"Maybe if we ignore her, she'll think she's talking to the wrong person," Marinette suggested quietly, just barely loud enough for him to hear. He choked on his laugh and tried to smile to offer a sense of protection. Félix was the first to actually see Chloé as she came up behind Marinette.
"Unfortunately, I think you need to deal with her. I don't think she's going to let you go that easily. I'm right here, though. I have your back, no matter what." She let out a long exhale and turned around to face her childhood nemesis.
"What can I do for you, Chloé," Marinette asked politely.
"For me, nothing. I've never wanted anything from you. I just want to know what you're doing here with this… stranger instead of your precious Buttercup," the tone of voice she used to mention Buttercup was clearly mocking. "The school put together a whole masquerade where you could confess your feelings and either you two would go live sappily ever after or move on from him and you show up with this, this…" Chloé gestured a hand vaguely over Félix's form, "this hooligan."
"Don't call him a hooligan, Chloé," Marinette responded, filled with slightly dwindling confidence. "Félix happens to be one of the most important people in my life. He's not just some ratty stranger I found on the street. I haven't betrayed Buttercup just because I've opened my heart up to someone who I've known for years and have been growing to care about for just as long."
"You expect me to believe that? I've known you for years and Sabrina has been keeping an eye on you ever since you became interested in my friend. She has never seen you spend time with this ruffian before. How do I know you didn't just hire him to come with you tonight to make him jealous."
"God, Chloé, he's not a ruffian either. You don't know anything about me and not even Sabrina can know everything about someone she only sees at school. What even is this argument? Are you upset that I didn't ask a boy who wasn't allowed to come to a dance? Are you upset that I'm trying to spend time with a friend?"
Chloe scoffed. "You've talked his warden into agreeing to things a lot more serious than a school dance before. If you'd shown him the dress, he would have practically begged you to have his son on your arm tonight."
Marinette was clearly taken aback by the fact that Chloé's last comment sounded like it could have been meant as a compliment. "It doesn't matter," Marinette sighed, "we're here now and arguing isn't going to change the fact that his dad wouldn't let him come out. There's no reason for us to fight when nothing is going to change."
"Oh, really? Then, I suppose you don't mind that Lila is over there claiming that your Buttercup wasn't allowed to come out tonight because he was grounded for sneaking out to go see her while his dad was in Milan last week." Everytime Chloé said Buttercup, she did so with an eyeroll. She didn't like Marinette, but she wasn't about to out Marinette's crush in front of this boy who had clearly put in the effort to attend their dance with her.
"She's doing what." Félix had never seen a person growl before that moment, but he couldn't deny that Marinette was kind of hot when she did. She grabbed his hand and dragged him with her to confront Lila. She didn't expect him to say anything in front of the liar, but she really needed her partner by her side, even if he didn't know it.
"Oh, Marinette," Lila said in her faux sweet voice when she and Félix approached. "He said you might be upset when you found out, but we're really hoping that you can find it in your heart to be happy for us."
"You're so full of it," Marinette announced, not caring who was listening. "I can't believe that you'd go so far as to make up a fake business trip that his dad was on just so you can build up lies around it. He was busy last week, in fact he was even busier than usual. Nino had been texting him whenever he had a moment free. The day after this dance was announced, he told us that his dad wasn't letting him come, no matter what he tried."
"Why don't you believe me, Marinette," Lila asked, wiping away a few crocodile tears brought on by Marinette's betrayal. "He was supposed to wear a suit to match my dress. Why does it even matter to you? You're obviously here with someone else." Marinette looked at Lila's dress and barely kept from gagging at the look. It was a brown that was the color of baby poop and the princess shape didn't help her case.
"God, brown is definitely not his color, especially this shade of brown. I mean, seriously. You're a model for Gabriel Agreste. Did he really let you be seen in public in this monstrosity? It's tacky, at best. I would be ashamed to have you even associating with my son in a dress like this, let alone matching."
"You can't show up to the dance with someone else, then insist that Adrien isn't with me just because you gave him a stupid nickname. I mean, Buttercup? If that's the name you're going to saddle him with, it's no wonder Adrien chose me over you."
When Chloé said Buttercup, she sounded a little bit teasing, but ultimately neutral about it. Lila spat out the word Buttercup like it was a slur and Félix was so taken aback that he almost missed the fact that Lila just admitted to Buttercup's identity. An identity that was news to him, that Adrien was Buttercup.
"No," Félix stepped in between the girls. "Nope. We're done here, Mari."
"I'm really not done here, Fé," Marinette informed him, gritting her teeth.
"We really are, Marinette, or I swear I'm going to pick you up and carry you back to your friends. Lila doesn't deserve your attention, she's just trying to provoke you to start a fight." She didn't believe his threat. She understood that Lila was just trying to start a fight, but Lila disrespected Adrien and Marinette couldn't just stand by while she did that.
Marinette turned toward Lila once again and she knew she looked ready to attack. Félix leaned over and picked his princess up in a bridal carry, making sure to be careful with the gems in her skirt. He knew Marinette wanted to keep yelling at Lila, so he placed one finger over her lips to try to have her keep her words to herself.
"Nice meeting you, you lying prat. I'm sure Gabriel will be in contact in the next few days regarding a lawsuit for your stupid tabloid fodder and you not upholding the Agreste reputation all models are required to keep. If he doesn't, I'll be sending him a suit for unfair treatment of staff." He walked away from Lila and Marinette expected him to take her to Alya and the rest of their group from earlier.
He didn't. Instead, he took her to the edge of the dance floor. It was surprisingly quiet for how many people were standing near them. He put her back on her feet and she turned to face him. She looked like she was about to get upset at him for taking her away from Lila, but he spoke before she could say anything.
"Adrien Agreste," he questioned. "You've had me going mad because of my competition and you didn't tell me that it was Adrien-pretty-boy-Agreste? What is this nonsense, Marinette?" He laughed, not believing the circumstances. She interpreted it as him laughing at her. He raised his voice a little bit when he continued.
"I've been practically tearing my hair out because of this mystery Buttercup because, what? You couldn't tell me," he stopped himself from publicly announcing that he was Chat Noir, but they both heard the unspoken words, "that you have feelings for some, some coward who has a pretty face?" He was still laughing, between trying to get out his points about the love triangle between himself and Adrien.
Félix was so wrapped up in losing his mind about the fact that he was apparently fighting himself for his crush's attention that he didn't see the tears start to take form in Marinette's eyes. "This is so freaking stupid, Marinette. He's just some lame model and you deserve someone who can actually make you laugh and make you happy. All he can do is smile at you with his fake, magazine spread smile. I've been losing my mind for weeks because of this, this nonsense." The tears were slipping from Marinette's eyes and she looked down at the spot between their feet.
Félix got out of his own head and back into reality when heard a surprised gasp from near the center of the crowd of dancing students. It was the akuma kind of gasp, but he didn't know if it was still a butterfly or if it was already a villain. It didn't take long for him to see the butterfly practically rocketing through the students, directly toward Marinette.
"Shoot. I messed up." He took her hands. "Princess, I know you're upset and I probably deserve you to be mad at me, but I need you to trust me right now." She gave his hands the best squeeze she could muster, but it wasn't much. He pulled her toward him in the basic box step that he had taught her earlier that evening.
The step caused the butterfly to miss her by barely a centimeter. It recalibrated and darted toward Marinette once again. He watched it's path carefully and at the last second, spun Marinette to his other side. A crowd of students who had noticed the akuma were standing off to the side watching the two move.
Alya was in the front of the group, recording Félix helping Marinette avoid the akuma. The butterfly once again repositioned and started to make a move toward Marinette for a third time. This time, he waited for the right moment and performed a lift. The butterfly flew straight through where Marinette had been before the lift. He put her back on the floor and continued their dance. The butterfly went for another shot, but Félix had fully extended Marinette to the side from his right arm.
Again, the butterfly missed. "I don't know what to do," he whispered when he pulled her back to the proper dancing position.
"You do. It'll be fine. I trust you." He could barely hear her over the murmur of the crowd of students watching them. He and Marinette were standing a few centimeters from each other and he took a deep breath. He knew he only had one chance to move at the perfect time, or things could get so much worse.
If the butterfly gave Hawk Moth eyes before even getting to the victim, it would release Chat Noir's identity as baker Félix Cloche and she would have to give up the identity she had just become used to.
The butterfly made one more dash for Marientte's earrings. Félix whispered his transformation phrase and called for Cataclysm as Marinette fell back into a dip in his safe hand. He reached out and destroyed the butterfly. He used the palm of his safe hand to lift Marinette back to a standing position, being mindful of his claws, then transformed back quietly with her still in his hands.
The entire crowd was standing around the two of them and waiting expectantly. Marinette didn't know what to say and neither did Félix. Everyone was silent for a short while, not sure if they should expect an explanation for the fact that Marinette's date just transformed into one of Paris' heroes or not.
"Thank you Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Félix Cloche for working with the Ladyblog on this demonstration," Alya said loudly, stepping forward from the crowd after she handed her phone to Juleka to continue the recording. Nino had acquired a microphone and no one wanted to ask where it came from. He handed it to Alya and she continued speaking, "this was our way of showing that even if the world feels against you, all it takes is one person to turn a hopeless situation around."
"Marinette played the part of a victim who was feeling helpless and alone against everyone. We, at the Ladyblog, couldn't thank her more for her willingness to work on this project with us. Félix, her co-star, played the part of an everyday hero, keeping Hawk Moth's potential victim safe from his influence." No one was talking over her, so Alya was really hopeful that people were believing whatever nonsense she was saying.
"We would also like to extend a special thank you to Rena Rouge for her assistance with her illusion of the fake akuma and Félix's fake transformation. Let's give a big round of applause for our leads tonight." The girls from their class were the first ones to clap, followed by the rest of their classmates. Eventually, the entire student body in attendance was applauding. Marinette and Félix grasped hands and bowed at the end of the applause.
"Enjoy the rest of the dance everyone. Have a great night!" Alya turned the microphone off and handed it back to Nino. "You're the best," she told him. He went to bring the microphone back to where he got it and the entire crowd dispersed over the course of the next few minutes. Marinette and 'Félix' kept holding hands while they spoke with one another in hushed tones. Alya went over to them.
"So, are you going to tell me how you ended up with Chat Noir as your date to the dance now or later?"
"Definitely later," Marinette said. "For now, do I get to give my best friend a celebratory hug because she came up with a brilliant plan and executed it perfectly."
"Purrfectly," Félix corrected. Marinette scowled at him. "Too soon?" She nodded. Alya stepped in to receive the hug she was offered from Marinette. Just like he had seen in the past, their hug involved the little tottering from side to side and he couldn't help but to smile.
When the girls finished their hug, Marinette turned to Félix. "So, are you going to tell me what your problem with Adrien is?"
"It's nothing," he said quietly, "it's just an issue that I have with his personality. It's honestly dumb and I should really just get over it already. If you want to know, though, that's probably something that we should talk about later. Wrong place, wrong time…"
"Chat," she whispered, "I almost got akumatized because of whatever your problem with Adrien is. I thought you were laughing at me for having feelings for him, but I don't think that's the case anymore. Regardless, I feel like I should be allowed to know what's going on."
"Adrien Agreste was a loser," he informed Marinette. "He was a fake who got lucky to have someone who is as sincerely amazing as you fall in love with him. He doesn't exist anymore, so there's nothing to worry about."
She whispered harshly in response to his nonchalant attitude, "did you murder Adrien? Did you Cataclysm him? Like, that's smart thinking in terms of how, but it didn't have to be him. He's dense, but he's not a villain, especially since people like Gabriel and Lila exist. Seems like a much better use of your power if you're going to use it in general."
"That's not what I mean," he said, running his hand down his face. He looked up to meet Marinette's eyes. "M. Bell is Gabriel Agreste," Félix admitted quietly.
"Oh," Marinette responded, matching his tone, "oh, oh no… Oh, kitty." She held both sides of his face. "We're getting you out and you can be Félix Cloche for as long as you want to be. Maman and Papa are just going to start doting on you more. I hope that's okay. We all love you and you're allowed to stay with us whenever." She moved one of her hands from his face to take one of his and kissed the back of it.
"Adrien doesn't deserve your love, Princess," he said and she felt a tear slip from her eye from the fact that he was talking about himself.
"He always deserved it," she told him firmly, "but in the interest of being honest about our feelings, I think I was starting to get over him. I was starting to develop a bit of a crush on this guy, Félix Cloche. Reminds me of the two loves of my life. Have you met him? He's great. You'd love him." She added a wink at the end for good measure and his lips quirked into a small smile.
"Hey, Marinette," he began with a faint laugh. She looked to meet his eyes, ready to listen to whatever he'd say to her. "Are you still scared to kiss me?" She shook her head.
"Not at all, my prince." The two met in their first kiss of many as Marinette and Félix.