Chapter Three

"We need to figure out how we're going to do this," Marinette whispered softly. "We just jumped into this with no plan."

Alya knew that she probably shouldn't be listening in on Marinette's and Adrien's conversation, but it was hard not to considering they were right next to her. The moment the final bell had rung Adrien had slipped himself on top of their desk, looking down at Marinette with that same fond smile he had all day. They kept glancing at her as they talked, but with her still packing up her school things it wasn't like she could just leave.

"I think today has gone purrfectly, My Lady."

"I told you I wanted to take this slow for a reason, let's be honest, we have no idea what we're doing."

"...I'm sorry, it was my fault, I was just too excited–"

"No, I'm to blame too–"

He silenced her with a kiss on the lips, not a quick little peck, but pulling her up into his lap as he deepened the kiss. Marinette melted into it instantly, pressing up against him, face bright red. Alya felt herself flushing slightly as well, mind reeling. It had taken her and Nino a bit of time to become affectionate like that between themselves, let alone in public– how were they like this after one day?

It was the same question she had been asking herself since school started, and she was no closer to getting an answer.

Rose and Mylene were cooing over the two of them, while Alix was grinning ear to ear. Kim let out a whoop as the two of them pulled apart, most of the class sharing the same smirk. It was no secret that most people in their class were Adrienette shippers, so this was a moment to celebrate.

"Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe muttered, sulking at her desk with her arms crossed while Sabrina packed up her school things. "When he said he had a girlfriend I thought he meant another model or something, not the baker girl!"

Alya shot a glare at her for insulting her best friend, and any other time she'd probably directly confront the spoiled blonde, but yet she had honored what she had said to Adrien that morning. She had glared and glowered and sneered at Marinette, but had not directly caused any problems despite the fact the girl she hated was dating the guy she liked. Perhaps not the perfect attitude, but coming from Chloe it was almost nice.

Marinette seemed to have returned to being normal herself once more as the kiss ended, attempting to speak, but she only let out small flustered sputters, blushing down to her neck. Adrien was grinning, still leaning close to her.

"Red suits you, My Lady," Adrien whispered to her, foreheads pressed together.

"Y-you just can't kiss me suddenly like that!" Mairinette squeaked, burying her head into her hands. "Everyone was watching!"

"Flustered over a little kiss, My Lady?"

"That wasn't a 'little' kiss you mangy alley cat!"

"For the record I am an alley cat, but not a mangy alley cat, my hair looks fabulous."

Marinette just stared at him for a minute, an almost exasperated look on her face, though there was a smile in her eyes. That smile soon took on a mischievous grin, and she leaned forward and pressed a kiss of her own onto his lips. It was quick compared to the one they had just had, yet the effect it had on Adrien was nearly the same as it had been for her. A pink tinge spread across the boy's cheeks as he stiffened up. A humored look passed over her face, and she slipped out of his lap.

"Getting flustered over a little peck, tomcat?" Marinette asked teasingly.

"O-okay, I understand," Adrien sputtered out. "Surprise kisses are... distracting... I'll ask you next time– maybe," He grinned at her, leaning towards her, raising an eyebrow. "You can kiss me whenever you want though, Purr-incess."

Was she the only one that was seeing how strange this was?! Where on earth had soft spoken Adrien gone, and when had he ever been that smooth? Since when did he get flustered by Marinette? Why was everyone accepting this without even blinking?

They were absolutely adorable together though, Alya would give them that.

A serious expression crossed Marinette's face, and she lowered her voice, probably so only Adrien could hear. But with Alya literally being seated right next to them she couldn't help but overhear.

"I'm serious kitty, we need to take this slow, we jumped into this without even thinking," She said, and Adrien frowned slightly.

"Everyone has already seen us anyways, so what's the point?"

"We need to cut back a bit, especially with the nicknames, we just need to be ourselves."

"This is myself, Princess."

"You know what I mean, Chaton. And 'princess' is fine but everything else..." Marinette glanced at Alya, who returned it to let her friend know that she could hear them. The middle of the classroom was not a place for private conversations, even if school was officially over.

"Hey, dude, now that you and dudette are together we should totally go on a double date sometime," Nino said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he approached them.

"Purr-haps," Adrien said with a sly grin at Marinette, who groaned.

"Welcome to my world, dudette, you'd never guess it– but Adrien Agreste has the worst puns imaginable. I'm pretty sure he spends his free time looking them up."

"I believe it."

"Come on, my girlfriend and best friend have both betrayed me? You like my puns, don't you, Alya? They're pun-derful, aren't they?" Adrien asked, bright green gaze shifting towards her. She pressed her lips together in thought, before shaking her head.

"You're right Nino, he is full of bad puns."

"And here I thought you guys were my friends!" Adrien protested as all of them laughed. For a moment Alya found herself relaxing, her surprise and suspicions of the day melting away. Marinette leaned against Adrien, and it just looked so natural, and Alya slipped her hand into Nino's.

Adrien cracked another pun, which resulted in Marinette shoving him away. All four of them headed towards the door, following the rest of the class out into the hallways. They only had a few more minutes until Adrien would be whisked away by his driver. She wondered if their parents knew about them dating, and how his father would react to that. Gabriel wouldn't keep his son from dating someone, right?

"Wow, Lila, are you okay?" Alya asked as the girl stepped in front of them, blinking in surprise at the glare at covered her normally kind face. Marinette tensed at her side, and Adrien immediately pulled her towards him, eyes fixated on Lila. She couldn't help but glance between them, for the first time that day Adrien's gaze was cold.

Then instantly the expression on Lila's face melted away, returning to the friendly gaze that Alya knew so well. Lila beamed at them, stepping closer with an apologetic expression on her face. "Oh, I am so sorry. My arthritis has just been acting up lately, and it just hurts so much. I've been trying to keep a positive attitude, but it can just be so hard sometimes."

She grasped her wrist, and Alya gave her an empathetic smile. It had seemed like Lila's arthritis had been going down lately, but apparently it had not. Had she been hiding her pain that whole time?

"Hey, we're all here to help you, you don't need to hide anything," Alya said, and Lila gave her a grateful smile.

"I thought your arthritis was in your left wrist," Marinette said, voice stiff.

"It is," Lila said with a pained smile. "But it's spread to my right one as well. It's been really hard, but my family has found this new doctor who thinks he might be able to help me."

"That would be awesome if he could," Nino said. "It's really hard to see you go through all this."

"Arthritis doesn't 'spread' though," Marinette said, and edge of frustration in her voice. "It's not a virus."

Lila nodded, glancing downwards. "Yeah, I know, I meant advanced or... I'm not sure what the word is. It just hurts and it's hard to think sometimes," She winced, rubbing her wrist again. "Sorry, I've been such a mess lately..."

"Mari didn't mean it like that," Alya said, shooting her friend a frustrated glare. Why she was like this, she didn't know. She was dating Adrien now– was she still jealous over the fact that Lila and Adrien were friends? "If there's anything you need, please let us know Lila, we're here to help."

"We should probably get going," Adrien said coolly, sidestepping around Lila. "I have a tight time schedule and I can't be late."

"Congratulations on getting a girlfriend," Lila said before he could leave. "I just couldn't believe it when I heard about it."

"Well, it doesn't matter what you believe," He snapped, drawing Marinette in closer. "If you'd excuse us, we should get going."

Alya had thought that Adrien had been acting strange today already, but she could only stare as he glared at Lila, before hurrying down the hallway with Marinette at his side. Lila's gaze fell to the floor, and she quickly put a hand on her shoulder hoping that she wouldn't take Adrien's actions personally, he wouldn't try to hurt anyone's feelings.

"...Alya?" Lila asked nervously, glancing at her, a slight waver in her voice. "Is there any way I could talk to you... alone? I'm worried about Marinette and– and if I could just talk to you for a minute–? I know you're probably really busy and–"

"Is everything okay?" She asked, her gut instantly twisting as she heard the wavering in Lila's voice. Dark green eyes looked up at her, wide and afraid– an expression that was rare on the normally cheerful girl. She quickly pulled her into a hug, not knowing what was wrong, but clearly something was.

"Y-yeah, I just–" She hiccuped.

"Nino, I'll catch up with you, okay?" She said, and he gave her an understanding look. He watched Lila in concern for a moment, before heading down the hall. With an arm around Lila she guided her into an empty classroom, guessing that she didn't want to talk somewhere where they could be overheard.

"I'm sorry," Lila whispered, sitting down in a chair, and she quickly wiped away a few tears. She glanced up at Alya, as if hoping she hadn't seen them, and her stomach twisted. "I just wanted to talk to someone, and I know that Marinette won't listen to me. We've never gotten along, no matter what I do, so I was hoping that maybe she'll listen to you."

"What's wrong?" She asked, placing a hand on top of hers. "Is something going on? Is she okay?"

"I could just be over thinking all this, I probably am..." Lila winced, then leapt to her feet. "Of course, that has to be it, I don't want to think badly about anyone! I'm sorry for wasting your time, I'll just go–!"

Alya grabbed her arm, careful to avoid her aching wrist, stopping her from fleeing. "Lila, whatever is going on it's not just nothing. If this is related to Marinette I need to know, she's my best friend and I don't want anything to happen to her."

"Neither do I, she's so sweet," Lila agreed. "I wish me and her were as close as you two were– n-not that I want to take your best friend from you! I guess I just wish that she wasn't so cold with me and– oh I'm just completely off track."

"Just give her some time," Alya said. "Believe it or not, she used to not like Adrien either, and now they're dating! You two got off on the wrong foot, and she can be a bit stubborn at times. I know that you guys will be able to make up with each other, especially seeing how forgiving you are."

Lila smiled. "Thank you so much, you don't know how much I needed to hear that," She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Okay, I can do this. I... I just hope you don't think less of me for this, I try really hard not to judge people and–"

"I know that, Li, you don't need to worry," Alya promised. "Just tell me what's going on."

"I think that Adrien is playing with Marinette's feelings."