Some context: Chloe went home after chapter 1, so she wasn't there for the events of the beginning of Style Queen. Also, Audrey hasn't left yet. There's still much bad parenting for her to do.

/

It was not long before Queen Bee was needed again. And all things considered, Adrien was annoyed.

"What was that?" He asked the detransformed Chloe.

"What was what?"

"Wave rider." He said referring to the Akuma they'd just fought. "Or to be more specific, Giselle. And the reason she was targeting Chloe Bourgeois."

Chloe shrugged. "I mean, it's not my fault she's such a terrible swimmer."

"Chloe," Chat said before groaning. "You need to be nicer to people."

The girl looked irritated. "I am nice. It's not my fault people overreact to…"

"Chloe." He said more forcefully. Then he stopped to think over his words. "I can't keep giving you the Bee if you're responsible for half the Akuma's you fight."

That got her attention. "What?" She asked. "How? I-"

"Let me finish," he said. "Remember that time an Akuma that looked exactly like me stole the Mona Lisa."

The blank look on the girl's face told him that she did not.

"Right. Why would I think that you did? The point is, that Akuma, that was my fault."

"Your fault?"

"We live in Paris." Adrien said referring to the city around them. The city of lights was illuminated against the night sky and was a beautiful sight. "Being upset carries a good chance of being Akumatized. And the only way to ensure you never upset someone is to never interact with anyone."

Chloe nodded. "So you understand that-"

"With that in mind, sometimes it feels like you go out of your way to be mean to people."

"I don't." Chloe said. "And what do you know?"

More than you know, Chat thought. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to broach Adrien Agreste's knowledge of her life.

He walked up to her and grabbed her before leaping off the roof to an alley on ground level.

"Hey!" Chloe yelled.

As they landed, Chat took a step back. "You want to be as great a hero as Ladybug?" He asked. "Being the cause of several akumatizations is not going to accomplish that. It'll just make people dislike you."

Chloe scoffed. "Please, the most successful people I know act like that."

Chat seized the opening she'd given him. "You mean your mom?"

Chloe looked like he'd struck her. Then she started getting angry. "I-"

"I need to go before I detransform." Chat said. "Just… think about it. Or ask your friends about it." With that, he left the fuming girl in the alley.

/

"I don't know what to do Plagg."

Plagg shrugged. "She idolizes her mother. And her mom's a bitch."

"Plagg!"

The Kwami gave him a flat look before going back to his cheese. "You just need to show her that her mom is the worst and doesn't care about her."

"I… I can't do that. She loves her mom. She thinks everything she does is normal."

The kwami of destruction shook his head. "You're really nice."

"Uh… thank you?"

"So nice, that you aren't going to do anything about your friend being the worst."

"Plagg!"

"You know I'm right. I mean… I know you already have an idea of what you have to do. I was at that fashion show too. What Chloe needs is a lesson in empathy."

"What if that doesn't work?"

"Then you can't keep giving her Pollen."

"Where's Ladybug when you need her."

Plagg thought about the girl beneath the red costume. "I don't think she'd much help."

/

Adrien walked into Le Grand Paris before he began counting in his head.

1, 2, 3.

"Adrikins!"

There she is.

Chloe ran and hugged him. "I wasn't expecting your call," she said. "It's been forever since we hung out."

"Yeah. So, how are you doing?"

Chloe grabbed his hand and began dragging him. "Fabulous as always. I was actually looking into getting a new costume for one of Paris' new great heroes."

"Ah…" Adrien said nodding, "Rena Rogue."

Chloe stopped and looked at him like he'd just thrown up. "Uh, no. Queen Bee. Did you see when she stopped that water Akuma in its tracks? It was awesome."

"Oh her." Adrien said, pretending to realize, "She was rescuing you again wasn't she?"

They stepped into the elevator. "Yeah, some people just can't take criticism. It's like, if you can't swim well, you can't swim well, there's no need to go all crazy just because someone told it to you like it is."

"Ah, so that's what happened?"

"I mean, why am I the problem? I'm not the one who turned into a monster and tried to drown all of Paris." Chloe was ranting now. "I mean, you'll never see me turning into an Akuma just because someone's a little mean to me. Not that there's anything about me to be mean about I'm amazing and everyone loves me. But if someone were to…"

The elevator doors opened to the penthouse.

"Ah mom." Chloe said cutting off her stream of consciousness when she saw her mom sitting in the living room. "It's great to see you."

"Hmm?" Mrs. Bourgeois looked up from her tablet. "Ah Caitlyn, I mean Chloe, you're back already."

Not for the first time, Adrien wondered if Audrey was doing that on purpose. He genuinely couldn't tell if it would be better or worse if she was.

"I see you've brought a friend." Then she leaned in to get a closer look. "Adrien Agreste," she said.

"Yup," Chloe said smiling. "Adrikins is here to hang out with none other than moi."

"Really?" Audrey asked. "I'd have imagined Gabriel would be keeping you cooped up at home, working on his fashion shows. He was always so overprotective."

Adrien had no idea how to feel about her saying that.

"Well," Adrien said, "he let's me visit your daughter. You know because we're friends."

Audrey raised an eyebrow. "Well, if that's what you want. Can't imagine why though."

"Why what?" Adrien asked.

"Why he'd let you waste your time when you could be helping him with his work. God knows he needs all the help he can get if he lets some fool assign me to the second row."

"Oh Adrikins helps his dad all the time," Chloe said, "he's practically the face of the company." Then a strange look appeared on her face. "Maybe I could help you?"

Audrey stopped and looked at her. Then she laughed. "Oh, that's hilarious Claudette, but the fashion industry is only for people with talent. You wouldn't last a day."

Adrien almost stumbled back in second-hand pain. Then he looked at Chloe. She was unfazed.

Audrey kept going, "I mean, blue eyeshadow? What were you thinking?"

"But you used to wear blue eyeshadow when you were younger," Chloe protested.

"And you thought that meant you could pull it off, I mean, you may be blessed to be my daughter, but that's all you're blessed with."

Adrien hesitated. This was the perfect time to do it, but… he couldn't. Not after that. Forget opening Chloe's eyes. It might destroy her.

"But…" Adrien said. "You should at least give her a chance."

"Adrien honey," Audrey said with a shake of her head. "Talent isn't something just anyone could have. Not everyone can be that baker girl."

Chloe blinked. Then she looked apoplectic. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

Adrien almost fell over. He couldn't believe that Audrey brought it up herself.

"Yeah, her. She made that feathered hat Adrien was wearing. She may have foolishly refused my offer to come with me to New York, but if she ever gets over herself, she has a future in fashion for sure."

"Oh," Chloe said, her voice suddenly very quiet. "You… invited her to New York."

"Well yeah. I can't just let talent like that pass me by."

Chloe didn't say anything.

Adrien grabbed her hand. "Let's go to your room Chloe." He said, pulling her. "It was… as surprising as always to see you as always Mrs. Bourgeois."

Audrey laughed. "Well, I aim to please."

Once they were in Chloe's room, Chloe took a few steps from Adrien. He heard her sniff before she turned around smiling. "Where was I? Oh yeah. Only a complete loser would react to such… such normal behavior as ungracefully as to just become an Akuma. I-"

Adrien walked over to her and hugged her.

"What? Hey, let go of me, I don't need a hug. I'm fine." Chloe tried to push away from Adrien but couldn't match up to his strength.

Adrien didn't let go.

"Stop it. I'm not upset." Chloe said. "Why would I be upset. So what if mom doesn't think I'm exceptional? That's just talk. It's nothing to be upset about. So what if she's never asked me to go to New York with her?" With every sentence, Chloe's voice got shakier. "Let me… let me go. I'm fine. That's just how successful people talk to others. I mean… it's not like she called Dupain-Cheng…"

Chloe stopped talking and pressed her face against his chest. Her shoulders were shaking.

Adrien didn't say anything as he held her.

"Is something wrong with me?" Chloe asked.

"What?"

"Everyone hates me. And I just… I just do what she does. And people love her. But no one likes me. And she hates me too, doesn't she?"

"Your mom…" Adrien stopped because he had feeling 'she doesn't care enough' wouldn't be better. He redirected. "People don't love your mom."

"How can you say that? She's famous."

"She's rich and influential in the fashion world." Adrien said, "And she's married to the mayor. People tolerate her personality."

Chloe was silent. "What about me? They're my parents. Do people just tolerate my personality? Does Sabrina?" She looked at him, tears in her eyes, "Do you?"

"No." Adrien said shaking his head. "Chloe, I wouldn't be here if I didn't care about you. And Sabrina…" he didn't say anything. Then he bit his tongue. She needed to hear this. "People don't like being treated the way your mom treats people. And people don't like it when you treat them that way either. But… your mom should never have said that to you."

Chloe put her face back to his chest. Her sobs got louder. "It… it hurts so much."

Adrien didn't say anything.

/

Hawkmoth almost winced at the emotions he could feel coming from Chloe. This would be an extremely powerful Akuma. And she'd probably kill either her mom or that Marinette girl. He was excited. Surely, this would be it.

But right before the Akuma reached the hotel, it disappeared.

"What?"

/

Plagg coughed. He wasn't a fan of eating Nooroo's creations, and he'd probably hear an earful from the kwami when they rescued him about it.

He looked back at the hotel at the two teens holding each other.

"Eh, worth it."

/

God Audrey is horrible. Frankly, I think I held back on her canonical terribleness.

I still can't believe Miraculous Ladybug had Chloe go "Why don't you love me mom?" and thought they could make her go back to being a one-dimensional bully.

Behold my thesis statement behind this story: Marinette was not qualified to be in charge of Chloe's redemption. And she perfectly displayed this in Queen Wasp when her solution to what she saw of Chloe and her mom's relationship was to bring them together over what terrible hated people they both were and joyfully skip away. She was not the right person to be the most involved in making Chloe a better person. And frankly, she shouldn't have to be. Chloe's her bully, and a relentless one at that.

Adrien, on the other hand, knows Chloe, knows her family and actively thinks there's a good person buried deep inside her. He'll be more lenient than he should be, but he'd actually know what he's doing. Plus, he has a lot of experience with being rebellious.

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