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Chloé had to stop herself from skipping up the steps to her school. After last night, she was on cloud nine, she was ecstatic to see Luka for lunch. She knew that he loved her, last night had made it obvious, and she was positive that he knew about her feelings too.

"Wow Chloé, you seem really happy today," Sabrina commented.

"That's because I am Sabrina! You look really pretty today, by the way!"

Sabrina tried to hide a very obvious blush. "Thank you!" She looked so happy and it made Chloé happy too. This must have been what Luka was telling her about.

As she made her way into the school, she tried to see if she could find Luka. That mop of blue hair was always easy to spot but she couldn't pick it out among all of the groups whispering. It was odd, it seemed like every student in the school was in the courtyard whispering about something.

"Weird," Chloé mumbled to herself but she did not let it distract her. She strutted right to her classroom, a huge grin on her face. She was going to walk right in and compliment the first person she saw. She was just feeling so happy that it felt criminal not to share it.

She swung the door wide open and stepped in with a huge smile. But that smile was very quickly wiped off her face when everyone in the class stopped talking and turned to look at her. They all had some sort of bad emotion written all over her face. Some had disappointment, some had disbelief, some had disgust. Chloé could feel herself deflate. They all began whispering to each other as she walked to her seat, their eyes never being taken off of her. She sat down, wondering what the hell was going on and why she was letting it bother her. It wasn't the first time people had talked about her behind her back. But if she was right, it wasn't just her class doing the talking.

Mlle. Bustier walked in, a frown on her face and some papers in her hand. Everyone stopped murmuring immediately.

"Good morning, class. Before we start, I have a bit of an announcement of sorts." Chloé felt her stomach drop, hoping that this wasn't about whatever people were saying about her. "Last night, Principal Damocles received a disturbing email saying that one of the students in this class, a minor, was in a serious romantic relationship with an adult."

Chloé tried her hardest not to have any sort of physical reaction. She turned around to see Lila glaring smugly at her. Dammit. How did she find out?

"Furthermore, the email went on to say that this adult could be dangerous and illegal activity may be involved."

Chloé breathed a huge sigh of relief. She didn't know. She should have figured it was a lie. Lila was incapable of telling the truth ever. But if she didn't know, then what was the point of the email? She wasn't trying to get Chloé into serious trouble, she was just spreading lies about her. Was it to get back at her? Make her tell some secret that Lila thought she had? Or was it just to make her miserable?

"I think we all know who it is," Lila spoke up. "I think that person needs to tell the truth and come clean."

"Lila, maybe they can't because they're being threatened."

"Yeah or maybe they like being some old guys piece of ass."

The class burst out into laughter, not being able to pinpoint exactly who had said that. Chloé felt her stomach sink. If they knew that the rumors were about her, then why were they saying something like that? She had tried to be better and nicer, was it not enough for them?

"Are we sure the relationship is purely romantic and not a...business relationship? Because I heard a student from another class say they saw a student from here with multiple adult males. Not to say that using ones body for what they want is wrong."

That wasn't true. None of it was true. Chloé listened to her class continue on talking about the morals of a woman selling her own body and she had to fight the urge to vomit. They really didn't think she would do that, did they? Did they seriously think this of her or were they just doing it to be mean? If they were trying to hurt her, it was working.

"Chloé are you okay," Sabrina asked quietly. Not quietly enough apparently.

"Oh my gosh, Chloé what's wrong?!" Lila had practically yelled, putting everyone's attention on Chloé. "Is there something you need to tell us?"

The blonde felt her throat begin to close and her face heat up. She could feel tears coming any minute no matter how hard she tried to hold them back. She felt like puking, she felt like screaming, she felt like running.

The door to the classroom slammed open and everyone's eyes snapped up to see a teenage boy standing at the entrance. Not just any boy.

"Luka," Juleka asked. "Is something wrong?"

He didn't answer. He simply pinpointed Chloé, walked over to her and crouched so that he was eye level with her.

"Are you okay," he whispered so quietly that only she could hear. He used his thumb to wipe a tear off of her cheek. She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. "Okay, let's go." He picked up her bad, slinging it over his shoulder and then grabbed her by the hand and led her out.

"Excuse me, M. Couffaine, what are you doing with Mlle. Bourgeois," Mlle. Bustier asked.

'Couffaine,' the couple corrected silently. Luka groaned before turning to Chloé.

"Go outside, call your driver, I'll be right there." Chloé nodded and left the classroom. Luka turned back to Mlle. Bustier. "Well, Mlle. I heard the rumors and quickly deduced that they were very much untrue. So I decided to come to this poor girl's rescue so she didn't have to sit through something that didn't pertain to her. Next time you get an email, you better check your facts first." Luka's gaze shot to Lila, who he had figured out was at the root of the issue. Marinette had told him enough stories. "Not everything you read is true."

With that, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Juleka, since when did your brother know Chloé," Rose asked. She was the first one to break through the silence.

"He doesn't."

"He didn't. Until last night," Marinette told the class. "Adrien and I ran into them at the Royal Danish Orchestra yesterday and introduced them. You don't think that they're..."

Juleka was quick to shake her head, not even entertaining the idea. "There's no way. I know my brother's type and that's not it. He would never ever date Chloé Bourgeois."

Mlle. Bustier was listening to the conversation when something told her to look down at the updated role call she had received earlier that morning. She located Chloé's name - Chloé's legal name.

Chloé Bourgeois-Couffaine.

She looked back up at the class, still speculating as to how Chloé and Luka knew each other if they would never, ever date. Well, it would appear they were right about one thing. Chloé and Luka definitely were not dating.


The ride back to Chloé's hotel was filled with crying and lots of hugs. As soon as they got into the car, Chloé let herself go and began crying her eyes out. Real tears. Luka had wrapped her up in his arms, offering his support and letting her cry herself out. By the time they got to the hotel, her eyes were dry but her face was red and swollen.

She led the way to her room, ignoring every butler that asked if she was okay. Luka closed the door behind him and watched Chloé go straight to her bed. She only kicked off her shoes and took her sunglasses off of her head before crawling under the covers. He set their stuff down before walking over to her. She looked up at him and patted the bed next to her. He kicked his own shoes off and climbed onto the bed, staying above the covers. Chloé turned so she was laying on her side facing him. He wormed his arm underneath her head so she could use it as a pillow and he could hold her close.

"Thank you," she mumbled. She was already sleepy.

"Of course, Chlo. Anything for her royal highness."

"Do you think they know?"

"Probably not. I've gotten three texts from Jules asking why the hell I did that."

"You should text her back, let her know you're okay."

"I will. But right now you need some sleep."

She nodded and then closed her eyes and within a matter of minutes she was asleep. Luka pulled out his phone and pulled up his text messages from his sister.

Jules: Care to explain what that was?

Hello?

Are you with her right now?!

Luka sighed. This was going to be fun. He responded, telling her that he was okay but he wasn't going to be in school for the rest of the day. He didn't let her know, but being called a "creepy old guy" and a "dangerous pedophile" didn't exactly make him feel great. Even if people didn't know it was him they were talking about.

Jules: Why did you do that? Do you even know Chloé Bourgeois?

Couffaine, Luka corrected in his mind. He told Juleka that it wasn't right for people to say such mean things about anyone like that, even Chloé Bourgeois. Especially when they didn't have proof.

Jules: So are you saying whoever sent that email was lying?

Luka scoffed, typing that he barely even knew Chloé but he still knew her well enough to know that dating an older man, especially a dangerous one, wasn't something she would do. He used her reputation as an excuse. He could tell that really made her think because it took her quite a while to respond. He looked over at Chloé who had turned so her back was to him. He could hear her even breaths and gently, he reached over to take her hair out of it's ponytail so she could be more comfortable, snapping the tie on around his wrist. His phone chimed.

Jules: Are you two together?

He sighed and let his head fall back on the pillow. That wasn't a question he could just be vague about and hope she wouldn't ask again. He really hated lying. He bit his lip, coming up with a half decent response. He told her: "Come on Jules. You know me". Not a yes, not a no.

Jules: yeah you're right. Sorry. It was just surprising but I guess you'd do it for anyone.

He told her he was going to take a nap now, not giving much of a reason. He didn't wait for her to respond, instead letting his phone fall to the side and adjusting so he could spoon Chloé. He was asleep in a matter of minutes.