Chapter Four

Alya could only stare.

Lila shifted under her hazel gaze, a nervous flicker in her eyes. She blinked once, taking in what she had just been told. Her eyes narrowed in thought, uncertainty running through her. She leaned back, biting her lip as she looked at Lila.

"I know, it's a horrible thing for me to say," Lila said, looking down shamefully. "It's just that– the way he's been acting I just–"

"Adrien has been acting differently lately," Alya agreed. "But... but this is Adrien we're talking about, Lila. He wouldn't hurt a fly, and I definitely can't see him playing with someone's feelings. He's literally a cinnamon roll."

Lila didn't say anything for a few moments, her lips pressing together, and for a moment she looked frustrated. She then took in a deep breath, before looking back up at her, a look of nervousness in her eyes once more. "I knew it, I knew no one would believe me, I shouldn't have said anything..."

"Lila...?" Alya asked quietly, startled at her almost fearful gaze. The girl pulled back from Alya as she reached out, turning her whole body away. "Lila, is there something else going on?"

"Y-yes, I, um... I didn't think much about it when it happened, but now that Marinette is suddenly with Adrien I'm now questioning it more," She sat up slightly. "You know how I've been doing photoshoots with Adrien lately?"

"Yes."

"Well, you see during the last one, Adrien said he wanted to talk to me alone after," Lila explained, shifting. "I thought it was about the shoot or maybe school or something... but he confessed to me that he liked me."

"He what?" She blinked.

"I told him that I wasn't interested, that I really only thought of him as a friend," She continued. "I wanted to let him down gently, you know? I didn't want to hurt his feelings or anything, but still he didn't look too happy, but he didn't bring it up again after that so I thought I didn't have to worry about it anymore, but for him to go and confess the same thing to Marinette so soon after I just..."

"How long ago did this happen?" Alya asked, eyes narrowed as she took this in.

"At the last photoshoot, so just a few days ago..." Lila trailed off, and Alya sat down in the seat next to her. "I mean I know that Marinette has had feelings for Adrien for such a long time now, but for his feelings to shift that quickly... I'm starting to wonder if his confession to me was even real."

Alya didn't like this, she didn't like this at all. She didn't like the idea of someone falsely confessing to her friends, acting like this was just a game– but she also didn't like the idea of someone talking about Adrien like that either. He was her friend, her boyfriend's best friend, and her best friend's boyfriend– he was someone that she trusted. Yet at the same time Lila's story seemed to crawl under her skin, poking at the fact that Adrien's feelings did indeed seem to come out of nowhere. She didn't want to believe this about Adrien, but yet at the same time she didn't want to not believe Lila, who was her friend as well.

"I... I don't know what to say..." Alya said slowly– because she truly didn't– thoughts still racing.

"I shouldn't have said anything," Lila said, turning away. "I'm probably just overreacting, maybe he just liked both of us and when I turned him down he went for someone else he liked, this is Adrien after all he's always been so nice to me and..." Tears pricked her eyes. "B-besides, who would believe me anyways?"

"I believe you!" Alya said, quickly jumping forward and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I believe you, Lila, you're my friend! I just don't know how to look at all this, that's all– I mean–"

"I understand," Lila said with a slight smile, though it didn't look real. "It would be horrible just to jump to conclusions, especially about someone who's been so nice to all of us. I just wanted to tell you this just in case, because I don't want Marinette to get hurt, she doesn't deserve that."

"No, she doesn't," Alya immediately, she was her best friend after all. Marinette was the kindest person she knew, passionate with a strong sense of justice. Even when nothing seemed to be going her way she remained strong, and she had always stood by Alya's side. "Thank you for looking out for her, I... I'm not sure what to make of all this, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for her, I promise."

Lila threw her arms around her. "Thank you so much, you're so sweet. I wasn't sure how to say any of this to Marinette with how things are so tense between us, so I'm grateful you're here. If anyone can figure this out it's you, Al!"

She returned the hug, uncertainty still running through her. She told herself not to overact, that this was Adrien they were talking about– but what was bothering her the most was how it made sense. Such a sudden shift in almost... everything, so if it was indeed just all an act that could explain the changes...

She shook her head as they headed out of the classroom, taking in a deep breath. She needed to remember who they were talking about, Adrien– sweet, kind Adrien. Everything she knew about him told her that he would never do something like that, and there must be another reason for why all of this was happening. That was what she needed to focus on, and not let any 'what if's' distract her from the truth that she already knew.

But with the seed of doubt now planted in her mind, she couldn't help but let it grow.

Chloe stood on the front steps the next day at school, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently. All eyes were on her, because everyone was well aware of how she acted when she wanted something. Those heading inside were careful to skirt around her, slinking up the edges of the stairs as they headed inside the school. Others just waited out front, knowing that whoever she was waiting for would eventually arrive, and the doors to inside would be clear.

Alya was one of those people, hanging out front with Nino, her notebook in hand. She was looking over her notes from yesterday. She had added what Lila had told her as well, though the idea still made her gut twist. She was careful to keep Nino from reading over her shoulder, knowing how close he and Adrien were.

"Are you still obsessing over this?" Nino asked with a chuckle, his tone making it quite clear that he wasn't surprised in the slightest. "Can't just accept that your ship has finally sailed?"

"It's not adding up and you know it," Alya snapped.

Nino grinned, leaning towards her. "You know what I think? I think you're upset that you weren't the one to have gotten them together."

"That's not true!"

"Really? Because I have a feeling that if you had been the wingman in all this you'd be celebrating right now," Nino said, and she shielded her notebook from his eyes.

"I am happy for them," She said defiantly. "I just want to know what made oblivious Adrien finally open his eyes, that's all. They were acting nothing but strange and I want to know why. Did you talk to Adrien at all yesterday?"

"Of course we talked, but I didn't interrogate him or anything," He smiled gently at her. "He's really happy being with Marinette, I think he's had feelings for her for sometime now, just took him awhile to realize it."

"Took him too long, if you ask me," Alya muttered, eyes glancing down the street. It wasn't hard to spot Adrien's limo from among the other cars, the vehicle pulling to a stop in front of the school. He slid out of the car, holding it open for another figure to step out. He slipped his hand into Marinette's, heading up towards the school.

They didn't notice them right off, both locked into conversation with each other as they drew closer. She and Nino moved forward to meet them, but before they could say a word a blur of blonde stormed past them, Chloe coming to a stop in front of Adrien and Marinette. She had her hands on her hips, Sabrina hovering behind her like always.

"Hey Chlo," Adrien said, voice lax, but there was a slight flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Chloe," Alya snapped, stepping forward. "Back off, I thought you already came to terms with this yesterday."

Blue eyes shifted towards her, sneering. "I didn't come here to talk to you, Cesaire, so why don't you mind your own business."

"What do you want?" Marinette asked, gaze narrowed unhappily at Chloe.

"Sheesh, is that how you're going to treat me?" She huffed. "Here I came all this way to apologize to you, Dupain-Cheng, but if that's how you're going to act I don't know why I'm even going to bother."

"You–" Marinette growled, before pulling back in surprise. "Wait– you're going to–?"

Everyone was staring at Chloe in shock, not quite believing the words that had come out of her mouth. Yesterday had been surprising enough, but this was completely unexpected. Marinette stumbled over a few words, clearly having been expecting a fight of insults, while Adrien was looking at his oldest friend with the most hopeful and happy expression.

"Yes, but clearly it was just a waste of time–"

"Chlo," Adrien said softly, and she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine," She turned to face Marinette once more, looking her up and down with pursed lips. "I still can't believe it, but I can't ignore what's in front of me, can I? You're so good at all these 'second chances' stuff, so I might as well do the same. I'm sorry for how I've treated you... like the whole time I've known you."

Marinette stared, while Chloe scrunched up her nose.

"Ugh... I can't believe I just said that. I sound ridiculous, utterly ridiculous," She muttered under her breath, before shooting a glare at everyone still staring at her. "Oh, get a life all of you! Don't you have something better to do than listen in on private conversations– shoo– all of you!"

Those who had been lingering quickly moved along, not wanting to get on Chloe's bad side, but Alya found herself still staring with Nino at her side. Alya was now truly considering the idea of a personality-switching akuma on the loose, if Chloe was acting like this. That would definitely explain why everyone was suddenly so different.

"Thank you, Chloe," Adrien said, still smiling a soft smile. He looked nearly as happy as he did yesterday, though minus the lovesick gaze he always seemed to have when looking at Marinette.

"Don't expect me to do it again," Chloe huffed.

"...Thank you," Marinette finally said, smiling as well, though she still looked stunned.

"Just don't think this makes us friends or anything," She said stiffly. "Though, speaking of friends, there is something you could do for me. To make up for my having to lower myself like this in front of everyone– I'd like to be able to see Pollen again."

Alya knitted her brow in confusion. Pollen? Did Chloe want flowers or something? Of course she would think she deserved some great gift for apologizing.

Marinette and Adrien instantly tensed, their eyes going wide with shock. They shared a glance, looking at Chloe fearfully, letting out a nervous laugh. "Um, I have no idea what you're talking about–"

"Oh please, don't try to cover it up, after yesterday it was obvious," She crossed her arms. "A word of advice, cut back on the nicknames and stop being so disgustingly romantic. We get it, you finally got each other, so tone it back a bit. You two look ridiculous... utterly ridiculous. Come on, Sabrina, I'm going to get a sunburn if I stand out here any longer."

"Told you so," Marinette muttered under her breath as Chloe and Sabrina walked away, and Adrien flashed her a guilty look. "This is not good at all, we should have taken this slow..."

"We'll be careful," He promised. "Besides, you know we can trust Chloe, you already do anyways."

"Barely," She grumbled, while Alya regarded her.

'Trust' and 'Chloe' most definitely did not belong in the same sentence, and even some reluctance on Marinette's end was not normal. From what she had heard Chloe had been the school bully for multiple years now, and even if her time as Queen Bee had somewhat changed her– emphasis on somewhat– she most definitely didn't think that Marinette would be onboard with being buddy-buddy with her, even if her boyfriend wanted her to.

"Personality-switching akuma," Alya said, turning to Nino. "Only solution."

He raised an eyebrow. "The only one? Not like a reporter to throw out any other options."

"What else could possibly be going on?" Ayla said, almost in frustration. She stared down at her notebook, thinking back on what Lila had said. It was something that she felt that Adrien would never do, but if an akuma was involved...

Nino hesitated, glancing at Adrien and Marinette. They were whisked away in an urgent conversation of their own, voices hushed. "Well, you've, um, noticed right?"

"Noticed? I've written down everything I've noticed! What's that supposed to mean?"

"...There's only one person besides Adrien that Chloe respects," Nino was looking at her intently, gaze serious. She stared at him, not sure of what he was trying to say or what that had to do with anything that was currently going on.

"...What?"

Her boyfriend watched her for a moment, shifting. He glanced off in the direction Chloe had gone, letting out a sigh, then shrugged.