Marinette had always tried to do her best and be a nice and understanding person, but the last few months had been really hard on her, and so she was very close to her breaking point.
Ever since Lila, aka Liarla, had threatened her in the bathroom before Chameleon, she had done good in making her threats come to fruition.
She had kept spinning her tales and more often than not, those tales would include some bullshit about Marinette.
Whenever she found the oppopportunity, she would make it look like Marinette was bullying her, making her trip or saying something hateful to her, and whenever Marinette tried to stand up for herself, she would start with her fake cries and whimper about how poor she was and how awful Marinette was for suggesting she did something wrong.
More often than not, the whole class would look at her as if she kicked a puppy and start telling her to knock it off, saying that just because she was jealous of Lila, she couldn't bully her.
Marinette was exasperated and tired of all that bullshit, so she started to ignore her classmates more and more.
The only one who still believed in her was Adrien. Whenever something happened, he would stay with her and console her. He was her light in the darkness and the only one in her class who stood by her.
Of course there were also Tikki, her parents, Master Fu and most importantly Chat Noir, but neither Chat nor her parents knew what was going on.
Since a few months ago, Chat started visiting her on her balcony more frequently, and they had really gotten to know each other through the many nights they spent talking to each other. She realized that he was truly in love with her, well Ladybug, but Ladybug was a part of her, so she started to take him more seriously.
Over time, she realized that she was developing a little bit of a crush on her partner in crime fighting, and with those new feelings came the ability to talk to Adrien with more confidence and much, much less stuttering.
It was really funny how she fell for another person as well, but her feelings for Adrien kept being just as strong as before, she was just less nervous.
It amazed her, that falling in love with her partner made her be more herself and more confident in herself.
--
Weeks kept going by, and the situation at school and with Lila kept getting worse. Marinette had stopped trying to out her lies to the class, but Lila kept targeting and isolating her.
It had happened a few times that the class would decide to spent time together, but would exclude Marinette because Lila told them another story on how Marinette would try to get her alone and terrorize her if she came along, so they would just not tell her that they were planning something, or just outright tell her not to come because they wanted Lila to feel comfortable.
It hurt Marinette badly when they did that, but the final straw was her birthday.
She came in early for once and not one of her classmates remembered her day of birth, or, if they did, they just didn't care enough to congratulate her.
The only one to wish her a happy birthday and get her a present was Adrien. He got her a leather bound sketchbook that looked like it cost a lot of money. She thanked him, surprising him and herself by throwing herself at him and hugging him tightly. His confusion faded and he wrapped his arms around her in response.
They stood there for a few minutes just hugging and enjoying the others warmth.
After a bit, she finally stepped back and looked up at him shyly, thanking him again for the present. He just waved it off, saying that it was the least he could do for a wonderful person like her. Her cheeks turned a charming pink at his praise. She got a hold of herself and asked him if he wanted to spend lunch together with her at the bakery, together with her parents.
He accepted the invitation and went to text his father's secretary Nathalie that he wouldn't be coming home during lunch.
He got the ok from her and confirmed their plans, telling Marinette that he couldn't wait for it and that he was happy she invited him.
When the bell rang they both went to their seats, waiting for their teacher's lesson to start.
When lunchbreak came they were ready to spent some wonderful time with each other, making their way out of the classroom, when out of nowhere Lila came up to Adrien and clutched his arm tightly to her chest.
"Hey Adrien!" she started with her fake sweet voice.
"Where are you going? Why don't you come with me and the others, we were planning on going to the new Cafe that opened down the street. It would be fun!", she exclaimed, smiling up at him with that fake smile and a cruel glint in her eyes when she turned her glare in Marinette's direction.
" I'm sorry Lila, but I already made plans with Marinette. We are going to eat the homemade food her Mother cooked for Marinette's birthday, since, you know, it is her birthday today." Adrien told her, politely removing her from his side.
"Aw come on Adrien, do you really want to spent time with a bully like her? Have I told you what she did to me yesterday? She threatened me and told me that she would turn all of my friends against me!" the Liar yelled, getting the attention of their classmates that were waiting by the front doors.
Marinette couldn't believe the audacity of that bitch. That were the exact same things Lila had said to HER months ago in the bathroom.
At Marinette's disbelieving glare, Adrien knew that what Lila had told him, just as everything else coming out of her mouth, was a lie. But there was something else in Marinette's eyes that told him that there was more to it than it being a simple lie. He had the sinking feeling that Marinette had heard those exact same words before, and if that was true it meant that Lila wasn't only a liar, but a bully too, and he really hated himself right then that he had not come to that realization sooner.
Lila was a big, fat bully and he had told Marinette to just ignore her and wait until her lies came undone by herself. Instead he had enabled Lila to separate Marinette more and more from her friends, and he was accessory to bullying, without even knowing. He hated himself for doing something like that to a wonderful person like Marinette, his princess and one of his best friends.
