" He paused, and she heard some urgent whispers in the background. "Yeah! I was training!"

"Give me that, ya damn nerd!" Bakugou's voice hollered followed by some rustling as the phone was snatched away by her favorite pomeranien. "You ok, Mari? What's up?"

Marinette couldn't help the warm feeling that formed in her chest at the explosive boy's concerned voice.

"I'm ok, Kacchan." She couldn't help but giggle at Deku's spluttering in the background. "I just wanted to call and see how you and Deku were doing. You're not being to hard on him are you?"

"Of course not! I'm plenty fucking helpful!" Bakugou shouted at the question which only caused Marinette to laugh.

"Kacchan, careful! You'll rip it!" Deku's nervous voice called from the background.

"Shut up!"

"What are you doing, anyway?" Marinette asked, curious.

"We're just out getting some new clothes." Bakugou explained. "Deku wanted some new stuff."

"Is the whole class with you? I thought I heard Uraraka."

"Of course! The whole damn school follows me everywhere!" Bakugou exclaimed.

"Well, tell them I said hi." Mari laughed. "I'll try not to keep you. You and Deku should call me later so we can catch up. I wanna hear how school is coming along."

"Will do!" She could hear Bakugou's smirk in his words. "Try not to miss me too much!"

"I don't know if that's possible!" Mari laughed, a small blush gracing her cheeks. "I miss you and Deku everyday."

"Heh…" Bakugou let out a soft laugh, something unknown to his voice. "We'll call you later."

"Ok, see ya." Mari said.

"See ya, blue."

Setting down the phone, Marinette smiled at Tikki.

"I feel much better. Let's get back to work." she smiled at the kwami, who nodded and flew over to a bowl of buttons of many different colors. The two went to work on which one would go best with the fabric.