Sorry sorry sorry...I couldn't focus on any other stories until I got this one out of my brain! I once said I didn't want to have too many started...blah blah blah. Oh well... here's another! only going to be a short 3 possibly 4 chapter fic. Enjoy!

FYI characters are 16 in this just because...


"Who the hell does she think she is!?"

"Have you seen how pathetic she is?"

"How on earth she thinks he would choose her over Lila is laughable!"

"She must be desperate to go after someone else's boyfriend!"

All the words she had heard this morning had become unbearable. Marinette was at the end of her tether, unable to keep her emotions in check. The only people who had said anything in her defence were Nino, as he had actually been there when Chat Noir had swooped in and saved her at the last minute, and surprisingly Chloé.

For weeks, Lila had been dropping hints about her 'mystery guy' and how he absolutely adored her. Showering her with gifts symbolising their love for each other, and how he just had to protect her by keeping her a secret. The trouble with Lila was, she was a little bit too boastful of said secret, and had one too many times 'accidentally' dropped his name into conversation.

This was not what was bugging Marinette. What was bugging Marinette was the fact the she knew it was a lie, because a certain feline had been dropping in on her roof top, showering her with affection which she had gladly returned. It was bugging Marinette that now she appeared to be the boyfriend stealer after the weekend's events. More specifically, her being rescued by Lila's supposed boyfriend, with a compromising picture appearing online that morning.

A group of them had been at the Eiffel Tower, acting like tourists and taking in the sights when an Akuma had occurred. Marinette had been in the middle of a crowd, unable to transform, when a young boy had broken free from the group. The Akuma targeted the young boy, and Marinette lunged into action, the only trouble being that her reflexes as Marinette were not as coordinated as when she was Ladybug. Pushing the boy out of the way, the Akuma then zeroed in on her as she stumbled to the ground.

Her friends had been shouting for her to move, as the powerful ball of light was taking shape in the Akuma's hands, Chat Noir scooped her up at the last minute taking her to safety. All had seemed as it should when Chat had spotted Nino, and choosing to place Marinette with her friend made sense to the black clad hero. Instructing Nino to keep her safe, he placed a loving kiss on her lips, encasing her in his arms while Marinette's gently placed hands rested on his chest before he headed off into battle.

That was a mistake on both of their parts.

Unfortunately neither of them had been thinking. Caught in the heat of the moment, they had forgotten themselves slightly, as Chat was just relived to have been able to get her out of harms way, and Marinette had been grateful, and was also eager to embrace her boyfriend.

Showing affection to a civilian was not a smart move, but as his relationship with the raven haired beauty had been more than saviour and civilian, to each of them it was only natural. They had unknowingly been snapped, but Nino had seen the way they had been with each other, and this was his argument. That it was a natural motion between them, and not forced by Marinette, as some had suggested.

An argument which had not been taken well by his gullible girlfriend.

"I'm sorry Lila, but I honestly think you've been lying this whole time about your relationship with Chat Noir." He stated in front of the class, earning himself some daggers from his fellow classmates in the process. At the time, he just wished that his best friend had been present, the blonde always seemed to know how to diffuse the situation where Lila was concerned. No such luck today.

Adrien was not due to be in school until after first period, but that would be too late, as the shit had already hit the proverbial fan...

"Why are you standing up for the girl who has stolen Lila's boyfriend Nino!" Those had been the words of Marinette's supposed best friend.

"It's not like Marinette has ever claimed to be in a relationship with him!" Alix added, "you haven't got much to say on the subject now have you?" The feisty teenager shot at the silent raven haired girl.

In truth, Marinette had been completely oblivious to the reason behind the commotion, as she had walked into class late like usual, and had not even been privy to the picture which had emerged. The hero's girlfriend had only spoken to Nino about it the night before due to him wanting her to explain a few things which had contradicted Lila's tails. Therefore, when she had been accused as soon as she crossed the threshold, Marinette had been unable to get a word in edgeways between the squabbles of her peers. It had warmed her heart and saddened her also, to see Nino fighting her corner, against his own girlfriend no less.

"You've seen what Lila has shown us." Kim insisted to Nino, shooting a sideways glance of disgust at Marinette. "What has Marinette got to show of her relationship with Chat Noir?"

"You did not see the way he was with her Kim!" Nino stood defiantly, he had known Marinette for years, like many of the others in their class, he was not going to allow them to tarnish her when she had not done anything wrong. "I saw it with my own eyes, anyone can go out and buy themselves trinkets!"

Alya cut in again, seemingly determined to break the apparent home wrecker. "He loves Lila! Not Marinette! Why the hell would Lila need to lie about it!? Are you saying that she's that desperate to go out and buy her own gifts to convince us of their love?"

"I didn't imply that," Nino parried, "but you just did." His stern expression seemed to send a signal to Alya, a signal which was not received well.

"I know and trust my friends Nino!" She pointed an angry finger in his face, "I wish I could say the same for my boyfriend!"

Well shit!

Marinette could do nothing but watch the members of the class gasp at the duelling couple. A scene which struck each and every person to their core. Alya and Nino were tight, they had the relationship that everyone aspired to.

Seeing this exchange, caused some of the class to quietly reflect on what Nino had said. Why was he willing to put his relationship with Alya on the line, if he did not believe what he was saying was true? He had seen one exchange between Chat Noir and Marinette, they had seen a bountiful of gifts given to Lila. Could one moment really dispute all of Lila's claims? In Nino's eyes, apparently, it could.

Nino turned to a frozen Marinette, "will you just show them already?" He sighed defeatedly. His words were not getting through to his peers, but maybe the gift Marinette had showed him over video chat the night before would.

Suddenly rebooting herself into motion, Marinette reached under her top to pull out a silver chain. On said chain lay a delicate ring, a ring which was the home to a pink sapphire surrounded by smaller black emeralds. It was not the only gift he had given her, but it was the one she refused to be without.

"That ring was meant for me!" Lila cried out before sobbing well practised tears, "I went with him to buy it and-and it was to be my two month anniversary gift!"

"Your colour isn't pink."

The class turned to see a disinterested Chloé examining her nails, "you should have just claimed that she forced him to buy it for her, or that she bought it herself," she continued with no interest in her voice what so ever. "Because pink is obviously a symbol of Dupain-Cheng."

"How would you know Chloé?" Alya spat, "you didn't even look at it!"

"No, that's true," she sighed, positively bored. "But as I was Queen Bee, he asked me to go with him to get it." She gave a pointed look at Alya, "he gave me enough hints to figure out it was for Dupain-Cheng, honestly, you are all ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"

Stunned silence.

Marinette was actually happy Chloé was there for once.

"That still does not prove that Marinette is not a boyfriend stealer!" Proclaimed Max. "Or that Chat has not been cheating on Lila."

Nino took one more try at persuading his class mates before concluding they were all incorrigible imbeciles, including Alya. "We have seen actual proof of how Marinette and Chat Noir act around each other! The dude didn't want to leave her but he needed to go and fight the Akuma, he was very convincing of how important she is to him." Nino sighed, the looks he was getting told him he was banging his head against a metaphorical brick wall. "Honestly I don't see how anyone can believe what she's saying half the time anyway-"

Oh. Dear. Kwami.

The room erupted into a series of insults being thrown at Marinette; pathetic, desperate, clingy, needy, liar. All words her former friends were using to describe her. Marinette could not take it any more and bolted for the locker room. Miss Bustier had not been present for any of their study lesson, and quite frankly, Marinette was getting annoyed at all the opportunities Lila was having to get at her.

The raven haired teenager made it to the locker room unscathed, but would be damned if she let any of the girls following accost her in this room or the bathroom. She needed to hide where they would not look and fast.

"Tikki," she whispered quickly, "see if the boys bathroom is clear."

Tikki did not ask any questions or judge the budding designer, the small goddess simply obliged her chosen's request. Phasing through the door, she popped back out, "it's clear."

Marinette did not need any further information before she bolted through the door and it had not been a moment too soon. Leaning against the wooden entrance she could hear the footsteps of several people enter the locker room.

"Maybe she didn't come in here." A muffled Rose could be heard.

"Coward," came from Mylène.

"Not in the bathroom," Alya informed them. "She can't have gone far."

The pitiful excuse for a human wailed, "I only want answers... why they've done this to me!" Sobs echoed in the other side of the door.

"I'll get answers for you!" Alya's tone became aggressive, "I can get anything out of Nino!"

More foot steps could be heard followed by the squeaking hinge and a door slamming. Marinette did not want to chance another encounter just yet and made her way into one of the stalls of the bathroom.

Looking around, she read some of the graffiti on the toilet wall, tracing the scribbles of fellow students, getting lost in their memories. The girls bathroom had none of this, she found it interesting how the two rooms differed from each other. The smell was definitely not to be desired, but the quiet most definitely was.

Marinette took out her phone, and scrolled to find Nino's contact number.

Marinette: Thank you for what you did today, I'm sorry for how Alya spoke to you.

Nino: Don't mention it dudette, it wasn't right what they were saying when Lila has clearly been lying.

Nino: where are you btw?

Marinette: I'm in hiding! I'll come out when it's all calmed down.

Nino: I'll lend you my notes from lit, I promise they will make sense! LOL

Marinette: Thank you! You're a lifesaver.

Marinette placed her phone back in her bag as the bell rang signalling the end of first period. As her next lesson only contained a few of the students who had witnessed the show, she contemplated whether or not to trudge her way up to class, but the door to the bathroom opened telling her she was no longer alone.

'Crap!'

There seemed to only be one set of footsteps, Marinette prayed they would be quick so she could make her escape. No such luck, as she heard a massive sigh and the water running. The new occupant of the room sounded like they were splashing their face.

"What you gonna do kid?"

This question had Marinette frozen as she listened. It sounded all too familiar. Mouthing 'Plagg?' to Tikki, the Kwami looked upto Marinette with wide eyes and nodded slowly, confirming the teenager's suspicions.


Nino sat at the front of class, not saying anything to those around him. He knew he should have gone after Marinette, but he could tell something had shifted in his and Alya's relationship, he did not want Marinette to be blamed for that too!

There was only fifteen minutes left before the bell was due to signal the end of lesson, when the girls who had gone after Marinette returned. Alya shot Nino a look of anger, as she huffed aggressively. The DJ was expecting this from her, she had a tendency to be protective of her friends, Nino could not help but wonder how she had flipped from Marinette's side to Lila's however.

Thankful Alya had not come over to question him further, he saw a blonde mane emerge through the door. His friendly smile disappeared as he looked around the room, Adrien stood rooted to the spot. Nino gathered that his friend had sensed the tension in the class, as his eyes quickly glanced around his peers, settling on Marinette's empty seat.

His face paled, bright green eyes transfixed on where Marinette should have been. He looked to Nino, his voice low, gruff and demanding. "Where is she?"

Lila started sobbing on cue, Adrien did not even hide the roll of his eyes in her direction. "You got something in your eye Lila?" Disdain dripping from his words.

"She-she-"

"I'm not interested in your crap Lila," he shot at her uncharacteristically, "Marinette isn't here, Lila is at it again and you all look pissed...so tell me where the hell she is before I get in touch with that boyfriend of hers."

"You mean Lila's boyfriend-" Alya replied.

"No I'm talking about Chat Noir," Adrien replied matter-of-factly to the class, tilting his head to one side. "I don't know who Lila's boyfriend is-"

"How the hell do you know?" Alix exclaimed.

"Chloé."

"Guilty." The socialite raised her hand not looking up for her phone.

Nino looked disappointed in himself, he knew he should have gone after her. "I don't know where she is dude."

Chloé finally looked up from her phone, side shooting a knowing look to her childhood friend. "Maybe you should get Chat to have a look for her," she turned back to her phone, "before Miss Goody-two-Shoes is Akumatised."

Adrien left his position at the doorway looking for a place to transform, as Juleka looked quizzically at the back of Chloé's head.

The class was silent, Juleka was the only one inquisitive enough to ask.

"If you knew Chat and Mari were dating, why didn't you say anything?"

Chloé huffed and rolled her eyes at what she deemed to be a stupid question, the blonde had had enough of this drama for one day. "You idiots as are so gullible." She turned around in her chair to face her audience. "You have all seen photographic proof of them together, and you're still believing the crock of shit coming the brat's mouth!"

The bell rang and Chloé vacated her seat with Sabrina following closely.

"It's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"


As always, thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts =)

I'll be incognito over the next few days (a week tops) due to personal reasons, but, I will make it up to you with new updates on every active story next week.

Take it easy!

Lady Rhi X